Chapter 18.3:
The same people who came to buy breakfast are quite a lot.
This kind of street side shop never cared about any queues, and even the customers who bought the buns were acquaintances. They waited for the boss to steam the buns for them while chatting happily.
Lian Xi gradually stopped walking.
Lie Chen looked at him strangely, “Hmm?”
Lian Xi was silent, continuing to watch this perfectly normal scene.
Lie Chen raised an eyebrow, “Is there something wrong?”
Lian Xi shook his head, “Have you ever seen the lives of ordinary people?”
“I’m Hei Wu Chang, I just came out of hell to take up my post.”
“Oh that’s right, I’m sorry.” Lian Xi reached out and pointed at the people who were laughing and chatting and waiting for their buns, “Many years ago, I was among them. With my father, and my grandfather.”
Lie Chen: “And where are they now?”
Lian Xi smiled, “Gone.”
Lie Chen: “Don’t want you anymore?”
Lian Xi: “???”
You, this Hei Wu Chang, look at the way you talk!
Lian Xi: “Dead.”
Lie Chen: “Oh.” He took out the Wu Chang certificate and turned to the last page in order to show it to Lian Xi: “Since ancient times, who never die? So to end one’s suffering by dying quickly and being reincarnated is good.”
Lian Xi: “….”
You, believe it or not, (if not) I will beat you to death!
The youth was overflowing with rage, as if he could rush up and give himself a punch the next second. However, this vivid and lively appearance was very different from the false and perfunctory one before, and finally became a bit more genuine and meaningful. Lie Zong smiled faintly, his lips hooking into an imperceptibly tiny arc.
Soon after, Lian Xi whispered, “He’s done buying.”
Only to see the young guy in front of the bun shop holding a bag of deep fried breadsticks and a bag of soya bean milk, very happily turned around and walked towards the gate of the district.
The two of them watched his distant back and waited until he walked a little farther away and the two of them could follow him, the two of them had only just taken a step when they coincidentally stopped in their tracks.
Lian Xi’s gaze turned to the doorway of the steamed bun shop, looking towards a middle-aged man who had just taken the deep fried breadsticks and soya bean milk at the same time as the young guy, but turned around and walked in the opposite direction to him.
A moment ago, the young guy at the opposite door turned to the west after having breakfast.
This middle-aged man in a suit, however, turned towards the east.
It was as if something had overlapped at the moment they took the breakfast, and as if something suddenly separated when they each turned.
The middle-aged man had already walked far away with breakfast.
Lian Xi hesitated for a moment and was about to say, “Should we follow them?”, but the man beside him had already taken a step.
After a few steps, Lie Zong turned back and raised his eyebrows, “Go?”
Lian Xi froze and quickly followed.
The middle-aged man was carrying soya bean milk in his left hand and a large bag of deep fried breadsticks in his right hand, and his footsteps were quick as he walked through the crowd. In fact, there were quite a few middle-aged men like him who went out to buy breakfast, but he was the strangest one. Not because of anything else, just because he was wearing a custom-made suit that looked very high-class.
The cuffs were fine and flat, and the hem was well-trimmed. Under the sunlight, the high-class material glowed with a reflective dark light. This outfit and the pair of high-class crocodile shoes revealed only one word: expensive!
However, he was holding a soya bean milk and deep fried breadsticks with both hands!
How does it look that such a successful middle-aged man should be sitting in the buffet restaurant of a fancy hotel, leisurely sipping his coffee and drinking his morning tea? Or perhaps sitting in a brightly lit penthouse office with a tray of breakfast served by a secretary.
This effect, simply a crane in a flock of chickens (idiom); way above the common.
Lian Xi and him followed behind this middle-aged man and watched as he carried a plastic bag of deep fried breadsticks and soya bean milk…. and sat on a Mercedes Benz!
Lian Xi: “….”
Lie Chen turned his head to look at him: what kind of expression is this?
Lian Xi’s heart was tired.
You, this country bumpkin who just climbed up from hell, know what is called a big Benz! What do you mean by AMG top of the line!
Although Lian Xi didn’t understand why a successful person who drove a million-dollar luxury car would run to a roadside shop just to buy breakfast. But that didn’t stop him from realizing that there was definitely something wrong with this middle-aged man!
Rush to stop a taxi.
Lian Xi: “Catch up with that Mercedes in front.”
The taxi driver looked the two of them up and down: “What, are you stars? Filming a film, where’s the camera? This doesn’t look like it either.”
Lian Xi: “Eh, the person in the car in front of us is our dad, we suspect that he went to a hotel to look for a mistress (Xiao San).”
The taxi driver instantly smiled with understanding, “Alright, let’s go, I promise you guys will be able to catch up.”
Lie Zong’s eyes gesture: what is Xiao San?
Lian Xi nodded, ‘Are you hungry?’ The eyes responded: Wait to catch up that person then I’ll buy you food.
Lie Zong also understood: so you guys, mortals call ghosts Xiao San (the mistress or other woman).
Lian Xi: Just eat the buns!
The two gave each other a chicken speaking with a duck [talking without communicating] look, then looked at each other and smiled —— having quite a tacit understanding.
The Mercedes Benz performance, of course behind these two cars a few streets away. The cleverest housewife can’t cook a meal without rice—You can’t make bricks without straw. In this morning rush hour traffic jams, the value of millions of big Ben is useless, the simple taxy relaxedly passed over, not far, not close but still following.
So after half an hour, the car stopped in front of a high-grade office building.
Taxi driver: “Huh, this is not a hotel either.”
Lian Xi: “….”
The next moment, the youth showed shame and righteous indignation, “He actually dared to openly look for a mistress in the company!”
The taxi driver showed a sympathetic look and held out his hand with no less than a cent: “Fifty-two, WeChat Alipay?”
Lian Xi: “…. Alipay.”
After paying, the car ran away in a puff of smoke, and the driver’s disdainful laughter was heard in the wind: “Small sample, still want to make up a story to make me sympathise with you and charge less for the car?”
Lian Xi: “…..”
You have a lot of drama!
After catching up with the middle-aged man, Lian Xi and Lie Zong could not enter the company.
This kind of high-class office building all need to swipe the door card to enter, the two can only sit in the lobby on the ground floor to see if they can find a chance to mix up. However, this time, they didn’t have to wait too long, the middle-aged man came downstairs after twenty minutes. Beside him was a man wearing glasses and a secretary-like man, the two of them talked while getting into the big Benz again.
Lian Xi hurriedly stopped another taxi, he spoke expressionlessly, “Follow that Mercedes in front, we’re together, the car won’t fit.”
This time, the taxi driver was not a drama queen, he gave Lian Xi a look of “I am a taxi driver, why are you talking so much nonsense to me?”. The driver stepped on the accelerator and chased after him.
For the whole day, Lian Xi and Lie Zong chased after the middle-aged man, almost running through half of Suzhou City.
This middle-aged man did not know what kind of work he did, and went to three office buildings in one day, constantly going up and down. Every time he went in and out, there were people who came downstairs specifically to pick up and drop off.
When this middle-aged man came out of the third office building, Lian Xi hurriedly bent down to hide. Glancing at the side of Lie Zong who was standing upright and coldly scanning the middle-aged man, Lian Xi frowned and hurriedly held the man down.
Lie Zong: “….Hn?”
Lian Xi: “Be careful not to be discovered.”
Not far away, the male secretary looked around and turned back, “Gao Zong, the car hasn’t come yet, I’ll go check the situation, you wait a little.”
The middle-aged man called Gao Zong lifted his wristwatch and looked at the time, “It’s fine, it’s five o’clock, you get off work, Xiao Wang.”
“Gao Zong?”
The middle-aged man smiled, “I’ll go to the cafe next to me to have a seat, just get off work. Have the car go straight back to the company, I’ll go home by myself.”
“Okay Gao Zong.”
The middle-aged man walked towards a Starbucks on the roadside with big strides.
After a minute, Lian Xi and Lie Chen also walked in.
The middle-aged man ordered a cup of coffee and sat by the window. Lian Xi ordered a cup of coffee each for himself and Lie Chen as well, and he pretended to casually pass by the middle-aged man’s table and came to sit at the table next to him.
The coffee echoed with the sound of gentle music, Lian Xi quietly surveyed the middle-aged man on the side, while Lie Zong wasn’t too interested in the middle-aged man, he looked down at the black liquid in front of him, pondered for a long time, and picked it up to take a sip…
Lie Zong: “….”
Meng Po Soup (potion given to souls by the goddess Meng Po Mèngpó [孟婆] before they are reincarnated that makes them forget their previous existence) is even sweeter than this!
Time passed by, Lian Xi’s fingers gently rubbing the wall of the coffee cup.
Just when all of Lie Zong’s patience was exhausted and he was about to take out the golden booklet with a flip of his palm, the middle-aged man laughed softly, and his steady, calm voice rang out, “You guys have been following me for a day, so tell me, what’s the project? Now that I have time, I can listen to you guys.”
Lie Zong slowly raised his head, his deep, dark eyes sweeping towards the middle-aged man at the side.
Lian Xi also froze, then he understood and his brain worked quickly, “You found us out a long time ago?”
The middle-aged man laughed: ”I’ve seen and invested in many young people like you. Looking at your appearance, you are quite young, you just graduated from university, right? It’s normal for young people to be impulsive and enterprising, wanting to start a business. However, I always think that everyone should not waste their talent.”
Lian Xi: “Talent?”
The middle-aged man’s eyes swept over Lian Xi and Gao Zong’s faces and laughed, “You guys are more suitable to enter the entertainment industry.”
Lian Xi: “….”
Lie Zong: “Showbiz?”
Middle-aged man: “Yes, it’s probably the fastest way for you guys to make money. Don’t look at me with that look, young man, making money is never wrong, who in this world doesn’t love money.”
Looking at the middle-aged man’s seemingly mature, having experienced the hardships of life and confident smile, after a moment, Lian Xi: “Do you love money? I always think that a person who would go to a street side shop to buy breakfast should not be that profiteer.”
The hand holding the coffee abruptly stopped, and the middle-aged man turned his head to look at Lian Xi. After a few seconds, he laughed helplessly, “So you guys have been following me since that time.”
…..
Pulling the chairs over, the three of them sat at a table.
The middle-aged man laughed, “My surname is Gao, you guys should have known that already, just call me Gao Zong. Speak up, what is the purpose of following me since this morning? Do you have any projects, tell me and listen, if it’s good I can consider investing in it. I’ve followed a lot of angels and invested in startups, and seed projects as well.”
Lian Xi: “We don’t have a project.”
Gao Zong was a bit surprised: “Eh?”
Lian Xi: ”It’s like this, my friend and I live in the neighbourhood near that bun shop, and we saw you go to buy breakfast. After all, it’s a bit…strange for you to wear this outfit and then appear in a place like that. So we got curious and wanted to know what was going on.”
Gao Zong: “You guys followed me all day just because you were curious?”
Lian Xi: “Shouldn’t young people be curious.”
Gao Zong smiled, “You’re a somewhat interesting young man, if you have a project, I’ll definitely vote for you. To be honest, I don’t talk to everyone, but you two, you make me feel a bit familiar. It seems like I’ve seen you guys somewhere.” After a pause, he said, “Later, I’ll get another cup of coffee.” Saying that, he raised his hand and said in a loud voice, “Waiter.”
The waiter quickly ran over, “Can I help you, sir.”
Gao Zong: “Another cup of black coffee.”
“Sir, this one requires you to pay the bill at the bar in person.”
The middle-aged man didn’t have any stance at all, Lian Xi thought he would just tip the waiter and ask him to get it for him, who would have thought that he would stand up and nod to the waiter with a smile, “Okay, sorry, I rarely come here.” Then, turning back to Lian Xi, he said, “I’m going to get a cup of coffee, wait a moment.”
After the middle-aged man left, Lian Xi saw the coffee in front of Lie Zong that he had only taken a sip of. He thought for a moment and took a few bags of white granulated sugar from the table. Tearing open the paper bag, he poured the fine white sugar into the coffee and stirred it well.
Lian Xi: “Try again?”
Lie Chen gave him a look.
Lian Xi: “Try it.”
Lie Chen reached for his coffee cup and took a shallow sip ….
Eh? Not bad at all?
Lian Xi smiled.
The mobile phone in his pocket buzzed twice, Lian Xi took out his phone and opened WeChat.
[Property agent Xiao Liu: Mr Lian, I’m sorry I didn’t find out the information about the opposite door of your house yesterday, but I found it today. The opposite neighbor house was bought eight years ago, the buyer’s surname is Gao. I don’t know if it’s been rented out again, but there’s something going on across the street from your house, but don’t worry, it’s not a murder house. I’ve sent you the specific information, so check it out.
[Property agent Xiao Liu: [Information]]
Lian Xi received the information, he opened the file and looked at it for a few moments, abruptly, his gaze stopped.
Five minutes later, the middle-aged man surnamed Gao walked back with coffee. He saw that Lie Zong who hadn’t been drinking coffee just now, was drinking coffee at the moment, and then looked at the coffee in his cup, which was obviously discoloured with sugar, he laughed, “Young people should drink more bitter coffee, if you don’t eat bitterness when you’re young, you’ll be even more unable to eat bitterness when you’re old later on.”
The handsome and icy man did not realize at all that the other party was talking to him and directly ignored him, continuing to drink sweet coffee.
Gao Zong shook his head.
“Gao Zong, did you also live in Hua Ting District before?”
Gao Zong’s hand carrying the coffee suddenly gave a start, he raised his head to look at Lian Xi.
Lian Xi: “I just made a random guess. We live in Hua Ting District, and many people in our neighbourhood also go there to buy breakfast. A successful person like you, logically, shouldn’t run there to buy breakfast, so I thought, maybe you’ve lived in our neighbourhood before?”
Slowly putting down his coffee cup, the bottom of the cup clinked against the tabletop, making a clear sound.
An indescribably warm smile appeared on the middle-aged man’s tired and vicissitudes face, as he seemed to be recalling a distant past. It must have been a very beautiful memory, so his expression became softer and his tone more amiable.
“That’s right, ah, I used to live in the Hua Ting neighbourhood. That was nineteen years ago, right … Oh, you should have been small at that time. Children, are you now looking at the facade of Hua Ting Cell and can’t see that it’s an old neighbourhood built twenty years ago? This neighbourhood has been remodelled and has been kept quite well, quite new and just as lively as before.”
Lian Xi: “Really? Which building do you live in?
Middle-aged man: “Building 13, 903.”….
Chain Home Property Agency Hua Ting District Store.
A young girl with short hair is sorting out the information, the shop’s old-timer gets up and pours a glass of water and suddenly remembers, “By the way, Xiao Liu, what are you doing asking me for the information on 903 of the 13th building of Hua Ting Estate today, and what’s going on?”
Xiao Liu: “It’s the tenant of 904 across the street from their house who is a bit curious and asked for it from me.”
The old-timer nodded and sipped the water: ”903 ah ….eu, it is really quite tragic. Back then, that gas explosion. How nice those lads were, they saved a lot of people out. In the end, they just left like that. You need to talk to the tenant of 904. Since 903 isn’t a murder house, it’s a good citizen who won an award for bravery!”
Xiao Liu: “I know, don’t worry, 904 tenants are very good, they can’t say that the opposite house is a murder house just because of something that happened more than ten years ago, and then give us a lower price.”
……
Inside the cafe, the melodious music sounded.
The middle-aged man touched the warm cup, his gaze gradually softened, and there was no bitterness in his voice, only gentleness and nostalgia: “Back then, I had just come to Su City, and I was still a wage earner. A group of us lived in Hua Ting District. Group rented rooms, no money ah. I still remember a grandpa who lived on the ground floor. He seems to have passed away the year before last. He liked to sit downstairs every afternoon to enjoy the cool; fanning his leaf fan. And the little girl on the eleventh floor 1103, she practised her violin every day at night when she finished her homework, and she played it so badly.
“But we rented a house that was too cheap, no TV, nor a computer, mobile phone. Every night there is really nothing to do, so we moved a stool together and ran to the balcony to listen to that little girl play tunes.
“And the newlyweds on the fourth floor, across the door 904 that time, were also rented by a pair of sisters yet there were no murders.”
Lian Xi: “And there is still the eighth floor.”
The middle-aged man froze and turned his head to look at Lian Xi. His eyes stayed on Lian Xi for a long time, and after a moment, he nodded, “Yes, there is also the eighth floor. That couple on the eighth floor, they fight every day, every day. We sometimes sit on the balcony to listen to their quarrels to relieve our boredom when we have nothing to do. When couples quarrel, they quarrel at the head of the bed and make up at the end of the bed, just listen to each other and forget about it. How could you think of such ideas, right?”
The middle-aged man’s voice stopped, his throat choked.
There are some things that even after many years, even if you think you’ve looked away, once you mention it, it’s hard to talk about it.
“Excuse me,” The man hid his face in silence for a long time before he picked up a tissue and wiped his moist eyes, laughing, “You guys came prepared ah. Knowing so much. I can’t even understand, if you guys don’t have a project you want me to invest in for you guys, why are you investigating so much, knowing so much about my past?”
Without waiting for Lian Xi and Lie Zong to speak, the middle-aged man’s lips opened and closed, and finally asked the question that had never been answered.
He looked bitterly at Lian Xi and Lie Chen and asked, “You said that couples fight just a couple fight, what are they doing opening the gas tank?”