They returned to China the day after Situ Ming left.
Hou Taotao and Zhang Xiaomeng picked them up at the airport.
“Brother Tao, I have a suggestion for you,” Zhang Xiaomeng said, fanning the smoke with his hand.
Hou Taotao finished the rest of his cigarette in one gulp and threw it away. "What suggestions do you have?"
Zhang Xiaomeng mustered his courage and said, "The captain doesn't like the smell of smoke, so you should smoke less!"
Hou Taotao raised an eyebrow, "You're quite nosy!"
"Hehehe, um, Brother Tao, I just have one suggestion, nothing else, really nothing else."
I chickened out, completely chickened out!
Hou Taotao didn't want to smoke either; Sixth Brother's sudden departure had drained their energy and spirit.
No matter how much work is done, it cannot change the fact that "Sixth Brother is dead".
The others were even more addicted to smoking than him.
If it weren't for the fact that there was still someone at the helm holding them together, they probably would have collapsed.
Zhang Xiaomeng also knew that the death of the old captain was a significant blow to Tao Ge and his men.
But what can we do? Everyone needs to survive!
Hou Taotao suppressed her grief; they needed to support the new leader.
Zhao Xiaoyue saw Hou Taotao looking up at the sky from afar. It was true, the first time she saw him, he was so fat, just like a peach.
Now, it looks like the whole peach has been hollowed out, leaving only the peach skin.
"Brother Tao!"
Hou Taotao snapped out of her daze, only to find that Zhang Xiaomeng had already taken the things from Zhao Xiaoyue and put them in the car.
"My little niece!" she cried, her eyes already wet with tears. "It's so good that you're back, so good that you're back!"
Zhao Xiaoyue smiled and said, "Let's go! Let's go to Huanhai Town."
I went back from the comic convention with Zhang Xiaomeng. "The boss didn't take me with him!"
At the anime convention, he fiddled with his fingers and chuckled, "Honey, you're her bodyguard and driver, not her man. Why should she take you along?"
Zhang Xiaomeng shuddered. Through the rearview mirror, he met the alluring eyes of the man at the comic convention. He quickly looked away; this guy was dangerous.
But he still retorted, "You're not the one in charge, so why should you be allowed to follow?"
The anime convention staff laughed, "Because, I'm useful, but you're not!"
That's a personal attack. How is he useless? How is he useless?
Seeing this person driving angrily at the comic convention, the person was still unconvinced and said, "Hey, let me ask you, in terms of skill, intelligence, and aura, how can you compare to those of you who are steering the ship?"
Zhang Xiaomeng opened his mouth, then opened it again; there was no way to compare.
He realized that they were quite versatile at steering, capable of doing everything, and had some skills that were more than enough for her.
Take driving, for example. If it weren't for the fact that the person in charge is too young, they would have already taken over the driving themselves!
She muttered under her breath, still unconvinced, "What good are you? Just a peacock, and a neither-male-nor-female one at that."
The anime convention attendee overheard, "I'm her financial manager, her little money-manager. Tell me, am I useful or not?"
Zhang Xiaomeng got knocked out!
Zhao Xiaoyue arrived in Huanhai Town, carrying a cake she had brought from Paris.
Hou Taotao stood outside the cemetery, already choked with sobs.
"Brother Tao, I'm staying here tonight. You can go back first."
Hou Taotao's voice was low and hoarse, "Captain, I'll stay with you."
They knew that the captain had done his best, and there was nothing they could do to keep Sixth Brother.
When he was setting up the foundation, he told his sixth brother about it, and his sixth brother only said one sentence: "She is so thoughtful!"
The flowers are cared for by dedicated staff, and those who enter this place are on a lifetime basis—they can't leave until they die.
So all the gardeners here are elderly people living alone, along with a few of the first hunters who used to work here.
The two stood in front of the tombstone. Zhao Xiaoyue opened the cake, placed it on the offering table, and kowtowed several times.
Hou Taotao wiped away her tears. It is said that a good man bleeds but does not cry, but Hou Taotao was crying his eyes out behind Zhao Xiaoyue.
“Master, this cake is from out of town. I brought it specially for your wife.”
She knelt for a while, then sat down on the ground, propped her chin up, and chatted with the tombstone.
"Sixth Grandpa, you said you were leaving, but you should at least have told my family that you were going on a long trip and it would be inconvenient for you to take care of me. Now, if my parents ask about you when I get home, I won't know what to say!"
He finished speaking and sighed sadly.
Hou Taotao sniffed hard, his crying looking rather pathetic.
"Captain, please accept my condolences!"
"Yes, let's all take heart..."
"I, I will, waaaaah, I'll catch it, I'll catch the sorrow! Waaaaah!"
Hou Taotao suppressed her sobs, "I...I can't hold it in anymore, steer! Waaah!"
"Okay, then I won't stand for it!"
Hou Taotao then burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zhao Xiaoyue stared calmly at the tombstone, muttering to herself, "I wonder if they found each other and got together."
After the cake melted in the sun, Zhao Xiaoyue cleaned the area on the altar where the cake had been. "Master!"
He then placed a bunch of fresh flowers in the middle of the vase. When Master Pu paid homage to Huo Qingqing, he never used incense or candles.
When Zhao Xiaoyue first met him, she was quite curious and asked Master Pu why he didn't use incense and candles.
Master Pu said with a smile that his beloved Qingqing didn't like that smell.
From beginning to end, the altar here was always decorated with fresh flowers.
The way she called out "Master" sounded like a spoiled little girl, but she didn't know what else to say.
That night, Hou Taotao slept outside the thatched hut, lying far away without disturbing the captain.
Looking at the twinkling stars, Zhao Xiaoyue fell asleep. A gentle mountain breeze blew by, as if someone was caressing her.
She had a dream, a joyful dream.
In her dream, she was in a large hall where someone was getting married. The joyous music was deafening, and there were people waiting for the banquet to begin. She, too, was holding a plate and waiting for the banquet to start.
The scene shifts to a newlywed couple dressed in elaborate red wedding attire, bowing to heaven and earth.
The large cake she had brought during the day was prominently displayed on the table.
As the sun rose, Hou Taotao stood two meters away and called out to Zhao Xiaoyue.
"Steering? Steering! It's time to go, you have to go back to school today, steering?"
Zhao Xiaoyue opened her eyes leisurely. The air was filled with the fragrance of flowers, and the first rays of morning sunlight shone on her.
She took a while to recover before lifting the covers and getting up. Her gaze swept over the mountains and fields covered in a dazzling array of colorful flowers, and Zhao Xiaoyue suddenly smiled—a genuine smile from the bottom of her heart.
"Master, your disciple wishes you happiness!"
Hou Taotao was still a little stunned.
"Take the helm..."
Zhao Xiaoyue jumped out of bed, feeling fully recharged. "Tao-ge, let's go back to Haishi! I want to go to school!"
They were destined not to leave in the morning; the water pump in the flowerbed was broken, and Zhao Xiaoyue and Hou Taotao spent the whole morning fixing it.
Zhao Xiaoyue muttered to herself, "Master, you're too impatient! You even broke my water pump while boiling water on our wedding night."
Hou Taotao was busy tightening the last screw and didn't hear what the helmsman said.
So he wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "What did you just say, Captain?"
Zhao Xiaoyue quickly shook her head, "I just thought this water pump was too fragile. It's nothing, you can continue."
Only after the water pump was repaired did they relax and promise their master (Sixth Brother) that they would take good care of the flowerbed, because it would be so embarrassing if the water pump broke.
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