There were seven days until New Year's Eve, so Lao Tan called Zhou Xiaomei and asked all stores to start preparing dumplings.
"Uncle, do you think there are many people eating dumplings in the New Year?" Zhou Xiaomei asked.
"There must be a lot. They mainly buy frozen dumplings, and most of them are taken home and cooked by themselves," Lao Tan said.
"That's right. Uncle, what's going on over there in the provincial capital? It's okay here in Hohhot. There's not much movement."
"There are two cases in Tiexi in the provincial capital, but none in other places. The lockdown can be lifted before the new year. By the way, when will your parents come back?"
"They have to celebrate the New Year."
"oh--"
"Are you going home for the Chinese New Year?"
"If I'm not going back, I'll go back after the New Year."
After Lao Tan and Zhou Xiaomei talked on the phone, they talked to Liu Yang, Li Jing, and Shangguan Qingyuan respectively, and made arrangements for the work for the year before. After that, he was still a little worried, so he talked to several head chefs on the phone to explain.
Look, it's almost five o'clock, and it's already dark outside.
Lao Tan walked out of the office and went to the central kitchen on the first floor. The employees in the pastry room were working overtime under the leadership of Wang Hong to prepare dumplings, and the sample review was almost finished.
Fang Jianjun was helping Zhu Debao clean up the floor. He was waiting for Wang Hong. Lao Tan chatted with him for a few words, and Wang Hong started to greet everyone to clean up and prepare to get off work.
"Master Tan, come to my house to eat hot pot later," Fang Jianjun said.
"No, I'll go to the old store later and have a look." Lao Tan said.
"Why are you going to the old store? You can just send Yaru off." Wang Hong, who was walking over, joked to Lao Tan. Yaru's place was behind the old store.
Lao Tan smiled and said nothing. An employee who had finished changing his clothes walked by and said hello with a smile.
Yaru and Yingzi came over, so Lao Tan, the two of them and Debao walked out together, followed by Wang Hong and Fang Jianjun. After leaving the kitchen and going outside, Debao took Yingzi away on an electric car.
, Wang Hong and Fang Jianjun’s home was nearby, and the couple left together.
Yaru and Lao Tan walked towards the old store together.
The snow on the road has been cleared by snow plows and is very smooth. There is still snow on the sidewalk. During the day, the sun and people's trampling have melted a lot of it. At night, the temperature drops and the melted snow freezes.
Walking on it is slipperier than walking on snow.
The two walked to Qianshan Road. This area was an apartment building built with aid from the Soviet Union that was about to be demolished and rebuilt. Ten years ago, Lao Tan rented a building like this. It was a 16-square-meter house with three houses, one kitchen and one bathroom.
Even if you speak loudly, the next door can hear you.
This apartment building is very large, and all the residents have moved out. It is surrounded by a fence and is completely dark.
"Every day I walk here I feel so scared," Yaru said.
"What's so scary? Isn't it bright on the opposite side? Besides, there's a bus stop in front and there are people there," Old Tan said.
"That's scary too, ah——"
Yaru slipped and almost fell, but Lao Tan stepped forward to help her.
The two of them walked to the bus stop. There were four or five people waiting for the bus under the stop sign. They all kept stamping their feet and looking in the direction of the bus. It was obviously too cold and they were hoping that the bus would come soon.
Lao Tan was a little anxious to urinate and looked around for a public toilet. He remembered that there used to be one here, but it might have been demolished or it was surrounded by a fence.
He told Yaru to go to the toilet and asked Yaru to wait for him here for a while. Yaru laughed at him and told him to hurry up.
Lao Tan walked forward for twenty meters and saw a large hole in the fence. It was probably made by someone who was as anxious as him, so that he could go in and pee.
Lao Tan entered through the gap, and after taking a few steps forward, he began to unbuckle his pants to solve the problem. After solving the problem, he buckled the belt comfortably, and when he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly heard an unusual sound.
The sound was whining, as if someone was covering his mouth.
Lao Tan was startled. Although his hair did not stand on end, he became nervous.
He looked around and found nothing, except for the empty apartment buildings and the dark surroundings.
Where did the sound come from? Is the listener missing?
Impossible, there is obviously a sound.
When Lao Tan decided to go out, the sound rang again, and this time he heard "help".
Lao Tan found Qin Lili in a house on the second floor of the building closest to him.
The doors and windows of the house had been removed, and Qin Lili was curled up on the bare bed. One of her hands was tied to the bed leg, and the other hand was cut with a knife. The blood had solidified. Her face was black and blue, and her mouth was covered in wounds.
The sealing tape was pulled to my chin.
The pants fell to the ground, one leg of the woolen pants was on, one leg was pulled off, and the lower body was exposed------
When Lao Tan carried Qin Lili out of the gap, Yaru happened to go in. She was shocked when she saw him carrying someone out.
"Hurry up and take a taxi to the hospital." Lao Tan shouted.
Two hours later, Lao Tan and Yaru returned to Yaru's residence from the hospital.
"I'll take a shower."
As Lao Tan started to take off his clothes, Yaru put the bloody down jacket and pants he took off into the washing machine.
When Lao Tan came out from the shower, Yaru had already prepared the food and poured the wine. Lao Tan sat down and Yaru pushed the garlic sauce for dipping the dumplings in front of him.
"You think so, those two boys don't know that Qin Lili and Zhang Xiangdong are divorced?" Yaru said.
"I guess you know ------Hey, how can I put it this way? It's a bad thing if the business is not good. No matter what we do, we can't stop paying wages. If we don't pay wages, there won't be any problem ------" The old man
Tan said with a sigh.
"Those two boys are too inhumane."
Here's the thing.
On the first day of the new year, the employees were not paid for two months due to poor business, and the Chinese New Year was coming soon. Two employees were planning to go home to celebrate the New Year and quit their jobs. When they asked for wages, the finance department said they had no money and wanted to go to the boss.
The two employees approached Zhang Xiangdong, who said that he really didn't have the money. Even if he had the money, he would have to open it to the current employees first, and those who resigned would have to wait until after the year.
Two employees quit their jobs and had a quarrel with Zhang Xiangdong, who eventually kicked him out.
After the two brothers came out, they wandered on the street. They wandered to Qianshan Road. Qin Lili happened to be waiting for the bus here. The two of them realized that Qin Lili was Zhang Xiangdong's ex-wife and they would take out his anger on his ex-wife without any money.
, the result was money grabbing and insults.
"Young people are not calm and impulsive is the devil." Lao Tan said after taking a sip of wine.
"Can we catch them?" Yaru asked.
"Then he can still run away? Don't worry, we can catch him tonight."
"You said so, just grab some money, and -"
"At that time, people's rationality was gone and they could still think about those things."
"Because you couldn't hold it back and ran in to pee. If you hadn't gone in, Qin Lili would have frozen to death. The two boys even ran away with her cell phone."
"That's not the case. When I went in, she had already freed one hand. If she untied that hand, it would be fine. It's just a matter of time. People have a desire to survive."
Yaru put a dumpling into Lao Tan's bowl and said, "I was waiting outside for you if you didn't come back. Two buses passed by. I thought something had happened. Please go in and take a look. I just left."
When you get there, I will be shocked when I see you carrying someone on your back."
"I never knew that something like this could happen when I pee." Lao Tan laughed, and then said: "I was shocked at the time. I thought I was encountering a murder, so I walked forward bravely and walked up to it.
When I saw it, it was Qin Lili------"
"Were you afraid at that time?"
"Hey, I can't remember how scared I was. I just thought she wasn't dead."