"That really is an impressive plan!" Milla said as she scooped the floating dumplings from the boiling water into a large bowl. She carried the brimming bowl out of the kitchen and set it on the table.
"Here's vinegar, and here are chili peppers. I sometimes make Huaxian dishes for myself..." Facing a Huaxian super combat power who was also a lieutenant general, she felt a bit nervous. "Still, isn't that terribly dangerous?"
"Ah, yes. Those scoundrels have grown more underhanded. They set a shameless trap." Marshal Hua gestured toward his wounds. "I was besieged by two supers this time."
As he lowered his head to eat, a droplet of blood from the corner of his mouth dripped into the bowl... He added some chili, stirred it in, and finished every dumpling.
"Looks like your left hand is injured, isn't it? If an open rebellion really breaks out, the officer academy will likely be one of their prime targets. Remember to stay safe and protect yourself. I'm sure they'll come for you, regardless of how things turn out in Xiongzhanli."
With that, Marshal Hua slipped out through the back door, carrying his injuries with him.
So his wounds had nothing to do with it; this Huaxian super combat power had truly just dropped by on New Year's Eve to beg a bowl of dumplings and mark the passage of the year.
Milla cleared the bowl and chopsticks, erased any traces... and went back to wrapping dumplings, preparing for her own New Year's Eve.
Time marched on.
A few hours later in the City of Iniquity, night had only just fallen, and Rusty Sister and Zhe Qiuhong had already washed the dishes.
Zhe Qiuhong was still in her room changing clothes. She was a woman, so taking a bit longer was understandable. Rusty Sister had already put on her red cloak, standing in the central hall looking left and right. "Are you dressed yet? Why aren't you out here?!"
"...Hurry up, oh, come on, you guys! We won't make it in time for the fireworks!" she urged, stomping her feet in impatience.
Tonight's fireworks display was set to take place out in the desert beyond the city, toward the sea. Rusty Sister had asked around and learned it was at least an hour's drive away, and she was terrified they would miss it.
"Aren't new clothes supposed to be worn starting tomorrow morning?!"
Inside his room, Han Qingyu laced up his combat ankle boots embedded with dead iron plates. He stood up, looking at the dress shirt, suit, and tie he wore, feeling somewhat out of his element.
"Wearing them today is totally fine! When I was little, I'd bring them out on New Year's Eve and put them on, and I'd even cry when I had to take them off," Rusty Sister said. "Besides, we're going out tonight, so this is the perfect chance for you guys to get used to them. Tomorrow we're dragging you out shopping."
As she spoke, *creak*.
He Tangtang opened his door and stepped out. He was burly with broad shoulders and a wide back; in a black suit with his combat blade strapped behind him, he looked genuinely imposing.
"How do I look, Rusty Sister?" He Tangtang asked smugly.
"Impressive, Tangtang! Right now, you look like a mobster uncle straight out of the movies!" Rusty Sister laughed.
Then the Little Prince stepped out. He looked like an aristocrat from a film... or perhaps a butler.
Next came Wen Jifei, looking the most at ease of them all.
"Wu Xu!" Rusty Sister called.
"Oh, coming."
"Han Qingyu?! Han Qingqing?! Han Qing Snake?! Han Qing Porcelain..."
"Coming, coming."
Qingzi was the sort of person who feigned composure whenever he felt flustered or awkward, so when he walked out, he put on an air of complete nonchalance.
Wu Xu, on the other hand, emerged with his head slightly lowered, standing there without looking at anyone.
In truth, his build was much like Han Qingyu's—tall, slender, and upright, with lean, defined muscle rather than bulk. A black suit suited him exceptionally well.
Rusty Sister stared blankly for a few seconds. "Whoa... Doctor Zhe, Doctor Zhe, come look at this!"
"What's the matter?" Zhe Qiuhong pushed her door open and walked out. Her hair was neatly gathered in a ponytail, and she was... she was actually wearing a black suit, white shirt, and tie as well.
Tall and with a proud chest, the woman looked strikingly handsome in her suit.
"What are you staring at me for? Can't a woman wear a suit?!"
Though she snapped playfully, Zhe Qiuhong's gaze swept across Han Qingyu and the others one by one, her eyes growing brighter as if thoroughly pleased with her taste in clothing.
*If Azure ever holds an open recruitment drive in the future, they really could use these boys for publicity—photos in suits, uniforms, combat gear...* the thought struck her.
These were things she never would have paid attention to before.
"You look great, super great! You're amazing, Doctor Zhe!" Rusty Sister stared at her, her voice filled with envy. She paused, then added, "I don't want a dress anymore. If the day comes when I can get out of this, I want to wear a suit too."
"All right. When that day comes, we'll wear them together." *Whoosh!*
As soon as the words left her mouth, Zhe Qiuhong flipped her wrist, draped on a red cloak identical to Rusty Sister's, pulled up the hood, and walked over to stand beside her.
Two Little Red Riding Hoods and their bodyguards? It certainly felt like it.
"Let's go!" Rusty Sister cheered, her red cloak fluttering.
A black van sat parked in the courtyard. The group loaded wooden crates of various sizes into the back, and Wen Jifei took the wheel, following the flow of traffic heading in the same direction out of the city toward the sea, driving deep into the desert.
"Didn't they say it was just over an hour? Why haven't we arrived yet?!" After driving for nearly two hours, Wen Jifei asked.
"Probably because there are too many cars, or maybe the person I asked got it wrong," Rusty Sister replied.
***
Around this time, across most of Huaxia, the morning sky of New Year's Day had already brightened.
In a small shop by the roadside in Fenglong'ao.
The old monk woke in bed. Listening to the firecrackers popping one after another outside, he thought, *It's the New Year already?! Right, it's the New Year. I even had New Year's Eve dinner yesterday. Wait... didn't I have something to do after dinner? What was I supposed to do?*
What had happened the previous evening was roughly this: around dusk, while Jiang Longchi was sorting through his belongings, he had stumbled upon a cloth bundle tucked into the corner of his wardrobe.
Over the past year, the Han couple had bought him plenty of new clothes, and his old ones had long since been packed away at the bottom of a chest.
The cloth bundle had originally been stitched to his old garments. When Zhang Jiexia had taken them to wash back then, she saw it and thought it might be where the old man kept his money while wandering the world.
The Hans were proper, decent folk. Zhang Jiexia had not touched the bundle, much less opened it; she simply snipped the stitches, placed it in the wardrobe the old man used, and washed the clothes.
And so, the cloth bundle had sat in the wardrobe for a whole year.
Jiang Longchi had opened it, only to find a slip of paper inside:
[Remember to hurry to the City of Iniquity and take good care of a boy named Han Qingyu. You have no family left, Jiang Longchi; he is the family from your memories. You are currently staying at his home, and his parents want to look after you in your old age...]
The date at the bottom was February 1992.
"..." The old man looked at the calendar, saw that it was already 1993, and plunged into immediate chaos. "Holy fuck! A whole year! Has that brat died already?! Wait, I'm staying at your house!"
Just then, Han Youshan and his wife came by to call him for New Year's Eve dinner.
The moment the old man saw them, guilt seized him. How was he supposed to face them?! In his panic, he crumpled the slip of paper in his fist, planning to find an excuse to leave as soon as dinner was over.
Throughout the entire meal, Jiang Longchi kept the paper rolled up, clutching it tightly in his hand without loosening his grip for a single second.
When he finished eating and stepped outside to use the outhouse, a familiar villager walked over and offered him a cigarette.
Jiang Longchi tucked the cigarette behind his ear and went into the outhouse.
When he came out, another villager gathered around to offer him a smoke. He waved it off, saying he already had one, so the other man cupped a flame and leaned in to light it for him... Jiang Longchi looked down, saw something rolled up in his hand, and casually raised that rolled slip of paper to his mouth and lit it. The acrid smoke sent him into a coughing fit that lasted ages.
"What on earth did I forget?" On the morning of New Year's Day, the old man lay in bed, racking his brains.
A knock came at the door—*knock, knock*.
"Master? Master Longchi, are you awake?" Han Youshan called from outside. "The families you picked names for last year came early this morning with their babies to pay you New Year respects! There's also someone here asking you to pick an auspicious wedding date."
"I'm up, coming right away!" Jiang Longchi rolled out of bed to begin business...
In tiny Fenglong'ao, another year of peaceful life had begun.
Chapter 488