Years: Salted fish life since going to the countryside.

Chapter 1170 Masquerade
Han Li was watching the pastry chef laying out the preserved fruits layer by layer when suddenly a woman asked him if he was alone.

At this time and in this place, there are still some rules followed by foreigners.

Han Li knew without guessing that the other party was looking for a dance partner for the evening. He thought that he didn't have a dance partner either, so if this woman had a similar face or figure, then he would agree to her.

However, when Han Li turned around, he found that the other person was a woman with ordinary looks and an unremarkable figure. She raised her hand and held up the wine glass and said.

"Excuse me, pretty lady, but my partner is on his way."

"That's a pity. My name is Cecilia Phillips. I was sent to Edinburgh on a business trip by the 'Single Wheat Kingdom' Adcskj Company. Due to some reasons, I can't go home for the holidays."

Although Han Li did not intend to have this rather mediocre person as his dance partner, it would be nice to meet someone from the Danmai Kingdom and learn about the customs of their country from them.

Moreover, the dance party held in the hotel started very late. According to their custom, everyone would sit in front of the TV or radio and listen to the Queen's speech and blessings before starting the Christmas Eve carnival.

The Queen's speech will be over around nine o'clock in the evening, which means there are still more than three hours before the ball starts. It would be nice to have someone to chat with to kill time.

So Han Li switched to a single microphone and briefly introduced himself to the other party. Cecilia Phillips was celebrating the festival away from home and was able to hear her hometown dialect, and from someone who could speak it so fluently and authentically. Needless to say, she was very surprised at the moment.

The two of them moved to the window where they would not disturb others and started chatting until night fell.

In accordance with the ancient Scottish tradition, the hotel staff brought a lot of Rowan trees and placed them in the fireplace. It is said that burning these trees can eliminate the negative emotions of friends and family.

The hotel staff also said that they hope the burning rowan tree can help guests eliminate the regret of not being able to go home for the holidays, and allow everyone to spend this year's Christmas Eve and Christmas here more happily.

At this time, the streets outside were full of Santa Clauses of all sizes who had no sleighs to ride. The hotel staff turned on the TV and distributed paper hats to guests who wanted to eat and watch the Queen's speech in the lobby.

Han Li had no intention of joining in the fun in the hall. Although it seemed lively here, it was not friendly at all to people like Han Li.

If these people collectively shouted "Merry Christmas Eve", it would be fine for Han Li to shout a few words along with them.

But what if they all start shouting "Long Live the Queen" like crazy people? So it's best to leave here.

Han Li did not take the paper hat handed to him by the waiter. He took two large pieces of fruit cake from the pastry side and carried them to the meat side.

Here, Han Li first eliminated the smelly pork, then rejected the turkey after taking a bite that tasted like chopped wood.

Finally, Han Li took a few pieces of Christmas mince pies, a large piece of stewed venison, and a bottle of champagne, and asked the waiter to help him bring them back to his room.

Although Han Li would not shout "Long live the Queen", this did not prevent him from watching TV and the Queen's performance while eating and drinking alone in the room.

At this moment, many nobles and tycoons who were invited by the Queen to attend the Christmas Eve party had gathered in a manor of the English royal family. They were all wearing gorgeous and expensive clothes, sitting there solemnly waiting for the Queen's summons.

Those dignitaries who did not receive an invitation from the Queen or were not qualified to attend, their entire families dressed in their best clothes and sat upright in front of the TV waiting for the Queen's New Year's speech and blessings.

These people were not simply listening to the Queen's blessing, but more importantly, wanted to gain some information from the speech.

Especially those families with daughters of marriageable age, they hope to learn about the royal family's dress and preferences, so that they can successfully attract the royal family's attention by sending their daughters to the "Queen Charlotte's Ball".

At worst, the best thing to do is to let your daughter attend the "Royal Ladies Blind Date" in London and marry an elite who can be helpful to the family.

(Queen Charlotte's Ball: This was held by the English royal family and started in the 18th century. Many English princesses and noble ladies were selected here. At that time, daughters below the baron were not eligible to participate.

Nowadays, people with a lower status, wealth, and fame are not qualified to enter this circle. In later generations, the king asked many people for help but failed to get his daughter qualified to participate.
(London Royal Family Dating Party: This matchmaking party is not as good as the "Queen Charlotte's Ball", but ordinary people are not qualified to participate at all.

Later, Bali learned from him. It didn’t have a royal title, but it was still a dating event for celebrities. However, the level was lowered a lot. Even the daughter of a certain Yi could participate. But she was said to have been eliminated in the first round.)
As for the ordinary people in England, most of them were wearing ordinary clothes, wearing celebratory paper hats on their heads, sitting in front of the TV and next to the radio, talking and laughing, also waiting for the Queen's New Year's greetings.

Some older people will even preach to their impatient and restless children and grandchildren.

"You should be content to hear the Queen's blessing every year. When I was a child, I couldn't even see the nobles, let alone hear the Queen's blessing. I could only see the tax collectors. But when I saw them, all I had to do was pay taxes. If I wasn't careful, I would get beaten."

The Queen's New Year's speech and blessings were just that. As soon as the Queen finished her speech on TV, Han Li heard cheers coming from outside.

Not long after, the waiter came to inform Han Li that the Christmas Eve dance was about to begin and he could attend at any time.

Han Li had no interest in the regular dances held in the east hall, because such dances were very common in England. After everyone entered, they would dance, drink, and chat. If two people were attracted to each other, it would not be surprising if they had a relationship beyond friendship, because that was the current trend in England.

Han Li had never attended any masquerade balls. Humans are always curious about unknown things.

So Han Li put on the vampire cloak and mask provided by the hotel, opened the door and went to the masquerade ball held in the west hall.

Han Li met some people in other costumes on the way, but they just nodded and didn't say anything. They walked together towards the dance venue.

After Han Li came in, he found that this was a ball with strange decorations. Now it was like he had entered a messy magical world.

Maybe vampires have a special meaning in the eyes of Westerners, so the number of people wearing this costume is the largest.

In addition, there are werewolves, clowns, pirates, priests, nuns, shepherdesses, knights, ghosts, mummies, and princesses.

There are also some people wearing costumes from fairy tales, like Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma Wolf, male and female wizards, etc.

No matter what these people are dressed like or what props they hold in their hands, everyone wears a mask or eye patch on their face to conceal their true identity.

However, many people's masks are very small, and the holes in the eye patches are very large, which can't serve the purpose of concealing at all. Han Li feels that those people wear this thing as a self-concealing decoration.

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At the beginning, the dance was no different from an ordinary dance. Everyone gathered together to drink, dance, chat and flirt.

Maybe because of the masks, many people present moved more violently, and some of them were almost rubbing against each other while dancing.

When chatting, people were talking about topics that were usually private, and the people listening nearby would make strange noises from time to time.

Of course, there were also people who were a little more reserved. Han Li pulled such a young woman to sit in the corner of the dance hall and chat.

She is dressed as a nun with a pirate eyepatch, and the two contradictory costumes give people an urge to find out the truth.

At this kind of masquerade party, you are not allowed to ask each other's names, so everyone just drinks and chats about topics that interest both parties.

People who like to have fun gather in conspicuous places, so no one comes to disturb them.

Because he was wearing a mask, Han Li felt that this mode of chatting was just like online chatting in later generations. He could talk about a lot of things and he didn't have to worry about the other party recognizing him. It felt really good.

If there is an opportunity in the future, Han Li plans to participate in more such masquerade balls.

Han Li learned from chatting with the lady in nun's roe deer coat that this kind of masquerade is now often held in many large cities and even small towns in England.

However, most of them are privately held and the entry threshold is also different.

Some require an invitation from the host, while others require those who want to participate to pay some fees depending on the situation.

This time she paid to come in just to gain some experience, so that when graduation season comes and her classmates hold a masquerade party, she won't make a fool of herself because of her ignorance.

As the time approached midnight, the music in the hall suddenly stopped.

This situation should have been considered a mistake, but no one in the hall said anything. Instead, those who were dancing hugged each other even tighter, and some even had excitement in their eyes.

Han Li saw that no one else raised any questions about this, so of course he wouldn't say anything.

But this situation did not last long, and soon the church bells were heard.

When the bell finished ringing and everyone was cheering, a man dressed as a knight walked to the speaker, took out a microphone and spoke to everyone.

"The New Year's bell has rung, which means that the Lord has not only forgiven the mistakes we made last year, but also given us new blessings. In order to thank the Lord, let's have a thorough carnival from now on."

Han Li thought this was a feature of the masquerade ball, and he was wondering what activities would happen next.

The knight who had just spoken put down the microphone and first performed an indecent dance. Then he let out a strange cry.
(End of this chapter)