Chapter 101: Preparing to Depart

When Ji Xingyu knocked on the door, he had not expected a stranger to answer.

He glanced at the doorplate a few times, made sure he had not come to the wrong place, and then asked cautiously, “I’m looking for Mo Fei. And you are?”

“For now, an invited guest.” Long Er stepped aside to let him in. “Come in.”

After some hesitation, Ji Xingyu entered the room, and what met him was not only the fragrance of food, but also an oppressive, uncanny feeling.

Lyu Chunqiu stood by the kitchen door, her gaze sliding strangely over Ji Xingyu for a while before she asked a question that sounded utterly baffling to him.

“Mr. Ji, can you fight too?”

Ji Xingyu looked visibly puzzled. “I studied painting. I can’t fight.”

“And what do you mean, too?”

Lyu Chunqiu waved it off. “Nothing, nothing. Have a seat. I’ll pour you a glass of water.”

In truth, Lyu Chunqiu had been startled by Long Er and Mo Fei as well.

One after another, they were swift-handed and quick-footed, as if they had stepped straight out of a film. Since when had so many experts been gathered around her?

Ji Xingyu felt that the atmosphere in this room was truly strange.

He sat on the sofa, with the stony-faced Long Er beside him.

Lyu Chunqiu set a glass of water before Ji Xingyu, then retreated to the kitchen doorway, watching Long Er warily.

No one spoke, and the air was thick with an awkward silence.

Long Er sat as still as a mountain. Ji Xingyu held his teacup and felt his toes curl against the floor.

So this was what it meant for every second to feel like a year.

Just as Ji Xingyu was on the verge of making an excuse to flee to the bathroom, a scratching sound suddenly came from the windowsill.

Long Er’s gaze snapped sharp and instantly shot toward the window.

Everyone in the living room turned to look.

Lyu Chunqiu stepped forward to open the window, but Long Er stopped her at once. “I’ll do it.”

“You do it, you do it. Everything’s got to be you, huh? So full of yourself,” Lyu Chunqiu muttered under her breath. She had always been the one in charge at home, and now that an even bigger authority had appeared, she felt challenged.

Long Er heard her complaint, but as if he had heard nothing at all, he moved cautiously toward the balcony.

Through the glass, he could clearly see a black cat outside the windowsill, scrabbling at the window and meowing.

When the black cat saw there were people inside, it scratched even harder.

Long Er stepped forward and opened the window, then seized the black cat with one hand and thoroughly checked it over. Only after finding no external devices on it did he let go and close the window again.

In his grip, the black cat was helpless as a kitten. Once it hit the floor, it meowed at him in displeasure.

From its expression and tone, it did not seem to be saying anything kind.

Lyu Chunqiu picked it up to soothe it and shot Long Er a look. “Couldn’t you be a little gentler? You show up and make a scene like this. I can’t tell whether you’re here to help us or cause trouble.”

Long Er looked at the black cat, his face utterly calm. “On the battlefield, there was once a unit that used a cat basking in the sun on the enemy’s position to pinpoint the local command post, then successfully blew it up.”

“More often than not, pets cause problems.”

When he finished, he drew the living room curtains and went back to his seat.

Lyu Chunqiu hugged the cat, which was baring its claws and hissing, and felt she had absolutely no temper left for this bodyguard who never spoke much.

He challenged heaven, earth, and people alike, and now he would not even spare a cat.

Capable, and seriously eccentric.

Ji Xingyu watched the whole thing from the side, and his expression was complicated.

He had always thought the people in his own class were already bad enough at talking, but it turned out there were masters out there.

And this kind of person looked very much like the mercenaries he had seen abroad.

Where on earth had Mo Fei found someone like this?

As Ji Xingyu was thinking that, Mo Fei opened the kitchen door and came out carrying a large pot of soup.

“Come, come, it’s time to eat.”

“I’m going downstairs to get Grandma Zhang.” Lyu Chunqiu set the cat down, gave Long Er a sidelong glance, and went out the door.

“Xiao Ji, you’re here.” Mo Fei greeted him warmly. “Come sit, come sit. Once everyone’s here, we can eat.”

The moment Ji Xingyu saw Mo Fei, it was as though he had seen a savior. He did not even bother about the form of address, and hurried over to tug him aside to speak in a low voice. “Who is he?”

Mo Fei glanced up at Long Er’s hard profile and replied, “Someone Director Wang found.”

“There’s a scene coming up that’s rather dangerous, so Director Wang hired professional personnel to protect the crew.” Mo Fei pulled out a tissue and wiped his hands, smiling. “He’s very impressive.”

Ji Xingyu wore a hard-to-describe expression.

“I can see that.”

Skilled in combat, sharp in awareness, and even sharp-tongued.

A black cat on the floor was meowing at him and arching its back, its fur standing on end at Long Er.

Long Er paid no mind to a cat’s hostility at all. He sat down naturally at the end of the table.

By the time Grandma Zhang arrived, the table was already packed full.

Aside from the two plates of greens in front of Grandma Zhang, everything else was meat.

Pan-seared ribs, stir-fried beef, braised mutton...

At the table, Mo Fei briefly laid out the itinerary for the days ahead.

When they heard that he was going to the border between Yunnan and Myanmar, both Ji Xingyu and Grandma Zhang grew a little worried.

Myanmar was not peaceful at present. Not only were various factions at war, but the conflicts had never ceased. Human trafficking, smuggling, and drug trade were rampant, and from ancient times to the present, it had never been a tranquil place.

Although the border area between Yunnan and Myanmar was relatively safer, it was still close enough that one could never say when some death-seeking fool might cross over.

Lyu Chunqiu gnawed on a small rib with a carefree look on her face. “You two don’t need to worry. Xiao Fei is much more reliable now.”

“And besides, look, there’s a deity sitting right there. He’ll definitely protect Xiao Fei.”

Grandma Zhang adjusted her glasses and studied Long Er. “This young man is good. He looks strong.”

Mo Fei and Long Er were basically human eating machines.

With a table full of meat, the amount of food on the table was still disappearing at a visible rate. Ji Xingyu felt that if he were even a little slower with his chopsticks, he would not get enough to eat.

By the rule that the more one eats, the stronger one is, the two of them really did seem to have a great deal of strength.

“I had no idea Xiao Fei, you were this good at cooking.” Lyu Chunqiu no longer seemed concerned about her figure. She gnawed piece after piece of meat. “Were you deliberately hiding your talent?”

Mo Fei thought for a moment and gave a reasonable explanation.

“That’s not it. Mainly because before, I couldn’t afford to eat meat.”

Lyu Chunqiu choked on that. Well, that was true.

Before they met Director Wang, they had all been living hard, poor lives. How could they have eaten meat as they pleased?

“Things will be different for us from now on,” Lyu Chunqiu said after taking a sip of water, a satisfied smile on her face. “Still, even when you’ve got money, you have to pay attention to your diet and keep your figure up.”

“Come on, how much fat can you really gain from eating a couple of pieces of meat?” Grandma Zhang said, disagreeing as she kept putting meat onto her plate. “Look at how skinny you are, and you’re still thinking about losing weight. Eat more, eat more.”

Lyu Chunqiu held her bowl and nodded repeatedly.

Then Grandma Zhang turned to Mo Fei again. “Xiao Fei, do you need to prepare anything for your business trip? Tell Grandma, and I’ll help you sort it out.”

Before Mo Fei could answer, Long Er set down his chopsticks and spoke first.

“No need. I’ll prepare everything.”