Chapter 111 Rainy Season - 4 Tang Bufan's loquat suddenly stopped...
Tang Bufan suddenly lost the flavor of the loquat in his mouth. He wanted to go back, but he had run into the head of state and stayed at his house for two months. It would be too impolite not to go and say hello.
A servant stood next to Guo Wen, and the two were making tea in the pavilion. Tang Bufan thought for a moment, then picked up two bunches of loquats and walked towards Guo Wen with Wan Yiming.
"Greetings, Your Excellency. Would you like some loquats?" Tang Bufan asked Guo Wen with a smile.
"Just got back from your run?" Guo Wen gestured for Tang Bufan to sit.
The man in his fifties already had gray hair, but it didn't make him look old; instead, it gave him an air of maturity and experience.
Tang Bufan walked over and sat down opposite him, watching Guo Wen skillfully begin to brew tea.
“Yes, I want to get some exercise,” Tang Bufan said, placing the two bunches of loquats on the table. He watched as Guo Wen poured boiling tea onto the tea pet, causing the purple clay tortoise to change color, becoming crystal clear.
The air was filled with the delicate aroma of tea, which was refreshing and delightful.
Tang Bufan watched Guo Wen make tea, speechless for a moment. The way Guo Wen looked at him when they ate together before made Tang Bufan uncomfortable, reminding him of Uncle Wolverine, so he had always felt a sense of rejection towards him.
But now, two months have passed, and Guo Wen has not done anything offensive to him. He has even suppressed the fact that Tang Bufan is a human from a thousand years ago. Therefore, Tang Bufan is wondering if he is too prejudiced against him.
I've been bitten by a snake once, and now I'm afraid of a rope for ten years.
Tang Bufan gave a subtle, self-deprecating smile and accepted the small teacup that Guo Wen handed him.
The small teacup was made of wood, with a faint golden hue hidden in the brown wood. At first, Tang Bufan only felt that the color of the wood of this tea set was familiar, but when he brought it to his lips and smelled the familiar fragrance, his expression suddenly changed.
This teacup... is made of the same wood as the wooden hairpin in Tang Bufan's hair.
The conversation with Pei Zhishu that day popped into Tang Bufan's mind.
"Qinan has a slightly sweet fragrance, appears as golden threads, and is crystal clear under light. It is the highest grade of agarwood. Madam Tang looks very beautiful wearing it."
Is it expensive?
"It's just that the wood used is expensive; it's not some historical artifact." Pei Zhishu looked at him meaningfully.
Tang Bufan only took a small sip of tea before putting it down, feeling an uncomfortable itching sensation where the wooden hairpin touched his scalp.
"This teacup is beautifully carved." Tang Bufan maintained a gentle demeanor as he looked directly at the middle-aged man across the stone table. "May I ask who the head of state's carpenter is?"
Guo Wen, who had been sipping his tea with his eyes lowered, raised them and met Tang Bufan's gaze. He didn't answer, but the servant beside him said to Tang Bufan with considerable pride:
"It was carved by the head of state himself. It's his hobby. There are many things carved by the head of state in his home."
"..." Tang Bufan sighed softly, and under the servant's puzzled gaze, he pulled out the wooden hairpin from his head, and his smooth black hair cascaded down his back like a waterfall.
Tang Bufan gently placed the wooden hairpin on the stone table and politely pushed it toward Guo Wen, saying, "Returning it to its rightful owner."
Only then did the maid notice the golden-brown wooden hairpin. She immediately understood what was happening, a look of alarm flashed across her face, and she nervously looked at Guo Wen.
Guo Wen stared at the wooden hairpin on the table, his dark eyes revealing no emotion. Tang Bufan pondered for a moment, realizing that the expensive pens, folding fans, and clothes that were constantly being delivered to his room were probably not gifts from Pei Zhishu.
He really thought Pei Zhishu was generous and treated him incredibly well.
“I’ve always admired Hans.” Guo Wen finally spoke slowly. He didn’t take back the wooden hairpin, but said in a slightly deep tone, “He has his own principles. I didn’t understand him when he came to the Eastern Federation to escape forced marriage. For people of our class, love is a meaningless thing. But he really found Anna later, even though Anna caused him a lot of pain.”
Tang Bufan frowned slightly, but listened quite attentively, because this was the story of Lu Yi's parents.
"Hans told me that when you meet someone you care about, but you're already married with children, you'll definitely regret it." Guo Wen looked at Tang Bufan with mixed feelings: "But I only understand this now, thirty years later."
The servants and Wan Yiming beside him both lowered their heads, not daring to look up. Guo Wen had basically confessed his feelings directly, which made Tang Bufan's expression not very good, and he felt embarrassed.
“You don’t need to be too afraid.” Guo Wen calmly lowered his head and sipped his tea. “I like ancient and beautiful things, such as paintings, calligraphy, porcelain, and gemstones. I have protected them very well and put them in the right places.”
He was already old, and had a son and grandson. He regretted meeting Tang Bufan in his twilight years, otherwise he would definitely have competed with Lu Yi for him.
"..." Tang Bufan listened silently. Being confessed to by someone who could be his father made him feel extremely strange, and that discomfort resurfaced. So he took a deep breath and decided to take Wan Yiming back.
Just as he stood up, loud air raid sirens suddenly sounded all around.
Tang Bufan was startled and quickly looked outside the pavilion. Wan Yiming strode up to Tang Bufan and nervously protected him.
Guo Wen remained seated on the stone bench. He frowned, put down his teacup, and sharply scanned the sky with his crow's feet. Suddenly, he flicked the teacup away!
His strength was immense; the teacup struck something behind the leaves with a loud "bang," like a stone, and a drone fell down.
Tang Bufan's senses weren't as sharp as Guo Wen's, but he still quickly drew his pistol and tried to hide behind the pavilion railing. However, the next second, Guo Wen grabbed him and rushed out!
Tang Bufan was startled and was about to struggle when he heard Guo Wen let out a muffled groan of pain, and Tang Bufan also heard a buzzing sound like a swarm of bees flying around!
Hundreds or even thousands of drones swarmed down from the sky like bees and began to fire wildly at the orcs in the garden!
Guo Wen was shot in the back, but his running speed did not decrease. In order to protect Tang Bufan in his arms, he lowered his body very low, and his beast-like body acted as a large shield to cover Tang Bufan.
Tang Bufan then gave up the idea of struggling and only fired at the drones in Guo Wen's line of sight during the gaps in Guo Wen's arms, shooting down several of them with a "bang bang bang!"
During this time, he smelled the blood on Guo Wen getting stronger and stronger. Although he ran very fast, he still couldn't escape the attack of hundreds or thousands of drones at the same time!
The laser bullets rained down on him, striking him in a dense barrage!
Blood dripped onto Tang Bufan's face. His heart was pounding. He could only feel the wind whistling across his face. He could only try his best to shoot at the drones to his side through the gaps.
From the pavilion where they drank tea to a small courtyard, Guo Wen ran for about a minute, and in that minute he was shot dozens of times in the back. He roughly pushed Tang Bufan into the house, then turned around and rushed out.
The door slammed shut with a bang, so fast that Tang Bufan didn't even have time to call Guo Wen's name. Outside, he heard the sounds of drones firing and crashing. Tang Bufan gritted his teeth, rolled over, and hid under the window, narrowly avoiding several laser beams.
The buzzing outside subsided a bit, as if it had followed Guo Wenfei away. Tang Bufan peeked out and saw a drone crash heavily onto the wall next to him, scattering into scattered pieces of metal.
Tang Bufan calmed himself down and hid on the side of the window, starting to shoot at the drones outside at an angle.
Compared to the Batwing Poison Men, drones are much more difficult to deal with. They are small and fast, and even if you hit them, they may not fall down. After Tang Bufan took down more than a dozen of them, he successfully attracted the attention of a group of drones.
"Bang bang bang bang!" A large group of laser beams hit the wall that Tang Bufan was using as cover, and shot in through the window, stirring up dust and bricks. Tang Bufan could only retreat in a sorry state, rushing along the wall into the bathroom of the room and trapping a drone that had flown in through the door crack.
Fortunately, he had been running long distances every day during this period, which improved his running speed; if he had been even a step slower, he would have fallen.
Tang Bufan's cheeks burned with pain. He glanced in the mirror and saw a bloody mark on his right cheek, thankfully not deep.
With drones shooting at the goal, it seemed like it would only take a minute or two for them to break through. So Tang Bufan rolled over and hid in the bathtub, firing wildly the instant the wooden door shattered.
Anyone who has played shooting games knows that hiding in a corner of a small room is invincible, giving you a superior shooting position. You can kill anyone who comes in, while the other side has to change their perspective first.
Tang Bufan didn't need to reload yet. He once again thanked Pei Zhishu in his heart for the nuclear-powered pistol that he had given him, allowing him to keep firing.
But Tang Bufan was only one person. When the drone corpses piled up to half a meter high at the bathroom door, one of the drones hit his palm. Tang Bufan gritted his teeth in pain and watched helplessly as the pistol in his hand fell to the ground.
It’s over!
Tang Bufan's mind went blank as he saw several laser beams aimed at his head. In that very brief moment, he thought of Lu Yi.
He forgot the burning pain in his palm, only thinking about what would happen to Lu Yi if he died.
His adorable yet pitiful Lu Yi must be crying, right? He doesn't want Lu Yi to cry. He wants to be with Lu Yi, to feel the wind with him, to watch the stars with him, to cook together, and to sleep under the same blanket with him.
Red roses encased in glass, wind chimes with wishing slips hanging from them, blue bouquets wet with rain... a whole host of things related to Lu Yi flashed through Tang Bufan's mind, the last image to settle on being Lu Yi's handsome and gentle smiling face.
Tang Bufan slumped into the bathtub, blood from his palm slowly flowing down the white tub towards the drain, while tears streamed down his face.
He didn't want to die.
Whether they heard Tang Bufan's inner cry or not, the drones that rushed into the bathroom did not fire at him, but instead aimed their red laser beams at him.
A drone flew up in front of Tang Bufan, its small black camera reflecting the man's pale face.
It posed a mechanical question:
Does your heart still belong to humanity?
Tang Bufan blinked, slowly recovering from the panic before his death. He moved his throat and uttered two words.
"certainly."
The drones all stared at Tang Bufan, seemingly deep in thought. After a moment, they turned and flew away.
The buzzing sound gradually disappeared, and Tang Bufan was still sitting in the bathtub. The pain in his injured hand returned. Tang Bufan twitched the corner of his mouth and breathed a sigh of relief.
It started raining lightly again outside.
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