Ming Po and his companions were sitting in an izakaya. Ming Po had Ai Shiping on his left, while Gao Fan sat directly across from him.
"I didn't expect you guys to want to co here."
Gao Fan looked a little baffled. "I was actually planning to take you to No. 5 West Suburbs."
"Ah, there's no need for that." Ai Shiping's smile turned a bit strained. "I'm not really interested in local Shanghainese cuisine anyway. Besides, you guys probably couldn't handle most of the stuff I usually eat."
"Like what?" Gao Fan asked, growing curious.
"Like hotpot," Ming Po answered casually, flipping through the nu. "He's actually from Sichuan—couldn't tell, could you?"
"I really couldn't." Gao Fan was amazed. "There's no accent at all."
"If I really started speaking Sichuanese, you wouldn't understand a single thing." Ai Shiping laughed, switching back to his natural accent. "Right?"
"I guess so..." Gao Fan nodded. "Actually, if it's Japanese food you want, I know a few really good places. No need to try and save money. Money doesn't hold much value for us anymore anyway."
"It's fine. This guy is a rotating sushi fan, so this place is already perfect. If it were any more upscale, he'd feel completely uncomfortable. He'd feel bad because he wouldn't be able to tell why it's so expensive, and he'd worry that the person hosting was spending too much," Ming Po said as he turned the pages of the nu. He turned to the waiter and said, "Excuse , we'll take two bottles of this plum wine—Xiao Fan, do you want so?"
"Ah, I'm not much of a drinker..." Gao Fan declined politely, before asking curiously, "A rotating sushi fan?"
"I don't an he chews betel nuts. It refers to Hama Sushi and Sushiro. They're two conveyor-belt sushi chains, and the quality is pretty good. The selling point is that they're cheap enough that you won't break the bank even if you eat until you're stuffed."
Ai Shiping leaned back in his seat and sighed. "You two rich guys wouldn't understand. I rarely go out, and when I do, I always do a ton of research beforehand to find places with the best value. This place's specialties are horse at sashimi and beef intestine hotpot, which are pretty rare to see, right?"
They chatted and laughed, waiting for their food to arrive.
Right at that mont, however, a woman suddenly sat down in the empty seat next to Gao Fan. Ming Po imdiately knit his brows, pushing up his glasses as he said coldly, "Hello, we aren't sharing tables—"
Though he didn't know if she was trying to flirt or sell sothing, this kind of occurrence wasn't exactly rare for Ming Po and Ai Shiping. He was about to politely ask her to leave when he noticed the newcor familiarly throwing her arm around Gao Fan's shoulders, causing him to cut his words short.
"Long ti no see! What's this, having dinner with your new teammates?"
The woman smiled warmly, her eyes crinkling at the corners to make her look rather like a fox. She had an apple bob hair style and stood at barely under 1.6 ters tall. Still, that was at least two heads taller than Gao Fan, making them look like an older sister hanging out with her younger brother.
Ming Po narrowed his eyes slightly.
He had a very sharp intuition—this woman was highly unlikely to be a good person. Sitting down without greeting them and imdiately acting intimate with Gao Fan while ignoring his desires was a tactical move to dominate the conversation through physical contact. It was a classic display of asserting dominance by dialing up one's presence, the kind commonly seen in gang-thed Hong Kong movies or Japanese dramas. While it couldn't quite be called malicious, it carried a blatant, undisguised sense of mischief.
What made Ming Po wary, however, was the strange sense of pressure radiating from her. Ming Po felt as though he could scent an aura from her that made his entire body tense up, forcing him to stare intently at her without daring to lower his guard for a second.
Beside him, Ai Shiping accepted the chilled plum wine from the waiter and unscrewed the bottle while studying this uninvited guest. Even by Ai Shiping's standards, her appearance was quite striking. It was hard to tell her exact age, but she completely lacked the naive, clear-eyed foolishness of youth. She looked to be around her late twenties or early thirties, possessing a remarkably bright and generous smile, straight white teeth, and a well-maintained complexion and figure.
She wore solid gold earrings shaped like stars and moons, paired with a cream-white blazer over a solid-colored top. Yet what caught Ming Po's attention the most were her long fingers, which were entirely devoid of any manicure. Compared to the rest of her accessories, her hands were so plain that it felt sowhat contradictory.
An aura like this, even if it didn't match a gastar's level, belonged at least to a celebrity actor or a major internet influencer. It was a completely different league from little girls like Lin Ya or Raccoon.
...Could she be an old friend of Gao Fan's? Or maybe his girlfriend? Given Gao Fan's wealth, it wouldn't be surprising for him to know a beautiful woman of this caliber, and their ages generally aligned.
But very quickly, Ming Po realized that this was clearly not the case. Unlike the woman's bright and cheerful smile, Gao Fan looked entirely unhappy. In fact, he looked extrely stressed, filled with tension and fear.
While Ming Po and the woman were sizing each other up, Ai Shiping suddenly spoke.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Not wanting to make things difficult for Gao Fan, Ai Shiping asked with a smile, "Is this big sister so kind of famous star?"
"Aren't you a sweet-talker, handso," the woman laughed brightly, waving over a waiter to order a can of beer.
"This is... Red Queen," Gao Fan said softly. "I used to be employed by her team."
"It's just a sha I never got the chance to join a ga with Xiao Fan," Red Queen chuckled, affectionately rubbing her cheek against Gao Fan's.
Even just sitting across from her, her fragrance washed over them. Yet Gao Fan's face showed none of the infatuation of soone seduced by beauty; instead, his body remained rigid, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists. With a solemn expression, he said to Ming Po with utmost gravity, "Red Queen is... a senior of the Silver of Moon (Rank) level."
Hearing this, both Ming Po and Ai Shiping froze slightly. Up until now, they hadn't even encountered a Deceiver of the World at the Zhou's Azure Lead (Rank) level, yet here they were looking at a living Silver of Moon (Rank)! Even though Ink and Utopia had reached the Silver of Moon (Rank) level during their lifetis, they had ultimately failed. The fact that they beca Hosts ant they had failed their trials to ascend to the Ti Gold level, falling into the losers' bracket.
...Gao Fan actually knew a powerhouse of this caliber?
"I am Fox." Ai Shiping spoke up, breaking the silence. He then glanced at Ming Po. "And this is..."
"...Madman," Ming Po added softly.
"Madman." Red Queen repeated the rather rare title, her smile growing even brighter. "How truly extraordinary."
She turned back, whispering softly to Gao Fan, "So... this is your new team? Hmm?"
"...Yes," Gao Fan shuddered instinctively, but spoke with conviction. "These are my true partners, the ones I can trust."
"Oh~ is that so?" Red Queen drawled.
User Comments
0 comments from readers