Urban Oddities: Soul Contract

Chapter 20 Pineapple Bun

As soon as the sweet noodle sauce was thrown into the shopping cart, Du Jiajun quickly put it back on the shelf.

The hoisin sauce was just thrown into the shopping cart, and the next second, it was put back on the shelf.

Du Jiajun: "Still buying it?"

Huo Minghai: "Fuck, you can control what I buy?!"

The sauce just thrown into the shopping cart is put back on the shelf for the Nth time.

After going back and forth, Huo Minghai had an opinion.

"Are you finished yet?!"

"Are you finished?!" Du Jiajun grabbed Huo Minghai's hand, grabbed the sweet noodle sauce and stuffed it back on the shelf.

General Chu came over with a box of soy milk, seeing that they were still tossing about, he said helplessly, "Why don't we just buy some sauce, do we need to do anything?"

"Why don't you just buy a sauce!" Huo Minghai glared angrily.

"Look! You still want to buy so many?"

Various brands of sauces piled up in a car, tomorrow is the weekend, and Huo’s mother will come over, so the two of them ran to the supermarket to buy vegetables after work. There was a shortage of sauces at home. Huo Minghai had suffered enough and decided to get out of the sea of ​​suffering. The bags were swept away, but they were all put back on the shelf by Du Jiajun.

Huo Minghai turned his head angrily, and Du Jiajun picked out the largest can of sweet noodle sauce and stuffed it into the shopping cart, saying, "There are big cans, why buy so many small ones?"

While Du Jiajun turned his head to pick mustard, Huo Minghai secretly stuffed a large jar of seafood sauce XO sauce into the shopping cart.

Du Jiajun raised his forehead: "Are you eating this?"

"Humph!"

In the end, at Huo Minghai's insistence, Chef Du Jiajun compromised. Three jars of sauces were squeezed into the shopping cart, and Du Jiajun almost swept the wasabi on the shelves to add to the shopping cart.

Strolling all the way to the vegetable section, Du Jiajun asked, "What kind of food does your mother like to eat?"

"This one..." Huo Minghai hesitated while holding a tomato. Thinking carefully, the dishes cooked by his mother were all his favorites. If you want to say what your mother likes to eat, Huo Minghai really can't answer.

"Then just buy some." Du Jiajun picked up some carrots and corn, thinking about cooking corn and carrot soup tomorrow.

Huo Minghai, who was holding a few big tomatoes in his hand, turned his head and handed a cauliflower to his eyes.

"Here, take it."

"It's the first time someone sent me flowers in such a big age."

Du Jiajun nodded: "Are you touched?"

"The feeling of happiness is indescribable."

"Then hold it well, and you can still eat it when you're happy."

"Can I put it in the car?"

"I can't put it down anymore." Du Jiajun pointed to the full cart.

The aroma of freshly baked bread wafted all the way, Du Jiajun took Huo Minghai to the pastry area, there was already a long queue waiting to buy bread, General Chu went away, Du Jiajun had no choice but to ask Huo Minghai to watch the car, and went to line up by himself , when it was his turn, there was only one pineapple bun left.

At dinner, Du Jiajun broke open the pineapple bun and handed half of it to Huo Minghai.

The pineapple bun was still hot, the big spider crawled over, its eight eyes shining brightly on the bread, Huo Minghai broke off a small piece to reward it, the big spider finished eating, and looked at Huo Minghai brightly again.

Huo Minghai smacked his lips, patted his stomach and teased it: "Do you want more? The rest are here."

"If you have the ability, take it yourself." Du Jiajun added.

The big spider stared at Huo Minghai's stomach, and sharpened its claws intentionally or unintentionally. Huo Minghai's face turned green with fright. Du Jiajun smiled and threw a piece to it. Looking around.

"It's really gone." Du Jiajun stroked its brain.

Pineapple buns are the signature bread of the supermarket. They are made and sold now. The store releases a batch every morning, afternoon, and evening. If it is late, it will be gone. Huo Minghai is thinking of buying fresh ones for his mother tomorrow morning. try it.

At night, Huo Minghai couldn't sleep, so he turned on his mobile phone to surf the Internet. There was a new post on Du Jiajun's Weibo: Send a flower today! (laugh)

Fans leave a lot of comments, guessing that most of them are roses, and even more romantically think of 99 big roses.

Huo Minghai forwarded: Humph, what a big cauliflower!

Huo Minghai was in a playful state of mind, announcing the truth broke the girl's heart, but what Du Jiajun said later almost made him vomit blood.

Du Jiajun reposted: As long as you like it~

Now there is a stir in Weibo. The handsome blogger’s secret lover is completely public. How sincere is sending flowers? Cauliflower is also a flower, right?In the eyes of the fans, this relationship developed like a rocket, Huadu accepted it, is it far from being overthrown?Huo Minghai's fans swelled, and soon broke through the [-] mark. There were many messages, and the pictures were so beautiful that he dared not look at them.

"Cauliflower tomorrow." Du Jiajun said.

"Hmph, the feeling of happiness is indescribable!"

"I'm going to meet my parents tomorrow, so I'm so nervous."

"The ugly daughter-in-law will see her in-laws sooner or later!" Huo Minghai simply broke the can.

"Wrong, it should be that the handsome gentleman will see his mother-in-law sooner or later."

"Yeah, I'm an ugly daughter-in-law!"

Du Jiajun nodded and corrected again: "It's not ugly."

Huo Minghai didn't bother to talk to him, so he covered his head with the quilt and concentrated on sleeping.

"Hey...it's been so many years..." While half asleep and half awake, someone sighed softly again.

The next day, when Mother Huo, who was carrying big bags and small bags, saw Du Jiajun who opened the door, Huo Minghai saw an emotion called shock in her eyes, but it was only for a short moment, like an illusion. The mother regained her composure. She brushed the white hair in front of her forehead and smiled at Du Jiajun. When she saw her son approaching, she greeted her with a happy smile. She touched his face and asked him if he had eaten well.

Huo Minghai's father died of illness in the year he was born. She was hit hard and cried all night. During the days when she was raising her son alone, the excessive fatigue made her look like an elderly and frail old woman.

Mother Huo's footsteps fluttered when she entered the door. Huo Minghai helped her to the sofa, and introduced her friends Du Jiajun and General Chu who lived with her.

General Chu Gan stared blankly at Huo's mother, opened his mouth, but the words turned into greetings, just as the doorbell rang, Chu Moxie came over with a bag of cloud cakes, after greeting Huo's mother, he couldn't wait to say hello. I went shopping with my brother.

Huo's mother brought a lot of things, including dried fruit, beef jerky, and some seafood. She put the things on the dark pier, held her son's hand and asked him if he was busy with work and had a good meal, and then Flipping through the pockets as if looking for something, Huo Minghai's heart skipped a beat, he quickly stopped her, and handed her tea for her to drink.

Mother Huo took a sip of her tea, feeling that someone was staring at her, and turned her head to see that the eight big beads on the short pier were shiningly reflecting her.

"This short pier is very special, did you buy it from IKEA?" He said, and patted it lightly.

Huo Minghai is so sweaty, the big spider's disguise is impeccable, it shrinks its waist and abdomen, hides its claws into a ball, and at first glance thinks it is a short man. Huo's mother saw that the big bead is very beautiful, so she touched it lightly.

"Mom, eat cloud cake." Huo Minghai quickly diverted her attention. Although the big spider obediently remained motionless, the eyeball that was touched felt so uncomfortable that tears burst out.

Mother Huo also brought pastries, and took out a box of exquisitely packaged things from the paper bag.

"Honey green tea cake, it's delicious."

On the box of the green tea cake is printed a big slogan: Li's pastry, farm snacks, fragrant and delicious.

"Wow, it's delicious, where did you buy it?" Huo Minghai added without waiting for his mother to speak, "It's not sold in supermarkets or online."

"Of course, the stall owner makes and sells it himself, so how could it be available in the market?"

There is a small booth number printed on the corner of the box: Seventh Street F1068.

Huo Minghai was staring in a daze when a piece of jade pendant was handed over to his eyes.

The black and red jade was carved into the shape of a lock, and soon, Huo Minghai uttered a sentence that made his heart skip a beat.

"The Kunlun Blood Jade is not an extraordinary thing, and it can block evil spirits with it. There are only a few pieces in the world."

Seeing her son in a daze, Huo's mother urged: "Ming Hai, take him quickly."

Huo Minghai hung the blood jade around his neck obediently, and his mother showed a gratified smile.

The dialogue in the dream came true, and he was drenched in cold sweat. He decided to ask questions according to the sentences in the dream.

"Mom, is this important?"

"Why is it not important? I just want my son to be safe and well!" She took Huo Minghai's hand and patted it, then turned over his hand, her old eyes were too dazed to see clearly, so she could only hold her son's palm in front of her eyes, Strive to identify.

"It seems... a bit longer?"

She held and looked at this palm countless times, and the missing lifeline became a thorn in her heart.

"Mom... why am I missing a stripe?"

After Huo Minghai finished speaking, he silently recalled his mother's answer: some people have extra stripes, it's natural.

Mother Huo touched her son's head and said with a smile: "Some people even have a stripe, it's natural."

Even the tone of voice is exactly the same!

Huo Minghai couldn't sit still any longer and stood up abruptly.

"Ming Hai?" Mother Huo saw that her son's expression was not right, thinking that something happened, she also stood up nervously.

"I... I'll go to the supermarket." Huo Minghai grinned.

"Well, the pineapple buns are coming out soon, buy a few more." Du Jiajun refilled the tea for Huo's mother.

The pineapple buns haven't been baked yet, and there's already a long queue.

Huo Minghai stood in the line, his heart was in a mess, he couldn't get up and down in his chest, he shook his head secretly, telling himself that everything was just a coincidence.

The pineapple buns came out, and the team moved slowly. The people behind bumped into Huo Minghai. Huo Minghai, who was wandering in the sky, was bumped by him. His body became unstable, and he also bumped forward. In front was a tall, fat woman, Huo Minghai Hitting her broad back, she suddenly had the illusion of hitting a wall.

"Boy, stand still." The fat woman stretched out her iron-like hands to hold Huo Minghai straight. Huo Minghai apologized to her sweatingly, and turned his head to see who was so short-sighted.

The man behind was also apologizing, saying that he was a little dizzy and couldn't stand still.

The fat woman saw that the man's expression was not good, and asked concerned: "Is there any discomfort?"

The man said it was fine, it was just too much overtime and not enough rest.

The fat woman nodded. In the fast-paced city life nowadays, many people don’t pay attention to their health. They reported to a hospital asking him to go for regular physical examinations. Seeing the man’s puzzled face, the fat woman laughed and said she was from that hospital. The head nurse told him to rest on time and pay attention to nutrition.

"The head nurse is off work?" "The head nurse is also here to buy pineapple buns?" A few people in line saw that the head nurse was quite generous, so they started a conversation. The head nurse was so strong that one person took the seats of two people.

"I'm still at work, and I'm buying it for the patients. Who told me that the buns here have to be out of the oven at this time." As he said that, he looked at the counter, and the chefs who were packing the buns shuddered inexplicably.

The pineapple buns decreased one by one, and the head nurse bought a dozen or so at one go. The people behind guessed that it was their turn to run out of buns, so the team gradually dispersed. When the head nurse left, there were only three buns left.

"All or nothing?" asked the cook.

Huo Minghai was about to speak when the man behind poked him and discussed in a low voice: "Can you keep one for me?"

So Huo Minghai only wanted two, leaving one for the man.

The man took the buns as if he had found a treasure, and went directly to the cashier to check out. Huo Minghai went to the supermarket yesterday and bought everything he should buy and what he shouldn't. There was a pile of them at home. Thinking about it was nothing. I wanted to buy it, so I followed the men to check out, and there was a long queue in front of the cash register. It was like this on weekends, there were people everywhere, and things that could be done in a few minutes on weekends couldn’t be done in less than ten minutes, Huo Minghai When he was lined up behind the man and was wandering in the sky again, the man's body shook. Huo Minghai was startled, and quickly reached out to help him. The man's hand was not steady, and the bag containing the pineapple bun rolled to the ground with a plop. The passing waiter was also taken aback. The foot that was about to step on the steamed bun took a big step forward abruptly, and the whole person took a funny posture of striding, barely avoiding the pineapple bun.

"Hey, take it." The waiter picked up the bag and handed it over. The man took it with a green face and thanked him, completely oblivious to the other's surprised gaze.

Hey, what's going on?Huo Minghai rubbed his eyes, just for a moment, the man seemed to be transparent, the duration was very short, if it wasn't for the waiter's startled and terrified eyes, Huo Minghai would have doubted whether he was dazzled.

The man was covering his belly, with dark circles around his eyes, as if he was seriously ill. The waiter stared at him for a long time, touched him, and asked him if he was not feeling well.

"It's okay, maybe I didn't have a good rest, and I have a stomach problem." The man smiled.

The line moved slowly, after the checkout, there was a crowd of people going out again, the men walked slowly, but Huo Minghai was the first to leave the gate, and there were people coming and going on the street, when a figure with fluttering steps appeared in front, Huo Minghai I was stunned for a moment, wondering when the man walked to the front, and the speed was so fast?

Huo Minghai caught up with the man in a few steps, he turned his head to glance at Huo Minghai, and grinned.The man's speed was slow, and Huo Minghai quickly overtook him again. When he turned the corner and saw the figure in front of him, Huo Minghai's eyes widened.

That man appeared again!

How can it be? !Huo Minghai turned his head abruptly, there was no figure of a man behind him?

Is it...

Huo Minghai's scalp was numb, and he didn't dare to think about it anymore. The man walked slowly ahead, and Huo Minghai followed slowly, but when will this speed go?

Huo Minghai's darling heart was pounding, he only hoped that the man would stop turning his head, and he didn't know if he could bear it when he glanced at him in surprise, just as he was thinking, the man staggered and sat on the bench by the side of the road, with his arms in his hands. Holding his stomach, it seems to be in pain.

To go, or not to go?

The wind blew from behind, Huo Minghai froze in place, even his scalp was icy cold, a couple sat next to the man, they were laughing and joking, people were coming and going on the street, so many people were emboldened, Huo Minghai quickened his pace, quickly passed by the man.

The man was covering his stomach, his face was as white as paper, the young couple found out and asked him if it was okay, the man shook his head, and the young couple left hugging each other.

The man closed his eyes, took a few breaths, stood up while supporting the chair, and walked forward unsteadily. This time, he never surpassed Huo Minghai again, as if at the end of his strength, after walking a certain distance, the man sat down on the side of the road again .

Sensing someone standing in front of him, the man raised his head.

"Um... do you want to go to the hospital?" Huo Minghai was sweating nervously.

"No, just take a rest." The man panted, and stood up with the chair on his shoulders. As if all the strength in his body had been drained, he sat back down again.

"Can I do you a favor?" The man gestured to the pineapple bun at hand, gave the address, and explained, "It's for my son. He hasn't even had a meal to wait for the pineapple bun. He must be starving."

Huo Minghai wanted to go back to the apartment, and happened to pass by the man's house, so Huo Minghai agreed, and the man seemed to have accomplished something important, he breathed a sigh of relief, clutching his stomach and curling up on the chair.

"Is there really no need to go to the hospital?"

The man shook his head, closed his eyes and took a rest. He didn't know what happened at the crossroad ahead, and there were many people around him. When Huo Minghai passed by, an ambulance was coming. Huo Minghai approached and took a look, almost stunned. The big truck crashed into the guardrail, and a man was crushed under the wheel. The man had a gash in his stomach. He didn't know whether he was dead or alive. The blood wet the ground and splashed to the roadside. Huo Minghai took a step back, carried When I looked at my feet, there was indeed a tinge of red. The crowd was suddenly separated, and a woman as strong as a wall rushed out. It was the head nurse. She chatted with the people in the ambulance for a while, and the head nurse rolled up her sleeves. , walked to the truck, turned the wheel with both hands, only to hear her roar, the wheel pressing on the man was lifted abruptly, life and death counted, the man was quickly carried into the ambulance, Huo Minghai felt a burst of pain in his chest. □□, plucking up the courage to look back, the man who was supposed to be sitting on the bench left at some point.

Or rather, disappeared.

"Amitabha, Amitabha." Someone chanted the Buddha's name.

"That woman is amazing, she lifted the car all at once."

"It's not dead yet, I think it can be saved."

The crowd talked a lot, but Huo Minghai felt that the man might be dead.

When queuing up, the man was no longer a human being. His soul had already come out when he was dying. He didn't even know what happened to him. He was still queuing up to buy bread. Buying bread became an obsession. He bought pineapple buns, but his soul disappeared. up.

The small building is not far away, there is a security door, locked and unable to enter, Huo Minghai had to press the intercom, waited for a while, there was a click, and it was connected, no one spoke, only the sound of electric current Just as Huo Minghai was about to explain, the anti-theft door snapped open, and the lock opened.

Going up to the second floor, Huo Minghai rang the doorbell, and a little boy opened the door and looked at him timidly.

"Your father bought it for you." Huo Minghai handed him the bag, the little boy didn't pick it up, sniffed, looking alert, Huo Minghai touched his face, wondering if he was that scary?

"Where's Dad?" the little boy asked.

"He..." Huo Minghai felt that it was better not to tell the child, so he lied, "He has something to do, so he has to come back later."

As soon as the words were finished, the door slammed shut, Huo Minghai had no choice but to knock on the door.

"Your pineapple bun..."

"No!" Through the door, the little boy's voice was muffled.

"Come out and get it." Probably the last thing your dad bought you.Huo Minghai thought to himself.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The knock on the door alarmed the neighbors. The woman held the crying baby and glared at Huo Minghai. After a few glances, she seemed to recognize him and asked tentatively, "Are you a courier?" Is it?"

Huo Minghai still doesn't know about his popularity on Weibo, so he nodded and explained that he gave bread to the children in this household.

"Ha, child?" The woman coaxed her doll, as if she had heard a joke, "The child in this family is long gone, only a man and a pug."

Seeing Huo Minghai's stunned look, the woman thought it was funny: "You were cheated by that man, right?"

"Cheated... cheated?"

"The man's child died of illness and his wife left. He foolishly bought a dog as his son. He ate with the dog every day and went shopping with him. He really raised it as a person. The son he said was actually that pug dog. La!"

As if responding to her, a few dogs barked through the door.

"Oh, what a murderer." The woman comforted the crying baby and closed the door.

Huo Minghai stood in the empty corridor, the pineapple bun in his hand was still steaming, as if to drive him away, the pug barked non-stop.

"Okay, stop barking, I'm leaving." Huo Minghai said.

It seemed that he really understood, the barking of the dog stopped, and the surroundings became quiet. Huo Minghai took a few steps, and the door opened behind him, and the little boy came out. Huo Minghai stared blankly at him passing by, and raised his hand: "Pineapple Bag……"

The little boy bit him with a whimper, turned his head and ran downstairs, and waited for Huo Minghai to chase him out, only to see a pug running madly towards the intersection of the car accident.

"You have blood on your body, it can smell it." Zheng Chuanchuan in a white coat walked out of the shadows and stared straight at Huo Minghai.

Huo Minghai was a little afraid of him, so he hummed and walked away quickly.

"It's a good thing it didn't pick up your pineapple bun, otherwise, that man is really hopeless." Zheng Chuanchuan was still talking, and he expected that Huo Minghai would be interested. Sure enough, Huo Minghai paused and turned to look at he.

Zheng Chuanchuan pushed his glasses: "Maybe, they will really leave after their wishes are fulfilled."

"You mean, if his son takes the bread and his wish is fulfilled, he will..." Huo Minghai tightened the bag in his hand.

"There have also been such cases in medicine. The seriously injured driver parked the car on the side of the road and pulled the handbrake before dying. There was even a car accident who came to seek medical treatment. He had no signs of life, but ran to the hospital with an obsession. Call the doctor to save your companion." Zheng Chuanchuan stepped forward, grabbed Huo Minghai, squinted his eyes and looked at him, "If you have a strong enough obsession, it's not surprising that you can survive. People are like this, and so are souls!"

Zheng Chuanchuan's gloomy gaze carried the fanaticism unique to scholars, as if he was looking at a rare experimental product.

"Huo Minghai, what is your obsession?"

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