"Wow, thanks Uncle Hung!"
The three of them immediately abandoned Lee without hesitation and surrounded Hung. Lee's expression stiffened at the sight.
"Well, look at you three heartless little rascals!"
The three giggled and hid behind Hung, occasionally poking their heads out to make faces at Lee, much to his annoyance. After playing for a while, Flandre Scarlet and Waai Fu decided to go out and play, while Aak retreated back into his room.
"Don't play too long, remember to come back for lunch!" Hung waved at the two of them as Flandre pulled Waai Fu along, skipping out the door.
After leaving, the two went to the convenience store downstairs, bought a box of pop-its each, and played with them while running around. As they ran, Flandre spotted a familiar figure not far away. She couldn't help but sneakily creep toward him.
Emperor was in a very good mood. After all, it was a rare New Year's holiday, and everyone was taking a break. He was preparing to take a stroll and perhaps find some inspiration for his new song. Suddenly, a spine-chilling coldness crept up his back. For a moment, he thought he had encountered an assassin trying to kill him again. To be honest, he had experienced this many times and wasn't worried at all.
But a second later, he realized he was wrong. Because it wasn't an assassin, but a little brat he didn't want to encounter at all.
Flandre lunged from behind Emperor, climbed onto his back, and began to shake him vigorously. Emperor found this behavior to be absolutely unforgettable. The last time this little brat shook him like that, she almost broke his old back. He didn't expect to meet her again on the first day of the New Year. Talk about rotten luck.
But the little girl was surprisingly strong, and he couldn't shake her off at all. He could only run helplessly toward Penguin Logistics, trying to find his employees to save his life.
Not far away, Waai Fu was stunned by Flandre's actions, and even more shocked when she saw who was being held from behind. Although she didn't listen to music often, she still knew the famous Rap King, Emperor. Seeing his helpless state, Waai Fu didn't know for a moment if she should step in. However, since they had come out together, she followed along.
"Waai Fu!" Flandre, still on Emperor's back, even had the mood to greet Waai Fu.
Seeing Flandre's friend looking at him with a mix of admiration and hesitation, Emperor immediately spoke up. "Get her off me, and I'll give you an autographed CD!"
Hearing Emperor's words, Waai Fu looked at Flandre. Flandre chimed in. "What about me? What about me!"
"You want a CD too?" Emperor asked.
"No, I want a red envelope!" Flandre answered decisively.
"Fine, I promise to give you a big red envelope!" Emperor said through gritted teeth. Hearing his words, Flandre jumped off his back with satisfaction and held out her hand. "Where's the red envelope!"
"Do I look like I have pockets to carry it in... Come on, follow me back to get it!" Emperor knew that with this little brat's skills, he wouldn't be able to escape without paying up, so he could only comfort her while leading the way.
The three of them arrived at the Penguin Logistics base, where they saw Exusiai and the others sitting together playing cards. Seeing Flandre, they waved at her, then noticed Waai Fu behind her. Exusiai asked, "Your friend?"
"Yep!" Flandre nodded.
"In that case, come in and sit down; it's cold outside!" Exusiai pointed to the spot by the fireplace.
"Aren't you guys delivering packages today?" Flandre asked curiously.
"We can't be running every day! Besides, it's New Year's; we need to take a break too, right?" Exusiai smiled and pinched Flandre's cheek, then pulled her into her arms, saying Flandre looked like a little God of Fortune and must have great luck. She wanted to borrow some luck to crush the other two.
Hearing this, Croissant nearby protested. "That's cheating!"
Exusiai gave Flandre a smug kiss on the cheek. "Wahaha, what can I say, little Flan is my friend."
Amidst their playfulness, Emperor came out carrying a disc and some red envelopes. He first handed the disc to Waai Fu, who was thanking him profusely. Then he looked at Texas and the other two. "These are red envelopes for the three of you."
"Thanks, Boss!" X3. The three replied happily upon seeing the envelopes. Only then did he hand the last red envelope to Flandre. "This is for you, girl. Take it!"
"Thank you, Emperor! Wishing you a prosperous New Year!" Flandre showed she still had some manners; at least after receiving the envelope, she didn't miss a beat with the well-wishes.
"I don't care about the money, as long as you don't grab me and shake me like crazy next time!" Emperor waved his hand, saying he was getting old and his bones couldn't take Flandre's roughhousing. Flandre stated that since she had received the money, she definitely wouldn't ambush Emperor again.
"That'll do! At least give me a chance to react." Emperor waved them off, telling them to go play, and then found a place to lie down and rest his back.
The Penguin Logistics crew was filled with admiration for Flandre. After all, she was the first person who could toss Emperor around like that and leave him helpless. Flandre pulled Waai Fu along, said goodbye to the group, and walked out the door.
"I didn't expect you to know Emperor, Flan!" Waai Fu exclaimed once they were outside.
"Is he very powerful?" Flandre asked curiously.
"It's not a matter of being powerful or not." Waai Fu began to explain Emperor's greatness. Mainly, his music covered almost all the nations of Terra. He could be called the most famous musical star. It was said that his autographs were extremely rare, and one could sell for tens of thousands on the black market.
Flandre rubbed her chin thoughtfully, her little brain starting to work. "Then if I get a whole notebook of autographs from him, wouldn't I make a fortune!"
"Absolutely not!" Waai Fu hastily stopped her. The reason Emperor's autographs were expensive was their scarcity. If Flandre went through with her idea, the price would plummet. It would even lower Emperor's overall commercial value.
"What a pity!" Flandre said with some regret.
Seeing that she was no longer considering it, Waai Fu breathed a sigh of relief. By the time the two walked back to the agency, it was almost noon. Seeing the special 'red envelope' in Waai Fu's hand, Lee raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Emperor's autograph? That is indeed a very precious thing!"
"Right? This is probably the most meaningful gift I've received this year!" Waai Fu happily took the disc back to her room to store it in a box. When she came out, she saw Flandre saying goodbye to everyone.
"Aren't you staying for lunch?" Waai Fu asked.
"No, Sister Ch'en and the others made lunch and are waiting for me to go back!" Flandre waved as she headed out.
"Oh, see you next time then!" Waai Fu waved to Flandre.
"See you!" Flandre said as she went downstairs.
When she returned to the villa, she found that Hoshiguma had also arrived.
"Sister Hoshiguma!" Flandre waved to Hoshiguma.
"Little Flan! Here's a red envelope!" Hoshiguma boldly pulled a red envelope from her coat and tucked it into Flandre's arms.
"Thank you!" Flandre thanked her again.
"Come help bring the dishes from the kitchen!" Beatrice Schwire emerged from the kitchen carrying a dish in each hand.
"On it!" Hoshiguma quickly followed her. Seeing this, Flandre also said she wanted to help. Soon, dishes were laid out on the table.
"Sister Ch'en made these today? Amazing!" Flandre exclaimed, looking at Ch'en Huijie in the kitchen.
"I gave the Sun Sisters a week off so they could go home and spend the New Year with their families. After all, they rarely get holidays during the year," Beatrice said. The Sun Sisters she mentioned were the pair of maid sisters who had been taking care of her and Flandre for a long time.
"Oh! That's true..." Flandre realized that since she came to Lungmen, she had never seen the maids take a holiday at the same time. Even when they did take time off, they rotated so one of them was always on duty.
Ch'en Huijie looked at Flandre. "Don't worry, my cooking skills are decent, and your special custom meal is also prepared."
Soon the table was full of food. As the four of them sat down to eat, they chatted about the events of the past year.
"You know, looking back, since little Flan arrived, we've actually solved several major cases," Ch'en Huijie remarked as she watched Flandre holding her bowl of milk.
"Yes, from the Flower Village smuggling case to the annihilation of The Truth Society, Flandre helped Lungmen remove two huge tumors." Beatrice also felt a bit sentimental thinking about how she and Flandre had been chased by those people in the wilderness. It was that incident that made her realize many things.
"It's true, Flandre is very highly regarded in the Guard Department. That Blind Fighting Room she created is now the hottest spot in the training grounds; you can't even get in without booking two or three days in advance." Hoshiguma paused for a moment. "Now, all Operators in our Guard Department are required to master blind-sight combat, which is extremely useful for urban operations across Lungmen. Because of this training, many of our people have learned how to react and fight quickly at close range, which has helped everyone protect themselves while on missions."
"I'm just glad I could help. I was always worried my skill level wasn't enough!" Flandre replied.
"No need to be so modest, little Flan. Come, let's have a toast to celebrate the New Year!"
The four of them raised their drinks. Just after finishing their meal, as they sat down to play a game of Mahjong for entertainment, both Ch'en Huijie's and Hoshiguma's phones suddenly rang.
"Emergency mission!" The two immediately stood up.
"I have a car, let me drive you there!" Beatrice said, pointing to the parking lot in the back.
"I'm going too, I'm going too!" Flandre insisted she wanted to see what was happening. After all, after spending time in Yan, the thing she had learned best was how to join in on the excitement.