Chapter 161: Liang Zhu (9)

Chen Huihong's Maybach slowly drove into the underground garage without attracting anyone's attention.

Everything went smoothly.

Before getting out of the car, Qin Huai put on his hat, scarf, and mask again, ensuring that even if Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen stood in front of him, they wouldn't be able to recognize him immediately. He dragged his suitcase, listening to all directions and watching all sides, and quickly slipped into the elevator.

It wasn't until he walked out of the elevator to the door of Luo Jun's house that Qin Huai breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Shumei opened the door.

"Master Xiao Qin, the room has been cleaned for you. Time is limited, the bed is a temporary air mattress; see if you're comfortable. If not, I'll find someone to swap the bed in my room to the guest room," Zhang Shumei said.

Luo Jun's house had no guest room; his rooms were only the master bedroom, second bedroom, painting room, media room, and display room. The servant's room was used by Luo Jun to pile up clutter, and Zhang Shumei, the live-in nanny, lived in the second bedroom.

Qin Huai took a look and found that Zhang Shumei had temporarily cleared out the media room to become a guest room. The room was quite large and livable, larger than the master bedroom in his own house.

"It's quite good, no problem," Qin Huai said with a smile, opening his suitcase and taking out the 20 jin of crispy cakes and the raw dough for the pastries.

Besides the crispy cakes and pastries, Qin Huai only brought a set of clothes to change into this time, so there was nothing to organize. He took his things and went to the living room.

Chen Huihong was already eating from a fruit platter.

Luo Jun was still sitting on the sofa watching TV. Seeing Qin Huai come out, he gave him a look, cleared his throat, and said loudly: "Xiao Zhang, old rules, spider plant."

Five minutes later, Zhang Shumei, having tidied up, went out happily carrying a large bag.

Qin Huai went to the kitchen to steam the pastries for Luo Jun. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he found several bowls of ingredients on the stove.

Ingredients for Chen Pi tea.

The intention was already very obvious.

"Mr. Luo, do you want to boil Chen Pi tea?" Qin Huai poked his head out and asked.

"Otherwise?" Luo Jun said sarcastically. "Master Xiao Qin is indeed busy with ten thousand things. You came back from far away just to quickly complete the task, not even willing to give the task target a bowl of Chen Pi tea."

Qin Huai:...

Which palace intrigue drama have you been watching lately?

Anyway, boiling Chen Pi tea wasn't troublesome; it was all done in passing. Qin Huai first put the pastries into the steamer, then started boiling the Chen Pi tea, and searched in the cabinet, finding the materials prepared by Zhang Shumei, and started kneading the dough.

It was rare to be back, so he should make some delicious snacks for Luo Jun and Chen Huihong, letting them see the results of his learning at Huang Ji during this time.

After learning heat control for a week, his pastry skills had made a sudden leap.

Soon, after the dough was kneaded and left on the cutting board to rise, the pastries in the steamer were also ready.

The Chen Pi tea still needed some time, but no rush, the pastries hadn't been colored yet. Qin Huai mixed the red vegetable juice and created messily, with the time perfectly timed.

At the same time the 4 pastries were colored, the Chen Pi tea in the pot was also successfully finished.

Luo Jun was already sitting at the dining table. Qin Huai served three bowls of Chen Pi tea, brought them out on a tray, and sat down to eat a little together.

Chen Huihong, who had been waiting impatiently, couldn't wait to pick up a pastry, take a bite, squint her eyes in satisfaction, and eat happily.

Luo Jun was unmoved; he didn't even look at the pastries on the plate, calmly picking up a spoon and slowly drinking the Chen Pi tea.

One spoonful after another, this action and demeanor were very familiar to Qin Huai; only a newspaper was missing, and it was the appearance of Luo Jun drinking Chen Pi tea every morning after waking up in the memories.

Five or six minutes later, a bowl of Chen Pi tea was finished.

Chen Huihong had almost finished gnawing on her second pastry, looking a bit full already, and the last small half was held in her hand for a long time without her taking a bite.

Luo Jun put down the bowl, didn't pick up a pastry, and looked a bit hesitant.

"Oh, don't hesitate. Extending your head is a cut, shrinking your head is also a cut. Being seen by Xiao Qin isn't a loss. If Xiao Qin makes a new snack after seeing the memory and lets you pass the tribulation successfully, wouldn't you have earned it? You can live for many more years!" Chen Huihong advised as someone who had been through it.

Luo Jun rolled his eyes at her unhappily: "You think I'm you, remembering nothing. Do I care about living for many more years? Dying now and being reincarnated is the same way of living."

Having said that, Luo Jun's hand moved, picking up a pastry, putting it to his mouth, hesitating for a moment, and taking a small bite.

Almost at the moment Luo Jun started chewing, the game prompt sounded in Qin Huai's mind.

"Ding, congratulations on completing the side quest 【The Taste of Memory】, obtaining the task reward 【A Memory of Luo Jun】."

Luo Jun's last memory was in hand.

Qin Huai looked at Luo Jun and asked cautiously: "Do you... have anything else to instruct?"

Qin Huai knew very well that Luo Jun must know what the content of the memory he was about to see was.

Luo Jun was silent for a long time, and Qin Huai also sat at the dining table waiting for him for a long time, without clicking on the game panel for a long time.

Finally, Luo Jun spoke, his voice a bit hoarse: "Remember her appearance, don't forget it."

Qin Huai nodded, clicked on the game panel, and selected 【A Memory of Luo Jun】.

Selection is Yes.

［Memory loading—］.

"Boom!"

Firelight, loud noises, disaster.

When Qin Huai entered the memory, all he saw was devastation.

It was clearly night, but the burning firelight made the surroundings very bright. Everywhere were broken walls and ruins that had been bombed, charred and collapsed houses, making creaking sounds of shattering from time to time. There was no crying, no calling for help; it felt like all living things had vanished into thin air amidst the ruins.

Qin Huai looked up and saw the planes circling in the sky, continuously dropping bombs.

"Boom."

In the distance, another bomb was dropped.

This wasn't the kind of real yet fake bombing seen in movies; this was truly happening right before his eyes, the roaring sound so loud it could deafen a person.

This wasn't a disaster movie; this was a real disaster.

Luo Jun was right in the middle of the ruins, leaning against a dangerous wall that had collapsed halfway, using the firelight, standing there calmly reading a newspaper, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him, his expression leisurely and composed as if he were waiting for Liu Tao to finish watching a movie at the entrance of a cinema.

Soon, the planes circling in the sky flew far away. Luo Jun hadn't finished reading the newspaper, flipped a page, and looked up at the sky.

"Day after day, it's really annoying."

After speaking, Luo Jun patted the dust off his body and found a place where the firelight was bright to continue reading the newspaper. After finishing one sheet, there was another; when the fire in one place burned out, he changed to a bright one.

Qin Huai found it hard to evaluate this behavior, which was similar in nature to "stealing light by boring a hole in the wall," and didn't know what could be read. After all, there was nothing around, not even living people, so he simply joined Luo Jun and read the newspaper with him.

The two read the newspaper together like this until dawn.

Qin Huai even boredly counted that Luo Jun took out 22 newspapers folded into small tofu blocks from his pocket; it was obvious he was prepared and had specifically come out to read the newspaper on the night of the bombing.

Before, Luo Jun usually only brought three or four sheets when going out.

Luo Jun unhurriedly folded the finished newspaper back into tofu blocks, put them in his pocket, and walked towards the east.

That was the direction of the sun.

The sky was just beginning to brighten, the light wasn't strong, but it was enough for Qin Huai to see the scene in the distance. Basically, wherever the bombs fell, only the wreckage after the explosion remained.

The houses hadn't completely collapsed; some low houses could only see broken bricks and tiles and burned-out wood, some had part of the perimeter wall collapsed but the main body was still intact, and those with particularly good luck were even undamaged, only having their outer walls blackened by the spreading fire.

Luo Jun walked slowly, Qin Huai followed behind him, and after walking for several streets, Qin Huai faintly heard crying coming from afar.

People who had hidden in air-raid shelters all night finally came out one after another after confirming that the planes had left and it was dawn.

Some looked at their homes that had become ruins, collapsed and hugged the wreckage crying, frantically searching for property in the ruins, hissing like wild dogs protecting food at anyone who tried to approach the ruins.

Some wanted to take advantage of the fire, seeing lone women and weak young men, holding wooden sticks to threaten the other party to hand over the property on their bodies, even if their pockets were already stuffed with items that didn't belong to them, they were still greedily wanting more.

But more were people calling out the names of relatives everywhere, seeing familiar people and pouncing on them to ask if you had seen so-and-so, was he with you.

A mess.

Luo Jun clearly didn't like such crowded and chaotic crowds, avoiding people all the way. After walking through one slum after another, Qin Huai saw the small foreign-style buildings in the distance.

Qin Huai hadn't seen these foreign-style buildings; it was obvious Luo Jun had already left the Shu region and arrived at a new place.

The area of the foreign-style buildings clearly hadn't been directly bombed, only slightly affected, and the buildings were well-preserved, possibly because of the terrain. Qin Huai looked a little, feeling that this area was indeed not easy to be bombed, and there was a reason for it to become a rich area in such a dangerous period.

Luo Jun walked towards the innermost 3-story small foreign-style building. Before he even reached the door, Liu Tao, with a face full of anxiety, pounced on him, first examining Luo Jun's face, not caring that her hands were dirty and black, as if afraid she had seen wrong, touching his cheeks, ears, and chin, confirming he wasn't injured before looking at his neck and arms.

Liu Tao's hands were trembling, and her whole body was shaking because of fear; she looked very disheveled.

Her hair was loose, her clothes were wrinkled, her hands were dirty, and she had lost one of her shoes. There were large beads of sweat on her forehead, residual tear stains on the corners of her eyes and cheeks, and her beautiful silk dress had many small cuts. Looking closely, one could also see many small wounds on her hands faintly oozing blood, with sand and small stones stuck in the wounds.

Luo Jun saw Liu Tao's hands.

"What happened to your hands?" Luo Jun grabbed her hands and asked.

Liu Tao didn't answer, large tears falling directly from her eye sockets, her lips trembling as she choked: "I thought you were dead."

"Last night you went to the Liu family shop, they said it was almost bombed into flat ground by the devils, and many people died. Even in the air-raid shelter, people were trampled and squeezed to death. Before dawn, I wanted to go find you, but Uncle Zhang wouldn't let me out. After Uncle Zhang and Li Ping were dawn, I went to look for you, but you never came back, I thought you..."

Liu Tao couldn't go on at the end, hugging Luo Jun and crying loudly.

"Let's not look for them, okay? I won't look for my father and mother, let's go back to Shanghai, if not, go further south, it's too dangerous here."

"Chuntao from Secretary Liu's family didn't have time to run when she went out to buy groceries the day before yesterday morning, and her leg was bombed off, so she could only be dragged home to lie down and wait for death. Last night in the air-raid shelter, I heard Mrs. Cao from Minister Cao's family say something about how there will only be more bombings in the future, the devils are forcing us to do something, something about supplies. I don't understand what they said, I only know Mrs. Cao wants to leave here and go back to her hometown."

"She wants to leave, it will definitely be more unsafe in the future. Boyan, I know you still have business to talk about here, but now the air-raid siren sounds every three to five days, and basically every time the siren sounds, you aren't at home. I heard Mrs. Liu say in the air-raid shelter last night that several staff members were bombed to death on the government side. Isn't it unsafe there too? Why don't we still..."

Luo Jun didn't speak, only holding Liu Tao's hands to comfort her. After Liu Tao's voice stopped trembling and her body stopped shaking uncontrollably, he helped her tidy her hair.

"Go home first, put on your shoes, there are many broken stones on the ground, walking barefoot will cut your feet."

Liu Tao followed Luo Jun home.

Compared to the small foreign-style building they lived in in the Shu region last time, the one Liu Tao and Luo Jun lived in now was clearly larger and more luxurious, and there were more furniture and ornaments in the house. Newspapers couldn't be seen in the living room; presumably, they had all been collected and put upstairs.

Luo Jun let Liu Tao sit on the sofa, got up to get her a pair of shoes, helped Liu Tao put them on, found a clean towel and wetted it with water, and helped Liu Tao wipe her face, then wiped her hands.

Liu Tao sat blankly the whole time, like a doll, in a state of sluggishness after being frightened.

"You don't need to worry too much about me," Luo Jun sat beside Liu Tao. "I won't have any trouble."

The doll's switch was turned on, Liu Tao was awakened from fear by Luo Jun's voice, her whole body shivered, and she looked at Luo Jun with wide eyes, as if confirming whether what had just happened was her hallucination or real.

Liu Tao looked at Luo Jun like this, and tears couldn't help but fall again.

"You're crying again, you never cried before. I remember you told me that when you were practicing body movements in the opera troupe as a child, the troupe leader hit you with a wooden stick, and you wouldn't cry even if the stick broke," Luo Jun said helplessly.

"That's different," Liu Tao said in a low voice, blinking her eyes, and two more tears fell, "I don't want to either, but I can't control myself."

"Let's go back, okay? Sister Ah Hong sent me a letter last year, saying the concession is very safe now. Although prices are high and grain prices change every day, you found her a house without paying rent, and the money she and her husband earn is enough to support the whole family."

"What about Troupe Leader Liu?" Luo Jun asked.

Liu Tao stopped talking.

"Troupe Leader... hasn't had any news for a long time," Liu Tao said with her head down. "Since he wrote to tell me three years ago that the opera troupe was moving south, I haven't received a letter from the troupe leader again."

"There are many mountain bandits on the road, some have guns, the troupe leader definitely wouldn't take the train to save money, they might..."

Luo Jun didn't give Liu Tao a chance to escape: "They should already be dead."

"Now I still have business to talk about, and I also said I would help you find your parents."

"It's not safe here, is it safe outside?"

"The concession in Shanghai is not safe either, and outside the concession is often bombed. The north is fighting, the Central Plains is fighting, and even the south is rampant with mountain bandits. It's not safe in the city, it's not safe in the countryside, now it's a chaotic world, where can you find a safe place?"

Liu Tao looked at Luo Jun blankly.

"This is at least the wartime capital, the air-raid shelters in this area are specially dug and built. As long as you stay at home every day like Mrs. Cao and the others, no place will be safer than here. Don't listen to what Mrs. Cao says, look at what she does; as long as she hasn't left here for a day, this place is safe."

"Don't worry about me, whether I go to talk business with Minister Cao or look for people, I won't have any trouble."

Liu Tao clearly didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, and she couldn't possibly understand; she could only look at Luo Jun blankly.

"When we got married, I promised you I would help you find your parents."

"I never break my word."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 162 =====