Jinghong Theater
The sky gradually brightened.
The drunkard who had been lying at the Casino entrance all night finally opened his hazy eyes, grabbed his wine bottle, and staggered away. The rickshaw that had been waiting for a passenger all night finally picked up its "passenger" and drove creakily towards the end of the road. Several gamblers cursed and swore as they came out of the Casino, disappearing into the dim light of dawn without looking back.
"Finally a shift change..."
Inside the rickshaw at this moment, a Police Officer disguised as a gambler finally dropped all his guard, lay back exhaustedly on the seat, and yawned as he looked at the gradually rising sun.
"Staring at those dice and Poker cards every night has made my eyes blurry."
"Be content, at least you were inside the Casino. I was blowing in the cold wind on the road all night!" The Police Officer pedaling the rickshaw hard coldly snorted.
"Sigh, when will these days end..."
The Police Officer pedaling the rickshaw remained silent for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Do you think there are really Dusk Society members in the Casino?"
"What's the problem?"
"Seems like there's an issue with its origins? This Casino changed hands half a year ago, and it was also from that time that rumors of Dusk Society activities began to sporadically appear in the city... Also, do you know who bought this place from the Beidou Consortium back then?"
"Who?"
"The Special Envoy of the Golden Society!"
"Huh? You mean the higher-ups suspect the Special Envoy of the Golden Society is someone from the Dusk Society?"
"I figure they've been suspicious for a long time. Otherwise, how could there be so many Rank 8s in the world? They're just not certain yet, and it never hurts to be careful... On the contrary, Mu Chunsheng, the chairman of the Beidou Consortium, immediately drew a clear line with the Special Envoy of the Golden Society after those Lords paid him a visit. He claimed that the Special Envoy forced him to sell these properties back then, and now he is willing to gift these properties to [Floating Life Painting] as a token of goodwill..."
"Hehehe, this old fox, he changes his face really fast... True, a Special Envoy of the Golden Society who knows when he'll return, how could he be as important as those big shots from [Floating Life Painting]? No matter what, this is still the Red Dust Domain."
The Police Officer riding the bike seemed deeply aware of the true nature of these consortia and sneered continuously.
"Speaking of which, we've been watching the Casino for so long, but there's still no movement. We haven't seen any strange people going in or out... Could their judgment be wrong?"
"Hard to say. Anyway, I feel they themselves aren't too sure either, otherwise why haven't they taken action until now?"
"Anyway, let's just keep watching first... If this is truly their stronghold, sooner or later they won't be able to hold back and will reveal a flaw. Let's see who loses their patience first."
"..."
As they went further away, a touch of the morning sun swept across the dim street. The ancient and desolate Theater House was bathed in pale gold. At this moment, behind the handrail on the second floor, a figure slowly walked out.
Chen Ling seemingly casually yawned, as if he had just woken up, while squinting his eyes and sweeping his gaze below.
Although the Police Officers who had been monitoring last night were leaving one after another, new Police Officers were constantly filling in. Chen Ling stood on the second floor for a while and discovered several new monitoring points. Their vigilance towards the Casino hadn't relaxed in the slightest because of the dawn.
Chen Ling didn't stay long behind the handrail. After blowing in the morning breeze for a while, he turned around and left.
Now there were hidden Police Officers all around this area. If he peeked out so openly for too long, the other party would sooner or later become suspicious. Two or three minutes was already enough for Chen Ling.
When Chen Ling walked down the stairs, he saw Kong Baosheng earnestly sweeping the floor of the first floor with a broom. Wherever the naked eye could see was spotless. Looking at this state, he must have gotten up to start cleaning at three or four in the morning.
Hearing Chen Ling come downstairs, Kong Baosheng stopped his movements and asked respectfully:
"Mr. Lin, would you like to have breakfast?"
Chen Ling's eyebrows slightly raised. After he gave an 'mm', Kong Baosheng put down the broom, turned around, and got busy in the Kitchen.
A few minutes later, a steaming bowl of osmanthus black rice porridge was brought in front of Chen Ling. Golden osmanthus fragments floated on the dark purple rice porridge, neither thick nor thin. With a gentle stir, a faint fragrance assailed the nostrils.
"You cooked this?" Chen Ling was somewhat surprised.
"Yeah, I started cooking it after I got up in the morning. It's been kept warm in the pot, just waiting for Mister to get up." Kong Baosheng scratched his head. "I don't know your taste either, Mister, so I put a little extra sugar when cooking... You try it first."
Chen Ling picked up a spoon and took a sip. Entering his mouth, there was first a burst of osmanthus fragrance, followed by sweetness. Unlike the Aurora Domain which liked salty food, the Red Dust Domain here seemed to prefer sweet tastes. The streets were also full of various dessert shops and snacks. If this were in Aurora City, being able to see a cake shop or someone selling candied haws on the road would be pretty good.
Fortunately, Chen Ling wasn't resistant to sweet things, and even felt that the taste of this bowl of porridge was very good. He nodded and said:
"Your craftsmanship is very good."
Hearing this sentence, Kong Baosheng's somewhat nervous little face finally relaxed, and a smile emerged.
Since last night, Kong Baosheng's heart had been full of unease and worry, deeply afraid that he wouldn't be able to serve this newly arrived Mr. Lin well. After all, he had received a hundred thousand in banknotes. If he made Mr. Lin dissatisfied in the end, let alone whether the other party would ask him to refund the money, Kong Baosheng himself wouldn't be able to get over it.
Now it seemed this Mr. Lin wasn't difficult to get along with. This made Kong Baosheng feel some joy in his heart, and he took the opportunity to ask proactively:
"Mister, what would you like to eat for lunch?"
"You decide what to make."
Chen Ling lowered his head and continued to drink his porridge. Kong Baosheng also continued to tidy up the things in the Theater House. This Theater House had been abandoned before, so it didn't matter if some things weren't tidied up. But now that the Theater House had a new owner, it was definitely going to reopen for business, so everything that should be there had to be there.
Kong Baosheng rummaged through a pile of things and pulled out a dust-covered plaque from the very bottom. Only then did he think of something, turned his head, and asked:
"Mr. Lin, have you decided on a name for the Theater House?"
"Name?"
Chen Ling froze for a moment, only then realizing that a Theater House also needed to hang a signboard. Although he didn't intend to truly operate the Theater House when he bought it, if he bought it and there was no movement for a long time, continuing to leave it abandoned would definitely arouse others' suspicions.
Since he was going to disguise it, he had to make the disguise look a bit more realistic... Even if no one would come to listen to the opera, he still had to do some surface work.
Chen Ling couldn't be bothered to think of a name and directly asked:
"What was this Theater House called before?"
Kong Baosheng brushed off the dust on the plaque and strenuously lifted it up, facing Chen Ling's direction. Several elegant and ancient-looking gilded characters were engraved on it.
"Jinghong." Kong Baosheng said, "Before, this place was called Jinghong Theater."
Chen Ling waved his hand uncaringly,
"Then keep it."