The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 602
There were still seven days left before the new year, and Lao Tan called Zhou Xiaomei to tell the stores to start preparing dumplings.

"Uncle, do you think there are many people eating dumplings in Xiaonian?" Zhou Xiaomei asked.

"There must be a lot. They mainly buy frozen dumplings, and most of them are taken home and cooked by themselves," Lao Tan said.

"That's right. Uncle, what's going on in the provincial capital, Hohhot is doing okay now, there's not much going on."

"There are only two cases in Tiexi in the provincial capital, and there are no other places. The lockdown will be lifted before Xiaonian. By the way, when will your parents come back?"

"They have to spend their junior year."

"Oh--"

"Are you going home for Chinese New Year?"

"Don't go back, go back after the new year."

After Lao Tan and Zhou Xiaomei finished talking on the phone, they called Liu Yang, Li Jing, and Shangguan Qingyuan respectively, and made arrangements for the work of the previous year.After that, he was still a little worried, so he talked to several chefs on the phone to explain.

Look at the time, it's almost five o'clock, and it's already dark outside.

Lao Tan walked out of the office and went to the central kitchen on the first floor. Under the leadership of Wang Hong, the employees of the pastry shop were working overtime to prepare dumplings, and it seemed that it was coming to an end.

Fang Jianjun was helping Zhu Debao clean up the ground, and he was waiting for Wang Hong.Lao Tan chatted with him for a few words, and Wang Hong over there began to call everyone to clean up and get ready to get off work.

"Master Tan, come to my house to eat later, hot pot." Fang Jianjun said.

"No, I'll go to the old shop later to have a look." Old Tan said.

"If you want to go to the old shop, I'll just say I'll give Yaru off." Wang Hong, who was walking over, joked to Lao Tan that Yaru lived behind the old shop.

Old Tan smiled and didn't say anything. An employee who had finished changing clothes walked by and greeted with a smile.

Yaru and Yingzi came over, so Lao Tan, the two of them and Debao went out together, followed by Wang Hong and Fang Jianjun.After leaving the kitchen and going outside, Debao took Yingzi away on an electric scooter. Wang Hong and Fang Jianjun's house was nearby, and the couple went away hand in hand.

Yaru and Lao Tan walked towards the old shop together.

The snow on the road has been cleared by the snow plow, and it is very clean.There is still snow on the sidewalk, which has been melted by the sun during the day and people trampling on it. At night, the temperature drops, and the melted snow freezes, making walking on it more slippery than walking on snow.

The two walked to Qianshan Road, which was an apartment building aided by the former Soviet Union that was about to be demolished and rebuilt. Ten years ago, Lao Tan rented this kind of building, a house of [-] square meters, three families, one kitchen and one bathroom. Talking loudly can be heard next door.

The area of ​​this apartment building is very large, and all the residents have moved out, surrounded by fences, and it is completely dark.

"Every day when I come here, I panic." Yaru said.

"What's so scary, isn't there a light on the other side? Besides, there is a bus stop in front, and there are people." Old Tan said.

"That's scary too, ah—"

Yaru slipped and almost fell, Lao Tan stepped forward to support her.

The two of them walked to the bus stop, and there were four or five people waiting for the bus standing under the stop sign. They kept stomping their feet and looked in the direction of the bus. It was obviously too cold, and they hoped that the bus would come sooner.

Old Tan was a little anxious to urinate, so he looked around for public toilets. He remembered that there was one here before, and it might be due to be relocated, or it might have been enclosed in a fence.

He told Yaru to go to the toilet and told Yaju to wait for him here for a while, Yaru laughed at him as a worthless person and told him to hurry up.

Lao Tan walked forward for 20 meters, and saw that there was a big hole in the fence, which was probably made by someone who was as urgent as him to pee, so that he could go in and pee.

Lao Tan went in through the gap, and started to untie his belt to solve the problem after walking a few steps forward.After solving the problem, I buckled the belt comfortably, and when I was about to turn around and leave, I suddenly heard an abnormal sound.

The sound was humming, as if someone was covering their mouth.

Old Tan was startled, and although his hair didn't stand on end, he became nervous.

He fumbled around, but there was nothing, except for the empty apartment building, which was a dark enclosure.

Where did the sound come from?Did you hear me wrong?
Impossible, obviously with sound.

When Lao Tan decided to go out, the voice rang again, this time he heard "help".

Lao Tan found Qin Lili in a room on the second floor of the building closest to him.

The doors and windows of the house have been removed, and Qin Lili is curled up on the remaining bare board bed.One of her hands was tied to the bed leg, and the other hand was cut with a knife, and the blood had coagulated.His face was black and blue, and the tape that was sealed on his mouth was torn to his chin.

The trousers fell to the ground, one leg of the wool trousers was on, the other leg was torn off, and the lower body was exposed——
When Lao Tan walked out of the gap with Qin Lili on his back, Yaru just went in, and was shocked to see him coming out with someone on his back.

"Hurry up and take a taxi and go to the hospital." Old Tan shouted.

Two hours later, Lao Tan and Yaru returned to Yaru's residence from the hospital.

"I'll take a shower."

As Lao Tan spoke, he began to undress, and Yaru put the bloody down jacket and trousers he took off into the washing machine.

Lao Tan came out of the shower and Yaru had already prepared the food and poured the wine.Lao Tan sat down, and Yaru pushed the garlic sauce for dipping the dumplings towards him.

"That's right, those two boys don't know that Qin Lili and Zhang Xiangdong are divorced?" Yaru said.

"I guess I know—hey, how can I say that bad business is a bad thing, no matter how bad it is, I have to pay wages, if I don't pay wages, then there's no such thing—" Lao Tan said with a sigh.

"Those two boys are too inhuman."

Here's the thing.

On the first day of the new year, due to poor business, the employees were not paid for two months. The Chinese New Year is approaching, and two employees are going to go home for the New Year.

The two employees found Zhang Xiangdong. Zhang Xiangdong said that he really had no money.

The two employees quit and quarreled with Zhang Xiangdong, but Zhang Xiangdong was kicked out.

After the two brothers came out, they strolled on the street, and after a stroll, they reached Qianshan Road. Qin Lili happened to be waiting for the bus here. The two of them thought that Qin Lili was Zhang Xiangdong's ex-wife. money grabbing and insulting.

"Young people are not calm, impulsiveness is the devil." Old Tan said after taking a sip of his wine.

"Can you catch them?" Yaru asked.

"Then you can still run? Don't worry, I can catch it tonight."

"That's right, if you want to grab some money, then—"

"At that time, people lose their sanity, and they can still think about those things."

"I rely on you and you can't hold back and run in to pee. If you don't go in, Qin Lili will freeze to death, and the phone even made those two kids run away."

"That's not the case. When I went in, she had already freed one hand, and it would be fine if I untied that hand again. It's just a matter of time. People have the desire to survive."

Yaru put a dumpling in Lao Tan's bowl and said, "I'll wait outside until you don't come back. Two buses have already passed by, so I thought something happened. Go in and have a look, I just left When I get there, I will be shocked to see you come out with someone on your back."

"I didn't know that I could encounter such a thing by urinating." Old Tan smiled, and then said: "I was shocked at the time, thinking that there was a murder case, so I walked forward boldly and walked up to the front At first glance, it was Qin Lili—"

"Were you afraid then?"

"Hey, I can't think of it anymore, I'm scared, I just thought it's fine if she didn't die."

(End of this chapter)