"Qi Ye, why did you ask Brother Zhu to protect me?" In the dimly lit street, Baili Pangpang leaned close to Lin Qi Ye's ear and whispered.
"At this critical juncture, both you and us are the target of public criticism, so I cannot stay by your side for long; that would be even more dangerous. Besides, Cao Yuan becomes indiscriminate in his attacks, unable to distinguish friend from foe..."
"In short, you need to have a normal person by your side, and they have to be an expert."
After listening, Baili Pangpang suddenly realized, "You're so smart!"
Shen Qingzhu, who was at the very back, had his hands in his pockets and looked up at the stars in the sky, seemingly lost in thought.
Suddenly, he stopped.
"Hey, Fatty," he suddenly called out.Baili Pangpang turned around, grinned, and said, "I'm your employer now, can you please address me differently?"
"...Baili Tuming." Shen Qingzhu took a deep breath and slowly spoke, "Let's discuss it, give me an advance on one day's wages."
Baili Pangpang raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry about that for now, just tell me if you can give it to me."
Baili Pangpang turned to look at Lin Qiye, who nodded.
"But I don't have any cash on me right now..." Baili Pangpang scratched his head.
"I have three hundred yuan here, is that enough?" Cao Yuan suddenly asked from the side.
"That's enough, give it to me first." Shen Qingzhu nodded repeatedly.
Cao Yuan handed the last three hundred yuan in his wallet to Shen Qingzhu, who then turned back and walked towards the noodle shop. In the dim light, the three of them seemed to see him return to that dilapidated noodle shop.
He first spoke to the boss, added a pork chop and an egg to each of his three henchmen's bowls, then handed all the money to Deng Wei, gave him a few instructions, and quickly ran out.
"Let's go," Shen Qingzhu said calmly.
Lin Qiye and the other two exchanged a glance, remained silent in tacit agreement, and turned to walk out of the alley.
"The hotel was bombed... So where are we going to stay tonight?" Baili Pangpang said dejectedly as he walked.
Cao Yuan, clutching his sword, said, "How about we find a temple to sleep in for the night?"
"...This is a modern city, where are you going to find a temple for you in the middle of the night?"
"Right..."
Lin Qiye pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "I know a place. Come with me."
The three followed behind Lin Qiye, passing through several deserted paths, and finally arrived at the door of a secluded and dilapidated small inn.
Pink and purple room lights shone through the window, illuminating the area in front of the small door. The five people stood at the doorway, looking up at the large, worn-out, pink lettering...
Lin Xi Chen stared at the hotel and rubbed her eyes a few times before glancing at Lin Qiye with a look of suspicion, though she soon broke into a grin, trying to suppress a laugh.
"Dreamland of Butterflies...a lovers' hotel?!"
Upon seeing these words, Baili Pangpang felt a tightness in his chrysanthemum. "Qi Ye, you...you're serious?"
"There aren't many places in Cangnan City where you can check in without registering your ID card, so this is considered one of the better places." Lin Qiye raised his eyebrows slightly. "If you don't want to stay here, you'll have to sleep under a bridge."
"...That's fine then."
The five pushed open the door and entered. Just as Lin Qiye had said, there was no need to register their identities, and there were quite a few rooms. Just as Baili Pangpang was about to book three rooms directly, Shen Qingzhu suddenly spoke up:
"I'll share a room with you."
Baili Pangpang: "What?!"
"Since we agreed on close protection, it's too risky for us to live separately. You sleep on the bed, and I can sleep on the floor," Shen Qingzhu said earnestly.
Baili Pangpang:...
"In that case, I'll stay with you too," Cao Yuan said calmly. "Three people, just enough for a game of Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game)."
"This..."
"That's decided."
Before Baili Pangpang could object, Cao Yuan and Shen Qingzhu had already chosen a room for him. The group walked up the stairs, and every step they took on the floor made a loud creaking sound.
Upon reaching the second floor, faint... indescribable sounds could be heard emanating from several surrounding rooms.
Shen Qingzhu was startled, a faint blush appeared on his face, but he still held his head high and strutted forward.
Cao Yuan lowered his head and silently uttered "Amitabha."
Baili Pangpang stared at the two of them in astonishment, his face gradually showing disbelief...
"You guys, you wouldn't all still be...?"
"You're not?"
"What a joke! When I was seven years old, I already..."
"We are here."
Shen Qingzhu walked to the door of a room, opened it with the key in his hand, and a faint musty smell wafted out. He frowned slightly and stepped inside.
The room wasn't big, with only two beds. The overhead light hadn't been cleaned in ages, covered in stains, and the pink light cast a subtle glow throughout the room.
"There are two beds. You can sleep on the beds, and I'll sleep on the floor." Shen Qingzhu walked to the window, carefully observed the outside for a long time, and after confirming that no one was watching her, she drew the curtains.
Baili Pangpang nodded. "Cao Yuan, which bed do you want to sleep in... hmm?"
Baili Pangpang looked at the empty corridor behind him and let out a soft exclamation.
First floor.
"Hello."What do you want?"
"Do you have anything here... that's exciting and fun for three people to play together?"
"Hmm... well, it's not that we don't have any. What kind specifically are you looking for?"
"Playing cards."
"..."
...
After settling Baili Pangpang in, Lin Qiye and Lin Xi Chen left the inn, moving silently toward Hongying's house like two ghosts in the night.
Unbeknownst to us, snowflakes began to fall from the night sky, adorning the quiet streets.
Lin Qiye reached out and gently caught a snowflake, watching it melt in his palm...
After a long silence, he shook his head helplessly.
"We can't build a snowman together this year, Ah Jin..." But while beside Lin Qiye, Lin Xi Chen gave a little sneeze, nudged him, and pointed at herself—as if to say, "He still has her here"—prompting Lin Qiye to smile softly and pat her head.
Ten minutes later.
"Qi Ye, Xiao Chen why were you gone for so long?" Hong Ying jumped up from the sofa as soon as Lin Qi Ye returned, and said angrily, "If you hadn't come back, I was going to go look for you!"
Wen Qimo, who was lounging on the sofa, yawned. "I can testify that she's mentioned you two at least two hundred times in the last half hour."
Lin Qiye scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "I went out for a late-night snack... Sorry, Sister Hongying."
Hongying sighed, "Never mind, let's go to sleep early... Wen Qimo, you'd better be careful tonight and protect Qiye! I will protect Xiao Chen!"
"Okay, okay." Wen Qimo yawned again. "With me in the living room, nobody's getting in."
Hongying looked out the door and sighed softly, "The captain and that old dog Xiangnan are really something, they actually sneaked back... No loyalty at all! Humph!"
After saying that, she turned around and went to Lin Xi Chen's room. Lin Qiye smiled helplessly and also went back to his room.
Bang!
With a soft click, the villa's lights went out, plunging it into darkness...outside the house.
The night sky was vast and the snowflakes were fluttering.
A cold wind swept across the sleeping Cangnan, carrying snowflakes that whistled through the city.
On the roof of the church, less than a hundred meters from the villa, Leng Xuan lay quietly, holding a sniper rifle, like a statue, watching over everything around him.
Creak.
The sound of shoes crunching in the snow came from behind him. Leng Xuan turned around abruptly and froze on the spot.
"Aren't you cold in the middle of winter?"
Chen Muye, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, slowly walked over to him and sat down.
"It's not cold," Leng Xuan replied calmly.
"I brought you a coat." Wu Xiangnan, wearing a black trench coat, sat down next to Leng Xuan and draped the coat over his shoulders. His gaze fell on the villa in the distance, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Aren't you going back to sleep?" Leng Xuan asked.
"Sleep? I can't sleep."
"Oh."
"I heard Qiye and Xiao Chen went to help the chubby kid fight today? How did it go?"
Leng Xuan paused for a moment, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Very good. They're gotten stronger. Now even I might not be able to beat them."
"I see..." Chen Muye smiled. "That's good."
"Mm."
"You've watched over him all day, let's take over tonight."
"No need. If you don't even have that much perseverance, what kind of sniper are you?"
Wu Xiangnan and Chen Muye exchanged a glance, gave a wry smile, and neither of them offered any further advice.
Silence fell upon the top of the church.
In silence, the three men sat there quietly, watching the villa in the distance, without moving.
The fluttering snowflakes fell on them.
Under the deathly silent night sky,The snow piled up on them thicker and thicker...
Gradually, they turned into three snowmen.
It's like the guardian deity of this city.