What is a banquet?
"What do you think?"
After Eluma asked Zhou Li this question, Zhou Li did not answer. He gently shook the wine glass in his hand and threw the question to Ivy who was doing nothing.
"Vanity Fair, at least it's a bond between nobles."
Ivey, who maintained the elegance and grace of a noble but with a bored look on his face, put down his wine glass. He looked at Azi and Ain who were surrounded by the crowd, and said with a chuckle: "Communicate, show off, communicate, and show financial resources. This kind of Isn’t that what banquets are like? Once or twice, you will feel interesting, but once there are too many, it will only feel empty. "
The lights in the banquet hall were slightly dimmed, and the nobles on the dance floor danced to the music. The incense condensed by magic will not dissipate, filling the entire palace with an aura of luxury. As the representative of the Zisha Chamber of Commerce, Azi was unsmiling at the banquet today. Her indifferent expression and petite and cute appearance attracted the love of all the female nobles. Surrounded by many rouge and vulgar fans, she leaned against Linghai as if asking for help, but those who knew her well knew that this was just a cunning idea on her part.
"Are you so worried about your sister?"
Zhou Li pinched Eluma's small nose, snatched the concentrated fruit wine from her mouth, then took a packet of juice from the side and handed it to her. Zhou Li looked at Ain who was under the spotlight not far away, and asked Aiwei who was standing aside with some relief.
At this time, Ain was negotiating with a group of nobles on behalf of the El Chamber of Commerce. Although Ain, who was dressed in a black and white maid uniform, seemed unsociable and sometimes showed an endearing panic, it was because of this that people Let down your guard against this girl.
"certainly."
Aiwei smiled. He leaned against the window sill and looked at the lovely girl who had been with him for several years. He said with emotion: "Ain is more suitable for the position of president of the Ayre Chamber of Commerce than me, both in terms of business acumen and interpersonal skills." I can’t even compare to her in socializing.”
"You're wrong."
Zhou Li touched the hair of Aluma, who was drinking juice angrily, and then said to Ivey with a smile: "Although you are not as good as your sister in terms of business acumen and interpersonal communication, you can bring the Al Chamber of Commerce... Operating for so many years is not just a matter of luck.”
Hearing this, Ivey was startled. In fact, he had never heard encouragement from anyone in his life. After all, in his family, whether it was his biological sister Ailei or his adopted sister Ain, they had all been a blow to him since childhood. Growing up, the sentence Ivy heard most was "Why can't you imitate your sister/sister?"
He had never heard anyone else acknowledge him.
"Avi, I'll give you a choice."
Zhou Li's voice woke up Ivi from his trance. He looked at the young man who had just had a crazy game with the emperor, with confusion in his eyes.
"I can tell you one thing." Zhou Li stretched out a finger, stared at Ivey, and said in a solemn voice: "What I want to do in the future is very risky, so big that even a brave person cannot compete with it. Wait. You made trouble for Goblin Farmhouse before, but those were normal business methods, and you didn’t do anything extraordinary. I don’t blame you.”
"After that, you even risked your life to help me transport black powder. This alone is enough to make up for your previous mistakes."
Zhou Li looked at Aiwei with a solemn expression and a very serious tone: "Then I will give you one last chance to make a choice. If you choose to quit now, you will still be the president of the Aier Chamber of Commerce. I will still keep the shares you gave me. In the future, I will You don’t need to participate in the plan, you can develop your chamber of commerce honestly.”
"Or, keep following me."
Zhou Li stopped looking at Aiwei, as that would give him a sense of oppression. He stared at the various figures on the dance floor indifferently and said nothing.
Aiwei was silent for a long time. He looked at the wine glass on the side, and then at Ain who was surrounded by the crowd. After a while, Ivey stretched out his hand and summoned Kaya, who was being led by Linghai and Azi to eat cake not far away.
"Go and call your sister Ain."
Kaya nodded, then took a napkin and wiped the cream on her cheeks, then ran to Ain's side. She held Ain's hand, stood on tiptoes and said something to her. Ain said a few apologetic polite words to the people around him, and then he and Kaya walked quickly to Ivey's side.
"What's wrong?"
Looking at Zhou Li who was a little confused, Ai Yin just asked, and then he let out a sudden realization and quickly took out a platinum badge engraved with a deer pattern.
"Eir Chamber of Commerce's eternal tokens, I, Aile, and Ain each have one. I left one for Kaya, and Ain gave this to Miss Eluma."
Ain handed the badge to Eluma and looked at the small and exquisite platinum badge in her hand. Eluma let out a wow sound, and then looked at Zhou Li beside her with a pair of big watery eyes. The meaning was self-evident.
"It suits you quite well."
Zhou Li touched Eluma's head, and then stopped talking about the choice. He and Aiwei looked at each other and smiled. The wonderful tacit understanding between the two men made Ain on the side confused.
"By the way, where's Maeve?"
At this time, Zhou Li remembered the red-haired imperial sister. He asked Ain curiously: "Why didn't I see her? And Ms. Christine, I also want to thank her in person. .”
"Both of them...uh uh..."
As soon as she mentioned these two people, Ain suddenly stiffened. Then she looked out the window and said with some embarrassment: Well, I just found out yesterday that Duke Christine has not been married for so many years because of her orientation. , rather special..."
"Kristen Duke, likes girls."
Eluma on the side suddenly let out a small exclamation when she heard this, and her face was stained with a layer of crimson. Zhou Li's hand holding the wine glass paused. He coughed twice and said to Ain: "Tell Maeve that there is no need to wrong yourself. You are just a duke. We don't need to... pay such a high price."
"Uh-huh?"
Ai Yin was about to nod in agreement at first, but after hearing the second half of Zhou Li's words, she eh? After making a sound, he said to Zhou Li with a slight embarrassment: "Well, Mr. Zhou Li, that's not what I meant. Duke Christine just asked Miss Maeve to accompany her to meet her blind date and give her some advice. "
"well."
Hearing this, the expression on Zhou Li's face became even deeper. Facing the confused Ai Yin, he clicked his tongue twice and said, "Just tell her about this. Don't worry about the rest. Let's She decides for herself."
"Okay, I'll go to Miss Azi first. She will introduce me to two financial congressmen. I will tell Maeve what you say."
Although he was confused, Ain still accepted the task. She walked up to Ivy, pinched his waist secretly, and asked him with a smile to stop playing with the curtains. Then she held the hand of Kaya who was reluctant to part with the cake and walked in the direction of Azi.
After introducing her contacts to Ain, Azi immediately cheered up and waved to Kaya: "Little Kaya is back~"
As the youngest member of the original brave team in both age and height, Azi was especially fond of Kaya who was younger than her. When she saw Kaya next to Ain, a smile suddenly appeared on Azi's face that was dizzy from the smell of perfume. She faced Kaya under the gaze of a group of female nobles with motherly love. He happily said to her:
"Is the cake delicious? Where is Linghai?"
“Delicious~”
Speaking of the cake, Kaya's eyes suddenly narrowed into a crescent moon. She looked at Azi and said in a clear voice: "Sister Linghai said she really couldn't stay any longer and went outside to get some fresh air. Just now Ain was looking for I went to help her escape and I didn’t follow.”
"Wow, Linghai is real."
Azi pursed her lips, sighed, and whispered to Kaya: "Your sister Linghai is very bad. She originally agreed to help me deal with it, but in the end, she just took you and ran away in a short time. , and now I secretly go out for fun again."
"oh!"
As if being awakened by Ah Zi, Kaya said to Ah Zi: "Sister Linghai told me before she left that if Ah Zi speaks ill of her behind her back, let her snap her fingers."
"well?"
Azi was stunned for a moment, then she subconsciously stretched out her hand and snapped her fingers.
"Hoo!"
Suddenly, Linghai's voice sounded next to Ah Zi's ears. Before Azi could react, a familiar arm wrapped around her waist and gently pulled her back. After being pulled into a warm embrace, Ah Zi's nervousness became a little less tense. The next second, Ah Zi's figure disappeared into the hall. Suddenly, a group of people exclaimed.
"Don't worry."
At this time, Zhou Li said: "Keep playing music and dance, don't worry about it."
After hearing the words of the brave man, the group of councilors and nobles who had just been very excited suddenly calmed down. They looked at Zhou Li's face and continued to talk after noticing the impermanence, all of them treating the episode as nothing happened.
"Is this why Miss Linghai asked you to help her lift the void restriction just now?"
Aiwei asked Zhou Li curiously. After receiving a positive answer, Aiwei exclaimed: "The relationship between the two of them is really good."
"Yeah..." Zhou Li looked at the full moon outside the window and said softly to himself: "That's great."
*********************
Phew~
Traveling through space again and again, Linghai held Ah Zi in his arms and walked through the border between clouds and void. Feeling the whistling wind beside her ears, Ah Zi squinted her eyes slightly, admiring the alternate scenery of purple space and pure white clouds.
After jumping and shuttling again and again, Ah Zi was gently placed on the roof of the tall building by Ling Hai. Two chairs, a table, and a pot of Azi's favorite honey plum wine. Linghai stood beside Ah Zi with a smile on her hips, her back to the dark night dotted with stars and the moon. She in the black dress leaned against the moonlight like an elegant and mysterious elf, standing quietly in the curtain called night.
"Hey, you've been preparing for a long time."
Azi looked at the scene in front of her with a sweet smile on her face. She pretended to be indifferent, pacing aimlessly, then sat down on the recliner, patted the chair next to her and said to Linghai:
"Come on, come on."
Linghai shrugged, then walked to Azi and poured a glass of plum wine for her and himself, then slowly sat on the chair holding the glass. The two of them looked at the same starry sky and moonlight together. The gentle wind blew gently, and the comfortable atmosphere made Azi and Linghai calm down.
"Haihai, are you a little panicked?"
After a while, Azi took the lead in breaking the silence. She turned her face sideways and looked at the slightly surprised Ling Hai. The crescent moons in her eyes were even cuter than in the moonlight: "I'm going to Muqi in a few days. Are you nervous?"
Linghai didn't subconsciously speak harshly like before. She just clenched her hands uneasily, lowered her head and stared at the scattered stars in the cup. After a while, Linghai's trembling voice sounded:
"Azi, I'm a little scared."
Before Azi could speak, Linghai curled up his legs and continued:
"Do you remember my first two missions?"
"Yes, of course." Azi nodded. It was precisely because of the two tasks Linghai accepted that his life had such a wonderful war. "One is investigating the Goblin Farmhouse, and the other is hunting the terrifying beasts."
"Do you still remember that when Kaya and Ain were talking about the void that day, they mentioned the old wolf?"
"The old wolf who saved Ain and Kaya and was finally killed by the hunter?"
Seeing that Azi still remembered people's conversations at that time, the worried Linghai nodded. She took a sip of the sour plum wine and said in a low voice: "I checked yesterday... that old wolf was the fear I wanted to hunt at that time. beast."
"What??"
Azi was stunned for a moment, and then exclaimed: "How is that possible? Ain said that the old wolf is a platinum-level terrifying beast, but your mission is to hunt the silver-level one..."
Suddenly, Azi seemed to have thought of something. She opened her mouth and a look of astonishment appeared on her face.
"The Shadow Union wants to kill more than just Kaya." Seeing Azi's surprise, Linghai sighed softly, folded his arms and said softly: "Void hasn't talked to me for a long time, I wanted to ask her yesterday What was that city about, but I didn’t find her.”
Azi didn't know what to say for a moment. She knew that for Linghai, the best thing to her besides herself was the voice of the void. Over the years, the voice of the void has continuously helped Linghai escape the prying eyes and pursuits of various forces, helping Linghai like a gentle mother, enlightening Linghai when her mood is complicated, just like the image of a loving mother.
But when Kaya found the "real void" and noticed the "purple cancer", Linghai was a little overwhelmed after learning the news. She wanted to ask Void directly, but for some reason, the voice of Void stopped speaking to her. Azi knew that Linghai would not care whether the voice in the void was the so-called cancer, but she was afraid of losing and losing her loved ones again.
In Ah Zi's eyes, Ling Hai, who was several years older than herself, was sometimes even more fragile than herself. Like a child, she has been growing up in the embrace of the void. Suddenly one day, his "mother" suddenly disappeared with her bizarre life experience discovered. No matter how she called, she never appeared again. This was an obvious blow to Linghai.
Thinking of this, Azi stood up, took two steps to Linghai, took a deep breath, and hugged Linghai gently.
"It doesn't matter, I'm here, and we are all here." A'Zi pressed her cheek against Ling Hai's face, her voice soft: "I will accompany you to find her, and keep looking until I find her."
