My Nightclub Landlady

Qin Feng grew impatient with Green Snake. "Why? Why are you being so serious? All these years, haven"t we always been like this? If you don"t like how I joke with you, I"ll stop it all, OK? I promise not to touch you again. Ever. Not even a hair. We are good brothers, good friends. We kill enemies and eat meat together, but we never, ever touch."

Hearing this, Green Snake felt like her whole heart was stuck through with needles, not lethal, but painful still.

After a long time, she sighed and replied, "Well, good. That should be the right way to do things."

"That"s right." Qin Feng instinctively went to put his arms around Green Snake"s shoulders, and his hand reached halfway before he drew it back. He scratched his head awkwardly then ran to the second bedroom.

"I"ll change clothes, and I still have some luggage thrown here that I need to sort out. Then let"s go shopping, how about that? You haven"t been shopping for a long time I"m guessing? I"ll buy you some beautiful clothes," he called from the other room.

Green Snake did not speak. Instead, she moved to sit quietly on the balcony"s rocking chair. Bathed in warm sunshine, she closed her eyes and thought about the recent scene. Why did I react so strongly? Is it because I was thinking about Sister Flower?

Green Snake, of course, knew herself very well. Over the past few years, she had liked Qin Feng, but she dared not say that. Every time she tried to speak to Qin Feng seriously, he always responded with a playful smile, as if she wasn"t a woman. Green Snake thought again of a rumor she wanted to refute that reminded her of how he viewed her.

On a night three years ago, their team had been celebrating a successful mission. Qin Feng, Xiao He and Green Dragon drank a lot of alcohol together and talked well into the night.

After leaving the gathering, Qin Feng called Green Snake out from her apartment. It had been nearly 1 o"clock, and Green Snake was nervous about why Qin Feng had come. However, he simply urged her to get together with Green Dragon, telling her how much the man liked her. Green Snake, surprised, responded that she would consider it carefully, although truthfully she had just been trying to end the conversation. As a result, Qin Feng told Green Dragon that Green Snake had promised to be with him.

Once she learned about that conversation, Green Snake didn"t bother to clear up the misunderstanding. After all, they all lived lives of danger, going on missions and licking blood off of the tips of knives. They had no reason to think about things like romance. Although Green Dragon was very kind to her and considerate in all aspects, Green Snake had never had thoughts like that about him. However, the rumor that they were dating didn"t impact her day-to-day life too much.

She had buried her thoughts for Qin Feng in the bottom of her heart, never telling anyone and suffering in silence. She would tell herself at night that seeing him every day and being able to make all sorts of jokes or snuggle up next to each other as friends was the greatest happiness. As for love, she did not break the seal on her own desires that she"d stored away, in case that would ruin their friendship. Sometimes she even thought that the rumor about her and Green Dragon helped conceal the truth.

Green Snake had spent years handling her feelings for Qin Feng well, but today, when she heard about Qin Feng"s relationship with Sister Flower, and she saw that he shared a familiarity with her that Green Snake previously thought was reserved for their relationships, she felt anger.

Or jealousy, if she was being honest with herself.

Soon, Qin Feng came out of the bedroom and went onto the balcony. He had changed into casual clothes and instantly looked younger.

"Let"s go. I"ll take you to a fun place. Although the Tianhe is not a great city, the atmosphere living here is nice. You can buy some beautiful clothes today and change your style. You always wear such serious clothes. Buy something to show off your youthfulness. Something bright. You must look very good when you"re dressed up," Qin Feng said seriously.

He looked away from Green Snake for a moment and then blushed furiously. Ladies" underwear was hanging from the balcony clothesline right next to his face. Sister Flower had forgotten to put it away before she left. He saw hints of lace and even a few thongs blowing gently in the breeze.

Qin Feng could not help but try to obscure the clothes rack with his body.

Green Snake sighed and said, "What are you blocking? I already saw everything."

"What? I didn"t see anything," Qin Feng said awkwardly. Then he changed the subject, saying, "Recently, I went out and bought a bunch of food at the market to prepare here. It"s hard to relax during the day after the craziness of before. I think it"s time I revealed my ident.i.ty as a three-star chef at a Michelin Restaurant."

"What are you bragging about? I remember you had a lot of trouble even cooking noodles before." Green Snake laughed. "If you are a chef, then pigs climb trees."

"Hey, don"t look down on me. People can make progress! The scrambled eggs with tomato that I make now are very good," Qin Feng said, defending himself.

"Are you trying to become an award-winning comedian?" Green Snake asked. "Is being able to fry tomatoes the standard by which three-star chefs are judged?"

"Oh, don"t be so serious."

The two of them looked at each other and smiled, the embarra.s.sment from a few minutes before dissipating, and they went downstairs together.

Qin Feng drove them to the Guihe commercial building in the Tianhe, the highest-end shopping complex in the city. Unfortunately, unlike the international luxury shops in bigger cities, the shops here sold clothes from last season or items that didn"t sell in the other cities. Even so, the shopping center was still well-regarded by the people of Tianhe, and the rich people of the city shopped here.

About 50 meters behind their car, Qin Feng noticed a Buick GL8 business vehicle following them. After driving for a period of time, he said, "We have a tail."

"I noticed that too," Green Snake said. "But this is Sister Flower"s car. They can"t be trying to trail Sister Flower?"

"It"s possible." Qin Feng didn"t feel concerned. He saw a very small intersection in front of him next to an old bungalow awaiting demolition. There was no one living in it, and the road around it was unmaintained. Next month, this area would be leveled to make way for a new high-rise.

Qin Feng turned beside this bungalow, then drove for a moment before suddenly accelerating down a very small alley. The Buick behind them sped to catch up, but the driver did not expect that as soon as he got to the corner, Qin Feng would have reversed and sped out toward him. The driver of the Buick was so frightened that he slammed his brakes and reversed. On the slippery road, the speeding Buick almost overturned.

Qin Feng, of course, controlled his car with ease. He was able to maneuver in front of the Buick, blocking its escape, without damaging Sister Flower"s car.

The doors opened.

Qin Feng and Green Snake stepped out and stood on either side of the Buick.