I pointed to the QR code for the breakfast shop on the table: "I'm broke, I ordered this for you, you pay for it yourself."
The girl looked at me, a mixture of annoyance and amusement: "You... you're broke, but you said you'd treat me to something to eat!"
"I didn't. I only said I'd order you some steamed buns. I'm full, you can eat on your own."
"I told you, I don't eat them." The girl directly picked up the porridge bowl, abandoning any pretense of ladylike behavior. She drank it dry, then put down the bowl, picked up her phone, and prepared to leave.
"Boss! She's not paying for your buns!" I shouted.
"You! Have you no shame?" the boss said, working while glancing at me, "The code is on the table, scan it quickly!"
"I'm not scanning it. I ordered for her, so she has to scan it."
As we spoke, the girl had already reached the shop door and was picking up her oil-paper umbrella, ready to leave. It seemed my ruse of being a scoundrel hadn't worked. I had planned to sneak my phone closer while she was scanning the code, hoping she'd scan it inadvertently.
I ended up scanning it for eight yuan. As I chased out of the small shop, as expected, the girl's figure had vanished. She clearly didn't want to get involved with me.
If it were anyone else, they'd just say, "She sure runs fast," but I didn't. I activated my Qi sensing technique and quickly discovered her hiding spot—tucked away in the nearby Wuyi Alley, standing there, unmoving.
I leisurely followed, turning into the alley. As I looked at her, she seemed slightly surprised and immediately turned to leave. I quickened my pace, circled around her, and blocked her path with my hand.
"Move aside!" the girl said sternly.
"I won't, unless you add me on WeChat," I said with a smile.
"If you don't move, don't blame me for being impolite!"
"You're just a young woman, what can you do to me? Don't tell me you've even practiced self-defense?"
The girl said coldly, "I actually have. Last chance, you better leave!"
If this were any other petty hooligan, they'd likely push their luck, thinking the girl was bluffing. But I knew she had real skills. I judged the timing perfectly. Just before her anger could fully erupt, I sidestepped, clearing her path. "Fine, I believe you. You can go."
"Hmph!" The girl walked quickly towards the other end of the alley.
"Don't regret it when you're gone," I called out.
The girl didn't respond. She was probably quite annoyed, coming out for a bowl of porridge in the morning only to encounter such a rascal.
"You can go, but if you leave now, you'll never see the reincarnation of Bai Ze again!"
As soon as I said this, the girl took two steps forward, stopped, and turned back to look at me: "What did you just say?"
I put my hands on my hips. "Are you from the Bai Ze demon tribe, or the Shan Hai demon tribe?"
There was no one in the alley, and no residences on either side, so I could finally ask directly.
The girl raised her umbrella higher, squinting at me: "Who exactly are you!"
This time, her accent was not from Jinling, but from the north, indicating she was no longer trying to conceal her identity.
"I am Bai Ze's subordinate," I said, worried she might be from the Shan Hai tribe and attack me immediately, so I quickly added, "Bai Ze is in the hotel not far from here. Don't you want to go see him?"
The girl cautiously glanced in the direction my thumb pointed: "Bai Lu Hotel?"
"It seems you're quite familiar with this area. Precisely."
"Is he alone?" the girl asked again.
"Yes," I said. Now, with the three of them occupying three rooms, they could be considered as one entity.
"Then why did you order three takeouts just now?"
I hadn't expected her to be so observant, to have figured that out.
But I reacted quickly: "The other two are my subordinates, a driver and a guide. Both are ordinary people. What, you're not scared of two ordinary people, are you?"
"Scared?" The girl raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I'm just an ordinary little demon?"
I had already probed her with words at the breakfast shop. Combined with what I just said, she should have guessed that I knew she was a demon.
"If you were a little demon, I wouldn't have bothered chasing after you," I said with a smile. The rain had stopped now, and I lit a cigarette, waiting for her to approach me willingly.
She was indeed very interested in Bai Ze. She walked over and stopped about two meters in front of me: "Take me to see him."