47 Chapter 47 (Two in One)
◎You actually let [Paper Man] wash the rag?◎
A toilet in a nearby neighborhood exploded. Not only did Xile Restaurant only have takeout business in the afternoon, but the entire food court was filled with deliverymen rushing to and fro until late in the evening.
The delivery man, standing guard at the door, looked like a thief when he rushed in the instant the door opened. He was fully armed from head to toe, wearing a mask and a hat, and it was hot under the scorching June sun.
After slipping into the store, the delivery man pulled off the three layers of mask inside and outside, breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had come back to life.
"Boss, all three orders are from you! Oh, this smell makes me want to go back and order takeout. I'm so hot, do you have any water?"
Ye Ping'an poked his head out from the kitchen. "These roasted chicken legs won't be ready for a while, so you guys take a break. Iced water is free, a cup of iced soy milk is two yuan, and a bottle of iced Coke is three yuan. Scan the QR code to pay. Xiao Zheng, Xiao Cheng, get everyone some water."
Zheng Xin was thinking about the [Hell Scroll] and was absent-minded the whole afternoon. Wherever Ye Ping'an was, he would run to a corner far away from her.
Even after being ordered by Ye Ping'an, he was unwilling to move. He pushed everything to Cheng Yi and squatted in the corner washing vegetables.
The stench outside was so bad that no one wanted to go near it, and the business in the store was still going strong.
The takeout orders kept coming in, and the delivery guy who had just sat down was even buzzing with his phone, "I got another order!"
Before the fresh chicken legs were even out of the oven, the lobby was soon filled with delivery men waiting and greeting each other.
"This incident will reveal which business is doing well. All the delivery drivers in our area will be there soon."
"I don't know which grandson blew up the toilet. I almost got a heat stroke from covering myself up so hard!"
"We deliver food everywhere, what kind of people have we not seen? Blowing up toilets is nothing. I heard that there is a takeaway thief in the neighboring Lin Province who specializes in stealing midnight snacks."
"Hey, old cow, they're giving us free water, but you can't just keep drinking it. You've filled your stomach up. What should we drink? Oh, and why haven't I seen you at the takeout station?"
The old cow sat aside and drank water silently. He had an ordinary build, but his belly was particularly protruding.
He was stopped, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Ahem... I'm from Lin Province. Business has been slow lately, so I came here to do some long-distance errands and express deliveries."
The other deliverymen were curious, "So, did you catch that delivery thief?"
Lao Niu's face turned pale. "I heard that there wasn't a thief behind this. The customer was angry because the midnight snack was lost, so he checked the surveillance cameras everywhere to find out who was stealing the food, but when he went to arrest them, he couldn't catch anyone."
The deliverymen looked at each other in confusion. "You've confused me. Are you a thief or not? Are you from Huaxi?"
"It's farther from Jiang City, Zhoukou City. We're on the same river, so we're next door. No one knows if they're thieves or not."
Lao Niu lowered his voice, "If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have come to Jiang City to make a living. At first, it was the inexplicable loss of takeout, and then there were orders popping up all the time for deliveries to the wilderness in the middle of the night. Our Zhoukou is undergoing high-tech development, and the abandoned factories and old city area were ready for demolition a few years ago. The walls of the construction site have been erected, but no work has started. It's okay to have orders in the demolition area, but the problem is that it's connected to the crematorium, and the abandoned crematorium also has orders!"
"Crematorium?! Hiss..." The people around him rubbed their goosebumps. "Old Niu, don't scare us on purpose. Maybe the staff guarding the door in the middle of the night is hungry?"
Lao Niu shook his head. "Who knows? Anyway, a few brave people delivered it, and then disappeared. Some people also encountered very strange delivery requirements, requiring that the chopsticks be stuck vertically in the rice after delivery before they can leave. It's like... the ghost rice offered to ghosts in stories."
Lao Niu's voice was dark, as if someone was blowing cold air behind him. "He didn't want to do such a weird thing, but the money for that order was too much. After delivering the meal safely, he thought it was just a prank played by a rich man with nothing better to do. But one day, two days, three days later, he began to feel as if something was gnawing at his flesh. Chewing his tendons, gnawing at his bones, as if he had become the mouthful of rice in the ghost's mouth!"
“Ah!” The deliverymen shuddered in fear. “Niu, Niu brother, you…?”
Lao Niu's strange voice returned to normal. He drank some ice water and spread his hands. "Why are you looking at me? The city issued a notice that a suspected murderer has escaped into an abandoned urban area. Delivery drivers are prohibited from accepting orders recently. We were bored so we made up a few stories. Did they scare you?"
The others laughed dryly.
"Ding Dong! You have a new order for Chimo. Please check it in time. Please pay attention to the time and food storage for cross-city orders!"
The takeaway notification sounded, drifting through the sizzling sound of oil coming out of the wok.
In the takeaway chicken drumstick rice, green spinach is neatly arranged, a large chicken drumstick fresh from the pan is placed on the white rice, and the sauce is poured to form a thin layer of sugar color.
Ye Pingan quickly packed the food, put it in takeout bags, and handed it to the employees to send out. The last few deliverymen had to wait for the next batch.
A new batch of chicken legs was still being roasted. Ye Ping'an left the kitchen and checked the new orders one by one.
"Huh? A cross-city order?"
Ye Pingan looked at the address carefully, his brows raised with joy, "Lin Province, Zhoukou City... Has the reputation of my store spread so far?
"It's just too far. It takes over half an hour by high-speed rail. I requested immediate delivery, but no delivery driver has taken the order yet. What's going on? Are there so few delivery drivers in Zhoukou? Someone from Jiang City could make the trip."
Cheng Yi ran in and out delivering water and overheard most of the conversation between the deliverymen outside.
When she heard Ye Ping'an read out the place name he had just heard, her heart skipped a beat and she whispered, "Boss, there's a delivery man from Zhoukou. Do you want to ask him?"
"Xiao Cheng is becoming more and more clever."
Ye Ping'an asked the local Lao Niu and found out that a part of the area at the entrance of the state was blocked.
This cross-city takeaway order came at a really bad time.
Since no one would accept the order, Ye Pingan directly sent an explanation and clicked to cancel the order.
Lao Niu continued to recount his bizarre takeout delivery experiences, "...it's said that even after the city banned delivery, people still took orders at night. Once you get an order, you can't cancel it. The longer you delay, the higher the cost of the takeout order and the more terrifying the demands."
The takeaway app's backend page flickered, then turned black and white for a moment. The default profile picture of the ordering customer looked like a black and white portrait.
Lao Niu stared blankly at her phone. The flashing app kept popping up the same order, and it looked like it was stuck just after pressing cancel.
"Just pay the money." Ye Ping'an said casually. She tapped her phone and said, "Don't lag, okay? Oh, I forgot to clear the cache..."
Exit the food delivery app and click Clean.
All the recipe and video apps clogged in the background were cleared away, and the phone screen, which had been paused for a few seconds, became clean in the blink of an eye.
I opened the food delivery app again, and the order had been canceled. However, within a few seconds, several new orders from the university town came in, and various reminder messages popped up one after another.
"Lao Niu? Lao Niu?" Ye Ping arranged the freshly baked dishes and handed out a few bags of takeout, but the delivery man was still sitting at the table in a daze.
The old cow came to his senses and said, "Hey, hey, let's go now."
"Walk slowly, don't spill it." Ye Ping'an looked worried and reminded the customer in the backstage to make sure the package was signed for intactly.
The takeout orders were delivered safely, and the closing time of Xile Restaurant soon arrived.
There were no dine-in customers in the afternoon, all orders were takeout. But business was good, so there wasn't much left of the prepared dishes.
There are still four or five marinated chicken legs left in the store. I will eat some of them for dinner, and the rest can be diced and made into chicken sauce.
I have two handfuls of fresh spinach left, which will last until tomorrow, but will wilt a bit after being refrigerated, and the taste will be worse. Ye Ping'an fermented the dough, and saved half of the spinach until tomorrow morning to squeeze the spinach juice and make spinach noodles.
The other half...
Boom.
A white porcelain bowl filled with spinach was placed on the table. The delicate white porcelain made the leaves look even more emerald green and shiny.
It is juicy, firm and shiny, and you can tell at a glance that it has just been blanched and then rinsed with cold water, leaving it at its freshest and crispest.
A small mountain of spinach is sprinkled with white sesame seeds, mixed with sesame oil and a pinch of salt, and then mixed with finely minced white garlic. Red sweetroot is hidden in the lush green forest. The reds are redder, the greens are greener, the whites are whiter. It's refreshing and alluring, and just looking at it dispels the summer night's heat.
"Come on, come on, let's eat. There's plenty of spinach today. You can get more after you finish eating." Ye Ping'an took the initiative and picked up two large chopsticks. The bowl that was piled high was visibly empty.
Eating spinach in hot weather does not require too strong a flavor stimulation, it is just the right amount of refreshing.
Ye Pingan pondered the taste and said, "I can make sesame paste tomorrow."
Zheng Xin was called to the table and couldn't sit still at all.
The painter had clearly appeared early, but not only did he not take the opportunity to see the function of the strange object and create a chance to escape, there was no movement for the whole afternoon.
Zheng Xin found various excuses to go to the bathroom and tried to contact Bai Lu without Ye Ping'an's knowledge. However, there was no response. He contacted the other people who had arrived in Jiang City with him, but found that no one responded to him.
He lost contact with his superiors in the meeting.
The investigators near the Xile Hotel did not see any changes, and the nearby citizens did not seem to be panicking. There was only one piece of news that the toilet was inexplicably broken.
There was too little information available and Zheng Xin had no idea what was going on.
He was as anxious as an ant on hot pan as he couldn't get Bai Lu's reply for a long time.
...After working for Ye Ping'an for one day, Zheng Xin felt that his life was shortened by a year!
Cheng Yi ate her meal silently, glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and secretly raised the corners of her lips.
He was so anxious, but Boss Ye acted as if nothing had happened. It seemed that the action against Boss Ye had failed?
Ye Pingan ate half a bowl of rice and then noticed Zheng Xin didn't move his chopsticks. He frowned and said, "Why aren't you eating? Are there nails on the chair? You've been sitting here dawdling. If you need to go to the bathroom, go quickly. You two still have work to do after dinner."
"Thank you, boss." Zheng Xin, who was fidgeting, ran away.
"Really? He's usually lazy and doesn't finish his work, and then he complains behind my back that I don't let him eat enough. Today I gave him a lot, enough to fill him up, but he doesn't want to eat anymore. What's wrong with him?"
Ye Pingan curled his lips, turned his head and looked at Cheng Yi who was eating quietly, and smiled with satisfaction, "Xiao Cheng, you are still the best. Work hard, the boss will not treat you unfairly. If he stays for too long, the remaining chicken legs will be given to you."
How could Zheng Xin have time to eat?
I went into the bathroom and quickly took out my communicator. There were no new messages, and no one responded to the dozen or so messages I sent.
We agreed to take action today, what on earth is Bai Lu doing?!
Could it be that something unexpected happened and the base went silent?
But the [Hell Scroll] is a C-rank monster! Even the captain of Jiang City, who has a great record in battle, only has a C-rank monster.
Besides, today's mission is still ongoing, so it's time to notify him when turning on silence!
Zheng Xin panted heavily and touched his face which was getting more painful day by day.
We can't wait any longer.
Bai Lu always told him to wait and be careful, but Bai Lu was talking without thinking and had no idea that he was living a life here, getting up earlier than the chickens and going to bed later than the dogs!
Run, you must run! But before running... Zheng Xin's eyes turned fierce. He had to leave some "memorabilia" for this Ye Baopi!
Zheng Xin took out the small box that had been in his arms for a few days, and folded a palm-sized piece of yellow paper into a paper man. The red face was painted scarlet, and the facial features were clear and vivid, only the pupils were missing.
Before [Funeral Clothes] was forced to crash by Ye Ping'an, it was weakened by [Peach Blossom Face]. It can be seen as only having half of its strength left.
This time he only used the [Paper Man] to attack, and then changed to the [Peach Blossom Face] to escape before the Investigation Bureau found out. There would be absolutely no problem.
As long as Ye Ping'an's weird ideas can be fooled, with her unguarded nerves, [Paper Man] has a high probability of success!
Zheng Xin gritted his teeth, pressed the edges of his face, and peeled off the thin leather mask. He had worn the mask for too long, and removing it was dozens of times more painful than waxing, as if he was tearing off the skin along with it.
Amidst a suppressed roar of pain, Zheng Xin looked out the bathroom door with resentment. It was all that damned Ye Pa Pi's fault!
Zheng Xin put away the pink and white leather mask close to his body, bit his fingertip, and a drop of dark red blood seeped into the yellow paper.
The yellow paper figure moved without wind, fluttering and turning from one sheet into two. The top sheet floated out of the box, landed on the ground, and grew in the wind until it became a paper figure as tall as Zheng Xin.
The ink around the eyes gathered on the missing pupils, and an extra pair of eyes appeared, which turned around.
Zheng Xin was ecstatic as he held the remaining piece of yellow paper in the box.
Done!
The moment the paper figurine landed in front of the restroom, the shop's humming robot vacuum and mop swerved and headed straight for the restroom entrance. As it passed the counter, it seemed to accidentally bump against the edge, and the nightlight stuck to the counter fell onto the robot's exterior with a thud.
Cheng Yi heard the voice and glanced over subconsciously.
Behind the toilet door curtain, a figure who looked like Zheng Xin at first glance was walking out stiffly, his joints shaking.
The light behind the door was dim, but it was enough to clearly see its thin limbs folded from yellow paper. Its face was mostly obscured by shadows, and old red paint painted a stiff, eerie smile and red cheeks. It looked exactly like the paper figurines commonly seen at funerals, only larger and more... "alive"!
The paper man stared straight ahead with his dark eyes as he walked out from behind the door curtain.
Cheng Yi's hair stood on end instantly, and he blurted out in surprise, "Boss!"
Damn girl, ruining his plan! It would be better to go over when Ye Ping'an isn't paying attention, but it doesn't matter if he's discovered now.
Zheng Xin was filled with malice, pinching his throat and pretending to be gentle, "Boss! This is a gift from me to you. Thank you for your care these days."
He couldn't help but grit his teeth when he said the last few words.
"The sun rises from the west." Do lazy employees know how to be grateful for the care?
Ye Pingan groaned, looking up and down at the "human" figure that came out. "This thing... is quite unique? A new type of robot?"
Hey, I got a robot for free! That's great!
Zheng Xin was ecstatic.
He knew that Ye Ping'an's weird thinking would be like this!
Zheng Xin agreed, manipulating the paper figurine closer. "Yes, I heard you talking about wanting a new robot a few days ago. It just so happens that a friend of mine makes household robots, so I'll give you one. Go, show your robot to the boss!"
The Paper Figure wasn't as slow to activate as typical E-rank creeps. As soon as Ye Ping'an touched it, she would be enticed to take the figure and begin folding it. In essence, she would smear her own flesh and blood onto the figure, and the attack would begin from the moment of contact.
When a new paper figure is folded, it will be her death. This will not only kill her, but also buy him some time to escape!
Cheng Yi clearly felt that the voice came from the paper mouth. She looked at Ye Ping'an nervously and reminded him in a weak voice, "But this is paper!"
Doesn’t the boss think it’s strange that paper figures suddenly appeared in the store?!
"Well, these days, robots are incredibly versatile with unique designs. The shape and materials are all good. It's just that the aesthetics are a bit off. But you're so kind, Xiao Zheng, for giving me a gift. This robot should be voice-activated and environmentally friendly, right?"
Ye Ping'an poked the paper figurine curiously. "Which manufacturer is so creative as to use cardboard for the outer shell? It's environmentally friendly, but I wonder if it's waterproof..."
The paper figurine trembled under her prodding, its raised yellow paper arm snapping back. Its once stiff smile became distorted, and a cold shadow shone from its darting eyes, only to dissipate instantly upon contact with Ye Ping'an.
When Zheng Xin saw her touching the paper man without any precautions, the corners of his mouth curled up wildly.
But before he could laugh out loud, the smile froze on his face.
…Why didn’t she react when she touched the paper man?
It happened again! Once again, her trick didn't even work when she saw it!
But this time it must be different.
Zheng Xin gritted his teeth, dipped his finger in blood, and outlined the remaining human figure on yellow paper, focusing on the arms, and drove the paper figure to touch Ye Ping'an actively.
"...It doesn't look like it can bear the weight. Hmm? You need to work, which is great. It saves me from carrying it. Go, take it to the sink and scrub all these rags clean and wring them out!"
Ye Ping'an picked up the basin of dirty water soaked with a greasy rag from the table next to him and stuffed it into the paper man's stiff and outstretched arms. His tone was as natural as if he was giving orders to an ordinary employee.
A basin of dirty rag was stuffed into the paper man's mouth, and the paper man's stiff smile seemed to freeze for a moment.
The outstretched yellow paper arm shook, and its body began to tremble slightly. The basin of dirty water seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, weighing down its paper frame.
Cheng Yi almost fainted.
The paper ghost was enraged! Boss Ye didn't seem to be the one who had the "divine power" at all. She was going to die!
However, the expected evil spirit's revenge did not happen.
Ye Pingan held the edge of the basin and pushed it. "Hold it steady. Why are you still standing there? Is the voice recognition so slow?" Ye Pingan slowed down and repeated his request, "Put it in the kitchen sink. Wash the rag."
Zheng Xin sneered.
Asking a [paper man] to wash rags? How foolish! They don't realize the danger at all!
The paper man turned around stiffly, with a dense sound of paper tearing coming from his body. He walked extremely slowly towards the kitchen, carrying a dirty rag and dirty water.
The remaining paper figures in the box, previously lying quietly, now raised their arms, as if holding a basin of water. Zheng Xin allowed himself to draw as much blood as he could, but the figures seemed to escape his control, their consciousness controlling them carrying out his "commands."
Unspeakable fear crawled out from the bottom of his heart. Zheng Xin had never heard of anyone being able to directly seize control of another person's monster.
It’s okay…it’s okay. This incredible ability must have limitations.
Zheng Xin had to be thankful that Ye Ping'an had a weird way of thinking and just asked the paper man to wash the rag.
The paper figurine isn't made of real paper that will break if it gets wet. If you put down the basin of water, you'll still have another chance to kill her!
The basin of water slammed into the sink, and the paper figure's flat, paper-like hands reached clumsily into the water, poking at the greasy rags. It seemed as if it was actually "washing the rags."
Crash! Crash!
The yellow paper, submerged in the water, churned violently, like being branded by a scalding iron, its surface bulging with muddy bubbles. Within seconds, the cardboard-like arms became damp, limp, and transformed into two noodles.
"Ah - my hand!" Zheng Xin couldn't help crying out in pain. He felt less and less able to feel his hand in the gnawing pain.
Soon, the unwatered body also began to soften and become damp. The once upright paper figure twisted and collapsed. The paper figure's hand, thrust into the basin, shrank smaller and smaller with each wash. The paper pulp, mixed with ink and dark red, dissolved into the filaments. The entire basin was swirling with slime, and the outline of the arm reaching into the water was no longer discernible.
"What's that smell?" Ye Ping'an sniffed and turned around to see a paper-shaped robot lying crookedly in front of the pool.
Ye Pingan took a closer look, then rushed forward in disbelief, grabbing the robot that was about to fall into the water. "No way, it doesn't even have a splash-proof or waterproof coating? It melted after just a little water contact? Xiao Zheng, you're trying to rip me off with a defective product made by your friend. Isn't that too much? Bad review! Return it! Ask the manufacturer to compensate you, or I'll expose you immediately!"
Ye Pingan just grabbed the robot arm.
With a puff, like a paper bag filled with water being punctured, the paper figure collapsed completely, falling into the basin of water and turning into a pool of sticky black and yellow paste. Even the arms that were holding it were reduced to wisps of paper.
The two dots of thick ink that represented eyes blurred into two hopeless black spots and disappeared in the filth.
Cheng Yi stared blankly at the terrifying paper ghost disappearing.
The paper figurine… washed itself away? Is that even possible? It clearly possessed “divine powers,” so how could it vanish so easily?
Ye Pingan looked at the basin of paste and slapped his thigh in annoyance. "Why is it a disposable robot?! What a crappy robot! It's ruined after just two uses! Not only is it scrapped, but it also polluted my basin of water! Why didn't you tell me earlier that it can't touch water?"
The moment the paper man disappeared after walking out, the paper man in the box melted away, his facial features were smeared with wet slime, and his eyes stared at Zheng Xin with resentment.
The stench of decay gushed out from the seeping slime, and its shape was rapidly disappearing, like a ball of sticky black pulp, struggling to wriggle out.
Melted?!
Zheng Xin was covered in mucus, his teeth were chattering, and he even forgot the pain.
how so?
Ye Ping'an clearly did nothing!
Without doing anything, he had taken away the strange creature he was controlling, and even made the [Paper Man] turn into a mushy paste like real paper...
What level is her trick? How did she do it?!
-
A few seconds before the paper man melted, in a corner of Jiang City, an inconspicuous small truck drove into the intersection and was stuck in the evening rush hour traffic.
Bai Lu peered out the window of the car. He saw the highway exit was being inspected by the Investigation Bureau, so luckily he didn't take the highway. Since the inspections were concentrated at the highway exit during the evening rush hour, he took the side road, which was a sure thing.
Unfortunately, the E-level [Paper Figure] and the subordinate who controlled the E-level [Peach Blossom Face] were still at the Joy Hotel. He only had a few strange creatures, also known as "divine fragments", left in his hands.
If Zheng Xin had been smart and calm, he would have realized that today's operation had gone awry and wouldn't have easily activated the artifact and communicator to fall into the trap. The divine fragments he brought with him could still be used.
Crash!
The little paper figures stuck to the edge of the carriage were like rotten water balloons, bursting instantly.
Paper pulp splattered everywhere, and although the source of the strange aura was not here, it immediately attracted the attention of the investigators.
"parking!"
Bai Lu’s eyes went dark.
Zheng Xin, that idiot! He should have used paper figurines earlier or later. The arrangements in Jiang City could have been evacuated immediately, but now they've been exposed!
-
Bai Lu "kindly" greeted Zheng Xin's ancestors for eighteen generations.
In the Xile Hotel, Zheng Xin didn't think at all about the superior who sent him here.
Ye Ping'an's devilish voice came from the toilet, "Xiao Zheng! Xiao Zheng! Come out quickly and clean up this puddle of glue! The air has been humid lately, and the base of the exterior wall is a little peeling. Use the glue to clean it up, and throw away the rest. Remember to sort the garbage!"
Zheng Xin was shaking like a sieve, not daring to move.
There was no way to go up to heaven and no door to go down to earth. He could only listen to Ye Ping'an getting closer and closer, and watch the paper man crawling towards him to devour the ghost master.
Knock knock.
There was a knock on the toilet door.
Ye Pingan pinched his nose in disgust, "What are you doing in there? You can't play with poop in the afternoon just because you smell a bad smell! Don't think you can avoid paying the money just because you keep hiding in the toilet!"
The cold shadow brought by the slime dissipated in an instant, turning back into a light piece of yellow paper in the box.
Zheng Xin came back to his senses in a daze, listened to the urging from outside the door, and slowly typed a question mark:... ?
Maybe, it seems, perhaps, she hasn't noticed anything wrong yet?
As soon as the lucky thought came to his mind, the severe pain in his body reminded him that everything was not as simple as he saw.
I can't stay here any longer. This place is no place for humans! No, not even ghosts can stay here!
But... Ye Ping'an is still here.
Zheng Xin was really scared.
Zheng Xin crawled out of the toilet in a daze and did whatever he was told.
When urged to pay compensation, he honestly transferred all the several thousand yuan of "operation funds" that Bai Lu had earned.
After finally cleaning up the store and waiting for Ye Ping'an to fall asleep, Zheng Xin jumped up and ran straight to the door.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
