money player

"You'd better make some requests. I'm afraid someone will say I'm neglecting you."

"Brother, I wouldn't." Xian Yuzhen shook her high ponytail and looked up to the west. "Today's sunset is so beautiful."

Beneath her calm appearance, her heart was trembling like a sieve. She had killed someone today. She was hanging the death row prisoner alone in Changi Prison.

Tomorrow she will go for sniper training, where she will shoot the target in the head with a single shot from 200 yards away. The bullet has been modified so it will explode when it hits the head. She can imagine that scene, and for some reason, besides the fear, she actually feels a little excited deep in her heart.

She was afraid that she was the natural born killer her elder brother had mentioned, and that after getting over the initial discomfort, she would fall in love with the feeling of killing.

Narcissus looked up at the fiery clouds in the sky and said, "It's so beautiful. I haven't seen clouds in the evening for some time."

"Sister Shuixian, don't be so busy every day, stop and rest for a few days."

Narcissus smiled and said, "I am busy, but I am happy. The master said that making money is addictive. I am obsessed with it now. I am busy until late at night. When I wake up the next day and think that there is still a lot of money waiting for me to make, I feel energetic all of a sudden."

"Haha, that's how big brother is, but big brother usually takes a break on weekends."

"I also have my own day off, and tomorrow is it. Can you still come tomorrow? I'll take you out to play."

Xian Yuzhen nodded, "I will come early tomorrow."

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten days have passed, and there are only a few pages left on the calendar for May.

Xian Yaowen sat in his study, turned the calendar to the 28th, glanced at the new page, and buried his head in the documents.

In the morning, the phone on the desk rang several times. It was either from the Huaguang Garment construction site or from Prince Enterprise. He was not in the office, but was actually on duty.

In the afternoon, it is quieter and he has time to take a nap or sit in the pavilion to drink afternoon tea.

After getting off work at five o'clock, he went out to an alley not far from Hengyang Hotel. In the quiet place there was a Japanese-style single-family house. It was not large, only about 45 square meters, with no courtyard or garden. There was only a small space outside the entrance where a bicycle could be parked, which was locked by a narrow wall and a metal door.

Push open the iron door, enter the entrance hall, take off your leather shoes and put on wooden clogs, take off your suit and hang it in the closet.

Click, click, they walked on the wooden floor to the renovated kitchen. In front of the stove, Yang Lihua, who was stir-frying pickled mustard greens and edamame with a spatula, turned around and gave him a gentle smile.

"Coming."

"Ah."

Xian Yaowen stepped forward, hugged Yang Lihua from behind, and rested his chin on her shoulder, "Will Jingyi come back on time today?"

"Knowing you were coming, I guess you would come back early." A trace of shyness met the heat from the stove, making Yang Lihua's face blush.

"Oh." Xian Yaowen fished in his trouser pocket and found a pearl necklace. He held it with both hands, passed it around Yang Lihua's shoulders, and put it on her collarbone. "Do you like it?"

Yang Lihua looked down and said with a hint of surprise, "So beautiful."

Xian Yaowen fastened the fishhook clasp of the necklace, adjusted the position, and put it on Yang Lihua. "I bought two, one for you and one for Jingyi. Jingyi's one has a gold pendant and looks more luxurious, but the quality of the pearls is not as good as yours."

Yang Lihua showed a trace of panic on her face, "They are all pearl necklaces, what should I do if Jingyi is suspicious?"

Xian Yaowen chuckled as he unhooked the fishhook and took the necklace off Yang Lihua's neck. "Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hide it from her. After dinner, I'll take out the necklace and give it to her. I'll also give one to my future mother-in-law. What will she think?"

Yang Lihua's face instantly became as hot as edamame in a pot. "I'm dying. Don't say those four words."

"Okay, okay, I won't tell you." Xian Yaowen hugged Yang Lihua again and said softly, "I have invested in a laboratory in the United States. This laboratory specializes in the research of asthma inhalers. It won't be long before we can successfully develop an inhaler that you can carry with you. If you suddenly get sick, you can take a puff and get relief."

Before she finished speaking, Yang Lihua turned around abruptly and said incredulously, "There is such a medicine? It must be very expensive, right?"

"With me here, you don't have to worry about money."

Yang Lihua gazed at Xian Yaowen's face lovingly, feeling a sense of security in her heart. Just as she was about to kiss him, Xie Tingyun's voice came, "Ms. Yang."

Yang Lihua subconsciously pushed Xian Yaowen's chest, turned around in panic, picked up the spatula again and stir-fried the food awkwardly.

Xian Yaowen took a step back calmly, came to the "etiquette" distance and said: "Aunt, it seems Jingyi is back, I'll go see her."

After saying that, he turned around and happened to meet Yang Jingyi's eyes.

Yang Jingyi said with delight: "You came so early?"

"Come earlier if you're not busy." Xian Yaowen stepped forward, took Yang Jingyi's hand, and led them to the living room. "Today is Tuesday, do you have a military class?"

"Yes, today is an air defense exercise. It's a little different from the previous ones. It's specifically to defend against the Soviet Tu-2 bombers."

"This is unnecessary. The mainland only has a few of these aircraft, and they are all deployed in North Korea to bomb the U.S. military's supply lines."

"The instructor said that the Soviet Union is determined to destroy us and will continue to provide aid to the Communist Party."

"Hehe, is your new English teacher easy to get along with?"

In order to accommodate the families of the US military advisory group, and perhaps also with the idea of ​​strengthening English education, the Nationalist government arranged for a group of female family members to serve as English teachers in middle schools.

"She has a good temper, but I can't understand a lot of what she says in English."

"It's just the difference between American English and British English. You'll get used to it after listening to it more."

The two of them came to the desk in the living room and sat cross-legged. Xian Yaowen listened to Yang Jingyi talking about trivial matters in school. She kept talking until Yang Lihua called her to eat.

The dining table was placed between the kitchen and the bathroom, in a small space facing the large wooden lattice window. A dim light shone overhead. Xian Yaowen sat with his back to the kitchen. Behind him was a narrow cabinet that served as a chest of drawers, with a thermos on the top.

Yang Jingyi sat by the window. Yang Lihua put the casserole for cooking on the table and sat near the kitchen, walking towards the aisle in the living room.

As soon as he sat down, he suddenly remembered something and hurried into the kitchen. After a while, he took out a small jar of old wine and a glass, and said with a smile: "I almost forgot, I bought it on the way back."

As he spoke, he opened the jar and poured a glass for Xian Yaowen.

Xian Yaowen glanced at the color of the wine in the glass and said to Yang Lihua, "Don't buy it next time. It's expensive and not tasty."

Old wine is rice wine, and sometimes they can be interchangeable, but in the circle of people from other provinces, only Shaoxing rice wine can be called old wine. Some people call rice wine old wine or Shaoxing to show their taste - they only drink Shaoxing old wine.

Of course, taste is fake, what is real is showing financial strength. The rich and powerful hold banquets to show off their status with "hometown water". It is shameful not to put out a few bottles or a jar of Shaoxing wine. The wealthy even put out Huadiao wine.

Huadiao is very expensive. A jar of less than one liter sells for around NT$400. Vintage ones cost twice as much. Those in glass bottles are slightly cheaper, at NT$500 for 120 ml.

Yang Lihua's face changed and she felt sad that her hard work had only fed the dog.

Fortunately, Xian Yaowen's explanation arrived in time. He picked up the jar, pointed to the red words on the bottom of the bottle and said, "Su Ji is the name of a Nanbeihang in Hong Kong. It's mine."

Yang Lihua asked in surprise: "Did you sell these wines to Taiwan?"

"No, I only sell it in Hong Kong. Someone else brought it to Taiwan." Xian Yaowen put down the wine jar. "This kind of wine is only 5 Hong Kong dollars at the most expensive in Hong Kong. How much did you pay for it?"

Yang Lihua blushed and said timidly, "Ten, ten dollars."

"Oh, don't buy it next time, just eat."

"Ah."

Yang Jingyi stared at Yang Lihua with her small eyes, then looked at Xian Yaowen. No matter how she looked at them, something seemed wrong. The tone of voice of these two people was not like that of younger generations speaking to elders. It was more like a family of three having a meal, but she was playing the role of the daughter.

Her eyes rolled, and she quickly picked up the wine glass and took a sip, smacking her lips and saying, "It tastes good."

"Don't make a fuss. If you want to drink, you can have some marble soda." Xian Yaowen took back the wine glass, put it in front of himself, turned to Yang Lihua and said, "Aunt, you can buy a second-hand Mitsubishi refrigerator in the store I told you about. It costs about 4,000 yuan. You can go and have a look tomorrow and pick out a good one."

Yang Lihua glared at Yang Jingyi and said, "Why are you so greedy? A bottle of marble soda costs 1.5 yuan, which can buy half a pound of lard."

Yang Jingyi muttered, "I didn't say I wanted to drink."

"I see you've been drinking a lot, otherwise why would Yaowen bring it up?" Yang Jingyi turned to look at Xian Yaowen, "Yaowen, don't spoil her too much. You can't spend money like this. I know about refrigerators. The electricity bill is over NT$100 a month. Taipei often has power outages. Refrigerators are not practical at all. Don't waste your money."

Yang Jingyi muttered: "With a refrigerator, I can make it myself..."

Before Yang Jingyi could finish, Yang Lihua retorted, "Are you going to pay the electricity bill?"

"Jingyi, stop talking and eat."

After comforting Yang Jingyi, Xian Yaowen put some food into her bowl. He stretched his right foot to the right under the table and stroked Yang Lihua's calf, comforting the older one silently.

The dinner table returned to peace.

Yang Jingyi frequently picked up her chopsticks to eat the main dish, braised pork, on the table, but she only ate the lean meat in the middle, and picked off the fat at one end and the skin at the other end and put them into Xian Yaowen's bowl. Seeing this, Yang Lihua was about to get angry again, but was stopped by Xian Yaowen's foot.

He had taken Yang Jingyi to eat delicious food many times in the past few days, and she had become a picky eater. She had to bear the consequences of her own actions. Besides, he didn't mind it, as he had seen men and women in love behave like this.

Yang Lihua was able to find a new employer without much difficulty, so she naturally has some special skills. She is an excellent cook and can be said to have mastered home cooking to perfection. The fat in the braised pork is rich but not greasy, and is just the right amount to go with rice.

After eating all the fat and skin in the bowl with rice to make room for new ones, Xian Yaowen said to Yang Lihua, "Aunt, are there many customers in the store today?"

"A group of guests came from Tainan, and all the rooms are full."

"Then Auntie doesn't need to go back to the store today. Let's go to the movies together."

"I won't go. You guys go."

"Auntie rarely has free time, so let's go together." Xian Yaowen's feet moved again.

Yang Jingyi encouraged him, "Mom, you should go too."

"Okay, okay, I'll go." Yang Lihua glanced at Xian Yaowen quietly with a hint of anger on her lips.

After meal.

The three of them went to the Great World Theater to watch "Casablanca", also known as "North African Spy".

After buying the tickets, they waited for a while before it was time to check in. The three of them entered. Unintentionally, Xian Yaowen sat in the middle seat, while Yang Lihua and Yang Jingyi sat on both sides.

Yang Jingyi held the pickled plums she had just bought outside in her hand. She ate one herself and put one into Xian Yaowen's mouth.

Xian Yaowen took another pill from the small paper bag, turned around, blocked Yang Jingyi's view with his back, and stuffed one pill into Yang Lihua's mouth.

The three of them were chewing plums and staring at the screen, watching the twinkling snowflakes.

After a while, the film started.

After a few seconds, Xian Yaowen noticed something strange. The opening subtitles were different from what he had seen before. The original "Nazis occupied Europe" became "The × bandits conspired with the Nazis to occupy Europe."

After a little thought, he realized that this was to prevent the Soviet Union from joining the camp of justice and to only tell one-sided facts.

When the main film began, he leaned sideways and translated the necessary lines to Yang Lihua.

"This man is the nightclub owner Da Zhuang, and the woman is Ah Zhen, Da Zhuang's old lover. The man next to Ah Zhen is her current husband Ah Qiang. Da Zhuang and Ah Zhen were once in love in Paris, but they left without saying goodbye because of the war. Ah Zhen thought Da Zhuang was dead, and later fell in love with Ah Qiang...

The woman who played Jeanne was Ingrid Bergman, a Swede who was a notorious slut. She married a doctor named Peter in her early twenties, and had an affair with a war photographer named Capa when she was twenty-nine. She wanted to marry Capa, but Capa just wanted to have fun, so he ran to Vietnam to avoid her.

Last year, she had an affair with an Italian director, Robert, who was a married man. Not only did they have an affair, they also had a child. The extramarital affair and the pregnancy before marriage completely ruined her reputation. The US Congress listed her as a fallen woman, her films were boycotted, and she was even expelled from Hollywood. Now she can only make movies in Italy, and no one in Hollywood wants her. "

"Is she really like that?"

"Yes."

Yang Jingyi, who was staring at the screen, saw Xian Yaowen and the other man whispering to each other. She leaned on Xian Yaowen's arm and said, "I want to listen to what you are talking about."

"Nothing was said. Auntie didn't understand the English lines, so I translated for her."

"There are a lot of things I don't understand either. I want to listen together."

"Oh, your head is tilted."

In order to let Yang Jingyi hear as well, Xian Yaowen sat up straight and began to translate the dialogue seriously.

As the exciting plot unfolded, Yang Jingyi naturally leaned on Xian Yaowen's arm, listened to the dialogue translated by the human translator at the best distance, and immersed herself in the story.

Yang Lihua could only lean sideways to get as close as possible, but she dared not touch the masculine body with her head at all. For some reason, she suddenly felt jealous of her daughter.

But when the flames of her jealousy were about to spread like wildfire, her little hand was grabbed by a big hand. The warmth from the palm instantly extinguished the jealousy and made her feel warm.

Her fingers moved gently, and after feeling the gaps between the big hand, they slid in little by little.

Suddenly, the gap between the fingers widened, and her fingers were sucked in. Four fingers were locked tightly, and only one little finger fought back, with its fingertip hooked around the little finger of the big hand.

The corners of her mouth curled up, and her thin lips, like an unopened piece of letter, could not stop the happy words from flowing out.

A film ended in a double ambiguous atmosphere, a small hand holding a big arm walked in front, the cherry mouth chattering about the story. A long shadow followed behind, and the loneliness on the ground became longer and longer.

I met a Japanese man selling food from a cart and bought two bowls of smooth and silky kudzu slices. The cool, transparent thin strips dispelled the summer heat but also brought an ambiguous warmth.

Two bowls, three people.

Having satisfied her appetite, Yang Jingyi hummed Zhou Xuan's "The Full Moon and Beautiful Flowers" softly and carefully all the way.

This is a banned song. If you sing it too loudly, the police will ask for your ID.

Love is overbearing. It whips time and makes it run faster. The way home is not short, but it is completed quickly. When the person arrives home, it is also time for Xian Yaowen to say goodbye.

Yang Jingyi watched the jeep leave reluctantly. Yang Lihua was also reluctant to leave, but she returned to the house earlier, avoided Yang Jingyi's sight, rushed into the bathroom, scooped water to wipe her face, and suppressed the heat all over her body.

When Xian Yaowen arrived home, there was a card table waiting for him.

Fei Baoshu did not join the game, but sat behind Tang Yiying. His three card partners were Fei Baoqi, Mrs. Lan and Bai Hong.

As soon as he stepped into the entrance, Fei Baoshu came up to him and helped him undress.

"Third sister made walnut paste, would you like a bowl, Master?"

"I'm not hungry, so I won't eat anymore." Xian Yaowen unbuttoned his cuffs and handed them to Fei Baoshu. "Didn't you say you were going to get your hair done today? Why are you opening a shop again?" (End of this chapter)