After exchanging phone numbers, the group dispersed. Laila also sent the translator away. As long as she was there, Roy could still get the information he needed.
The capital was exceptionally beautiful at night, with brilliant lights everywhere. Roy looked at the tall buildings on both sides of the street, once again marveling at the beauty of this city, something he couldn't find in Western media.
Laila's memories from her previous life were still well-preserved. She remembered there were places worth visiting at night.
They took a taxi, and she gave the address. The driver, hearing her fluent Chinese, knew she was an Easterner and took her to her destination without any detours.
Front Gate Street was a famous commercial street in the capital, the imperial road the emperors used to go to the Temple of Heaven 500 years ago. Besides the four major Peking opera troupes, the old and famous shops here each had a long history to tell.
Despite it being night, there were plenty of people there.
Seeing the crowd, Roy sniffed disapprovingly. Laila saw him raise his arm and couldn't help but laugh as she took his hand, "Don't worry, you won't get lost here."
Roy glared at her, clearly it was he who was worried about her getting lost. Just because she spoke Chinese well didn't mean she knew every inch of the city. What if she got lost in the crowd?
The two walked side by side, harmoniously lit by the streetlights. Even the bodyguards who had been following them couldn't help but smile. After years of fighting on the frontlines, what they desired most was this kind of warmth and tranquility.
But just as they were happily strolling from one shop to another, a discordant voice suddenly echoed from behind.
"Today's women are all so materialistic. They see a foreigner and can't wait to stick to them. I wonder if foreign moons are rounder than our own."
The sour words came from behind. At first, Laila didn't think they were talking about her, but as the comments grew more offensive, she turned around in astonishment.
She saw a group of young people and a crowd of onlookers not far away, pointing and gesturing in her direction. Seeing the shocked expressions on the young people's faces, Laila instantly understood what was happening and felt angry.
Yes, she was very angry. What did they mean by saying today's women were materialistic? Just because a woman was walking with a foreigner, did that mean she was trying to hook up with him? Anyone who could utter such words in public without any regard for decency, apart from being scum, didn't know what other words could describe them!
What if it had been a perfectly ordinary girl walking with a foreign friend? How would she feel hearing such slander and being stared at with accusatory eyes by so many people?
So, in almost an instant, she made a decision. She pretended not to understand Chinese and asked with a puzzled tone, "You're talking to me?"
The onlookers, who had just been irritated by the young people, were dumbfounded. How could she be a foreign woman? Wasn't it perfectly normal for foreign women to walk with foreign men?
Even the young people who had been sour before were taken aback. In their hearts, countless expletives were running wild. It could only be said that Laila's appearance was too deceptive. Although she was taller and had a more slender figure than the average Eastern girl, there were plenty of tall girls nowadays, and body types were no longer a distinguishing factor. It was her black hair that made her look like an Eastern girl from behind. However, when she turned around, her Western facial features and fair skin immediately revealed her true identity. Combined with her fluent English, no one would mistake her for an Easterner.
Seeing this, the onlookers felt embarrassed. It turned out that the foreign couple was just on a date. Their accusatory looks were now directed at the young people who had made the nasty comments.
Laila's cold gaze stabbed the young man so hard that he felt cold all over. He didn't reply, he just lowered his head and got into the crowd.
But Laila originally wanted to teach him a lesson, so how could she let him leave so easily? With a glance, the bodyguards hidden in the crowd blocked his retreat.
When he saw four or five burly foreign men blocking him, the young man suddenly felt a little weak. What's happening here? Did the Eight-Nation Allied Forces appear again?
Laila walked up to him and asked again: "You're talking to me?"
"Sori, Sori." The young man's friends saw that things were getting out of hand, and they quickly stood up to help explain. One of them spoke pretty good English and explained in English that was not fluent but not wrong: "We're sorry. My friend just went through a breakup. His girlfriend of five years married a foreigner and immigrated. So, when he saw you earlier, he thought you might be a similar kind of girl."
Laila nodded in understanding and then smiled, "So, what was he saying about me earlier?"
The young people exchanged glances and none of them dared to repeat the offensive words. Those words were too harsh, and uttering them could have caused an international incident.
"Nothing, he just thought you two looked really good together, so he envied your great relationship."
"Heh," Laila chuckled. These young people were quite interesting. If she had genuinely not understood Chinese, she might have been fooled. Although the explanation was well done, she didn't want to let them off so easily.
"Is that so? But his tone seemed a bit off."
"No, absolutely not! He was just jealous, yes, he was just jealous of you!"
The young people hurriedly came up with various excuses, and although their English was far from perfect, at least they didn't make any mistakes. They talked about how he had taken care of his girlfriend in various ways, from buying her breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to snacks and even sanitary napkins. They described how he always spoiled her, how he held her in high regard, how he was afraid of losing her, and how he cherished her more than himself. In short, he loved his girlfriend very much, but she had left him for someone else.
They spoke one after another in English, making the young man who had made the sour comments wish to dig a hole and bury himself in public. The only thing he was lucky about now was that the onlookers around him couldn't understand English. At least he was only embarrassed abroad and not at home.
"What's going on?" Roy initially thought it was a minor incident, but after hearing the comments in English from the people behind, he felt something was off and walked over to Laila.