Seles lowered his head and opened the door of the air sedan for the young masters behind him.
Xun Jia raised his chin indifferently, the hem of his light gray pants spotless as he stepped crisply onto the lower step of the air sedan.
Only Xie Jianxun was left, grabbed by Emory who peppered him with questions, but soon Xie Jianxun bid Emory a distant farewell, got into the car, and it quickly lifted off and flew away.
Emory and the others looked up at the sky, and the manager whispered behind him, “Sir, they’ve left.”
Emory replied, “I saw.”
He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth, pondering anxiously for a moment before turning back to see the manager and the waitstaff standing there dumbly, staring at him.
He nearly rolled his eyes and mumbled around the cigarette, “Get back to work! Clean up!”
A subordinate approached and handed him a stack of documents—the information he’d wanted.
But aside from some public details, there was precious little else. One thing was certain: the East Border Lord did indeed have three children, mentioned in news from over a decade ago, but only two young masters had ever appeared publicly.
The youngest one—judging by age—wasn’t much different.
The subordinate asked puzzledly, “They…”
Emory shook his head. “Couldn’t tell.”
The subordinate bowed his head. “I’ll keep tracking the information.”
Emory was still immersed in the earlier atmosphere. “This is bad. I didn’t handle things well—Mr. Xie didn’t seem too satisfied… Who the hell told me to book this restaurant?”
Fortunately, on the top floor, the manager and waitstaff had already left, leaving only Emory and his few subordinates who couldn’t hear his later complaints.
He threw the cigarette to the ground, crushed it under his toe, and strode quickly toward the stairs downstairs. “I need to comm my dad and figure out how to make it up… Damn it!”
In the sky, inside the steadily flying air sedan.
The originally calm cabin air suddenly erupted with joyful laughter.
Xun Jia clutched his stomach, slouched diagonally on the back seat, nearly smudging the light makeup on his face. That’s right—for safety’s sake before they set out, he’d even applied a layer of light makeup.
“The last time I looked at him, his face was green! I was just in a hurry to drink the soup—it was such a thin layer, a few more seconds and it would’ve gone cold!”
“Instead, he panicked like a dumb roe deer. Ha, one more second and I’d have given myself away.”
Xie Jianxun asked enthusiastically, “Couldn’t hold it in?”
Xun Jia replied, “I was about to crack up!”
“What did he come over to ask you at the end?”
The two teenagers sat in the back seat, with Seles driving up front. Hearing this, he curiously glanced at them in the rearview mirror.
Xie Jianxun laughed. “Nothing much. He just asked your name—probably thinking of inviting you next time. I told him your surname was Xie, so don’t blank out if you hear someone calling you that from now on.”
Xun Jia was baffled. “Why am I surnamed Xie all of a sudden?”
Xie Jianxun explained, “The East Border Lord is surnamed Xie. You’re supposed to be his son—you’ve got to share a surname.”
Seles up front froze for a moment and glanced back.
Xie Jianxun belatedly added, “Relax. Lots of people in the East Territory are surnamed Xie—it’s a big surname. He won’t dig up anything.”
Half said to Xun Jia, half to Seles—it was the truth, after all… the Little Adventurer thought guiltily.
Xun Jia grinned and flopped against him. “Xunxun’s the one with all the foresight.”
Xie Jianxun said honestly, “I was pretty nervous at first, scared he’d spot something off.”
Speaking of which, Xun Jia suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed, “Don’t remind me! When they served the dishes, I didn’t know where to put my hands. Good thing you gave me that look, or we’d have been busted for sure.”
“That treatment spray was a stroke of genius—thanks, Seles!”
The young man driving let out a muffled chuckle, his sunglasses dangling and swaying on his chest.
“Anyway, I brought it along for the persona. Waste not, want not.”
Seles laughed. “I had it easy compared to you two—no lines at all. Good thing about the sunglasses, or Emory would’ve recognized me. Our family’s business overlaps with his—we’ve met before.”
Xun Jia grumbled, “Scared me half to death when he came over suddenly. Anyway, step one of the plan: success!”
He cheered, and Xie Jianxun beamed and cheered along. “Major success!”
Xun Jia said excitedly, “Let’s hurry back then. Hey, what’s the next step? Oi, why’re you shoving me? There’s tons of space over there—scoot!”
The Little Adventurer whined, “You’re the one shoving me!”
The teenagers roughhoused in the back seat. The ‘driver’ up front didn’t even turn around to hear the thumping of the seat cushions being smacked.
Seles sighed, nimbly turning the steering wheel and passing a traffic light.
“Young masters, you’ve eaten your fill. Have some pity on me,” he said pitifully. “Your bodyguard hasn’t had dinner yet.”
Xun Jia said generously, “Alright then, let’s treat Mr. Bodyguard to another meal.”
Seles asked, “Jianxun, what do you want? Dessert? Midnight snack?”
Xun Jia blinked and drawled, “Ahhh—”
Xie Jianxun pondered calmly for a moment, then spotted a glowing neon sign and lit up. “How about that one?”
The other two looked over simultaneously. “Gourmet Street!”
Silver Watchtower’s Gourmet Street was one of its signature attractions. Before the tide of out-of-town tourists ebbed, it became the top choice for ground traffic jams.
Once again, those burly yellow-uniformed security guards appeared, sealing off the entrances and exits one by one, allowing only pedestrians to enter on foot.
Even so, it was packed to the brim.
Seles parked the car in a slightly farther lot. Xun Jia and Xie Jianxun stood outside the parking lot, waiting for him to park and come out, enjoying the cool breeze.
The night wind was refreshing, blowing away any lingering stuffiness on their faces.
They’d already changed out of their fancy outfits in the restroom into their usual cheap but comfy clothes—no worry about staining expensive luxuries with greasy street food.
Now, with hair tousled and makeup wiped off, they looked like completely different people.
Xun Jia sighed. “The last time I felt a wind like this, I thought I was done for—nowhere to go, slinking back home in disgrace. My mood’s totally different now.”
Xie Jianxun smiled. “Everything’s looking up.”
Tourists passed by them, there for the same Silver Watchtower street food experience.
Seles finished parking and walked over, seeing the teenagers leaning against a big stone pillar at the lot entrance, chatting. “What’re you talking about?”
Xun Jia eyed him, raised a brow, then glanced at Xie Jianxun. “Nothing. I mean, I’m broke—gonna need you two to spot me later.”
Xie Jianxun said breezily, “I’ve got you. If you can eat it all, I could buy from one end of the street to the other.”
Xun Jia snorted a laugh. “If my stomach explodes, it’s on you. Besides, forging docs doesn’t come easy—you could get pinched anytime. We’re two peas in a pod, you and this con artist.”
Xie Jianxun: “…”
Xun Jia casually hooked an arm around his neck, thought for a second, then jumped to hook Seles’s too, wincing.
“Why’d you grow so tall? If you were Jianxun’s height, I could go left, right—no tippy-toes needed.”
Seles winced too. “Blame me? Grow taller yourself if you’ve got the chops.”
Xie Jianxun deadpanned at Xun Jia. “You saying I’m short?”
Xun Jia laughed it off. “C’mon, c’mon—Gourmet Street, here we come!”
They melted into the sea of tourists like water, utterly unremarkable.
As the name implied, Gourmet Street sold food from end to end. But no human vendors—behind the smoke at every little food stall bustled Intelligent Mecha.
These hulking, rigid-looking machines were pros at cooking.
Just at the stall Xie Jianxun paused to watch, the ‘vendor’ cracked an egg one-handed, swirled batter in the pan in quick circles, then brushed on ingredients and sauces evenly.
Eggs and batter alike were perfectly round, like drawn with a compass.
Tourists clustered like dumplings at the front, whooping “Ooh—” every time an egg hit the pan.
Amid the steaming aromas, the ‘vendor’ was no slouch at banter either.
A tourist shoved at the stall. “Hey! Where’s your human?”
‘Vendor’: “What’s it to you? Can’t this stall be mine? Call me Number-12283392154—no ‘hey’.”
Tourist: “They say you do an egg in three seconds—is that true?”
‘Vendor’: “Who’s ‘they’? Whoever spread the rumor can come do it themselves.”
“Your number’s too long to remember!”
“Your brain circuit’s too short!”
The tourists burst into laughter—not mad, but amused by the Intelligent Mecha. They all placed orders, buying a few pancakes to try.
“Jianxun!”
Xun Jia called from ahead. “Grilled Quadruped Fish eyeballs—wanna eat?”
Xie Jianxun froze, thinking he’d misheard.
He pushed horrified through the crowd toward Xun Jia. “What?!”
Xun Jia had already eaten one box and bought a fresh one for him, still steaming in the paper box, grinning as he urged him to try.
