With Zheng Ming's death, this matter also came to an end, and I no longer contacted those high school classmates. How should I put it, there was a hurdle in my heart, and I always felt that people would change.
Xiaobai and Ningxiang have been struggling with the matter of going home. Ningxiang couldn't persuade Xiaobai. One day, an old man in his fifties came to our store. The old man wore a pair of glasses and had a slicked back hair.
, he was dressed in a perfect suit, his expression was very stern, his walking posture was quite imposing, and his eyes were bright and lively. He looked like a person in a high position, and Xiaobai happened to be in the store that day.
I thought the old man was here to buy something, so I went up to say hello, but the old man ignored me. Instead, he scanned around the room and then stared at Xiaobai. Xiaobai also reacted strangely, as if he hadn't seen the old man.
, holding the mobile phone and playing games all the time without looking up.
The old man looked at Xiaobai for a while, then suddenly spoke, his hoarse voice contained an unquestionable tone: "You disappoint me so much!"
Xiao Bai suddenly put down his cell phone, slowly raised his head, glanced at the frowning old man with his slightly lazy eyes, and then grinned and let out a few chuckles from his throat.
"How am I doing? Does it have anything to do with you? Remember this is my place. Please don't disturb me with you and that woman in the future!"
The old man suddenly straightened up, his eyes widened and he was breathing rapidly. His tall body swayed a few times, and the soles of his feet wearing black leather shoes took a slight step back before he stabilized his figure.
The old man's throat was trembling rapidly, the whites of his eyes under his thick glasses were turning red, his nose was twitching, and his raised arms were pointing at the indifferent look on his face.
"Even if you don't admit it, you are still my seed! This is a fact that can never be changed. Come back with me! The Bai Group will be yours in the future! Staying in a place like this will only waste your youth!"
The old man seemed to have exhausted all his strength to finish these words. He held his broad and sparse forehead with his fat palms and breathed heavily.
Xiao Bai stood up and pushed away the chair. The mobile phone in his hand was still casually on the table. His lips were tightly closed, and the whites of his eyes were glowing with a faint red light. When he looked directly at the old man, his eyeballs swelled as if they were about to bulge out of their sockets.
"You now know that I am your son? Why didn't you recognize it ten years ago? Your little wife can't give you a son and a half. You are getting old and anxious. Remember that I am here. I can enjoy the blessings with you when I am young, but
Where is my mother! When she was sick and unable to move at home, where were you! Did you ever care? Let me tell you Bai Zhenming, since the day my mother died, your son also died!"
Only then did I realize that this old man was Xiaobai's father. It seemed that the grudge between father and son was really deep. It was hard for me as an outsider to say anything.
The old man didn't say a word after hearing this. He stared at Xiao Bai who was out of control. He gasped for breath and turned around to leave the store.
Xiaobai sat down on the chair, with his head hanging down, his elbows resting on the armrests of the chair, and his forehead supported by the tiger's mouth.
I wanted to say a few words of comfort, but I couldn't think of the right words for the moment, so I had to give up.
I remember there is a saying that turns grief and anger into food.
I couldn't stand Xiaobai's decadent look, so I handed him a cigarette.
"It's almost five o'clock. Let's go have a meal. I know a hot pot restaurant. It tastes very good. It's an authentic old Beijing taste and a secret recipe passed down from generation to generation. Let's go and try it!"
Xiaobai took a long breath, blew out a smoke ring, and nodded.
As soon as we went out, we met Ningxiang driving a BMW parked at the door. A trace of surprise flashed in Ningxiang's beautiful eyes, and she raised her wrist to block our way.
Her red lips parted slightly, and a burst of fragrance hit her nostrils.
"Where are you going?"
I scratched my head in embarrassment, feeling the displeasure between Xiaobai and his father. I thought that Xiaobai probably didn't want to see the beautiful woman in front of me at this moment. I looked at her secretly, and sure enough I saw Xiaobai turning his head to the side.
"Let's go eat! There's no business in the store!"
"Oh, what to eat? I'm hungry too! If you don't mind, I'll go with you!" Ningxiang seemed to see some clues, with a hint of playfulness in her eyes and a smile on her lips.
Xiaobai was like an angry child, turning his head and refusing to speak. I was at a loss for words and didn't know how to answer.
"Since you have no objection, let's get in the car!"
Ningxiang turned around and got into the driver's seat, started the car, stuck her head out, and stared at me and Xiaobai with a frown.
I originally wanted to take Xiaobai to drink to relieve his boredom, but I didn't expect to meet someone Xiaobai didn't want to see, and this person just made me unable to refuse.
He patted Xiaobai on the shoulder as a comfort, opened the thick car door, and got in.
Ningxiang showed a half-smile, turned around and asked me: "Is there a place? No place, I will take you there!"
"Go to the old Beijing hot pot restaurant in the south of the city! It's a bit cold today, eat some hot pot to keep warm!"
“You don’t have to worry about getting angry when you eat hot pot!”
Ningxiang glanced at us.
He didn't refuse, set up the navigation, stepped on the accelerator, and drove the car south of the city.
I dialed Boss Wang's phone halfway, but strangely no one answered. Boss Wang said before that he wanted to invite me to eat hot pot at their hot pot restaurant. Seeing Xiao Bai's dejected look, I thought of taking him to relax.
Unexpectedly, Boss Wang's phone number couldn't be reached.
Maybe there's something going on, but it won't have much impact. Anyway, I've been to his store, and I can always find it. There's also navigation so I don't have to worry about getting lost.
More than half an hour later, Ningxiang drove the car to the snack street. According to the navigation, the car stopped at the entrance of the old Beijing hotpot restaurant.
The parking lot at the door was already full of cars. It took a lot of effort for Ningxiang to find a spot between a black Passat and a white Chevrolet.
The hot pot restaurant is a different scene. Through the glass window stained with moisture, I can see that the restaurant is almost full of customers. Cups are being pushed and cups are being changed, and the lights are interlaced. It makes me a little worried that I can't find a seat.
"Come in!"
I said to the two people staying at the door.
"Have you been to this shop?" Ningxiang Liu frowned slightly.
“A customer opened it and tried it before. It tastes very good!”
"oh!"
As soon as we arrived at the door, a bunch of drunk men and women crowded out of the store. The waiter standing at the door saw off the guests and welcomed the three of us into the house.
There happened to be a free table, and the waiter quickly cleared it.
Then he brought a hot pot with hot coals. The bottom was a stove filled with red coals, and it was covered with a copper lid like a trumpet. The edge was twisted in a circle, and inside was the boiling hot pot base.
I ordered a few plates of beef and mutton, ordered a few bottles of beer, and called the waiter over.
"What do you need, sir?" A young waiter came over, looked at the three of us and asked,
"Boss Wang, aren't you in the store?" I asked. Looking around, I didn't see Boss Wang. The faces of the several waiters who were busy were also very unfamiliar, and they didn't feel like they had seen him before.
"Boss Wang?" The young waiter scratched his head, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes.
"You don't know your boss!"
I smiled.
"Our boss's surname is not Wang!" the waiter gave me a strange look.
"What's your boss's last name?" I was stunned and then asked.
"The last name is Qian!"
"Qian Wuyan?"
"No, our boss's name is Qian Meng! He's the one smoking at the bar!" The waiter pointed. There was a fat man with a round face at the bar not far away. He had a big gold chain around his neck and a burning stick in his mouth.
cigarettes, man holding a handful of red banknotes and counting them.
"What's the relationship between your boss and the owner of the Little Yuanyang Hotpot restaurant across the street?" I asked,
"The owner of Little Yuanyang Hotpot Restaurant is our boss's mother!" the service said.
"How long have you been working here?"
"A week!"
"Okay, I get it, it's okay!"
No wonder this waiter doesn't know Boss Wang.
"What are you doing? Ask me this and that!" Ningxiang took out a piece of whitened mutton from the pot, stuffed it into her mouth and chewed it.
"Something's wrong here?" I had a bad feeling. Boss Wang called me a while ago and told me that Qian Wuyan wanted to pay him back the money he defrauded. Just a few days later, he changed
He got the boss, and the boss was Qian Wuyan’s son.
How could this not be suspicious?
"What's wrong? What are you doing?" Ningxiang frowned and stared at me with big eyes.
I told Ningxiang what happened to Boss Wang before, and Ningxiang frowned after listening to it: "It's a bit weird to say that, but it seems to me that the yang energy is strong, and it doesn't look like a haunted place! Maybe the boss put it there
The hotpot restaurant is sold!”
"Impossible! The boss has been running the store for more than ten years. The business was so bad a while ago that he didn't even sell the store. Now the business is so prosperous. How could he suddenly sell the store? Unless he has lost his mind!"
"Why do you care so much? I'm hungry, I want to eat!" Xiaobai opened a bottle of beer, drank it down, burped, picked up the chopsticks and started to fish out the meat in the hot pot.
I felt a little depressed and had no intention of eating, so I opened a bottle of wine and started drinking.
While drinking, I was thinking about Boss Wang, and unknowingly I had finished three bottles of beer. Drinking too much beer will make you feel sick.
I feel bloated and want to go to the toilet.
I asked the waiter about it, then walked up the stairs. I peed and felt a little better. When I went out, I happened to bump into an aunt who was cleaning the house. I almost bumped into her. She was also scared by me.
He jumped and muttered: "Why are you drinking so much? Really!"
I looked back and suddenly felt that this aunt looked familiar, so I asked tentatively: "Auntie, how long have you been working here?"
"It's been more than three years, why are you asking this, young man?" Auntie looked at me doubtfully.
I suddenly became energetic and sobered up a bit, so I quickly asked: 'Then you must know Boss Wang, right?'
When the aunt heard this, she immediately picked up the broom and wanted to leave. I stopped her in a hurry. Seeing that no one noticed me, I asked, "Why are you running?"
"Don't dare mention Boss Wang. Boss Wang died a few days ago!" Auntie whispered in my ear, with deep fear in her eyes.
"What's going on?" I asked hurriedly. Boss Wang was fine a few days ago, and I even drew a Zhongkui picture for him to ward off evil spirits. How could he die? I couldn't figure it out.
"Who knows, Boss Wang was very good to us in the past, much better than this boss now. This boss is a gangster. He always curses people and sometimes gets violent. Almost all the old employees in the store have left!"
The aunt glanced at me and asked: 'Are you Boss Wang's friend?'
I nodded.
"I heard that Boss Wang died in a strange way. He drowned in his toilet! How can a person drown in the toilet? What a pity!" Auntie sighed,
After hearing this, I felt that things were getting more and more wrong. I felt that the death of Boss Wang must have something to do with the owner of the Little Yuanyang Hot Pot Restaurant.
I quickly returned to the dining table.
Xiaobai asked me: "It takes you so long to go to the toilet? Why did you go and look so ugly?"
Xiaobai knew about Boss Wang. I had told him about it before, as well as the owner of the Little Yuanyang Hot Pot Restaurant.
"Boss Wang is dead!"
"Dead?" Xiaobai was stunned.
"Didn't you draw a spiritual painting for him to ward off evil spirits? How could he die? Did he die of illness?"
"No, he drowned. He drowned in their toilet!" I said,
"Are you kidding? How could someone drown in the toilet!" Xiaobai took a sip of beer and shook his head. It seemed like I was lying to him.
Ningxiang became interested and asked me hurriedly: "Tell me, what's going on?"
"I heard it from the cleaning lady. I think the strange death of Boss Wang may have something to do with the owner of the Little Yuanyang Hotpot restaurant opposite!"
Xiaobai pondered for a while and said: "How about we try to see who this boss is?"
"Do you have any good ideas?" I asked.
Xiaobai suddenly grinned and reached out to pick up a black object from the ground.
When I saw it, I saw dead cockroaches all the time.
Xiaobai asked me: "Are you full?"
"How can I have the time to eat?" I said.
Xiaobai smiled, pinched the cockroach with two fingers, threw it into the hot pot, stirred it with a spoon, and fished it out.
Xiaobai slammed the table and stood up shouting: "Waiter!"
The waiter standing by didn't know what happened, so he came over quickly and asked what was going on.
"Why are there cockroaches in your hot pot? I didn't see it until I finished eating. I came all the way here to eat, do you just want to eat cockroaches? Call your boss over here!"
Xiaobai's eyes widened, which startled several young waiters. One of them stretched out his head and saw a cockroach in the soup spoon. He immediately turned around and ran to the bar, whispering something to the fat man wearing a gold chain.
The fat man raised his head and looked at us with a cold light in his eyes.
"What's going on?" The fat man came over with a big belly and a cigarette in his hand.
"What's going on? See for yourself, what is this?" Xiaobai pointed to the cockroach in the spoon.
The fat man frowned, whispered a few words to the waiter, then smiled and said: "I'm sorry, it might be the chef's mistake. You've all finished your meal, so how about it, I'll give you a 20% discount, please watch
May I?"
"If you eat cockroaches after eating hot pot, you still have to charge us! If we get sick later, who should we call?" I continued,
"Do you mean you won't pay me?" The fat boss's face changed, he put away his smile, and there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.
"Not only will you not pay us, you also have to compensate us! Otherwise, this matter will be useless!" Ningxiang said suddenly.
"How much?"
"Fifty thousand!" Xiaobai stretched out five fingers and glanced at the fat man contemptuously.
"The lion opened his mouth, do you know what I do? Do you know where this is? You are still trying to extort money in my territory! I think you are tired of living! You said this cockroach is from the hot pot, or the hot pot, I still
You said you put it in yourself! Pay the money quickly and get out of here, otherwise I won’t be polite!” The fat man rolled up his sleeves, revealing two thick arms.
Xiaobai took a spoon, poured a spoonful of soup into the hot pot, and then slowly poured it on the ground. He stared at the fat man with both eyes: "When I came out to hang out, you were still peeing and making mud.
!”
"You're looking for death!" The fat man picked up the chair on the ground and called to Xiao Bai. I stood up and kicked the fat man in the stomach. This guy was so muscular, but my kick failed to move him. Instead, I kicked him
I took two steps back.
Xiao Bai reacted very quickly, and turned sideways to avoid the fat man's attack. The chair hit the hot pot, and the soup spread all over the floor. The charcoal in the brazier jumped out, splashed on the tablecloth on the table, and ignited.
.
When the hotel guests saw the fight, they got angry and ran out in a hurry.
Xiaobai grinned and said: "What a tiger!"
Ningxiang kicked the fat man right in the stomach, and her slender long legs actually kicked the fat man weighing more than 200 kilograms away and hit him against the back wall. The fat man suffered a loss and turned around and ran outside.
The guests in the room were almost gone, and the waiter was so scared that he stood aside and did not dare to come forward. I said to Xiaobai: "This guy must have gone to find help. Let's leave quickly!"
Unexpectedly, Xiaobai shook his head and glared at me: "Why are you so anxious? Didn't the real owner not show up?"
I looked out the window and saw that the fat man actually ran into the Little Yuanyang Hotpot restaurant. After a while, a group of people came out of the store, led by a woman.
Through the light, I recognized the woman as Qian Wuyan, the female owner of the Little Yuanyang Hot Pot Restaurant.
Xiaobai pointed at the woman and asked me: "Is that her?"
I nodded.
After a while, a group of people came in cursing.
The fat man covered his red and swollen face, pointed at us and said to Qian Wuyan, "It's these birdmen who are causing trouble!"
I took a look at this woman. She was in her fifties and had a perm. Although she was well-maintained, but if you look closely, you can still see the traces of time. She was wearing a purple dress and holding a light yellow wooden umbrella in her hand. Look.
It's been a few years since I woke up, and suddenly I heard that the old man I saved before said that there was an umbrella in Qian Wuyan's hand that could control ghosts. I think it must be the umbrella in her hand!
I whispered to Xiaobai: "There's something weird about that umbrella in her hand, you have to be careful!"
Xiaobai was stunned for a moment, then looked at it.
Qian Wuyan looked at us and seemed to recognize me.
"Standing up for others? You don't even weigh how much you weigh!"
After saying that, he smiled evilly at us, took out his umbrella from behind, and opened it in front of us.
The moment I opened the umbrella, the room suddenly became dark, and a cold wind blew by. I actually got goosebumps all over my body.
There was a strange whine in my ears, and the waiter's scream of fear.
"He is indeed an evil cultivator!" Xiaobai took out a few talismans and recited a spell silently. The talismans flew into the air and kept spinning around us.
"How about it? Can you handle it?" I was a little nervous.