Very Pure and Ambiguous: The Prequel

Early the next morning, I received a call from Mark. He said that he had stopped at the pier not far from the hotel. At the moment, I was eating breakfast in my room. Quickly finishing drinking the milk in my hand, I got out of the hotel.

As far as I could see, Mark was standing on the edge of the pier, waving at me. Standing beside him was a relatively plump white man. Looking around, he didn’t look like other white men at all.

When Mark saw me arrive closer, he immediately introduced the plump man to me, “Let me introduce you to my younger brother Luke. You may ask for his help when you are on land at any time!”

“Hello, Mr. Luke, my name is Liu,” I didn’t say my full name since my name was very famous right now. So long as I don’t say my name, few will be able to recognize me. Since I was in the business world, except for those media reporters and related industries, ordinary people only knew the name Liu Lei, they couldn’t remember what I looked like! Not to mention these foreigners. To them, all the Orientals looked the same, just like they appear the same to us! {TL: Orientals refers to people of Asia, especially East Asia. East Asians also consider the word Oriental offensive for some reason that I am not aware of.}

“Mr. Liu, I am very happy to be of service to you!” Luke said with a smile.

“Hehe, don’t be so polite. I will feel embarrassed if you also accompany us, so Mr. Luke, you can go around doing your business. I will call you again when I need your help!” I said to him as we exchanged greetings.

“You are welcome. This is what I ought to do! I have already scolded my brother for collecting twice the normal amount from you, so overworking for you is the right thing for us to do!” Luke said.

“Is that so?” I looked at Mark with a faint smile.

“Hehe, I beg your pardon......” Mark looked at me with an embarrassed expression.

“It’s nothing, it’s all business after all. Since I have already agreed upon the price as a buyer, it means I have no issues with the price!” I shook my head, “On the contrary, I still have a lot of things to trouble you with!”

“I am willing to help you as much as possible!” Mark said.

I went and got into Mark’s skiff while Luke parked the car nearby the hotel’s entrance, ready at standby. As long as I needed his assistance, he will appear at the destination as fast as possible!

“Mr. Liu, where are we going to go now?” Mark started the boat and then turned around to ask me.

Where to go? To be honest, I didn’t have any specific destination in mind. I didn’t know where Yang Mei would be. If I had known something like this would happen, I would have left a Spiritual Energy Marking on her body. Ever since the incident with Meng QingQing, I had left a special Mark on each of my women. With that, I will be able to know where they were at all times. Like that, if they got into danger, I will be able to get to them at a moments notice!

I thought for a moment. The possibility was that Yang Mei would go to some scenic spots, so I said to Mark, “Alright, what famous scenic and amusement spots are there in the area? Bring me to have a look there!”

“Alright, the nearby scenic spot would be Piazza San Marco, teh St. Mars Square is very famous. The essence and life of Venice are concentrated in that area!” Mark introduced.

I didn’t know Yang Mei’s tastes and travel habits, so I could only try looking all over the place. It was the only way I could think of for now!

“Good, then let’s go to the St. Mark’s Square!” I nodded and said.

“Well, then we need to go back to the shore. St. Mark’s Square isn’t very far from here, I will let Luke drive you there in his car!” Mark said.

“Forget it, since it’s not that far away, we can just walk there. Let’s go!” I said.

“Alright, I will accompany you there!” Mark nodded.

I wanted to go shopping around here. Although the chance of encountering Yang Mei was very small, it wasn’t impossible. I would rather take the chance than not!

There weren’t many Chinese on the streets, so there wasn’t a need to be super focused, I could easily discover Yang Mei. On the way, I saw several Chinese people but didn’t find a trace of Yang Mei!

By the time we arrived at St. Mark’s Church, I hadn’t discovered a single familiar person on the way. The Church was located on the side of the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square), surrounded by shops and facing a museum. After I went to the Church, I rushed around the shops and then went inside the museum. After checking everywhere, I was ready to leave.

Seeing my behavior, Mark felt very strange as he looked from nearby, “I say, buddy, why are you in such a rush? You haven’t looked around at a lot of places carefully, not have you taken any photographs for a memento? There is an old saying, it goes something like this: ‘Looks at the surface, understands nothing!’ How come you don’t seem to be here for sightseeing and tourism!” {TL: It seems it’s time to silence this Mark guy!}

I knew that Mark will find out about the matter sooner or later. Since the matter at hand wasn’t anything shameful, nor was there anything for me to hide from anyone, so I said to him, “Actually, remember I said to you that I was here on a private matter. I won’t hide the truth from you since there’s no need. The reason I came here is to actually look for my girlfriend!”

“Looking for your girlfriend?” Mark was stunned and then said, “I understand, you two must have had an argument and she rushed over here. Now you are here to look for her, right?”

“Yeah, that’s almost how it went!” I smiled and didn’t say any more. I didn’t want to reveal the matter of Yang Mei being ill.

“There aren’t many Chinese people here, so, do you have a picture of hers? You can show it to me and I can help you look for her as well!” Mark said.

“I do have a picture but I haven’t brought it on my person. When we return to the hotel in a while, I will call my family to send over the image through the internet. We can then go to the photo studio and get a few copies printed!” After I listened to his recommendation, I agreed. Having two people looking for someone would be far more efficient than just having one!

“Right, we can also give a copy to Luke and he can help us as well. He can drive around and look, maybe, there will be a miracle!” Mark said.

Thinking of this, Mark and I immediately set off to return to the hotel where I stayed and Mark also called Luke.

When I got back to the hotel, I called Liu Yue.

“Hello. Husband, is there any news about Yang Mei?” Liu Yue immediately asked me as soon as she picked up the call.

“Not yet. Don’t be so hasty, I have just been here for a day, how can I find her so easily? Right, do you have a picture of Yang Mei?” I asked.

“Picture? Is there any use for that?” Liu Yue asked.