Feng Shui

Capítulo 24

"I am an adult."

“No, you’re an idiot.” She said, stepping forward and pinching his nose. “Big idiot!”

He rubbed his nose, a bittersweet smile playing on his lips.

"Fine, since you're willing to treat, I'll still rip you off even though we've already eaten!" The girl snapped her fingers. "Do you have any left at home?"

"At home?" He thought for a moment, then honestly replied, "There should be some frozen meat and eggs left, and um—there should be two chili peppers left too. What's wrong?"

"Then treat me to fried rice!"

"Fried rice?" Feng Nian'en, who was already prepared to be ripped off, was quite surprised to hear this.

"What, you don't want to?"

"No, it's just..."

"Let's go!" the girl said, pulling him along. "I'm trying to save you money, why do you insist on making me order a full-course meal?"

When the two arrived at Feng Nian'en's residence, the girl jumped over and immediately opened the refrigerator.

"Eggs, frozen meat, chili peppers, oh--and two tomatoes, you idiot--" she called to Feng Nian'en, who was washing rice in the kitchen, "Make some soup too!"

"good."

In less than half an hour, the fried rice and egg drop soup were served. The girl immediately started eating as if she hadn't eaten all day. Seeing that she was almost finished, Feng Nian'en silently handed her untouched bowl of fried rice.

Aren't you going to eat?

"I've already eaten, around four or five in the afternoon."

"Oh," she said without any hesitation, scooping the fried rice into her own bowl and casually asking, "With Daddy?"

Feng Nian'en's body stiffened slightly, and after a moment she said, "No."

"Girlfriend?" She put down her chopsticks and looked at him.

"no."

"Wife?"

He laughed: "No, not at all."

"Oh--" She lowered her head, shoveling more rice into her mouth, and asked indistinctly, "Who is that?"

“One—” He thought for a moment, then shook his head, “an unrelated person. Just someone entrusted by an elder.”

"Oh--I thought you weren't coming back today."

"No." He replied casually, looking at her eating habits, which were rough but not unsightly, and said with a hint of doubt, "When I came here, I passed a church, and the novice priest there looked a lot like Mike. Moreover, he asked me to give you my regards."

"oh."

"Aren't you surprised at all?"

"What's so surprising?" The girl put down her rice bowl, took out a cigarette, and said, "You passed by the Basilica of Our Lady, right? That guy was originally there, but I didn't expect him to become a priest so quickly."

Feng Nian'en looked at her in surprise.

The girl chuckled: "Why are your eyes so wide? What's so surprising? His father is a metropolitan, and his uncle is some religious leader. What's a novice priest?"

"But, but he last night..."

Si Wen shook her left index finger: "The Moonlit Clan only exists at night, and what they look like at night has nothing to do with the daytime. But now—" She took a deep drag of her cigarette and slowly exhaled smoke rings.

Feng Nian'en looked at her, recalling the scene from last night. Although she felt something was strange, she couldn't help but feel a strange warmth.

Two identities, two lives, two different worlds—he suddenly realized that the distance between him and the girl was not as far as he had previously imagined.

Chapter Seventeen

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The next day was Saturday, and there were no classes at school. When Feng Nian'en woke up, it was already past ten o'clock. Remembering that his current physical condition wasn't suitable for outdoor activities, he forced himself to go back to sleep. He slept on and off until three o'clock, then got up and casually made himself a cup of milk. He then took out the documents that Li Zilin had compiled.

Although he wanted to focus on the documents, his eyes kept drifting to the clock on the wall.

When the clock struck 4:30, he couldn't hold back any longer and stood up.

He changed his clothes and left the room, hesitating in front of the neighbor's green iron gate. The children weren't afraid of him anymore; he could easily go to the garden by himself. Why did he need to find Siwen? But if he didn't go with the girl, would the children be afraid of him again, or would something else happen?

He shook his head, tapped the door lightly twice with his fingers, and waited a moment, but there was no sound.

It seems there's no one left.

He let out a breath, feeling a strange mix of regret and something else.

He slowly walked to the elevator. A young girl was coming out of it, but he walked into the elevator without paying any attention.

"fool!"

He turned around abruptly, staring blankly at the girl in the white dress in front of him: "Siwen?"

"What's with that expression? Haven't you ever seen me wear a skirt before?" The girl glared at him, displeased, seeing his surprised look.

"No, no." Their relationship started with the girl's skirt, but you could say he had gotten used to her delinquent-like appearance.

"You're not going to find those brats again, are you?" Seeing that he didn't speak, the girl pouted. "Aren't you afraid of being mistaken for a madman if you go alone?"

"I think it's unlikely," he replied hesitantly. "Besides, I can't find you."

"You've been looking for me?" She tilted her head to look at him.

He nodded: "I knocked on your door, but it seemed no one answered."

"Fool! There's no one home at this hour." She walked to her front door, took out her keys, and said, "Come on over."

Although Feng Nian'en's room wasn't particularly tidy, it was practically a sterile room compared to the house in front of her.

All sorts of beverage bottles, lunch boxes, plastic bags, and other strange and unidentifiable items were piled up from the entryway all the way into the living room. At first glance, he could hardly find a place to step.

"Come in." The girl calmly stepped into the room, stepping over bottles and jars, which immediately startled several cockroaches that jumped out of their hiding places and ran around.

"I..." He swallowed hard, "I'd better not go in."

"Hmm?" She glanced back at him, smiled, and shook her head. She kicked away the trash, clearing a path. "Come on."

Feng Nian'en followed her in with some trepidation. The girl kicked open a small door next to her and said, "This is my room."

Surprisingly, the room was quite different from what Feng Nian'en had imagined. Although it wasn't spotless—there were a few beverage bottles on the table and some scraps of paper on the floor—it was much tidier than the living room.

The girl threw the books she was holding onto the table. Feng Nian'en looked up and saw that they were "Marxist Philosophy" and "Public Morality," which she was studying for her self-study exams.

"You took the self-study exam?" he asked in surprise.

“Yes.” She pulled two cans of Coke from under the bed and tossed one to him. “There’s an exam next week. The teacher is highlighting the key points today, so go listen in.”

Feng Nian'en, holding a can of cola, stared blankly at her. The girl wasn't particularly pretty, and compared to Zhang Hanwen, she was even less striking. But when she wore a dress and a wig, she became quite pretty and cute.

"What are you looking at?" she said, taking out a cigarette, but before she could light it, he snatched it away.

“Hmm…” Seeing her looking at her with surprise, Feng Nian’en said awkwardly, “Smoking too much is not good.”

The girl raised an eyebrow, swore, but didn't take out a second one.

"You don't really have to go see those brats today, do you?"

"No, it's not."

"Then we don't need to change clothes, let's go." She said, jumping off the bed.

"Where to?" he asked as he followed.

"Find Mike."

“Since Mike’s father is the Metropolitan,” Feng Nian’en asked on the bus, “why didn’t Linda agree to let him act as the middleman last time?”

"If you hadn't met Mike yesterday, could you have imagined he was a trainee priest?"

"You mean Linda didn't know?"

The girl shrugged: "In the Moonlit Clan, although no one deliberately hides their daytime identity, no one intentionally inquires either. I found out by accident."

"oh."

“Actually,” the girl shook her head, “don’t let his crazy behavior at night fool you, that guy is very loyal to God. There’s practically nothing he doesn’t know about Christianity.”

"Then how will he pay for it tonight...?"

"Because he still wants to sing. He wants to be a good priest and a singer like Michael Jackson. Without the Moonlit Clan, that guy is probably the saddest."

"Does Suzaku's departure have such a big impact?" Can't we sing without Suzaku?

"Of course we can still drink and race motorcycles without Suzaku, but that won't be the Moonlit Tribe anymore." The girl's straightforward answer carried a strange sadness in the noisy bus.

"Why?" he blurted out.

“Because,” she looked at the seats in front of her, “we were all brought here by Suzaku.”

"Hmm? Suzaku, looking for you guys?" His gaze involuntarily drifted to the girl's neck. A vampire gathering so many young people around him couldn't possibly be just for passing the time.

“It’s not so much that I was looking for him, but rather—” she tilted her head and thought for a moment, “but rather that he made us feel like we were kindred spirits.”

"The same kind, the feeling?" He swallowed hard.

The girl nodded affirmatively, then looked puzzled: "Although from any perspective, Suzaku and we shouldn't belong to the same country, he always seems to understand us."

"You brought me here, you brought us here. You gave me that microphone, you said to me, 'Come on, sing, microphone, sing whatever you want, no one will bother you, sing however you want.' You told us all that, and now you say we don't need it? You actually say we don't need it!"

Feng Nian'en thought of Mike's hoarse cries again.

A vampire not only understands humans, but also a trainee priest from a religious family.

He shook his head, feeling that it was all so absurd.

As they spoke, the car arrived at the church. The two had just gotten out of the car when they saw Mike coming out. This was the first time Feng Nian'en had seen him in ordinary clothes, a white casual outfit, with a gentle smile and a well-behaved look. He greeted them happily.

"I knew you'd come."

"Damn it!" the girl laughed and scolded. "If you want to see me, just say so. Why beat around the bush like this?"

Mike smiled sheepishly: "It was just a coincidence. If I hadn't run into Portis yesterday, I would have come looking for you."

"Come on! Do you think I don't know your repressed nature? When have you ever taken the initiative to contact me?"

"Have you eaten? I know a good Cantonese restaurant," he cleverly changed the subject.

The girl pouted: "You're treating?"