Chapter 1190 - 1190: The Same Old Three

The coffee shop is not big, with only six tables altogether, and right in the middle is the staircase leading to the second floor.

After Lin Bingqiao walked in, the woman behind the counter smiled and nodded, saying, "I'm going out to buy something, feel free to sit anywhere."

After speaking, she left the counter, walked out of the café door, and casually flipped the sign with the words "Open" to display "Closed" to outsiders.

"Do you know her?" Xiao Feng asked.

Lin Bingqiao chose a corner near the staircase to sit down, while placing the items she had brought on the table, she replied, "Old friends, I often visit this shop."

After saying this, she extended her right hand, gestured "please," and said with a smile, "Bajia, please take a seat."

Xiao Feng nodded and sat down on the sofa, his expression steady.

The light in the café wasn't dim, but it gave a hazy feeling, accompanied by a soothing violin piece playing through the speakers, creating quite an atmospheric vibe.

At this moment, Lin Bingqiao, without her smoky makeup, appeared very pure, with every smile and frown enough to captivate one's soul.

"What's your honorable surname, Bajia?" Lin Bingqiao asked seemingly nonchalantly.

Xiao Feng responded fluently, "My surname is Xiao, given name Bajia."

Lin Bingqiao was instantly stunned, "Xiao... Papa?"

"Eh~~~" Xiao Feng smiled with satisfaction, deliberately elongating the ending sound.

"..." Lin Bingqiao's face instantly cooled down, doubtful if this guy was intentionally taking advantage of her.

However, before she could voice her suspicion, Xiao Feng seemed somewhat helpless and smiled, "You think I'm taking advantage of you?

No problem!

Most people, upon hearing my name for the first time, think like that. Over the years, I've become accustomed to it..."

Lin Bingqiao couldn't help but joke, "Accustomed... to gaining a generation?"

Xiao Feng didn't continue the banter, instead started telling the story of "Bajia of the Dam."

After listening, Lin Bingqiao was enlightened but couldn't help doubting that the story was fabricated.

However, she hadn't forgotten why she came, reaching out to open the three plastic bags on the table.

An old-fashioned kerosene lantern, a pig hind leg, and a bottle of liquor.

Inside the bottle of liquor was a transparent little sailboat, looking quite exquisite.

Xiao Feng pointed at the kerosene lantern, puzzled, "What's this for?"

"Bajia, you don't know, it's called the 'proof lamp'."

"Proof lamp?"

"Yes!" Lin Bingqiao explained, "Once the kerosene lamp is lit, it has a built-in recording function, proving I've visited you, hence it's called the proof lamp.

This pig hind leg has been sautéed with bean oil, and it tastes quite good.

As for this bottle of liquor, it's my homemade brew, made from grain from Zuo Nan Mountain and water from Heaven-Gifted Spring, I've named it 'Left-Gifted Spring'."

Proof lamp, sautéed leg, Left-Gifted Spring?

Xiao Feng's gaze swept over the three items on the table, pondering their meaning.

If the woman behind the counter had been present earlier, she wouldn't have been unfamiliar with these three items.

Because every time Lin Bingqiao arranged a meeting here, she would bring these three items, you could say they were the usual trio.

"Bajia, do you mind if I light the proof lamp now?" Lin Bingqiao asked.

Xiao Feng, who had just sent the location to Pei Dengke, lifted his hand slightly, smiling, "Feel free."

Just then, Lin Bingqiao twisted the base of the kerosene lamp with her hand.

"Click!"

The kerosene lamp lit up.

Lin Bingqiao walked to the wall, took out two goblets from the cupboard, and poured half a cup of wine into each.

The two lit the proof lamp, ate the sautéed leg, drank the Left-Gifted Spring, it was quite delightful.

"Bajia, what do you think of my brewed wine?" Lin Bingqiao asked.

Xiao Feng put down his glass, smacked his lips, "Not bad!

It's smooth upon entrance, a line down the throat, a bit bitter, but upon careful savoring, there's a hint of sweetness."

"It seems Bajia is quite a connoisseur of wine!" Lin Bingqiao exclaimed, "Gold is easy to get, a soulmate is hard to find.

If Bajia likes it, I could give you two bottles later, or simply give you the recipe.

By the way, Bajia, you should try the sautéed leg, even though it's fried, it's not greasy at all."

Xiao Feng refused politely, "No thanks, I've already eaten and am quite full."

Lin Bingqiao didn't press the issue and ate by herself, chatting idly with Xiao Feng.

On the surface, the two seemed like friends who had recently met, constantly throwing out topics to find something to chat about.

However, Xiao Feng knew that the seemingly empty chatter, in fact, every sentence was full of subtleties.

If all the answers to seemingly "unimportant" questions were pieced together, a person's rough character would be revealed.

This was basically no different from Jia Luo's psychological consultation questionnaire, except one was on paper, the other verbal.

Realizing this, Xiao Feng suddenly understood the purpose of the proof lamp.

Firstly, there were so many scattered questions that it wasn't easy to remember every answer.

Also, the deliberate revelation of the "recording function" in this lamp effectively exerted psychological pressure.

When a person's defenses are highly closed, they're actually more vulnerable to being breached.

In this way, he believed that the others talked about irrelevant topics to lower his defenses, but in reality, they had already asked everything they wanted to ask...

This strategy was indeed clever!

"Bajia, this afternoon in the teahouse, you seemed unafraid to escalate the situation?" Lin Bingqiao asked with slightly furrowed brows, "Or were you intentionally trying to escalate it?"

Xiao Feng sneered inside, knowing they had moved to the next stage.

Was he afraid of escalating it?

Obviously not!

The troublemaker was Xiao Bajia, having nothing to do with him, Xiao Feng.

Moreover, the main character at that time was Qi Guanghe; his part was mostly to fan the flames.

Of course, these details were not meant to be spoken out loud.

After a brief ponder, Xiao Feng answered, "Justice lies in people's hearts, but merely in people's hearts is not enough. I have always hated evil as an enemy.

If you hadn't started by cursing, if Qi Guanghe hadn't come after you and twisted the concept, distorted the facts, the situation wouldn't have evolved to this point."

"So you're saying, Bajia was purely seeing injustice?" Lin Bingqiao asked suspiciously.

"What else would it be?" Xiao Feng counter-questioned, "Am I really worried the world is at peace and must find trouble?

Please think carefully, who is actually looking for trouble!"

Lin Bingqiao pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded, "Alright, I misunderstood you, Bajia, this cup of wine is to apologize."

With that, she drank the remaining half cup of liquor in one gulp.

After finishing, Lin Bingqiao turned off the proof lamp, her face slightly flushed from the alcohol, said, "To be honest, I'm here with orders this time.

As for whose orders, I'm sure I don't need to say, Bajia can guess."

"And then?" Xiao Feng asked with a sly smile.

"I have a question I can't figure out, Bajia, your skills are so impressive, who did you learn them from?"