Qi Min had been pacing on the rooftop for over half an hour, but he found nothing.
The afternoon sun was scorching, and after standing there for a while, he felt like he was sizzling.
His hair had turned into natural curls from the heat.
Especially when he was lying on the water tower, his bare skin pressed against the scorching stainless steel… it was practically a teppanyaki!
In a daze, he even caught a whiff of a burnt smell.
This shower was a waste! Plus, he was showing signs of heatstroke.
After confirming that the tap water didn’t smell bad, Qi Min hurriedly carried the basin back to the air-conditioned room to cool off.
Feeling a bit better, he took off his slightly stinky work clothes and went to the bathroom to wash them.
As he brought the basin to the sink to fill it with water, Qi Min casually glanced at the countertop and froze for a moment.
The toothbrush in the cup was facing inward, pressed against the mirror, leaving a slight wet mark.
Frowning, he used his index finger to move the brush head to the outside.
After waiting for a moment to ensure the brush head didn’t fall, Qi Min picked up the basin full of water and squatted down again to wash his clothes.
Today was the same as the day before yesterday, a night shift, and he had to be at the store by two o’clock.
Having wasted some time on the rooftop and taking another cold shower, he was running a bit short on time.
He ran to “Sister Chen’s Hand-Pulled Rice” shop to buy a bamboo tube rice, soothing his stomach that was singing the “Empty City Plan,” and then it was time to start work.
When he arrived at the break room, Zhang Dingwen was just coming out of the back door bathroom, pulling a shirt over his head.
At Kaifeng Cuisine, no one works more than 202 hours a month. For full-time employees, that’s about 40 hours a week, so after working five days, they get one or two days off.
Zhang Dingwen had his days off on the 15th and 16th, but he was called in yesterday, and Qi Min thought he would continue to rest today.
After all, working a night shift is tiring, but he still showed up.
“Hey! College student! You’ve gotten a lot darker in just a few hours!”
Zhang Dingwen greeted Qi Min, his tone dripping with sarcasm, as if he were mocking him.
Qi Min’s face darkened at the thought of how he had been wandering around in the blazing sun for half an hour and then roasting on the water tower—how could he not be darker?
“Hey, your hair seems to have curled up too?”
“Alright, alright!” Qi Min was annoyed and swatted Zhang Dingwen’s hand away.
What the hell! Are we that close? Why are you touching me?
And I just saw you come out of the bathroom! Did you even wash your hands?
After a moment of internal grumbling, he saw that Zhang Dingwen was undeterred and still wanted to discuss the details of barbecuing with him.
Qi Min quickly changed the subject: “Didn’t you just finish a night shift? Why aren’t you resting?”
His gossiping spirit was almost on par with Huang Xinrui.
He was exhausted! This afternoon, even before starting work, he felt like his brain cells were dying.
Sure enough, when the topic turned to the struggles of working life, Zhang Dingwen immediately deflated.
He didn’t care how Qi Min had transformed from a pretty boy to a bronzed man; he muttered with a hint of complaint, “Since we’ve started working, we might as well finish it all at once and save up our days off… It’s pointless to keep doing this on and off!”
Indeed, saving up days off would be more enjoyable, and they could even plan a short trip.
Today, Huang Xinrui was off, so there was no one at the dessert window in the afternoon, and another team leader, Wei Bo, was responsible for it along with Qi Min.
Qi Min had originally wanted to ask Huang Xinrui something, but the scheduling was a bit unfortunate.
Seeing Zhang Dingwen’s gossipy attitude just now, he suddenly slapped his forehead.
Changing his previous impatience, Qi Min leaned closer to Zhang Dingwen with a friendly expression: “Bro, you’ve been here for a long time and know everyone pretty well. Can I ask you about someone… Do you remember Feng Xiaoyun?”
“Oh—” Zhang Dingwen elongated his voice, a strange smile on his face: “I know, you’re asking about her, huh… You’d be better off asking Miao Lijun.”
As he spoke, he sat down.
The strange smile on Zhang Dingwen’s face widened, and he looked at Qi Min with a sideways glance, his expression smug.
It was as if he was saying, “You’re asking me? Come on, ask me!”
With his shaking leg, he looked particularly annoying.
Qi Min almost couldn’t control his urge to punch him.
“Why?” He had to take a deep breath, suppressing his itching fists, and bent over to ask humbly.
Seeing Zhang Dingwen like this, he might actually know something, so he endured it for the sake of information.
Seeing Qi Min’s “submissive” demeanor, Zhang Dingwen was satisfied and finally spoke: “A country bumpkin from the countryside, a toad wanting to eat swan meat!”
“Seizing the opportunity to curry favor, but he doesn’t even take a look at himself! She wouldn’t even bother with him!”
“In my opinion, Feng Xiaoyun couldn’t stand Miao Lijun’s harassment, which is why she quit!”
“After Feng Xiaoyun quit, he was lost for a while… What a character! Even if she hadn’t quit, it wouldn’t be his turn!”
After this speech, a sour smell immediately filled the small break room.
“…”
In the brief silence, realizing he had exposed himself, Zhang Dingwen quickly explained: “It’s not that I’m interested in Feng Xiaoyun; it’s mainly Miao Lijun. He’s not worthy…”
Got it, got it, no need to explain further.
I’ve fully understood that you’re interested in Feng Xiaoyun.
Qi Min maintained a smile, lost in thought.
He wasn’t pondering Zhang Dingwen’s words but rather how Zhang Dingwen had managed to survive until now.
His mouth was too sharp! When belittling a rival, he was utterly merciless.
Comparing Zhang Dingwen’s bean sprout-like frame to Miao Lijun’s imposing figure at 1.8 meters tall.
Qi Min guessed that Zhang Dingwen had probably never confronted Miao Lijun face-to-face.
Otherwise, how could he still be standing here?
The way he spoke, even someone as cultured and easygoing as Qi Min felt an itch to hit him. He didn’t believe Miao Lijun, who worked night shifts all the time and had a fiery temper, could hold back.
Wouldn’t he have to get a slap or something?
He probably still just reported behind people’s backs, badmouthing them, while in front of them, he wouldn’t dare to let out a peep.
Qi Min had no good comments on this kind of double-faced survival strategy.
…To get back to the point, Zhang Dingwen’s words revealed quite a bit of information.
First, it could be inferred that both Zhang Dingwen and Miao Lijun had feelings for the former employee Feng Xiaoyun.
Cowardly Zhang Dingwen only observed from a distance, while Miao Lijun might have made some ambiguous advances, which Zhang Dingwen, who was secretly paying attention to Feng Xiaoyun, noticed.
But whether these advances escalated to harassment, Qi Min remained skeptical.
Based on Zhang Dingwen’s character, this could just be his one-sided slander against a rival.
It certainly wasn’t anything overtly blatant; at least the night shift leader, Kong Pengfei, hadn’t noticed anything.
Huang Xinrui, who was in the same period as Feng Xiaoyun, hadn’t mentioned this to him either.
Given Huang Xinrui’s gossipy nature, how could she let go of such a rumor about a former employee quitting?
When he first joined, Qi Min often worked night shifts in the kitchen, and from his observations, Miao Lijun was a rather quiet and honest person.
Such a personality was unlikely to pursue a woman in a grandiose manner.
It wouldn’t even reach the point where the other party couldn’t stand it and fled in the night, leaving everything behind.
Moreover, regarding what happened at noon, Qi Min still insisted on his deduction.
That is, Feng Xiaoyun didn’t quit voluntarily; she was harmed, and the murderer was still residing in the apartment.
Qi Min now highly suspected that strange neighbor who looked like a wrapped-up bamboo rice.
He had originally wanted to confirm the details of Miao Lijun’s pursuit of Feng Xiaoyun, but since work time was approaching, the two had to stop their conversation and leave the break room.
Before the peak dinner rush at five o’clock, Wei Bo replaced Qi Min for dinner, and Qi Min waited in the break room with a chicken leg rice.
He had initially wanted to learn more about Feng Xiaoyun from Zhang Dingwen, but he finished his chicken leg rice and still hadn’t seen Zhang Dingwen come back.
When he walked to the kitchen, there was only a new total distribution worker he didn’t recognize busying himself, and Zhang Dingwen was nowhere to be found.
He didn’t find anyone in the cold storage either; he probably went to the bathroom for a paid break.
Qi Min checked the break time and waited at the back door bathroom.
The back door of this Kaifeng Cuisine was a double glass door.
Standing at the bathroom door looking out, he could see a small alley extending twenty meters to a crossroads; turning left at the crossroads and walking a few meters would lead to the main road.
At this moment, Qi Min was standing with his back to the back door.
They say people have three eyes: two in front and one in the back of the head.
The so-called third eye at the back of the head is the animal instinct inherited by humans in nature.
Even though there are no eyes growing on the back of the head, when someone is staring at you from behind, you can still sense it and immediately lock onto the source of the gaze.
Since the first day he moved into the Fumin Apartment, Qi Min had occasionally felt the sensation of being watched.
Most of the time, it was when he came out of his room and walked down the corridor.
This time, he felt the same gaze again, and it was coming from behind him.
Frowning, Qi Min turned around.
Sure enough.
At around four in the afternoon, when the sun was blazing, a shadow appeared in Qi Min’s line of sight through the reflection of the glass.
Compared to the pitch-blackness of early morning, when he needed car lights to see a figure, the clear afternoon sunlight illuminated everything.
Qi Min could clearly see a man wearing an out-of-season black coat and black pants, standing dozens of meters away.
His long hair was messily covering his face, and the man’s ghostly gaze, hidden under the shadow of his bangs, was staring straight at him.
“…”
Some people really can’t stand being mentioned.
Just like that, as soon as he thought of him, he appeared.
Standing outside was exactly the person Qi Min suspected, the neighbor from room 209.
Qi Min instinctively took a couple of steps toward the glass door.
Just then, team leader Wei Bo poked his head out from the front corridor: “Qi Min, come here for a moment.”
Qi Min turned his head back, and the figure was gone again.
Qi Min: “…”
Is this a game of ‘one, two, three, wooden man’?[mfn]Also known as Red Light, Green Light game.[/mfn]
Who would have thought this guy still had a childlike heart.
Qi Min looked at the back door for a while in silence, grumbling.
It wasn’t until the team leader urged him again that he turned his steps toward the front hall.
Next was the dinner rush from five to seven, and Qi Min was busy taking orders and collecting payments, with takeout orders coming in as well.
