Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
As soon as they entered the Outdoor Equipment Store, the Boss greeted them with a smile: "Just now, Asang called me. Luo Boss, if you come in person to stock up, I will give you the biggest discount."
"Thanks," Luo Yi replied.
Zhou Yao was unwilling to accompany Luo Yi and wandered around the store by herself. She flipped through a few jackets and found the quality to be average. When she saw the price, she was shocked that they were asking for thirteen hundred.
Moreover, what was this Adidas brand?
After wandering around, she turned back to see that Luo Yi had already chosen his items. The Boss was busy packing the goods into a plastic bag while tapping away on the calculator: "Twenty Oxygen Tanks, fifty-five times—"
"Wait!" Zhou Yao walked over to the counter and leaned in to pull out a portable Oxygen Tank from the plastic bag. "How much is this?"
"Fifty-five, that's the wholesale price."
"How much?" Zhou Yao frowned. "The retail price isn't even this high."
The Boss looked embarrassed and chuckled awkwardly: "Little girl, you don't understand—"
"I recognize this brand; I've bought it before. It's the most basic brand," Zhou Yao said as she looked at the label and then raised her eyes to glare at him. "Fifty-five? No way! Take everything out of the bag; we don't want it." She started to pull everything out of the plastic bag.
The Boss panicked and sought help from Luo Yi: "Luo Boss, this is really the wholesale price. Look—"
Luo Yi wasn't familiar with this; previously, all purchases were made by Wu Di, and this was just the price on the books.
Zhou Yao turned around and looked deeply at Luo Yi, as if to say that if he betrayed her, she could be unhappy for a year.
Luo Yi touched his nose, cleared his throat twice, and said, "Listen to her."
Zhou Yao immediately turned to Boss with a smile, "You can do it too; just make it cheaper."
Boss had no choice, "Oh, since we are all friends, it's fifty-two."
"What can three dollars do?"
"Then fifty."
"Forty!" Zhou Yao said.
"Wow, that's really impossible. Forty-five; it can't be less."
"We're buying so much, and there's also the Trekking Pole. You have to give us the wholesale price. Otherwise, I won't come to your place to do business next time."
"Alright, forty it is. Young lady, your bargaining skills are impressive."
"And about that tent, how much did you say? That doesn't count; let's recalculate—" She leaned over the counter and casually grabbed some paper, a pen, and a calculator.
With nothing to do, Luo Yi stepped back to the side, leaned against the wall, and took out a cigarette to smoke. Through the curling smoke, he watched her busily working like a little manager, his emotions inscrutable.
As he was watching, she turned her face to the side with a blank expression. Then her eyes squinted slightly, her mouth opened wider and wider until she suddenly sneezed: "Ah-choo~~~"
Luo Yi couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
She finished and rubbed her nose, muttering to herself, "Who is thinking of me?"
Luo Yi: "..."
She turned back and continued speaking to Boss, "Two thousand one hundred ninety-eight, rounding it off to two thousand."
Boss let out a miserable cry.
Luo Yi smiled lightly and looked outside. The smile faded as expected; she saw a familiar face.
After buying various equipment, Boss sorrowfully sent the two out. Zhou Yao added, "Thank you, Boss. I'll introduce friends to come next time."
Once outside, Zhou Yao couldn't help but tease Luo Yi, "Hey, this shop might have scammed you before. Boss Luo, do you want to get back at them? Isn't your heart particularly strong? Why not take the opportunity to show it?"
"..." Luo Yi glanced at her. "What loss do I have? It's all cost plus twenty sold to tourists."
"..." Zhou Yao stopped, staring at his back while grinding her teeth in complaint, "Scammer."
...
Zhou Yao helped Luo Yi load things into the car and suddenly spotted the stalker from last time. She placed the Oxygen Tank in the car, quieted her expression, and whispered, "Boss Luo, that person is here again—"
"It's fine," he said, loading a bundle of Trekking Poles into the car.
"Oh." Zhou Yao didn't ask further; she knew that was enough.
With everything loaded up, the sun had risen high, shining down on this gray little town nestled between golden mountains.
Luo Yi closed the back door and asked Zhou Yao, "Are you hungry?"
Zhou Yao replied, "What for?"
Luo Yi asked, "Do you want to eat?"
Zhou Yao's eyes lit up. "Are you treating me?"
He smirked, "What else?"
"I do," Zhou Yao smiled. "If Boss Luo is treating, I won't pass it up."
"It seems like you can eat a lot."
"Of course."
"Then forget it, let's just go back," Luo Yi changed his mind.
"…"
Zhou Yao pouted and shot him a sideways glance.
Seeing her little expression made him laugh again. "Just kidding, let's go." After taking a few steps, he noticed Zhou Yao hadn't followed and was rooted in place, glaring at him.
"Tsk, can't even take a joke," he raised an eyebrow and walked back, pinching her sleeve at the elbow to pull her along. "—Let's go."
"Who said they would get revenge for being teased?" Zhou Yao shouted as he dragged her away.
Luo Yi brought Zhou Yao to the entrance of a restaurant, and Zhou Yao went in first. Luo Yi walked up the steps and glanced back; the person was still following.
Luo Yi took out his phone and dialed a number. Soon, the person not far away pulled out his phone, looked at it for a few seconds, and answered.
Luo Yi squinted at him and asked, "Officer Lu, coming over to eat together?"
There was no response. Luo Yi saw him hang up and enter a nearby store.
Luo Yi put away his phone, turned around, and found that Zhou Yao was nowhere to be seen. He walked into the restaurant and looked around; Zhou Yao had already found a seat and was waving at him.
Luo Yi went over to sit down, pulled out the menu, and handed it to her, saying, "Take a look at what you want to eat."
Zhou Yao tilted her head and opened the menu. Raising an eyebrow, she said, "I'll eat whatever is the most expensive."
Luo Yi put his hands in his pockets and nodded, "Alright."
Zhou Yao pouted, "I'll make you broke!"
Luo Yi replied, "Then you better work hard."
Zhou Yao fell silent.
Unable to argue with him, Zhou Yao decided to seriously look at the menu. After flipping through a few pages and forgetting their earlier banter, she pointed at one item and asked him, "Is this roasted lamb good?"
Luo Yi glanced at it and said, "It's not the most expensive."
Zhou Yao: "..."
Not changing the topic, clearly holding a grudge.
Zhou Yao silently continued to flip through the menu, his gaze drawn to the roasted Yak meat, which looked quite appealing in the picture. Wow, it really isn't cheap.
As he pondered, Luo Yi's voice came through: "The dish you're looking at now is their specialty; it's worth trying."
"Then I'll have this," Zhou Yao said, lifting his chin and looking at him half-confirmingly, half-asking for permission. Luo Yi nodded slightly, indicating agreement.
Zhou Yao smiled and lowered his head to continue browsing.
Luo Yi patiently waited, inadvertently recalling that he had brought Yanni to this restaurant before. At that time, she had also wanted that dish but ordered something else due to the price. Later, Luo Yi had switched it when he placed the order. He was prepared to change the dish again just now, but evidently, Zhou Yao didn't need his help and was completely unreserved with him.
After ordering, Zhou Yao said, "I'm going to the restroom."
Luo Yi lit a cigarette.
It was lunchtime, and many customers were coming and going. They were seated at a four-person table when a waiter approached and suggested, "Sorry, there are a lot of customers right now. Since you are just two people, could you please help us switch to a two-person table?"
"Sure," Luo Yi replied as he stood up.
"Thank you," the waiter hurriedly said. "Please follow me this way."
They moved to a quieter two-person area by the window where the sunlight was bright.
He bit on his cigarette and poured two cups of tea, placing one on Zhou Yao's spot.
After smoking half a cigarette, he looked towards the door leading to the restroom. After a while, the curtain lifted, and Zhou Yao walked out casually. When she reached the original table, she paused for a moment.
She turned back in surprise to look at the path she had taken, as if confirming she hadn’t mistaken the table, but there were clearly four strangers sitting there.
With a puzzled expression, she glanced around and spun in place.
Luo Yi watched her from a distance, gradually biting his lip lightly, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
Her gaze searched everywhere, her long hair flowing like a skirt. Finally, she spotted him in the corner; her big eyes lit up instantly, and a smile blossomed on her previously confused face as she ran toward him like a lost child finding a family member in a crowd.
However, the smile at the corner of Luo Yi's mouth slowly faded. At that moment, it felt as if he had seen a ghost. She was running, but everything around them had vanished. The tables and chairs, diners, waitstaff, and walls—all disappeared.
Only she was smiling as she ran toward him.
His heart stirred lightly.
She reached him and sat down, panting slightly, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She found it amusing: "I thought you had left! I was thinking you wouldn’t play such a big joke on me."
Luo Yi lowered his gaze and tapped off some ash from his cigarette: "You thought I was messing with you?"
"Yeah. I just couldn’t find you earlier and thought you were joking about treating me to dinner and then left me here to embarrass myself."
Luo Yi: "..."
She was surprisingly persistent about what he had said at the outdoor shop entrance.
"Wow. Am I that boring?" He chuckled briefly, bringing the cigarette to his lips only to realize it had burned down to the end. He tossed it aside, picked up his teacup to take a sip of tea, set it down, and said, "I’m going to buy a pack of cigarettes."
"Go ahead. I'll be waiting here," Zhou Yao said, looking up at him as he stood up.
Luo Yi walked to a small convenience store at the corner of the street to buy a pack of cigarettes. Instead of heading back to the restaurant, he walked into a secluded alley beside the store and leaned against the wall to smoke.
Soon, footsteps approached.
Lu Xu walked up to him, hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall to watch him.
Luo Yi squinted slightly, exhaling a puff of smoke, and offered him the cigarette pack. Lu Xu took one out and pulled out a lighter to ignite it.
Luo Yi took back the cigarette pack and asked, "Where do you live?"
Lu Xu replied, "At the guesthouse."
Luo Yi nodded slightly, his expression inscrutable.
Lu Xu said, "I found something quite interesting. Do you know how the buyer discovered that the stone from Wu's Jade Shop was fake?"
"Hmm?" Luo Yi responded nonchalantly, showing little expression.
"I asked the buyer, and he said he received a strange phone call that alerted him. He suspects that the informant is a competitor of Wu's Jade Shop," Lu Xu explained. "If it weren't for that phone call interfering, the buyer would have already sold the stone multiple times to other places."
Luo Yi remarked, "That is quite interesting."
Lu Xu observed the subtle changes in Luo Yi's facial expressions but could not detect any flaws. He was always meticulous in his speech and actions, making their exchanges feel like boxing with cotton.
Lu Xu had been tracking Luo Yi for over two years.
The Jade Buddha Tower Case shocked the industry, as the top appraisal team in the country failed to recognize a priceless Qing Dynasty artifact worth seventy million, ultimately leading to the bankruptcy of an auction house. The True Buddha Pagoda vanished without a trace, leaving uncertainty about its existence. This notorious oversight left the appraisers with no place to stand.
The appraisers were investigated by the police for several months, but nothing was found.
However, Lu Xu could not believe that a team could collectively overlook something so significant, nor could he explain how the real Jade Buddha Tower appeared in Myanmar a month later; the most suspicious part was the leader of that appraisal team—now calmly smoking in front of Lu Xu.
Lu Xu suspected that he was secretly colluding with Dan Shan, engaging in schemes of deception and illegal money laundering. Yet after years of tracking, he had not found any evidence against Lu Xu.
The two were like cat and mouse; initially, they chased and hid from each other, clashing whenever they crossed paths. However, over time, they became accustomed to each other's presence and even managed to smoke and chat calmly from time to time.
Lu Xu gathered his thoughts and looked down the alley; there was no one around.
"I heard that Dan Shan's people are after you? What's going on, fighting among yourselves? Why not turn against him and come over to my side?"
Luo Yi glanced at his watch; he had been out for ten minutes. He subtly frowned before looking up at him and said, "I'm not in the same camp as him."
Lu Xu let out a slightly mocking laugh.
Luo Yi raised an eyebrow, too lazy to argue with him, and replied lightly, "Whether you believe it or not, I'm looking for him just like you."
That person of unknown nationality, gender, appearance, age—perhaps even their life or death was uncertain; someone who seemed as if no one in the world had ever seen them.
"However, the fact that his people have started looking for me means I'm on the right path," Luo Yi said.
Lu Xu looked at him without responding.
Luo Yi checked his watch again, stood up straight from the wall, and said, "Goodbye."
Back at the restaurant, the dishes were already served, but Zhou Yao was nowhere to be seen.
Luo Yi didn't have Zhou Yao's phone number. After waiting by the table for a minute, he inexplicably wondered if she had playfully run off to tease him.
Was she a child? That "game" could last all day.
This thought made Luo Yi feel bored and childish. He lowered his head and shook it, helplessly laughing at himself.
His phone rang; it was an unfamiliar number.
Luo Yi thought it was Zhou Yao and answered, "Stop messing around and come back."
"Luo Boss—" a man's voice replied, "The young lady is here with me. Would you like to join us for a gathering?"
After furrowing his brow for a moment, Luo Yi quickly identified the owner of the voice: "It's you."
Comment 0 Comment Count