NOVEL NEXT 150: Gluttony… In More Ways Than One
With their notes all organized and their meeting scheduled for after lunch, Lin Songmei and Yan Mingqing had... nothing to do. Nothing important, anyway. They had a plate full of confectioneries, a pot of tea, and a beautiful view of the park.
Making some light conversation, the two spent the next couple of hours chatting, holding hands, eating, the classic couple stuff. Lazy and comfortable, Mingqing proposed they eat lunch at the same cafe, save some trouble, save some energy, the likes.
Wanting to try some more, Songmei had agreed, and so... they ate!
There really wasn’t anything worth talking about in those couple of hours... Songmei was just happy she had some time to spend with Mingqing in their hectic schedules.
Oh, well, there was one thing. They called Han Youhong, Wang Taigang, and Zhao Liying to laugh at them—like all friends did out of love—once those three finally managed to get a concrete answer out of Lust. Tired and worn, the call was, for the most part, a virtual lunch where some light words were exchanged.
Done with their food, though, Songmei and Mingqing were, once more, walking down the street together, hand in hand, towards Gluttony’s office.
“Why does he have an office? That doesn’t feel very... underwordly” Songmei asked, tapping her chin as they walked down the street.
“He does a lot of restaurant management... I think?” Mingqing answered to the best of her knowledge. “To be honest, I feel like all of the underworld bosses have an above world footing, you know? For the most part they just have some... illegal or nepotism stuff going on? Like dodging fines, or taxes maybe...”
“Or they’re just committing crimes,” Songmei sighed, shielding her eyes from the sun. “I mean, I don’t know for sure, and I’d prefer if it wasn’t that they were like... kidnapping people, but the chance of that... isn’t low is it?”
Beginning their trek across one of the large bridges spanning the West River—the river Westriver was named after–Mingqing shrugged her shoulders. “Apparently it was a lot worse in the past. Like a couple of generations back. For the past couple of years, apparently each generation has done less and less illegal stuff.”
“Dang... What incisive knowledge.... Where did you find this out?” Songmei asked, curious as to where Mingqing got this new knowledge from. “You’re not really one for research, and I never saw that stuff when I was doing my comb through all the articles about Westriver when we first arrived.”
Coughing, Mingqing fake stumbled, grabbing onto the bridge’s railing. “I... I’m not that lazy... Well, maybe I am... but still! I saw it while scrolling through the news this morning at breakfast. Apparently, it’s because the sects have taken more... controlling roles in the management of the city. It’s just one of the things they’ve done to make their disciples safer. But yeah, it’s been spawning some discontentment.”
“Ohhh,” Songmei murmured with newfound enlightenment, “That’s interesting... Sort of annoying though. why do the politicians in the city have to be so power hungry...”
“I don’t know either, maybe because a lot of them have been around for a long time? They just don’t like change in general?” Mingqing pondered out loud as they both hurried their pace to speed across the bridge. “Everyday I relate more and more to Xueli.”
“Noo... don’t start reading newspapers! I like you being in my generation!” Songmei teased as they slowed once more as the bridge ended. “Well, who knows. We don’t really know their motivations without talking to them. I won’t judge... Sad though that we’ll just have to defend ourselves against being ransomed or like... sold to demons or something.”
With Mingqing giving an agreeing hum, the two changed topics, chatting about some random, unimportant topics as they made their way through the Southside of Westriver.
A couple of minutes of walking and reminiscing on the few times they went to the Southside later, Songmei and Mingqing agreed: their next date would be in the Southside. After all, they hadn’t been to the Southside much, and it... really was pretty.
Dotted with parks, restaurants, and a more relaxed feel than the North, the South’s only detriment was its stores. Less variety, worse prices, but Songmei and Mingqing didn’t mind too much.
Coming up to a stout, concrete office building, one mundane out of this world and boring beyond imagination, Songmei and Mingqing paused.
“This is it, right?” Songmei asked, raising her eyebrow as Mingqing pulled out her terminal.
“...Yes,” Mingqing confirmed, a similar confusion painted across her face. Squeezing Songmei’s hand, Mingqing motioned forward with her chin. “Shall we?”
“After you, milady,” Songmei laughed, squeezing Mingqing’s hand and motioning forward.
-----
Walking past the receptionist who didn’t even bother looking up, the two climbed a couple floors before coming to a stop before a well-worn wooden door. One with paint-chips and a few dents from... heavens knew what.
With a golden plaque emblazoned with “GLUTTONY” on the front of the door, Songmei looked at Mingqing. “...I guess this really was the right place.”
Knocking on the door, the two were let in by a cheerful baritone voice. “Welcome! Come in, come in! You’re so on time, what a good trait to have!”
Letting go of each other’s hands, Songmei and Mingqing cracked the door open, walking into a... unique sight to say the least.
Gluttony, for one, wasn’t sitting behind the large desk present on the far side of the room. Instead, he was sitting
on the desk. With braided hair, the rest of Gluttony’s outfit gave no semblance of neatness.Propped up on one arm, Gluttony’s other arm sat on his knee as his light eyes drew a firm contrast to his tan skin. With an unbuttoned white dress shirt revealing his chiseled abs, Gluttony gave a lazy wave to the now frozen Mingqing and Songmei as he shifted his legs off the desk and into a sitting position. “Heya! Surprised? I even buttoned up my dress pants to see you all. Didn’t want to seem too indecent after all.”
“M...hm.” Songmei murmured with a few nods. “Hi... yeah. Hello. Thanks for meeting with us.”
Gluttony’s room as well, wasn’t what Songmei expected for someone as successful as him. It looked like a bomb had gone off for goodness sake! There were papers strewn across the ground, weights and workout equipment filling more space than desks or cabinets, and a few too many posters of food hung on every bit of wall.
“Of course!” Gluttony laughed, throwing the few remaining papers on his desk to the floor. “I won’t need these for now. So... how is it going? I see it’s only you two. I kinda wanted to meet the famed Lychee Jelly consumer. You know, there was one struggling lychee jelly business under my company, but he alone revitalized it somehow... with his personal spending and just his influence.”
“Int..eresting...” Songmei held the conversation, giving Mingqing time to unfreeze from her surprise and unwillingness to talk to strangers. “I’ll make sure to introduce you next time. I’m sure he has a lot to say to you.”
“HAHA, thank you! I appreciate it!” Gluttony grinned, clutching his abdomen as he laughed. Wiping a tear from his eye, Gluttony clapped his hands. “So let’s get this party started. I have a general gist as to why you two are here, but why don’t you spell it out for me? Shall we get this party started?”
