Hotpot Restaurant Chapter 3

Mother Meng and Father Meng packed up for the day and went off to bed.

As they had to wake early to restock and prepare ingredients before opening for the day, they’d developed a habit of sleeping early.

Before heading upstairs, the couple called out to Meng Xiao Ni. “When you’ve finished eating, remember to clean the pot. We don’t want Squeaky to visit.”

Squeaky is a rat. 

It’s a mystery how the couple picked up this superstition—they believed if they mentioned the word “rats” at night, then, the rats would surely appear. So, they’d always referred to rats as “Squeaky”.

Meng Xiao Ni nodded in reply.

After eating, she cleaned up, washed the utensils, and carefully put everything away.　　

After a hearty meal, Meng Xiao Ni returned to her room with great satisfaction.

She washed up, and slipped straight into bed.

Although Mother Meng said that she’d forgotten that Meng Xiao Ni was returning, she actually worried and thought about her every day. Her quilt smelled of the sun. Its freshness and warmth revealed that it must have been just recently aired in the sun.

Meng Xiao Ni let out a deep sigh and snuggled under her covers contentedly.

The night grew deep. Outside, the sky was inky dark, and the world fell still.

Meng Xiao Ni’s lids closed heavily as she began to drift off.

“THUMP——”

Meng Xiao Ni’s eyes flew open. She held her breath as she stared at the pitch-black ceiling and listened hard.

“PLING—”

It was coming from downstairs!

Meng Xiao Ni’s mind raced. To be downstairs at this time of the night, was it her mother or her father? Or… was it a burglar?!

It definitely wasn’t a ghost.

Because of Meng Xiao Ni’s experiences with ghosts, she knew that they were not a common occurrence. In addition, most ghosts could not touch people at all. She had never even once seen anything resembling the evil spirits depicted in novels.

She didn’t know whether it was just due to luck. Anyway, she really hadn’t seen the kind of evil spirits that made trouble or had murderous intentions.

For as long as ghosts existed, there were people who could eliminated them, such as Taoist priests and exorcists. Evil spirits have long been taken care of.

Meng Xiao Ni was most afraid of the possibility of a burglar.

There were three people in the family—two eldery, and her. 

“Plong—” This time, the sound was a lot fainter.

Meng Xiao Ni reached out to the side of her pillow for her mobile phone. She quickly keyed in the number of the Fengdu police—12110 plus the last three digits of the area code— then typed her address and a message stating that she was hiding in the room, and suspected that there was a break-in.

Her finger hovered over the ‘send’ button.

She took a deep breath and got out of bed.

The small bedrooms upstairs were cramped close together.

Meng Xiao Ni threaded lightly to her door and opened it. She looked across to her parents’ room.

From the gap under the door, one could see if the light was still on. Mother Meng used to rely on this to make sure that Meng Xiao Ni didn’t stay up too late.

Meng Xiao Ni’s heart sank when she saw that the gap under the door of her parents’ room was dark.

Whatever was downstairs, it wasn’t anyone of the three of them.

There was indeed some movement downstairs.

Meng Xiao Ni was well aware of how much her parents emphasized hygiene and cleanliness. To avoid their customers getting sick from their food, they would sterilize and disinfect everything regularly, and ensured that there were no rats.

Even though it was a “housefly restaurant”, in her entire life here, she’d not even seen many houseflies here, much less a rat.

Soft clashing sounds continued drift upstairs, but Father Meng and Mother Meng didn’t seem to hear them at all. Their lights remained off, and their door remained shut.

Meng Xiao Ni returned to her room. She locked the door behind her and sent the message.

Not long after, her phone vibrated.

The text message read, “Noted. The police will be there soon!” 

Meng Xiao Ni sat back on her bed and waited calmly.

In just ten minutes, she could hear a vehicle approaching.

There was a knock on the shutters downstairs. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

The noise downstairs suddenly stopped.

Meng Xiao Ni’s window did not overlook the road. She couldn’t see the police downstairs, neither did she know how to contact them. The was the first time she encountered such a thing. Her hands trembled slightly.

Her phone vibrated again.

“Are you safe? Are you able to communicate over text?” 

Meng Xiao Ni’s hands shook as she typed out a reply. “I’m safe. I can text.”

They exchanged a few messages and she replied each one quickly. “The sounds from downstairs have stopped.”. “There are three people upstairs, me and my parents.”. “My parents are not awake. They will turn off their phones at night.”

“We will proceed to enter. We will be breaking the lock, don’t be afraid.”

“Ok.”

There’s a sound on the stairs! It’s coming up!

Meng Xiao Ni looked at the door in alarm. She then turned back to her phone and typed hurriedly, “It’s coming upstairs!”

As soon as the police received the news, they broke on the lock in one swift motion.

“Brrrrrrttt——”

It was the sound of the shutters rolling up.

Meng Xiao Ni never gave a thought to how the burglar got in. She held her breath. The only thing she was thankful for at that moment was that she was back home, and her parents were not facing the burglar alone. 

“Dok Dok——”

A strange knock sounded on the door.

A cold sweat broke on Meng Xiao Ni’s forehead.

Downstairs, the police rushed in. Soon, someone located the stairs and quickly beckoned their companions to head upstairs together.

Meng Xiao Ni looked around her room. She launched towards her desk lamp and grabbed it.

She bought her desk lamp when she was in high school. Mother Meng felt that a bigger lamp would be better and dragged her out to buy a big desk lamp, the sort with a long light bulb.

It was just right for self-defence right now.

There came the sounds of people rushing up the stairs. “Police! Don’t move!”

The knocking stopped abruptly.

Meng Xiao Ni had held her breath for too long and was starting to feel dizzy. With all her senses on high alert, she watched her door warily, in fear that the burglar would break in.

Outside, there were more sounds of people moving about. Mother Meng’s voice rang out, “Wha… What’s going on?”

Meng Xiao Ni’s eyes flared. She ran to her door and called out, “Ma, don’t open the door!”

Mother Meng heard the tone of alarm in her voice and hastily agreed, “Alright, alright.”

It was a good thing that they had the habit of locking their door at night. 

The footsteps outside grew louder, and the lights turned on.

At this, Meng Xiao Ni felt a little more at ease.

The eatery was very small, and the living space upstairs was even smaller.

Once the lights were turned on, there was nowhere to hide. 

A chuckle came, and there was another knock on the door.

“Knock knock—”

Meng Xiao Ni pressed her lips together.

“Excuse me, I’m a police officer. My serial number is xxxxxx. There’s no burglar here, only a bird. Do you have a pet parrot? “, the person at the door asked.

Meng Xiao Ni was stunned. “Huh?”

Another person let out a soft chuckle. “It’s really a bird. Everything is fine.”

Meng Xiao Ni went to her door but did not open it. “We have no pets in this house.”

“Hmm, is that so? Well then… we still have some work to do. Which of you can come make a report with me? We have to make a record when the police are called for.” The voice then said to the other person, “Go on and catch the bird, be careful.” 　

Meng Xiao Ni looked down at her phone and checked the number that was communicating with her.

It was indeed an official number.

She opened the door slightly. From the gap, she saw that there was indeed someone in police uniform standing in the light outside. She breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door a little wider. “How could it be a bird? I thought it was a burglar.”

There were two police officers outside the door. One was taking out a notepad from his pocket, and the other was bent over in the corner. 

Meng Xiao Ni walked out and peered at the corner. “What’s there?”

The policeman who took out the notepad took the opportunity to glance at Meng Xiao Ni’s room and confirmed that there was no birdcage. Then, he nodded. “Mm. Well, can you call your parents out? It’s better to explain the situation with the entire family.”

Meng Xiao Ni quickly went to her parents’ door.

Before she could knock on their door, Father Meng and Mother Meng opened the door and came out.

The family of three were all in their pyjamas.

The policeman glanced into their room. He then took out a pen from his pocket. “We need the person who made the call to sign here, as well as give some information on the situation. Later, someone will call to ask for more details.”

He nodded at the bird in the corner. “Are you sure you don’t have a pet bird?”

Father Meng and Mother Meng both shook their heads. “No.” 

The policeman nodded. “That’s a Bourke’s parrot¹. It is not allowed in our country to keep them as pets unless you have a permit. If it is not yours, we will take it away, and send it to the Forestry Bureau tomorrow.” 

Father Meng and Mother Meng Mu nodded hastily. “Yes, yes, of course. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Remember to close the windows at night. Luckily, it was only a bird tonight. If a burglar really broke in, it would be most unfortunate.”

Meng Xiao Ni came to a sudden realization. “…But, I remember closing and locking all the windows and doors before coming upstairs. How did this bird come in?”

The policeman tried to offer a possible reason. “It could’ve come in during the day. Perhaps there were too many people around and it got frightened and hid away somewhere. Now that it’s quiet, it came out to look for food. This little one likes fruits. I’m sure you have them your kitchen, right?”

Meng Xiao Ni thought about the watermelon she saw as she was washing the pot, hesitated, and nodded.

The police officer in the corner finally caught the parrot after several attempts. 　

His brow was slick with sweat as he walked towards them. “Awesome, it’s a ruby red one. I wonder who’s its owner.” 

The policeman who was writing the report glanced at his partner out of the corner of his eye. “You can’t raise it anyway, so don’t even think about it.”

“Ah, what a pity.” 

Meng Xiao Ni looked at the little troublemaker for the first time. 

Instead of ruby red, it was more peach-toned.

The little bird struggled in the police officer’s hands and even tried to peck free. In the white light, its soft feathers shone, reflecting a light pink, similar to that of a peach. It didn’t seem to want to be taken away. and there seemed to be hint of anger in its reddish eyes. 

Anger.

Startled, Meng Xiao Ni wondered to herself in alarm. How could she tell that the parrot was angry?

At that moment, the policeman finished his report and handed the pen to Meng Xiao Ni. “Look at the contents of what I wrote. If it is true, please sign it. We have to hurry on to the next location.”

Meng Xiao Ni came to herself and took the pen. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t expect it to be a bird.”

The policeman laughed. “Don’t underestimate birds. What if it invades your home? What if the bird hasn’t been vaccinated? Remember to disinfect the first floor tomorrow.”

Father Meng and Mother Meng nodded in agreement. “We will definitely disinfect everything. Definitely.”

Meng Xiao Ni read the report and ascertained that everything was correct. Then, she signed her name.

Seeing that everything was fine, the policeman dispensed a few words of advice, and left with his partner and the bird. 

The family of three saw the police off. Father Meng headed off to the storeroom to fetch a spare lock. Meng Xiao Ni watched as the bird as it was taken away.

She tilted her head slightly to the side. Why did she have the feeling that the bird was watching her?

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1. Bird Bio

   

    ¹ Bourke’s parrot: Also known as Bourke’s parakeet. It is native to Australia. The name comes from Sir Thomas L. Mitchell, who spotted the bird in New South Wales in 1835. These are intelligent birds but are also mellow and quiet, especially compared to other parrot species. They are cuddly and prefer companionship. 

   While not as vividly colored as other species, Bourke’s parakeets are still quite eye-catching. They have a dusty brown tint to their plumage with pink feathers covering their chests and abdomens, and blue tail feathers. (Left)

   Several color mutations are possible with Bourke’s parakeets. One of the most popular is the rosy Bourke’s parakeet, which is a bright shade of pink. (Right) This must be what the police officer meant by ‘ruby red’ and Meng Xiao Ni, ‘peach pink’.