Tuesday, continued …

Hou Yi and Anna Jones stepped back into the foyer of the Civil Administration Bureau, however now they were a married couple.

Hou Yi reached over and took Anna’s hand. He then leaned over and quietly said “I think we should leave as soon as we can. I do not want to run into Lu Jinhu and Yang Lin and I do not believe you will either.”

Anna, simply nodded for Hou Yi to see. They walked across the foyer and exited the Civil Administration Bureau. Once they were outside, Hou reached into a pocket, pulled out his mobile telephone turned it on and called Assistant Wang. When his call was answered he said, “Assistant Wang, can you please meet us where you dropped me off in say 5 minutes,” before terminating the call and returning the phone back to his pocket.

In turning to Anna, Hou Yi said, “My assistant Wang Long is going to meet us, just past where we met in around 5 minutes. Where have you been staying, so we can go and collect your belongings?”

Anna calmly indicated “The Key Plaza Hotel”. Anna paused for a couple of seconds and the continued, “I hope that Lu Jinhu and Yang Lin are not there as I do not think that I can face them.”

“It will be inevitable at some time that we will run into them. We should not delay things, just because we might run into them. All you need to go is get out of there so they cannot locate you, and that is a better protection. Once we have collected your belongings there is a few things we need to do.”

Hou YI reached down and took Anna’s left hand in his right hand, lifting it up and saying “We need to remove this, and replace it with that we both like. Plus we need to arrange for matching wedding rings, as I will wear one, unlike I guess Lu Jinhu.”

“Yes” was Anna’s somewhat quite response.

“Just so you know one of the stops will be Feng’s Jewellers, to pick your engagement and wedding rings, and my wedding ring. The rings will be what you like. I want people to know that I am married, they just do not need to know who I am married to, unless you want me to tell them.”

Hou Yi removed Lu Jinhu’s engagement ring and handed it to Anna. She placed it in a secure pocket in her handbag. For Anna, its removal felt strange, however she realised that that ring represented the journey that had taken her to this point. The outcome of that journey, whether good or bad, was still to be determined.

Hou Yi and Anna, walked quickly across the plaza, without sighting Lu Jinhu or Yang Lin, for which they were grateful, as they did not want to deal with them. They rounded the corner and went past where Anna had knocked Hou Yi off his feet. Anna spots a Mercedes ahead of them with a person standing by it. As soon as he spots Hou Yi he opens the back door to the vehicle and when they arrive, he bows to both of them.

“Young Master, Young Madam, please let me be the first to congratulate you on your marriage.”

Anna looked at Hou Yi strangely, and he realised she was confused at the address from Assistant Wang.

“Anna, this is my Assistant Wang Long. He has worked with my family from around the time I was born. Initially this was as a driver, but he migrated into the family company, before he ended up as my father’s assistant. When my father retired, Assistant Wang became my assistant. As he called my father ‘First Master’ and my now deceased uncle ‘Second Master’, he has taken to calling me ‘Young Master’ particularly when he act as a driver, despite me telling him otherwise. I guess in cases like this you will be called Young Madam, given you are my wife.”

Hello Mr Wang”, came Anna’s response, once Hou Yi explained why he called her Young Madam.

“Please Young Madam, call me Assistant Wang, otherwise I think you will be looking for someone else.”

“OK Assistant Wang, but please forgive me if I slip up.”

With that, Assistant Wang turned to Hou Yi, and asked “Where to Young Master?”

“The Key Plaza Hotel, where my wife had been staying. We need to collect her belongings before we do anything else.”

With that Hou Yi helped Anna into the vehicle and sat beside her. Once he was in the vehicle Assistant Wang, walked around and got behind the wheel to drive them to the Key Plaza Hotel.