Tried to trick me into raising a cat again

The man stared at him for a while, his chapped lips moved, and he gave a weird smile, "Young man, you can't live long if you tell lies."

Qu Yanning frowned, and was not very happy in his heart. He cursed that people would not live long. What's wrong? His face darkened, his lips pursed, "I'm sorry, if you keep messing around, I'm going to call the police."

The man's eyes were gloomy, and he exuded an uncomfortable aura. If it wasn't for the fact that it was still bright and sunny here, and several waiters who had just arrived at the store had surrounded him vigilantly to prevent him from causing trouble, Qu Yanning almost thought that he had met him again. evil spirits.

The two sides stalemate for a while, Qu Yanning refused to give an inch, the man stared at him for a while, snorted coldly, turned around to leave, but suddenly there was a lazy meowing sound behind him.

Xie Qi, who had been lying on his stomach behind the cashier, ran out at some point. He squinted his golden eyes, and his gaze fell on the man unkindly.

The man glanced back, saw that it was a harmless kitten, spat and limped away.

Xie Qi looked in the direction he was leaving for a while, then lazily lay down again, and meowed at Qu Yanning with his hairy belly exposed.

Qu Yanning picked up the coquettish cat and kissed it, and said to the staff who were waiting to arrange work: "It's okay, everyone go to work."

The waiters dispersed consciously and began to prepare for a busy day.

Qu Yanning put the cat on the high stool again, touched his forehead to him, and said softly, "You play here, and I will do things."

Xie Qi squinted his eyes and pressed his cheek, flicking his tail happily and meowing.

Only then did Qu Yanning feel relieved to go to the back kitchen to get busy.

Today's business is still booming. The reputation of Qu Yanning's barbecue restaurant has been uploaded on the Internet before, and many gourmets have come here to eat.

It’s just that there is only one chef, Qu Yanning, who is really too busy. In addition, he used to set up a stall very casually, and often refused to come. Now he finally opened a fixed physical store, which made many old foodies very happy. , so there were extraordinarily many people joining in the opening two days.

It's just that I didn't expect that even if I have a fixed storefront, I still can't eat what I can't eat. Qu Yanning apologized and sent skewers to customers who didn't eat.

This is because he saw that there were fewer and fewer ingredients left and more and more people, so he made a decisive decision to stay.

The kebabs were grilled golden, just off the grill, still sizzling with oil stars, the aroma of barbecue came from the kitchen, and the greedy customers waiting for their seats were drooling.

Qu Yanning came out with a lot of skewers on a tray. The dimples on his cheeks were sweet and soft, but what he said broke the hearts of customers. He said, "Sorry everyone, the ingredients in the store have been sold out. , we have to close today." As he spoke, he carried the tray and began to distribute skewers.

Some customers who had been waiting for a long time had dark faces and were unhappy. After all, whoever has been here smelling the fragrance for a long time, but didn't even eat a hair, must be very angry.

But when the kebabs were delivered to the eyes, the very unhappy customers still took the kebabs, and when the hot kebabs were eaten in their mouths, the rich meaty aroma exploded in their mouths. The customers who were still very angry just now It's high, they squeezed Qu Yanning together, and stretched out their hands to ask for two more strings.

With a smile, Qu Yanning divided up a pile of skewers, and apologized and asked everyone to come back tomorrow.

Some customers complained inarticulately while eating the skewers, "Boss, you have to prepare more ingredients every day, otherwise, it will be sold out so early, how can you make money?"

"It's all meat. If you can't sell it all out, it won't be fresh tomorrow." Qu Yanning smiled shyly. After the new store opened, he picked fresh and high-quality goods. If they were sold out on the same day, they would be returned early the next morning. People give it away, so there is only so much every day, and it will be gone when it is sold out.

The customers smacked their lips regretfully, and left in twos and threes, discussing in low voices that they should come early tomorrow.

The night was already falling, and the street lights outside were flickering with neon lights, making the city colorful. Qu Yanning was sitting in front of the cash register with a cat in his arms, counting money, and the smile on his mouth never faded.

Xie Qi leaned on his shoulders, watching him lose interest after counting for a while, and didn't understand why human beings like this kind of smelly banknotes so much.

He yawned and rubbed against Qu Yanning's neck, rolled himself into a ball, half-closed his eyes to recuperate.

After the store was cleaned up and the bonuses were distributed to everyone, Qu Yanning closed the door and was the last one to leave.

Walking home slowly with the cat in his arms, he ran into a cantaloupe seller on the road. The unique sweetness of the cantaloupe spread in the air. Qu Yanning sniffed, turned around, and walked to the tricycle to ask the price.

The price of such a roadside mobile stall is cheaper than that of a fruit shop. Qu Yanning bought a whole one, and the stall owner enthusiastically packed it up and handed it to him.

So Qu Yanning had another cantaloupe in his hands.

When I got home, Chu Zhou was applying a facial mask. There were still finished takeaway boxes on the dining table in the living room. Chu Zhou slumped on the sofa, gently massaging his face with his fingers. Seeing that he was back, he moved his lips slightly to talk to him. Talk, "Come back so early?"

Qu Yanning carried the cantaloupe into the kitchen, and a soft voice came from the kitchen, "Business is good, sold out ahead of schedule."

Chu Zhoujin pulled on his slippers and walked to the kitchen, stretched his neck to watch him cut the cantaloupe, "Cut smaller."

Bringing out the sliced ​​cantaloupe, Qu Yanning inserted a piece of it with a toothpick and fed it to the cat. Xie Qi first licked it with his tongue and found it sweet, then he opened his mouth to put the melon in his mouth and ate it slowly.

Qu Yanning took a tissue to wipe the juice on his chin at any time, and was very considerate in serving him.

Chu Zhou glanced at it jealously, stuffed two pieces into his mouth angrily, and even his cheeks puffed up.

"By the way, someone from the shop came to see you today." Qu Yanning fed the cat, suddenly remembered what happened during the day, carefully considered his words, and carefully observed Chu Zhou's expression, "They said it was someone from your family, and that your mother was sick. gone."

Living together for so long, Qu Yanning has never met Chu Zhou's parents, let alone heard him mention it. It seems that the relationship with his family is not very harmonious. Now that this person suddenly found him, he knew it was not good. matter.

Chu Zhou paused, and then stuffed another piece of cantaloupe into his mouth as if nothing had happened, but he opened his mouth much wider, and he didn't pay attention to the mask on his face, "Really, what does that person look like? What is it?"

"I didn't say anything," Qu Yanning shook his head, and described the man's appearance to him, "He looks like he is in his 40s, with a limp on his left foot, wearing very worn clothes, and speaking with a northern accent." See It looks like it came from some remote mountain village.

"Do you know him?" Qu Yanning asked cautiously, "I'm afraid I'm a bad person, so I say I don't know you. If you do, next time he comes, I'll tell him."

That's what he said, but Qu Yanning had an intuition that Chu Zhou would not want to see this person. Sure enough, Chu Zhou shook his head and stuffed another piece of cantaloupe into his mouth. His movements were still lazy, but the expression on his face was inexplicable Very cold, "I don't know you, come back next time, don't bother, just drive out."

He chewed the cantaloupe in his mouth, but he couldn't taste the sweetness anymore. He tore off the mask angrily, and Chu Zhou got up and said, "I'm a little sleepy, I'm going to rest first."

Qu Yanning looked at his back worriedly, opened his mouth but didn't ask.

After all, this is Chu Zhou's housework. Although Qu Yanning is worried, he is unwilling to take the initiative to expose people's scars. Family members who don't even want to mention it will definitely not have any happy memories behind them.

The two people in the room both fell asleep with deep thoughts.

Xie Qi nestled in Qu Yanning's neck, sniffing the pleasant fragrance of the young man, and let out a pleasant little purr.

……

"Ugh!"

A cry of pain came from the dark alley. The man hunched his back slightly, and carefully unwrapped his tightly wrapped clothes. His clothes were already very worn out, and there were black and red blood stains on the washed white fabric. The man endured the pain. Tear off the cloth glued to the wound, completely exposing the rotting flesh and blood inside.

The man looked at the rotten wound on his arm in horror, "How could this be..."

He is already one of the few people in the village who is not infected with a strange disease, so the witch sent him out to find the holy boy.Who knew that he followed the guidance of the gods to find this place after a lot of hardships, but he suddenly developed a malignant sore on his body.

"Can't wait any longer."

The man muttered to himself, sucking out the pus from the wound with his mouth and spitting it out. After a few times, the wound showed pale red flesh, and then he took out a piece of clothing from the bag again and wrapped himself tightly. Get up, the sorceress said that as long as the holy boy is brought back, the gods will appease their anger and everyone will be fine.

The man hugged the only package, curled up in the corner, and fell asleep restlessly.

-

"What happened to your eyes?" Qu Yanning looked at Chu Zhou in shock.

Chuzhou looked sluggish, with two obvious dark circles under his eyes. He yawned tiredly, and sat down at the dining table with heavy steps, "I had a dream all night, and I didn't sleep well."

Qu Yanning moved his mouth, hesitated for a while but still did not ask, he served Chu Zhou a bowl of porridge, and said that he should cook lotus seed porridge at night, lotus seed porridge can help sleep.

Chu Zhou said yes unhappily.

After breakfast, Qu Yanning went to the store.

At noon, the man I met yesterday came again. He wrapped himself up tightly, his dark and thin face became sallow, and even his expression became more gloomy.

"Where is Chu Zhou?" The man stood in front of the cash register, looking straight at Qu Yanning.

Qu Yanning frowned, he smelled a faint corpse odor from the man, exactly the same smell as when he found Yang Chunfang's body on Xiuping Road.

"Sir, I don't know the person you mentioned." Qu Yanning's expression was very cold. Combined with Chu Zhou's reaction yesterday, even if the man in front of him is really his family, he may not be a relative who loves him, but more like Something happened and I had to come to him,

Not wanting to cause trouble for Chu Zhou, Qu Yanning picked up the phone next to the cash register and made a gesture to call, "If you continue to hinder my normal business, I will really call the police."

The man stiffened his neck and stared at him stubbornly, the whites of his cloudy eyes were faintly bleeding.

Qu Yanning pressed his fingers, and there was a beeping sound from the phone.

"Little boy doesn't have eyes," the man spat viciously, curled his left hand on his right chest, and muttered, "If he doesn't go back, the gods won't let him go."

"The gods will teach you a lesson for me, and you will be punished by heaven." When the man mentioned the gods, his expression was frantic. He gave Qu Yanning a final look, turned around and limped away,

The shop assistants gathered around, chirping and saying where did this man come from? If he comes again next time, he might as well call the Third Hospital, otherwise it would be bad to scare the customers.

Qu Yanning smiled and said that it's okay, and probably won't come again. A few young girls gathered together and chatted for a while, and they didn't leave to do things until a customer came in at the door.

Xie Qi jumped off the high stool and walked to the place where the man was standing just now. There was still a faint dead air left there. The man's harsh words just now were of no use, but the dead air on him is something that ordinary people can touch. But it is easy to get sick, Xie Qi stepped on the spot a few times, and the faint trace of death quickly dissipated.

I need to find something to fill in the store. Xie Qi tilted his head and thought for a while, then climbed up Qu Yanning's legs, climbed to the edge of the cashier, and patted the cabinet below with his hairy claws. .

Qu Yanning thought he was joking, so he ignored it, Xie Qi patted his paw in displeasure, and then patted the cabinet, Qu Yanning understood this time, and opened the cabinet for him, "What does my baby want to do?" ?”

Xie Qi jumped into the cabinet, and dragged out a wooden box from it with great difficulty. This was a gift he asked Zhang Ren to bring when it opened on November [-].

Qu Yanning picked up the cat and put it on the countertop, and took out the wooden box for him. He looked at the box a little familiarly, and thought for a long time before he remembered that it was a congratulatory gift from the second master Zhang Ligament on the opening day. Busy, he even forgot.

Xie Qi patted the box, raised his chin, and motioned for him to open the box.

Qu Yanning opened the box, and on the bottom of the red flannel, there was an emerald green jade brave.

Jade Pixiu is only half the size of a palm, but the workmanship is very good, and the expression of the Pixiu is clearly visible. The color of the jade itself is perfectly integrated with the expression and movements of the Pixiu. It is natural and not obtrusive. It is very expensive at first glance.

Qu Yanning looked at Yu Pixiu worriedly, and felt that the favor he owed Xie Erye might not be clear.

Xie Qi fished out the jade brave with his claws, then rolled it on the table twice like a rolling ball, pushed it to the edge of the table and set it up.

Jade Pixiu can attract wealth and ward off evil spirits. Although this quality is a bit inferior, it is still good enough for temporary use. When I go home next time, I will find a better one. Xie Qi looked critically at Jade Pixiu and thought.

Qu Yanning didn't know what was going on in his mind, he always felt that it was a little unsafe to put such a valuable thing outside, so he tried to take the Jade Pixiu back and put it away.

But Xie Qi stood by the side covetously. As soon as Qu Yanning stretched out his hand, Xie Qi quickly slapped him with his paw, back and forth a few times, Xie Qi became unhappy. He stood up with a straight face, with his front paws hanging down on his body Before him, his round eyes widened and looked at Qu Yanning unhappy.

Meow is angry.

Qu Yanning didn't care about Yu Paixiu immediately, and said that cats are liquid. Guaibao stood up, and his small body was much longer than usual, with hairy front paws hanging down, and round eyes staring, looking at it again. Poor and cute.

Qu Yanning's heart melted, she stretched out her face and rubbed against Mao's belly, Xie Qi was so rubbed by him that she almost couldn't stand still, so she could only hug his head with her claws.This action was a bit shameful, as if he was pressing the little fool to let him kiss his belly, Xie Qi pursed his ears back, and quietly blushed again.

Qu Yanning didn't know the cat's little thoughts at all, and sucked Mao Belly obsessively for a long time, and only came out of Mao Belly's gentleness when he had to go to work.

As for Jade Pixiu, as long as the cat is happy.

……

When returning home from making samples in the evening, Qu Yanning deliberately went to the vegetable market to buy lotus seeds. Fresh lotus seeds were hard to find this season. Qu Yanning went around the entire vegetable market, and only then found a grandmother selling them at the back door of the vegetable market.

The lotus seeds have been peeled from the lotus pods, packed in white plastic bags, and sold by the bag for 15 yuan a bag.

In the small bamboo basket at Grandma's feet, there were still three bags left. The lotus seeds were big and plump, but they were probably wilted after being left for too long. Qu Yanning looked at them and finally bought them all.

Grandma took the money with a smile, and enthusiastically told him how to cook it deliciously. Qu Yanning listened patiently, and only walked back when Grandma left slowly with a small bamboo basket.

Back home, Qu Yanning boiled the lotus seeds in hot water, then skillfully peeled and cored them, filled a bowl with Bai Shengsheng's lotus seeds, Qu Yanning washed the rice, and poured the lotus seeds and rice into the rice cooker Cook slowly.

In the living room, Chu Zhou was slumped on the sofa weakly. His face was a little sallow, and his cheeks were flushed abnormally. It didn't look like he just didn't sleep well.

"I have a fever." Qu Yanning touched his forehead, but the temperature was normal.

Chu Zhou shook his head, half-closed his eyes weakly, and insisted in a muffled voice that he just didn't sleep well.

Qu Yanning didn't know why he suddenly remembered what the man said, he was a little uneasy, but Chu Zhou was like this now, it was obviously not suitable to worry about it, Qu Yanning pressed the matter down, didn't say anything more, just said to let him drink when the porridge was ready One bowl, rest for another night, if it is still not good tomorrow, go to the hospital for examination.

Chu Zhou said yes helplessly.

Qu Yanning turned and went to the kitchen to look at the porridge. Xie Qi, who had been holding claws on the other side of the sofa, stood up flicking his tail, walked to Chu Zhou's chest, and looked down at him.

Chu Zhou smiled and said, did you come to see my joke?This person and one cat are either fighting for snacks or Qu Yanning, but they are natural enemies.

Xie Qi narrowed his eyes, looked at the thin black air covering his face, and stretched out his claws to press on the center of his brow.

The furry paw pads were in contact with the skin, and there was a warm feeling. Chu Zhou didn't have much strength on his body, so he just let him press it, even if his mouth was still cheap, he still wanted to tease the cat, "Why do you eat it while Qu'er is not around?" My tofu?"

"..." Xie Qi absorbed the black energy for him, and unhappily slapped him with his tail, his wrinkled cat face was full of disgust.

Feeling better, Chu Zhou changed his posture to lie down, and called out to Qu Yanning in a protracted tone, "Qu'er, I'm so hungry..."

Qu Yanning came out in a hurry with porridge. Rock sugar was added to the porridge. The soft boiled rice grains were mixed with plump lotus seeds, exuding an appetizing sweet aroma.

Chu Zhou was just intentionally calling Qu Yanning to be angry with this jealous cat who was about to mature, but he didn't know whether it was because the lotus seed porridge was too fragrant or he was in good spirits. It was hot, holding the bowl and blowing air while gulping down the porridge.

Seeing his good appetite, Qu Yanning felt relieved, brought out the food for himself and the cat, and the family of three sat on the sofa and drank porridge.

Chu Zhou, who drank the lotus seed porridge, slept well that night, the damp and cold breath dissipated, and his body was warm, and he did not dream of those old and moldy memories.

In the alley not far from them, a man knelt by the wall and chanted words. In front of him was a small statue. The statue was dressed in strange clothes, with a hideous mask on his face, and his red lips were curled up like a smile. Fei Xiao, extremely weird in the dark night.

The man was very pious. He knelt on the ground and bowed three times, muttering something in a low voice. After a while, an ecstatic smile appeared on his sallow face, "Thank God, I will definitely bring the holy boy back."