novelraw Chapter 1002: A Date on the Beach
Chapter 1002: A Date on the Beach
A frantic chattering sound filled the air.
A unique morning fragrance, mingled with the fishy scent wafting up from the port, drifted through the window. It stirred the curtains and filled the detective agency’s living room.
Oliver was huddled in the corner of the sofa, trembling from head to toe.
“This is Oliver, an associate of mine. Qiao Qiao's brother,” Lu Li introduced.
“Hello, I am Anna.” Anna lifted the hem of her dress slightly and gave a small curtsy, a gesture of noble etiquette.
In the presence of strangers, Anna maintained a certain reserve. Except with Lu Li, of course.
His teeth chattered even more violently.
Oliver trembled harder, his cheeks twitching uncontrollably.
He turned his head stiffly, not daring to look at Anna, his eyes fixed on Lu Li in a desperate plea for help.
Lu Li ignored Oliver's silent appeal and continued his introduction.“Anna is my family.”
Panicked, Anna’s pale, ghostly cheeks flushed as red as a boiled lobster. She dissolved into a blurry silhouette and shot back into the oil painting, her figure becoming still and dim, showing only her back to the room.
Anna's departure instantly relieved the pressure on Oliver. He cautiously peeked at the painting out of the corner of his eye.
“Boss, I'm... touched by your profound love story, truly. But I'm just an ordinary man. I wish you all the best, but I don't think I'm cut out to be a part of... this.”
Having known Lu Li for only a short time, Oliver’s desire to flee was stronger than ever.
Lu Li remained impassive, giving Oliver silent permission to leave.
“Uh... Boss—no, sir, how do you know my sister?” Oliver asked again, his voice laced with anxiety.
“You told me.”
“I did...?” Oliver couldn't recall when that might have happened. Reluctantly, he forced himself to say:
“My sister just wants to live a quiet life...”
“I won't disturb her.”
Oliver hoped Lu Li would keep his word. But the habits forged in the slums and the underbelly of society warned him that his sister should be extra cautious for a while...
Like a nervous monkey, Oliver scurried backward toward the door.
Click—
“Do you know of Vinnelag?”
As he opened the door, he heard the calm voice of his mysterious former boss.
“Uh... what? I do. It's on the northern part of the Main Continent, right?”
“In the future, it will be the center of human civilization. There are more opportunities there, and it's safer.”
“I'll think about it.”
Mulling over those words, Oliver finally left the detective agency.
“He's gone.”
In the restored quiet of the agency, Lu Li looked at the oil painting again.
The vivid figure of her back stood out clearly against the worn canvas.
“It has nothing to do with him...”
Anna's voice drifted out from the painting.
“Should I leave, then?”
Lu Li's "slowness" was more than Anna could bear. She flew out of the painting and exclaimed:
“I think we're moving too fast!”
“We haven't even been on a date, or met each other's parents, or exchanged tokens of our affection—”
Anna's cheeks grew redder and redder, like a girl smitten with her first love.
Then, Anna watched as Lu Li tightened his loosened tie, took his coat from the rack, put it on, and looked at her.
“Now.”
...
Sshh... sshh...
In the distance, the ocean waves crashed ceaselessly against the reefs, day and night.
A calm tide gently lapped at the light-brown sand of the beach.
Far from the clamor of the city streets and the port, a tranquil bay lay nestled between the beach and the foot of an endless, withered forest. Children collecting shells on the tidal flats wandered along the shore, moving farther and farther from the carriage parked on the road behind them.
Seabirds circled low overhead, and a poster, caught by the wind, tumbled to their feet.
“Belfast: Where you're closest to the ocean and prosperity.”
Anna's bright eyes seemed to sparkle as she asked in wonder:
“How did you know I love the beach?”
“You told me.”
“Hmm...”
Anna wore a peculiar expression, as if she wanted to say something, but she soon found herself lost again in the boundless beauty of the bay.
“It's so beautiful... If only the plants were still growing, if the clouds weren't here, and the sun was shining... it might be even more beautiful than the beach in the painting.”
“A day like that will come.”
Unfortunately, Anna wouldn't be able to see it with her own eyes then.
The two figures stood on the deserted beach. Even from a distance, it would be difficult for anyone to notice that one of them was ghostly and unreal.
“Was it when we were little?”
“What?”
“We met when we were just children, and you remembered me all this time...”
Anna didn't finish voicing her fantasy aloud: "The little boy grew up and returned to Himmfast, only to discover his beloved had died. He wept at her grave, but then one day, he heard rumors of ghosts in an art gallery. Filled with hope, the boy went to the gallery, and there the prince met his princess—"
“No.”
The beautiful fantasy popped like a soap bubble.
“But it feels like you know me. You know so much about me...”
Anna persisted.
“We get to know each other in the future.”
Anna's cheeks flushed slightly. She took it as a sort of confession of love. The romance novels and poems she'd read had never touched upon themes of "time" or "rebirth," so she couldn't possibly grasp the meaning behind a lover who had returned from the future.
Soon, Anna's attention shifted from the seascape to the man beside her. She felt they were just like a couple in an oil painting, enjoying the view. But Lu Li seemed uninterested in the vast bay; he was glancing around, observing the street behind them.
“Don't you like the scenery?”
“The most beautiful picture is already beside me.”
Lu Li was oblivious to the power of his deadpan statement. His dark eyes were fixed on the sewer drain beneath the embankment.
“I... I... let's go back...”
“Mm.”
Shoulder to shoulder, a pensive Lu Li and a bashful Anna walked back toward the coastal road.
At times, her flickering, pale, ghostly hand would drift toward Lu Li's, overlaying his for a moment before passing right through—
Back in the carriage, Lu Li didn't head back toward the Sailor Street district. Instead, he steered the carriage along the coastal road toward the port, stopping at a roadside stationery shop to buy a fountain pen and a few sheets of paper.
He wrote slowly as the carriage rattled over the cobblestones.
Anna secretly peeked out from the carriage and could just make out the most frequently repeated words on the two pages: “Marcus,” “Richard,” “sewer,” “child,” “door,” “curse.” After passing through the bustling port street, Lu Li pulled on the reins.
“Stay in the carriage and wait for me.”
Lu Li said, heading toward a distant shop called the "Friendship and Love Repair Shop."
“Give these letters to Tesla.”
After handing the two letters to one of the Andreis brothers behind the counter, Lu Li left the repair shop and returned to the carriage to continue on his way.
He still wasn't heading toward Sailor Street.
On the edge of a wealthy district, the carriage stopped in front of a detached, white-walled house.
“Wait for me.”
Lu Li said, pushing open the door and stepping into Gades's detective agency.
Chime—chime—
The wind chimes rang melodically. Lu Li crossed the living room, which resembled a shuttered pub, and walked up to the counter. He placed 500 shillings on the table.
“One spirit gun, ten rounds.”
Gades stretched his lips into a smile, his gold tooth glinting dimly in the light of an oil lamp:
“That's not enough, friend.”
“The Trader sells them for less,” Lu Li stated calmly.
Gades stared at Lu Li for a few seconds, confirming that he was dealing with a colleague and not some easy mark, before sweeping the shillings off the counter.
“Deal.”