Chapter 58:

Below the mask

So What If I'm a Girl


Listening to Lan Du's gluttonous thoughts, the group couldn't help but let out a snicker.They then saw her quickly wipe her saliva away from her mouth before giving a dignified look.

"ahem, sh-shall we get going?"Lan Du said, faking seriousness which no one believed.

"No need to hide it"Yu Rei giggled and patted her back

Lan Du gave her a quick glare and then her expression became a bit shy

"I-I'm just a bit gluttonous, i-its not like eating is all I do"Lan Du said with a flustered expression, her eyes shifted to the side as she began whistling to herself.

Yu Tian laughed

"Well, you seem fired up for it, come, the restaurant across the street is known for its delicacies"Yu Tian laughed cheerfully as he pointed at the restaurant across the street.

There was three words written on the top which said [Gold Wing Restaurant]

Lan Du's eyes widened

'Such a coincidence?'

She took out a golden card and wondered

'I wonder if I can get the special course with this card here as well?'

Lan Du followed Yu Tian into the Gold Wing restaurant, the inside was very well furnished and the designs were unique.The mercenaries looked around in awe as they don't usually come to such high class restaurants.

"Yo, look at these country pumpkins, getting surprised by just the designs, peasants"A laughter came from the side of the restaurant, a middle aged man with a few others laughed when they saw the mercenaries.

One of them was a young man around 18, he had an especially arrogant expression on his face as he laughed at them.

"Country pumpkins like you should get lost"He laughed as he went to the front counter.

He took out a silver card

"I would like the silver road course"The young man said arrogantly as he snickered at them

The attendant was surprised by the card, he gave him a smile

"Right away sir, your room is the eighth one from the hallway"

The young man smiled and smirked at lan Du's group

Yu Tian frowned as he also took out a silver card

"I will also take the silver road course"He said out of annoyance, the young man was just too bothersome, so he wanted to enter their room quickly

"Sir, your group is a bit big so the room will take some time to prepare"The attendant said respectfully

The young man along with his group were shocked, they thought they were special with the silver card yet they didn't expect the people they called country pumpkins to also have that card.

Lan Du thought for a bit and walked over

"Does the cards differentiate between planets?"Lan Du asked the attendantThe attendant gave her a smile and shook his head

"No, all cards are given by the restaurant higher ups so no matter where you go, you may use thsi restaurant's cards"He said respectfully, since Lan Du was with Yu Tian, then he treated lan Du with care

Lan Du clasped her hands

"Fantastic"She said happily as she took out a golden card

"I've missed the Golden Street course, its been over a week since I've last had it"Lan Du placed the card on the table and said

Everything became silent, not only the attendant but also the arrogant man from before.They stared at the golden card on the desk with a shocked and speechless expression.

"Why so quiet?The one I go to is usually quite open about it, don't tell me you don't have it"Lan 

Du's voice became cold as she said

The attendant quickly shook his head

"no no no, I was just surprised, no one has taken out a golden card in many years in this restaurant, you must be from a different plant, our one is relatively new so less people who owns the Golden card comes here, but don't worry, we have prepared everything already for you"The attendant said enthusiastically, he wasn't even like this ffor Yu Tian or the man from before.

Lan Du was surprised

"Already?Didn't you say we have too much people?"

The attendant smiled slyly as he said

"A silver card and a golden card is two different things, you can rent the whole restaurant for a day if you wanted to"

Lan Du nodded

"Alright, lets go, Yu Tian, you're still paying"Lan Du said cheekily

Yu Tian nodded but he had a dazed expression before snapping out.He then began laughing as he patted Lan Du's back.

"Even this old man doesn't have the Golden card, how'd a lad like you get it?"He asked

Lan Du chuckled

"I have my ways"Lan Du then turned her head to the group of men who were previously mocking them.

"Well then, this country pumpkin will go eat my measly food, you can go enjoy your grand feast"Lan Du chuckled and walked into the hallway.

Yuan Min at the side was wondering what Lan Du's background was, if even Yu Tian didn't have something but she did, it certainly wasn't something simple.Even if the Gold Wing restaurant is only a dinner, they have influence all over the civilisation.

'He isn't simple, I really want to see what's below that mask'

Lan Du and the rest entered an extremely large room, there were many tables and each could sit a dozen or so people.Yuan Min glanced at Lan Du's mask and wondered

'If i ruin that mask, he is forced to either use his usual full length mask or nothing, maybe then I can see his face'

Yuan Min took out a small metal pellet, he placed it behind his back as he flicked the pellet.The pellet shot out and struck the wall, immediately bouncing and soon landed on Lan Du's mask.Lan Du had almost no time to react, the pellet took her by surprise and struck the mask.

She immediately chose to instead of dodging, raise her arm to cover her face.The mask flew off her face and broke to bits while her arm covered her face.Yuan Min was taken aback by her reaction speed, he then continued to observe her actions.

Lan Du, while covering her face reached for the full length mask on her bag before wearing it.Yu Rei glanced over.

"We're about to eat, why did you wear something like that?"She asked

Lan Du sighed

"My previous mask broke, I'll just have to bear with it for now"She wasn't sure if it was Yuan 

Min or not, but the chances of it being him for her was very high.

Yuan Min now grew curious, both in what Lan Du looks like and also how she is going to eat like that.

"How are you going to eat then?"Yu Rei asked

Lan Du chuckled

"I am always prepared for this type of situations, ever since the first time, I tried ways to eat without taking off my mask"Lan Du picked up a cup and poured some water for herself.

"Watch carefully"Lan Du said to Yu Rei, Lan Du then held the cup in front of her mask

She then grabbed the bottom of the mask.She then tugged lightly and the bottom off came off like a toy.

"hehehe, I've designed the mask so it can be removed and reattached"Lan Du said with a smileYu Rei tugged her lips

"Tch, I thought it would be a fun trick, boring"

Lan Du laughed and took a sip, realising the taste felt a bit familiar but for some reason, she didn't stop drinking it.

"*hiccup*"Lan Du let out a hiccup and her head swayed a bit

Yuan Min realised something was amiss and checked the jar Lan Du took it from before sighing

"This is wine, that lad just drank wine, he's already drunk"Yuan Min said bitterly

Everyone turned their heads to Lan Du who was swaying around her chair slightly, her head tilted forwards and backwards before she looked around.

"hehehe, there's two colonels!*hiccup*, what are ya all looking at, I'll beat your heads in if you *hiccup* keep looking at me"Lan Du held up her fists and said drowsily

Yuan Min sighed and took the jar away from Lan Du

A thought then came to his mind

"Can I see your face?"He asked Lan Du, taking advantage of the fact that she was drunkLan Du stared at him

"You want to see my face?"Lan Du's eyes were constantly shifting and her cheeks were red

Yu Rei and Yu Tian also looked over, wanting to hear her reply

Lan Du started laughing

"hehehe, you wanna see my face, but I'm not gay, I already have people who would kill me if I had a relationship with someone else *hiccup*, even this little devil is afraid of his little pumpkins"Lan Du laughed as her body swayed even more

Yuan Min was baffled when Lan Du called him gay, Yu Tian snickered and almost laughed by the side.

"w-what does seeing your face have to do with being gay!"He shouted

Lan Du stared at him with unsteady an gaze

"Of course it does, I've been told that I look like a *hiccup* girl when I grew up, *hiccup*, you can yearn for me but you can't be gay for me"Lan Du fiddled with her hair and said softly

pfft

Yu Tian finally couldn't hold it anymore as he burst into laughter

"Yuan Min, who would have thought you'd be in this type of situation someday"Yu Tian laughed

Yuan Min frowned

"I wanted to know what he looks like, a talent like him shouldn't go unnoticed"He said

Lan Du held her cup

"I want another cup!I want more water"She said in a jittery manner

Yuan Min hid the jar and poured her some regular water

Lan DU drank it all up and wiped her mouth

"Little Devil, then can you tell me about your family"Yuan Min asked

Lan Du turned her head and stared at him strangely

"Lusting over me is one thing, now you're even going for my family"Lan Du hugged herself and said with a strange gaze.

Yu Tian laughed even harder, the mercenaries and soldiers also wanted to laugh, but that was 

Yuan Min they would be laughing at.Not some random person from the military.

Yu Rei didn't hold back as she laughed as well

Yuan Min felt that Lan Du's drunk self was much more annoying, but to his own surprise, he didn't feel too bothered about it.

"If you want my older sister, you can step over my dead body, touch my mother and I'll dig out your ancestry graves!"Lan Du shouted out as she leaned back

Everyone fell silent, now they suddenly wanted to know who Lan Du's family were, not to meet but to avoid meeting, if the met them on accident one day, wouldn't Lan Du bring a shovel to their house the next day?!

"You're harsh sometimes, did you know that?"Yuan Min smiled and asked

Lan Du nodded

"I become harsh for my survival, I become a demon to be prepared for pain's arrival, I'll become a monster for the ones around me, but if you think this is harsh, say that to the dead 

I've drowned in the marsh"Lan Du said with a tipsy tone

Yuan Min grew more curious as to what Lan Du has experienced as a child to have such a mature train of thought, even he wasn't this mature at her age.

Before he could ask, a train of people walked into the room with plates of food in their hands.They passed it down to every table until each were filled with food.

Lan Du clasped her hands together and licked the side of her lips.

But then her body froze, she looked around carefully then at Yuan Min

"What did I say just then..."She asked shyly, being the type to snap out of dazes in instants, Lan Du realised she remembered nothing of the last few minutes...

Yuan Min laughed, he realised that Lan Du had sobered up and no longer drunk.

'So he was the type to forget when drunk'

"Nothing, you called me gay and a beast, thats about all"

Lan Du covered her mouth in shock, her eyes filled with fear and guilt

"I-I'm sorry!I can't think straight when I drink"Lan Du said hurriedly

Yuan Min waved his hand

"Its fine"He replied

However, in Lan Du's head, she was happier than ever

'I should try and reenact the drunk scenes, that way I can curse at Yuan Min while being conscious, if I can master the drunk act, then I can curse at whoever I want with minimal consequences'

Lan Du thought to herself and almost let out a giggle if not for the fact that she was still acting guilty in front of Yuan Min.

"Colonel, I must properly apologise for my actions"Lan Du said with determination

Yuan Min chuckled

"I said it's alright, really, even I have problems with alcohol"He said as he tries to comfort her

Lan Du shook her head

"I must take blame for what I have done, if you don't allow me to properly apologise, then I will have to take it upon myself to punish myself"Lan Du said with a serious tone

Yuan Min respected Lan Du's determination

"Alright, then...can I see what you look like?"He asked curiously

Lan Du paused

"It seems you're hard bent on me punishing myself, as you wish"Lan Du said as she averted her eyes from Yuan Min.

Everyone was left speechless, Yuan Min just wanted to see her face, why did she say he wanted her to punish herself?Lan Du chuckled

"Alright, i'll stop messing around, as an apology, I'll take off this mask"Lan Du sighed and said

Yuan Min focused on her face, waiting for her to remove the mask.Yu Tian, Yu Rei and all the mercenaries also stared at her intensly.

Lan Du reached up her hand and grabbed the mask, then she slowly pulled it off.When she took it off, gasps were heard from all direction.

Yu Rei gritted her teeth when the mask was revealed.

"why...why is there another mask underneath!"She shouted in anger

Lan Du giggled and held up a couple more masks in her hand, from thin ones to thick ones, she had many.

"I come prepared, I have a thin layer beneath my main mask for this type of situations, my promise was only to take off the mask, not to reveal my face, why can't I have another mask beneath"Lan Du rubbed her chin and said slickly

Yu Rei pouted and reached her hand out for Lan Du's mask.yuan Min gave a disappointed look as he turned to teh food to start eating slowly.

Lan Du held up her hand and grabbed Yu Rei by the wrist.

"Miss Yu, I would prefer if you don't touch my mask, I have a very sensitive reaction"Lan DU smiled and released her grip.

Yu Rei puffed out her cheeks and turned her head while pouting.Lan Du placed the mask back onto her face and started eating.Her pace seemed steady bt the food disappeared gradually from the table at a much more rapid pace than what it seems.After realising Lan Du's fast eating pace, they the rest immediately began eating as well.

Lan Du's postures in eating were elegant and steady, but the amount of food that disappeared told otherwise.Bit by bit, she finished plates after plates without catching much attention.

"How do you eat so fast?"Yu Rei asked her

"I don't eat fast, but the amount I eat is a different matter"Lan Du said while she finished another plate.

The amount of food she ate even frightened some people, they wondered where all that food went within her small body.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"Yu Rei suddenly asked

Lan Du suddenly started coughing and stared at her

"Why do you ask?"Lan Du asked questionably

Yu Rei thought for a bit before replying with a strange look on her face.She fiddled with her fingers and answered.


"Well, I'm just curious"She said

Lan Du shook her head and sighed

"I don't have a girlfriend, anyways, don't ask such questions again, I feel embarrassed just thinking about it"Lan Du said while she thought about the 'a' part of her sentence.

Technically she had two, so she can't be considered ling.However, saying that she like two people would make her sound unfaithful and give people a negative opinion.

Hearing Lan Du's reply, Yu Rei thought for a moment before asking again

"Then multiple?"

pfft

Lan Du once again started coughing, she then stared at Yu Rei with a strange glare.