Book 1: Chapter 138

Book 1: Chapter 138

Xiang Dun and I went to the dining room, which was a chic, canteen-like restaurant located in the middle of the tulou. If you didnt order room service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then this was the only place to get food. Xiang Dun handed me a cigarette, which I took out of reflex. The waiter standing off to the side immediately came up and told us that this was a protected building and smoking wasnt allowed. I raised my hand to apologize, threw the cigarette into the trash can, and then looked around the tulou from my position on the patio.

It really was big. I could only look around secretly before, since I didn't dare make it obvious what I was doing. But now that I could get a full view of it, it was beyond my imagination.

The huge circular sky was like an eye, so when you looked up, it almost felt as if you were being stared it. It was a little dizzying.

At this time, I saw the young man who looked like A Ning leaning against the railing on the east side of the fourth floor, smoking.

When I looked at him, he also looked down at me expressionlessly. I silently lowered my head and asked the waiter, "How come the people above get to smoke?"

"I can't afford to provoke those people. Theyre on a different level." The waiter obviously wasnt a local and was probably a poor traveler who had stayed behind to work. I noticed that he had a Qinhuangdao accent. When I looked at the menu, I found that they were all familiar dishes, but there were also some northern dishes for tourists. I ordered a pot of daffodil tea and jiumentou (1). The waiter placed the order and then told me to find a seat. I asked him if the front desk could send express delivery.nove(l)bi(n.)com

He nodded, so I told Xiang Dun to sit down while I wandered over to the front desk and asked them for four express envelopes. Then, I stuffed a piece of cotton soaked in red syrup up my nose and squeezed it hard until it looked like I had a nose bleed. I sighed as the front desk attendant immediately panicked and took a step back.

"Tissue, give me some tissues." I put too much syrup in it, so now it looked like I was bleeding all over the place when I squeezed it. As the young woman frantically went into the small preparation room behind the front desk, I instantly took out my phone and turned on the video app. I placed it on top of the big decorative cabinet behind the front desk with the camera exposed.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Its not like you rely on this to make money anyways." I lowered my head and started eating while giving him a pat, "I'll buy you an iPhone X if you lose it."

"What are you doing?" He didnt understand.

"Just wait until tomorrow," I said.

At that moment, four or five people came in and sat down beside us. They were all from the fourth floor and gave us curious looks. I immediately recognized one of them as Hong Ding Shuixian.

He was squinting at me, so I spoke to Xiang Dun in the Longyan dialect. It wasnt standard, but outsiders really couldn't understand it. At the same time, I noticed that a person behind Hong Ding Shuixian was also looking at me. It was a woman with short hair and a contemptuous look on her face.

****

TN Notes:

(1) Its a Fujian dish thats basically meat from 9 parts of a cow. I found some info here.