After hearing Chu Changge's words, Gu Mian began to ponder if his mory had errors.
But before he could reach a conclusion, a rich aroma wafted from the kitchen, completely captivating his attention.
At that mont, Fatty erged from the kitchen wearing newly bought oven mitts and carrying a large, steaming white porcelain bowl. The tantalizing scent of at emanated from it.
Fatty quickly placed the soup bowl on the living room table. Gu Mian looked at the white porcelain bowl. Erald-colored coriander and pale green scallions floated on the surface of the at soup, from which steam continuously rose. Fatty turned back to fetch three small bowls, placing them on the table. "Help yourselves to the soup," he said. "Add as much vinegar and pepper as you like..."
He then returned to the kitchen, murmuring, "Just eating at isn't good. I also made so vegetarian dishes: hot and sour lettuce, sweet and sour peanuts, and stir-fried rice cakes. Oh, right, I bought so strawberries, made them into jam, and put it in the fridge to set. It should be ready by tonight."
It's great to have a cook, Gu Mian mused. At ho, I'll never have to cycle through different flavors of instant noodles again.
Fatty then ca out with several small spoons, handing them to Gu Mian and Chu Changge. Xiao Hong stared covetously at them, looking like a starving child from a poor family. Fatty, unable to bear the sight, handed her a small spoon as well.
Then Xiao Hong happily snatched Gu Mian's bowl.
Gu Mian: "..."
Then Xiao Hong was hung up on the chandelier again.
Now Gu Mian understood how she got up there. His brother had simply lifted her, tossed her toward the ceiling, and there she hung.
"Ahem," Gu Mian glanced at Xiao Hong swinging back and forth from the chandelier. "Alright, let's eat..."
"By the way, where were we before Fatty ca out?" Gu Mian looked at Chu Changge.
Chu Changge put down his spoon. "We were talking about mory discrepancies. And incidentally, your expression just now made you look like you wanted to tie Liu Ruyan up and beat her."
Yes, they had been talking about tying Liu Ruyan up and giving her a beating.
Fatty's eyes widened. "Ah, why would you want to beat Miss Liu?"
Speaking of which, they hadn't seen Liu Ruyan since returning to the inn yesterday. Gu Mian and Liu Ruyan used to see each other daily. Every day when he returned from class, he would find Liu Ruyan sitting behind the wooden counter on the first floor. It was worth ntioning that the counter faced the main entrance, so many male passers-by would often fix their gaze on it, unable to look away.
Before moving here, Gu Mian had rented a room in another inn.
But coincidentally, the landlord of that inn was a maniac. He was a man in his early fifties who seed decent, but no one would have guessed he had started committing murders about twenty years prior. Back then, surveillance caras weren't common, so he had gotten away with serially killing three people.
As tis changed, the landlord gradually stopped, knowing it would be difficult to continue his cris in an era of ubiquitous surveillance caras.
However, for so reason, he took a liking to Gu Mian.
Upon seeing Gu Mian, his heart, quiet for many years, began to stir again.
He ticulously planned the route and timing, prepared his tools, and even identified a spot to dump the body. Then, during the day, he snuck into Gu Mian's room and hid under the bed. He lay in wait, intending to murder his victim in his sleep.
Coincidentally, Gu Mian happened to stuff a corpse under his bed after returning that day.
The landlord, who hadn't murdered anyone in over twenty years, was full of murderous excitent, planning to kill a young man in his sleep, but instead encountered a skinless corpse.
Gu Mian still rembered the scene that night.
Just as he shoved the disassemblable human muscle model he had finally managed to buy under his bed, he heard a horrified scream from beneath it.
He lifted the bedsheet, bent down to look, and saw the terrified landlord holding a boning knife.
Later, this landlord was taken away by police officers.
During the recorded interrogation, the police asked him, "Why did you put such a terrifying human model under the bed? Weren't you scared?"
"Putting it under the bed is better than opening my eyes in the middle of the night to see a skinless thing standing sowhere. So, under the bed is the safest place."
The police had nothing to say to Gu Mian's answer.
Having learned his lesson, Gu Mian was very cautious when choosing his next landlord.
Eventually, he settled on Liu Ruyan.
Compared to a landlord who hides under the bed with a boning knife at night, soone who could rely twist off a gas canister seed a lot cuter.
Thinking of this, Gu Mian turned to Chu Changge, "Do you rember that landlord I encountered when I was renting before? He was sentenced to a suspended death sentence. He should have been executed before this ga started, right?"
"Yes," Chu Changge nodded. "By the way, there's sothing I wanted to ask you."
What is it?
"What happened to that human muscle model you asked to buy? You didn't bring it when you moved here."
Gu Mian scooped a spoonful of soup. "What do you think I used to subdue a landlord ard with a boning knife?"
Gu Mian had smashed it to pieces.
Of course, the landlord's head had almost been smashed to a pulp too.
"Although I don't fully understand what you're talking about!" Fatty suddenly and frankly interjected, "But Doctor, when I went to the supermarket today, I heard other players say Lianhua University is still in ruins. It seems like, Doctor, you collapsed a real-world location too!"
Gu Mian felt quite apologetic for having caused the collapse of the cafeteria where he often ate.
He felt his actions were rather like the saying: "Smashing the pot after finishing the al."
"We can go see Lianhua University if we get a chance," Chu Changge scooped his soup, his expression unchanging, as if it weren't his own school that had collapsed. "We might discover so clues in the ruins. But it's best not to go out much recently, as many players have gathered in Lianhua City due to the event. Although most of them are likely dead now, the remaining ones still pose a threat to us."
"Mhm." Fatty nodded thoughtfully. When he went out today, he was disguised and wore the 'Wang Longxiang' school badge. Although he didn't think the na suited his sophisticated image, it was still better than going out under the moniker 'Fat Kid Surnad Wang'.
Fatty picked up a piece of lettuce. "When I went to the supermarket this ti, I noticed there were indeed more players. I suppose those who ca for the event will need to find a place to stay, right?"
When the ga held its first event, so inns still dared to open, but their numbers dwindled until none remained.
Perhaps the great plague had killed many landlords, and the few who survived were likely struggling too much to continue their businesses.
However, when Gu Mian's group arrived at a new place, they usually just broke into an inn.
"Since we usually stay at inns, then the other players..." Fatty paused for a mont before continuing, "I rember this place isn't far from Lianhua University, right?"
"Yes," Gu Mian answered knowingly. "Aside from Couple Street near the school gate, this is the closest inn to Lianhua University."
Couple Street wasn't suitable for long stays, only for a night or a few. Its rooms were generally small and windowless. The slightly better ones often had bizarre thes; staying in them for too long could drive soone mad.
At this mont, Gu Mian heard footsteps from downstairs.
He put his bowl down and silently walked to the window to look outside. As expected, he saw a group of n and won approaching the building.
"There's an inn here!"
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