“You’re finally back. If you hadn’t returned soon, I was about to go looking for you.”
“Heh, I’d believe that if your own trips weren’t so mysterious. A whole month without contacting me, and you’d have time to come find me?” Lin Wan said with a playful smile, slurping her noodles. “These are so good. You can’t find noodles this tasty in the Beacon Country.”
“As if you could get them in our country either,” Lu Zheng said, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s because I’ve got you here!” Lin Wan, her lips glossy with oil, leaned over and kissed him.
Lu Zheng didn’t mind at all and kissed her back.
“Mm!”
“Wait, I need to eat first!”
Letting go of Lin Wan, he watched her catch her breath before continuing to eat. Lu Zheng asked, “Why was it so long this time?”
“It was someone on the red notice list. Besides investigating his financial records abroad, there was tracking, persuasion, and other work,” Lin Wan said, slurping another mouthful of noodles and pursing her lips. “And we had to deal with the Beacon Country’s CIA.”
“Why would someone on the red notice list require Interpol to get involved?”
Lin Wan nodded. “Funny thing, he was also tied to a cross-border bank bankruptcy case.”
“And that bank just happened to be in the Beacon Country,” Lin Wan said with a grin. “So they had no real reason to trouble us, just nitpicking to annoy us.”
“And then?”
Seeing Lin Wan’s enthusiasm, Lu Zheng played along as her straight man.
“Outsmarting us Chinese? Of course, we pushed back on all of it!”
Then Lin Wan eagerly recounted her experiences over the past few months.
Though most of it was tedious investigation, tracking, and persuasion, there were occasional moments of wit and cunning.
“Did you come across any beautiful scenery?”
“Of course, but mostly small-scale stuff, like people holding signs and shouting slogans. Pretty useless. I didn’t see any major spectacles, which was a bit of a shame,” Lin Wan said. “We were mostly in bustling areas, so we didn’t encounter many of the Beacon Country’s social issues.”
Lu Zheng nodded. The Beacon Country was practically two worlds in one.
They say India is a nation of one hundred million people and one point two billion livestock. The Beacon Country isn’t much different; its national power just masks its various problems.
By the time Lin Wan finished chattering, she had polished off a big bowl of noodles.
“I’ll wash the dishes, you go take a shower,” Lu Zheng said, taking the bowl and chopsticks from her.
“Alright!” Lin Wan winked at him playfully. “I’ve got a surprise for you later!”
…
Lu Zheng never expected Lin Wan to bring back a Batman and Catwoman costume set from the Beacon Country.
Role-playing, it seemed, was a game that never got old.
…
Hangzhou, West Lake.
“So, West Lake is best visited in the off-season,” Lu Zheng sighed. “Coming during summer vacation or the National Day holiday is just asking for trouble.”
Lin Wan recalled Lu Zheng mentioning his university trip to West Lake during the National Day holiday and burst out laughing.
Since Lin Wan had been away on business for so long, she had a few days off. Both being energetic, they decided to take advantage of the off-season’s low crowds and visit West Lake.
They were strolling along the lake, walking on Bai Causeway, with the Broken Bridge not far ahead.
Lin Wan held Lu Zheng’s arm and said softly, “Do you think there’s really a Bai Suzhen trapped under Leifeng Pagoda?”
“How old are you?” Lu Zheng laughed.
Lin Wan pouted. “I wouldn’t have been so childish before, but who told you to come into my life?”
Lu Zheng shrugged. “My fault, is it?”
Lin Wan bared her teeth and lightly pinched him. “I’m being serious!”
“Serious? Come on, that’s just folklore. It’s the new century, believe in science!” Lu Zheng said with a grin.
“I believe your nonsense!”
Lin Wan took a deep breath, feeling a surge of frustration in her chest.
Lu Zheng laughed heartily, their antics drawing the attention of a few passersby.
Unbothered by the onlookers, they walked and took photos, capturing their moments in the album.
Soon, they reached the Broken Bridge.
“This is where Lady White met Xu Xian, right? The scenery is so beautiful,” Lin Wan said.
Lu Zheng nodded. “Beautiful scenery needs a beautiful person to match. In the past, there was Bai Suzhen; now, there’s Lin Wan, just as stunning.”
“Get out of here, I’m no match for Bai Suzhen,” Lin Wan said, brushing him off, though her face beamed with pride.
With her cultivation progress, Lin Wan, already striking in figure and appearance, seemed transformed.
Her long legs were straight, her curves exquisite, her bare face radiant like jade, and even her once wheat-toned skin was growing fairer.
Many female colleagues at work had been asking about her skincare routine. How could Lin Wan explain that all it took was finding a boyfriend who was practically a god?
Thinking of how Lu Zheng couldn’t stop admiring her long legs the previous night, her breathing grew heavier.
“Let’s go, let’s go boating!”
Lin Wan tugged Lu Zheng forward, and they arrived at a boat dock on Bai Causeway.
It was still early, and being the off-season, there was no queue. Lin Wan promptly rented a traditional hand-rowed boat.
The so-called traditional boat was a black-awning boat, with a boatman provided at the dock to row from the stern, fully authentic.
They climbed into the boat, and the boatman untied the rope, pushing the small vessel away from the shore.
Sitting in the gently rocking boat, with the boatman dressed in traditional clothing, rowing at the stern while explaining the lake’s highlights and acting as a guide, they felt the few hundred yuan was well spent.
The heart of the lake boasted the grand Zhenlu Pavilion, the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon at Xiaoying Islet, Su Xiaochun’s causeway by Xili Lake, and the millennium-standing Leifeng Pagoda.
“They say back then, to strike up a conversation with Xu Xian, Lady White tossed a wine cup into the sky, and the wine turned into rain, falling gently. That gave her an excuse to borrow an umbrella from Xu Xian,” the boatman said as he rowed. “So, the boatman back then could be considered a witness to their first meeting.”
“So, a misty, rainy West Lake has its own unique charm,” he added.
“I see…” Lu Zheng nodded, glancing up at the sky.
The boatman smiled. “Waiting for rain? It’s the rainy season, but today’s forecast says cloudy.”
“Is that so?”
Lu Zheng grinned, reached over the side of the boat, scooped up a handful of West Lake water, and flicked it upward.
“Hahaha,” the boatman laughed. He had seen countless people mimic Lady White by tossing water into the sky.
But the result…
The next moment, a breeze arose from nowhere, and a gentle drizzle began to fall with the wind.
Boatman: (⊙o⊙)!!!
