late at night.
After all the guests were sent away, Laixiang cleaned up the messy dishes and sat down opposite me again.
"How did you like the dinner tonight?"
This question sounds ordinary, but in fact it is very strange.
I looked at her intently and asked tentatively: "Are you suspicious of the restaurant or the food?"
At this time, the skinny old man walked out of the kitchen, and Laixiang quickly shut up.
The old man walked up to the second floor slowly, and Laixiang spoke again.
"I doubt it, my man."
She tapped the table with her fingertips: "The dogs didn't eat the dishes he cooked for lunch. The dogs even picked up the dishes he cooked at night."
This sounds exaggerated, but the food tonight is indeed excellent.
While we were talking here, the curtain of the kitchen was suddenly opened.
Zhang Laixiang suddenly closed his mouth and winked at me, and I immediately stopped.
The skinny old man bent his waist, pulled on his slippers, and walked out step by step.
And his eyes stayed on me from beginning to end.
Zhang Laixiang slowly stood up and said with a stiff smile, "How about you come over and sit down for a while?"
He just looked at me without saying a word and turned to the second floor.
The skinny old man's eyes were dull and a little sinister, his eyes were more like those of some kind of animal.
Most of these roadside retail houses are used for business downstairs and people can live upstairs.
The greasy stairs creaked under his feet, leaving us with only a silhouette of his back.
Zhang Laixiang leaned next to me and glanced upstairs: "Did you see it? It's like this every night."
"day by day?"
"Hmm..." Zhang Laixiang said in a low voice for a moment, "No, it started about half a month ago?"
I nodded to myself: "Can you take me to the kitchen to have a look?"
"certainly."
Zhang Laixiang stood up first and led the way.
The kitchen is not too big, only a few square meters in total. Pots and pans are piled randomly on the gas stove. When I reach out and touch it, there is a faint dust floating on it.
After all, this is a restaurant that is open for business. The pots and pans are dusty, which is a bit unreasonable, right?
Just when I was about to ask, I suddenly felt sticky under my feet.
I looked down and saw a few drops of dark red liquid soaked in oil.
I was just about to squat down and take a closer look when I suddenly felt an evil wind behind me.
The instinct I have developed over a long period of time allows me to turn around as quickly as possible.
At this moment, the tip of the skinny old man's nose was already touching my face.
Even though I saw a lot of monsters and ghosts, I couldn't help but feel my heart beating faster at this moment.
He is about the same height as me, and his body is as thin as a bamboo pole. His brown skin is mixed with age spots like sesame seeds.
"What are you doing here?"
He spoke very slowly, sounding like an elderly woman.
Zhang Laixiang quickly stepped forward and stood in front of him. Before she could speak, she was pushed aside by the old man.
"Uh-huh!"
In the flash of lightning, he took out a rusty kitchen knife from behind his waist, and the blade was pointed straight at me.
I wasn't worried that the skinny old man in front of me would hurt me. What shocked me was that he was missing three fingers on his hand.
From the thumb to the middle finger, it was cut off in a row, the red and white flesh stubble was turned out, and even the white fascia was visible at a glance.
He could support the weight of a kitchen knife with just two fingers.
I looked down at the Qilin Talisman in my hand, and there was no change.
In order not to alarm others, I immediately showed weakness, raised my hands in the air, and forced a smile on my face.
"Don't be so nervous, I'm just taking a look."
With that said, I tried to press the kitchen knife in his hand, turned around and walked out immediately.
The situation is unclear and taking action hastily is not a good option.
I left a little dejectedly, and when I looked back, I saw the skinny old man looking at me intently.
This night, I roughly figured out his details. Fortunately, no conflict broke out, so everything was fine.
At night, I changed my clothes and put on a baseball cap. I didn’t even say hello to Zhang Laixiang. I pretended to be a diner and mingled with the crowd.
The restaurant was still busy, so I ate my meal and carefully observed the people around me.
These people were just putting food into their mouths, and there seemed to be nothing unusual about them.
And this is the biggest problem.
