Lu Yao took a step back, with doubt in his eyes: "Mobile game or PC game? Sorry, I don't play games very often."
Zhuang Liang looked at Lu Yao deeply, as if observing him.
A man in police uniform came over from behind Zhuang Liang, his brows furrowed, his eyes full of fatigue and impatience. He showed his ID as usual, then took out a photo, "I'm Qi Jue, a special police officer from the city's third bureau. Do you have any impression of the man in the photo?"
Lu Yao took the photo and looked up after a while. "I ran into him on the road yesterday. What happened to him?"
Qi Jue asked anxiously: "Are you sure?"
Lu Yao took another look and saw that the man in the photo was wearing a suit. It was Qi Chen. He nodded and said, "Yes, I met him on the road. He asked me to take him to the nearest bus stop. I thought his face looked a little strange, so I refused."
Her words did not contradict what he saw on the surveillance video. She herself was not a big suspect, but there were few clues at the moment, so Qi Jue decided to come and try his luck.
After listening to her story, Qi Jue directly ruled out the idea that Lu Yao and Qi Chen had a relationship, and took the photo back from her in disappointment.
Lu Yao held the coffee in his arms and asked again casually: "What happened to him?"
Qi Jue: “Missing.”
After asking the question, he lost interest in Lu Yao and turned around to leave.
Zhuang Liang had been looking at Lu Yao, his narrow eyes showing a hint of scrutiny, "Is the snack bar on the street ahead Miss Lu's shop?"
Lu Yao didn’t like Zhuang Liang’s look very much. He frowned slightly and said “hmm”.
Zhuang Liang pondered for a moment, then looked at the coffee in Lu Yao's hand. When he was about to say something, Qi Jue's phone rang.
"Found it? Where is it? We'll be there right away." Qi Jue hung up the phone, turned around and called Zhuang Liang, and the two left in a hurry.
After watching the two people leave, Lu Yao asked the system, "What did they say on the phone?"
[Qi Chen's body was found.]
Lu Yao paused and felt cold all over.
She stood outside the snack bar for half an hour before pushing the door open.
Bai Ming had gone somewhere and Qi Chen was the only one left in the store.
He sat by the window, his head tilted toward the window, looking at the scenery outside the window obsessively. When he heard the voice, he turned around and saw her immediately got up and walked over to him, "Why did you take so long?"
Lu Yao was fully prepared mentally. He calmly handed him the coffee and extended his other hand, "Life Guide."
Qi Chen took out a black booklet from his pocket and handed it to him. He took the coffee and sat back by the window. He took a sip and frowned slightly: "The ice has melted."
"There are ice cubes under the bar, add them yourself." Lu Yao casually pulled a chair and sat down.
"Life Guide" is the size of a palm, and the black cover feels cool and smooth to the touch. When Lu Yao opened the first page, his pupils shrank.
"Welcome to the land of the dead - the land of dreams."
"Only the dead can enter this room."
Lu Yao was shocked, but he actually had a vague guess.
If she only had a vague feeling before, she roughly understood it after hearing the news of Qi Chen's death.
This is a world where the dead live. There is nothing except endless time, and everything depends on illusion.
After I figured it out, it didn't seem so scary.
Lu Yao accepted it faster than he expected.
This guide is pretty decent, with maps of thirteen areas, subway routes, how to find accommodation quickly, and how to master illusion...
Hmm, found something interesting.
Lu Yao has always been curious about "illusion", mainly because he is afraid that he might fail one day. He doesn't dare to ask Xingzi and Bai Ming, so he immediately prepares to learn from them.
Qi Chen supported his chin with one hand, looked at her quietly for a long time, and couldn't help asking: "Do you understand?"
Lu Yao nodded, thinking that it was a good opportunity for a deep chat since they were alone now.
Qi Chen had seen her in the present world, so he had to untie this knot.
Just as Lu Yao was about to speak, Qi Chen suddenly crossed his arms and looked disgusted, "What on earth are you? A monster, a vengeful spirit, a witch, an alien?"
"..." She suddenly didn't want to talk to him. She didn't even dislike him as a newbie, but he disliked her first.
It was getting dark outside the window. Lu Yao didn't want to spend the night in the store again, so he returned the "Life Guide" to Qi Chen and drove him out. "I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm just an ordinary person. I'm going to close the store."
Lu Yao returned to her small rented apartment, took a shower, and lay on the bed. She searched for "Paradise" on her mobile phone, and many information bars popped up, but none of them was the "Paradise" she was looking for - the game that Zhuang Liang mentioned.
She didn't know what game it was, but she had a hunch that the information she searched for was wrong.
Lu Yao sat up, picked up the business card given by Zhuang Liang, hesitated for a moment, and threw it into the trash can.
Sometimes curiosity needs to be limited. She has a dream-fulfilling system on her body and can't take care of herself, so she won't cause trouble.
-
The next day, Lu Yao arrived at the store early to prepare the meat filling, as new wontons would be served today.
Opening the door, Qi Chen was standing outside. Lu Yao was a little surprised: "Why are you still here?"
Qi Chen looked at her calmly, "I want to work in your store."
Lu Yao: “Huh?”
Qi Chen: "In exchange, I won't tell your secret."
Lu Yao: “…”
Lu Yao came over from his residence in the morning and saw the news on his mobile phone.
Qi Chen's body was found in an abandoned construction site in the suburbs. It was cut into several pieces and scattered in different areas. The murderer has not been found yet.
Lu Yao frowned, "What can you do?"
Qi Chen: "I used to run an amusement park, so I understand the psychology of customers very well. I also have experience in managing employees and planning new projects. If you want to learn business management, I can teach you without reservation."
Lu Yao: "Okay, the trial period is seven days. Come and help me mix the wonton stuffing, we'll be opening soon."
Qi Chen: “…”
This was not what he thought.
In the kitchen, Qi Chen took off his suit, rolled up his sleeves, and worked hard to beat the meat with ice cubes.
At around eight o'clock, Bai Ming and Xingzi arrived.
With Xingzi was a purple-haired boy, about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Xingzi pushed the boy in front of Lu Yao and said, "Manager, this is Xiao Qie."
Xiaoqie used to work as a ticket collector in a movie theater and was a colleague of Xingzi.
I heard that the snack bar was hiring, so I came to apply.
Lu Yao accepted Xiao Qie against her conscience, thinking that it was a good thing that she hired Qi Chen in the morning, otherwise it would be embarrassing if all her employees were poached from next door.
As soon as he arrived at the office in the morning, Guard Captain Bai Jian saw a familiar resignation letter lying on the table, the third one in this month.
After reading the letter with a serious face, Bai Jian walked to the window. The ticket collector who had just resigned from his job was busy in the snack bar greeting customers with a flamboyant purple hair.
"… "
Bai Jian crushed the resignation letter and was almost angry to death.
This is a damn snack bar!!!
With two more people in the store, things really felt a lot easier.
Lu Yao guessed that Xiao Qie was capable, but he didn't expect Qi Chen to be so good too.
The man who looked pampered was actually quite capable in receiving guests and helping in the kitchen.
The new wontons were particularly popular, with customer flow in the store reaching a new high and they were sold out by noon.
For the staff lunch at noon, Lu Yao fried a pot of dry pot chicken. The fat and tender chicken was chopped into small pieces and marinated with various spices. After frying, it was stir-fried with potato strips, lotus root slices, and green pepper cubes. It was salty, spicy, and perfect with rice.
There is also a pot of boiled pork slices, with bean sprouts, green bamboo shoots and small mushrooms on the bottom of the pot, covered with tender meat slices, sprinkled with a thin layer of oil-roasted and chopped peppers, two kinds of green and red dried peppercorns and mashed garlic, and then poured with boiling hot oil. The unique aroma of peppers, peppercorns and minced garlic is stimulated by the hot oil, colliding and interweaving into an appetizing and strong aroma.
Then there were mapo tofu, preserved eggs with roasted peppers, and blanched choy sum.
It’s my first day at work and I haven’t been hired as a full-time employee yet, so I have to leave a good impression on the owner.
Xiaoqie picked up a piece of chicken with dignified manner. As soon as she took a bite, her hidden teeth popped out uncontrollably.
The chicken is soft and easy to remove from the bone, and is covered with starch sauce. The taste is not as irritating as the spicy grilled wings. After being fried with vegetables, the meaty aroma of the chicken blends with the fragrance of the vegetables, creating a complex and layered aroma. You can finish half a bowl of rice in one bite.
The boiled pork slices are soft, tender, spicy, spicy and fragrant. The vegetables at the bottom of the pot are crisp, tender and refreshing, and they taste even better than the meat when coated with chili oil.
Mapo tofu and roasted pepper and preserved egg rice are both special dishes. All five dishes are large in size and delicious.
Xiaoqie's reserve only lasted for a second before her true nature was exposed and she joined the crowd scrambling for food.
Xingzi and Bai Ming next to him almost had their mouths raised to their ears, even more exaggerated than him.
In less than twenty minutes, all five dishes were gone.
Xiao Qie leaned back in her chair, holding her belly, and sighed with satisfaction: "I wanted to come when the store manager made a dinner for Brother Bai Ming on the live broadcast that night. The employee meal is really delicious!"
Xiaoqie showed a row of neat shark teeth. Qi Chen's reaction was even greater than Lu Yao's, and the bowl almost fell to the ground.
After Bai Ming and Xingzi had completely let go, Qi Chen lowered his head and silently picked up the plate of blanched Chinese cabbage in front of him, not daring to reach for his chopsticks elsewhere.
Qi Chen: I often feel out of tune with my colleagues because I’m not perverted enough (literally).
After lunch it was time to get off work, Xingzi, Bai Ming and Xiao Qie cleaned the table.
Qi Chen called Lu Yao and asked, "You're not going to do it this afternoon?"
Lu Yao nodded: "The ingredients are sold out."
Qi Chen frowned and stared at her with a look of "disappointment", "Don't you think it's a waste to close the shop for the whole afternoon and evening?"
Lu Yao said with a flat face: "I have tried my best."
Qi Chen: "No, that's not enough. We can make breakfast in the morning, provide a full meal at noon, and another round of midnight snacks at night. We can also provide afternoon tea by appointment during the lunch break."
The former amusement park owner had a bit of an occupational disease. Lu Yao pulled him to a corner and sat him down. "...Brother, do you know what people use to pay for meals in this world?"
Qi Chen: "Time?"
Lu Yao: "So you know. Do you know how much I spend on food every day? I just graduated and I don't have any money. Unfortunately, the only thing circulating in this world is time. If this continues, it won't be long before I'm drained."
Qi Chen thought for a moment and said, "... How about you take my money? I used to be quite rich, so I may not be able to give you all of it. You can take 5 million."
Lu Yao: “…”
Brother, you are broken into pieces. How can I, an ordinary person, get your five million legally and reasonably
Lu Yao felt that Qi Chen had deeply misunderstood something.