Chapter 387: The Dragon Head’s Woman
Yuche started to refuse, only to be quickly stopped as Rouxi caught his sleeve. "Don’t even think about it," she hissed.
He looked down at her as she crunched another Cheezie. "You’re not allowed to say no to free things."
"They aren’t always free," he replied, his voice low. It was a lesson that he only had to learn one time for it to stick in his mind forever. Sometimes, the cost the ’free’ item demanded wasn’t worth it.
"They handed it to you," Rouxi countered.
"They may expect something later," he replied, shaking his head.
Rouxi looked at the merchant and raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning to ask him for something later?" she demanded.
The man’s face lost color. "Of course not."
"There." Rouxi took the tin from him and passed it to Chenghai. "See? It’s free." She paused for a second before turning her attention away from the man and back to Yuche. "And if it isn’t free, he is more than welcome to come to the house to collect what he wants in return. I’m sure that it will be an... educational experience for everyone."
Once again, the man paled as he frantically nodded his head before shaking it again. "Absolutely free. I don’t want anything." Rouxi smiled brightly as Chenghai accepted it without comment and rearranged the boxes in his arms.
The next merchant offered coffee and Yuche accepted it before Rouxi could intervene. Her smile told him he had chosen correctly.
The gifts continued as they moved deeper into the market. Chocolate, tea, canned fruit, spices, cookies, and several sealed bottles of flavored drinks appeared from beneath counters and inside private storage boxes.
Yuche stopped attempting to refuse them.
Rouxi would not allow it, and he had no desire to spoil the satisfaction appearing on her face each time something unnecessary but valuable emerged.
People began looking at her differently.
At first, they had only seen an unfamiliar woman travelling with four dangerous men. Now they watched the way Yuche kept one hand near her whenever she moved, the way Zhenlan searched for chairs before she wanted one, and the way Chenghai carried everything she chose without questioning a single item.
Questions moved through the watching crowd before an older merchant finally gathered enough courage to ask. "Dragon Head, how should we address the lady?"
Yuche felt Rouxi look up at him, and he straightened.
The change required no effort. His shoulders settled, his expression cooled, and the authority he usually softened around Rouxi returned without warning.
Conversation faded around them as men lowered their heads.
Yuche rested one hand firmly at Rouxi’s waist, his chin tipping up just a bit. "She is my woman. My Lady"
The silence deepened.
Rouxi paused with a Cheezie halfway to her mouth. Then she looked over his face and laughed. "You put on your scary hat."
A few nearby merchants went pale.
Yuche looked down at her. "Did I?"
"Yes," she said with a nod as she ate the Cheezie. "It’s very impressive." But she didn’t move away from his hand or his side. That was all the market needed to know just how important she was.
Merchants began producing gifts for Rouxi directly.
The first tried offering her a thick stack of blankets. She looked at them, thanked him politely and moved on.
Another brought expensive fabric, but she barely glanced at it.
The third merchant opened a locked case containing several sealed boxes of chocolate bars and it was like the sun had descended on the black market. Rouxi remembered his name and even smiled brightly at him. Yuche smiled softly in return and nodded his head.
The market adapted quickly after that.
By the time they reached the next warehouse, Chenghai was carrying enough candy, chips, tea, coffee, and canned fruit to supply a small convenience store.
A younger merchant emerged from behind a curtain holding a case of imported cookies.
Rouxi pointed toward Chenghai. "Give them to him."
Chenghai looked at the boxes stacked beneath his chin. "Of course."
"You can say no."
"No," he grunted, "I really can’t."
Rouxi smiled and opened another bag of Cheezies.
Three stalls in, Zhenlan found her a chair near a table most shoppers had ignored entirely.
Blu-rays covered its surface.
The cases had been arranged in uneven rows: movies, television series, old dramas, action films, horror collections, and several complete box sets that had probably been worth almost nothing since the power grid failed.
Rouxi sat with her ankle elevated on a second chair and immediately began sorting through them. "Do you have the rest of this series?" she asked the seller, holding up a case.
The man stared at the orange dust on her fingers. "There are four more seasons."
"I’ll take them."
"You have a working player?"
Rouxi looked at him. "Would I be buying them if I didn’t?"
The man wisely went to retrieve the other seasons.
Yuche stood beside her chair and watched her build three separate piles. She hummed beneath her breath while reading the backs of the cases, occasionally eating another Cheezie before remembering that her fingers were covered in powder.
For several minutes, the Devourer, the weak cores, and the strain inside her seemed to disappear.
Yuche smiled.
Then movement near the aisle caught his attention.
Lingyun approached with an expression bright enough to fool anyone who didn’t know him.
But Yuche knew him better than anyone.
The shirt Lingyun wore was not the one he had left in. One eye was bloodshot, his right shoulder sat slightly lower than the left, and he was avoiding breaths deep enough to move his ribs.
Men wearing Head Luo’s symbol lowered their heads as he passed.
It was clear that Lingyun had not wandered off for snacks but Yuche didn’t give it away. It would be easier on all of them if Lingyun was back in charge of the black market.
Who knows when it might be the difference between life and death.
Rouxi was still examining a Blu-ray case when Lingyun reached her. He leaned down, kissed her cheek, and slipped into the space beside her chair as though he had only been gone for a few minutes.
"Did you miss me?" he demanded, nuzzling her neck.
Rouxi leaned into him without looking away from the case. "I found six seasons of this."
Lingyun gasped with appropriate enthusiasm. "We need them all."
"I’m well aware," she replied, not once looking at him. Taking that as permission, Lingyun wrapped his arms around Rouxi and Yuche saw his shoulders drop in contentment.
Yeah, the market was now his.
Lingyun looked toward the mountain in Chenghai’s arms. "Did you buy me anything?"
"Possibly," the other man shrugged. "It’ll depend on what Rouxi decides to share."
Lingyun beamed, then brought one hand from behind his back. A black velvet bag dangled from his fingers. "I bought you something," he purred, dangling the bag in front of her eyes.
That finally pulled Rouxi’s attention away from the Blu-rays.
She took the bag and loosened the drawstring.
Massive green cores filled the velvet interior, clear and bright enough that their power reached Yuche from where he stood. Each one was several times larger than anything the public merchants had displayed.
Rouxi stared into the bag.
Then she slowly looked up at Lingyun.
"What did you do?"
Lingyun’s smile widened.
"I went shopping."