Chapter 105 Making a Grand Debut
Outside the theater, Bourbon ran into Gin and Vodka.
"Oh, what a coincidence!" It's not common to run into an acquaintance in a foreign country, so Bourbon greeted the two men in black warmly.
Gin was still the same as always, wearing a long black trench coat and a black bowler hat. His outfit might have been too eye-catching elsewhere, but it didn't seem so out of place here: everywhere you looked were men in suits, stylish coats, and impeccable attire.
Even Bourbon wore a tailored three-piece suit to match the solemn and formal occasion, which made his youthful face look more mature.
"Bourbon, what are you doing here? Aren't you on paid leave?" Vodka asked curiously.
“My injuries are mostly healed. The organization sent me here on a mission,” Bourbon replied. “Speaking of which, I really should thank you for saving me!”
Bourbon was referring to the time in the South American rainforest when Gin met Bourbon, who had narrowly escaped death from the swamp, and sent him back to Tokyo.
In his work report email, Gin wrote: "When I saw Bourbon, he was covered in wounds, starving, and looked like a hairless monkey who had suffered a lot."
Bourbon believes it was this bleak description that led the organization to approve his leave.
"What brings you two here?" Bourbon inquired.
“None of your business,” Gin replied coldly.
"Let me guess, it must be related to Scotland?"
"How did you know?!" Vodka exclaimed, and Gin glared at him.
"That's easy to guess! Rumors are circulating in the organization that Scotland isn't dead. Isn't it usually Gin who handles dealing with rats? You guys didn't succeed at Mai Tai's place last time, did you?"
Gin scoffed dismissively, "Today I'm going to smash his cat head in!"
Bourbon, slightly surprised, pointed to the program poster hanging on the wall and asked, "Gin, is your target today the person up there?"
“What you mean, bro, is that Scotland is an owl,” Vodka explained. “Didn’t you watch yesterday’s live stream? Scotland was cooking while wearing a kilt and a cat mask.”
As he spoke, Vodka showed Bourbon the live stream footage: "I recorded it all. This guy streamed for almost 3 hours straight, it's outrageous!"
Bourbon reminisced with great interest about his partner's memorable scene, then asked, "Vodka, you mean Scotland will be here today? But the show is about to start, you guys aren't going to..."
"That depends on when Scotland shows up," Gin said indifferently. "Bourbon, don't cause trouble."
"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" the blond man muttered grumbling under his breath.
Bourbon's mission is related to Mr. Swann.
In short, a few months ago, Vermouth was in talks with a British company about a collaboration on medical devices, and everything seemed to be going smoothly. However, unexpectedly, a third party intervened, and the deal fell through. And the one who snatched the business away was none other than the Swan family.
The gentleman's initial plan was to bypass these middlemen, but the reality was more complex. After careful consideration, he decided to try to continue the cooperation.
In order to keep the business going, this short-sighted competitor needs to be taught a lesson.
Therefore, Bourbon's mission was to force the Swann family to give up the competition, break the signed contract, and hand over the order to the organization.
"Vermouth was the one who initially discussed the business deal, so why wasn't she allowed to come?"
Bourbon was unable to extract any answers from the Thousand-Faced Witch.
However, he learned an important piece of information: the reason the Swan family dared to compete with the organization and snatch food from its jaws was not because they were ignorant or overly bold. Rather, it was because neither Mr. Swan nor his partners knew that the real mastermind behind it all was the Karasuma Group: Vermouth had gone to negotiate as a representative of another company under the organization's name.
"In that case, scaring him a little should do the trick, right?"
Bourbon thought to himself, silently rehearsing his lines.
Bourbon learned that Mr. Swann had invited his business partner to the theater to see a show today, which was an excellent opportunity to get closer to his target.
The debonair blond man found a seat on the left side of the first floor, where he could easily observe his target's every move. After settling in, Bourbon glanced diagonally upwards: Gin and Vodka were on the second floor.
"It's hard to imagine someone like Gin having the patience to watch a musical."
Bourbon chuckled to himself.
Upstairs, Gin sat upright, carefully observing everyone coming and going through a small pair of binoculars.
“Brother, look, that guy named Swan is here!” Vodka said softly.
Gin discovered that the castle Scotland was leasing was owned by the Swan family, and traced the two men's movements to the same grand theater, leading him to suspect that Scotland and Mr. Swan might have some kind of secret deal.
Mr. Swann entered the theater with his wife and his business partner's family. Bourbon, feigning nonchalance, quietly rose and accidentally bumped into Mr. Swann.
"I'm sorry!" Bourbon bowed and apologized.
“It’s alright,” Mr. Swan smiled.
This minor incident didn't attract Gin's attention; he assumed Bourbon was up to some clever trick again.
Everyone took their seats, and all was well. The curtain rose, and the performance officially began!
Today's program is the renowned musical "Cats".
This musical is adapted from a children's poem by a British poet. If you had to summarize the plot in one sentence, it would be: the story of a group of cats.
The first act features the entrance of the cats, who are holding a celebratory ball. Actors dressed in fluffy cat costumes and with lifelike cat faces painted on, all take the stage to introduce themselves to the audience.
Suddenly, Bourbon's eyes lit up: a strange cat had sneaked in. He'd searched high and low, and there it was, amidst the chaotic chorus of cats!
"Jing, what are you doing on stage?!"
The golden retriever was utterly shocked: "He just finished a live broadcast yesterday, and today he's performing in a musical. Is Jing having a sudden urge to perform?"
But this is really unfair to Mr. Cat. In fact, he hadn't planned to go on stage at all, but unfortunately, one of the actors twisted his ankle and couldn't continue the performance. Although that person was just a background character with not much screen time, losing one person is still quite troublesome.
So Mr. Cat, a temporary worker at the theater, stepped forward and volunteered. Because his physique was similar to that of the actor, and his singing and dancing skills were also acceptable, he became a temporary extra.
"I never imagined that Jing had developed his hobby to the point where he could perform on the same stage as professional actors!!"
The golden retriever was deeply impressed. He wasn't particularly interested in musicals, and although he had heard of "Cats" before, he had never really listened to it. But because of Jingguang, he watched it with extra focus this time, his eyes glued to the young white tomcat.
Obviously, Gin and Vodka, who were watching the show from the second floor, never imagined that Scotland would be so audacious as to sing and dance right under their noses.
That completely cat-like makeup was probably only noticeable to a childhood friend like Bourbon. Gin, who had been holding binoculars throughout the entire show, didn't even notice the inconspicuous white tomcat on stage.
However, even Bourbon, who was thoroughly enjoying the show, had his moments of unhappiness.
There's a scene in the musical about dogs: a group of cats dressed as dogs bark incessantly and then start a brawl.
Although the audience was delighted, the golden retriever was very unhappy. He felt it was a slander against dogs and thought to himself with great indignation: "Damn cat, how can you slander dogs like this!"
Whether it was a case of childhood friends sharing a telepathic connection, or whether Jingguang had already anticipated Ling's dissatisfaction with the performance, before retreating to become a background character, the white tomcat made a cute gesture towards the audience: the movement was small, but it was directed towards a certain golden retriever.
"Wow! Jing looks so much cuter in that fluffy cat costume than in that little dress!"
The golden retriever thought to itself, and then it stopped being angry.
Finally, the performance ended with a dance. The old cat, who had been away from home for a long time, finally gained the forgiveness of the other cats, ascended to the clouds, and was reborn. Amidst the warm and healing music, all the cats found happiness.
The two-hour musical came to a close, and the actors came forward to greet the audience, who responded with thunderous applause.
Amidst the clamor of voices, Vodka leaned close to Gin's ear and asked, "Big brother, what should we do now?"
"Scotland isn't here; I bet he's hiding backstage. Let's go! We..."
Before the silver-haired man could finish speaking, darkness enveloped the surroundings, and a commotion arose from the crowd: "The power's out?!"
"Please don't panic! Please leave in an orderly line and do not push!" The staff held up large flashlights and tried their best to maintain order.
“Let’s go too!” Gin called out.
"Brother, are you letting Scotland off the hook again?"
“He always acts one step ahead of us, which puts us at a disadvantage.”
Vodka reluctantly followed Gin out of the theater: two hours of sitting there watching cats run wild! Scotland, I've added another grudge against you!
"Hey, bro, should we wait for Bourbon?" Vodka asked again.
"Hmph! What are we waiting for him for? Let's go!" The silver-haired man turned and left without looking back.
Outside the Grand Theater, it was completely dark, and many audience members were still shaken by the power outage.
"I've been watching plays here for many years, and I've never encountered anything like this before!" said the elderly people.
"Mrs. Swann, what's wrong?"
"Excuse me, has anyone seen my husband?"
"Huh? Didn't you guys come out together?"
"It was too dark just now, I couldn't see him clearly. I thought he was following behind me, but once I came out, I couldn't find him anymore..."
"Perhaps it's still inside? Let me go look for it for you!"
However, to everyone's surprise, the theater doors could not be opened: "They were locked from the inside."
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