At a middle day, a main street in BaoZhi Town is always crowded with a market atmosphere. It seems another busy day for all street merchants. Among their customers, there is a young man looking around with full interest in his eyes meanwhile beside him, there is his friend with full of fear and nervous look. They look so contrast to each other but what looks same about them is that they acts femininely.
The nervous friend pulls her company aside the street,
"Xiao Cie...XiaoRue doesn"t think this is a good idea! Why do we must go out in this way???" XiaoRue shows herself who has changed into a common man, a cloth hat covers her long hair and the big size of the brownish cloth covers her slim feminine body.
While in front of her, TanTan has also turns become a common man also in. her blueyish cloth. Her hair has tied rolled up and like XiaoRue , her extra cloth quite covering her slim body although cannot covering their small bodies.
"Sstt, call me *XiaoGe..not XiaoCie...and and you are *XiaoTi, okay....we are in disguise...wearing like these will enable us to act easier..." TanTan explains, "Last time when I went with Prince FengEr, people seemed hesitated to tell anything...now I wonder if we wear like this, maybe we can dig more information..." Now they both look like two common travelers.
"But Xiao...." Coz TanTan stares sharply to her, XiaoRue immediately fix her words, "XiaoGe... where does XiaoGe want to start?"
"Good question..." TanTan looks around the street and sees a restaurant with an opening balcony , "Well, why don"t we have lunch first for now...come on" She pulls XiaoRue to that restaurant.
TanTan feels a little nervous to enter the restaurant as this is also her first disguise as a man. A servant boy cheerfully welcomes them,
"Welcome, young masters....is it only two of you?" TanTan nods and cough heavily to pretend as a man. The servant boy seems don"t care about their look. "No matter who comes, they are customers" its his motto. The servant guides them to an empty table at the first floor but TanTan shakes and purposely speaks heavily,
"We want to eat upstair"
The servant boy wrinkles his eyebrow a little bit when he hears TanTan"s voice but he doesn"t care about it either, he smiles widely to know TanTan"s choice because upstair means extra price.
"Sure...sure...please this way..." Then the servant boy guides them upstair and TanTan immediately choose one empty table close to the balcony. After they settle to sit, the servant boy starts asking their orders.
For a woman who comes from future and being kept at Li Mansion most of the time, TanTan doesn"t have idea about the food that served on a big restaurant like this. TanTan looks at XiaoRue, "XiaoRue could not change her voice, her voice is too soft...so if I ask XiaoRue to order, we will be found out as women easily"
"What do you have here?" TanTan asks the servant boy carefully.
The servant boy is excited to be asked. He immediately explains all the menu that they have while he also pours some tea on the table to them.
"And our trademark dish here is a roast chicken with honey...Young Masters will regret if you both never taste it"
The servant boy did his job very well coz TanTan and XiaoRue"s stomach become noisy and demanding those food.
"Okay, give us the roast chicken with honey and some vegetables..."
TanTan decides and the servant boy responds cheerfully,
"Alllrighhht, please wait! It will not too long..."
After the servant boy left, XiaoRue dares herself to speak in soft,
"XiaoGe...this is the biggest restaurant in this city and the menu that you order is the expensive one...Is it too wasting?"
"Its okay...lets enjoy the moment for a while" TanTan brings some HuaMuTan"s money that she believes enough, beside of that, why she can"t enjoy the time for a while. She recites that either inside Li Mansion or outside, she never can really enjoy her meals until finish.
The purpose of TanTan to choose sit at the balcony so she can observe the street widely. TanTan is thinking from where she can start to find more clues or maybe the way to contact the silver mask.
"If the silver mask really watches over me then should I make any scenes to force him to come out?"
In the middle of her thinking, suddenly there are noises from the street, exactly below the balcony where they are. Turns out there is a scene, it comes from the three big and fierce men surrounding a skinny woman. They are not looked friendly at all as they give threaten gestures. But the woman seems not afraid, although one of the man has pulls her front collars, the biggest one exactly.
"Don"t you think because you are woman...we will let you go?!"
While two others skinnier men just make sure no one steps in to their problem and supports their big brother.
"Yeah, You ruin our business!! Big Bro, give her a lesson..."
"Please calm down....we can talk nicely about it" The woman seems in a hard situation, she tries to free herself but the grip is too strong while the people around are too scare to help her.
TanTan who dislikes bullying, feels upset to see that scene,
"Look, XiaoTi....that woman is in danger!" She stands up from her seat and goes to the balcony, considering should she jump or not? It looks not too high from there.
"Now, give back our money or you will get the consequence!" The big fierce guy keeps threatening the woman...but she just smirks,
"How can I return the money that not yours...you cheated other people with your trick!"
The situation becomes worse, her words make the big guy more furious and almost to hit her face if a roast chicken doesn"t lands on his back head hardly.
"Auuch, what is this...?" He looks down to see what hits him he takes it confusedly. "A roast chicken??? Who so dumb daring throw this to my head!!!" He turns around to search the culprit. Coz of that he lets go the collar of the woman. She falls down on the ground weakly.
"How dare you three dumb big men bully a weak woman?!!" TanTan shouts angrily from the balcony, announces her interfere. While XiaoRue tries to calm her down but she doesn"t success at all, she just can stare around in worry. In fact, she almost want to cry,
"XiaoCieee...."
TanTan observes the big men,
"They are not different than a bunch of sc.u.mbag...I can handle them..."
"Don"t worry, XiaoRue...I can handle them...You stay here..."
All her life, she likes to watch or read heroic stories. Now when she is in disguise as a man, somehow she feels over brave and enjoy the moment to be a hero. TanTan jumps from the balcony, and lands not smoothly although she manages to stand firmly at last. Now she is in front of those three men.
"Who do you think you are, little rascal! Dare to intrude my business!" The big guy is more scarier when TanTan faces him closely.
"You attack weak woman, that"s my business...I can sue you for the violence"
"Sue me? ha..ha...ha.haha.." The big guy laughes, those two his followers also laugh, then suddenly,
"SUE THIS!!!" The big guy is wafting his fist to TanTan.
"Watch out" The woman b.u.mps TanTan down tp avoid the fist, in the same time she manages gripping the guy"s leg and
ended by that big guy lost his balance and fells down. Those two followers immediately help their big brother to stand
Taking this chance, before TanTan reacts, the woman pulls her hands and gestures her to run,
"Go...!!!"
Seeing TanTan and the woman run through the crowd, the big guy very p.i.s.sed up. He scolds his followers,
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT! CHASE THEM NOW!!!"
"Right ,big brother!!" They then run chase them down.
While XiaoRue who left behind immediately goes down from restaurant and hopes can chase them also. But unfortunately, the servant boy holds her to pay the chicken. It takes a while to finish the payment. When she goes out from the restaurant, she just manages to see those two sc.u.mbags chasing down her XiaoCie and a stranger woman.
"XiaoooCieee???!!!" XiaoRue tries to call out them but without XiaoRue realizes, the big guy still at there, standing behind her,
"Are you a friend of that little rascal Hah?!" He walks closer to XiaoRue.
"I...I..." XiaoRue shocks, she feels intimidated and terrified. Her legs freeze suddenly. She can"t move or run.
"I see you just now beside him at the balcony...Now pay back for your friend!"
The big guy pulls XiaoRue"s collar, and she responds with shouting a feminine shout...
"Kyaaa!" obviously her voice clears out her real gender.
"What? Is this a joke? You are not a man but a girl!!" Suddenly The big guy"s eyes changes into a l.u.s.t when he is also almost see the inner cloth of XiaoRue from pulling the collar.
"Maybe you really can pay back to me, pretty boy! Haahahahaha!" He hugs XiaoRue in force and try to hara.s.s her
"No...let me go!!" XiaoRue is so terrified,
"Bukkk!" Suddenly there is a hard hit sound from the big guys" back and it makes him fainted at once. XiaoRue who has freed from that big guy"s hug surprises to see ManQi now stands in front of her. ManQi smirks to her,
"What a nice cloth you wear, Mr. XiaoRue!"
"ManQi!" XiaoRue feels more relieved than surprised to be caught by ManQi.
At that moment XiaoRue right away pulls his hands, gestures him to follow her, to chase TanTan,
"XiaoCie is in danger....hurry, we must help her!!!"
*XiaoGe: Little Big brother.
*XiaoTi: Little brother