Run
The two decided to roam around after they have eaten their lunch, Han Meixiu being the guide. She normally wanted to show the city to her Mommy Yi before but abruptly was assigned to be part of the team to inspect the other properties of Imperial Hotel and a lot happened after that. The mother and daughter in-law plan, in the end, didn't materialize.
Although the person she was to tour around changed, she was still willing to be a guide. It's better than to be contained at home as she wasn't allowed to work for the meantime by Liu Zijian. Her husband told her to take a break first and rest up.
"Is there a place you where all the souvenir shops are located?"
"There is but that place is a little chaotic. Xiao Xiao said to be careful if we want to drop by there. Does Brother Long want to go?"
"Hmm, I'm thinking. I just want to find some unique items."
"We can go there. It's a little far though…" She wasn't able to finish her sentence when she saw a logo of one of the stores along the street.
Liu Zilong followed her gaze when she stopped talking. "A flower shop? You want some flowers?"
"Wait here for a while. I'll be quick!" Then she strode in large strides toward the store. It wasn't the flower shop; it was the small store that was almost covered with the flowers being displayed outside by the flower shop.
The store's name was White Peony.
She actually didn't go inside the store as it was closed. She thought she saw someone inside but when she came closer the store was clearly deserted. She instead pretended to check the flowers near the store's entrance and observed from her peripheral vision the inside of the store.
Seeing that nobody was really there, she gave up and was about to leave when an old woman probably the flower shop owner approached her.
"This young lady here, want to but some flowers? Those peonies are fresh. They were just delivered."
She then realized that the flower she pretended to check were indeed peonies. Light pink peonies!
To continue pretending to be interested in flowers she responded to the old lady.
"I'm actually looking for white peonies." She smiled politely.
"I'm afraid we don't have those anymore. But if you want we have ranunculus. They're similar. Lots of people actually couldn't tell their difference."
The old woman surely wasn't going to let her go unless she would buy one.
When she went back to where Liu Zilong was, she was already holding two bouquets of flowers.
"Sister-in-law, you don't plan of giving me flowers, right?" He jokingly asked.
"Do you want them? If you do, you can have them. Unless I buy, the old lady wouldn't let me go." She explained.
"You could have bought only one, why two?"
"I just want to compare them."
"Peonies and ranunculus?"
"Hmm…You sure know about flowers."
"Just some few," He nonchalantly answered. How could he not know? How many times did he give flowers to women? For someone like him who's always well-prepared to please a woman, knowing the different kinds of flowers was a must! "Do you like them?"
Han Meixiu shook her head. She's not a fan of flowers like this. She preferred potted plants and if they produced flowers then she could enjoy them without plucking until they withered.
She was still busy thinking of the name White Peony was common throughout K Country. The one she normally wanted to investigate was an agency; the one she saw earlier was like a toy store.
When her vision landed on both bouquets, she realized another lead. What if instead of White Peonies Agency she would look for a name similar to it. Just like how peonies are similar to ranunculus.
When they arrived in 17th street which was the famous street where you could find unique and good items from numerous number of souvenir shops, they started to visit store by store starting near where Liu Zilong parked the car.
When they visited the fourth store a loud gun shot was heard!
Bang!
Automatically the people in the street started to panic. Some started to run frantically.
As they're inside the store the owner suggested not go out and calm down.
Han Meixiu also heard what the store owner said in annoyance.
"It's a gang fight again! And in broad daylight! We're not going to earn if this will continue!" He said as he motioned his customers to follow him. Since the sound was coming from the main street, they could escape using the back door.
"It regularly happens?" Liu Zilong casually asked.
"Yes but these days it's getting rather frequent." The owner answered. Once they arrived at the back door he spoke again. "Follow this small alley and turn right in the first intersection you'll see. It will lead you to another street that's safer. From then, you can take a cab to leave this area."
They said their thanks and the five people including Han Meixiu and Liu Zijian silently walked along the alley.
Nobody seemed to be afraid as if what just happened was a normal thing. Maybe because the owner words assured them in one way or another that it's just a passing matter not to be worried about.
Little did they know, the gang fight already escalated.
Before they could turn right they heard a rapid gun firing and it was getting nearer.
Liu Zilong immediately grabbed Han Meixiu's wrist and went back on their track as fast as he could.
Han Meixiu didn't even have time to react when she was dragged back and lost her footing. She only tripped and with the support of Liu Zilong she started to run again. The door of the shop where they went out was already tightly shut and no matter how hard they both banged it, there was no response.
They could only continue to run as they heard the cry of people from behind immediately after the sound of a gun shot. Maybe it was those who were with them earlier but they didn't pay attention anymore. They have to run!
They ran, turned, ran and turned for several times.
"There are still two!"
"S**t!" Liu Zilong strongly cursed as he heard the shout not so far from where they just turned. He looked at Han Meixiu who was already gasping for air. She's clearly tired.
"I'll stall some time. Run forward." He firmly instructed.
Before she could answer Liu Zilong already left.