"Thank you very much for your brave actions. We plan to present you with banners..."

Outside the Clock Tower Square Station, a group of incapacitated mercenaries were escorted away by the police. A retirement life with food and lodging was waiting for them. Ash and his friends were busy counting down at the Clock Tower Square, so they naturally had no time to listen to the police. The police were also reasonable and did not force them to stay, but still asked them to leave their ID information.

"Ash Heath... is it Mr. Heath!?"

Ash was used to this kind of reaction and said skillfully, "Do you need an autograph?"

The policewoman jumped up happily and quickly took out her notebook for Ash to sign. She looked at Rose's ID, returned it to Rose and smiled, "Happy birthday, Miss Lena."

"Um."

Ash and Rose left the subway station and were about to walk through the underground mall to reach the clock tower square when Ash suddenly realized, "Today is your birthday!?"

"Um."

"Why didn't you tell us? We would have celebrated your birthday with you!"

"How are you going to celebrate?"

"Customize a few cakes and have a cake fight, and throw cake on your face..."

"I never celebrate my birthday." Rose said decisively, "Don't do anything."

"No!" Ash took Rose's hand and walked towards the nearby mall: "At least I want to give you a birthday present!"

"No." Rose pulled Ash abruptly, "I don't like gifts. It's too troublesome."

"Is it troublesome to receive gifts?"

"Because giving me a gift is equivalent to establishing a special social contract between us. On your next birthday, I will give you a gift of equal value, and I cannot let you down. I must make you happy." Rose twitched her nose. "By then, I will need to investigate what you are lacking recently and what trends you like recently, and then I can analyze what gift you would like... It's too troublesome. I would rather not accept any gifts."

Ash didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Then you don't have to give me a gift, I don't mind."

"No, this is a social contract that is customarily agreed upon. Both parties should get the same amount of work and benefits. If you don't let me abide by it, I will feel very uncomfortable. It's like I work for you but you don't pay me." Rose shook her head firmly: "If you don't want to cause trouble for me, don't give me a gift."

"Besides, I don't need anything. I don't need any gift you give me."

Ash thought for a moment and explained, "I gave you this gift mainly to express my gratitude. You have helped me so much these days. I hope you can understand that I am sincerely grateful for your efforts."

"Then don't give me any presents."

"No, I want to give it to you!" Ash suddenly laughed and pulled her into the jewelry store next door. "Sorry, we magicians just act on our own and do whatever we want. Didn't I just tell you that magicians are all bad guys?"

Rose was not going to tolerate him. She was so angry that her cheeks puffed up and she hugged Ash's arm tightly. Ash finally dragged her into the jewelry store. Passersby nearby couldn't help but stare at them.

He didn't expect Rose to be so stubborn, so he compromised and said, "How about this? I'll pick a gift for you, and if you work a little more, it will be equivalent to offsetting the value of the gift. How about that? You don't have to give me a gift in return, and both sides will get the same results."

Rose was in a brainstorm, seemingly analyzing whether this exchange symbol was inconsistent with the social contract. Ash was afraid that the night would be too long and he looked around the jewelry store and immediately chose a ribbon bow hairband that looked pretty good. He swiped his card to pay for it and stuffed it into Rose's hand before she could react: "Happy birthday to you!"

Rose pouted her lips and looked very unhappy: "I have an elastic hairband."

"so what?"

"I don't have any use for a hair band. Even if you give it to me, it will just sit there. I don't need it."

Ash felt very tired: "You can use that hair tie as a backup, and use this hair band normally."

“Why do you want a spare?”

"In case you lose it..."

"I won't lose anything." Rose said seriously, "I remember where all my things are. I've used this hairband for six years and never lost it. It will reach the end of its lifespan in three years. If it breaks by then, I'll buy a new one."

Ash racked his brains: "Then why don't you just keep this hair tie? Or you can just throw away the old one."

"I won't keep anything extra, and I won't waste anything that's still useful." Rose held the ribbon hairband in her hand, feeling down. "There's no room for this hairband in my backpack. If I want to keep it, I'll have to buy a box to protect it... It's such a hassle to have an extra thing I don't need..."

Ash felt like he was about to kneel down: "Then it wouldn't be a waste if you gave the hairband to Nia or Fili, right?"

"That's like me giving them gifts," Rose said tangledly. "What if they give me things I don't need? If they don't give me anything, I'll be worried and feel uncomfortable."

It was not until this moment that Ash truly realized that he had done something wrong. He should have listened to Rose and been a useless, useless little thing.

At this moment, Rose's eyes suddenly lit up. She took off her hairband, combed her long blue hair, put on a new bow ribbon headband, and then stretched out her hand to Ash: "Give me your hand."

Ash handed it over, not knowing what was going on, and saw Rose tie the hairband around his wrist.

"It's OK to just give the hair tie to you, because you've already given me a gift, so if I give it back to you, it means that this social contract is perfectly fulfilled, and we owe nothing to each other, and it also solves the problem of where to put the hair tie. However, hair ties are cheaper than hair ties, so I still have to work a little overtime to make up for the price difference."

Ash hesitated for a moment, but still didn't dare to say something like "I don't need a hairband", which would be a dead end.

At this time, they noticed that people were rushing towards the exit. Ash realized that there were only three minutes left in the New Year countdown, so he quickly pulled Rose to the Clock Tower Square.

Ash took out his phone and tried to contact other people, but because there were too many people, the signal base station was fully loaded, so he couldn't make a call. The two squeezed through the crowd and looked around, but couldn't see anyone else. At this time, the host on the clock tower display had already started the final New Year countdown, and everyone in the square cheered in unison:

“10!”

“9!”

“8!”

Ash and Rose had no choice but to stop and look up at the display screen on the clock tower to welcome the end of 1668.

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

"Happy New Year!"

The melodious bells rang through the starry sky, the square was filled with joy, and the surrounding neon screens sent out various New Year greetings. Ash looked at Rose and smiled, "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year."

At this time, they saw everyone around them hugging each other. They were almost the only two outliers in the huge square. Ash and Rose looked at each other. Ash was a little embarrassed. Rose hesitated for a moment and suddenly said, "Stretch out your hands."

Rose took out a bottle of scented hand sanitizer from her backpack and applied it on Ash's hands. Then she grabbed Ash's hands and rubbed them together.

She rubbed very seriously. In addition to the palms and backs of her hands, she also inserted her fingers into the gaps between Ash's fingers and rubbed each of his fingers carefully. The milky white hand soap spread and formed bubbles as their palms rubbed.

When all the hand sanitizer was wiped off, Rose opened her arms and hugged Ash very stiffly.

Ash's eyes widened, deeply regretting not having time to meet up with the others - Rose took the initiative to hug him, and he couldn't find anyone to show off to!

But seeing Rose so stiff, Ash couldn't help but burst out laughing: "If you can't accept it, don't force it, let's go back."

"No, this is the traditional custom of the stars. At the end of the New Year countdown, you have to hug your closest friends." Rose said rigidly, "Hurry up and hug me."

Ash hugged her gently, and Rose pressed against his chest, commenting, "You're so skilled."

"I'm just average! I'm not very skilled!"

"Your reaction is so weird. I was clearly praising you." Rose let go of her hand and tilted her head: "So this is what a hug feels like..."

"I hope I didn't give you a bad experience." Ash smiled.

"One test cannot judge whether it is good or bad. More tests are needed to determine the extent of this experience." Rose groaned and said, "Then let's hug again during the next New Year's countdown."

"Schedule it directly to the next New Year's countdown..." Ash smiled: "But if possible, I also hope to be with you at the next New Year's countdown."

At this time, the atmosphere in the square changed quietly. They found that the couples around them were no longer satisfied with hugging, but went straight into a deeper kissing stage.

Ash blinked nervously, and Rose tilted her head in confusion: "Is this also a traditional custom? If so..."

She took out a roll of transparent plastic wrap from her backpack, unrolled it and put it on Ash's mouth, then blinked at him with an expression that said, "Am I very smart? Praise me."

Ash pushed away the plastic wrap and said with certainty: "This is definitely not a traditional custom, it's just an act between lovers. Let's go back."

"Oh." Rose took back the plastic wrap with some regret.

…

…

At the same time, in the old town at the other end of the city, fierce gunfire brought warm greetings to the New Year.

"stop!"

"Leave the things to me and I'll spare your life!"

"Stop right there!"

The exasperated Black Wolf Hadawa fired three rounds at the cloaked man in front of him, but none of them hit him. Not only him, but the other brothers' shots also failed to hit him once. You have to know that as the largest arms dealer in Linguang City, they usually have plenty of ammunition. Even if they are not sharpshooters, there is no reason why they can't hit him once at this distance!

It only means that the cloaked man has the ability to dodge bullets!

Which enemy sent these mercenaries? Sang Biao, Huo Ya, or...?

At this time, the cloaked man finally stopped under the street light by the river. Hadawa was overjoyed and quickly asked his men to surround him. He said viciously: "Give the things back, and I might spare your life!"

Just a while ago, a cloaked man suddenly broke into their workshop and stole the jewels in the safe, which were Hadawa's savings for several years. He could see that the world was going to be in turmoil and paper money was unreliable, so he quickly exchanged his property for jewels that were easier to sell, but he didn't expect to be robbed in one fell swoop.

However, the cloaked man raised his hand and pointed to the traffic light not far away, "There are surveillance cameras there."

The cloaked man's voice was a clear and pleasant female voice, but Hadawa had no time to care about such trivial matters. He aimed at the other party and said fiercely: "Do you think I am afraid of killing someone under surveillance? I wish everyone could witness what will happen to those who dare to provoke me, Hadawa!"

"very good."

The cloaked man pulled out a straight-blade knife, and the eyes inside the Shura mask glowed red. He said calmly:

"I also need someone to witness your end."