Chapter 143: Leisure Time During Illness
"How many men did you send to the job in Laoya Lane? A dozen or so?"
"Ten or so is enough. It's just a regular transaction. It's just that Bianjing is in chaos right now, so I only had time to 'visit' the small branches under the Six and a Half Hall. Even so, Lei Sun is too busy to handle everything. The Six and a Half Hall can't manage that many people. It's just a minor warning, so there's no need to send so many people."
"That's not necessarily true. Since you specifically chose this location, they're bound to make some moves."
"You mean, ten or so people aren't enough?"
Xie Huailing stroked his chin, his gaze unfocused, his eyes vacant. He leaned back in his chair, teacup in hand, and after a brief moment or two, snapped back to reality, saying, "It won't be enough. Lei Sun is overwhelmed, and Lei Hen and Lei Gun are practically useless, but Di Feijing shouldn't be underestimated. He'll definitely have a plan, a clever one. I even suspect that Lei Sun will wait until things settle down a bit before making him do something."
Bai Feifei raised an eyebrow. Between the two of them was a small table, only half the size of a normal coffee table, placed on Bai Feifei's lap, with a piece of paper on it. The paper and ink were arranged in a large grid, but they weren't playing Go. It was just a simple deduction game based on the conflict of the day.
It's one thing for Su Mengzhen not to target Liufenbantang's territory, but it's another for Bai Feifei to give her a hard time. However, the timing is bad; no major deals are coming her way, so she can only block one or two business deals and create some other trouble to give Bai Feifei some breathing room.
Bai Feifei tapped the small table and asked, "So what result are you betting on?"
Xie Huailing reached behind her back and felt around, but found nothing. She had clearly just carelessly tossed a few storybooks here yesterday, and Shaman had probably picked them up for her out of a mixture of disgust and pity. Disappointed, she instead reached for the play she was only halfway through reading, tossed it onto the table, and drew a circle on the paper: "I bet the original deal can be settled normally, but this warning probably won't have any effect."
Bai Feifei had heard of Di Feijing's reputation, but had never met or interacted with him before, as she wasn't in Bianjing. Hearing Xie Huailing's words, and given her generally disdainful nature, her eagerness to test him flared up: "Then I'll see what he's capable of. I'm betting on me to win. And what am I betting on…"
She picked up Xie Huailing's bet, casually flipped through the opera script, and the clichéd and cheesy love story came into view. After a quick glance, it was somewhat different from the ones she had seen before. It was a story about love that was hard to be fulfilled and the unspoken difficulties. But she still didn't seem to mind and said, "You're betting on this?"
"What's wrong with this? Don't underestimate it!" Xie Huailing defended the play, and of course, also proved his Schrödinger's taste. "Although it's a tired old story about love between men and women, this one is written differently. Love ends in separation, and things are hard to reconcile. Isn't that a good story?"
Bai Feifei wanted to roll her eyes at her, but she didn't. She said, "That's weird and twisted logic."
However, her own pressing wasn't much better, especially after seeing the content of the opera script that Xie Huailing had pressed. She changed her mind and asked the maid to bring two flowers to press up.
The freshly picked flowers, still glistening with dew, looked incredibly beautiful. Xie Huailing recognized them immediately, because they were from her own house: "At least weigh down some of your own things! You just brought my flowers up from my house like this!"
Bai Feifei didn't think there was anything wrong with it, saying, "So what? In the end, only you have flowers in your room, and you change them every day. Ha, who has the time for that?"
Xie Huailing felt like he was being scolded again. He touched his face, and then a thought flashed through his mind. He suggested, "I won't allow it. You can choose another one. How about this: if I win the bet, I only need you to say one word."
Before Xie Huailing could even say it, Bai Feifei's PTSD flared up. How could she not know what Xie Huailing was going to say? He just wanted to see her make a fool of herself again. The moment he finished speaking, she had already placed her hand on the edge of the table, ready to flip it over.
Xie Huailing let out a short scream. She had been prepared for this outcome, and after resting for a few days, she had regained much of her strength. She quickly got out of bed and ran to the door.
Seeing that the two were about to have another tense and exciting chase, Bai Feifei intentionally let Xie Huailing run for a while first, so that she wouldn't win without any effort. Unexpectedly, Su Mengzhen arrived at this moment without making a sound, and opened the door when Xie Huailing was near the door.
Xie Huailing thus slipped behind Su Mengzhen without any trouble, grabbing at the fabric of his clothes, as if she had returned to last winter, to the same scene, and cried out the familiar words: "Cousin, save me!"
Su Mengzhen was already used to it and was used as a shield by her, but Xie Huailing was completely pressed against his back. He still turned around and glanced at her slightly, then looked at Bai Feifei, who stood up from the soft couch and obviously wanted to move her arms and legs.
Bai Feifei flexed her knuckles, her gaze sharp as tiny needles, fixed on the person hiding behind Su Mengzhen, clearly hoping Su Mengzhen would step aside.
Xie Huailing tugged at Su Mengzhen's clothes. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell she was feigning a pitiful state, her voice drawn out in a drawn-out tone, "She's going to bully me, cousin, you have to stand by my side, cousin, cousin..."
How could Bai Feifei have bullied her? Without asking, Su Mengzhen knew it was Xie Huailing who had provoked Bai Feifei again, and she wouldn't be comfortable without getting a few words in return. But he knew that this restless person was a patient today. Even if she still had the strength to hide behind him, she was still a patient. And although Bai Feifei had stood up, it wasn't so much that she was angry, but rather that they often joked around like this.
Su Mengzhen could only ask about the situation first, fortunately he was quite familiar with the place—but there was no need to be so familiar with it, was there?: "What happened?"
Xie Huailing answered first: "Feifei and I made a bet about what she wanted to do to the Six and a Half Hall in Laoya Lane today. I lost the bet, but she won. But she didn't put up any good stakes. I offered her suggestions, but she didn't appreciate them. How can this be allowed?"
Bai Feifei was so angry she wanted to retaliate: "Don't talk like you've offered some great bargaining chips or given me some great suggestions."
"Hehehe." Xie Huailing was very childish and shameless, choosing to cheat when it came to a debate.
Because she had nodded, she changed the position of the fabric she was holding. Instead of pulling on the back of the fabric, she grabbed Su Mengzhen's waist with one hand, and with the other hand, she made a face before pulling on his sleeve. And because of this face-making action, she didn't look down when she went back to pull on his sleeve. Her hand first touched Su Mengzhen's palm, hurriedly brushing against his palm before she realized what was happening and went to pull on his sleeve.
Feeling a jolt of electricity, Su Mengzhen's fingers curled up. He wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose, and it was a question he couldn't ask. He glanced at her, but didn't move, seemingly unconcerned about their conflict, and said, "Then you two need to talk again. The matter in Laoya Lane is over, and the transaction went smoothly."
They only mentioned the transaction, but nothing else seemed to be finalized. Xie Huailing wasn't surprised, but she was also initially delighted. With Su Mengzhen around, she could naturally cheer and jump for joy. She winked at Bai Feifei and said, "Looks like I've won after all. Why don't we just do it my way?"
If Bai Feifei were to run into Xie Huailing, she would definitely give him a piece of her mind. After a cold laugh, she said decisively, "Don't even think about it, I'm not admitting it."
Having said that, she wasn't upset about this temporary setback. It was just the beginning of a test. Once the results were out, she would definitely go and see the specific situation again. She glared at Xie Huailing, said a brief goodbye to Su Mengzhen, and went out the door.
This was a classic case of the King of Qin circling around a pillar. Xie Huailing walked half a circle around Su Mengzhen, and only when he saw that Bai Feifei had really gone out did he let go of him and collapse back onto the soft couch, burying his face in it.
Su Mengzhen regained her freedom. Looking around, she realized that she and Bai Feifei must have gambled quite a bit today, or perhaps she had done something. There wasn't much room to move around in the bedroom. After looking around, it seemed that she could only go to the edge of the bed.
He took two steps toward the soft couch and happened to see Xie Huailing looking up. During her convalescence, she kept all her attire simple, not to mention that she didn't like wearing anything anyway. She only wore black and white. Lying like this always reminded him of one or two birds he had seen before. However, when she looked up, it was different. She didn't care about the black and white. Whatever color he wore, that color would also appear in her eyes.
But it's just a matter of perspective. Sometimes, only by getting closer and closer, looking again and again, can you clearly see whether she has anyone in her eyes. Thinking this, Su Mengzhen still met her gaze. She propped her face up and lazily turned over.
Without looking away, she said, "Hey, why don't you join me in a bet?"
"It won't take long." Xie Huailing was really getting bored. He couldn't tell what she meant by this. Was it a request, or just the last word, or the other two words—was it just a flirtation? "It's not a big bet, just a little bit for fun."
There were still many documents on Su Mengzhen's desk. She said simply, "I have other things to do. You can call someone else."
But what's the point? Xie Huailing stared at him intently, clearly indicating that she didn't want it.
The two sides were locked in a stalemate, but in the end, Su Mengzhen was defeated.
.
A certain ancient opera house, still relatively quiet, was devoid of people. Aside from the long, drawn-out singing on stage, once inside, all other sounds were audible. This place seemed to have reached the pinnacle of elegance amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, devoid of ornate carvings or displays of wealth and status, only the unfolding of the opera, turning page after page of paper, a stark contrast that felt like an escape from nowhere.
But it's all just appearances. Just like Bianjing now, where can one say it's peaceful? And like the young man who enters through the curtain, is he merely outwardly quiet?
The waiter hadn't seen this customer in a long time. It wasn't because he spent a lot of money here, always booked a private room, and paid promptly; it was simply that, compared to the other customers, the young man was strikingly handsome. However, he kept his head down, as if he had some deep-seated flaw, and the waiter couldn't help but feel sorry for him, lamenting his unfortunate fate.
Thinking this to himself, he couldn't show any sympathy on his face; that was the secret to getting things done. He jogged forward, a smile immediately appearing on his face. He wasn't overly solicitous, and asked, "This guest, we've been waiting for you! It's been a long time. Are you here again to book a private box for the opera?"
The young man lowered his head and said calmly, "No, I'll book the entire venue for three days from now."
This was the first time he had encountered such a joyous occasion. The waiter wondered if he had misheard or if he had truly seen the God of Wealth. He asked to confirm, "Are you sure you want to book the entire venue for the next three days?"
“Go tell your manager.” The young man didn’t want to repeat himself and simply stated his request, “Clean the best private room again, make sure there’s not a speck of dust.”
The waiter then realized it was true, and his spirits lifted. His attitude improved even further as he calculated how much he could skim off the top. He asked more meticulously, "Alright! May I ask one more question? Besides you, how many other guests were there that day? Were they male or female? This will help us prepare."
With a flick of his eyelashes, the young man replied, "A girl."
The waiter immediately remembered the girl who had been seen with the young man. Though she wore a veil, she was a beauty among beauties. He had thought they were a perfect match back then, and upon hearing this, he assumed it meant a happy occasion. He cheerfully congratulated her, "Is this the one who's often with you? Congratulations!"
He ran away, the young man silent for a long time. He was like a shadow, standing alone on the ground, whose projection was it, how long would it last? He remained silent, utterly alone and lonely.
When the famous singers on stage sang a certain passage, they were no longer just talented men and beautiful women; the young men turned their heads in awe, and were covered in dust.
"I think that since Heaven has already made my journey through hardship, and I have not yet repaid the debt of gratitude, why send another beautiful woman to me in this life?"
He had never heard this passage before, and stood frozen in place, feeling as if the delicate melody had pierced his chest, leaving him feeling empty inside.
"You insist that I swear an oath to you, that my marriage will be entirely in your hands, but I can't forget your surname and I can't give up your given name. You say there will be a next life, so why not be together in this life?"
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