Liu Nanfeng had studied the properties of the Mother Grass late into the night, so he woke up very late in the morning. Then he remembered his appointment to meet Xiao Liyu today, and the little fellow was probably getting impatient.
He then got out of bed. He didn't even eat breakfast, planning to pick up Xiao Liyu first.
However, before he could leave, he suddenly remembered the Ink Jade he brought back last night and seemed not to have seen her.
"Ink Jade?"
Liu Nanfeng called out, but received no response.
"Meow meow, little kitty."
Liu Nanfeng called out again, still no sound.
"Did she leave already?" Liu Nanfeng thought.
Then he noticed a note on the messy dining table. Indeed, after Yang Ruoyun had woken up, she had quietly left.
The note said, in essence, that she thanked him for his help, but she would not bother him anymore and had returned to her own home.
In the bottom right corner of the note, there was also a cute cat paw print.
A smile unconsciously curved Liu Nanfeng's lips. A small clump of cat fur was also on the table. With this around, where could the little thing run off to?
However, the table was indeed very messy, covered in all sorts of grass. These were what Liu Nanfeng had used as carriers for the Mother Grass last night. After his experiments, some of these grasses were bent and twisted, with strange appearances, some had scorched yellow leaves, and some had grown sharp serrations, looking quite bizarre.
He dared not casually discard these plants and herbs that he had experimented on. Who knew what accidents might occur? So, he directly put them into Guanshanhai and burned them clean with a single fire.
After dealing with everything, he then went downstairs.
When he arrived at the riverbank, he saw from afar Xiao Liyu holding a large box, standing blankly by the river, tiptoeing and looking towards where he was coming from.
Upon seeing Liu Nanfeng, Xiao Liyu immediately jumped up, then ran towards him. She then crashed into Liu Nanfeng's arms.
"Have you been waiting long? I'm sorry, I'm late." Liu Nanfeng crouched down and said with a full apology.
"No, I only just arrived a little while ago." Xiao Liyu gestured with her little hands, full of cuteness.
But Liu Nanfeng knew she was being polite, because her hair tips were covered in dewdrops from the river mist, indicating that the little fellow had definitely been by the river for a considerable time.
"Next time, you don't need to come so early. If I arrive and don't see you, I'll contact you with a conch shell, understand?"
"Okay."
"Have you eaten breakfast?"
Xiao Liyu shook her head, then held up the large box in her hands and said, "I have this!"
"What is this?"
"Yu Chan sister made it, it's delicious!" Xiao Liyu said excitedly.
"Then why didn't you eat it?"
"I want to eat it with Gu Gu and the little babies."
"Little Jin Hua can't eat this yet. That's fine, I haven't eaten either. Let's go eat something delicious together."
"Delicious food?"
"Yes, delicious food. Let me think, how about we have beef noodles? I remember a beef noodle shop up ahead that tastes pretty good."
Liu Nanfeng took the food box from Xiao Liyu's hands and led her forward by the hand.
Xiao Liyu didn't feel unhappy about waiting for Liu Nanfeng for too long. Instead, she was in a very good mood after seeing Liu Nanfeng and quietly hummed a little folk song that Liu Nanfeng had never heard before.
However, Xiao Liyu probably didn't understand the true meaning of the folk song. Although she hummed it cheerfully, the actual meaning of this folk song was not cheerful at all. It was a song expressing longing and reluctance. Although not overly sad, it was still filled with a faint melancholy.
"It sounds very nice. Who taught it to you?" Liu Nanfeng asked with some curiosity.
"Shuisheng did," Xiao Liyu said.
Liu Nanfeng was somewhat enlightened upon hearing this. He had heard Xiao Liyu mention before that Shuisheng was a young boy who had drowned in the river, and should not be very old. He was one of Xiao Liyu's friends, whom Liu Nanfeng had never had the chance to meet.
"Is he your good friend?" Liu Nanfeng was asking the obvious.
"Mhm, my good friend, and... Ao jie jie..." Xiao Liyu thought for a moment.
Although she was a little afraid of Ao Jiangyue, she still considered Ao Jiangyue a good friend.
"I haven't seen Ao jie jie for a long time," Xiao Liyu suddenly said.
She missed her a little.
"Don't worry, I think you should be able to see her again very soon."
"Really?"
Xiao Liyu's joy was evident.
As the two talked, they arrived at the beef noodle restaurant Liu Nanfeng had mentioned.
Since it was already past nine o'clock, there were not many customers left in the shop.
Liu Nanfeng used to come here often, so the owner recognized him and was somewhat surprised to see him.
"Boss, where have you been getting rich lately? I haven't seen you here for a long time!"
"Not getting rich, just been busy lately."
Liu Nanfeng replied casually. He wasn't so close to the owner that they shared everything. The owner was just being polite.
As expected, the owner didn't say anything more and directly asked, "What do you want to eat today? The same as usual?"
Although this was a beef noodle restaurant, it didn't just offer beef noodles, but also tripe noodles, shredded pork noodles, and so on, with a rich variety.
"The usual, a large bowl of medium-spicy beef noodles." Liu Nanfeng found an empty seat and sat down.
Xiao Liyu also quickly sat opposite him.
"And another large bowl, not spicy. Also, add an egg to each, and another portion of beef."
"So much? Can you finish it?" The owner was stunned for a moment.
Actually, this question was mainly directed at Xiao Liyu. Their large bowls were quite generous, and he didn't think this little girl could finish it.
"It's okay, just serve it." Liu Nanfeng didn't explain further.
The owner didn't say anything more. He was just making a casual remark. Besides, the more he sold, the more he earned.
Since there were few people, the owner quickly brought them everything they ordered.
Xiao Liyu eagerly took a bite, and her eyes lit up.
"How does it taste?" Liu Nanfeng asked with a smile.
"Delicious!" Xiao Liyu said happily.
"Right." Liu Nanfeng also started eating heartily.
The beef noodles here not only had chewy noodles, but the braised sauce was faintly sweet, salty yet spicy, spicy yet sweet, which whetted the appetite.
Although Xiao Liyu's mouth was small, her speed was very fast. In just a few bites, there was less than half of the bowl left.
"Slow down, be careful of the heat," Liu Nanfeng said with a bit of amusement.
"I'm not afraid," Xiao Liyu mumbled through a mouthful of noodles.
"Boss, bring us two more bowls of the same," Liu Nanfeng ordered two more bowls without asking Xiao Liyu, because he knew Xiao Liyu could still eat.
As expected, when the owner, looking surprised, brought the noodles, Xiao Liyu didn't refuse at all. She simply pushed her empty bowl aside and prepared to start.
However, when she saw the red color in Liu Nanfeng's bowl, she hesitated slightly.
"What's wrong, do you want to eat my bowl?" Liu Nanfeng asked with a smile when he saw this.
Xiao Liyu quickly nodded.
"It's very spicy, you know."
"I'm not afraid," Xiao Liyu said very assertively.
But soon, she pursed her lips, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I told you it was spicy, but you didn't listen."
Liu Nanfeng amusingly swapped their bowls.
After they had eaten their fill, Liu Nanfeng bought some snacks and other things, then sent Xiao Liyu into Guanshanhai.
Liu Nanfeng did not go in with her. Instead, he dialed Zhan Dundun's phone.
"Oh, I was just about to call you."
As soon as the call was connected, before Liu Nanfeng could speak, Zhan Dundun spoke first.
"What do you need me for?"
"My dad is here, and he wants to meet you," Zhan Dundun said.
"Alright, then I'll come to your place now." Liu Nanfeng said.
He had intended to find Dundun for something anyway, and now it was perfect timing.
"Okay, I'll wait for you. By the way, what did you need me for?"
"We can talk about it when we meet."
Liu Nanfeng soon met Zhan Guoliang, whom he hadn't seen for many years, and felt quite delighted.
Because today, the number of thugs, ah no, helpers, had increased by one. How could he not be happy?
But to his surprise, in addition to Zhan Guoliang, there was also a very old and frail elder.
ps: I apologize for only having one chapter tonight. My computer had problems, it was difficult to start and it was slow. I'm reformatting the system. I'll make it up early tomorrow. I sincerely apologize.