kvmb Chapter 1075 Macau Encounters
Chapter 1075 Macau Encounters
"Oh dear, you make it sound so easy. There's only one table. There's simply no place to knead the dough for the snacks that the young lady likes. And the few small stoves are only good for cooking vegetables. How are we supposed to make pastries like butterfly cookies?" Dingxiang persisted.
“We’re already in Macau, so naturally we should try the local food. Why would we cook for ourselves? Just make me some porridge and noodles in the morning,” Gui’er said.
“Yes, yes, Miss, it’s a rare treat to come all this way, so why not try some of the local delicacies? But you must be tired after all that traveling today. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll go buy some food, and we can go out and have some fun tomorrow.” Wu Mingqiang said as he went out.
Dingxiang was busy settling her luggage, tidying up the room, and boiling water, while Acheng inspected the area from top to bottom and then walked around the house to familiarize himself with the terrain.
With nothing to do, Gui'er went to the window of her bedroom on the third floor and looked out.
It was already evening. The arcades along the street lit up with twinkling lights, and the neon signs of the tailor shops flashed with the Chinese words "Custom Suits." The bakery next door wafted the aroma of freshly baked Portuguese tarts, mingling with the faint scent of gardenias in the evening breeze. Looking into the distance, Gui'er noticed that Macau didn't seem to have many tall buildings. Most of them were only a few stories high, but that didn't diminish its prosperity. Everywhere, commercial streets were adorned with flashing neon signs. Dancers in high-slit cheongsams walked past Gui'er's building, embracing their clients. It seemed that the city was not lacking in a life of glitz and glamour.
Gui'er walked out of the room and found that there was another staircase leading to the rooftop. She went up to the rooftop, which was also covered with geometric patterned tiles. Flower beds were built around the rooftop, planted with bougainvillea, chrysanthemums, orchids, and peonies, and they all looked freshly planted. In one corner of the rooftop, there was a small wooden pavilion with a table and chairs inside, and a small swing set was added on the other side.
These must have all been arranged by Wu Mingqiang. Gui'er felt a warmth in her heart. Whether at the Marshal's Mansion or the villa, everyone knew that she liked to sit on the swing set to relax and read, so they would arrange these things for her wherever she went.
"Miss, you're here. Brother Qiang has bought dinner. Come down and eat. I've even made you some tea."
Gui'er responded and went up to the second floor, where Wu Mingqiang was taking food out of a food box.
"Miss, this is the famous shrimp roe noodles from Macau, and also Portuguese chicken. It's said to be completely foreign in style. I was worried you might not like it, so I also made some of your favorite chicken feet and steamed ribs. Please sit down and have a taste."
Gui'er was also hungry, so she invited everyone to sit down and eat together. I must say, the Macanese food was quite delicious.
The next morning, when Gui'er went there with the address, she discovered that the "Lin Mansion" that Chen Zhongyu had mentioned was hidden in the wealthy area where the old Qian family lived on the Macau Peninsula. She found the carved wooden door according to the house number and gently knocked on the brass ring.
The door was opened by an elderly butler with graying temples. After hearing Gui'er's purpose, a knowing glint flashed in his cloudy eyes: "You're looking for Mr. Chen and Miss Lin, right? They left yesterday evening."
"Gone?" Gui'er stood there, stunned, the address clutched in her hand slightly wrinkled. "Didn't you say you were going to stay in Macau for a few more days?"
“That was the original plan,” the old housekeeper said, stepping aside to let her in. The orchids in the courtyard were in full bloom. “But yesterday afternoon, we received an urgent telegram from Hong Kong saying that there was something important that required them to go back. They didn’t even have time for dinner before they hurriedly booked the last ferry.”
Gui'er followed them into the living room. The rosewood furniture gleamed, and a Lingnan-style landscape painting hung on the wall. Madam Lin, who was sitting in the living room, had overheard their conversation. She recognized Gui'er and nodded in greeting, then sighed, "Indeed, Zhongyu only said on the phone that there was 'something unusual happening in Hong Kong,' without going into details. I asked them what could possibly be so urgent that they rushed back, and told them to eat before leaving, but they didn't listen. That girl was so anxious that her eyes were red, and she even said she wanted to go back to school to check. What could possibly happen during a holiday? They wouldn't tell us. By the way, Miss Sha, since you're here, why don't you stay for dinner? I'm bored here alone, so you can keep me company."
Gui'er wasn't familiar with Mrs. Lin, and when she heard that they had left in a hurry because of school matters, she suddenly had a bad feeling. She quickly smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Madam. However, I came to see Peishan because we had made an appointment to go out with our classmates. Now that she has gone back, I need to go and meet up with the other classmates, so I'll be leaving now."
“Since that’s the case, then I won’t keep you any longer. These are souvenirs they bought to give you, but they forgot to take them in their haste. Since you’re here, you can take them.” Mrs. Lin pointed to the coffee table, where a box of exquisitely packaged almond cookies was placed, with the words “Macau’s Old Brand” printed on the packaging.
“They left in a hurry,” Mr. Lin said, coming out of the inner room with an envelope in his hand. “They forgot to take this with them too. It’s for you too. I think it looks like a postcard they bought for you while they were in Macau these past few days.”
Gui'er took the envelope, her fingertips touching the outline of the hard object inside. She opened it and saw a postcard with the Ruins of St. Paul's in Macau printed on it, along with a silver bookmark with a small plum blossom engraved on it, just the style she had casually mentioned liking last time.
“They were so happy to hear that you got their address in Hong Kong and were planning to come over,” Mrs. Lin said, handing over the box of almond cookies. “But for some reason, they suddenly rushed back without saying a word, which made us all worried. That child is really something.”
Gui'er could only comfort her, saying, "Perhaps some of your classmates at school have something urgent and need Pei-shan's help. She's always very helpful, and classmates often come to her when they have problems. I'll contact them again later."
As they left the Lin family home, the sunlight had already climbed over the eaves of the arcade. Gui'er felt increasingly uneasy and quickly said to A-Cheng, "Brother A-Cheng, go and check if there are any ferry tickets back to Hong Kong. I feel like something must have happened, and we need to go back right away."
Back at his lodgings, Acheng went to buy ferry tickets, but returned quickly to say that there were a lot of people traveling between Hong Kong and Macau recently, and tickets were hard to come by. Everyone had to wait in line or find someone they knew.
Wu Mingqiang said, "It's all my fault for neglecting you. You've come all this way and aren't going back so soon, so you didn't pay attention to the return ferry tickets. Here's what I'll do: I'll ask someone to buy them for you. You've come all this way, so please enjoy your time here."