Chapter 439: Accompanied by A Belle
Staring at the reticent Tang Xiu, Han Qingwu felt like her chest was somewhat stifled by repressed emotions. It was a kind of feeling that impeded her breath and drove her over the edge.
She didn’t understand! She couldn’t figure out why Tang Xiu had been giving her the cold shoulder more and more.
“You’re right, Tang Xiu. I couldn’t care less about whatever other identities you have. Shortly put, you’re my student when you are on campus. Since you want to play concealing whatever you feel inside, then go on playing as you wish. Now tell me, what kind of show do you want to perform in the evening? Before noon, I want to hand over the list of the shows our class is going to be performing..” Han Qingwu’s complexion turned rather pale and more indifferent.
Tang Xiu himself had actually thought last night about a good show he planned to perform. He was going to play a random musical instrument and perform whatever he liked. However, looking at Han Qingwu before him, he suddenly recalled an immortal song he had once written for her.
Tang Xiu gave up the previous idea and answered lightly, “I’ll play a ‘Fairy Dream’ song with a zither.”
“Fairy Dream?” Han Qingwu looked dazed, and there was a bit of confused. She had never heard the title of this song before, yet she didn’t know why she faintly felt that it gave her a sense of familiarity. It was as if… this song had a deep relationship with her.
The feeling was not something that she could explain and understand clearly, yet it felt real and existed.
Looking at Tang Xiu, Han Qingwu then nodded and said, “I’ll write it and report it in the list later.”
Having said that, she turned around to walk up the stairs and left.
Looking at her back, complex emotions made Tang Xiu’s heart ripple. It was like the abyss of misery inside him had turned upside down, causing him to be at a loss and make him edgy.
Tap…
Without him realizing it, he subconsciously took out a lighter, lit a cigarette and took a deep puff. He had fallen in love with the taste of cigarettes recently. He couldn’t help but want to light up a cigarette, and took a puff to pacify his emotions whenever he was in a good mood or depressed.
“Gimme one, Tang Big Bro!” Hu Qingsong appeared in the corridor. A teasing and joyous mood filled his eyes as he sized up Tang Xiu in a playful manner.
Without saying anything, Tang Xiu gave the lighter and cigarette pack to Hu Qingsong. Then, he asked, “Anyways, we got nothing else to do today. What do you plan to do later?”
“What else can I do, anyway? I’m going to have a bite in the cafeteria, and then go back to the dorm to sleep. I didn’t sleep enough last night and kind of have a bit of a headache right now.”
“I can’t go with you. There’s a private thing I need to do. But I’ll come back to look for you in the evening,” Tang Xiu told him.
“Where are you going, mate?” Hu Qingsong asked, sensing the unusual mood.
“I gotta buy something,” Tang Xiu replied.
As his cigarette was about to burn through, Tang Xiu extinguished its butt and went down the stairs. Now that he had decided to play the zither tonight, he needed to buy a good zither before performing in the show.
However, just as he took a seat in the car and hadn’t started it yet, Mu Wanying called him.
“Where are you?”
“I’m about to go out to buy something. What’s up?”
“What will you buy?”
“A zither!”
“Well, I’m at the campus’s entrance. I’ll go along with you, then.”
"..." After hesitating a moment, Tang Xiu agreed. When he drove to the campus’s entrance, he saw Mu Wanying in a pretty one-piece dress with her floating long hair, holding two textbooks, a brown women’s bag on her shoulder.
Tang Xiu lowered the front passenger’s window and said, “Get on board.”
Without hesitation, Mu Wanying opened the door and sat down under the watchful eyes of many handsome boys and pretty girls in the surroundings. After closing the door, she smiled and said, “Where are we headed to?”
“I’m not sure where to, since I don’t know any place that sells zithers.” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “So I’ll just stroll around.”
“I knew that you would be playing the zither.” Mu Wanying laughed lightly and said, “I believe your zither play should be on par with your calligraphy and painting skills. I’ll definitely go to the campus assembly hall ahead of time tonight.”
Tang Xiu let out a calm smile in a response. While driving, he chatted with Mu Wanying. He didn’t expect that Mu Wanying could also play the zither, and she seemed to be very good, as well!
---
After browsing the web, Tang Xiu and Mu Wanying found several shops that sold zithers, yet the quality of those zithers was so appalling that Tang Xiu didn’t want to buy them. At this time, he couldn’t help but miss the Immortal Zither he once had in the Immortal World.
“Let’s have lunch first! We’ll continue searching after having a bite. There should be tons of places in a big city such as Shanghai where we can buy a zither. I believe we can find a very good zither,” Mu Wanying chuckled and said as she walked alongside Tang Xiu, gazing at the crowded area after coming out from one of the stores that sold zithers,
“It can only be like this it seems. But I hope I can buy a good zither this afternoon, though. Otherwise, I can only pick one randomly, and then deal with whatever happens in the evening,” Tang Xiu nodded agreeably.
The duo randomly picked one of the restaurants and ordered some dishes. Mu Wanying didn’t speak much. Although Tang Xiu was not someone who treated his words like gold, he wasn’t that familiar with Mu Wanying to the point of being talkative with her without reserve. So he only found some topics occasionally. Still, the duo engaged in a friendly manner and got along well with one another.
Ring, ring, ring… His mobile’s melodious ringtone went off.
Taking his mobile phone out, Tang Xiu looked at the caller’s ID. It was Chi Nan who had called him. He immediately pressed the answer button and asked, “What’s up?”
“Boss, the people from our Headquarters have just caught an old couple. We have interrogated them and they confessed that they learned about our Everlasting Feast Hall from you, they even requested to meet you. The people in our Headquarters put them into custody and now have sent them to Shanghai. How would you like to deal with them?”
“Where are they from?” Tang Xiu frowned and asked.
“They are loose cultivators. The man’s name is Wei Jiangping, and the woman is called Chun Xiu,” Chi Nan informed him.
“And, where are they now?” Tang Xiu furrowed his brow slightly and asked again.
“They are in the Everlasting Feast Hall.”
“Got it. I’ll drive over now,” Tang Xiu said.
Having finished talking, he hung up the phone. He looked at Mu Wanying, who was still carefully eating her meal, and said, “There’s something I need to deal with, you…”
“I’ll go with you.” Mu Wanying looked up and let out a gentle smile as she said, “I think you won’t ditch me here, right?”
Tang Xiu forced a smile, and said, “Are you full already? Shall we go now?”
“All right. I’m full!” Mu Wanying wiped the corner of her mouth with a tissue, picked up her handbag, and got up.
---
Half an hour later, Tang Xiu and Mu Wanying arrived at the Everlasting Feast Hall. When Chi Nan saw Mu Wanying and Tang Xiu, a look of admiration filled her eyes. She found that her Boss truly had many female friends, and each of them was a beauty akin to a fairy.
“Where are they?” Tang Xiu directly asked.
“They are being detained in the martial arts training hall,” Chi Nan reverentially said.
Although he wanted to tell Mu Wanying to stay and wait for him, Tang Xiu hesitated and didn’t utter any words after looking at her tranquil expression.
Under Chi Nan’s lead, they quickly arrived at the martial arts training hall. Tang Xiu saw Wei Jiangping and a distressed-looking old lady sitting on a chair.
Sitting on the chair Chi Nan reserved for him, Tang Xiu asked with an indifferent expression, “Wei Jiangping, were you investigating the Everlasting Feast Hall?”
A bitter expression covered Wei Jiangping’s aged face. There was also an awed look in his eyes when he looked at Tang Xiu as he nodded and said bitterly, “We, husband and wife, wanted to know the whereabouts of our two children. We knew the existence of the Everlasting Feast Hall from you, so we sent some people to investigate it. The result was that all the people we sent disappeared. Hence we had no choice but to rush to Jingmen Island personally.”
“So, you were finally discovered by our people, and then got caught?” Tang Xiu asked.
“That’s right!” Wei Jiangping sighed, “We, husband and wife, have an extremely high cultivation level. We thought that only a few people in this world were on par with us. Yet ten experts from the Everlasting Feast Hall were able to hold us down and capture us easily. Even we can feel that if those people had the intention to directly kill us, we would have been slain by their knives and become ghosts now.”
Giving a cold snort as a reply, Tang Xiu then took out his mobile phone to call Gu Xiaoxue. After she answered, he asked, “Do Light and Dark know the current issue with Wei Jiangping and Chun Xiu?”
“They already know, Grand Master,” Gu Xiaoxue’s voice came from the mobile phone.
“What was their decision?” Tang Xiu asked.
“They didn’t want to see them!”
While sighing inwardly, Tang Xiu ended the call. Following that, he looked at Wei Jiangping and Chun Xiu, saying, “I can spare your life this time, considering that you are the Light and Dark’s biological parents. The capital crime can be exempted, but you can hardly run from the hard consequences. I’ll let the bygones be bygones if you accept my two conditions.”
“Please do say!” Wei Jiangping quickly nodded.
“First, you are not to investigate the Everlasting Feast Hall ever again, and stop looking for your children there,” Tang Xiu stated. “They were at the Everlasting Feast Hall when you were captured, yet they still didn’t want to see you. So I advise you not to waste more time and energy to scheme again”
“We--,” Wei Jiangping hurriedly started to speak.
However, just as he was about to speak out, his wife interrupted him, “Boss Tang, we can accept this demand of yours. Yet in our hearts and minds, we always miss our children and are eager to see them. Could you tell us before we die of old age that you can let us see them?”
“Yes, I’ll give you that chance,” Tang Xiu said.
Looking at Tang Xiu gratefully, Chun Xiu then said, “Please tell us the second condition, then!”
A slight smile appeared on Tang Xiu’s face as he asked, “I now need a zither and the quality should be good. Do you have the means to get one?”
A zither?
“We can do that,” Chun Xiu nodded slowly. “But that zither is someone’s personal belonging. I don’t know whether my old friend’s wife would want to…”
“If she doesn’t want to sell it, you can loan it for me for one night,” Tang Xiu said indifferently.
“It would be no problem then. I’ll see her immediately,” Chun Xiu answered quickly.
Tang Xiu motioned to Chi Nan, and she then untied the ropes on them. Watching the couple get up, he said, “I don’t have much time, I must get it before 5 p.m.”
“Please don’t worry, Boss Tang,” Chun Xiu nodded.
As the couple left, Chi Nan asked curiously, “Boss, what do you want a zither for?”
“That’s because of her good deed.” Tang Xiu forced a smile and said, “She signed me up to perform a show in the freshmen welcoming party held by the campus tonight. Hence, I must go on stage to perform something.”
“Boss, you are also a zither player?” Chi Nan was amazed and said, “Then, I’ll be sure to appreciate your playing skills tonight!”
Tang Xiu secretly rolled his eyes and said snappily, “Aren’t you already busy with the restaurant? If you are not busy, just roll back to Jingmen Island and go into seclusion there.”
Chi Nan covered her mouth as she giggled at him.