The Three Nervous Men

"Goodbye." Ma Xiaohong waved and pulled Ao Xiaoya and Dai Xiaomu towards the outside of the crowd.

"Goodbye." Jiang Lan waved her little hand.

Just as the three were about to disappear into the crowd, Jiang Lan suddenly spoke again.

"Oh, right, my three older sisters."

The three of them froze simultaneously.

"Do you know Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and Dai Mubai?" Jiang Lan asked. "They're my friends. I haven't seen them in a long time, and I miss them terribly. If you run into them, please tell them that Little Guga wants them to come visit Honey Snow Ice City sometime."

Ma Xiaohong turned around, her smile already faltering, "N-no, I don't know them. What Ma Hongjun Oscar, Dai Mubai? Never heard of them."

"Oh, that's alright then." Jiang Lan waved her hand.

The three of them practically tumbled and crawled out of the crowd and turned into a nearby alley.

Jiang Lan stood there watching the three figures disappear into the alley, tilting her head slightly.

"Doro." Jiang Lan glanced down at the white ball of fur at her feet. "Those three people, don't they look familiar?"

Doro, with half an Ju Zi dangling from his mouth, tilted his head back, blinked his large purple eyes, and uttered a meaningful "Doro."

The translation is roughly: You not only look familiar, you recognize me.

"I think I recognize them too." Jiang Lan nodded. "Ma Xiaohong, Ao Xiaoya, Dai Xiaomu. These three names are too perfunctory."

Xiao Wu walked over from the side and glanced at the alley entrance following Jiang Lan's gaze. "Do you know those three people?"

"I know them." Jiang Lan nodded. "They were from the Shrek Academy before: Ma Hongjun, Oscar, Dai Mubai."

Xiao Wu was stunned for a moment.

"When did Ma Hongjun become a woman?"

"I don't know." Jiang Lan shrugged. "Anyway, that girl in the light red dress was definitely Ma Hongjun; her smug walk was exactly the same as before. Ao Xiaoya is Oscar, Dai Xiaomu is Dai Mubai."

Xiao Wu remained silent for two breaths.

"Then why don't you expose them?"

"It's pointless to expose him." Jiang Lan grinned, revealing a small canine tooth. "Besides, I'm going to have Sister Zhuqing go and check on him."

Xiao Wu looked at his chubby face, which was full of the look of a triumphant prankster, and shook her head helplessly.

"You're a really bad person."

"That's called strategic laissez-faire," Jiang Lan corrected her, then turned and walked towards Honey Snow Ice City.

When Jiang Lan carried Doro back to the backyard of Honey Snow Ice City, Zhu Zhuqing was sitting under the old locust tree polishing her short sword.

The afternoon sun filtered through the leaves, casting shimmering light on her shoulders and the blade of her sword.

"Sister Zhuqing." Jiang Lan ran over, sat down on the stone bench next to her, and placed Doro on the table. "Dai Mubai wants to see you."

Zhu Zhuqing paused for a moment while wiping her sword, then looked up with a hint of doubt in her eyes. "Dai Mubai wants to see me?"

"Hmm." Jiang Lan nodded, her expression serious. "I ran into him on the street today. He said he hadn't seen you in a long time and wanted to meet you. It's at the Shrek Academy, near his dorm."

Zhu Zhuqing remained silent for a moment before sheathing her short sword.

Why didn't he come by himself?

"It's not convenient for him to go out." Jiang Lan said this without changing his expression.

Zhu Zhuqing glanced at him, finding his words somewhat strange, but didn't think much of it.

Although she and Dai Mubai were engaged, they had been living separate lives for years and had long lost their feelings for each other. It would be good for them to meet and clear things up.

"Alright, I'll go." Zhu Zhuqing stood up, tucked the short sword into her waistband, and walked towards the back gate.

She took two steps, then stopped and looked back at Jiang Lan.

"Are you coming with me?"

"I won't go," Jiang Lan waved her hand. "I still need to check on the Workshop later. Just pass on a message for me: tell him that Little Guga asked him if he wanted to come to Honey Snow Ice City for milk tea."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded, asked no further questions, and pushed open the back door to go out.

Ning Rongrong peeked halfway out of the house, holding a half-open ledger in her hand. She watched Zhu Zhuqing's figure disappear into the alleyway, then turned to look at Jiang Lan.

What did you just say to Zhuqing?

"Dai Mubai wants to see her," Jiang Lan repeated what she had just said.

Ning Rongrong came out of the house and sat down on the stone bench where Zhu Zhuqing had just been sitting. She put the account book on the table and said, "Dai Mubai wants to see her? Why doesn't he come himself? He used to pursue Zhuqing so relentlessly, why is he hiding now?"

Jiang Lan recounted the entire story of how she encountered the three "girls" on the commercial street that day.

Ning Rongrong's expression went from confusion to astonishment, from astonishment to shock, and finally her whole face was contorted.

"What did you say?" Ning Rongrong's voice rose several decibels, "Ma Hongjun, Oscar, Dai Mubai, the three of them dressed in women's clothing and went shopping?"

"Yes." Jiang Lan nodded. "Ma Xiaohong wore a light red dress, Ao Xiaoya wore a pale yellow dress, Dai Xiaomu wore a light blue dress."

Ning Rongrong opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"Dai Xiaomu?" she repeated the name, her shoulders beginning to tremble.

"Yes, he said it himself."

Ning Rongrong's shoulders trembled even more violently.

"Ma Xiaohong, Ao Xiaoya, Dai Xiaomu." She read them out one by one, then collapsed onto the stone table, laughing so hard she couldn't straighten up. "What kind of names are these, hahaha! What was that kid Ma Hongjun thinking? Ma Xiaohong, why didn't he call himself Ma Xiaohua!"

Jiang Lan sat beside her, watching her laugh so hard she almost fell over, and calmly picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"Anything else?" Jiang Lan put down her teacup. "Dai Mubai's voice is much softer than before, and his face is a shade paler. Oscar has lost a lot of weight, and his eyelashes have grown longer."

Ning Rongrong laughed until tears streamed down her face.

"Then why don't you expose them?"

"I almost didn't recognize him," Jiang Lan confessed honestly. "If Ma Hongjun hadn't walked with that same smug attitude as before, I probably would have missed him."

Ning Rongrong lay on the table and laughed for a while, then suddenly looked up, her smile fading.

"Wait, Zhuqing went to find Dai Mubai?"

"Um."

Does she know what Dai Mubai looks like now?

"I don't know." Jiang Lan shook her head. "I just told her that Dai Mubai wanted to see her, that's all."

Ning Rongrong stared at him for a couple of moments, then slowly sat up straight, her expression changing from a smile to a complex, expectant look of anticipation.

"You did it on purpose."

"I didn't," Jiang Lan said innocently.

"You did this on purpose." Ning Rongrong pointed at him. "You made Zhuqing see Dai Mubai's current state just to see Zhuqing's reaction, didn't you?"

Jiang Lan held her teacup, neither confirming nor denying.

Ning Rongrong looked at him for a while, then suddenly laughed and shook her head.

"Alright, I'd also like to know how Zhuqing will react."