Chapter 42: You are always a surprise
"Then you go back first." Blue Shark stopped a cab, opened the back door to let Luo ZhouZhou get in.
Luo ZhouZhou was about to take a step forward when his shoulders were grasped, pulling him back and he fell into a firm embrace. The embrace and the scent were familiar, and he only struggled for a moment before stopping.
"Chu Feng," he exclaimed in surprise, turning his head to look at the person behind him.
"What are you doing here?" Chu Feng held Luo ZhouZhou's shoulder as he asked. His voice was soft, but his eyes were fixed on Blue Shark in front of him.
Luo ZhouZhou couldn't explain, so he just briefly said, "I'm here to see Blue Shark.”
"I see…" said Chu Feng. He looked in the direction of the hotel, where his SUV and Chen SiHan's car had been driven out by the porter and parked in front of the hotel.
Chen SiHan had gotten into his own car, and rolled down the window, sticking his head out and looking their way.
"You go back to my car first." Chu Feng's stern eyes were locked with Blue Shark's, as he was talking to Luo ZhouZhou, "I'd like to have a word with this gentleman.”
Luo ZhouZhou looked at him, then at Blue Shark, who was holding the cab door, silent but tense, and felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
"Do you know each other?" He asked.
"Old acquaintance, many years of friendship." Chu Feng laughed, and then asked aloud, "Right? Li ChengYang."
Blue Shark nodded back, "Chu Feng, it's been a long time, you seem to be doing well."
When Luo ZhouZhou saw that they really knew each other, he stopped talking and told Chu Feng, "Then I'll wait for you in the car."
"Go ahead, my car is across the street," Chu Feng replied.
Luo ZhouZhou waved to Blue Shark once more, turned around and walked to the SUV parked in front of the hotel.
"I say, gentlemen, are you coming or not? If you aren’t, can you close the door and chat after, so I can leave first?" The cab driver finally got fed up.
Blue Shark took a step forward and slammed the door shut.
"Idiots." The cab driver muttered, stepped on the gas pedal and sped off.
Chu Feng put his hands in the pockets of his trench coat and took a few steps forward, stopping in front of Blue Shark. "Li ChengYang, I know you've been doing something shady all these years, and even the police department can't do anything about it."
Blue Shark looked at him without making a sound.
He lowered his voice again, "I don't care what the police department does, but if you mess with what’s mine, I'll peel your skin off inch by inch." Chu Feng spoke softly, but it was clear to those listening that the ruthlessness in his words was more than just a threat.
Blue Shark raised his hands to the side of his head and said, "Chu Feng, I know you are in the military now, and you are very powerful. But why do we have to talk so harshly when we grew up in the same place? Besides, each to their own, I'm not going to mess with you for no reason."
Chu Feng sneered and didn't reply.
Blue Shark suddenly thought of something and put down his hand, before speaking, "You’re here because of that Mr. Vampire, aren't you?"
Chu Feng narrowed his eyes and asked, "He also told you he was a vampire?"
"He did." As soon as those two words were out of his mouth, Blue Shark saw the look in the other’s eyes become even more unpleasant and hastily added, "When I said my name was Blue Shark, he said his name was Vampire."
After that, Chu Feng's face became better.
Blue Shark breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the words he added were the right ones. He turned to the direction of Luo ZhouZhou and continued, "If you are referring to Mr. Vampire, then don't worry, I would never mess with him. And I'd like to thank him for helping me so much."
"No need to thank him, it’s enough for you to approach him less," Chu Feng said.
Blue Shark stretched out his finger and shook it, "That won’t work, I don't like to owe favors. But don't worry, I know the limits."
"Good to know." Chu Feng had no intention of staying any longer, so he turned around and headed over to the hotel.
Blue Shark called out to him, "Chu Feng.”
As Chu Feng turned back to him, Blue Shark said, "Your Omega is very brave."
Chu Feng listened to this with no expression on his face. He turned around and continued on his way, speaking without looking back, "He's always been very brave."
Luo ZhouZhou was sitting in the passenger seat, waiting patiently for Chu Feng. He saw Chu Feng speak a few words with Blue Shark, then head towards him.
As he walked, a light smile slowly emerged on his face. As the sunlight fell on the corner of his raised lips, he looked handsome and sharp.
When Chu Feng got into the car, Luo ZhouZhou was still staring at him intently. Chu Feng touched his face and asked in surprise, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"What were you laughing at as you were walking?" Luo ZhouZhou asked with bright eyes.
Chu Feng didn't answer him, lifted the smile from his face and said, "Tell me exactly what happened just now. The whole story."
"I was just stopping a cab."
"What did you do before you stopped the cab, and why do you know Li ChengYang?" Chu Feng asked.
"What just happened… just now… let me remember." Luo ZhouZhou shut his mouth and turned his head to look out the window, thinking quickly about his response, ready to delay until the car started and then try to change the subject. He waited for a while, but the car didn't start, so he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Chu Feng again.
Chu Feng had his hands cushioned comfortably behind his head, leaning against the back of the seat and looking ahead, with obviously no intention to drive.
"Why aren't you driving?" Luo ZhouZhou asked.
Chu Feng closed his eyes halfway and said, "I'm afraid I'll interrupt your memory. Waiting for you to gather your thoughts before I start the car.” He turned to Luo ZhouZhou again and asked, "So are you done remembering now?"
"Then… then let me think about it again." Luo ZhouZhou said with a guilty conscience.
Chu Feng looked at him, not saying a word.
"Look, our car is blocking the car behind us." Luo ZhouZhou pointed out to him a car parked behind him.
Chu Feng glanced at the rear-view mirror and said, "It's fine, that's Chen SiHan. He won't have a problem with being blocked for a while." Seeing Luo ZhouZhou's eyes start to roll, he added, "If another car comes, I'll move aside and you'll continue to remember."
Luo ZhouZhou stared at him for a few seconds and then dejectedly said, "I remembered.”
"Oh, yeah?" Chu Feng sat up and said, "Now that you’ve finished recalling, I'll drive while you talk."
After saying that, he started the car, while talking into the terminal, "SiHan, I'll take Zhou Zhou home, you go ahead."
The vehicle drove out of the hotel's driveway and into the traffic on the long street, where Luo ZhouZhou began to tell Chu Feng the events of the day, "I promised Xiao Yu that I would take a message to her brother, so I followed the address today…"
Chu Feng had been very quiet, even after Daisy Rose had told him the address and he had found the underground trading floor, he hadn't reacted at all. Luo ZhouZhou breathed a sigh of relief, growing more courageous, and began to talk about the goods he saw on the trading floor with great interest.
Chu Feng listened patiently, smiled, and asked, "What happened next?"
Luo ZhouZhou hesitated, but told the truth, "Then there was this annoying vendor who deliberately tried to make fun of me, so he started shouting and attracted several people to come out and surround me."
"Mn, what happened after that?"
"Then those guys… said they were Li ChengYang and came to take my backpack," Luo ZhouZhou whispered as he observed Chu Feng's face.
Chu Feng's face was very calm, without the slightest change.
"Keep talking." he said.
Luo ZhouZhou started to go on, and after recounting his conversation with Blue Shark, he got to the part where he held the dagger to the vendor's throat, and then he got stuck. An unprecedented sense of crisis told him that he must not talk about it. So he kept his mouth shut no matter how many times he was asked.
After Chu Feng asked several times to no avail, he stopped with the questioning. When the cross-country vehicle reached an embankment, he pulled over to the side, pushed open the door, and got out.
Luo ZhouZhou watched his back through the window of the car, saw him walk to the river bank railing, amble there and spin the lighter in his hand. So he also unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car, walking slowly over.
Chu Feng looked out over the river without speaking, and Luo ZhouZhou walked beside him.
It was the end of October, and the river breeze was soft, light and cool, and very pleasant. Luo ZhouZhou leaned toward Chu Feng and tried to rest his head on his shoulder. He was still a long way away from Chu Feng, and when he tried, he could only lean on his upper arm.
So he stepped on to the iron railing and leaned his head on it with some difficulty.
Chu Feng glanced over his shoulder and said, "Let's go sit by the river for a while."
"Oh." Luo ZhouZhou hurriedly withdrew his head and got off the railing.
A short distance away, a gap opened in the fence and a stone staircase led to the river bank. They went down the steps, walked upstream a little, and found a large, flat rock to sit on. The sun shone warmly on them, and the flowing water seemed to glisten.
Luo ZhouZhou rested his head comfortably on Chu Feng's shoulder and closed his eyes.
"This is the Phil River, flowing through Aleisha and Bayard, then past the distant border and finally merging into the sea." Chu Feng's deep, soothing voice resonated as if it were coming from his chest. "It has flowed here for hundreds of years and has seen too many people and events. Empires have fallen, alliances have risen, babies have been born, old people have died; it has seen it all."
Luo ZhouZhou slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at Chu Feng.
"To the Phil River, all are passing through, including you and me sitting here now. But it also has the most important things that cannot be parted with." Chu Feng reached out his hand, lifted Luo ZhouZhou's chin, and whispered, "The rain and the earth."
Luo ZhouZhou grasped his hand and rubbed his face against his palm.
Chu Feng gently rubbed his cheek with his thumb and continued, "We are the same. Since we were born, many people around us have forgotten, and we can't even remember their names. But there are always one or two people who are the most precious and cannot be lost."
Luo ZhouZhou lifted his head and turned his gaze at Chu Feng.
Chu Feng withdrew his gaze from the distance, looked at him as well, and softly said, "Zhou Zhou, you are my rain and my earth." 1
"I know you are brave, always brave, fearless, a true vampire." Chu Feng placed Luo ZhouZhou's hand over his heart and said, "But I'm not brave, I'm scared here, I'm worried about you. Worried that if one day I can't protect you, what will I do then?"
Luo ZhouZhou looked at Chu Feng dumbfoundedly, unable to say anything as he looked into his light brown eyes with a hint of worry.
When they returned to the car, Chu Feng drove along the river bank. Luo ZhouZhou looked out the window at the trees moving backward, and then at the light shield in front of the car. The astronaut vampire on the visor, holding a large astronaut hat, as it smiled at Luo ZhouZhou.
He reached out and closed the visor, shutting the astronaut vampire in. Then he turned around, rested his head on the seat, and silently wept.
A bony hand reached out and opened the flap again.
"Zhou Zhou," Chu Feng called out.
Luo ZhouZhou made no sound.
"Zhou Zhou," Chu Feng called out again.
Luo ZhouZhou still did not answer, nor did he turn his head.
Chu Feng gripped the steering wheel with one hand and reached out to touch his face with the other. When he touched the warm liquid, he paused.
Pulling over to the side of the road and turning off the engine, Chu Feng called out again, "Zhou Zhou."
Luo ZhouZhou turned his body around this time. His face was full of tears, and his dark eyes looked as if they were soaked in water.
"Chu Feng, I really don't want to be an Omega," he sobbed, "I want to be a vampire again."
Chu Feng sighed, reached out and swept him into his arms, "Didn't I tell you? You're both a vampire and an Omega."
"Can I just be a vampire and not an Omega?"
"No, you have to accept the fact that you’re both at the same time."
"I feel so useless as an Omega."
"But you're the bravest Omega, Blue Shark has just praised you in front of me, saying you're brave."
"Even being a cowardly vampire is better than now…"
Chu Feng felt his chest burning with Luo ZhouZhou's tears, then he put his chin on the top of his hair and said, "From now on, when I'm around you, you'll be a vampire. If I’m not around, you have to hide that you’re a vampire from others, okay?”
"…But what about when you're not around and people come to mess with me?" Luo ZhouZhou sobbed and asked.
Chu Feng bowed his head and kissed the top of his hair as he answered, "Call me wherever you go out from now on, I won't let this happen again."
"What if it does? What if you and President Calgar go to the border and you can't be called?"
"Then you can call Chen SiHan."
"What if Chen SiHan is out at a scene?"
"Then you can also call Jenny, don't you like her a lot?"
"What if Jenny followed Chen SiHan out to the scene?"
"…You mean the entire police department won't be there, right?"
Luo ZhouZhou gradually stopped sobbing and buried his head in Chu Feng's embrace, letting him gently pat his shoulder and back.
The car was quiet, and the sound of Chu Feng's strong heartbeat was in his ears. After a while, he said in a low voice, "Chu Feng, I actually know what you mean."
"Mn, I know you do."
"I won't let you worry anymore."
Chu Feng smiled and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Hmm." Chu Feng pulled tissues out of the tissue box and wiped a few tears from Luo ZhouZhou's cheeks.
"It's just that I'm still a little sad." Luo ZhouZhou continued to bury his head.
"I know, but you have to get used to it."
"I will definitely wait for you to accompany me when I want to do something later."
"Mn, I'll be there to see you become a vampire."
Luo ZhouZhou paused for a few seconds and said, "Well… I imagined it, I bet it feels good."
"Right? I think it's fine too."
"By the way, when you said yesterday that we could meet tonight, were you referring to the banquet at Sita Manor, and General Luo Pei said our whole family would be there, and you would be there too, right?" Luo ZhouZhou's mood turned for the better and he looked up straight.
The tip of his nose and eyes were red from crying, and his eyelashes above his eyes were tangled.
Chu Feng made a chagrined face and let out a long sigh, "I wanted to make an unexpected meeting for you, to appear in front of you out of the blue and ask you to dance the first song. But you know all about it. Hey, now the surprise is gone."
Luo ZhouZhou smiled, his eyes still moist, and whispered, "No matter when I see you, I'm always happy to see you. You are always a surprise.”