Three tombs: Part III
Even as the night approached the city, it never truly slept.
As the day dawned, the chauffeur pulled up in front of the faculty dormitory on the west side of Yongchuan University. When Professor Fu got out of the car, his legs were wobbly, he was too sleepy and uncomfortable.
Xing Conglian and Lin Chen sent the others back into the dormitory and by the time they came out, the sky, from a dark blue, had already turned into a lighter color.
Xing Conglian lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply. There was an air of laziness all over him.
There was a slight aroma in the air. It seemed to be the smell of tea eggs and pancakes. Xin Conglian rubbed his stomach and looked at Lin Chen with bated breath.
When Lin Chen saw his face, he said, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to eat breakfast. “
After having studied at Yongchuan University for several years, Lin Chen knew every food spot around him. He took Xin Conglian to a small alley next to the school
The alley was long and deep and at the entrance of it was a small shabby store.
As the two approached the entrance of the store, the shopkeeper was just carrying the stove out to make a fire.
When the shopkeeper saw Lin Chen, he froze.
“Uncle Zheng.” Lin Chen shouted but in a rather low voice.
“Aiya! It’s A-Chen!” The middle-aged man tapped his head as if remembering something. He hurriedly put down the stove and shouted in the direction of his house, “Dear, look who’s here!”
He had shouted very loudly and soon, the small store was filled with footsteps. A middle-aged woman in an apron opened the curtains and then rushed out of the house. When she saw Lin Chen, she was also stunned. Then the corners of her eyebrows were rippled with smiles: “Look at you! How long has it been since you’ve come here? Do you not miss your Aunt Wang?”
“I do.” Lin Chen smiled and very sweetly replied.
The small stores near the school that were still operating probably have their own characteristics.
When Lin Chen took Xin Conglian to his seat, Auntie Wang wiped her hands on her apron and with a smile, asked, “Two bowls of shrimp wontons, what else do you want to order?”
There was no menu in the store, so Xin Conglian just looked at Lin Chen.
“Another bowl of egg congee along with a steamer full of Xiao Long Bao and shumai.” Lin Chen thought for a moment, pointed at Yin Conglian, and then added, “Auntie Wang, give him an egg cake.”
“Okay, okay.” The middle-aged woman happily went back to the back kitchen.
Looking around, Xin Conglian felt that the store was very small. The tables and chairs were worn out, a light bulb was hanging from the ceiling, and other than that, there were no decorations in the store but strangely enough, Xin Conglian felt that the place was peaceful as if it was a lonely and silent night. Perhaps it was because the sun had not fully risen- or perhaps the light in the store was a little too dim.
“Does this place taste good?” He put his hands on the countertop and quietly gazed at the person in front of him.
“Yeah, it tastes great. I only eat here.”
“Really? That good?”
“No, because this restaurant doesn’t charge me.” Lin Chen said with a smile.
“A-Chen is a great matchmaker for my dear and I!” Two bowls of freshly cooked wontons were placed on the table and the store owner, Uncle Zheng, stood by the table and said to Xin Conglian.
“Matchmaker?”
“That’s right, before my old lady and I got together, one of us ran a wonton store at the end of the alley and the other ran a dim sum store at the other end of the alley. A-Chen saw that we were interested in each other and hooked us up.” The middle-aged man squeezed his eyes at Xin Conglian, and before he could finish, he ran to serve the hot Xiao Long Bao.
Xing Conglian looked at Lin Chen incredulously, “How did you pull that off?”
Lin Chen lowered his head and handed him a spoon from the side of the chopstick container.
“This kid is so naughty. He came to my store, continuously ate wonton for a week. And every time he came, he would bring a steamer full of dumplings and Shumai from my lady’s, eat, and then not return the steamer. He let me send it back to her for him every day.” The middle-aged man put down the steamer, sat down next to Lin Chen, and told a story to Xin Conglian.
The first thing you need to do is to know the actual story.
The day was dawning and the sun was rising.
There was a constant stream of laughter and joy coming from the wonton store at the end of the alley.
Not far from there, at Yongchuan University, there are early risers who start their morning reading.
Officer Wang was one of the most ordinary security guards at Yongchuan University.
After lazing around for most of the night, he got up from bed to prepare for his last patrol on the campus at five in the morning. A milky white mist floated across the campus in the early morning, the fish had not yet turned up from the bottom of the water, and the sparrows were still sleeping on the branches of the trees.
He patrolled most of the campus and there was nothing unusual. When he rode to the grove by the lake, he yawned heavily. It was so early, the bad guys were going back to sleep. After thinking about that, he stopped his bike in front of a leafy banyan tree, took a few steps, and went to rest under the canopy.
Some students woke up early and were on the lakeside, reading English texts aloud. Officer Wang heard them, only to feel drowsy.
With the fourth and sixth-grade exams approaching, the students have been quite diligent lately.
Officer Wang squinted for a while as if trying to remember something. He opened his eyes, looked at his watch, and then raised his head to look at a place further away.
There stands a dilapidated old canteen. In half an hour, the canteen will start serving breakfast then he can call it a day, he thought. He unconsciously closed his eyes again and the hand hanging down his lap gently slipped down to the dirt.
Suddenly, he jumped up as if he had been stung!
He seemed to have touched something slippery and sticky, he fixed his eyes at it only to find that the mud under his feet was revealing a piece of white rubber. It may be a broken soccer ball or broken shoes that someone threw. Officer Wang looked at the piece of rubber and then at his hands, but he just seemed to feel that what he just touched slightly moved.
Officer Wang looked around, the students who were up reading in the morning did not seem to notice what happened under the tree, he squatted down. Hesitantly, with his fingers, he gently picked at the dirt next to the rubber, thinking, what the hell is this thing?
Finally determined, his hands plunged into the dirt and pulled out a large handful of dark brown mud.
A white sneaker protruded, the tip of the shoe was facing upward, and there was a checkmark on the vamp.
Officer Wang still recognized this brand, he was relieved and blamed himself for making such a fuss about it.
Perhaps just a little too tense, officer Wang felt himself gasping for air a little too anxiously. He sat down against the trunk of a tree, put his hand into his coat pocket, and pulled out a cigarette quietly. However, as his left hand clutching a cigarette, his right hand felt his pocket up but found no available lighter in hand which was a big mistake! He can only hold the cigarette in his mouth and feel the friendly and relaxing smell of the filter with his saliva.
The lake breeze was soughing and he gradually calmed down. Thinking that perhaps the banyan tree was too shady for resting, Officer Wang stood up and wanted to leave.
Because of the change of angle when he got up, he vaguely saw that the sneaker buried in the soil seems to be connected to a small piece of fabric. Who even throws shoes and socks together?
Officer Wang jolted at the cool breeze, he felt goosebumps all over his body. He pounced towards the sneaker and dug like crazy. He screamed!
Beneath the dirt, connected to the sneaker, was a leg!
Of course, the horrible things that happen in the school will not instantly spread out in an instant.
After enough eating and drinking, Xing Conglian lit up a cigarette and walked side by side with Lin Chen in the long street outside the Yongchuan University.
The street was getting crowded with pedestrians and breakfast stalls have been set up.
Young boys and girls dressed in Yongchuan University uniforms, from time to time, passed by the two.
When Xing Conglian turned his head sideways, he saw that Lin Chen, not knowing what he was thinking about, was looking at the school gate in the distance.
“Let’s go, go for a walk in your school.” He suddenly spoke.
Lin Chen turned his head as if he had heard something very strange: “Didn’t you say that it’s better not to go in there?”
“I meant you shouldn’t go in there alone.” The mixed-blood youth exhaled from his cigarette and smugly smiled, “Now that I’m accompanying you, it’s not a problem.”
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