Chapter 50

Jongin suddenly remembered a joke——

I went through security with a bag of potato chips. The subway staff stopped me and asked me what I was eating. I said no, so they asked me to open my bag. I opened it to show them. They took out the bag of potato chips and said, "Here it is. How come it's gone?" I asked in confusion, "Isn't this potato chips?" They were very surprised and asked me with squinting eyes, "Don't you know?"

I asked, know what?

They replied that the mouse is now a duck, and if it eats potato chips, it must be eating crow chips!

I was shocked.

The people around laughed.

In the cafeteria, a middle-aged woman stood beside the table with her akimbo, frowning, staring at Hongbai and asking, "Can't you tell the difference between a duck and a mouse?"

Hongbai said a little aggrievedly: "Of course we can recognize it, but this thing of yours is clearly a mouse, not a duck."

The middle-aged woman stared with her eyes wide open, her face flushed as she asked, "How is that possible? Look carefully! It's not what you said!"

Hongbai blushed and said, "I didn't see it wrong. How could I see it wrong at such a close distance? I didn't lie either. Why would I lie about something like this? This is exactly what happened. Why don't you admit it?"

She paused, then suddenly realized something and widened her eyes: "Ah, so this is what you had in mind when you asked us to hand over our electronic products? If you ask us to hand over our things, we won't be able to take photos and upload them. Without other people's judgment, you can say we are talking nonsense. In fact, we are not talking nonsense at all! It is obviously you who are wrong."

The redness on the middle-aged woman's face gradually faded, and she showed the same approachable smile she had shown when they met just now, as if she was a neighbor lady who was easy to get along with. But when everyone looked at her face at this time, they would no longer think of her as before, because she felt like a completely different person now.

"How could that be? Little girl, are you nearsighted or have astigmatism? If your eyes are not good, you should go to the hospital, don't cause trouble in our cafeteria. Maybe it's cataracts, maybe it's dementia, maybe it's mental retardation, anyway, anything is possible, there will be no rats here, our specialty is duck neck, you should have seen it before you came in, and ordered it, right?"

The middle-aged woman asked with a smile.

She clearly looked like she was sure of victory.

Huang Bai blinked and whispered, "Obviously not."

The middle-aged woman looked at him and asked, "Didn't you see the rules before you came in?"

Huang Bai looked around, a little nervous, and whispered, "I saw it."

The middle-aged woman suppressed her insignificant anger, smiled as before, and asked in a gentle and persuasive manner: "So when you came in, you heard me say that the specialty here is duck neck, right?"

Huang Bai nodded: "I heard it."

The middle-aged woman then asked, "So you knew that our specialty here is duck neck and, knowing this, you ordered the specialty duck neck and asked me to deliver the food and side dishes to you, right?"

Huang Bai nodded hesitantly: "Yes."

The middle-aged woman laughed and said, "Ha, that's it! Isn't it over? That's how it is! You clearly knew long ago that you were here to cheat us out of money! Because we didn't want you to, you made up nonsense and tried to cheat us out of our money. In fact, you also know that this is very immoral and illegal, isn't it? Otherwise, there is no need for you to admit this."

She seemed convinced that there was no other possibility.

Lan Bai frowned and asked tentatively, "Can't you tell the difference between a mouse and a duck?"

The middle-aged woman's eyes were blazing with anger. She stared at Lan Bai and said, "Of course I can recognize it! This is duck neck, this is our specialty, duck neck! Don't try to confuse right and wrong. I tell you, you can't deny the facts. Our students have all eaten here. Most of them have seen the specialty dishes, and most of them have eaten the specialty dishes. They can recognize it."

Lan Bai asked: "Do they all admit that this is a duck neck?"

The middle-aged woman raised her head and answered as a matter of course: "Of course."

Lan Bai frowned again and asked, "Didn't they notice anything wrong?"

The middle-aged woman said angrily, "I have been very patient. Don't push your luck. We don't have any rats here, only duck necks! If you don't want to eat, just get out of here. We won't entertain you. If you keep talking like this, or if you want to secretly take photos and upload videos to the public network, I will not be polite to you. It won't be as simple as a few words."

Lan Bai whispered, "I'm sorry, please don't mind. We just think it's a little strange. We haven't seen such duck necks outside before. Don't be angry. We are just talking nonsense. We don't mean anything else. The slight doubts have been solved. You don't have to worry about us saying anything more, because we know nothing, and we won't tell anyone, and we dare not tell anyone."

He paused, and said with a half-smile: "After all, we also want to go home. It's so late now. It doesn't matter whether we eat or not. But going home is necessary, and sleeping is also necessary. We have no other choice. We need to leave here as soon as possible, right?"

The middle-aged woman was skeptical and felt a little unhappy. She frowned, but she still hummed and nodded, agreeing with Lan Bai's words: "Yes."

Lan Bai smiled and said, "Then please go back. We will eat here and then go home."

When the middle-aged woman heard that he was leaving, she suddenly became enthusiastic again. As if it was a routine or a subconscious habit, she smiled and bent down to ask, "Do you want to take a look at the back kitchen? I promise that we are very clean and tidy here. There are no other things and no pets. It is different from those take-out shops outside. Dogs or cats will not eat food and affect the ingredients."

Hongbai muttered in his heart: Humph, you really don't have pets, you just indulge mice like you indulge your own sons, you really don't have cats and dogs, you just have a lot of mice, much more than the number of cats and dogs, it seems that you can't count them, otherwise, how could there be a mouse head here? And you insist that we admit that it is a duck neck. Abominable.

Don't think that we will give in just because we have more people and we are in our own territory! Living people have eyes. Even if we don't have eyes, we still have noses and ears. We won't be easily fooled by you. Don't you feel guilty for forcing others to lie? Of course, people who can do such a nasty thing probably won't think there is a problem, and we shouldn't count on you.

You may not change your mind, but we will not change our mind either. We will definitely find a chance to expose the abominable and disgusting things that have happened here. Sooner or later, you will not be able to cover up the truth. Do you think that if you don't expose this matter, it will be exposed forever? Impossible! Be prepared to accept the public's judgment! And the anger of students and others.

This matter will not be over so easily.

Lan Bai replied to the middle-aged woman: "Sure, we'll go in and take a look. You don't have to wait here. We are not used to having someone watching us while we eat. It's not comfortable."

The middle-aged woman quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I didn't know you still have this habit. Since you think this way, I will go back now. When you finish eating, remember to call me out. I will be ready soon and take you in right away. If you don't call me, you can't get out. The doors and windows here are locked. If you see one open, don't get close."

Huang Bai asked curiously: "Why can't I get closer?"

The middle-aged woman smiled and said, "Because it is dangerous. If you are not careful, you may fall down the building, or you may walk to strange places that you should not enter. Those places are more dangerous than falling directly from the building. So, I think I need to remind you of this."

Huang Bai nodded doubtfully.

The middle-aged woman turned around and went back to the kitchen, closing the door leading to the kitchen.

The place has returned to its peaceful and quiet state, and it feels like the prelude to a horror movie.

Huang Bai hugged his arms and shivered. His exposed skin was covered with goose bumps, which looked very scary, especially under the bleak light. He felt embarrassed and ashamed that his condition in the cafeteria had affected the appetite of his companions.

Kohaku said, "It doesn't matter. I don't want to eat anyway."

Huang Bai asked: "What should we do then?"

Hongbai frowned and said, "I have a plastic bag in my bag that can hold leftovers. I'll just pour the leftovers in and tie a knot before stuffing them back into my bag. It will smell and may accidentally dirty the inside of the bag, but now that things have come to this, we can't leave now. There's no other way. We can only do this."

Huang Bai glanced at the door he had entered through, and it was indeed closed. He murmured, "I remember that the door was open when I came in. Who closed it?"

Kohaku: “I don’t know.”

Lan Bai: "Maybe it's the wind? There was wind here before."

"Maybe it's the wind blowing in from the ventilation duct. It's quite cold."

“Maybe there are other people here,” Jongin warned. “Didn’t that auntie just now say that if we break the rules, we might not be able to leave or something?”

Kohaku thought, "Has she ever said something like this before?"

Lan Bai: "I remember the rules outside were written. It seems that they are written. We need to be vigilant."

Hongbai searched her bag and looked at Lanbai: "Are you still carrying that?"

Lanbai opened his backpack, took out a watch and handed it to Hongbai.