Lin Chi thought for a moment, "Then let's go to the Red Leaf Restaurant. It's not far from you guys. Just search for it on your phone's navigation, and you can stroll over. I'll drive there, about half an hour. Oh, should I ask my sister to accompany us?"
"Are you together?" I asked.
"No, she's working overtime. It's not too far from here."
"That's perfect," I said with a smile. Lin Xi was even more familiar with me than Lin Chi was. I really liked Lin Xi's steady personality, like an elder sister who truly understood.
After hanging up the phone, we walked through the cemetery. After about a kilometer, we reached the Red Leaf Restaurant. Judging by the name, I thought it was a Chinese restaurant, but it wasn't. It was a Western restaurant called red-LeAf. Looking at the architectural style, it must have been very old, perhaps a cultural relic from the era of the Eight-Nation Alliance.
But we couldn't just walk in like that. Bingbing and I were wearing uniforms (I had exchanged them back with the soldier before leaving), and Zheng Baobao was dressed in ancient costume with short sleeves. The restaurant entrance clearly stated that formal attire was required to enter.
As we walked over, we didn't attract much special attention. Perhaps people thought we were cosplayers from a movie.
Bingbing used her phone to search for nearby malls and actually found one. However, by the time we got there, the security guard at the mall entrance said that due to the cold weather, it would be closing in half an hour and advised us to shop quickly.
So, we couldn't afford to be picky. We had to buy whatever we could. I bought a suit, leather shoes, and a thick woolen overcoat for warmth. Bingbing bought a small suit jacket and a down coat. Zheng Baobao was dazzled and didn't know what to buy, so she chose the same as Bingbing. After putting on high heels, she seemed a bit hesitant to walk, treading carefully. She also kept complaining that the tiles on the mall floor were too slippery.
Xiao Nu stood by, giggling all the way. As she was laughing, I don't know if some meridian opened within her, or if her paperwork from the underworld was finally processed, she suddenly materialized into a solid form, scaring a nearby sales assistant into gasping.
"Don't be scared, my friend is an African magician who likes to play pranks," I quickly explained.
The sales assistant patted her chest, "Oh my, I thought I saw a ghost!"
Since she could transform, we also bought Xiao Nu an outfit. Her skin was dark, so a black outfit wouldn't be suitable. Bingbing paired her with a white suit. Her hair was naturally curly and neatly tied up at the top, which looked quite stylish. I wondered if this was the typical look for female white-collar workers in the malls of Nan Ya.
We left the mall as the closing bell rang. Both Baobao and Xiao Nu walked with their knees bent, still adapting to the high heels. It seemed like we'd have to get them some sportswear tomorrow. We couldn't walk back, so we took a taxi to the Red Leaf Restaurant. The greeter at the entrance was a Caucasian man wearing a small round hat and a red vest over a shirt. Didn't he feel cold? Perhaps it was due to racial differences?
As soon as we entered the restaurant, it felt much warmer. A waiter asked us how many people we were. I requested the best private room. It wasn't my treat anyway, so the waiter led us to a room inside. It was clearly not the best, with only eight seats. It would have to do; it wasn't my treat anyway.
Once seated, I said we'd order later and asked the waiter to bring two portions of bread first. We hadn't had dinner yet and were hungry. The waiter stifled a laugh with his hand and went out to get the bread. He also complimentary brought a pot of lemon water. My main intention was to let Baobao and Xiao Nu try some of the earthly food to see if it would work. As for Bingbing and me, we couldn't eat normally in the underworld; everything tasted like chewing wax, devoid of flavor. However, I knew that underworld officials, including the Young King of Hell, could enjoy delicious food in the mortal realm. But they visited often. I wasn't sure how the two beauties, who were new to this world, would fare.
Watching them devour the food with relish, I was relieved.
"This big bread bun is so delicious!" Xiao Nu said excitedly, her cheeks puffed out.
"Indeed, it's much tastier than the steamed buns in the underworld," Zheng Baobao added.
I pinched a piece and tasted it. It was just average. In a street-side bakery, bread of this quality would only cost about ten yuan.
After waiting for about five minutes, Lin Chi and Lin Xi arrived. I introduced them to each other, then invited Lin Chi and Lin Xi to take the seats of honor. Lin Xi mentioned that another leader would be arriving later and asked me to leave the main seat vacant.