The second floor of Honglu Bar was originally a billiard hall, but due to poor business, the owner owed rent and ran away without saying a word more than a month ago.
Jiang Ji remembered that Huang Ying had gone upstairs several times before and seemed to be hesitating whether to expand the second floor into a bar or continue to operate it as a billiard hall after renovation.
Jiang Ji went upstairs and saw Jiang Bei sitting on the pool table, eating a cake while watching TV. His two feet were dangling half a meter off the ground, and he looked a lot more energetic than before.
When he passed by Jiang Bei, Jiang Bei's lips were stained with white cream from eating. She looked at Jiang Ji and said, "There was a man sneaking around the door of the bar this afternoon. I haven't seen him before. Is he looking for you?"
Jiang Ji ignored her and walked all the way to the eastern end of the second floor. When he saw another cake on the coffee table, he stopped and stared at the cake for a few seconds.
That was the cake that Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi bought. The words "Happy 19th Birthday" had melted with the surrounding cream and could no longer be distinguished.
On the table next to the cake, there was a plastic lid that didn't match the size of the cake, and on the lid was a kraft paper envelope. Jiang Ji walked closer, bent down, picked up the envelope, and pulled out a piece of letter paper.
After quickly browsing the contents of the letter, he turned around and looked at Jiang Bei: "Where did you get the cake in your hand?"
"It's on the coffee table," Jiang Bei watched the TV, scooped another big spoonful into his mouth, and said vaguely, "Why did you receive two cakes?"
Before she could swallow a bite of cake, Jiang Ji walked towards her, snatched the cake from her, and without saying a word, threw it into the trash can beside him. He also threw the letter in his hand into the trash can, which he crumpled into a ball with his palm.
Jiang Bei glared at him, but Jiang Ji ignored her gaze and picked up the trash can and handed it to her: "Go take out the trash."
Jiang Bei said nothing. He raised his hand to wipe the cream from the corner of his mouth, jumped off the pool table, took the trash can and walked towards the door.
There was a clean white box tied with a ribbon at the door of the second floor. Jiang Bei took a curious look at it as he passed by, put the trash can aside, then bent down and untied the ribbon.
Jiang Ji was leaning against the pool table and looking at his phone when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps at the door mixed with Jiang Bei's exclamation.
He stood up, walked quickly to the door, and supported Jiang Bei who was retreating step by step: "What's wrong?"
Jiang Bei calmed down and pointed at the cardboard box she kicked out. Following her gaze, Jiang Ji looked at the cardboard box on the ground. A bloodstained broken arm was lying in the box. The bright red bloodstains contrasted sharply with the white cardboard box, creating a strong visual impact.
Jiang Ji walked to the box, half squatted down, took out the "broken arm" and looked at it, and cursed in a low voice, "What a haunting thing", then he put the fake broken arm back into the box, closed the lid, and threw it into the trash can. He glanced at Jiang Bei with a bit of teasing in his eyes: "Aren't you fearless?"
Jiang Bei pursed her lips tightly, perhaps because she was frightened. Her face was paler than ever, making her eyes look like two black beads.
"You go back." Jiang Ji stood up, picked up the trash can and went down the stairs.