Volume 7 Chapter 2: New Clues
At the Hangzhou Louwailou, I watched Aning finish the last piece of vinegar fish, wiped her mouth contentedly, and revealed a very intoxicated expression, saying to us, “The Hangzhou food is really good, but it’s a little sweet.”
My impatience had reached its limit, but I couldn’t let it show, so I just smiled and waved to pay the bill.
To be honest, as an acquaintance, it wasn’t too much to ask to take her out to dinner, and I wasn’t the type of person who didn’t eat with strangers, but a meal like a trickle, eating for two hours without saying a word, just smiling while eating and looking at us, really made me unable to bear it.
The fat guy was also depressed. He had a lot of opinions about her, and originally planned to leave after a pat on the butt, but I really didn’t want to eat alone with this woman, so I dragged him into the hotel. Now he regrets it.
The two of us didn’t eat much, and the fat guy kept drinking alone. I thought about what she was doing to me, thinking about ways to deal with it, and even thought about how to guard against the woman suddenly jumping up and throwing a sleeve arrow at me.
The waiter came to settle the bill, and looked at us with a puzzled and wary expression.
It was rare to see guests at the “Lou Wai Lou” who didn’t speak for two hours and ate and drank in silence. From the look in her eyes, she probably thought we were a loan shark gathering, and that this well-built woman would be sold to a brothel by me and the fat man after she finished eating.
I felt like a student who hadn’t studied for an exam and suddenly found out that the teacher was paying a home visit. I didn’t know whether it was a blessing or a curse, and I was waiting for the teacher to get to the point. In short, this was the most depressing meal I’d ever had in my life.
After the waiter had gone, Fatty looked at the dishes on the table and sneered, “I can’t tell that you’re a tough guy when you eat. How come? You work so hard for your company, and your company can’t even give you a full meal?”
“We’re out in the field all year round, and we can’t even get good food with our gold bars.” Ning raised his eyebrows. ‘Compared to compressed biscuits, anything is good food.’
The fat man sneered, looked at me, and gave me a wink, letting me pick up where he left off.
I coughed and didn’t know what to say, but Aning had obviously come to see me, and it would definitely be inappropriate for the fat man to help me ask. So I asked Aning with a stiff head: “I’ve already invited you to dinner. Let’s talk directly. What are you doing here this time?”
Aning raised the corner of her mouth: “Why do you always ask this? Can’t I come to see you if there’s nothing going on?”
This tilted her head, and she looked very charming. I felt like water was about to come out of her eyes, and my chest felt blocked, as if I was going to vomit blood. I subconsciously looked at the fat guy. The fat guy pretended not to hear, turning his face away.
I had to turn my head back, not knowing how to continue the conversation. I said “hmm” and couldn’t speak for a long time.
A-Ning looked at me like this, and at first she was very provocative, wanting to see how I would handle it. But after waiting for a long time, I didn’t say anything. She suddenly laughed and shook her head, saying, “I really can’t do anything with you. I don’t know if you’re pretending. Forget it. I’m not going to play with you. I really do have something to tell you.”
She took something out of her bag and handed it to me. “This is something our company just received. It has something to do with you. Take a look.”
I took a look and realized it was a package. I weighed it in my hand and knew what it was. It was the right size and shape, and with the experience of the previous few days, it was not hard to guess. So I couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.
The fat guy didn’t understand, but when he saw me freeze for a moment, he snatched it and opened it up. Sure enough, it was two black videotapes, and they were the same old format as the ones we received in Jilin.
Although I had guessed, I was still shocked when I confirmed it. I thought to myself, “Could it be that the sender had sent more than two tapes? Were the tapes sent to our company at the same time as the ones sent to Ning’s company? Are the contents of these two tapes the same as the ones I received?
What on earth is this kid up to?
”These were sent to our company’s headquarters in Shanghai a few days ago. Because the sender was special, they arrived at my hands very quickly,” said Ning, looking at me.
The fat guy had heard me mention the tapes, and now he couldn’t hide his excitement. He gave me a wink. I coughed again, telling him to calm down. I asked Ah Ning, “What’s so special about the sender? What’s on the tapes?”
Ah Ning glanced at the fat guy, then turned to me with a half-smile, saying, “The sender is indeed very special. The sender of this express delivery…” She took out a piece of express delivery paper from her bag, “Take a look and see for yourself.”
I looked at her mysteriously and thought that the sender should be Zhang Qiling. This person is indeed very special. I now feel that this person does not exist in this world at all, but how does Aning know that he is special?
So I took it, and the fat man leaned over again. When I looked at it, I was stunned. The name written on the slip of paper, the name of the person who sent this express, was—Wu Xie—my name.
“You?” The fat man on the side called out inexplicably.
I immediately shook my head and said to A-Ning, “I didn’t send it! I didn’t send it.”
A-Ning nodded, “We know that too. How could you possibly send us something? The person who sent the item wrote this name to make sure that the item would end up in my hands.”
The fat guy’s interest was already piqued, and he asked A-Ning, “What’s in it?”
A-Ning said, “The contents are quite strange. I think you should take a look and see for yourself.”
My doubts were already very strong, and at this point I forgot my guard and asked Aning, “Is it a woman who keeps combing her hair?”
Aning was obviously a little confused, glanced at me, and shook his head and said, “No, the thing in there, I don’t know if it can be considered a person.”