The four of them stood side by side at the door of the store and observed it for a long time. No matter how they looked at it, they felt that there was something strange about this store.
Officer Wang turned his head mechanically to Yuan Shasha beside him and asked, "Xiao Yuan, are you sure you have been to this store before?"
"I'm sure, it was a few years ago." Yuan Shasha seemed to be recalling crazily.
After a brief moment of reflection, she slowly said: "It's just that I was just passing by and casually entered the store to take a look, but the decoration of the store back then seemed different from now."
"What was the original store decoration like?" Lu Weiwei was also very curious.
Yuan Shasha thoughtfully said: "The store back then seemed quite ordinary, at least it didn't give people the impression of being a bright spot."
"And the reason why I entered the store was because there were several exquisite decorative buttons at the door."
Looking at the current store up and down, Yuan Shasha added: "But look at it now, the current store is completely brand new."
"Anyone who comes here will probably take a second look at it from time to time, and it feels very special."
"Is that so?" It felt like this store still seemed to have a universe inside it. It seemed that the changes in the store's appearance were like a history of cultural changes. Lu Weiwei also said uncomfortably:
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go in and take a look?"
"Let's go." Gu Chen also had this intention, and everyone then opened the door and walked directly into the store.
However, after entering the store, Gu Chen's head was first touched by an object.
Soon, the entire store heard a "ringing, ringing" sound, like a bell.
"What?" Gu Chen looked up and found that the bell above his head was shaking from side to side.
And there are many hidden lines connected to this bell.
And as a result, the sound of bells rang at the same time in many places where bells were hung throughout the store.
What does it mean to pull a hair and move the whole body? Gu Chen felt that maybe this means pulling a hair to move the whole body?
The knock-on effects of the bell are still unfolding.
Lu Weiwei looked puzzled and said out of curiosity: "This store owner, does he think this bell is a doorbell?"
"It's possible." Officer Wang looked around and said involuntarily:
"Look at this store, it feels very weird. What are all the things displayed here?"
Following Officer Wang's prompts, everyone couldn't help but look at the decoration inside the house.
Only then did I realize that the entire house was covered with various decorations.
There are many more dotted on the wall, which makes people dazzled.
Lu Weiwei began to search hard for the button of the eagle totem in her hand, but she did not find it.
There are indeed many buttons with animals on them. For a moment, everyone was confused and didn't know what the name of this store was?
"Yes, what is the name of this store? I didn't seem to see the sign just now." Officer Wang then remembered that when everyone entered the store just now, they didn't seem to find the sign.
Lu Weiwei was stunned, looked at Yuan Shasha beside her, and asked: "Xiao Yuan, have you seen the sign?"
"No." Yuan Shasha shook her head, looked in the direction of Gu Chen, and asked quickly:
"Senior Brother Gu, have you seen the sign?"
"No, I didn't see any sign either." Gu Chen also shook his head.
At this time, all four people were stunned on the spot, and seemed to feel that the room was full of weirdness.
Especially in the lobby of the store, there seemed to be no other lights except for a dim light hanging overhead.
It added a strange atmosphere to the whole room.
Moreover, the windows were all covered with curtains, which was unclear, and I thought I had entered a mysterious cave.
"Is there anyone there?" Lu Weiwei tried to communicate with people and looked for the owner of this place, but there was no response.
"Is... the master not at home?" Lu Weiwei doubted herself, so she quickly asked: "Is there anyone? Is there anyone here?"
After the words fell, there was still no response from the surroundings.
Only then did Lu Weiwei believe that everyone seemed to have arrived at a mysterious shop.
To be precise, it seems that the owner here is not here yet.
Police Officer Wang also looked confused and thought: "It doesn't make sense. Although this place does not belong to the downtown area, it still belongs to the gate of the so-called 'Wind Stone'."
"Looking at the 'Fengshi' place, it seems that it has become a tourist attraction, and there is a fee to visit. So, the location of this store is also perfect. Why doesn't it even have a sign? Or does it mean that the boss doesn't want to do business at all?"
With all kinds of questions, Officer Wang seemed to be caught in a dilemma.
Gu Chen continued walking inside and came to a seat.
However, at the corner, a narrow wooden staircase was discovered.
Looking up, I saw wooden stairs that circle around to reach the second floor.
"There is another layer here." Gu Chen reminded.
Seeing this, Lu Weiwei quickly ran a few steps and came to Gu Chen.
Following Gu Chen's gaze, Lu Weiwei raised her head and looked towards the second floor, her heart skipped a beat, and she said with a puzzled look on her face:
"Why is it so dark on the second floor? Are there no windows?"
"It should be there. Why is there no window? The curtains must have been closed. I remember coming in through the door. There should be a window." Yuan Shasha recalled her only memory.
At this moment, Officer Wang also came to the crowd, looked up, and then said with a smile:
"What's there to be afraid of? It's not like you don't have a flashlight?"
While speaking, Officer Wang took out his bright flashlight and shined it several times, then walked upstairs with a "dong dong dong" sound.
However, just when Officer Wang's right leg was about to step onto the second floor, a sharp cry suddenly broke the silence in the room.
Officer Wang was so frightened that he almost fell down the narrow wooden stairs. He also stumbled and stepped back several steps before he stabilized his steps.
"Oh my god, what the hell is this?" Officer Wang took a deep breath, and was also frightened by the movement just now.
"Meow!"
At this moment, a sharp meowing sound came from the second floor again. The sound was particularly harsh and very aggressive.
"Besides, it's a grumpy cat. Lao Wang, you have to be careful." Lu Weiwei also heard the clues.
"Cats? Are there cats in this big dark room? Are there mice here too?"
Officer Wang made a casual guess, sighed angrily, and prepared to continue looking up to see the situation.
But when I think of the irritable cat just now, it seems that it is not easy to deal with.
Officer Wang stayed on the spot, stunned for several seconds, and then looked in the direction of Gu Chen.
Gu Chen immediately understood what Officer Wang meant and said with a smile: "Brother Wang, come down and I'll go up and take a look."
"Lao Wang." Lu Weiwei also saw Comrade Lao Wang's embarrassment, so she quickly said in a provocative way:
"Are you afraid of that cat? If you are really afraid, then come down quickly. I will go up with Junior Brother Gu and Xiao Yuan."
"Who? Who's afraid of cats?" Although he knew that Lu Weiwei was using provocation, Officer Wang had no choice but to bite the bullet and dig in.
After all, Comrade Lao Wang still needs to save face. If she doesn't go upstairs, then Lu Weiwei will definitely make up a cross talk about her various embarrassing things today and tell them in the cafeteria.
Officer Wang is not stupid. He knows that there are pitfalls everywhere, so he can only bite the bullet and go up.
After all, no matter how grumpy the Grumpy Cat is, he is still just a cat.
And I still have a bright flashlight in my hand. This kind of thing is not a decoration. It is a sharp weapon against ordinary criminals. Isn't it easy to deal with a cat?
It was also after giving himself this inner hint and cheering him up like crazy that Officer Wang took a deep breath and prepared to go upstairs again to check the situation.
Lu Weiwei and Yuan Shasha, who were downstairs, immediately came to the stairs and stretched their necks, waiting for Officer Wang to be embarrassed.
"Meow! Dong dong dong dong, bang!"
Amidst a burst of sharp shouts, the dark second floor suddenly fell into chaos, with various footsteps coming and going, accompanied by the sound of items falling.
Lu Weiwei's eyes lit up and she quickly asked: "Old Wang, Old Wang, are you okay? What's going on up there?"
Just as Lu Weiwei finished speaking, the lights suddenly turned on on the dark second floor, and Officer Wang walked back to the stairs and explained to everyone:
"It's okay, you can come up now."
"Go up and have a look." Gu Chen finished his words and hurriedly walked up the wooden stairs with a "dong dong dong" sound.
Lu Weiwei and Yuan Shasha looked at each other and followed Gu Chen up one after another.
Not long after, everyone arrived at the lobby on the second floor.
A space that is different from the first floor, but similar in some ways.
The surrounding walls here are decorated with buttons.
Right in front of everyone, a larger furnishing object fell to the floor.
Lu Weiwei came close to Officer Wang, looking around, and asked Officer Wang:
"Lao Wang, where is the cat?"
"I guess he's hiding over there." After he finished speaking, Officer Wang couldn't help but touch the back of his hand.
The sharp-eyed Gu Chen soon discovered that a stream of bright red blood was flowing out from the back of Officer Wang's hand, and he quickly said:
"Senior Brother Wang, are you injured?"
"It's okay." Officer Wang also sighed and said angrily:
"It's really unlucky. When I was about to go in, I ran into this grumpy cat, threatening me with a hoarse grin."
"After I entered, this grumpy cat hiding in the dark jumped out and pawed at the back of my hand."
With a faint sigh, Officer Wang also raised his right hand and said helplessly:
"Isn't this? Guangguang was in trouble. After the cat attacked, he hid and knocked the thing down."
"Haha, this cat really has a bad temper." As Yuan Shasha spoke, she also lifted up the fallen wooden furniture and returned the strange items placed on it to their original places.
Gu Chen took two steps forward and tried calling a few times to where the cat was hiding.
However, what I heard was still the cat's aggressive response.
"Junior Brother Gu, don't go there. This cat seems to be quite aggressive."
"For it, we are all strangers who have broken into its territory, so it will definitely have a defensive mentality." Lu Weiwei also explained.
But at this moment, Gu Chen was still standing where he was. After listening briefly, Gu Chen squatted down.
Only then did he realize that in front of a pile of items, under a stool, a civet cat was huddled there, staring intently outside.
And behind this civet cat, there are several newborn kittens hiding.
These cats didn't seem to be aware of the dangers around them, they just kept cuddling around the civet cat and made some faint noises.
"So it's a female cat that just gave birth? No wonder it's so aggressive." Gu Chen also grinned after seeing the crux of the problem.
"Female cat?" After hearing Gu Chen's words, Lu Weiwei also crouched down quickly. Then she discovered the group of cats and couldn't help but smile and said:
"So that's it? This female cat must be protecting her babies from strangers."
"And our scent doesn't belong here. We are approaching its territory rashly. No wonder it wants to attack Lao Wang."
"Really?" After hearing Lu Weiwei's words, Officer Wang also squatted down. When he saw the scene in front of him, he couldn't laugh or cry:
"Does it feel like I'm going to take away its child? I, Lao Wang, have no such intention."
"How would the mother cat know if you have such thoughts?" Yuan Shasha also said jokingly.
Lu Weiwei also suppressed a smile and said: "I feel that Lao Wang is so miserable. He just blocked everyone's claws, which is quite unjust."
"Isn't it?" He lowered his head and looked at the back of his right hand. There was a sharp cut, and the blood around it oozed out.
Lu Weiwei tried to use her gentleness to communicate with the cat: "Kitten, don't be afraid, we will not hurt you."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After a pause, I saw the civet cat mother, still hiding under the stool, letting out a defensive hum.
So Lu Weiwei continued to try to communicate: "Those are your children, right? They are so cute. You are such a great mother."
"Pfft!" Listening to Lu Weiwei's slightly childish communication, Officer Wang couldn't help but laugh out loud: "I say Lu Weiwei, you are really funny. If only this civet cat could understand what you said.
, then what the hell."
"Let me tell you, this civet cat is a fighting cat in the cat world. Its aggressiveness and fighting skills are all about defeating cats of other breeds."
"This cat..."
"Meow!"
Before Officer Wang could finish his words, the civet cat that had been humming just now seemed to have changed its personality again, and its cry changed from the sharp sound just now to a soft and soft voice, and it began to meow.
Got up.
It seemed that she also wanted to communicate well with Lu Weiwei, which made everyone look confused.
"Senior Sister Lu, do you understand cat language?" Seeing Lu Weiwei's actions, Gu Chen was also stunned.
Yuan Shasha also quickly echoed: "Yes, Senior Sister Lu, how do you communicate with the cat? This cat seems to be able to understand your kindness?"
"Harmful!"
Hearing what the two said, Lu Weiwei also smiled bitterly and said: "How do I understand cat language? I just feel that this cat is afraid of us, so it hummed as a warning."
After a pause, Lu Weiwei said with a proud look on her face: "Judging from my experience, Lu Weiwei, who often feeds snacks to stray animals, this cat is just afraid."
"In addition, she has just given birth to a litter of kittens, so she is even more nervous and scared. When she smells our strange smell, she will instinctively become irritable."
With a faint sigh, Lu Weiwei also continued: "So, let me express our goodwill to it. I don't know if it can understand it, but it can definitely feel my goodwill, Lu Weiwei, from my human language.
.”
"Is it that simple?" Officer Wang asked in disbelief.
"Yes, it's that simple." Lu Weiwei spread her hands and said with a smile:
"It's not that simple. How complicated does it need to be? Although we don't understand each other's languages, we are all living creatures and feel the kindness between each other. Isn't this difficult to understand?"
"Okay." I feel like Lu Weiwei always has her own reasons, and Officer Wang can't tell her off.
But after all, a "crisis" has finally been resolved, but the only person injured in this small "crisis" is himself.
The hatred in Officer Wang's heart made him feel a little betrayed.
"Senior Brother Wang, here." Gu Chen directly handed Officer Wang a band-aid.
Officer Wang nodded silently and started treating the wound directly on the spot.
"Tsk, tsk, come here, little kitten." Lu Weiwei imitated the lip language of a dog, calling to the female cat, boldly stepping out of her comfort zone.
Officer Wang, who was sitting on a wooden bench treating the wound, shook his head and smiled bitterly after hearing this: "I said Lu Weiwei, this is clearly a lip language of calling a dog, you call a cat..."
"Meow!" Before Officer Wang could finish his words, the civet cat that had just hoarsely grinned and attacked Officer Wang meowed several times, walked out from under the stool cautiously, and began to approach Lu Weiwei.
Soon, a scene that shocked Officer Wang appeared. The civet cat actually put its head under Lu Weiwei's right palm and began to rub against Lu Weiwei's palm, acting coquettishly and cutely.
Seeing this scene, Lu Weiwei also laughed out loud and said: "Old Wang, did you see it? No matter what you are calling? As long as the other party can understand it."
"Well, I can't tell you anything. I feel like you and this cat are on the same team." Officer Wang felt that he was a redundant person, so he straightened his legs and turned his head to one side.
At this moment, the civet cat and Lu Weiwei seemed to have quickly established a small friendship. One person and one cat were particularly close.
Yuan Shasha couldn't get enough of it, so she started playing with the cat.
For a moment, the scene was very warm.
After removing the "threat", Gu Chen also began to check the situation on the second floor.
It can be said that the space on the second floor seems to be larger than that on the first floor, but there is only one window.
Moreover, the window space seems to be very small, and it is a circular structure.
The frames seem to be all custom-made. After all, such unconventional windows are very rare at least in normal buildings.
It can be seen that this is an unconventional building structure.
Gu Chen opened the curtains and looked outside directly through the window.
Here you can see some old buildings nearby through the windows.
But when Gu Chen glanced around, he discovered that there was a four-story building opposite the window.
But the building opposite is on the third floor, and there seems to be a pair of strange eyes peeking through the window at the shops here.
And when Gu Chen focused his eyes on the window on the third floor opposite, the curtains on the opposite side slowly fell again.
"It's weird, it seems like someone is observing here?" Gu Chen muttered to himself.
But before I could think about this, I heard Officer Wang behind me call out: "Look."
When everyone heard this, they immediately looked back and quickly gathered around.
"This." Officer Wang picked up a wooden box on the table.
There is a delicate little lock in the middle of the lid of the wooden box, but it is not locked.
Officer Wang pulled the small lock and opened the wooden box.
Inside the wooden box, in the center area of the sponge pad, there are items that everyone carries, buttons with the eagle totem on them.
"Why is there one here?" Yuan Shasha was stunned.
Gu Chen quickly looked at Lu Weiwei: "Senior Sister Lu, quickly take out ours and have a look."
"Oh." Lu Weiwei, who reacted slowly, quickly took out the eagle buttons wrapped in a transparent evidence bag and put them together for comparison.
After a moment of silence, Officer Wang said: "Aren't they exactly the same?"
"It seems that Zhang Zhiqiang may have some connection with the owner of this store?" Lu Weiwei also felt that the situation was not good.
"I have long said that there is a problem here." Officer Wang took a deep breath and seemed to be confused by this situation.
But because it was dark and the location was not on the main road, the door of the shop was ajar and not locked.
Therefore, everyone always has a strange feeling deep inside this building.
In particular, the interior space of the building is large, but the window space is very small. This kind of building structure can easily give people a very weird feeling.
"Where on earth has this boss gone? There is no trace of him. If he doesn't stay in the store, or the store is closed, then there is no need for him to turn on the lights on the first floor. He can even lock the store door.
"
After a pause, Officer Wang also spread his hands and said involuntarily:
"But what does this mean now? I can't find anyone, and I don't know who to look for?"
"Wait a minute." Just as Officer Wang complained, Gu Chen's ears trembled slightly and he quickly reminded everyone: "Someone is coming."
"Is someone coming?" After hearing Gu Chen's words, Lu Weiwei was also stunned and quickly started to listen.
When Yuan Shasha and Officer Wang saw this, they both shut up at the same time, imitated Lu Weiwei's actions, and began to listen carefully.
Not long after, everyone heard someone walking into the store.
However, the bell did not ring.
This made Gu Chen quickly realize that the people entering the store might be very familiar with this place. At least the wind chime arrangement at the door was very interesting.
Generally, people who come here for the first time may rarely pay attention to the bell on their head.
So as soon as you enter the door, you will touch the bell, and the upper structure of the bell is a series of bells in other areas.
Therefore, it seems reasonable that when a stranger comes to the store for the first time, the bell will be triggered.
And only the acquaintances in this store can accurately avoid the bell on the U-turn.
"The store owner should be back." Hearing the footsteps, he walked directly to the corner of the store and Gu Chen reminded him.
"Then go down and have a look." Lu Weiwei was also a little impatient.
After all, what's the point of hiding on someone's second floor?
So everyone looked at each other and walked directly to the stairs.
As soon as Officer Wang took a step forward, he turned back and quickly took the box with him, and at the same time put the buttons of the eagle totem in the box.
The group of people walked down the wooden stairs "dong dong dong".
Gu Chen, who was the first to go downstairs, saw at a glance an old man with white hair sitting in the corner, his legs crossed and leisurely wiping the buttons in his hand with a tissue.
"You should be the boss here, right?" Seeing that the other party also heard the movement coming downstairs, his eyes were still staring at the thing in his hand, as if he didn't care at all about who was coming downstairs.
It was also when he heard Gu Chen talking to him that the white-haired old man slowly turned around, adjusted his glasses, and said:
“So he’s a comrade from the police?”
"Are you the boss here?" Gu Chen asked again.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" The white-haired old man answered quite cheerfully.
Without further ado, Gu Chen directly showed the eagle totem button in a transparent evidence collection bag in front of the other party and asked:
"Have you seen this thing?"
When the white-haired old man heard this, he adjusted his glasses again out of habit, then squinted and said with a smile:
"Yes, this thing belongs to me."
"Then you must know Zhang Zhiqiang?" After hearing the white-haired old man's words, Lu Weiwei also hurriedly asked.
But unexpectedly, the white-haired old man shook his head in denial: "I'm sorry, I don't know Zhang Zhiqiang."
"That's him." Lu Weiwei refused to give up and directly showed Zhang Zhiqiang's photo.
The white-haired old man continued to glance at him and said with a smile: "I really don't know, and I don't know him either."
"But, this thing of his is exactly the same as the thing in your wooden box on the second floor."
While speaking, Officer Wang directly opened the wooden box and then placed it on Gu Chen's right hand side.
At this moment, two buttons with eagle patterns appeared in front of the white-haired old man.
The white-haired old man took a look and said with a smile: "So, do you think that this person's items are very similar to those in my store, so I must know that person?"
Shaking his head, the white-haired old man sighed helplessly: "Then you are totally wrong. There are a lot of items flowing out of my store."
"And these items are ultimately resold or given to the next person, and the next person, and everyone else, and that has nothing to do with me."
Looking up at Officer Wang, the white-haired old man also smiled and said indifferently;
"So, comrade police, can you understand now?"
"I don't understand." Faced with the white-haired old man's remarks, Officer Wang shook his head and denied: "I don't understand. What does your store do?"
"Yeah, why doesn't your store even have a sign? What exactly do you sell here?" Yuan Shasha was also full of curiosity at this moment and couldn't help but ask one more question.
The white-haired old man chuckled: "What are you selling? I don't sell anything here, this is where I live."
"Where do you live?" Hearing what the white-haired old man said, Officer Wang was confused on the spot and said in disbelief:
"Isn't it possible? You live in a house like this? Also, aren't the various decorations here just for product display?"
"My colleague came to your place a few years ago, and she said this is a store."
In order to convince the white-haired old man that he was not bragging, Officer Wang said to Yuan Shasha again: "Xiao Yuan, is that right?"
"Yes, yes, when I came here a few years ago, this was still a shop."
"That was a few years ago." The white-haired old man picked up a porcelain cup for himself, took a sip of water, and then closed the porcelain lid.
Sighing softly, the white-haired old man said with a wry smile: "You also said it, that was a few years ago."
"At that time, it was my son who stayed here."
"Your son?" After thinking for a while, Yuan Shasha said thoughtfully: "Although I don't remember who the boss was at the time, I feel like this place is just a shop."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Looking up at the white-haired old man, Yuan Shasha quickly said: "So old man, where is your son now? Why is this place decorated like this now?
I remember that it used to be very bright here."
"Haha, isn't it bright here now?" Faced with Yuan Shasha's doubts, the white-haired old man also asked.
"Old man, that's not what I meant." Yuan Shasha waved her hands and quickly explained:
"I mean, the previous decoration style seemed completely different from now."
"Of course it's different." Listening to Yuan Shasha's serious explanation, the white-haired old man also sighed heavily, and then explained helplessly:
"The shop you saw a few years ago was run by my son. At that time, he regarded these items as commodities."
"So it's different now, right?" Gu Chen heard something in the white-haired old man's words and asked casually.
The white-haired old man also nodded silently and agreed: "Yes, my son has left, so I will take over the place he left."
With a faint sigh, the white-haired old man continued: "I have lived here for the past few years. This is my place of stay and my home."
"Old man, I... I don't quite understand." After hearing what the white-haired old man said, Lu Weiwei became more and more uncomfortable and asked for advice again:
"You said your son left. Did he go to another place?"
"No, he's dead." The white-haired old man shook his head, as if the sad past had resurfaced.
Therefore, the white-haired old man's expression suddenly became serious.
"Dead?" Listening to the white-haired old man's story, everyone exclaimed in unison.
It seems that the situation is a little strange.
Yuan Shasha quickly asked: "Old man, what's going on with your son?"
"It's a bit embarrassing to say it." The white-haired old man sighed heavily, then shook his head helplessly: "Sacrifice for love."
"Sacrifice... for love? In other words, your son committed suicide for love?" Lu Weiwei covered her chest, seemingly shocked by the result, her eyes widened.
But at this moment, the white-haired old man seemed calmer.
Then he began to carefully look at the people in front of him, and couldn't help but grin: "Yes, my worthless son left me with such a ridiculous result."
"So much so that I am still cleaning up his mess. These few years have passed. If you hadn't mentioned it a few years ago, maybe I would have pretended that nothing had happened."
