"Xiao Wu, I never thought we brothers would meet again alive!" Xu Ershao grinned wickedly, but he punched Chen Xiao hard twice with the hand he had reached behind his back, and said viciously in his ear, "Good lad! If the police hadn't come to your house, we wouldn't have known you were playing the game of keeping a mistress."
Old Tian had mentioned earlier that after Ya Ya was taken away by the police, she met up with Xu Ershao and the others. Chen Xiao knew then that he could no longer hide Ya Ya's existence from his friend. Hearing this fierce questioning, and feeling the fists pounding against his back, he could only smile bitterly: "Well... she's just..."
"Xiao Wu! This really hurts me! We've known each other for years, and I never knew you liked this Lolita type." Xu Ershao gave Chen Xiao a big thumbs up from an angle that only Chen Xiao could see, and winked: "Brother, you're amazing! You've hidden such a top-notch designer item at home."
From the back of the shop, a fat man wearing an apron and holding a kitchen knife ran out. His face was covered with fish scales. When he saw the people standing in the shop, his eyes fell on Ya Ya. His mouth suddenly widened, and his small, squinty eyes widened. His eyes were fixed on Ya Ya without moving.
The afternoon sun streamed into the quiet coffee shop, where Ya Ya stood by a large floor-to-ceiling window. Sunlight bathed her face, giving her a pure and indescribably fresh appearance. She looked like a crystal-clear work of art in the sunlight. Her white dress was spotless, and it seemed as if she herself carried the fresh scent of sunshine…
The fat man was stunned, amazed, dumbfounded, and then... he started drooling.
And then... the fat man's hand, which was gripping the kitchen knife, unconsciously loosened...
And then...
"ah!!!!!!"
A piercing scream shattered the beautiful atmosphere of the old friends' reunion. A fat man was seen hopping on one leg in a corner, clutching his left foot, with a bloodstained kitchen knife on the ground...
A fiery figure burst out from the kitchen at the back. Zhu Rong was dressed in a red leather outfit—it was unimaginable that she would dare to wear leather in such hot weather. Perhaps fire-type ability users have strong heat resistance.
"Yi?"
Zhu Rong spotted Ya Ya at a glance and immediately ran over with a beaming smile, looking her up and down several times: "Chen Xiao, is this the blue...MM that you've been keeping at home?"
Fortunately, seeing that there were outsiders present, Zhu Rong swallowed back the word "blood," but her excited expression frightened Ya Ya. Ya Ya was a little scared by the woman in fiery red staring at her, and involuntarily shrank behind Chen Xiao, gently tugging at Chen Xiao's clothes.
"Ahem." Chen Xiao forced a smile and cleared his throat. "Let me introduce myself."
Pointing to Zhu Rong: "This is Sister Xiao Rou."
Pointing at Xu Ershao and Bai Cai: "My friends, Xu Yifan, Bai... MM."
Then, after thinking for a moment, he pointed at the fat man and said, "This one..."
The fat man immediately puffed out his chest with excitement, his eyes filled with anticipation as he looked at the pretty and refined girl.
Zhu Rong waved his hand: "This guy is one we picked up. He'll be serving as our personal cook for now. No need for introductions."
The fat man picked up the kitchen knife in grief and indignation, but dared not act recklessly in the face of Zhu Rong's tyranny. Tears welled up in his heart: "Even cooks have names! Cooks have human rights! Even a passerby has their own name..."
Zhu Rong glared at her: "Huh? Fatty, you look like you have a problem with that?"
"Uh... well, Grandma, I suddenly remembered the fish hasn't been gutted yet..." With that, she limped back to the back. Sitting down to talk, she recounted how Chen Xiao single-handedly held off the enemy while Bai Cai led Xu Ershao to escape first. Xu Ershao's playful demeanor vanished, replaced by a serious expression: "Xiao Wu, I owe you a life!"
"Well... actually... there isn't..." Chen Xiao touched his nose.
“I know, that factory exploded later. If I had stayed there… I probably would be dead.” Then, true to his nature, Xu Ershao quickly steered the conversation to Ya Ya, stroking his chin and scrutinizing Chen Xiao, chuckling, “You’ve kept this very well hidden. This little girl, as beautiful as a flower, has been hiding in your house for a long time, hasn’t she? And… uh, this little girl’s background is quite strange. If it weren’t for my help, the police probably would have taken her away as an undocumented immigrant.”
Given the Xu family's influence in K City, it would be quite easy for them to obtain a legal identity for Ya Ya.
"Here, ID card, birth certificate, educational certificate... even social medical insurance card, I've got it all taken care of for you." Young Master Xu pulled out a bunch of documents from his pocket and placed them in front of Chen Xiao: "But, can you honestly tell me where this little sister came from?"
Chen Xiao was somewhat embarrassed.
Zhu Rong chuckled softly and glanced at Xu Ershao: "You're a son of the Xu family. Hmph, your father probably doesn't care much about you usually, does he?"
Although Young Master Xu was a womanizer, strangely enough, he showed no sign of joking when facing the beautiful and fiery Zhu Rong. He stood up obediently, nodded respectfully, and acted like a dutiful junior: "Yes, my father instructed me to be respectful and courteous when I see you and the others. Our Xu family will follow all your instructions."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Rong couldn't help but reveal a complex emotion in his eyes. After a moment of silence, he sighed softly, "We're all retired old folks now, what's there to tell us? Your old man has been very thoughtful. I find you quite agreeable, young man. Don't stand on ceremony, just be yourself. Don't adopt your old man's hypocritical, snobbish businessman attitude."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao couldn't help but feel curious—it seemed that Xu Ershao's father, Old Man Xu, really did have some secret relationship with the service agency.
The Black Knight incident, along with the previous case where Old Man Xu introduced Lu Bancheng to the company... all prove this point.
However, Chen Xiao was not a talkative person. These old guys didn't explain themselves, and he didn't ask. Although he hadn't known them for long, he had figured out their temperaments: they would tell you what they wanted to say, and if they didn't want to say, asking would be pointless.
Chapter 71 [The Legendary "X"]
Zhu Rong then focused her attention on the cabbage, a deep smile on her face: "You must be the little sister who can turn invisible, right?" After looking her over carefully, she clicked her tongue and chuckled: "You do have a pretty face."
Bai Cai blushed, but she wasn't shy at all. Instead, she puffed out her chest and said loudly, "Sister, you're very beautiful too."
"Haha, you have such a sweet tongue." Zhu Rong laughed heartily, reached into his pocket, and finally pulled out a piece of jade, which he stuffed into Bai Cai's hand: "Come, come, this is our custom. Since we're new friends, as an elder, I should give you a gift. It's nothing special, I won it from Lao Tian while playing mahjong a few days ago. It was something Lao Tian used to wear as a kid, so I'm giving it to you..."
Bai Cai didn't mind and accepted it with a smile. After thinking for a moment, she also took out a jade amulet from her pocket: "Sister, this is an amulet I got from the temple a few days ago. I'll give it to you as well."
Chen Xiao sighed inwardly... Bai Cai was unaware of the situation.
The jade that Zhurong gave him was something Lao Tian wore when he was a child... that's an antique from the Ming Dynasty! And the jade amulet that Bai Cai gave Zhurong was something she got from a temple, worth at most twenty yuan...
Zhu Rong and Bai Cai exchanged a few warm words before Zhu Rong finally said to Xu Ershao, "Go back and tell your father that this time... those guys lost. They even lost an important figure, so they probably won't bother you anymore. But that beautiful snake is the kind of person who will hold a grudge, so you'd better be careful. If anything happens... well, if anything happens, he doesn't need to come looking for us. He has his own ways of getting people to help him."
These words seemed to have a hidden meaning, and Chen Xiao, who was standing nearby, secretly made a mental note of them.
Then Xu Ershao told Chen Xiao, "You've been hiding here for so many days since that day. The police almost mistook you for a missing person, and I almost thought those guys had killed you. Yeah, Bai Cai even cried for a whole day. If my dad hadn't told me you were here later..." He shook his head, "Sigh, I've taken care of everything for you. I got someone to make a statement for the police. Just say you ran away on your own, fainted from hunger on the way, and got lost in the wilderness for two days. Anyway, someone will take care of things for you, so don't worry about the police looking for you... I understand, these things aren't suitable to be said publicly."
With a wry smile, Xu Ershao's voice was somewhat helpless: "Whether it's you or this old man, you two are both hiding things from me, and I'm the only one kept in the dark."
Zhu Rong glanced at Xu Ershao and said calmly, "Your father is only doing this for your own good. Never mind, young people don't understand. They haven't experienced much, so don't make wild guesses about the good intentions of their elders."
It seems that Old Man Xu really gave Second Young Master Xu some strict orders before he came out. Even though he was always cynical, Second Young Master Xu actually nodded respectfully in response to Zhu Rong's reprimand.
Zhu Rong was quite satisfied with Xu Ershao's attitude, but then glanced at her watch and said impatiently, "What's that damn guy doing! It's so late! Doesn't he know that guy hates being late the most..."
As they were talking, the door to the coffee shop opened, and Gonggong, Zhurong's husband, walked in awkwardly.
"Are you a tortoise?! Why are you so slow?!" Zhu Rong slammed her hand on the table, her almond-shaped eyes wide with disbelief.