vncnus Page 22
Page 22
Barbara.
The exit wasn't too far from where the three were, probably less than a kilometer. Once they passed the tollbooth, they could escape Nibelungen. That's how Chu Zihang left four years ago.
The torrential rain soaked the man and two boys, who were already drenched, lined up and walked towards the exit, holding onto the guardrail of the overpass.
Chu Tianjiao, a legendary hero who considers himself a true man, walked at the front, with the thinnest and weakest Holy Son Gao Kui in the middle, and Chu Zihang, the lazy winner, at the very back.
Chu Tianjiao and Gao Kui were talking nonsense, and Chu Zihang felt a warm feeling in his heart as he listened. The nightmare that had lasted for four years was finally going to end today.
Halfway there, Gao Kui accidentally stepped on Chu Tianjiao's heel. Only then did Chu Tianjiao notice that Gao Kui had been barefoot the whole time, having taken off his shoes when he got into the car.
The man said, "I think we're about the same height, why don't you wear my shoes? They're Red Dragonfly brand, a brand name, over two hundred yuan a pair. The shopkeeper said they're high-end genuine cowhide, and very comfortable to wear."
The man then tried to take off his shoes, insisting that Gao Kui try out his Red Dragonfly.
Gao Kui shook his head vigorously, refusing to accept Chu Tianjiao's kindness no matter what.
Chu Tianjiao had been driving all day in these shoes and had just fought Odin. His feet must have been sweating a lot; there was probably more sweat in his shoes than rainwater.
Moreover, what if, what if Chu Tianjiao has athlete's foot?
Uncle, I appreciate your kindness, but you should keep the shoes yourself. I have Longinus shoes, so I won't get frostbite or hurt myself. Besides, I don't really like wearing leather shoes.
Chu Tianjiao felt a deep sense of regret; a mature man should wear leather shoes.
The three of them walked on like this, leaving Nibelungen and getting off the overpass.
Chu Tianjiao's promise to take the two out for barbecue and a meal could not be fulfilled due to unforeseen circumstances.
The typhoon "Hyacinth" that suddenly descended on this coastal town had winds no less powerful than "Dandelion" four years ago, and could even overturn a compact car.
In this kind of weather, naturally no restaurant would want to stay open. The overpass is near the suburbs, and there aren't many upscale hotels; most are privately owned guesthouses and small inns.
The three of them strolled around the empty street for a while and finally found a small hotel that hadn't closed yet. Chu Tianjiao immediately went up to it and said he wanted to book a room.
The hotel owner, or perhaps the owner's wife, was an auntie with big, wavy hair. She gave off a vibe similar to the landlady from the movie "Kung Fu Hustle," and her Mandarin had a strong local accent.
The aunt looked the three of them up and down.
The blood on the three of them had long been washed away by the torrential rain, and their wounds had been repaired by Longinus. However, the aunt was still a little uneasy because Chu Tianjiao was wearing tattered work clothes and carrying a Japanese sword, while Gao Kui also had a gleaming long sword in his hand.
With a forced smile, Chu Tianjiao humbly stuffed the remaining banknotes he had into the aunt's hands, saying, "Please, sister, have mercy! Our car overturned on the overpass, and if we can't find shelter from the wind and rain, our two little ones will freeze to death. We'll just stay one night and leave tomorrow..."
The aunt was probably kind-hearted. She took the handful of wet banknotes that she didn't know if they could still be pieced back together, ignored the suspicious things about the three of them, and booked a twin room for them, and even gave them a pot of hot water and three buckets of instant noodles.
The room was on the third floor of the guesthouse. Inside, there was a wooden table with a kettle and bottled water, an LCD TV, and two beds. It was generally clean and tidy.
In truth, it was certainly not as good as the luxury hotels like the Walter Douglas and Ritz-Carlton that Chu Tianjiao had stayed at before, and it wasn't even as good as a regular budget hotel, but all three of them were very satisfied.
Gao Kui was used to poverty, and Chu Zihang would be willing to sleep in a rural outhouse if that man were around.
After a long day of driving and a fierce battle with Odin, the Chu father and son were exhausted and planned to eat instant noodles and go to bed early.
Unfortunately, one of the three became a traitor: Gao Kui suffers from insomnia and has an extremely irregular sleep schedule. He is currently experiencing an episode and remains highly agitated.
It's impossible for Gao Kui to fall asleep first, and no one can guarantee what kind of trouble he might cause after they're asleep. It's safer to keep the same schedule as Gao Kui as possible.
The Chu father and son could only grit their teeth and keep Gao Kui company through this cold, rainy night.
Chapter 25 Marrying into a Wealthy Family
For the people of this coastal town, typhoons are nothing out of the ordinary. When they can't go out on a typhoon day, the whole family happily sits in front of the TV watching variety shows.
The Chu father and son, along with Gao Kui, were like an ordinary single-parent family consisting of a single father and two mentally challenged sons, each holding a bucket of instant noodles, sitting in front of the TV enjoying this heartwarming moment after the great battle.
Due to the extreme weather, the satellite dish in the small hotel couldn't find any channels like Hunan TV or Litchi TV with good variety shows; it could only find a few local channels and CCTV.
After a brief discussion, the three decided to watch CCTV's sports channel. It seemed that CCTV was broadcasting the Champions League final tonight, with Manchester United playing against Chelsea, the rising stars of the Premier League!
Gao Kui excitedly threw down the instant noodle container, switched to the sports channel, washed up, wrapped himself in a blanket, and lay down on the bed to watch the game.
Gao Kui had his own bed, while the Chu father and son shared a bed.
This year's Champions League final will be held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which is in a different time zone than China, so the match will not start for some time.
Football poet He Wei and another commentator sat in the studio, chattering away about the two sides' formations, tactics, and strategies, and talking about the feud between Sir Alex Ferguson and Mourinho...
Gao Kui listened for a while and his attention quickly began to wander. He started chatting with Chu Tianjiao, who was already quite talkative, about other random things, such as who was more awesome, SpongeBob or Patrick.
Chu Tianjiao said that Patrick Star had great wisdom, which in modern terms would be that of a wise but foolish poet. Moreover, Patrick Star had been the heir to the throne and was a legitimate prince with noble blood.
Gao Kui said that SpongeBob is the real genius, the best chef in Bikini Bottom, equivalent to a Michelin-starred chef today. His food has a wonderful wok hei (wok aroma), and any sea creature visiting Bikini Bottom will definitely order the Krusty Krab made by SpongeBob.
The two listed the advantages of Patrick Star and SpongeBob SquarePants respectively, but neither could convince the other, so they changed their strategy and attacked and slandered each other's tweets.
Gao Kui said that Patrick Star's prince is fake, the real heir to the throne is Gary the Snail, and Patrick Star is just a complete idiot who spends all his time scavenging for food in the trash can and whose brain is disconnected most of the time.
Chu Tianjiao launched a scathing attack on SpongeBob, questioning SpongeBob's culinary skills and social status, saying that SpongeBob can only make Krabby Patties no matter what ingredients he uses, and therefore cannot be considered a master chef.
Besides, no matter how good SpongeBob's Krabby Patties are, Mr. Krabs only pays SpongeBob a small salary; he doesn't earn much money.
After chatting for a while, the topic suddenly veered to Michael and Gabriel, two archangels explicitly mentioned in the Bible. Chu Tianjiao said that Michael was more athletic and Gabriel was more business-oriented.
Gao Kui said quite the opposite, "Michael, I know some good people in real life. Even my 'mother' says he's someone important. I'll introduce you to him another day..."
Barbara.
Chu Zihang listened intently for a while and thought his father was truly amazing. Gao Kui's thoughts were so far-fetched, yet Chu Tianjiao could keep up and even have a sensible conversation with Gao Kui.
In a daze, Chu Zihang even had the feeling that Chu Tianjiao and Gao Kui were actually father and son, since the two were quite similar in some ways...
After the game officially started, Chu Zihang turned his attention back to the television screen and watched the game intently.
In the first half, Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea's legend Lampard each scored a goal. In the second half, rain fell over the Luzhniki Stadium, and neither side managed to score until the end of extra time. Manchester United won the penalty shootout.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored Manchester United's only goal in the official match but almost became the villain after missing a penalty in the penalty shootout, collapsed to the ground and wept uncontrollably.
Chelsea captain John Terry, who was the last to take a penalty for Chelsea but missed it due to a slip, stood in the rain at Luzhniki Stadium and wept uncontrollably.
Watching the players on both sides on the TV screen, Chu Zihang seemed to be infected by their emotions, and seeing them cry made him want to cry too. His eyes were slightly moist.
A hand holding a tissue reached out from the side.
Chu Zihang turned his head and saw that it was his father, Chu Tianjiao, who was handing him a tissue. Gao Kui was lying on his side on the bed and had fallen asleep sometime earlier.
"If you want to cry, then cry. This scene is indeed quite touching..."
Chu Tianjiao leaned against the headboard, staring at the TV screen. He wanted to say something sentimental, but his usual chauvinistic attitude prevented him from doing so. He could only bring up the athletes from both sides.
"That's what athletes are like. I believe that when Cristiano Ronaldo and Terry missed their penalties, they must have felt utterly hopeless. At that moment, they would probably have given anything to make the penalty..."
Just as I would give anything for your safety, whether it was four years ago or now.
"Dad, do you remember what happened four years ago?"
Chu Zihang took the tissue and curled up on the bed, hugging the blanket wrapped around his body.
"No... emmm, rather, I never felt like I'd forgotten anything. For the past few years, I've been driving sports cars, secretly carrying out missions, and occasionally visiting you and your mother at the 'Split-Head's' place..."
Chu Tianjiao frowned. How could he possibly remember something he had never forgotten? But his son spoke with absolute certainty, and he couldn't disbelieve his son, no matter who he didn't believe.
Something's definitely wrong here.
Seeing that Chu Tianjiao was in a difficult position, Chu Zihang stopped asking questions, fearing that if he continued, he would also cause his only father to disappear.
The man quickly steered the conversation back to Chu Zihang's studies: "Didn't you say before that you wanted to go to university in Kassel?"
Chu Zihang didn't know how to answer. He knew the man didn't want him to go to Kassel, and now it seemed he had no need to go to Kassel.
"Go to Kassel if you want. Go with Gao Kui. Hey, the Holy Son is actually Chinese. You and Gao Kui are so close, you should follow him from now on."
Where does Gao Kui live? I'll buy two cartons of milk and deliver them to you another day. Hey, who knows, maybe you'll even become a patron saint and sit on equal footing with the twelve apostles in heaven…”
Chu Tianjiao had a shrewd plan; he believed Gao Kui was truly a holy son. Emmanuel had thirteen apostles back then, but after Judas' betrayal, only twelve remained.
Now that the Holy Son has returned, shouldn't we form a new team? This is where Xiao Hang's opportunity comes from.
What apostles or Christian saints are certainly nothing in the eyes of non-believers or those who do not believe in Emmanuel? But the problem is that Chu Tianjiao truly believes Gao Kui to be Emmanuel.
The Holy Son has already returned, so why aren't they fawning over him, waiting for their comrades to rise to power?
"Ah."
Chu Zihang nodded. A few years ago, the man entrusted him to his new father, making him a rich young master. Now, his father wants him to hang out with Gao Kui, hoping to ride on his coattails to a future like a saint.
In short, it's all for his own good.
The father from four years ago and the father from four years later truly overlapped in Chu Zihang's heart at this moment, and could never be separated again.
The father and son chatted for a while longer before finally closing their eyes and falling asleep, unable to stay awake any longer.
The Irish folk music that played in a Maybach four years ago has traveled back through the long river of time to Chu Zihang's hazy dream.
"Daughter, my dear daughter, the arrangements I made for you were not wrong."
I'll marry you off to the son of a wealthy family.
When I grow old, he will be the man you can rely on.
He's still young, but he's still growing.
......"
Chapter 26 You guys messed it up!
Kassel Psychological Research Center.
With their four-year mission of accompanying the prince in his studies about to end, and coinciding with the Champions League final, the executive members and school staff, who were posing as patients, nurses, and doctors, all relaxed a bit.
Everyone gathered in small groups in the dormitory, watching the Champions League final and talking about how difficult the past few years had been. After the game, they would chat and complain, and then gradually fall asleep.
The storm raged, and the rain poured down outside the window. The lights in the monitoring room stayed on all night, and Guderian and the others did not sleep a wink.
Ordinary executive members and school staff only need to obey orders and carry out tasks. Guderian and Masafumi Tomiyama, as the main leaders, have to consider many more factors.
Masashi Tomiyama spent the entire night writing a summary and report of the mission. Principal Angers's high regard for the Northern Qi prince was obvious, as if the prince were his illegitimate son.
Masashi Tomiyama also dreamed of becoming a tenured professor in Kassel and knew the importance of pleasing his superiors.
Having endured four years of hardship, he didn't want any mistakes in the final task summary and report. He had to stand firm at his post until the very end and do things perfectly!
Professor Guderian spent the entire night planning Gao Kui's university life, from freshman to senior year, covering everything from coursework to daily life to personal relationships.
Having spent four years with Gao Kui, Professor Guderian knew all too well the severity of his condition. Although he had been pulled back from the brink of collapse, he was not yet fully recovered.