Bai'an City, known far and wide as a city of music and tourism, always had a steady stream of tourists throughout the year. And the landship port, as the only hub of transport to the outside world, was naturally never short of a bustling crowd.
A landship from Tiandu City had arrived at the port five minutes ago, and a dense crowd poured out, hurriedly rushing towards the checkpoint, fearing that a mont's delay would leave them at the end of the queue.
Of course, there were also those less hurried travelers, who walked more slowly, adopting an attitude of 'hurry does no good.' A woman with sunglasses was just like that; she had no luggage, no bags in hand, and was leisurely trailing behind the crowd.
"Hey, look over there, does that girl seem familiar?"
In the waiting room, a couple who were chatting cast a casual glance at the people coming out of the landship, the woman, with a sharper eye, pointed towards the end of the crowd and said.
"Who?" The man, a bit slower on the uptake, looked in the direction the woman was indicating.
"That girl there, wearing sunglasses, the tall one!"
The woman slapped his hand: "Don't you think she looks like that famous singer... the one your friend really likes, that Dongying State person?"
"Dongying State... he's the fan, not . Why would I know about that?"
"You should at least know, she's a big star on TV every day. I rember her na is sothing like, Ma... Mari?"
The woman said, contemplating, then spoke more urgently, "Ah, she turned the corner! Can't see her now!"
"I told you I don't know, and I can't see her anyway."
After searching the crowd for a while, the man failed to see who the woman was talking about and could only appease her resignedly: "Alright, alright, if we didn't see her, we didn't see her, she can't be prettier than you anyway."
The woman, who initially felt a bit disappointed, suddenly perked up: "I like that comnt. Why don't you repeat it a couple more tis?"
The couple promptly returned to their sweet and loving banter.
Situations like this unfolded unceasingly at the port, and many also took notice of the ordinary-looking woman in sunglasses. However, most people couldn't quite make out her identity behind the sunglasses; they just felt a vague sense of familiarity.
The woman in sunglasses thus comfortably walked out of the port and got into a car that was already waiting outside. The car started imdiately and sped towards the inner city of Bai'an.
Eventually, the woman arrived in the old town district and briskly stepped out of the car in front of an old piano shop. She turned and waved airily at the driver's seat before striding into the shop.
Inside the piano shop, behind the counter, a young girl with light golden curls was lying on the desk, soundly asleep.
Seeing this, the woman showed a slightly indulgent smile, stepped forward, and gently patted the girl's cheek.
The movent roused the girl, who sleepily looked at the woman. Perhaps because the visitor had a special identity, she paused slightly. After a careful look, she asked, sowhat bewildered:
"Mu Tonghao, sister? Why are you here?"
The term "Mu Tonghao" made the previously smiling woman's eyebrows twitch and she raised a hand, slapping it on the girl's exposed forehead: "What kind of way is that to address soone?"
"Ow!" The girl, shocked by the slap, instantly beca fully awake, "Why did you hit ?"
"I've told you many tis, haven't I? Even if you can't properly call 'Teacher,' you should at least call 'Margaret' or 'Sister Yuan Xiang.'" The woman in sunglasses said so, earnestly circling a finger in the air.
"But isn't Margaret just another way to say Mu Tonghao... Isn't that the codena the nation gave you?"
"It sounds too rustic. A title like 'Margaret' is what truly showcases my radiance and beauty, right?"
Taking off her sunglasses, the woman revealed her eyes: "Co now, my dear disciple, take this opportunity to change how you address ."
It was sowhat magical; the mature and cool deanor the woman presented while wearing the sunglasses vanished when she removed them, revealing a girlish charm instead: she looked as young and vibrant as the blonde girl next to the counter, and those crimson eyes were captivating.
"So cheesy!"
However, the girl behind the counter had no intention of sparing Margaret any dignity: "What exactly are you here for?"
"Why have I co back? Isn't it because of your situation here? I've heard the old place is about to be taken over; I had to co and see, right?" Margaret said, crossing her arms.
"Old place? Mu... Sister Yuan Xiang, aren't you with the nation?" The blonde girl said dryly.
"Wherever there's music, that's my ho!"
"So why is there only you here in the piano shop? Where are the others, like Dengzhan?"
"They've gone out on patrol."
"On patrol, huh? And why are you staying here then?"
"I'm in charge of guarding the ho..."
Playing with her fingers, the blonde girl spoke sowhat sheepishly, "To prevent any trouble from arising in the old town district."
"Really?"
"...Because I caused trouble outside before, and when we were catching a bad guy, we caught the wrong person, so now I'm being grounded by the Lantern Sister," the blonde girl muttered.
"You really do have a knack for getting into trouble," Margaret said with a refreshing smile.
"Wuu," the blonde girl puckered her lips unhappily.
"Well, it's fine with just you. Do you know if anything happened in Bai An City before?"
"Before? Nothing much, I guess?"
The blonde girl pondered and said, "It's just that Lantern Sister disappeared for a few days, but eventually everyone ca back."
"That's not what you call 'nothing much'."
Margaret corrected her, "What's this about Lantern disappearing? What did she go and do?"
"I don't know."
The blonde girl shook her head blankly, "She just said she got lost in the den of the Remnant Beasts, was delayed for a few days, but managed to defeat the Remnant Beasts and got out."
"A den? Have cocoons appeared around Bai An?"
"Maybe?" The blonde girl propped up her chin.
"Maybe?" Margaret confird with her.
"Maybe," the blonde girl nodded again.
"...Forget it, being muddled and clumsy is also a cute side of you."
After a mont of helpless silence, Margaret smiled, "It was my mistake to try to get anything out of you. Let's wait until Lantern cos back to talk about it."
"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being looked down upon?"
"Not at all."
"I'm not completely clueless! It was just during the few days Lantern Sister disappeared! Soone from the kingdom ca!"
To prove she was of use, the blonde girl racked her brains, "What was their position again... Inspector General?"
"Inspector General? Eh, that's a big shot," Margaret said, interested, as she fiddled with her hair, "It seems like sothing serious happened. Which one was it specifically?"
"Which one... It seed to be called Cui Niao?"
"I've never heard of an Inspector General with that codena."
"Then it must be that you don't know, Sister Yuan Xiang." Not wanting her answer to be denied, the blonde girl insisted, "Anyway, they ca to help, so it couldn't have been fake."
"So it's you who rembered the na wrong, Cui Niao, Cui Niao, an Inspector General with a na similar to this..."
Repeating the codena the blonde girl had said, Margaret's casual expression gradually hardened on her face. She released the hand holding her hair, looked at the blonde girl, and slowly said:
"Erald Sparrow?"
"—Ah, right! Erald Sparrow!"
The blonde girl slapped the counter, "That's the code! Exactly right!"
"You sure it was Erald Sparrow? What did they look like?"
"It was a kid even shorter than ."
The blonde girl narrated in detail, "Their hair and clothes were blue, and they wore a really big hat on their head... Huh, Sister Yuan Xiang? Why are you smiling so scarily?"
Before she finished, she saw an unusually brilliant smile appear on Margaret's face, even her deep crimson eyes seed to twinkle with trailing light.
"Hehe, Mu Tonghao." Margaret smiled, suddenly in a very good mood, addressing the girl in front of her by her codena, "I just thought of sothing."
"...It doesn't sound like anything good."
"Why would you think that? I'm in such a good mood, what I want to say is, do you fancy a trip to another city?"
"Where?" Mu Tonghao showed a slight interest.
Then, she saw Margaret open her mouth and gently utter a na:
—"For instance, Fangting City?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)