Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian and the elfins were full, burping and wiping their mouths, beaks, and claws with paper towels. On the ground, there was a messy pigeon bone.
Leaving garbage on foreign land and causing a mess to foreign people was not what a dignified tourist did. He wanted to tidy up, but when he looked up, he noticed that a few stray dogs were not far away, smelling the smell and looking at it eagerly. He was sure they would solve the garbage problem for him.
At that moment, his phone rang. It was a message in the expedition WeChat group.
Gao Ke: @The Hottie, we want to go sightseeing with Jack. Are you going?
Zhang Zian pondered it for a while and thought, why not? It was not bad to go sightseeing. The most important thing was to connect with his companions, just like all kinds of collective activities at a university. Maybe you preferred to play games in the dormitory, but if you kept staying in the room all the time, you probably could not even recognize all the students in your class. It would be better to thicken your skin and take part in them.
Following this, he would spend some time with his companions. It would be good to get to know each other better. Plus there was Jack, who could be a local guide.
So he replied, “I’m going. Where are you? I’m next to the Khan el-Khalili Market now. Where can I go to meet up with you guys?”
After waiting a while, he received a response.
Gao Ke: We discussed it for a while. Just stay there. We will be going to find you—Jack also suggested that we walk around the Khan el-Khalili Market. Wait for a while. We’ll take a taxi over, so we’ll reach you quickly.
Zhang Zian sent a location in the group, and then he told the elfins about the team members and Jack’s arrival. He told Richard not to talk too much, because that b*tch bird was crazy when people came. The more people there were, the more fearless it was, and the more likely it would make trouble.
The elfins had just finished their meal and were happy to wait for a while, to digest their food.
They waited in the shade for around ten minutes, and two worn-out taxis stopped in front of him.
Gao Ke and the rest got out one after another. Wei Kang did not follow them. He had probably stayed in the hotel to rest and liaise with people. Jack was responsible for negotiating fares because Egyptian taxi drivers also liked to cheat tourists out of their money. There were normally two sets of meters in the taxi. One was for local people and the other was for cheating tourists. If the passengers were not fluent in Arabic, or could not be thick-skinned and bargain cheaply, they would pay at least three times in extra fare.
“Wah! So this is the Khan el-Khalili Market! How great!”
As soon as He He jumped out of the car, she took pictures and selfies with her mobile phone. Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu, the two boys, also looked at the vast and busy market curiously, and glanced at their mobile phones from time to time, trying to be the first liker of He He’s posts in her friend circle.
Zhang Zian looked at the way He He was dressed, and he could not help but frown.
He He was keenly aware of his eyes but did not take it seriously. She was used to gazes from men. Although Zhang Zian never gave in to her, he was just a man.
“Hey, your clothes are too exposing. Go back and change into something else,” Zhang Zian could not help but say.
It turned out that He He felt the temperature was so hot that she’d gone out wearing a pair of shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt. Her white legs were moving until they were dazzling.
This kind of dressing was no problem at home and would not be a problem in developed countries in Europe and the United States, but in the Middle East, the problem was bigger.
No woman in the Khan el-Khalili Market was as exposed as she was—not to mention the local women who covered their bodies tightly. Most foreign women tourists still wore proper clothes, at least three-quarters pants and short-sleeved shirts, even when they were hot.
He He made a few poses and took selfies, drawing some strange gazes.
“What is it? What’s wrong with my clothes?” she asked unhappily.
Zhang Zian pointed around randomly. “Do you see anyone dressed like you? You may arouse the criminal desires and impulses of the local people.”
When He He heard, she immediately raised her eyebrows. “How us women dress, it’s our own power. Why should we blame women for men’s dirty thoughts and actions?”
Her hands were on her hips, and her voice was very loud, like she wanted to fight.
At this time, Jack and the driver of two taxis finished negotiating the fare, heard the noise, and looked back at He He’s clothes. He was startled.
“Miss… No, it seems that we can’t call people Miss in China. Then… Madam? That doesn’t seem to work either. Madam sounds very old. That’s… Big sister?” he stammered.
The inadvertent humorous lines cooled the tension of people brandishing swords at each other, and everyone present could not help laughing.
Jack’s Chinese was good, and his regular conversation was especially fluent, but he obviously lacked practical experience. When he needed to use it flexibly, he revealed his lack.
Jack, a person of mixed blood with big eyes and bushy eyebrows, had He He feeling good towards him. She laughed and said, “Just call me Xiao He.”
Jack looked around nervously and said, “Xiao He, you can’t wear that. You’d better wear more clothes.”
He He frowned unhappily. “Why do you say that? I know that women in the Arab world have very few rights, but I am not an Arab woman. I don’t even have the right to dress myself?”
Jack waved his hand in a panic. “No, you don’t understand… Here, the men here are all… Thirsty? Yearning? Hunger and thirst?”
Zhang Zian said more directly, “Do you think that you are the only smart person in the whole world? That the other foreign women tourists don’t dress like you because they are all silly?”
“You… Why are you speaking like that?” He He heard the irony in his words and spoke angrily.
Gao Ke felt a headache coming on. Wei Kang was not here. He was theoretically the deputy leader of this team. He had the responsibility to maintain unity within the team. But Zhang Zian and He He had seemed not to be getting along from the beginning. How could they maintain unity this way?
He felt that what Zhang Zian had said was not unreasonable. He He’s outfit was indeed a little too exposing, but what He He had said seemed to be more reasonable—women had the right to choose how to dress. It was not breaking the law. What right did other people have to control that?
Furthermore, he felt that…He He’s outfit looked quite good. His gaze could not help floating towards her upper thighs.
So he took an attitude to patch up a quarrel and reconcile and said, “Forget it. Stop quarreling—it doesn’t matter. Look, there are so many grown men here. When we go to the market in a moment, we will surround Xiao He. We can just wander around a while, and then we’ll leave. I’m sure nothing will happen.”
The fat Xiao Tianyu held the same view, while Du Xuetao was silent and did not comment.
Zhang Zian shook his head helplessly. “Then I’ll just let you do whatever you want.”
