"Come over and have a look."
Chen Xing said casually.
But his heart was not as relaxed as it seemed. Meeting the girl from before again made me feel a little complicated. At this moment, she was already someone else's woman and no longer belonged to him.
Maybe she never belonged to him. They are just passersby to each other, passing through the only intersection in life, and then moving away in different directions.
There was sadness in his heart, and he wanted to turn around and leave, but the light in the other person's eyes was like a magnet that firmly attracted his footsteps.
Some people are very strange. When they have not met, it is as if they have never met before, like strangers who have never met before, and they will not think of them no matter what.
But when we meet, it seems that all the memories will be awakened in an instant.
Then I woke up with a hint of nostalgia.
It seems weak and invisible, like smoke and mist, it will collapse at the slightest touch, but it is so stubborn that it will not disappear even if the world is destroyed.
It's not that I forgot, but I didn't dare to think about it...
Inexplicable sadness spread among the two of them, diluting the joy of meeting again.
"You, how are you doing?"
She hesitated for a while, then couldn't help but ask again, her sparkling eyes full of concern. Chen Xing couldn't help but feel hot in his heart, and a strong impulse arose spontaneously, wanting to step forward and hug him.
However, the hand he just stretched out immediately retracted. He reminded himself again that she was already someone else's woman and they were just friends.
He suddenly regretted why he didn't go to find the other party immediately after returning from the Black Death Continent.
Perhaps, he was afraid that their final result would be the same as in the previous life, and everything would end in nothing. He no longer had the courage to experience that feeling of loss again.
"Okay……"
Chen Xing regained his composure and answered calmly.
At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared behind Su Xuefei, and his arms naturally wrapped around her slender waist.
A handsome face broke into sight, with arrogant eyes and an expression that seemed to be a smile but not a smile.
Chen Xing's pupils shrank suddenly and became extremely sharp.
Ricardo, the eagle owl on the shoulders of the dragon!
Su Xuefei was frightened by the sudden intimate action, like a frightened rabbit. Then she saw the person clearly, showed a coquettish look, and punched the other person's chest.
"He suddenly ran out and was so scared."
"I'm curious which gentleman my female companion is flirting with?" Ricardo said half-jokingly, looking at Chen Xing like an ice knife.
"No!" Su Xuefei waved her hand hurriedly, then opened her small hands and introduced, "This is Mr. Chen Xing, he is a mercenary, whom you met last time."
"Mercenary?" A sneer appeared on Ricardo's lips.
"When there was a fire in Crow City, Mr. Chen Xing took my mother and I to escape." As if she was afraid that Ricardo would misunderstand, Su Xuefei explained, "Without him, my mother and I might have been burned to death."
"Oh..." Ricardo looked like he suddenly realized something.
"It seems..." He looked at Chen Xing again, his tone was lukewarm, "Mr. Mercenary, should I thank you?"
"It's just a little effort, nothing worth mentioning." Chen Xing said, his tone equally neither salty nor indifferent.
The atmosphere was not very good, and Chen Xing quickly suggested that he still had things to do and would meet again next time there was a chance.
He is now a public figure, and so is Ricardo. The collision between the two will definitely make the front pages of tabloids and magazines, and I don't know how many stories will be made up. And in this matter, no matter how you spin it, it will be detrimental to him.
After Chen Xing left, Ricardo walked straight to the balcony outside without saying a word.
Looking at the city lights in the distance, he raised his head and took a sip of wine.
Ricardo didn't speak, and the atmosphere was very depressing. Su Xuefei, who was following behind, carefully stretched out her hand and pulled his elbow, "Jiatu, do you have any misunderstanding about Mr. Chen Xing?"
"I have nothing to do with him. We are just old acquaintances."
Ricardo drank by himself and did not respond. Su Xuefei became increasingly anxious, "He is just a low-level mercenary and will not pose any threat to you..."
"Are you concerned about him?" Ricardo turned around and looked at Su Xuefei coldly, a layer of ice seemed to form on his handsome face.
"No, no..." Su Xuefei quickly denied.
"Is he just a low-level mercenary?" Ricardo's eyes became colder and colder, with a hint of contempt, "Don't you watch the news? Stupid woman!"
"I..." Su Xuefei shrank back timidly. Every time Ricardo got angry, she felt like she was facing a lion and was very scared.
Suddenly her eyes flashed, and before she could scream, her voice was choked in her throat.
Her neck was pinched by a hand as cold as iron, and she was pressed against the guardrail of the balcony.
A cold and low voice came to my ears, "Su Xuefei, please remember..."
"You are just a canary raised by me. You should know better than anyone else what you should do and what you should not do, what you should think and what you should not think!"
Su Xuefei's eyes widened, terrified.
"Did you hear that?" Ricardo repeated, his voice low, as if suppressing endless anger.
Just now, he saw something in Su Xuefei's eyes that he had hoped to see but had never seen over the years.
Su Xuefei looked at him with admiration, respect, fear, dependence and joy, but never love.
He clearly saw the attachment that came from the depths of his heart.
Originally, he was destined to win the position of commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, but he did not expect that a little-known and unknown figure was killed on the way, directly taking away the power he had been waiting for.
Not only that, even the woman he loved most showed an expression to this little person that he had never seen before. This made him feel jealous and unable to control himself.
Su Xuefei gradually came back to her senses and nodded with difficulty.
At another part of the reception, Chen Xing met Mayor Bert and Mayor Anbisi, as well as the seven or eight mayors of Edge Town who were chatting with them.
"Good evening, Lord Commander."
Mayor Bert and Mayor Anbisi said in unison, nodding and saluting Chen Xing, while the other mayors just nodded and did not say hello.
Mayor John Prader was among them. When he saw Chen Xing, his expression became a little unnatural.
As if on purpose, Chen Xing's eyes fell on him through the other mayors, with a somewhat surprised look on his face, "Mayor Prade, you are here too."
Mayor Prader nodded awkwardly, smiled, and said, "Good evening, Lord Commander."
John Prader belonged to the old aristocratic circle. He knew everything Chen Xing had done recently, and Earl George even met with them in private, asking them to boycott Chen Xing, the "rogue commander."
But on the other hand, Chen Xing once helped him. John Prader was an upright man who could not retaliate with kindness, so he could not treat Chen Xing as coldly as others.
"Mayor Prader, are you interested in joining our expeditionary force?" Chen Xing asked straight to the point.
During this period of time, he deliberately asked Mayor Bert, Mayor Anbixi and Mayor Prad to move around more, using him and the mayors of the edge towns around him as a breakthrough point. After all, everyone is from the Northern Wilderness. How can I say this? There is also some friendship.
"This..." Mayor Prad looked embarrassed, as if he didn't know how to answer.
Several other edge town mayors looked around, fearing that someone would notice them.
Chen Xing smiled and said, "Did Earl George tell you to stay away from me?"
Facing Chen Xing's straightforwardness, several mayors showed embarrassed expressions.
"It doesn't matter. If you think the Third Army is good and you can make a living by following the defeated general, that's totally fine." Chen Xing mocked.
"Mr. Chen, are you a bit rude when you comment on another commander like this?" a mayor of Edge Town said cautiously.
"Am I wrong?" Chen Xing looked indifferent, "Earl George, with tens of thousands of people, couldn't even penetrate the second line of defense, but I, with only two hundred people, broke through the Seven Layers of Mountain."
"Master Chen is indeed young and promising." "Yes, Master Chen's strength is beyond what ordinary commanders can achieve." Mayor Bert and Mayor Anbixi praised him.
Several mayors of Edge Town looked at each other with ugly expressions, because they were all members of the Third Army. These words were like slaps on their faces, crackling.
"My lords, you don't have to feel ashamed. The fault of the defeat is not yours, but the commander-in-chief who led the army." Chen Xing said, "A sheep leading a group of lions will definitely suffer defeat."
Then Chen Xing focused his eyes, leaned forward, and said in a low voice, "We are all from the Northern Wilderness, so I won't go around in circles with you." He said in a sincere tone, "If you are willing to come over, we will join the expedition. A direct line unit of the army."
"Not to mention anything else, not a penny will be deducted from military pay, and we will treat you as cannon fodder and use it to block the muzzle of the gun."
"Although there are a lot of rumors outside about how despicable, shameless and vile I am, others don't know what kind of person I am, Chen Xing. Don't the mayors still know it?" Chen Xing looked at Pu Mayor Ladd.
Mayor Prad was so frightened by what he saw that he had no choice but to tell the truth, "Mr. Chen is a generous man. When he came to Monitor Lizard City before, he even specially supported us with two thousand gold coins."
Several other edge town mayors suddenly showed envious expressions.
Edge Town lacks everything, but what it lacks most is money.
Chen Xing stepped forward and patted Mayor Prad on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Fellow, this is a rare opportunity!"
Mayor Bert and Mayor Ambisi also added fuel to the fire.
"Mayor Prade, I swear on the name of Roast Duck Town that Mr. Chen Xing is definitely a person of noble character." "Mayor Chen Xing's character, it goes without saying, it goes without saying, just two words, justice!"
"This..." Mayor Prad looked hesitant and embarrassed.
"What else is this? Hurry up and go to the military headquarters to write an application and be transferred to our expeditionary force." Mayor Anbisi urged.
"Yeah, I'm still waiting to have a drink with Mayor Prade." Mayor Bert said.
Friendship plus interests are like carrots and sticks, so Mayor Prader half-heartedly agreed.
Seeing the fall of Mayor Prade, several other edge town mayors were also shaken. They pulled Mayor Burt and Mayor Anbisi to ask questions, extremely eager.
