Chapter 37: Who’s Blushing?!
As lunchti approached, nurous food carts had already been pushed out from the alleys outside the Shangdong Chaoyang Residential Complex.
From fifteen-yuan boxed lunches to twenty-yuan all-you-can-eat ho-style buffets, the most significant difference between the old city district and the new city district was that lunch here was all about affordability and filling your stomach.
Usually, Xia Li would simply settle his als here.
But today, he decided to treat himself to sothing better.
After all, he was now a man with over ten thousand in savings and had even found so part-ti work online, allowing him to occasionally splurge and broaden Lucia’s horizons.
After briefly checking the route on his phone, Xia Li put it back in his pocket.
“Hey, we could navigate this area with our eyes closed, why are you looking at the map?”
Chen Tao, walking beside him, was puzzled by Xia Li’s action.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been back,” Xia Li said.
“You were only gone for a week, weren’t you?”
“A week is quite a long ti, and I’m planning to try a new place this ti.”
“Oh, alright, lead the way then.”
Chen Tao didn’t press further. He glanced at Lucia on Xia Li’s left and, after a mont of thought, slowed down and walked behind them.
He was used to walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Xia Li, but now that Xia Li had a girlfriend, sticking around would make him a 1000W lightbulb.
Xia Li walked ahead, leading the way.
Every few steps, he would look up to check his bearings.
Three years. It had been three years.
Although only a week had passed on Earth, in Xia Li’s mory, these streets remained as they were three years ago.
The perpetually unfinished pipelines, the leisurely old n playing chess on stone benches, the red-faced old ladies arguing while walking their dogs, and the mysterious small advertisents that would reappear on utility poles no matter how many tis they were removed…
Nothing had changed, just like Xia Li’s yearning for ho when he was in a foreign land.
“This is a traffic light.”
Xia Li stopped at the crosswalk.
Lucia had taken half a step forward when Xia Li pulled her back.
“You can’t walk when the light is red,” Xia Li said.
“Oh…”
Lucia looked up at the traffic light across the street.
Not only did it have lights, but also a small digital countdown.
“Traffic rules are also the basic rules of this society…” Xia Li glanced at Chen Tao behind him and, seeing his attention elsewhere, lowered his voice and said to Lucia,
“When the signal light is red, you are not allowed to cross. You can only go when the countdown reaches green.”
Lucia nodded upon hearing this.
She appeared to be listening attentively, but Xia Li couldn’t tell if she truly understood.
“What if I crossed when the light was red?”
Lucia suddenly recalled that on her first day on Earth, when Xia Li told her to cross the road, she ran back against the red light.
Could it be… Could it be that she would be arrested and forced to cook for the rest of her life?
It had been several days since then, surely they wouldn’t hold her accountable for sothing that happened so long ago…
Lucia’s fair face froze slightly. Xia Li thought to himself, surely a traffic light wouldn’t scare this dragon.
But to emphasize safety, Xia Li added,
“If you don’t obey traffic rules, you’ll be hit by a car. If you’re lucky, you’ll break an arm or a leg. If you’re unlucky, you’ll have to start over… which ans you’ll die.”
“That serious?”
Lucia was clearly surprised. The consequences were actually more severe than being imprisoned and forced to cook.
However…
Could these small, square, tal cars really send her giant dragon body flying?
Lucia didn’t believe it.
“Then you should be careful…” Lucia said seriously, “You’re human, you can’t be hit.”
Looking at the serious micro-expression on this evil dragon’s face, Xia Li wondered why she was suddenly concerned about him.
“Xia Li, it’s green.”
The countdown on the traffic light ended, and Lucia’s eyes lit up.
As Xia Li had said, after the light changed, the cars imdiately stopped and waited.
Human society… was truly amazing.
“I’m not green, the light is green.”
Xia Li released his grip on Lucia’s collar, and the two walked forward in sync.
“I didn’t expect everyone to be so obedient to the rules,” Lucia remarked.
◈◈◈
“Well, the people who don’t obey the rules are already in jail,” Xia Li explained.
This road in the old city district, reconstructed after demolition, was quite long. After removing a large number of green belts, the road had been widened into a spacious three-lane road, and the green light ti for pedestrians had been increased to a full sixty seconds.
With this distance and speed, even young people with a brisk pace wouldn’t be able to walk the entire length.
Halfway across, Chen Tao, who was walking behind Xia Li, suddenly sped up to catch up.
Chen Tao still felt sothing was off.
Xia Li was being way too uncaring towards his beautiful girlfriend.
“Old Xia, we’re crossing the road, why aren’t you holding Little Lu’s hand?”
Chen Tao had already found it strange that Xia Li wasn’t holding Little Lu’s hand when they left the complex.
With such a beautiful and well-behaved girlfriend, it would be normal to hold her hand, let alone carry her.
Moreover, these two had only t for a week, no matter how you looked at it, they should be in the honeymoon phase, right?
Which couple in the honeymoon phase wouldn’t be hugging and cuddling on the street? This Old Xia was as steady as an old dog.
What a gentleman, my ass.
Brother, do you think I don’t know your true nature?
“Hold her hand, of course, I’ll hold her hand.”
Xia Li suddenly rembered this.
In front of Chen Tao, he and Lucia were a couple…
It was just holding hands.
This wouldn’t be difficult for him!
His gaze slowly moved downward, Xia Li looked at Lucia’s small hand hanging by the edge of her lotus pink skirt.
Her hand was white and tender, her nails lacked the sharpness that an evil dragon should have, and there was no dirt hidden underneath. Instead, her nails were trimd neatly and smoothly, her fingertips were a soft pink.
Just by looking, they seed delicate and soft.
They would probably feel that way too.
Taking a deep breath, Xia Li took her soft little hand in his.
Just holding a dragon claw.
When they were in Azure Continent, hadn’t he touched this dragon claw countless tis before?
He wouldn’t be scared, not at all.
“Old Xia, you’re blushing.”
“Blushing my ass!”
He was already a little nervous, and then Chen Tao had to chi in with his teasing.
Actually, Xia Li wasn’t blushing, but his overly serious expression made Chen Tao couldn’t help but want to joke around.
“…”
Lucia, who was still staring at the traffic light and marveling at how orderly humans were, quietly withdrew her gaze.
She looked at her hand, then up at Xia Li.
She seed a little confused as to why Xia Li suddenly decided to hold her hand.
She wasn’t going to attack anyone on the street.
“Ahem.”
Xia Li coughed lightly and winked at Lucia.
We’re acting! Play along!
However, this evil dragon couldn’t understand winks at all.
She wiggled her soft fingers, her hand slipping out of Xia Li’s grasp like a little loach.
Xia Li thought to himself.
Damn, this evil dragon was really not giving him any face.
Just as he was waiting for Chen Tao to co and laugh at him, Lucia’s small hand reached back and tightly grasped his large hand.
The evil dragon’s hand was indeed soft and tender. Perhaps because girls’ body temperatures tend to be cooler, her hand felt cool and soft against his, like a warm little ice cream on an autumn day.
“I’m holding you so you won’t get hit,” Lucia said.
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