After finishing the ramen, under the strange look in the ramen chef's eyes, Mary paid.
"Hahaha! Did you see the look in the master's eyes just now? He seemed to think you were a softie."
It was getting late, and under the illumination of orange street lights, the two of them walked side by side on the deserted street.
"Sorry..." Bai Heqing subconsciously turned his head and replied in a low voice.
The money he had on him was stolen just after he came to London, and Mary bought him the ramen just now.
"Don't worry, don't worry. Anyway, the money will be reimbursed at public expense in the end, so don't take it to heart."
Mary smiled and patted his shoulder, showing the openness of a Western woman in her every move.
Bai Heqing was slightly stunned when he looked at her appearance.
"What's wrong?" Mary asked curiously after noticing his abnormality.
"You are very similar to a friend of mine in Japan." Shirakawa Kiyo replied truthfully.
"Um?"
"Her surname is Karasuma, and she is usually just like you... she has a very bold personality."
After hesitating for a moment, Bai Heqing, who didn't know how to describe it, used the word "heroic".
"Bai He, you must be complimenting me, right?" Mary tilted her head and looked at him.
"Um."
Bai Heqing nodded and added: "She is a person who is easy to get along with. She also likes to use her hands and feet when talking to others. If she wants to do something, she will do it by any means, and she doesn't care about other people's evaluations... …All in all, he’s a very special person.”
Bai He, are you really praising me?
Listening to his description, Mary wanted to complain, but when she saw the slight smile on the corner of Bai Heqing's mouth, she finally held back.
[He should be praising me, um, that’s right, that’s it...]
"..."
Chatting all the way, the two came to the apartment rented by Mary.
This is a very small apartment. Except for Mary's own bedroom and bathroom, which are separate rooms, the kitchen and living room are all squeezed together, and the balcony only has two square meters of space.
This is an apartment that Mary rented with her own money. After all, MI6 does not provide housing for newbies.
There was no special reason why she brought Bai Heqing here tonight. The main reason was that Bai Heqing wanted to borrow her home phone to call her director of MI6.
Considering that it was really inappropriate to use the public phone outside, Mary agreed to him.
"Sit down wherever you want. I'll report today's situation to the major first." With these words, Mary walked straight to her bedroom and picked up the landline phone in the bedroom.
"Um."
Nodding, Bai Heqing sat on the chair next to the wall.
Listening to Mary's call in the room, out of professional habit, he subconsciously looked at this small apartment.
The space is small, but all kinds of furniture are placed very neatly, without giving people a cluttered feeling. The floor is very clean, and there are no places where dust accumulates in the room.
Preliminary judgment shows that the owner of this apartment should be a very strict and self-disciplined person.
On the small balcony, there were several carefully cared for green potted plants, which added a touch of vitality to the clean and tidy room.
Be strict with yourself, but not rigid...
This is indeed in line with Shirakawa Kiyo's impression of Mary today.
"You must reimburse me at public expense?"
Suddenly, Mary's slightly threatening voice came from the room.
She was probably threatening the superior she called Major...
Thinking of this, Bai Heqing had a smile on his lips.
Although Mary is now just a new agent in MI6 and is still struggling with her meager salary, he has a hunch that her future will never stop here.
"Okay, let's do this... Shirakawa."
Finally, Mary hung up the phone, poked her head out of the room and called Bai Heqing.
"Here, phone."
"Um."
Nodding, Bai Heqing stood up and walked into the room.
Like the living room outside, Mary's bedroom is very tidy, and the room layout is also very simple: a bed, desk and wardrobe, only these three things.
Standing in front of the desk, Bai Heqing took the microphone handed over by Mary and dialed the personal phone number of MI6 Director Stuart White.
"Who is it?" He didn't have to wait long before an old male voice sounded from the phone.
"Director White, this is Shirakawa." Shirakawa Kiyoshi said in Japanese.
Behind him, Mary's ears moved, obviously curious.
As a newcomer to MI6, Mary had not actually spoken to her top officer, and had not even met him a few times.
However, Shirakawa Qing, who came from Japan, could directly dial the other party's personal phone number...
Tsk, that’s why she said she hates these people with backstages the most!
"Ah, it turns out to be Shirakawa..."
On the phone, Stewart also switched to his not very proficient Japanese and asked with a smile:
"How was it in London today? Is there any progress in the case? I heard one of my subordinates say that you caused him a lot of trouble in a bar today..."
Stewart was naturally referring to Bai Heqing's previous incident of cleaning up the French mafia in the bar.
"I'm very sorry." Bai Heqing replied immediately.
"Don't be nervous, it's just a small matter. I don't mean to blame you. Young people will always be impulsive. This is normal. I was like this when I was young...
Looking back now, during the war more than ten years ago, the old man Hatoyama and I knew each other. It has been almost thirty years now. Speaking of which, the temper of the old man Hatoyama is not ordinary. He never bows his head to ask for help. This time he made a special call and asked me to take care of you. It’s really rare, hahaha..."
Stewart said as he suddenly smiled, obviously in a good mood.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I went too far. Now back to the topic, Bai He, how is the investigation of that case? Call me tonight. Is there anything you need my help with?"
"The case is progressing smoothly. We have investigated clearly that the cultural relics were stolen by Black Rose after being brought to London by a transnational theft gang." Bai Heqing explained in a calm tone.
"Black Rose...is that the Phantom Thief who has been operating in the UK recently?"
As the director of MI6, Stewart obviously knew the codename Black Rose, even though the Black Rose incident actually had nothing to do with MI6.
"Yes, according to the clues we found, Black Rose will start another robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris tomorrow night."
"Bai Heqing, do you want to go to Paris?" Stewart understood why Bai Heqing called him.
"yes."
"Well... this is not a difficult matter. You don't have to worry about the procedures. I can prepare these things for you tomorrow morning, but..."
At this point, Stewart paused. He was a little worried. After all, Bai Heqing didn't understand the language, and France was not the territory of MI6. If Bai Heqing accidentally caused any trouble after going to France, he wouldn't be able to tell the old man Hatoyama Explain...
"By the way, whose landline did you borrow to make this call?" Stewart suddenly asked after thinking for a while.
Behind Bai Heqing, Mary, who had been quietly eavesdropping, suddenly had a bad feeling in her heart.
【Something's wrong! 】
"It's an agent from MI6, Sera Marie." After a moment's hesitation, Shirakawa Kiyo told the truth.
"Ah, it's Mary. She is a newcomer with great potential. In the assessment some time ago, her results were very good."
To Mary's expectation, Stuart remembered her name.
"The ability is very strong, but the personality is a bit impatient and needs experience. But for young people, this is normal."
After praising Mary over the phone, Stewart suddenly changed the subject and said:
"Speaking of which, I remember that in Mary's previous assessment report, she seemed to have written that she could speak French and German..."
【It’s over! 】
Alarm bells rang in her heart, and just when Mary stepped forward to take the microphone from Bai Heqing's hand, Stewart had already said his last words.
"Shirakawa, why not let Mary go to Paris with you?"
(﹃)
(End of chapter)
