Chapter 74 Chapter 74 "Get out."

Zhou Jue didn't hear clearly: "What did you say?"

The man moved closer to the photo wall and squinted his eyes at the upper right corner.

It was a selfie of Su Qi making a face. Zhou Jue said, "This is our boss's friend, a funny guy."

"It's pretty funny," he said. "You've been running this shop for about three years, right?"

Zhou Jue shook his head: "One year."

"Only a year?" The man seemed a little surprised.

Zhou Jue returned to the counter and whispered to Xiao Lu, "Has that customer been here before?"

"Who?" Xiao Lu looked around blankly.

"The one by the window." Zhou Jue signaled with his eyes.

"I've been here before," Xiao Lu replied. "I've been coming here every day lately. Oh yeah, I saw him before when it was crowded. He didn't squeeze in, but stood outside for a while and then left. What happened?"

"I feel a little strange," Zhou Jue muttered, "How about telling Brother Tan?"

"No need," Xiao Lu said nonchalantly. "Don't be so crazy. You don't have to look for Brother Tan all over the world. Look, he doesn't even have a selfie stick or a tripod."

"That's right." Zhou Jue saw that he just sat there most of the time, and when other customers came, he ignored them.

Xiao Lu went to the warehouse and moved a box of coffee beans. He took it out and put it in the cabinet and asked, "Brother Tan, will you come over tomorrow?"

"Yes, probably in the evening," Zhou Jue said, "I also asked him to buy a new brand of butter... Take care."

"Hmm?" Xiao Lu looked up and saw the guest had just pushed the door open and left. He whispered, "Did this person leave earlier than yesterday?"

Zhou Jue shrugged: "It seems so, I don't know if he will come tomorrow."

The next day was a cloudy day. The old streets were dark and cold wind blew in gusts.

It was a little after three in the afternoon when the man in the leather jacket pushed the door open. He had changed into a baseball jacket today, still black.

Only when I immersed myself in the warm light of TD did the coldness around me dissipate a lot.

"Welcome." Zhou Jue smiled and said, "I thought you weren't coming today, or..."

The man in the leather jacket nodded and added, "Please add a cup of your restaurant's signature drink. Order it first and wait for the people to arrive before serving."

"How about orange peel latte?" Zhou Jue asked.

"Whatever, take your pick."

"Okay, then I'll have an iced Americano and an orange peel latte. I'll make the latte when you say so. Scan the code here."

It was probably the Lantern Festival, and coupled with the weather, people were all rushing home, so there weren't many customers in TD.

After waiting for a while in boredom, Xiao Lu heard the familiar sound of an engine outside the door and hurried out: "Brother Tan is back!"

"This box is being moved to the warehouse," Tan Du said as he got out of the car. "We'll give it to our customers for tasting tomorrow."

"Okay." Xiao Lu rolled up his sleeves and started moving.

Tan Du handed a bag to Zhou Jue: "This is your butter. I also bought some snacks. Share them."

"Thank you, Brother Tan. Aren't you going in?" Zhou Jue saw that he was about to get in the car again.

"No." Tan Du smiled, "You should also prepare to get off work and go back to your families..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Jue saw his expression change, the corners of his mouth straightened, but there was a sense of relief that "he's finally here". She looked behind her and saw that the guest had walked out at some point and was looking at Tan Du expressionlessly.

She asked, "Are you leaving?"

The man in the leather jacket didn't say anything, but pointed to the corner of his mouth: "Alright?"

Tan Du looked at him without saying a word, and subconsciously tried to push the frame of his glasses, but missed. His forearm fell down, swaying as if it had no support.

The man in the leather jacket glanced at Zhou Jue and said, "Excuse me, the latte is ready."

Zhou Jue was a little surprised: "You are waiting for Brother Tan? But Brother Tan, you can't..."

"I'll do it," Tan Du said calmly, stopping her, "You and Xiaolu go first."

The milk foam in the cup burst in the long silence, losing its original charm. After blending into the coffee liquid, it looked like a puddle of muddy water, lifeless.

The man sat opposite Tan Du, smoking one cigarette after another. Through the smoke, he looked at the other side with bloodthirsty and resentful eyes, suppressing some inexplicable emotions.

Tan Du glanced at him and said, "Smoke less."

The man looked at him and said, "Why? Afraid of dirtying your shop?"

Tan Du shook his head: "It's not good for your health."

A puff of smoke blew into his face. The man pulled up the corner of his mouth, only half of his face was smiling, his eyes were cold to the bone: "Then wouldn't it be a good opportunity for me to go down and accompany them?"

Tan Du's body trembled almost imperceptibly, and his usually straight spine seemed to be broken by the puff of smoke.

boom--

After a flash of thunder, raindrops began to fall with a crackling sound.

The dark clouds in the small town did not drift into the city, and the weather in the city was good all day.

Qiao Yuyi and her husband were going on a business trip again, so before they left, Qiao Zhuoyi came over and had lunch together.

Yueyue and Lele were so happy when they didn't see Uncle Tan.

Qiao Zhuo pinched their faces and said, "Then I'll leave?"

"No!" The two kids hurriedly hugged him.

Qin Yun smiled and said, "Uncle Tan is busy with work. He will come to see you next time."

"Okay," Yueyue shook her head and said, "You adults are just too nosy!"

"Knowing that you can't make it, Lao Fan didn't send you an invitation. He said that we can get together at a separate table when you have time." At the dinner table, Qiao Zhuo mentioned Lao Fan's instructions.

"I know," Qiao Yuyi said, "Lü Sa told me that she's almost suffocating from the confinement period. Go over and chat with her."

Qiao Zhuo replied: "What can I talk about?"

"I'm not counting on you!" Qiao Yuyi glared at him, "Just ask Boss Tan to chat with someone for a while."

"Oh——" Qiao Zhuo responded. He hadn't talked to anyone face to face for a while.

Qiao Yuyi knew what he was thinking from his expression and coughed lightly, "That video is really cool. There are quite a few girls in the company who are constantly watching it. You have to keep an eye on him."

Qiao Zhuo frowned slightly: "No need."

Having said that, after getting in the car, Qiao Zhuo took out the saved video and watched it for a few seconds. Thinking that the look in the video was so affectionate because it was him who was looking at it, he raised his eyebrows in a good mood.

He called someone: "Xiaodu Xiaodu, report your location."

"Report to the master," Tan Du replied with a smile, "Just about to set off, I don't think there's any traffic jam."

"Drive carefully." Qiao Zhuoyi hung up immediately. He couldn't delay his return.

He thought for a few seconds. What do we eat on the Lantern Festival?

Oh, glutinous rice balls.

Qiao Yuyi just stuffed one into his mouth. It had black sesame filling and tasted terrible.

Qiao Zhuo turned the steering wheel and prepared to go to the Nancai Market to buy some old-fashioned fermented glutinous rice. It just so happened that he had some osmanthus flowers at home, so he could have some osmanthus wine dumplings for a midnight snack.

However, he underestimated the popularity of the old town at that time. There was a traffic jam at the first bend, and the traffic was stopped and started, which exhausted Boss Qiao's pitiful patience.

He simply got out of the car and walked in. Unlike what he remembered, the deserted shop had a long queue.

After listening to it, I found out that a popular internet celebrity had filmed a video, and that this laozao has become very popular. It was even said that these two girls drove two hours from other places to come here to check in.

Qiao Zhuo gritted his teeth, adhering to the principle of "since I'm already here", and lined up with a gloomy face.

"Report to the master, we are getting off the highway."

When Qiao Zhuo opened the voice chat, he forgot to turn down the volume. The two girls in front of him suddenly turned their heads and stared at him with wide eyes. Realizing that it was impolite, they quickly turned around and pinched each other's arms.

Qiao Zhuo didn't understand what he was saying, so he lowered his head and replied, "I'm waiting in line, I'll be there later."

"Okay, no rush, take your time."

Qiao Zhuo turned down the volume and put his ear close to the speaker to listen. The two people in front of him suppressed their exclamations, which sounded like a whistle.

Qiao Zhuoyi silently took a half step back, his earlobes as red as the candied haws stuck on the bamboo pole next to him.

He gestured to the vendor to give him two skewers, lowered his head, took a photo and sent it to Tan Du.

Round.

It took a while for Tan to reply, probably because he had parked the car. He replied with a text message: [Boss Qiao's reunion trickery.]

Not Xiao Qiao: [You are the one fooling around]

When the street lights all lit up, Qiao Zhuoyi finally saw the shop owner and... the empty bucket.

"Sold out! Come back tomorrow." The owner patted his waist, turned around and pulled down the shutter.

Qiao Zhuo narrowed his eyes and cursed softly.

"that……"

He heard a voice behind him, turned around and found that it was the two girls who had just lined up in front of him.

"We bought an extra box. If you don't mind, I'll give you one."

Qiao Zhuo looked at them without saying anything.

"Ahem," another girl took the box and stuffed it directly into his hand. "We can't finish it either. You've been waiting in line for quite a while. Take it back and share it with you...your family."

Qiao Zhuoyi took out his phone and said, "Thank you. I'll transfer the amount to you."

"No, no." The two girls held hands and ran away.

"What's going on?"

Just then, Liang Yizi called and asked if the mutton restaurant could still make a reservation on that day, so Qiao Zhuoyi brought up the matter.

"I don't understand either." Liang Yizi said.

"I know." Xiao Lan's voice came from the side.

"You say." Qiao Zhuo replied.

"I won't tell you." Xiao Lan still remembered the last time he mocked his young age.

"Childish." Qiao Zhuo said, "I don't want to listen to your nonsense either."

"Who's talking nonsense!" Xiao Lan grabbed the phone and yelled, "Come on, CP! Do you know what CP is?"

"What the hell?"

"I know that," Liang Yizi interrupted, "I just like watching other people fall in love. When I was watching your show before, some people were still shipping you and that Xiang or something."

"...That's totally irrelevant," Qiao Zhuo said with a click of his tongue. "Hang on, it's too late at the mutton shop and there's no room. The boss said he can prepare it for you. You can go get the base and meat and go home to cook it."

"Okay, thanks."

"polite."

Qiao Zhuoyi looked at his phone again. The message he had just sent to Tan Du had not been replied, so he asked the owner of the mutton shop directly.

Probably busy with things in the store, he went to another old store to buy some small dumplings. With all the ingredients, Boss Qiao rushed to the town in a good mood.

The only light on in the villa was the streetlight at the entrance. Qiao Zhuo took his things inside and patted his head on the blanket. "He hasn't come back yet?"

“Woo woo—”

Qiao Zhuo called someone, but no one answered.

He clicked on TD's surveillance camera and took a look. The camera was facing the door and the light in the store was still on.

He put a leash on the blanket, picked up the key and said, "Let's go catch him."

"Woof——" Blanket walked with a proud and confident voice.

The biting draft made Qiao Zhuo shrink his neck. He got out of the car without a blanket and rushed into TD. He was shocked by the scene inside and became alert.

A man grabbed Tan Du's collar, raised his right fist high, and was about to bring it down.

"What are you doing?" He rushed over, pushed the man aside, and pulled Tan Du behind him. He checked him up and down, "Where are you hurt?"

Tan Du didn't expect him to suddenly rush in. He was stunned for a few seconds and whispered two words: "Get out."

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The author has something to say: [Cat’s Paw] See you the day after tomorrow~