Mystery Collection 2

After leaving the old house, Gu Tingxi immediately rushed to the bookstore. There was no one in the store. Han Chen made a pot of tea and sat in the lobby drinking tea and reading a book.

Gu Tingxi entered the door noisily, and shouted, "Brother Chen, I'm going home."

Han Chen smiled helplessly, walked behind the cash register, opened the drawer, took out the red envelope that he had prepared earlier in the morning, handed it to Gu Tingxi, and said, "Happy New Year."

Gu Tingxi put the red envelope in his arms with a smile: "Thank you, Uncle, I wish you good luck like Donghai and longevity than Nanshan, and a long life of 120 years, just ten years older than me."

Han Chen laughed, handed him the teacup in his hand, and said, "Drink some tea to moisten your throat."

The warm sunshine in the afternoon poured in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, just falling on the sofa by the window, dyeing the empty lobby golden.

Gu Tingxi felt drowsy from the sun, and after chatting a few words, he leaned on the sofa and dozed off.

Han Chen hung up the resting sign, closed the store door and took him upstairs to take a nap.

During the past few days of the New Year's Eve, the business of the bookstore was deserted, and the streets full of traffic in the past were quiet. Gu Tingxi slept until after six o'clock, and when he woke up, it was already dark outside.

With sleepy eyes, he said in a daze, "I want to eat hot pot."

Han Chen touched his sleeping cheek and said with a smile, "Then get up, it's getting late."

Gu Tingxi nodded vaguely, slowly got up from the quilt, and just put on the sweater when the phone rang.

When he pressed the answer button, Gu Siqian's impatient voice came out immediately: "Where is he? Grandma said you are home, when will you be home?"

Gu Tingxi scratched his hair and muttered, "I'm in the bookstore, I can't go back."

"Why can't you come back? I'll pick you up now."

Gu Tingxi blinked, and hurriedly said, "That's impossible, I'm on the night shift today."

Gu Siqian was so blocked by his words that he bled internally, and his anger rushed to the top of his head. After holding it down for a long time, he still couldn't hold it back, and yelled loudly: "You are on the fucking night shift, get out of here with me!"

"Brother, you're not right, we can't swear." Gu Tingxi said seriously, "I'll punish you to reflect on yourself tonight. That's it. I'm busy with business here, so I hang up."

There was a beeping sound from Gu Siqian's mobile phone, he threw the phone out angrily, the big head rushed to catch it, and said with a smile: "Boss, catch it."

Gu Siqian glared at him depressedly: "Get out!"

The big head put the phone on the table, hesitantly asked: "Boss, are you in a bad mood? Do you want to call Mr. Nangong?"

"What am I calling him for?" Gu Siqian crossed his legs and flipped through the magazine boredly.

The big head said, "Don't you like him?"

"My mother..." Gu Siqian was dizzy with anger, "Can you be quiet for a while?"

The big head touched his bald head and let out a confused "oh".

------

Gu Tingxi got dressed and jumped off the bed, beckoning to Han Chen: "Let's go, Brother Chen, let's go on a date."

The two locked the door of the store, crossed the road directly, and got into a small alley with many twists and turns.

The front of this hot pot restaurant is not big. The boss didn’t visit his relatives during the Chinese New Year. He only opened after two days of rest. The transparent glass is covered with window grilles. Two new couplets are festively hung at the door. There are several tables of guests in the lobby. Dining inside, the lingering smoke filled the entire window.

It was nearly seven o'clock when the boss brought out the bottom of the pot. Gu Tingxi was groaning with hunger. Before the soup was boiled, he casually poured a whole plate of beef rolls and a whole plate of baby vegetables into it.

Han Chen looked at him speechlessly, hesitated for a long time and asked, "Is this how you eat hot pot?"

Gu Tingxi took a sip of tea and said indifferently, "Don't they all need to be cooked?"

Han Chen smiled without saying a word, and poured some tea into his cup.

Holding the cup, Gu Tingxi whispered, "Brother Chen, I won't be going back tonight."

"I heard, you are on the night shift tonight." Han Chen suppressed a smile, staring at his face through the gradually rising smoke.

The heating in the room made the child's fair and tender cheeks flush. Hearing Han Chen teasing himself, he pursed his lips and showed a shy smile, but his eyes sparkled with joy.

Gu Tingxi took off his coat and put it on the back of the chair, kicked Han Chen's shoes under the table, and asked angrily, "You're still laughing at me, what do you mean?"

Han Chen looked at him for a while, then smiled lowly: "Happy."

The bottom of the soup in the pot gradually boiled, and the fragrance invisible seduced the flood of saliva. Han Chen scooped up the cooked beef roll and put it into Gu Tingxi's bowl, "Eat it as you please, let me boil it."

While eating, Gu Tingxi did not forget to instruct him: "Put down the bean curds and fish balls first, don't put potato chips, they will be boiled before you can eat them."

Han Chen followed what he said in a good-tempered manner, and took the time to ask, "Did you eat enough at noon?"

Gu Tingxi said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for several days, and the food is not delicious, and I am hungry every day."

Han Chen was amused by him, "Eat well, don't talk nonsense."

"You can eat too, don't worry about me, I will eat whatever I want."

The two were talking and laughing when someone pushed open the glass door, the wind chime on the door made a crisp sound, and the cold wind gushed in.

Gu Tingxi shrank his neck from the cold, and subconsciously glanced at the lady.

About 35 years old, wearing a bright red short down jacket, as soon as he entered the door, he rubbed his hands and shouted to the boss: "Boss, take a bowl of sesame glutinous rice balls."

The boss responded, and immediately got into the kitchen, and after a while, he packed the glutinous rice balls and brought them out.

The lady paid the money, exchanged some pleasantries with the boss, and then left with the takeaway.

Gu Tingxi rubbed his nose, called to the boss and asked, "Boss, do you still have glutinous rice balls here? What kind of stuffing do you have?"

"Sesame stuffing and meat stuffing, my wife and children love glutinous rice balls, so I'll sell some by the way, would you like a bowl?"

Gu Tingxi ordered a bowl of glutinous rice balls stuffed with sesame seeds. When the boss cooked the glutinous rice balls and brought them out, he brought a small plate of pissing beef balls. He said with a smile, "This small plate is given away for free. You all eat and drink well. Happy New Year ah!"

Gu Tingxi hurriedly thanked him, the boss still had work in the kitchen, chatted for a few words and left.

Gu Tingxi poured the whole plate of meatballs into the pot, and whispered to Han Chen, "The boss is so kind, and the hot pot tastes pretty good here. Let's come back next time and bring the little mute and Chen Yifei with us."

Han Chen nodded, and turned up the fire that had just been turned off, "Don't pour the whole plate in again, and don't cook the cooked and raw ones together."

"Worry." Gu Tingxi took out half a bowl of glutinous rice balls out of an empty bowl, and said with a smile, "Uncle Han, do you feel sick to your stomach after not eating the staple food? Let's eat the glutinous rice balls."

Han Chen looked at him with a smile and asked, "Who is talking so much?"

Gu Tingxi ate the glutinous rice balls without answering.

The two had a lively meal of hot pot. It was still early, and they planned to walk to watch an evening movie. They just ate too much to digest.

Just as the two of them came out of the alley and turned onto the main road, they suddenly heard the sound of a police car and an ambulance interlaced. An ambulance drove straight to the entrance of the alley. After stopping at the intersection, several medical staff jumped out of the car.

Several policemen came up from behind and ran to open the way.

Gu Tingxi and Han Chen stood by the side of the road watching for a while, and the crowd gradually increased. An old lady in her 70s was sitting at the door with a rice bowl to join in the fun, and asked hoarsely, "Why are there so many people here? "

A young man next to him was smoking a cigarette. Hearing this, he spit out a smoke ring and picked up the conversation vividly: "It's not that something happened to the guests in the old Wang's hotel. I heard that someone stabbed me. I guess it was robbery." , the person didn't seem to be in danger of life, but the injury was not serious, and it was said that there was blood all over the place, but then again, the beast was too courageous, so he ran directly to the hotel, probably because these tourists were foreigners Very bullying."

"Such a thing happened during the Chinese New Year, what a crime." The old lady took two mouthfuls of rice and walked into the house tremblingly.

The sudden fireworks in the sky interrupted everyone's attention, and Gu Tingxi suddenly came back to his senses and said, "Do you want to go and see?"

Han Chen shook his head: "Don't make trouble, let's go, don't you want to watch a movie?"

"Let's go then."

------

The next morning, just after six o'clock, the road was deserted, only the old man selling egg pancakes appeared at the intersection on time, facing the slightly drunken morning light, he started a busy day.

Not long after leaving the stall, the old man ushered in the first order of business in the morning.

"Boss, two pancakes filled with eggs, each with egg sausage fillet, more sauce and more spicy."

"Okay, little brother, wait a moment, it will be fine soon." The old man glanced at him with a smile, and said, "I see that you are cold and have dark circles under your eyes, and you haven't slept all night? Did you just come from an Internet cafe?" come out?"

Chen Yifei smiled. The boss thought he was a young man addicted to the Internet. He laughed and said, "The Internet cafe is so hot now, how can it be as cold as I am? I have worked all night."

"Hey, why are you still so busy during Chinese New Year? Just wait, I'll add an extra egg for you."

"No, no, no, this won't work." Chen Yifei hastily declined.

The boss said straightforwardly: "It's a good sign to open the stall as soon as it's out. You're welcome. If you work overtime tomorrow, come visit me again."

Chen Yifei nodded hastily. Two egg-filled biscuits cost 16 yuan. He really didn't want to take advantage of the old man, so he dropped the 20 yuan and ran away.

When he walked to the door of the bookstore, two egg pancakes were just in time for him.

He checked the time, took out his mobile phone and called Han Chen.

Usually Han Chen got up at six o'clock, but to Chen Yifei's surprise, it was Gu Tingxi who answered the phone.

Two minutes later, Gu Tingxi ran downstairs to open the door for him, and asked with a puzzled face, "Why did you come so early?"

Chen Yifei scratched his messy hair and said, "Come to look for Brother Chen, how about you? Why do you wake up so early?"

"I planned to go to exercise in the morning. Since you are here, let's have breakfast instead." Gu Tingxi let him in and locked the door.

"You're the only one who is still exercising early." Chen Yifei laughed: "I just ate supper, and I still have some stomach left. What's for breakfast today?"