NOVEL NEXT Chapter 131 Sicily
Yanhe Road, a street paved with bluestone, was completely hidden under the green leaves of its roadside trees. It was not considered a scenic spot, but every local in Ming City knew this place.
New developments, villas by Ming Lake—none of these meant as much to the locals as a single courtyard here.
It wasn't a matter of price, scenery, or convenience. Owning property here meant you were a "true master" of Ming City, a real old Ming City resident. Everyone else counted as an outsider.
Regional discrimination exists everywhere.
Qing Lan Bookstore was just an ordinary bookstore on Yanhe Road.
A wooden door, a glass wall, as clear as crystal during the day and enveloped in a warmly comforting yellow light by night.
The wind seemed lighter as it passed through here.
The bookstore's owner was a fairy, the epitome of Ming City beauty in the eyes of the older generation, and the best proof that Ming City residents were superior to all others.
The night she received a call from Yafeiluna, the noble Ming City resident Yang Qinglan, received Li Changzhou and Li Qianxia at her bookstore (in fact, she was leaving the next day and came to instruct the staff on a few matters, the siblings accompanying her while taking the opportunity to freeload on food and drinks).
The staff had already left, the wooden door was shut, and the three sat at a long wooden table, each with a cup of milk tea, a dessert, and a few books beside them.
"First question," Li Qianxia adjusted her glasses (which didn't exist), "please name the three most famous films from Sicily and all of Italy."
"'The Godfather,' 'The Legend of 1900,' and another—" unable to think of a third, Li Changzhou looked towards Yang Qinglan.
Yang Qinglan met his gaze, then turned to Li Qianxia, "'Cinema Paradiso'?"
"Correct! Listen to the second question," Li Qianxia adjusted her glasses again (which didn't exist), "what is the most famous Italian dish and dessert?"
"Pasta?" Li Changzhou tentatively said.
The reason for his uncertainty was completely because the London plane tree's place of origin wasn't France but England.
Holland beans have nothing to do with Holland, they first appeared in the southern part of Xia Country, close to Southeast Asia, and are simply called "Chinese peas" in English.
Maybe pasta wasn't Italian but Swiss or Austrian?
However, Li Changzhou's consideration was unnecessary.
"Correct. Dessert?" Li Qianxia's sharp gaze turned towards Yang Qinglan.
"I know this one." Yang Qinglan smiled slightly, "When I was creating the dessert menu for the store, I researched tiramisu and found out it is Italian."
"Correct!" Li Qianxia raised her glasses again like a teacher (which didn't exist), "What is the climate of Sicily?"
"Mediterranean." For Li Changzhou, this was a piece of cake. He was indeed a humanities scholar.
"Best tourism season?"
Li Changzhou calculated and then replied, "April, May, September, October, November every year."
"October is in, oh." In a mysterious and mischievously smiling teacher-like tone, Li Qianxia didn't even comment on whether it was right or wrong.
Adjusting her glasses (which didn't exist), she asked another question, "What is the official religion of Italy?"
Li Changzhou looked towards Yang Qinglan.
"Catholic?" Yang Qinglan tried answering.
"Wrong!" Li Qianxia pushed her glasses up again (which didn't exist), "Catholicism is the dominant religion and about 87.8％ of Italians are Catholics, but it's not recognized by the government as the state religion!"
"That's a clever question, very misleading," Li Changzhou laughed and said to Yang Qinglan.
Yang Qinglan pursed her lips and smiled, feeling as if the two were high school classmates discussing a math problem (which they were not, as Li Changzhou attended an all-boys or all-girls school; hers was even more upscale with one student per desk).
"Last question!" Li Qianxia's tone and expression turned serious, "Who is responsible for the expenses on this trip to Sicily?"
"Miss Yang?"
"Yafeiluna."
"Both correct!" Li Qianxia quickly slapped the table as if she feared someone would change their answers after the bell rang.
This question only had wrong answers, not a single right answer—as long as it wasn't Li Qianxia, anyone would do.
"I need to remind you both," Yang Qinglan picked up her water glass, "we are going to steal, not for tourism."
Her gaze mainly rested on Li Qianxia.
Ever since Li Changzhou mentioned going to Sicily, she had been restless like a monkey in heat—actually, she had long wanted her brother to use the new "Photo Transmission" to take her around the world.
This is only human nature.
"What stealing?" Li Changzhou laughed, "We are going to wipe out the Mafia!"
"Brother, you're shameless!" Li Qianxia happily praised her brother.
"You could use a different word." Li Changzhou's smile deepened.
Yang Qinglan smiled slightly, put her cup down, and said, "Let's get some rest early."
"I'll wash the cups~" Li Qianxia hummed 'I want to take you to romantic Turkey~♪', happily gathering the plates and cups to wash them at the kitchen sink.
Yang Qinglan stood up, preparing to return the books on the table (some were theirs, some were customers') to the shelves.
"I'll help you." Li Changzhou also stood up.
He held all the books in his arms, handing them one by one to her while Yang Qinglan was responsible for placing them back on the shelves.
"Although," he handed out "Life is Vast" and continued, "we are going to steal—"
"Isn't it to eliminate the Mafia?" Yang Qinglan took "Life is Vast" and looked at him with a smile in her eyes.
"Stealing things." Li Changzhou emphasized once more and continued, "Although we are going to steal, we could also take a look at the sea."
Yang Qinglan placed "Life is Vast" into the 'social novel' category.
"The sea?"
"Yeah." Li Changzhou's voice softened a bit, like the October night, "Ming City isn't by the sea, Prague doesn't have one, Sicily does, shall we go?"