Elder brother's garrison

Page 1825

"Well."

"..." Xiao Bai tilted his head back and drank Veneto's coffee in one gulp. Then, holding the empty coffee cup, he smiled at Veneto and said, "So, Veneto."

"Ok?"

"Although we can't go to your house together today, would you like to come with me to Miss Luming's company?" Xiaobai asked.

“…Me?” Veneto was clearly taken aback by Xiaobai’s words and was quite surprised.

"Yes."

"...Won't my going cause trouble for the Admiral?"

"No way, you're a mature adult," Xiaobai praised Veneto. "I feel very reassured with you by my side."

“…Ahem, you’re right.” Veneto blushed at Xiaobai’s words. She coughed lightly and then nodded. “Since you’ve said so, Admiral, if you don’t mind, I can go with you.”

"Great."

"Are you finished your coffee? Give me the cup." Veneto took the cup from Xiaobai's hand and walked into the room. "I'll get you another cup, Admiral."

"Ah, I'll go too."

"It's just a cup of coffee...no need to come together."

"It's okay, let's chat and take a walk together."

"..."

Xiao Bai and Veneto chatted and laughed as they walked into the villa.

After the two disappeared, the grassland outside the house was quiet.

A while passed.

Boom boom boom boom...

Roma, panting heavily, ran back to the door, dragging a dozen tires around her neck. She stopped in front of the villa gate, out of breath, bent over, and leaned on her knees, gasping for air.

"Phew... 500 laps... 500 laps done... Big Sister... Is Big Sister's warm-up over for today... Shouldn't it be time for the next event...?"

"Huh...huh..."

"Sister-in-law?"

"Hey? Big Sister? Are you there?"

Sweating profusely, Roma looked up, bewildered, at the empty surroundings.

A cold wind blew by.

Rome couldn't help but shiver and hugged his shoulders.

……

Time quickly passed and it was after breakfast.

After the ship girls in the villa woke up and had breakfast in the lobby on the first floor, the deep-sea deans packed their things and left the villa for work ahead of Missouri and Lexington.

After seeing off the abyssal deans, the remaining ship girls focused all their energy on Shiro and Luming.

The ship girls only had a vague understanding of yesterday's treatment and surgery. In addition, Xiaobai had not shown up since the treatment ended, so the ship girls were naturally very curious about it. Now that they had finally caught up with Xiaobai, they were unwilling to let go and asked Xiaobai and Luming a lot of strange questions.

After Xiaobai satisfied the ship girls' thirst for knowledge, it was already 10 a.m. before they knew it.

It's almost time to visit Luming Company.

After packing her things, Xiaobai left the villa with Luming and her bodyguard Veneto, amidst the farewells of the ship girls.

Speaking of which, before leaving the villa, Xiaobai specifically asked Yubari and the female hearth goddess about the treatment of Luming. They had also contributed a lot to the process. If Luming Company wanted to thank Xiaobai, it wouldn't be unreasonable for Xiaobai to take them along as well.

However, after hearing about this, Yubari and the female hearth god seemed to have no intention of going to the Rokumei Company to accept their thanks.

As for the compensation...

Even among newbie naval bases, Yubari and Vesta are among the wealthiest ship girls, and they certainly don't have such worldly thoughts.

Since Yubari and the female hearth goddess were unwilling to go, Shiro naturally wouldn't force them.

Leave the villa.

Xiao Bai and his group got into a taxi and arrived at the gate of Luming Company.

Perhaps because the agent had informed everyone in the company in advance about Lu Ming's recovery, when Xiao Bai and his group arrived at the entrance of Lu Ming's company, the work area was already packed with employees. The work area was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and a group of employees were holding small celebratory props such as confetti, looking excited and ready for action.

The moment Xiaobai and his group walked into the company and arrived in the lobby.

"The Deer Cry!!!"

"Miss Luming!!! Welcome back!!!"

"Warmest congratulations to Ms. Lu Ming on her recovery!!!"

"Clap clap clap clap—"

Upon seeing Lu Ming, the employees erupted in enthusiastic cheers. Instantly, the gargoyle hanging from the ceiling opened, scattering golden confetti. The employees then pulled the rings on their hands, spraying colorful ribbons at Xiao Bai and his group as they entered.

Before Xiaobai and his group could even stand still in the hall, more than a dozen slender figures rushed out from the crowd.

"Woo-woo-woo, the deer's cry! The little deer's cry!!"

"You're finally back! Waaaaaah!!!"

"..."

The figures rushing out of the crowd at this moment were the girls from the makeup team that Lu Ming had risked her life to save. These girls hadn't seen each other for a while, and their faces looked noticeably haggard. They looked at Lu Ming with tears in their eyes, crying their hearts out. They rushed to Lu Ming, hugged her tightly, and cried loudly in her arms.

"Waaaaah, Little Deer, we were so worried about you!"

"We really want to visit you, but that jerk of a manager keeps stopping us from going!"

"Your agent is a bad guy! He didn't even tell us which hospital you're in, waaaaaah!"

"I thought I'd never see you again in this lifetime, waaaaaah!!!"

"Little Deer, I'm so scared, I'm really so scared, waaaaahh ...

"..."

The makeup team girls hugged Lu Ming tightly, feeling the warmth emanating from him, and burst into tears as if they were afraid he would disappear. For a moment, their cries drowned out the cheers of the other employees in the hall, leaving a group of staff members holding celebratory props awkwardly frozen in place.

Lu Ming looked at the girls who rushed in front of her, smiled slightly at them, reached out and gently rubbed their heads, comforting them one by one.

Behind Lu Ming, Xiao Bai and Veneto watched the scene before them.

"Admiral, is Miss Luming on good terms with these people?" Veneto secretly approached Xiaobai and whispered to her.

“Yes, these ladies are all makeup artists personally selected by Miss Lu Ming…” Xiao Bai nodded with emotion, her gaze sweeping over the other employees in front of her. “I heard from the agent that their relationship is as strong as that of real sisters.”

“That’s quite rare.” Veneto crossed his arms, slightly surprised.

In Veneto's mind, there has always been some distance between ship girls and humans other than the admiral, and examples like Shikamei who have fully integrated into human society are indeed quite rare.

Seeing that Lu Ming had recovered, her makeup artists were naturally overjoyed.

The makeup artists practically dragged Lu Ming out of the crowd and squeezed him into the dressing room.

Just as Xiaobai was about to catch up with the makeup artists and Lu Ming, she and Veneto suddenly felt the employees around them marching towards them, completely surrounding them.

"Admiral Lu Lin! I heard from your agent that you were the one who saved Miss Lu Ming!"

"As expected of the Admiral, your methods are truly extraordinary! What the city hospital couldn't do, you cured like a minor ailment!"

"Admiral Lu Lin, you are our company's greatest benefactor!"

"..."

The employees made no secret of their admiration for Xiaobai.

Faced with the smiling faces of his employees, Xiao Bai waved his hand with a wry smile: "It was nothing, nothing at all... It's nothing to mention."

Xiao Bai's humble demeanor naturally drew cheers from the employees present once again.

"Admiral Lu Lin! You are our god!!!"

"..."

Xiao Bai scratched his cheek with a wry smile, looking at the excited expressions on his employees' faces.

Just as the employees were cheering excitedly, several more figures pushed through the crowd and came to Xiaobai.

Xiaobai looked up and realized that she didn't recognize the person who appeared in front of her at all.

Most of these people were middle-aged, some robust, some thin, and there were also some slightly older people, some kind, some dignified, some with white hair—in short, all kinds of people.

Xiao Bai's gaze swept over the badges on their chests, and he realized that the people who had appeared were all leaders of Lu Ming Company.

"Admiral Lu Lin, it's a pleasure to meet you!" A dignified middle-aged man stepped forward from the center of the crowd. His imposing features turned to Xiao Bai, and for a moment, a smile of excitement, incongruous with his usual demeanor, appeared on his face. "I am the chairman of this company. My surname is Chen; you can call me Xiao Chen. Our artist Lu Ming's treatment this time was truly made possible by your help. Please come with us to the conference room to rest! Regarding the compensation for this treatment, our company has a well-established procedure, and we hope you will allow us to explain it to you!"

"No need to be so polite, no need..." Xiaobai glanced in the direction where Lu Ming disappeared, then raised her hands and waved to the leadership in front of her, "Um... regarding compensation and such, you can just have Miss Lu Ming's agent contact me directly..."

"How can that be! Admiral Lu Lin, you are our great benefactor! How can we show our sincerity if we don't do this!"

"Sincerity..."

"Yes! You not only saved Lu Ming's life, you also saved our company! Lu Ming's importance to our company is self-evident!"

The leaders all looked at Xiaobai with excited expressions.

"Ah...haha..." Xiaobai looked at the person in front of him and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Chapter 2519 Replicating the Deer's Cry

However, it was difficult to refuse such hospitality. Looking at the smiling faces of all the employees of Luming Company, even Xiaobai couldn't bring himself to say anything about leaving. So he could only let the leadership of Luming Company invite him and Veneto into a private conference room and give them a very polite welcome.

Not long after entering the conference room, before Xiaobai could even settle in, the man in the center of the leadership group clapped his hands in the air. Then, the door on the other side of the conference room opened wide, and a group of voluptuous, beautiful women in cheongsams, carrying various exquisite tea sets and exuding the fragrance of flowers, came to Xiaobai.

"Admiral Lu Lin, this is a Da Hong Pao tea that our company recently acquired from a tea collector. It's the highest quality!" The middle-aged manager surnamed Chen bowed and scraped to Xiao Bai, introducing it politely. "We heard that you have some knowledge of tea ceremony, so we specially prepared it for you. We hope you like it!"

As soon as the leader surnamed Chen finished speaking, the older women surrounding Xiaobai began to pour tea and water for her.

As the older girls moved with practiced ease, a rich, tea-like aroma quickly filled the air.

"Ah..." Xiao Bai stared blankly at the girls in front of her, then cast a questioning look at the leader surnamed Chen. "Uh... this... Da Hong Pao? Is it for me?"

"Yes!" said the leader surnamed Chen, looking excited.

"..." Xiaobai withdrew her gaze, looking in confusion at the brown tea that the older girls were turning over and over in their hands.

These people just said they know a bit about the tea ceremony, are they sure they're talking about themselves...?

Xiaobai doesn't like drinking tea at all.

Rather, the only tea Xiaobai can drink now, besides the high-calorie milk tea sold on the street for a dozen yuan a bottle, is the sweet tea that Lexington specially ordered for him.

Things like profound tea ceremony, Tieguanyin, Biluochun, and Da Hong Pao... those are all elegant drinks that are very far removed from what novices like us can enjoy now.

"Um... how did you find out that I know a little about tea ceremony?" Xiao Bai thought to himself and couldn't help but ask the leader surnamed Chen.

"Isn't this the consensus in the industry?" The leader surnamed Chen was taken aback.

"Huh? Consensus?"

"Yes, Director Chen... you mean Director Chen who's in charge of managing the ship girl group." The leader surnamed Chen said to Xiaobai, "He recently received a top-of-the-line tea set from you. That tea set has really brought honor to Director Chen's family. Whenever friends visit, he makes a point of taking it out and bragging about it! As the saying goes, true friends are hard to find. Someone who can give Director Chen such a precious tea set must be no ordinary person! Don't you think so?"

After the leader surnamed Chen finished speaking, he and the others behind him looked at Xiaobai with admiration.

"Uh..." Xiaobai felt immense pressure from the expectant gazes of this group of people.

However, it was only at this moment that Xiaobai realized what was going on—Xiaobai had indeed heard Lexington tell her that after she came to Cloud City, she seemed to have taken the Deans of the Deep Sea to give Director Chen a gift... So that gift was given in her own name?

It seems like it's created a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings...

"I didn't expect you guys to be so interested in my news..." Xiao Bai didn't know how to explain to the leaders in front of him, so he could only give a wry smile.

"Hey! Look at what you're saying!" The leader surnamed Chen slapped his thigh. "What do you mean we're paying special attention to you! Your deeds have spread throughout the entire industry! Isn't the hottest ship girl group on the market right now under your command? Plus, there's your admiral status, and the fact that you helped us treat Lu Ming's patients. It's hard for us not to pay attention to you!"

"Cough cough cough!" Xiaobai lowered his head awkwardly and coughed.

"Admiral Lu Lin? Are you feeling unwell? Quick, quick, what are you standing there for? Quickly give Admiral Lu Lin a back massage to help her catch her breath!" As soon as the leader surnamed Chen saw Xiao Bai coughing, he immediately raised his big hand and waved to the older women around Xiao Bai with an urgent expression.

The older women behind Xiaobai put down their tea sets, floated over to Xiaobai's side, and gently patted her back.

"Admiral Lu Lin, how are you?"

"Admiral Lu Lin, just relax your breathing a little."

"Admiral Lu Lin, is this force sufficient?"