CH 14

Yan Lai held on to a chair to support himself as he pointed to the wall and asked in surprise, “Who is she, that woman?”

Which woman?

Xie Fei was dumbfounded, and followed Yan Lai’s fingertips to see -in the photo frame, Xiang Fei was wearing the most popular military uniform in the 1960s and 1970s, smiling at the camera.

“…”

Forgot to pay attention to the details…

But Xie Fei reacted quickly: “She, is our manager’s mother.”

“What about this?” Yan Lai pointed to a woman in a cheongsam dress in the next frame.

“Grandma.”

“Then what is this?!”

Xie Fei’s looked at the Xiang Fei in the photo frame, and said without changing his face: “Great grandmother.”

Yan Lai: “…”

Is he mentally retarded? Why do three generations look exactly the same?

Xie Fei pretended not to notice Yan Lai’s suspicion, he just needed to behave nonchalantly. After all, there is no evidence to point out that he is lying, and the world is so vast, is there a rule restricting using photos of several generations ? What’s more, because of the shooting technique, makeup, and light, the Xiang Fei in the photo is still slightly different.

A normal person, or an adult man, wouldn’t be uncomfortable just because of a few photos, right?

Xie Fei returned his ID card calmly, with a smile on his lips: “I have arranged a garden room. I will take you there now? Oh, by the way, my name is Xie Fei, the owner of the inn.”

Yan Lai struggled, his gaze shifted from Xie Fei’s face to the frames on the wall, and finally hesitated to say “thank you”.

After the first phase of renovation, the inn is very different from half a month ago.

The room is clean and tidy, the old furniture has been repainted, there are many potted plants in the house, and there is a bouquet of flowers in the vase on the table.

Xie Fei help put away luggage and retreated to the door, in a polite and considerate attitude: “I hope Yan Xiansheng[1] has a pleasant stay.”

[1]- Xiansheng – mister in chinese ]

“Boss Xie ……” Yan Lai suddenly called out: ” Will the inn provide meals?”

Since, it was only ten o’clock, and Xie Fei hadn’t had time to prepare lunch. He said, “Breakfast is 20, lunch and dinner are 30. If you include the whole day, it will only be 80.”

Yan Lai nodded, “I will come at noon.”

“Okay .”

” Then I won’t bother Mr. Yan’s rest.” Xie Fei held the doorknob and closed it gently.

At lunch, Yan Lai saw a man who had a wound on his face. He introduced himself as Ah Fu, an employee of the inn. There are also two girls I met on the road, both of whom are students from the High School Affiliated to the Academy of Fine Arts, who came to Xining Village to sketch on the weekend.

The girls had already eaten before they came, and at the moment they just kept chatting around Xie Fei.

Yan Lai was not interested in talking to strangers . While fascinated by the food, he was distracted and listened to them. The two wanted Xie Fei to be their model, or they wanted to show their faces live, and even inexplicably asked for It in a fake girly voice. But Xie Fei changed the subject in a few words.

The girls didn’t know anything, but they were coaxed were easily, till there cheeks blushed.

Unexpectedly, this boss Xie was young but had a lot of experience. Yan Lai smiled secretly and suddenly an idea came up.

But when he finished eating, he didn’t see the manager in Xie Fei’s mouth, and he was a little sad.

Back to the room, Yan Lai hurriedly turned over a notebook and quickly wrote something. Suddenly, he stopped writing and took a look at the phone in his trouser pocket. There was a WeChat on the lock screen page.

[Tuji Xiaoyuan] Are you there?

Yan Lai on the Internet has always been more relaxed, and he immediately replied with emoji.

【lì zi】(づ￣3￣)づ

[E/N: li zi – meaning particles, but the English version didn’t sound nice so I went with li zi]

[Tuji Xiaoyuan] The editor-in-chief of today’s meeting asked about you, I had no choice but to contact you again. I want to ask how the next comic is coming?

[Yan lai] Still the same as before, the background of the story can’t be settled (╥╯^╰╥)

[ Tuji Xiaoyuan] You should hurry.

【lì zi】●∨●But I found some inspiration. The story happens in an inn. The protagonist is a beautiful play boy. What do you think of it?

[Tu Ji Xiao Yuan] Ah, ah, great! I like beautiful boy’s the most! Then I am waiting for the great news!

The two chatted a few more words, and Yan Lai put down the phone.

He is a cartoonist signed by Tuji Xiaoyuan. He has published several works with good reputation, but he encountered a bottleneck when preparing for his new work. He has not started work for four months.

A month ago, he was knocked over by a motorcycle crossing the road. After going home from the doctor, he had a problem with his right eye. He often saw some strange scenes, which made him less interested in work.

Until lunch, he caught a hint of inspiration from Xie Fei.

Yan Lai stared at the messy draft on the notebook, thinking hard.

He vowed to complete the protagonist character today!

Time passed by, but Yan Lai didn’t move.

In another quarter of an hour, he picked up his mobile phone, opened the usual penguin group[2], and started chatting with his friends on the screen.

[2] penguin group — Tencent QQ, also known as QQ, is an instant messaging software service and web portal developed by the Chinese. ]

In a quarter of an hour, he agreed to the invitation of his friends, and ate chicken with each other.

Half an hour later, he suddenly yawned–so sleepy, and it was easy to get sleepy when he was full, or else let’s sleep for a while, I will complete the work later.

Once again, the cartoonist fell on the thorny road of creation. Yan Lai closed the book and went to the bathroom.

The protagonist in his story is now wearing a peaked cap and a mask, carrying a small bamboo basket on his back, holding a selfie stick in his hand, broadcasting the live broadcast, while climbing the mountain.

The theme of Xie Fei’s live broadcast today is very interesting. It is to teach everyone to distinguish poisonous mushrooms.

Since receiving two guests who came through the live broadcast, Xie Fei’s confidence has doubled, and Yu Li’s money campaign yesterday also laid a good foundation for the live broadcast room. After the broadcast started, the popularity continued to rise, and the barrage was also very lively.

“It turns out that it’s a little brother and not a little sister, sad.”

“I didn’t think the anchor had a good voice during the voice change, but the girly voice is also pretty cute.”

“The anchor’s life is so interesting. Only the local tyrants can have such a leisurely life, chicken belly. jpg.”

“Nonsense, just yesterday’s gold master’s reward is a lot of people’s salary for a few months, then is it really the anchor trumpet?”

“You haven’t noticed the logo of the anchor hat? And the street where Yu Li’s shots were released, he also wore the same style, you can check how much one is.”

Seeing this bullet screen, Xie Fei’s was slightly stunned-the hat is really unlucky.

He doesn’t want to be a food anchor all the time, but wants to use the environment to create different live content, of course, it is inevitable to show his whole body. Originally he wanted to buy a Mountaineering gear, but it was inconvenient, so he temporarily borrowed some equipment from Yu Li.

At that time, Yu Li was about to go out, so he quickly buckled his hat on his head.

Xie Fei didn’t dare to let everyone discuss it anymore. He never despised the investigation skills of netizens, so he pressed the brim of his hat and pointed the lens at the ground covered with dead leaves.

Following the lens, there were a few gray-white mushrooms.

“This kind of mushroom is called white boletus. It has a large body and thick meat. It is not only delicious but also rich in nutrients. It is a very famous edible mushroom.”

Xie Fei crouched down and picked a mushroom and placed it under the camera.

“But the cooking process is very important make sure it is fully cooked, and you shouldn’t mash it, otherwise it is easy to be poisoned. From diarrhea to severe hallucinations, such as seeing someone dancing or something…”

[3]white boletus —  ]

“2333333”

“Why do I want to try it when I hear the anchor say that?”

“Don’t, it’s really scary. Once my mom didn’t cook it fully. I was poisoned. I was so dizzy that I saw so many little people floating around… Then my mom came to my room and found me staring at the ceiling and laughing, she was scared.”

As everyone talked about “What kind of experience they experienced after getting fungus poisoning?” Xie Fei secretly breathed a sigh of relief when the rhythm was diverted smoothly.

After two hours of climbing to the top of the mountain, Xie Fei stood on a gentle slope, first took pictures of the surrounding landscape, and then turned the camera to the front right: “That mountain is the famous scenic spot of our province. The Qianji Mountain doesn’t seem to be too high from the camera , but it’s actually more than 3,000 meters above sea level.”

Xie Fei deliberately did his homework before going up the mountain, and he opened his mouth to tell the relevant knowledge. He took off the phone from the selfie stick and said, “The sun is very good today, there is no fog, I will show you the feeling of looking at the bottom of the mountain from the top of the mountain.”

He walked cautiously to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the jade belt surrounding the mountain. “I wonder if you can see clearly, there is a river there, which is the Yulong River that traverses the north and the south of our country -”

Xie Fei suddenly stopped, since as soon as he said the three words “Yulong River”, his heart pained violently, making him almost unable to hold the phone firmly.

[4]御龙江 – Yulong river — its three words in chinese. ]

But the pain disappeared quickly, like an illusion, and there was no trace left even after further exploration.

Xie Fei frowned and smiled with a strange expression.

For safety reasons, he retreated from the edge of the cliff, faced with the ridicule of “the anchor is afraid of heights”, and talked about the history of Yulong river with a calm expression.

No one noticed his sudden abnormality, except for himself.

Just before going down the mountain, Xie Fei couldn’t help but glance down the cliff a few more times, and remembering the winding outline of the river.

When the sun[5] sank, Xie Fei returned to the inn.

[5] It’s actually written as – 金乌西 [jīn wū xī] — which means the Golden Crow or the three-legged golden crow that lives in the sun , so I just wrote it as the sun.]

Golden crow

Yan Lai was not awake at this time. He hadn’t slept so deeply for a long time.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already dark outside, and there was no light in the room since the curtains were closed.

Yan Lai fumbled and turned on the bedside lamp, and was so scared that he almost rolled off the bed!

——On the edge of the bed, sat a woman with her back to him.

Yan Lai’s fuzzy brain woke up in an instant. He rolled up the quilt and drew back into the corner, and found that the room had changed at some point, or No, the room in his eyes had changed.

Carved bed, antique lights, and dressing table on the opposite side…

In the mirror, reflects the clear features of a woman, wearing short hair with ears and a new school uniform unique to the Republic of China. She was a student at first glance.

But she was not the only woman in the room, the other was leaning lazily against the wall. It was the “lady ghost” Yan Lai had seen when he first arrived at the inn!

The beautiful ghost[6] had arms around her chest and her eyes are full of waves. “The news has been sent out for you. The little sister can stay at ease, with me, here they can’t get in.”

The female student mumbled, “Thank you”.

[6] It’s actually written as – 艳鬼 [yàn guǐ] – (Yan) meaning gaudy / amorous , (Gui) meaning ghost / demon.]

“Hands up.” The beautiful ghost approached the schoolgirl and her long index finger hooking her small chin. “How old ?”

The schoolgirl blushed. “Fif… fifteen.”

“Fifteen?” Her red lips were slightly curved, with an undisguised mockery, “Your husband is quite unreliable. Is this kind of terrible thing given to you such a little girl?”

The schoolgirl’s eyes were filled with sorrow. “Mr. has been arrested, he, he has nothing to do…”

The beautiful ghost laughed, twisted her slender waist, and walked out the door. “They said they would have you taken back to town in three days, so wait.”

The girl bit her lip and suddenly raised her voice, “Thank you, sister.”

“There’s nothing to be thankful for.” Holding the handle of the door, the beautiful ghost’s face turned to reveal a fierce beauty: “The mainland of Shenzhou, the plain of the Central Plains, has been a sacred place of ceremonial virtue, for a thousands of years, how can those barbarians be allowed to go wild?”

” But Mister said, those invaders are more advanced than us.” The female student’s eyes were dim: “He said we can’t do it anymore. Lying in the old dream of the great power of heaven…”

“Then wake up from your dreams, learn from them, and drive them away.”

“Can we?”

“Little sister, stay alive.” The beautiful ghost smiled softly: “You have the answer when you live.”

The picture faded like a tide, and the room was restored to its original layout.

Yan Lai sat there for a while, not so scared the first time.

He thought that even if they were really ghosts, they were considered ghosts with a family and a country in their hearts, and they were better than the couple who cut each other with knives at home.

Yan Lai sighed, jumped out of the bed and opened the curtains.

Outside the window, the moonlight came in like the sea.

After refreshing breifly, Yan lai came out of the room.

It was quiet in the garden. He stepped on the lights and walked all the way to the lobby. He saw Xie Fei who was behind the reception desk, so he scratched his head embarrassedly, “I over slept, do you have anything to eat?”

“Yes. I’ve keep it for you.” Xie Fei opened the small door of the reception desk, without the slightest impatience, “Mr. Yan wait a minute, I’ll go to the kitchen to warm up the food.”

Yan Lai was about to thank him, and suddenly found that someone was still sitting in the tea room. A woman!

He panicked and took Xie Fei’s hand reflexively.

Xie Fei was stunned. Before he could react, he heard a low and gloomy voice: “What are you two… doing?”

He subconsciously looked at the door and found Yu Li standing at the door, staring at him with a terrible expression on his face. And Yan Lai came to shake hands.

As the surroundings cooled down a little bit, Yan Lai inexplicably gave birth to a guilty conscience. He unconsciously let go, and suddenly spoke in an excited way : “You, you are the one…” 

Xie Fei’s heart shook, instinctively nervous, and he saw Yan Lai fiercely shouting-

“Duanmu Aotian![7]”

[7] Duanmu Aotian — Duān mù meaning two-character surname; Ao meaning proud / arrogant ; tian meaning sky / heaven ]

The author has something to say:

Xie: In November 2017, he played the role of Duanmu Aotian in the martial arts romance drama “The Devil, Seeking a Light Pet”. The drama set a number of records such as the highest ratings in the country and the highest rebroadcast rate in the same year…

And wild mushrooms must be cooked and eaten, it’s true that you hallucinate.