Chapter 136: Country Accent

I don't know how upset Zhao Liying upstairs was. The way Su Yun sang this song was not really from any blood relationship, but just a wonderful coincidence.

Fang Mona was a talented female singer back then. When she covered this song, she naturally tried her best to stick to the original singer while also adding her own interpretation, thus forming a unique personal flavor. After she took over TBB, her subordinates must have followed her ideas, so when quoting this song as an interlude, they would more or less refer to her singing style.

Su Yun's voice may come from heredity, but because of her age, she prefers a clear, pure and ethereal flavor. The songs she recorded before were all fresh and natural minor tunes that suit her voice and singing skills. When the interlude single from "Memoirs of a Geisha" was released in Hong Kong, the newspaper commented that "her voice is more beautiful than the accompaniment of the piano", which means that her voice is so clear that even the king of musical instruments can hardly compete with her.

No one could have imagined that after she changed her singing style, the ethereal and clear charm of her voice would transform into lingering and infatuated along with the theme of the song. Because she was exposed to the singing style of old TBB movies and TV series, by chance, the absent-minded Zhao Liying made a mistake.

After saying goodbye to the two who were planning to continue traveling and exploring while practicing singing, Su Yun looked at the small building not far away, took a deep breath, and continued walking forward.

Since Su Yun came here, she naturally did some research: Zhao Liying has been living on the third floor of the three-story building in front of her all these years, and the owners of this three-story building are an elderly couple who occasionally use the building as a family hostel.

However, compared to the travelers who come and go in a hurry, Zhao Liying, who lives in the west room on the third floor, has lived here for a long time and almost regards this place as his "home" to avoid wind, frost, rain and snow.

The private detective's investigation report said that the old couple immigrated here from Hong Kong many years ago. Perhaps Zhao Liying chose this place as his residence, which seemed to have a certain influence on his hometown accent.

Su Yun walked into the small building while thinking about something.

“When the curtains are opened, the wind moves the bamboos; I wonder if it is an old friend coming—” This Cantonese opera was played from somewhere; the lines were spoken in a gentle and graceful manner, with a tone of sigh.

Hearing this familiar tone and accent, Su Yun, who was used to flying around like an astronaut, suddenly felt a strange sense of melancholy: Perhaps this is the charm of the local accent?

Hearing this sentence in a foreign country always makes people feel homesick.

In order to dispel this melancholy, Su Yun had to look up and observe the internal structure of the small building: this wooden Japanese-style building still comes from the ancient Tang style, and because the interior design is clever and the daily maintenance is meticulous, as soon as you walk through the door, the scorching summer heat outside seems to have been completely left in the soil outside the house, and the draft blows in front of you, which can instantly lift your spirits.

Even without the mist of air conditioning, the windows here are cleverly designed to complement each other, resisting the wind lingering from the outside summer heat. A few green plants contrast with the dark yellow and carbon black of the structural materials, and several koi float on the surface of the small pool inside, blowing bubbles. It is like a cool and elegant place hidden in the city.

The hostels here have a very unique custom, which is to write the names of guests who have booked rooms on a small wooden sign and hang it on the door as a welcome.

The small wooden sign moved in the wind and tapped lightly against the wall, making a series of crisp sounds of wood hitting each other. In a trance, it even gave the illusion of the sound of a wooden fish.

Su Yun stood on tiptoe, raised her hand to take down the small wooden sign with her name on it, and walked to the front desk with it.

The owner of this small building is named Shi. He is over 60 years old but still in good health. I heard that unless there is a big business, he is the only one who takes care of the whole building, cleaning, scrubbing and cooking, making the guests feel like they are an elder.

On weekdays, Mr. Shi stays at the front desk waiting for customers.

Seeing Su Yun coming over with a small wooden sign, Mr. Shi took out a thick bound booklet, carefully checked Su Yun's identity information, and recorded the information that Su Yun was staying in the room on the east side of the third floor.

Su Yun was waiting for Mr. Shi's registration information in boredom. He tilted his body slightly and looked around the lobby on the first floor as if he was looking at something new.

The front porch where the reception desk is located is of ordinary style, with nothing much to say about it. But once you stick your head through the bamboo screen that blocks half of the view of the hall, the view in front of you suddenly opens up.

Perhaps the owner of the small building really loves nature. The furnishings in the lobby are mostly made of bamboo and wood. In the front is a small platform with three steps raised. Now some tables and chairs are placed randomly on it. If the hostel hosts a birthday party or a small gathering, it can be used as a main stage or a small stage.

But now it is normal, so the living room is not furnished with sets of round tables and dining chairs, but just ordinary home benches and small coffee tables.

Looking at the old lady sitting quietly on the armchair and listening to Cantonese songs on the radio, Su Yun adjusted her expression and took the initiative to ask in Cantonese: "Grandma, what are you listening to?"

The radio was singing in a humming voice. As for Cantonese opera and Nanyin, Su Yun, who changed her career late, had only heard of the two most common works in movies and TV shows, "Autumn Sorrow on a Journey" and "The Princess Diaries".

Apart from "The cool breeze is reliable, the autumn moon is boundless" and "The fallen flowers fill the sky and block the moonlight", the rest are basically clueless.

"It's Sister Ren and Sister Xian's "The Purple Hairpin." The old woman answered calmly.

“Oh…” Su Yun nodded as if she understood: Ren Bai is a famous duo in the Cantonese opera world, and even an outsider like her knows them.

Coincidentally, the time when she was fully awake after her rebirth was the second day of the June 18th disaster relief fund-raising charity performance event - in that marathon-like relay charity performance event, the fundraising charity concert by Ren Bai and his duo, who had bid farewell to the film industry for many years, became their last public performance.

In her spare time, Su Yun has explored the life stories of Ren Bai and Ren Bai. These two close friends who always go out together and always go out together, one is a romantic and elegant female actor, and the other is a pure and elegant female role. They have cooperated for many years and have a deep and close friendship. They have long become a symbol of Hong Kong culture.

Sister Ren was popular among thousands of female audiences with her cross-dressing look back then. She was a famous "theater lover" in the old times. This old lady was probably one of the fans who was fascinated by Sister Ren's charm. Now, it was a rare opportunity for someone to come and talk to her, and he spoke in his local Cantonese accent. She immediately took Su Yun's hand with great interest and started talking nonstop.

Knowing that this was the other owner of the small building, Su Yun had no choice but to listen patiently.

The old lady was very happy and greeted Su Yun warmly: "Come, have some eggettes. This dish tastes pretty good."

Su Yun could not refuse the gift from the elder, so she ate two obediently. The sweet taste immediately reminded her of the bag of peanut and sesame egg waffles that Wang Jiaju failed to give her that year.

But it is obvious that more thought and effort went into making this dish of eggettes than those sold at roadside stalls back then. The two that Su Yun ate had different "fillings", and the ingredients were particularly rich and the cooking time was just right. It can be said to be first-class.

"Mother-in-law, where did you buy this egg waffle? I have a friend here too, and I want to buy some for him." Su Yun wiped her hands and asked.

What Su Yun didn't expect was that such an ordinary question would make the old lady, who seemed normal just now, suddenly lose her mind: "Ah... where did you buy it? I, I forgot..."

"Where did you buy it? Why can't I remember it at all?"

Seeing the old woman looking around anxiously, Su Yun quickly asked again, "Grandma? What's wrong with you?"

"I, I don't remember anything. What's my name? Who are you?" The old woman shouted at a loss, and Su Yun was suddenly startled and stood up subconsciously.

Before he could finish his words, a figure quickly stepped forward from behind and grabbed the panicked old woman: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm here, and Eggman is here too..."

"But this eggette doesn't taste right..." The old woman pursed her lips, her voice tinged with tears.

"I'll make you a new one right away. Just sit here and wait. It will be ready soon!" Old Man Shi tried his best to persuade the old woman to sit back in her original seat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Seeing Mr. Shi stand up, Su Yun quickly apologized.

"It's none of your business. It's just what happens when you get older." Mr. Shi, who was clinging to his foolish wife, sighed and handed the room key to Su Yun. "I'm sorry, I don't have time to take you upstairs now. Can you go upstairs by yourself? Otherwise, please wait a moment. I'll make some eggettes for my wife. They'll be ready soon."

"I can go up by myself, thank you." Su Yun took the key, and then watched Mr. Shi, who was relieved, walk quickly to the small kitchen under the stairs.

The design of the wall of the small kitchen was very unique. As soon as Mr. Shi entered, he pulled a curtain to reveal a part of the hollow wall - this was probably a special modification so that he could keep an eye on his wife's situation when he was in the kitchen.

Su Yun sighed for a while, then carried her suitcase and went up to the third floor.

Just as I climbed up the stairs, I happened to meet Zhao Liying who was walking out of the room.

"Who are you?" Zhao Liying asked doubtfully.

"Hello, I'm the new tenant of the room opposite yours. Thank you for your guidance." Su Yun did not respond to Zhao Liying's question in Japanese, but replied in Cantonese with a smile.

"Are you from Hong Kong?" Zhao Liying's tightly wrinkled brows relaxed a little.

"Yes, it's a rare holiday now, so I came here to play." Su Yun nodded.

After a few mild greetings, and after Su Yun expressed that an adult would be here later, Zhao Liying's look of worry about the child living alone finally disappeared. He and Su Yun nodded to each other and then went downstairs.

By the time Su Yun had packed her things, it was already dusk. At this time, Mr. Shi came up and knocked on the door, telling her that there would be dinner in fifteen minutes.

Su Yun nodded and followed the old man downstairs.

Because it is a family hostel, tonight's dinner will be eaten by Mr. and Mrs. Shi and Su Yun and Zhao Liying, the only guests in the hotel, at the big table in the living room.

Seeing that besides her portion of rice, there was also a small dish of fragrant egg waffles in front of the old lady, Zhao Liying pressed his forehead and turned to look at Mr. Shi: "Haven't you found the taste that grandma wants?"

"It doesn't matter, just keep looking. I've thought of some new ingredients these days." Mr. Shi shook his head.

Su Yun finished her meal while watching them, and when her father went to clean up, she took the initiative to invite Zhao Liying to sit in the living room.

"What's the matter?" Zhao Liying was very confused.

After eating and drinking, Su Yun had some free time, so she didn't plan to beat around the bush and briefly explained to Zhao Liying why she came here.

"It turns out that I was not mistaken, the little girl I saw that year was you!" Zhao Liying suddenly realized: that year he opened the window to get some fresh air and saw two little girls from the hostel opposite staring at him, and one of them looked vaguely similar to Su Yun now.

It turns out that the little girl from that year has grown up.

However, after realizing it, Zhao Liying rejected Su Yun's invitation: "I am living a good life now and don't want to enter that industry again."

No matter how hard Su Yun tried to persuade him, he remained unmoved and just kept shaking his head.

If Su Yun hadn't been a half-grown child, he would have already dealt with her persistent nagging him to come back to the entertainment industry.

Zhao Liying, who had been closed off for too long, didn't feel at all that he couldn't beat Su Yun, a half-grown child - not to mention that he was so closed off that he had never seen any of Su Yun's movies. Even if he had seen a few, Su Yun's image in the movies was always that of an angelic cutie or a naughty cutie, without any intimidation at all.

Unless you dig deeper into Hong Kong news, it is difficult to discover that Su Yun's fighting ability is actually enough to pin Zha Lan, a former marine, to the ground and make her unable to get up...

Both of them even felt that they were giving in to each other.

But even the best-tempered person will eventually lose his temper. After being annoyed by Su Yun for two days and two nights in a row, Zhao Liying finally couldn't stand it anymore.

"How do you know it's possible if you don't try? Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it!" Su Yun continued to persuade him righteously.

"Okay, you said that nothing is difficult if one sets his mind to it, right?" Zhao Liying frowned and pointed to Mr. Shi and his wife who were sitting not far away listening to Cantonese opera on the radio. "Within a week, if you can help Mr. Shi find the flavor of egg waffles that his wife wants, I will consider your cooperation proposal."

"But let me first remind you that Boss Shi has been looking for it for three years but hasn't been able to find it." When he came here that year, the old woman was not as demented as she is now. The two lonely old people took care of him as their own son or nephew when he was frustrated at that time and loved him very much.

It was because he received the family-like warmth from them that he stayed here for many years.

"Okay, I agree." Su Yun thought for a moment and accepted Zhao Liying's bet.

This made Zhao Liying a little confused: "Are you sure?"

"Of course." Su Yun said, handing over a plan in her hand, "But before that, I need to check whether your ability has declined because of your retirement in recent years."

Regardless of whether we can catch the person or not, let's just get him to help with some work for free.

As a future "black-hearted capitalist", Su Yun never misses any opportunity to squeeze the leeks.