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"Yes, what a coincidence." Su Xiaoqiang smiled with his eyes narrowed, but there was not much unnecessary expression on his fair little face.
"My girlfriend, she's Japanese, Uesugi Eriya." Lu Mingfei showed the girl his and Eriya's hands holding each other, but he was carefully observing Su Xiaoqiang's eyes.
"Senior Brother Ming Fei is really a romantic wanderer." Su Xiaoqiang said. She held up a huge umbrella, and the crowd under the umbrella automatically parted. The girl tilted her head, and the silver earrings on her earlobes jingled.
"Want a drink?" she asked.
"Okay, I'll be staying at the Regent Hotel recently." Lu Mingfei did not refuse.
Chapter 442: Just like that year, a beautiful rumor was engraved
"Did you make a special trip back to China for Christmas?" Su Xiaoqiang put her hands behind her back and walked with her neck tilted back. Her long hair tied up made this girl, who was still a little girl in Lu Mingfei's impression, look much more dignified and elegant than before, but her appearance when she walked in the wind was still the same as before.
"I chose finance as my major at Kassel College, and I plan to work directly on Wall Street after graduation. Isn't this a good opportunity to come back and do some social practice while I still have plenty of time while studying?" Lu Mingfei laughed. Eri poked her head out on the other side of him to secretly look at the girl she met on the street, feeling both curious and wary.
Lu Mingfei lied without blushing or beating his heart, and his eyes were fixed straight ahead with no flaws on his face. “My uncle has a lot of good resources, so my cost of trial and error is very low,” he said.
"I heard from Zhao Menghua that he has a friend whose family runs a financial firm on Wall Street. Maybe he can help you." Su Xiaoqiang looked at Lu Mingfei. Lu Mingfei's heart trembled. He suddenly felt that the pair of deep green pupils seemed to be able to see through him. All the secrets were revealed in a casual glance.
He couldn't describe what that feeling was, or perhaps it was the inertia left over from three years of studying and living together with Su Xiaoqiang. A long time ago, Lu Mingfei felt that he could not keep any secrets in front of Su Xiaoqiang. It was a very subtle feeling. Sometimes he thought that he was actually accompanied by a fangirl version of Nuonuo, and sometimes he thought that Su Xiaoqiang was actually a very gentle and delicate girl, like Isabel.
When Lu Mingfei was studying at Shilan Middle School, Father Su would often invite Lu Mingfei to his home for dinner, and Aunt Sophia would even ask Lu Mingfei to make dumplings with her in authentic Minnan dialect.
Aunt Sofia is Su Xiaoqiang's mother. She is Portuguese. Although she was already in her thirties at that time, she still had charm and was pitiful. Every time Lu Mingfei went there, she would wear a long plaid skirt with floral patterns and play the piano in Su Xiaoqiang's big house. The sunlight would shine through the leaves of the old sycamore tree outside the floor-to-ceiling window, reflecting her skin into a white color that was almost transparent. Her long hair was tied at her waist, her back was straight, her figure was slender, and there were no wrinkles on her face. Her facial features and face shape were also close to the elegance and refinement of an Oriental. Sometimes when she went out with Su Xiaoqiang and met classmates, others would think she was one of Su Xiaoqiang's foreign cousins.
In Lu Mingfei's mind, there has always been a ranking of most beautiful mothers. Chu Zihang's mother can be ranked first, and Aunt Sophia can be ranked second.
However, it is better not to let Chu Zihang know about this shameful ranking, otherwise Senior Brother Lu Mingfei might try the feeling of being burned by a high temperature of 2,000 degrees.
"Did the University of Chicago let you go home so early? Why are you returning home so early?" Lu Mingfei asked. They walked along Changjiang Road. From a long distance they could see the riverbank of the Fei River crawling like a giant in the soft and dense white curtain. Further away they could vaguely see the wet school flag hanging on the flagpole on the flag-raising platform of Shilan Middle School. Dozens or hundreds of gray-white buildings that were no different from those two years ago stood silently in the night, completely enclosing the best local school like a fence protecting a vineyard. Warm light was seeping out of the windows of every shop around them.
Su Xiaoqiang was stunned for a while, with a sneer on his face that said, "Ah, I have something on my mind, but I won't tell you, or you'll be worried to death." "My dad has a cerebral thrombosis and is in the hospital. Mom is terrified. She cried so hard when she called me, saying what would she do without Old Su. She also said that my uncles are like vicious dogs, blocking Dad's ward all day with the property transfer contract notarized by a lawyer... What can I do? This world is full of people and doesn't leave any bones. Mom is the kind of person who can't resist. I can only resist on my own."
Lu Mingfei listened in silence.
"I took a red-eye flight when I came back. I was so scared. I was thinking what would happen if those uncles detained me, what would happen if my father really passed away, and how to comfort my mother. I was so confused that I couldn't think straight." Su Xiaoqiang said calmly. She waved to the child who ran out from the street to sell her roses. The child was about to leave disappointed, but was stopped before she turned around. She bought a bright red rose and handed it to Eri through Lu Mingfei, so that she was close to Lu Mingfei's face. The two were so close that they could hear each other's breathing.
"I sent you a message before I came back, but you didn't reply. It was just a month or two ago."
Lu Mingfei looked at the little face so close to him with fear. Su Xiaoqiang's eyelashes fluttered and she smiled like a little fox. "Mingfei, you were in Japan at that time, right? It was all reported in the news. It said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us Chinese to try not to go there because the gangs are rampant recently. Even in downtown Tokyo, there have been several armed conflicts and many people have died."
"I did encounter some things in Japan. For a period of time, I couldn't contact the outside world. It was very dangerous, and the people related to me were also in danger." Lu Mingfei explained that after the falling out with the Snake Hachika, the academy completely deleted his interpersonal network at the information level through EVA, including the contact information with his former classmates and relatives who never cared about each other.
The academy didn't know much about Japan, and even with Kaguya in Norma, they had never been able to fully infiltrate that land. But everyone knew that the Snake Hachika got their start in the underworld, and there were hundreds of thousands of underworld gangs in Japan, many of which were cruel criminals. If the families and friends of the commissioners could be easily traced, then these criminals might use them to threaten the commissioners on missions.
But these things cannot be told to Su Xiaoqiang. The world of ordinary people is already beautiful, there is no need to touch it...
The world of dragons.
"Can I go visit my uncle?" Lu Mingfei asked after a moment of hesitation.
Old Man Su has always been very nice to him. In the past, Lu Mingfei wished that his guardians were Old Man Su and Aunt Sophia.
"He actually mentioned you a few times, saying that you didn't visit him even though you were in college. He also said that you're a good person and asked me to keep you to help him manage the family business." Su Xiaoqiang kicked the stones under her feet and looked around. It seemed that she just wanted to know why Lu Mingfei didn't reply to her message. "If you want to visit, wait two days. I have a lawsuit tomorrow night."
"What lawsuit?"
"An old man said that the Land Bureau occupied their family's land and sold it to us for mining." Su Xiaoqiang sneered, "Actually, it was hired by my uncles. They can't win the lawsuit, but they just want to hold me back so that I can't free up my hands to deal with the company's affairs."
"What happened to your company?"
"There is serious corruption, the whereabouts of funds are unknown, and accidents happen frequently at construction sites... My uncles and aunts who own shares in the family left me a mess and want to take over our family," Su Xiaoqiang gritted his teeth.
"When you finish the lawsuit, I will introduce you to a friend who can help you solve most of your problems." Lu Mingfei said, "You are not in the financial circle, but I have to tell you that people on Wall Street call her the Black Swan. She has shares in the Black Prince Group in our city... If that girl wants to, she can make your uncles and aunts play to death. Of course, the premise is that you don't mind her doing so."
"I didn't realize that Senior Brother Mingfei is quite good at hooking up with rich women." When Su Xiaoqiang smiled, she looked like a little fox with a pointed chin. She skipped to Eri's side and took her arm. "Is Eri the little princess of some Japanese company?"
"My brother doesn't run a company." Eiry clutched a rose, "He goes out to fight with people every day." She said it quite seriously. It seems that even now Eiry still thinks that it is not a bad thing for gangsters to go out and fight.
"So you are a little princess of the underworld who is ignorant of the ways of the world..." Su Xiaoqiang glanced at Lu Mingfei dimly, and Lu Mingfei chuckled twice.
"I'm dressed like this, wearing a hat and a mask, and you can still recognize me in the crowd..." He quickly changed the subject.
"Didn't you recognize me, too?"
"It's not recognition, it's just a feeling."
"Me too, I felt like a very important guy passed by, so I turned around to look, and then I saw you." Su Xiaoqiang shrugged, "Our eyes met, wouldn't it be too deliberate to dodge? And showing a miserable expression would make you look a bit cowardly, right? But I don't have the ability to pick up a stone pillar on the side of the road and smash it on your head, and that would be too violent..."
So I can only tilt my head and smile at you. Even though my heart aches as if it’s about to break when I see you and the girl next to you, I can only say lightly, “What a coincidence that you’re here too.”
I don't need to ask you how you are, I can tell how tired you are just by looking into your eyes.
But even though you are so tired, you are still very happy, so the person next to you must be the one you truly love, right?
Su Xiaoqiang sniffed and her voice suddenly became a little hoarse. "There's a Fox Bar in the CBD area. Let's go there for a drink? After we're done, I'll ask the driver to take you back to your hotel." She turned her head away, not wanting to look at Lu Mingfei's face and the man's eyes again.
"Our current status is not suitable for public exposure. Do you have a private room?"
"Yes." Su Xiaoqiang said, "Did you cause trouble in Japan? Can the gangsters over there chase you to China? I tell you, Brother Mingfei, our China has become strong now, and we are very thorough in eliminating gangsters and evil. Gangsters like this will not work here."
"Have you heard of the dark web?" Lu Mingfei began to talk nonsense. "I have HP's trade secrets in my hands. Someone is seeking my arrest on the dark web for six million dollars. This kind of arrest is quite dangerous. Can the police protect me temporarily or forever?"
"So you haven't encountered any danger recently?"
"No, they don't know I've returned yet," said Lu Mingfei.
"That's good. If you have any problems, you can ask me for help. My family has some friends locally." Su Xiaoqiang said.
Lu Mingfei agreed, and they wandered along Changjiang Road towards the CBD.
The lush plane trees on both sides of this old road had lost all their leaves as early as late autumn. Now only bare branches are left, pointing to the sky like dry palms, and occasionally a few large yellow leaves that have persisted until now will fall.
"I remember that this place was just a small city before, and there was only one main road in the whole city, Changjiang Road," said Lu Mingfei.
Eri was a little confused. In her opinion, every city in the world should be a replica of Tokyo, but Tokyo was such a magnificent and huge steel forest, with four-lane and even eight-lane roads everywhere. The so-called main roads were just bridges from one district to another.
How could there be a city with only one main road? It would be so crowded. Every night, car headlights would light up between the buildings and converge into a long river. The flickering and swaying lights would burn the exterior walls of the buildings red.
"When I returned from Portugal, China had changed a lot. There were construction sites everywhere, dust everywhere, and everyone was talking about internationalization and human community. New urban areas were growing out of the ground like wheat," Su Xiaoqiang sighed.
"Mingfei, do you remember when we were in high school, we would occasionally come to the game hall nearby to play games? At that time, you and Chu Zihang were the big names in the school, so when you played Three Kingdoms, there was always a group of people watching behind you... Every time I pestered you to take me along, and if you didn't want to, I would complain to my mother."
"I remember that later on, Chu Zihang and I were both busy with our studies. In our spare time, we would just play basketball and never went to the game hall again," said Lu Mingfei.
In the past, Su Xiaoqiang could only fight the old and strong but stupid Huang Zhong, because the little Huang Zhong was shooting arrows from a distance and was not easy to be beaten. The ones who were beaten were always Lu Mingfei's Zhang Fei and Chu Zihang's Zhao Yun. If Lu Mingfei's rough man Zhang Fei used up his life, Changshan Zhao Zilong would not be able to hold on for long, and in the end, there would always be Huang Zhong who was jumping around in a mess, struggling to death on the battlefield, and then he would be hacked to death by the monsters.
They walked all the way to the middle section of Changjiang Road. As they walked, Su Xiaoqiang clasped her hands together, placed them on her lips and blew hot air into them. The snow fell earlier than in previous years, and the temperature dropped quickly. She had not taken sufficient measures to keep warm when she came out, and she had thrown away the umbrella that could separate the crowd. The snow was pouring down on her heads, but the two people next to her were not afraid of the cold at all after eating their fill. Their bodies were steaming hot and they didn't look like they were feeling cold at all.
After seeing this, Huili hesitated for a moment, let go of Lu Mingfei's arm, held both of Su Xiaoqiang's hands in her arms, and used her body temperature to warm the girl's cold hands.
Lu Mingfei was a little stunned, and Eiry turned her head and stuck out her tongue at him.
"By the way, Xiao Qiang, what are you doing over there today?"
"No one has lived here for a long time, so I came out to buy some things." Su Xiaoqiang felt a little embarrassed when being held by Eri, and his face turned red.
"I remember your family doesn't live here, so it should be quite close to Chu Zihang's home."
"I bought an apartment on Changjiang Middle Road, which is closer to the company." Su Xiaoqiang said, and she checked her phone. "We're almost there, Brother Mingfei, we have to get drunk today."
"The little angel is a little angel. She can buy an apartment in the city center whenever she wants." Lu Mingfei gave a thumbs up.
“Didn’t dad tell you before that you should stay in the city and help me? In that case, an apartment is nothing, and buying a villa in a high-end community is nothing.” Su Xiaoqiang smiled. She looked at Lu Mingfei’s profile with no expression on her face. “But I know that Brother Mingfei, you are a capable person. How could someone like you stay in such a small place? The most dangerous place in the world is your stage…”
After a moment, Eiry suddenly felt something and looked up at Su Xiaoqiang's eyes. The girl had turned her head to the other side and seemed to be showing great interest in the billiard hall in the alley, but Eiry saw that her cold dark green pupils were clearly covered with a mist of confusion.
Chapter 443 Peach Blossoms Still Smile in the Spring Breeze (Thanks to the leader of "Dragon's Roar" for the reward)
The Fox Bar, which Su Xiaoqiang said was quite luxurious, was located on the 88th floor of a skyscraper in the middle section of Changjiang Road. It was filled with places that only the city's top people could afford, including bars, restaurants, dance floors and even theme hotels.
Su Xiaoqiang led Lu Mingfei and Hui Liyi into the gate. They immediately felt the warm breeze blowing on their faces. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief at the same time and shook their shoulders to shake off the snow on their bodies.
"When you were studying at Shilan Middle School, even if you were Senior Brother Mingfei, you probably never came here." Su Xiaoqiang said
"Wow." Lu Mingfei said, "I've definitely never been here."
"Wow." Eri also said.
"I know it's exaggerated, but the owner of this building is said to be a very wealthy guy with a very violent aesthetic style. The wealth he holds is enough to buy the entire CBD area." Su Xiaoqiang waved his hand weakly to dismiss the waiter who came over, and took Lu Mingfei and Eri to the VIP elevator in the corner.
This building is located between glass buildings on the busiest road in the city. Every building around it is hard and cold titanium black. Only this building is white, clean and magnificent, and looks like a whole piece of white rock from the outside.
The reception floor is designed to be extremely high, with white Roman columns arranged in layers and in a regular pattern everywhere. Each Roman column is decorated with stone carvings and oil paintings. It is extremely simple and solemn, and even the service quality of the waiters far exceeds that of any other similar place.
"I want to say that those nouveau riche people in China who made their fortunes from real estate have finally begun to realize that their architectural aesthetics have always been half-Western and half-Chinese..." Lu Mingfei covered his face, "So now they have decided to restart the classical era and build every building into an ancient Roman temple?"
Behind them, well-dressed men and girls with pure or charming eyes walked in and out hand in hand. Each of them had huge desires, and the corners of their eyes and eyebrows hid hidden meanings that outsiders did not understand.
This is obviously also a mountain where power is concentrated. There are very few people who come here purely for consumption. Everyone comes here with a purpose. As soon as they walk through the door, they have already stepped into the feast of power. Even the smiling girls at the front desk have cold scales in their eyes, weighing whether each person who comes in is worthy of their service.
This is the world of adults, and they are the only three outsiders. Everyone is at the table, some are diners, some are food, and they are spectators.
The elevator rose at a constant speed, and the moment I walked into the bar, the manager on duty came up to me with a flattering but not offensive smile on his face.
It seems that Su Xiaoqiang is a celebrity in the business community of this city. Even small figures like managers would call him Mr. Su. Lu Mingfei nodded and whispered that he was awesome. Su Xiaoqiang glared at him in a reproachful manner in a corner where no one could see.
In that glance, time seemed to go back, back to the days when boys still wore shirts and girls still had long braids. They were inseparable at that time, and even the dean said that Ming Fei and Xiao Qiang were truly the golden boy and girl of our Shilan Middle School.
It's just that the golden boy and girl of high school were always a pair of enemies. Whenever something happened, Su Xiaoqiang could never win over Lu Mingfei. Even if she could win over her, she would give in to Senior Brother Mingfei. But afterwards, she would bite her lip and stare at him with pitiful and a little angry eyes.
"Take us to the reserved box and bring out the two best bottles of wine my father has stored here. Don't disturb us after you bring them in." Su Xiaoqiang said.
Next to them was a huge dance floor, with men and women making ambiguous glances at each other, candlelight swaying, and the smell of alcohol so strong that it made people feel dizzy when they walked in. Deep in the alcohol, a jazz band composed of old foreigners with ruddy complexions, greasy hair, blond hair and blue eyes was playing a certain song.
Smoking is not banned here, but few men smoke in such occasions. Instead, there are some charming girls leaning against the booth with seductive and dreamy eyes, holding a thin cigarette with their slender index and middle fingers, puffing out smoke.
This enclosed space seemed to be filled with candlelight and reflections from glassware, making it impossible to open one's eyes. Eiry was a little scared and clenched Lu Mingfei's hand.
It's not like Gen Chisei had not taken her to what the heads of the eight families of Snakesaki called upper-class cocktail parties before. There were also a constant stream of well-dressed people, but compared to the free atmosphere here, there were always waiters in black evening gowns, speaking standard English, French and Spanish as they moved lightly through the crowd. Similarly, the jazz band did not play the melodious tunes here, but rather a somewhat lazy romance.
Su Xiaoqiang didn't notice anything unusual about Eri, and walked in front with great vigor. Although she had tied up her long hair and wore high heels, the little angel was still the same little angel. Time can change a lot of things, but some things you will find are still there when you look back.
The moment Lu Mingfei walked into the box, he was stunned. The light near the dance floor was so dim that he had not noticed that he was circling the building. This box was actually next to the huge floor-to-ceiling window directly opposite the elevator.
Lu Mingfei leaned against the door frame, watching the manager on duty cut the lemons and arranged the sea salt, then opened the tequila with a screwdriver. The silver tray containing foie gras or steak was placed on the dining table.
But the direction he was actually looking at was the CBD area and the city that were completely overlooked. The lights from far and near were converging together, as if a tide was surging towards him.
Lu Mingfei took off his mask and hat only after everyone else had left. He also helped Eiry take off her cute furry bunny ear hat.
The moment Lu Mingfei entered this space, he began to examine the confidentiality here. It turned out that the Fox Bar knew very well what kind of big shots its guests were. Such big shots would never want their conversations with friends or clients to be spied on, so the box was very clean, without any listening devices or surveillance equipment.
After sitting down, Su Xiaoqiang was surprised and focused more of his attention on Eri, because the girl really looked like a princess sitting down to have a meal, with long eyelashes drooping to cover her deep red eyes, and her waist was slender and yet straight. When she held the wine glass between her fingertips, her terrifying aura of superiority was like a god who parted the clouds and looked down from the sky. No one in this world could remain calm under such a gaze.