Overcome everything just to find you

The next day

Marcus and Kevin arrived safely in Beijing, China and checked into the hotel smoothly.It was still during the Spring Festival, and Marcus planned to take Kevin to a temple fair to experience traditional Chinese customs.So they packed their luggage and left the hotel, walked to the nearest temple fair to enjoy the lively atmosphere of the Chinese New Year.

"It's so lively, there are so many people." Seeing the crowd of pedestrians, Kevin looked at Marcus in surprise.

"It's normal, it's the Spring Festival after all. There should be fewer days," Marcus looked around, and said calmly, "Let's go, let's go in and have a look."

"Yeah." Kevin nodded happily.

Kevin looked curiously at the shops on the left and right, and it was really dizzying.But there were quite a few people, but fortunately, Kevin was not short, and his height of over 1 meters gave him a slight advantage in this crowded environment.

Kevin walked in front, squeezed in the crowd, and got a little distance from Marcus. Even though Marcus stared at Kevin, he was still worried about leaving Kevin alone in a place with so many people.Marcus struggled to make his way through the crowd, being squeezed all the way to Kevin's side.He held Kevin's hand without hesitation. "Don't go so fast, wait for me." Marcus said in Kevin's ear.

Kevin smiled brightly at Marcus, then looked around immediately.

Kevin tugged at Marcus's hand, looked at Marcus, and with the other free hand pointed to a store that bought candied haws.Marcus nodded and led him towards the candied haws.

"Boss, come here."

Kevin took the big, red and sweet candied haws, couldn't wait to open it, and took a bite. "It's so sweet." Kevin said while eating, with a happy smile on his face.

"Ah—" Marcus opened his mouth wide and leaned in front of Kevin.Kevin handed the bitten candied haws to Marcus' mouth. "Let's go, look elsewhere." Marcus said while chewing.

Two people eat while walking, one bite per person.The sugar was so sweet that it melted the coldness on Marcus's face, and it was so sweet that Kevin felt happy.Shuttle among the crowd, no matter how many people there are, it will not make the two of them feel tired and irritable.

Kevin saw all kinds of food on the left and right, and didn’t know which one to try first. Some sold Tianjin flowers, some sold hot and sour noodles, some sold tea, and some sold fried rice cakes. .And there are many people in front of each booth, and there are many children in the crowd.It is precisely because there are many children that Kevin feels that his behavior is immature, unsteady, and not like an adult.So, I just passed by the stalls, I just looked at them, I wanted to buy but I didn't dare to ask for it.

Marcus saw something and said, "Kevin, don't care about other people's thoughts and opinions."

After Kevin heard this, "Well. Then I'll...hehe." After speaking, Kevin pulled Marcus back and walked to the booth where Leverage and the others had.Kevin pointed to a vendor selling fried lumps, and Marcus bought a copy. The two of them each had a bamboo stick and enjoyed a bowl of steaming crispy snacks.

Walking forward slowly, Kevin was a little excited and kept looking left and right.

Suddenly, Kevin walked to a small stall, and the stall owner was yelling, "Burst belly, delicious belly burst."

"Burst? What is it?" Kevin turned to ask Marcus.

"It's the belly of a cow or sheep."

"Oh, boss, let's have one." Kevin raised the decibel and said to the stall owner.

"Hey, a bowl is bursting. Come, take it." The stall owner quickly filled a bowl and handed it to Kevin, and then went to fill the next bowl.

After paying the money, Marcus took three bamboo sticks.

Not far away, Kevin dragged Marcus to another booth. "This is, sugar man?"

"Yes, do you want to buy one?" The old man in a brown coat picked up a Zhu Bajie sugar figurine and handed it to a little boy next to him.

"Marcus..."

"What do you want? There are quite a few here." Marcus leaned over and looked at the sugar figurines that had already been made at the booth, "Master, can you make them on the spot?"

"Okay. What do you want?"

"What do you want?" Marcus turned to look at Kevin.

"Uh... let me think about it, make one," Kevin thought, rubbing his chin, "Boss, can you make a sugar painting of a galloping horse?" Kevin pointed to Marcus and asked the uncle.

The uncle raised his head and said, "Okay. I'll make it for you when I finish this. Wait a minute, young man." Then he lowered his head and was busy with the production at hand.

"I only read this in books and on the computer."

"Isn't there one in Singapore?"

"There should be. But, heh, you should be able to think of it." Kevin smiled wryly.

After listening, Marcus did not speak, and watched the uncle making sugar paintings seriously and carefully.

The spoonful of hot syrup, the uncle poured them little by little on the smooth surface, and the uncle slowly turned his wrist, being extra careful.Under the uncle's superb skills, a galloping horse soon emerged, with its hooves soaring into the air and its head raised to the sky.

"Here, young man, take it." The boss handed the completed exquisite sugar painting to Kevin, and then started to make the next one.

"Thank you, sir." Kevin took it, and Marcus scanned the QR code on WeChat to pay.

Kevin enjoyed and tasted the delicious snacks, and Marcus followed closely behind, helping Kevin with what he had bought and hadn't finished eating.The two walked slowly, not in a hurry.

The sky gradually darkened, and the number of tourists in the temple fair began to decrease a little.

"Are you hungry? If you're hungry, go eat something." Marcus said softly.

"Hmm... a little bit, but not very hungry."

Marcus asked Kevin if he wanted noodles, and Kevin didn't object.

"There should be lanterns at night. But it won't look good until it's completely dark."

After finishing speaking, Marcus pulled Kevin away from the temple fair, passed through the tourists holding unfinished snacks, walked to the brightly lit road, and walked to a street with few pedestrians.Some of the shops on both sides of the street are closed, with red papers and notices to congratulate the new year, and some are still open with bright lights.

Marcus took Kevin to the depths of the alley, went straight into a noodle shop, and then sat on a chair in the back.

"Look at the menu and what you want to eat." Marcus handed the menu to Kevin.

"This restaurant is a bit like a Japanese noodle shop. It's small, and the chef makes noodles right in front of me. I like this kind of restaurant."

"Thank you for your compliment. I am Japanese, so I decorated the store like this." Hearing Kevin's words, the boss said with a smile.

"Look what you want. Beef ramen with some chilli, not too much," Marcus said.Kevin looked back at the menu and said, "I want a sesame sauce noodle, thank you."

"Okay, please wait a moment." The boss got busy after he finished speaking, taking out beef and two bottles of beer from the refrigerator.He took out two more large bowls from the cupboard, put the bowls aside, and handed the beer to Marcus.

"Thank you." Seeing that Marcus didn't thank you, Kevin added.

"You're welcome. Speaking of which, you haven't come back for a long time. Why did you come here suddenly today?"

"It's nothing, just come to have fun, relax, nothing else." Marcus took a sip of beer after speaking.

Kevin was a little surprised, "You know each other?"

"Yes. He saved my life before; if it wasn't for him, I would have died a few years ago." The boss said lightly, and kept busy while talking.

Marcus didn't speak, drank wine, and watched the boss operate skillfully.Kevin looked at Marcus, didn't speak, and smiled.

Ten minutes later, two bowls of hot noodles appeared in front of them, "Please." The boss said with a smile, showing his white teeth.

"Thank you for your hard work." Kevin thanked the boss, and the two picked up chopsticks and started eating.

"Come on, there are peanuts here."

"Sato, how have you been these past few years?" Marcus asked after eating some noodles.

"It's okay. Last year was not as good as the previous years, but it was still possible to make ends meet." Sato sat on the chair and took a sip of tea.

Marcus snorted, and then grabbed a peanut, "If the business is not good, just tell Wei Yu. You know how to contact him."

"I know, don't worry. I'll tell you when it's really dead end." Sato joked.

"Well. Oh, this is that one."

"Really? That's fine. He's very talented and polite." The boss looked at Kevin, making him feel a little uncomfortable.

"What mission did you receive?"

"Hey," Sato propped his chin on his elbow, looked at Marcus, and said, "How can I still have a mission as a person who has been passive and withdrawn from the world for a long time?"

"Really? Then, do you want to play again?" Marcus smiled ghostly.

"Oh, what's the matter?" The boss sat up straight.

"If you want to have it, you have it."

"Marcus, you should know that I am married, have a beautiful and virtuous wife, and a lovely daughter."

"Okay, I understand. You can't help yourself when something happens."

"know."

After that, Marcus didn't say a word, quietly eating ramen, eating crispy peanuts, drinking beer, and listening to Sato's New Year's festive music.Although there was music playing in the store, it seemed even more quiet.

"Father." The store door was suddenly opened, and a little girl in a pink padded jacket and pink boots appeared at the door.Then rushed in, drilled into Sato's arms through the hole under the cabinet, and hugged Sato tightly.

"Wenwen, why are you here? It's so cold. Where's mom?"

"Mom is behind. I want to go to see the lantern with my parents." The little girl acted like a baby.

"Okay. But it will take a while. Dad still has work to do now. Is it cold?" Sato asked with concern.

"It's not cold." The child replied straightforwardly.At this time, a woman walked into the store.

"Kevin." Marcus looked at Kevin, who nodded.He knew what Marcus meant, so he speeded up eating noodles, not wanting others to have more time for himself because of him.

Not long after, Marcus put a red ticket under the beer can, and left the noodle shop with Kevin, without saying goodbye or saying that there will be a date later.

Walking on the street, Marcus suddenly said: "His name is Sato, he is from the previous organization. He retired two or three years before you met me, and has been living in China. He was wandering in China before, He is now in Beijing. He rarely participates in the affairs of the organization, and only speaks occasionally. I heard that he is busy. I don’t know what he is busy with, but now I know.”

"Then he is a senior? But, he looks very young. Retired?"

"He's similar to Brother Gui. It happened because of one thing... that's why he was retired." Marcus looked up at the sky. "Let's go, let's go see the lanterns."

Kevin nodded.Marcus took Kevin's hand, and the warmth passed from one side to the other.

The two returned to the hotel very late, took a hot bath and went to bed, and the two cuddled each other.

On the third day

At around 7:20 in the morning, Marcus and Kevin arrived at Beijing West Railway Station, and they were going to take the 8:[-] train to Hohhot.That night, the train arrived at Hohhot East Station on time.It was already dark, and the bustling crowd came out from the exit of the station.Marcus and Kevin found a random hotel nearby, asked for a room, put down their luggage, and had a hasty dinner at the hotel.Then, the two walked around the neighborhood.

"I'll take you somewhere tomorrow."

"Oh?" Kevin was a little curious.

"Let's rent a car first, and then go shopping." After speaking, Marcus took Kevin to the car rental location.

Marcus rents an Audi and goes to the hypermarket.