Chapter 587: Hatred
“I see,” Xiao Luo said, nodding in acknowledgment.
He then immediately cut to the chase. “Oh, by the way, I have to make a trip to Ri Nation in a bit,” he told her.
Su Li reacted with surprise and wondered why Xiao Luo kept such unusual schedules. “Why are you going there? And why so suddenly? You have your pa.s.sport with everything else sorted out already?” she asked.
Not long ago, they had planned to travel to the Maldives together, but suddenly Xiao Luo decided to go by himself. And now, out of the blue, he’s telling me he has to go to Ri Nation at such an odd hour! There was no prior mention of the trip at all. There was something fishy about this, she thought.
Xiao Luo gently held her hand and smiled. “I can’t give you an honest answer yet, but I will tell you everything one day,” he said, expressing his thoughts aloud and shaking his head.
NSA agents could not divulge any of their missions to civilians, and Su Li was, of course, no exception.
Su Li looked at him and allowed him to hold her hand. “Will you just answer two questions for me?”
“If I can,” Xiao Luo said and nodded solemnly.
“Will you be doing anything illegal on your trip this time?” Su Li asked as a frown formed on her face.
Xiao Luo thought about the question briefly and then said, “I don’t know if it’ll be legal in Ri Nation, but it will be legal here in Hua Nation.”
“My second question—you said you went to the Maldives the other time. Was that true?” Su Li probed.
“No, I didn’t. But I didn’t lie about leaving the country,” Xiao Luo replied. He answered truthfully but was evasive about the details.
That’s all I wanted to know.”
Su Li pulled her hand away from Xiao Luo’s grip and stood up to get herself a gla.s.s of orange juice. She stuck a straw in and started to sip from it.
“You don’t have anything else that you want to say to me?” Xiao Luo felt that Su Li had still not been put in her place yet. Although she had changed a little, it was not enough. She was still as cold as ice to him.
“I don’t,” she replied.
Su Li continued to sip her orange juice, then picked up her book, sat on the sofa opposite Xiao Luo, and turned her attention back to reading her book.
Xiao Luo felt a little despondent, but not too much. It was Su Li that he was addressing, after all. She was one of a kind, and he had come to expect prudishness from her.
“Alright, then I’ll head out. Tell Xiaobei I’ll be back with a gift for her when she wakes up,” Xiao Luo said as he was about to take his leave.
“Mmm…”
Su Li did not raise her head, and she seemed more interested in her book.
Xiao Luo heaved a long sigh, stood up, and started to walk out of the apartment. Just as he opened the door and was about to step out, Su Li’s voice drifted over from behind him.
“Let’s go to the Maldives together when you come back!” she called out to him.
Xiao Luo smiled. He turned back to look at her and said, “Okay.”
“And remember to keep checking your phone. I will text you frequently. You have to respond quickly,” Su Li said in a tone that was a little demanding. She raised her head to look at him, and the expression on her face was a bit aloof.
Xiao Luo’s heart warmed. He smiled and nodded firmly. “I will!” he responded.
After he stepped out, Xiao Luo immediately called Zhang Dashan to notify him that he would be traveling. Xiao Luo told him that he would have to manage Luo Workshop and Jin Yitang for a while longer. Tang Ren and Xiao Ruyi did not have enough experience to manage the business yet, and they would learn the ropes much quicker under Zhang Dashan’s guidance.
Zhang Dashan simply could not understand this man. “Are you serious? Why are you suddenly going on vacation? I’m still waiting for you to play matchmaker for me,” he said.
“There this thing trending on the internet these days—let your feet go where your heart wants,” Xiao Luo riposted.
“What a load of bullsh*t! Right, where are you going?” Zhang Dashan asked.
“Ri Nation,” Xiao Luo responded.
“Look at you, man. You’re certainly going places! Mind if I ask why you’re going there? I suppose you’re aware that there’s something very ‘masculine’ about their culture?”
“Can you be a little more serious?” Xiao Luo’s face darkened.
Zhang Dashan responded, much more presentably this time. “Who said I wasn’t? Haven’t you heard? Do you know why there is a pillow-like cus.h.i.+on behind their women’s kimono? Let me tell you—it’s there by design so that their men can… you know, do it anytime they want! It provides support; you know what I’m saying? Why do you think they have last names which often end with words that mean “by the well,” or “foot of the mountain,” and “by the river”? Isn’t it obvious these were names to commemorate their deeds at those locations?”
Xiao Luo rolled his eyes. “Honestly, don’t be an idiot!” he said.
“Look at you. You still don’t believe me. Go search it up on the internet for yourself then and see if I’m telling the truth.”
Zhang Dashan laid on his thick north-eastern accent and said, “Hey, Old Xiao, Ri Nation is known for their films. If you happen to meet women like Hatano Yui, Ozawa Maria, Amami Tsubasa, Tachibana Risa, or Nis.h.i.+no Sho, don’t forget to get me their autographs. I’m their diehard fan, and they were the reason why my hormones were in a mess when I was in college.”
“What’s the deal with you? It seems to me that the only things j.a.panese you remember are these women’s names?” Xiao Luo said, speaking in a north-eastern accent as well.
“Don’t you know? I’m a veteran when it comes to this, and I have to live up to my reputation,” Zhang Dashan said proudly.
“Alright, I’ve heard enough. I’m hanging up.”
Xiao Luo cut the call without hesitation. This man was disgusting. If he let the conversation go on, his impression of Ri Nation would only worsen further.
But then again, his impression of Ri Nation was never great, to begin with. It had initially been because of their invasion of Hua Nation. He had once watched a doc.u.mentary on Unit 731 that the Ri Nation had sent to Hua Nation. Here, they set up a base to conduct experiments on humans, and people were experimented on like lab rats.
The experiments were cruel and inhumane beyond belief, and those captured by the Ri Nation troops were sent to places that were not unlike the 18 levels of h.e.l.l.
It was this old clip that had imprinted itself upon Xiao Luo so firmly he could not shake the images from his head. Back then, he gritted his teeth as he watched, and he wanted nothing more than to kill those Ri Nation troops.
Although the two nations were on good terms now, he was not the only one who bore hatred towards the Ri Nation people. The hatred was something most Hua Nation people still harbored.
After he left Crescent Bay, Ji Siying drove Xiao Luo to the airport to begin his journey to the Ri Nation.