American comic: From Beijing with Love, starting with a mutant.

Stephen Chow was in a great mood after finalizing the production of The Rapids.

At 4:30 pm, just as I strolled back to the 749 Bureau's underground base, a mesmerizing roar came from the small classroom.

"Hello everyone, I'm Mortimer."

"No!" Retired teacher Aunt Li slammed her hand on the table in frustration. "It's 'Hello everyone,' not 'Big monkey!' Put that long tongue back in your mouth! It's a retroflex consonant! Don't you even know what a retroflex consonant is?!"

"Roll...roll...ho—"

Stephen Chow pushed open the door and entered.

The toad-man was sitting upright in front of the desk.

Yellow vertical pupils stared intently at the blackboard, and his outward-turned mouth was painfully making mouth shapes.

The Xinhua Dictionary on the table was wrinkled from being soaked in slime, and a bulging snakeskin bag lay at his feet.

"Ah Qi!"

Upon seeing his savior, the toad-man's tongue nearly bounced off the ceiling in excitement.

"Master Mo, pack your things and come with me." Zhou Xingxing raised his chin.

Whoosh! Mortimer picked up the snakeskin bag and sprang up. His movements were so fast, it was as if staying even a second longer would mean being condemned to eternal damnation.

"Where to?"

"Go back to your workplace. Your coworkers miss you."

After saying that, Stephen Chow first sent the toad man away.

Then he took out a red envelope from his pocket and stuffed it into Aunt Li's hand: "Thank you for your hard work, Aunt Li. The bureau will make up for your emotional distress later."

Aunt Li took the red envelope, felt its thickness, and her expression improved slightly: "Your Master Mo is a good person, it's just that his mouth is too... too unique."

"I understand. Education is a cause that benefits future generations."

......

Walking down the street, the toad-man, clutching a snakeskin bag full of local specialties, looked on incredulously: "Ah Qi... really back to the construction site?"

"Yeah." Stephen Chow said, hands in his pockets, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Old Liu called. The Tiankeng Village Tunnel is about to be completed, and all the workers strongly request that 'Master Mo' return to the team for the ribbon-cutting ceremony."

"A ribbon-cutting ceremony?"

"It's just taking a pair of scissors and snipping it." Stephen Chow patted his rough shoulder. "It symbolizes your transformation from a pariah to a representative of China's advanced productive forces."

The toad-man didn't understand the first part, but he understood the word "representative".

A muffled, silly laugh escaped his throat, and he tightened his grip on his pocket.

Stephen Chow glanced at it and vaguely saw a few packets of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, two packs of Hongtashan cigarettes, a bag of donkey rolls, and a box of Beijing-style snacks.

No?

Why is there solid soy milk?

"Let me give you some sugar before we leave; your tongue must be cramping up these past few days, right?"

"Yes!" The toad-man nodded vigorously. "Um... p and b... really, I can't tell the difference."

The two strolled over to a Hong Kong-style ice cream parlor called "Good Luck".

Steam rose from behind the glass door, and waiters carried milk tea in silk stockings, moving between tables and loudly announcing, "French toast is ready~ Table number three—"

Stephen Chow entered the room.

clack.

The cigarette he had been holding fell to the ground.

The nonchalant, carefree look on his face vanished completely in a fraction of a second.

The toad-man looked down in confusion: "Ah Qi?"

Stephen Chow ignored him, his gaze fixed on the spot by the window.

There sat a woman wearing a black suit, with long, wavy hair hanging over her shoulders.

He held a thin menthol cigarette between his fingers, his back to the door.

Smoke rose from between her fingers, curled around her hair, and drifted into the warm light of the ice room.

That sitting posture...

That shoulder line...

The way that cigarette was held...

Three years.

Three whole years.

He thought he had forgotten.

But that back view, that smoking posture, that slightly tilted head angle.

Every frame is etched into his mind.

"jingle--"

Stephen Chow pushed open the door and rushed over.

"Ah Mei!"

Upon hearing that familiar voice, the woman's shoulders visibly trembled.

But she didn't turn around; only the smoke swirled around her hair.

"You're finally back? Why didn't you contact me? What do you want?"

The tea restaurant was bustling with noise, and Stephen Chow quickly walked around to her from behind.

"What did I do wrong? Tell me, and I'll change."

The once noisy tea restaurant instantly fell silent.

The uncle at the next table quietly put down his pineapple bun.

The two girls diagonally opposite exchanged a look that said, "Oh my god, he's so handsome, but so pitiful."

Just then, the toad-man, still in a daze, vaguely heard someone singing, singing:

For all the pain of clinging to love~

For all the pain of clinging to hatred~

I can no longer distinguish between love and hate.

Is this how it ends?

Amei still didn't turn around.

"You did nothing wrong."

"You've always been good to me. But I don't like you anymore, we're just not right for each other."

"What's wrong with it?"

Stephen Chow panicked: "I can change! I can accommodate you! Whatever you like, I can become the person you want me to be!"

"Accommodate my ass!"

Ah Mei, with her back to Stephen Chow, tilted her head slightly, and her voice also began to tremble:

"One is AM, the other is FM! We're not even on the same channel!"

Our relationship has come to an end!

"Bang!"

She slammed her hand on the table, grabbed her bag, and stormed out of the tea restaurant without looking back.

The wind chimes shook violently.

Stephen Chow stood there, stunned.

He opened his mouth, facing the empty seat, and murmured out half a sentence:

"I can change the channel..."

No one responded.

The ice room returned to its normal noise level.

The spatulas in the kitchen clanged against the iron pots, someone was urging for an order, and someone was on the phone.

The toad-man stood three steps away.

He didn't understand what was going on, but he could tell from Stephen Chow's expression that he was looking at.

Even the invincible Ah Qi can break.

"Ah Qi," the toad-man's voice hesitated, "you...aren't you going to pursue them?"

Stephen Chow didn't move, his eyes filled with melancholy.

Just as Stephen Chow was immersed in sadness and unable to pull himself out—

"Hey! Pretty lady! You haven't paid the bill yet!"

The shop assistant, wearing an apron, stormed out of the store, but Ah Mei had already disappeared.

He was filled with regret at that moment.

You bastard!

Why are you watching this show by yourself?!

Well, now look what happened! Someone skipped out on the bill!

And the boss will deduct money from my pay.

The heartbroken and furious man looked back and a plan came to him!

"Handsome guy!"

The waiter strode over with the bill in his hand and slammed it down in front of Stephen Chow.

"You two know each other, right?"

"That lady hasn't paid for her milk tea and stir-fried beef noodles yet! It's 68 yuan in total, cash or QR code?!"

One second the agent was heartbroken.

The next second, looking at the bill of sixty-eight yuan, his eyes twitched violently twice.

"Sixty-eight?" Zhou Xingxing's voice held a hint of murderous intent: "How much is a serving of stir-fried beef noodles?"

Thirty-eight.

"What about the Hong Kong-style milk tea?"

"twenty."

"What about the remaining ten dollars?"

"Tea fee, young man!" the waiter said matter-of-factly. "You've taken a seat, so you have to pay the tea fee!"

The toad-man watched as his expression changed from pale to ashen, and then from ashen to a deep purple.

He couldn't tell whether Ah Qi was more heartbroken or more distressed about the money.