“Hey! Fuck off!” Said yelled and flailed his arms wildly.
The black dog jolted and scrambled away.
Its voice left behind a rushed message in Xia Lei’s mind. “Friend, I’ll be off now. See you later.”
Xia Lei was speechless.
He really had turned into a dog for a moment there.
“Are you alright?” Shentu Tianyin expressed her concern.
Xia Lei quickly snapped out of it. “I’m alright. Just found the dog… rather unique.”
Shentu Tianyin disagreed. “Didn’t seem all that unique to me. It’s ugly.”
Xia Lei chuckled a little. “Let’s go. It’s just a dog.”
The dispersal of the energy field cladding his body had allowed him to return to normal. Everything that had happened earlier was so overwhelming that it had come as a shock to him. Despite that, he had gained much from it. The man had finally understood how Zhu Xuanyue was able to control the human mind and read information from a particular target. While he was still miles away from Zhu Xuanyue and the prehistoric chosen one’s power, Xia Lei was now able to achieve that!
Said brought Xia Lei and Shentu Tianyin to a low earthen hut. “Mister Song, this will be your lodge. I apologize for the awful condition that you’ll have to bear for two nights.”
Xia Lei’s decision to stay two nights here was done through systematic considerations.
Xia Lei replied, “Don’t worry. I’m just glad to have a roof over me.”
Said said, “Miss Zhang, your room is on the other side. Please come with me.”
Shentu Tianyin did not speak a single lick of French. She turned to look at Xia Lei curiously. “Was he talking to me?”
Xia Lei assisted, “He said your room is on the other side, so he’s asking you to follow him.”
She frowned. “I don’t wanna go with him. I wish to stay with you.”
Xia Lei laughed. “Are you really sure you wish to sleep with me?”
Shentu Tianyin rolled her eyes. “You’re such a big bully… How long are you going to keep bullying me?”
At that point, Xia Lei stopped joking around. He said to Said, “We don’t need the other room. She’s my woman, she wishes to stay with me.”
Said was a little taken aback but smiled nonetheless. “That’s not an issue. You can both stay the night here. I’ll go have the others prepare dinner. There’ll be a welcoming ceremony later and the girls in the village will perform a dance for you two. I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy it to the fullest.”
Xia Lei nodded, “Thank you so much.”
Truthfully, the man was not in the mood for any kind of ceremonies and he was not the least bit interested in watching girls dancing. However, they were visitors and it was best to make things awkward for everyone. Xia Lei’s mind was already going through a million reasons to have Said call off the welcoming ceremony.
“See you later, Mister Song, Miss Zhang.” Said brought the other villagers away.
Xia Lei pushed the door open, immediately welcomed by a musty stench. The illumination in the room was sparse and the space was untidy. There was only a simple bed and an equally simple desk inside. Looking around, no chairs were in sight, let alone a clean toilet or bathroom.
The living condition had earned knitted brows from both Xia Lei and Shentu Tianyin. Both of them had the lowest expectations for their lodging but the awful and unhygienic condition was extraordinary.
Xia Lei could somewhat bear with it but the same could not be said for Shentu Tianyin. The woman was born with a golden spoon in her mouth and was China’s richest woman. She had been privileged all her life! This place was certainly something new to her, perhaps she had never seen an awful room like this too.
“Tianyin, if you can’t bear it, we can go sleep elsewhere,” suggested Xia Lei.
“Where else can we go?” Shentu Tianyin questioned.
Xia Lei pondered for a moment. “We can head back to the city and sleep in a hotel.”
Shentu Tianyin had to admit that the offer was tempting but she quickly shook her head. “No, you’ve planned everything out. Slight changes might be detrimental to the upcoming agenda. A hotel in the city does sound amazing but that place is filled with people and more surveillance. If people with bad motives find us, we’ll be in trouble. It’s alright. This place is not too bad, let’s just remain here.”
Indeed, Shentu Tianyin was an intelligent woman. She had managed to pick up anti-clandestine knowledge, now able to tell that huge human traffic and surveillance had brought a certain extent of risks.
Honestly, Xia Lei did not desire to go live in a hotel. It was risky and not part of the plan. He was merely suggesting in consideration of Shentu Tianyin’s feelings. If she was fine with the room, then there was absolutely no need to go hotel scouting anymore.
Xia Lei lugged the huge case into the room. Just as he instinctively reached around for the light switch, he quickly realized that there was no bulb in this place. There was a mere candle sitting quietly on the dusty windowsill.
It was without question that Xia Lei’s sight was unaffected by the darkness but Shentu Tianyin was different. She needed the candle.
He strode over and lit the candle with a lighter. Immediately, the darkness was chased away by the small flame. Xia Lei returned to help Shentu Tianyin bring in her luggage.
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She stopped him. “It’s alright, I can do this myself. How can I bother you with such a menial task? Go work on your stuff, I’ll be fine.”
“You’ve never needed to do labour work. Here, let me help you.”
“Hey, I’m not the spoiled and pampered rich daughter you think I am. Go do your work and leave the room to me. I’ll clean this place and you’ll come back to a clean room,” said Shentu Tianyin with a smile. The woman was already rolling her sleeves up.
Xia Lei smiled. “Alright then. I’ll go talk to them, I’ll be back soon.”
“Go, go. You staying here will only distract me.” Shentu Tianyin swiftly pushed him out of the room and locked the door.
In his absence, she finally frowned. It had taken her great effort to receive Xia Lei’s consent. She had envisioned a clean and comfortable lodge that housed a fragrant plush bed where she’d finally welcome her child. If that wasn’t an option, she would opt for a soft and flat grassland that enjoyed thorough sunlight. In the midst of a rainbow of beautiful flowers, she’d bear a new life. Sadly, reality had differed dramatically from her imagination. This environment was nothing she could’ve ever envisioned. Though she had made it clear that she didn’t mind it, the room had truly bothered her. To make things complicated, she was going to conceive her child here.
“Nevermind. I can’t burden him with this, and I don’t wish to become a dead weight.” Shentu Tianyin reasoned with herself and finally arrived at acceptance. She unzipped her case and brought out a set of white translucent lingerie…
Moments after leaving the room, Xia Lei was quick to locate Said at what seemed to be the Relief Society’s church. Frankly, that couldn’t be considered a church as it was just a thatched straw hut. Beneath the roof were rows of wooden stools and a simple cross made by nailing two blocks of wood to each other.
A woman kneeled and prayed before the cross. Said, who was now dressed in his pastor robes, held his bible and blessed the woman.
Xia Lei waited for her prayer to end before entering the poor excuse of a church.
“Mister Song, I thought you were going to rest for a little longer?” Said regarded him courteously, “The women and girls are still preparing dinner and their performance. I think they still need half an hour before things are ready.”
Xia Lei uttered, “Said, I’m here specifically to talk to you.”
“How can I help you?”
“This place is in such a poor condition.”
“Mister Song, this is not China. To feed ourselves is already a hard task. In other places, many are still starving. We’re grateful to God and the help we’ve received from the Chinese headquarters. Please have faith in us, things will be better soon.”
Xia Lei smiled at him softly. “I’m not here for a hygiene inspection. I was sent here to aid the village. I’ll be giving the village one million American dollars to improve the life quality here and help those in need.”
“Huh? One… One million American dollars?” Said gaped.
Xia Lei nodded. “Yes, one million dollars. But in return, I need a favour.”
“Mister Song, what can we do for you?”
Xia Lei answered, “Please gather up a few people and rent a few cars. We’ll pretend to be a merchant group heading for Nigeria to complete a business deal while ferrying me over to Kano City.”
“Mister Song, that place is a mess. What are you going to do there?” Said stared at Xia Lei weirdly.
Xia Lei drew a cross. “The more messed up a place, the more people that require the Relief Society’s assistance. I’m going to Kano City to preach and help those in need.”
“Mister Song, please be mindful that most citizens there are Muslims. If you’re going to preach there, they might ostracize you as a heretic.”
“If I don’t do it, who else is going to do it? I firmly believe that every religion preaches to help the less fortunate and refrain from creating more torment. Please do not stop me. I’m just executing God’s mission, my life or death is insignificant.” Xia Lei put on a firm look.
Said sighed heavily. “Alright then, I’ll go prepare that tomorrow. But…”
“But what?”
“How many cars are you asking for? We have no money to rent those.”
Xia Lei brought out a debit card that was prepared before the journey from his pocket. He passed it to Said. “Tomorrow, head over to Yaounde in the early morning and find a China Industrial Bank branch. You can withdraw one million American dollars from this account at any moment. The pin is 888888.”
To simply hand out one million dollars to a stranger and set an exceptionally easy pin number for the withdrawal had really made Said question everything in his life.
“Remember to be extra vigilant out there. Do not let anyone untrustworthy learn about this. Also, it’s best if your selected people are able to fight. You’ve mentioned that the city is dangerous. So it’s better if they all can at least shoot,” said Xia Lei.
“That’s not an issue. I’ll go arrange it right away.” Said quickly stepped away but suddenly he stopped. The man turned around. He seemed sheepish. “Oh dear, I almost forgot. The dinner and the welcoming ceremony are about to begin soon…”
Xia Lei quickly interjected, “There are important matters to attend to. How about we cancel off the welcoming ceremony? We’re all servants to the Creator, we shouldn’t indulge in festivities like that. For the food, having someone send food over to our room will do just fine.”
“But…” Said looked a little troubled.
Xia Lei drew another cross. “May God forgive our sins…”
“Alright then, I’ll go inform the girls about the cancelled performance.” Said took his leave.
Xia Lei offered him a smile and returned to his earthen hut.
As soon as the door swung open, Xia Lei froze.