Chapter 361: Xu Nuo (Part One)

The relatively secluded spot Shi Dadan had scouted was a dessert shop inside the amusement park; the decor was passable, mainly selling snow ice, fluffy shaved ice, and similar frozen treats, all at exorbitant prices.

Consider that a pure-meat grilled sausage in this amusement park sold for only eight yuan, yet the cheapest serving of fluffy shaved ice in this dessert shop cost sixty-eight.

It was only April; the weather was not particularly hot, far from the season where one needed icy drinks to survive upon entering an amusement park. Consequently, business at this dessert shop was dismal; when Qin Huai and Shi Dadan entered, only a young couple occupied the place, sharing a single order of fluffy shaved ice.

Qin Huai and Shi Dadan each ordered a serving of fluffy shaved ice. Seeing that the shop also sold hot Joy Joy Tangyuan and hand-grabbed pancakes, Shi Dadan, out of curiosity, immediately splurged his entire fortune to purchase the Joy Joy Tangyuan for thirty-nine yuan and the pancake for twenty-five. The prices made even Qin Huai sigh with emotion, realizing the snacks at his own Clouds Canteen were truly sold too cheaply.

The two found a seat in a corner.

Shi Dadan still held a grilled sausage in his hand, which he had just specially bought from a small stall selling them.

As soon as they sat down, Shi Dadan took out the fresh meat mooncakes made by Zheng Zheng Zheng Siyuan from his bag, placed them on the table, along with a bag of Wang Zai mini steamed buns he had swiped from Qin Luo, and began eating.

Qin Huai had now realized that Shi Dadan might genuinely have little interest in the amusement park itself, but he was quite interested in eating things within the amusement park.

"Little Qin, would you like some?" Shi Dadan issued an invitation, saying enthusiastically, "Are you going to watch my memories right now, in front of me? I asked Old Luo last night; he said that when you watch memories, you become stagnant and unresponsive, and you watch very quickly. No matter how long the memory is, even those spanning ten days or half a month, you finish watching them in just a few minutes."

"Is that so?" Shi Dadan stared at Qin Huai.

Bearing Shi Dadan's gaze full of curiosity, Qin Huai nodded. He had already discerned that Shi Dadan certainly had not spoken the complete truth and must be concealing something.

But he truly could not figure out what Shi Dadan wanted to hide; if there were memories he did not want Qin Huai to see, Shi Dadan would definitely not be this excited now.

He looked exactly like someone who very much wanted Qin Huai to see his memories.

Qin Huai felt like scratching his head and saying, "You auspicious beasts are indeed baffling."

Qin Huai nodded, briefly explaining the previous process of viewing memories. As he spoke, the fluffy shaved ice and the food Shi Dadan had ordered arrived. Shi Dadan also naturally told the shopkeeper that the two of them needed to discuss matters, asking the owner not to disturb them later.

Although the shopkeeper was very puzzled as to why anyone would discuss matters in a dessert shop inside an amusement park, since there were no other customers anyway, he nodded, walked far away, and sat at a table furthest from Qin Huai and Shi Dadan to play on his mobile phone.

Qin Huai had finished explaining enough; without further nonsense, he directly opened the game panel and found 【A Segment of Shi Dadan's Memory】.

He clicked Yes.

【Loading Memory—】

"Little Xu, you're back from delivering goods? How did it feel driving out alone for the first time? Were you scared? Did any problems occur on the road? These trucks in our convoy are so broken they look like they were assembled from parts scrapped off other vehicles; apart from the engine and the main frame which haven't been replaced, which part isn't a patchwork job? Basically, we repair them all the way as we drive; Old Xu complains to me every time he returns from a delivery."

"You must be careful when driving; I heard Little Xia from the Meat Processing Plant flipped his truck; not only was the cargo ruined, but he also ended up in the hospital. You must be careful."

At the entrance of the textile factory, the security guard joked with Little Xu on the truck while opening the gate to let the vehicle in.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Little Xu gave the security guard a simple, honest smile, did not reply, and slowly drove the truck inside.

Facing Little Xu's dull behavior, the security guard could only shake his head helplessly, muttering, "Truly a dull gourd."

Qin Huai stood at the textile factory entrance, looked at the security guard, then looked at the slowly advancing truck, and without any hesitation, immediately jogged to catch up.

At this time, the workers at the textile factory had not yet gotten off work; the entrance was desolate, with only the security guard on duty and Little Xu who had just driven in.

Little Xu was clearly Shi Dadan from his first life; this was only the second time Qin Huai had seen a spirit in a memory whose appearance did not match the form he knew. The first was An Youyou, but when An Youyou appeared, she was a beggar; her beggar disguise was eye-catching enough, making her facial features relatively less important.

Shi Dadan was different; his appearance in his first life resembled a Dang Kang even more than in his second life, or rather, it fit Qin Huai's stereotype of a Dang Kang more accurately.

Round face, buzz cut, relatively dark skin, looking dusty, and the work uniform he wore was also dusty. His facial features were ordinary with no distinctive characteristics; he looked very simple and honest, slightly overweight, though in this era he would be considered quite fat, looking very much like an honest person who was not very bright.

The truck moved extremely slowly within the factory grounds; Qin Huai could keep up by jogging. Watching the vehicle stop, Shi Dadan cautiously turned off the engine and got out.

The first thing he did after getting out was to check the rear tires.

"Little Xu, what's wrong? Did a tire burst?" Hearing noise outside, a colleague from Shi Dadan's convoy came out and asked, "Why are you back so early? Didn't the Garment Factory keep you for a meal?"

Shi Dadan was still looking down at the tire; he pressed on it with great concern before slowly saying, "They did, but it wasn't according to regulations; I took two steamed buns to eat on the road."

Hearing Shi Dadan say this, the colleague shook his head helplessly; his expression held no derogatory intent, seeming to have grown accustomed to Shi Dadan's operations, feeling only helplessness: "You, oh you, truly don't know what to say about you. No one asked you to take kickbacks or demand bribes; yet you are so cautious about just having a meal at the Garment Factory. Truly the golden signboard of our convoy, the number one honest man under heaven."

"If you go out on a few more deliveries, I wonder who will still say our convoy has thick grease to skim."

Facing his colleague's teasing, Shi Dadan showed no reaction, merely offering a simple, slightly ingratiating smile, and let it go with a laugh.

The colleague continued muttering: "Today the team leader went to Jin Ling to deliver goods and will stay overnight, not returning. Before he left, he told me to help you inspect the vehicle. Did you encounter any problems while driving today? If you ask me, our convoy should replace several trucks with new ones; how many years have these broken vehicles been running? Even if new for three years, old for three years, and patched up for another three, that applies to clothes, not vehicles."

"The trucks delivered to our convoy were already antiques; sometimes when driving on the road, I fear they will fall apart. If we drive for another two years, we won't need to work in the convoy anymore; we can go straight into repair work, as we've already trained up that skill."

Shi Dadan still said nothing, staring at the tire, pressing it here and there.

Seeing Shi Dadan staring at the tire continuously, the colleague asked: "Xu Mo, is there some problem with this tire?"

Qin Huai suddenly realized; so Shi Dadan's name in his first life was Xu Mo; this name actually fit his character setting quite well.

The fellow basically didn't speak; quite silent.

Only when the colleague actively asked did Shi Dadan open his mouth, speaking very slowly: "It seems there is a slight problem; on the way back, I always felt the vehicle was pulling to one side."

The colleague did not pay much attention: "That's normal; let me check it for you."

Then he began working.

Although this colleague talked a bit too much, his work ability was quite good; when inspecting the vehicle, he was very thorough and would not just check the tires simply because Shi Dadan said they seemed problematic.

While working, the colleague chattered endlessly about convoy matters, talking even when crawling under the vehicle. Even though Shi Dadan offered almost no response throughout, only occasionally humming twice, it could not dampen the colleague's enthusiasm for talking.

One could tell he was a chatterbox.

Through the colleague's gossip, Qin Huai actually extracted quite a bit of useful information.

For instance, Xu Mo was already on very good terms with Xu Nuo now, even to the point of being inseparable. After graduating from secondary vocational school, Xu Nuo did not enter factory work nor continue further studies; he stayed home with nothing to do, unemployed for two years.

Because he had nothing to do, he had plenty of time, arriving at the factory every day right at the end of the shift to find Shi Dadan, rain or shine. Judging by the colleague's tone, he seemed to mistakenly believe Shi Dadan was some cousin of Xu Nuo's, constantly sighing that Shi Dadan was a fool with a fool's luck.

Although he hadn't studied much and wasn't very smart, he had good relatives. With this connection to Factory Director Xu, even if Shi Dadan couldn't join the convoy, as a driver he could still secure an easy job at the cotton textile factory. Not to mention that although Shi Dadan wasn't smart, he was quite talented at driving; furthermore, he was big-built and could endure hardship, barely counting as the talent the convoy needed. Qin Huai even heard from the colleague's words that the convoy leader greatly appreciated Shi Dadan and intended to cultivate him; usually, tasks like helping Shi Dadan inspect vehicles and teaching him how to repair and check them were personally instructed by the leader, a treatment ordinary connections could never achieve.

Besides the connection through Xu Nuo, Qin Huai also gathered that Shi Dadan was very popular in the matchmaking market. In this era, single young men like Shi Dadan—strong, simple, honest, not smart, hardworking, and holding a good job—were rare; matchmakers within a ten-li radius seemed to have all targeted Shi Dadan, frantically introducing partners to him.

Frightened, Shi Dadan dared not even return to his dormitory after getting off work, fearing matchmakers would visit his door again to introduce young ladies to him.

Speaking of this, the colleague burst into loud laughter, mocking Shi Dadan: "Little Xu, you too; are those young ladies so frightening to you? Hiding from matchmakers as if they were floods and fierce beasts; those who don't know better might think the ladies would swallow you alive or skin you alive or something. At your age, you should be matchmaking and getting married; how old are you this year? Surely twenty-two, right?"

"At your age, my eldest daughter could already gnaw on steamed buns."

"Hand me the wrench."

Shi Dadan silently handed over the wrench.

"Sigh, I wonder what the canteen is serving for dinner tonight," the colleague sighed.

"Boiled cabbage with bean sprouts, minced meat stir-fried with beans, green vegetable tofu soup, and sanhe flour steamed buns," Shi Dadan answered instantly.

Colleague:...

The colleague, somewhat speechless, crawled out from under the vehicle, his hands covered in motor oil, and handed the tools to Shi Dadan, who quickly took them.

"You certainly remember this quickly."

"Your vehicle is fixed; it's the same old trouble. Tomorrow when you go out on delivery, if it stalls halfway, check the parts underneath to see if anything has loosened. The team leader has taught you how to tighten these for so long; you definitely know how. Tomorrow the convoy is short-staffed, so you will be driving out alone again."

"Eh, aren't you going to the Meat Processing Plant tomorrow? Their food is..."

Before the colleague could finish speaking, a young man, fair-skinned and clean-cut, looking like he came from a wealthy family—since the fabric of his clothes was clearly much newer and cleaner than Shi Dadan's and the colleague's, his skin showed no signs of windburn or sun exposure, his hands were not rough, and no obvious calluses were visible—someone Qin Huai found slightly familiar, walked toward the two.

It was Xu Nuo.

Qin Huai had seen Xu Nuo before in Gong Liang's memories, but only a few times, without observing carefully.

Now looking closely, he realized he truly was the factory director's youngest son.

Fair-skinned, looking refined and gentle, with a touch of scholarly air. His features were well-proportioned, lips red and teeth white; if not for being unemployed at home for two years with suspicions of being a prodigal son, Qin Huai suspected the threshold of Director Xu's home would also be trampled flat by matchmakers.

"Xu Mo, you're off work! Today I snagged a whole six fermented rice steamed buns from the state-run restaurant, and packed two good dishes; no one is at my house to eat them!"

"Hurry, if we're late my father will be back. If my father sees I bought so many fermented rice steamed buns again, he'll definitely scold me." Xu Nuo frantically winked at Shi Dadan; Shi Dadan first looked at the colleague, and only after seeing an expression of envy on the colleague's face that could not be hidden did he nod to the colleague, then slipped away to get off work.

"Being Factory Director Xu's son is so good; eating and living for free at home for two years without working, yet still able to eat fermented rice steamed buns and pack dishes," the colleague sighed, shaking his head, "Truly, comparing people makes one want to die, comparing goods makes one want to throw them away."

Xu Nuo pulled Shi Dadan toward the cotton textile factory gate; Shi Dadan did not really want to go out, wanting to go to the canteen first to get food.

He said it directly.

"The canteen has minced meat stir-fried with beans today; I brought my meal tickets and my lunchbox; I want to go get food first," Shi Dadan said.

Xu Nuo stopped, looked around vigilantly, not knowing who he was hiding from.

"Then hurry up, quick battle quick resolution; I'll wait outside for you, don't let my father catch us. Recently I've been coming to the factory every day to wait for you to get off work; my father has already heard rumors. Isn't our factory about to receive a new batch of university graduates? My father wants me to take the university entrance exam again, saying that while secondary vocational school was good when I was studying, university is better now."

"You are very smart, much smarter than me; I think you can get into university," Shi Dadan said softly.

"That's different; my ambition does not lie there. I am not in my first life; getting into university won't allow me to successfully undergo the tribulation anyway. You hurry to the canteen to get food; I'll wait outside for you."

Shi Dadan nodded, broke into a run toward the canteen, running with the momentum of a starving high school student rushing to the cafeteria after class.

Qin Huai:?!

Although he had always been suspicious before, suspecting Xu Nuo might be a spirit. Because even if a spirit in their first life pretended to be human, if they failed the tribulation it proved they were not human; the most obvious characteristic was that spirits did not empathize much with humans.

Of course, Qu Jing, that little bird with overly rich emotions, was an exception.

That Shi Dadan in his first life felt so guilty over accidentally killing Xu Nuo with his car that he failed the tribulation and committed suicide directly; when Qin Huai first heard this, he didn't think much of it. Later, Luo Jun felt Shi Dadan was not telling the truth; Qin Huai went back and thought about it carefully, and the more he thought, the more he felt something was wrong.

At that time, Qin Huai had already suspected Xu Nuo might be a spirit, and Shi Dadan felt so guilty about killing a member of his own kind who had helped him that he failed the tribulation.

It was just that Qin Huai did not expect this guess to be confirmed so quickly; he had only been watching Shi Dadan's memories for a short while before it was verified.

Qin Huai wanted to follow Xu Nuo to see what he would do, but alas, this was not Xu Nuo's memory; he could only follow Shi Dadan. Shi Dadan ran so fast that Qin Huai had only paused for a few seconds before hitting an invisible wall; he could only see Xu Nuo sneaking around, treading lightly, running toward the cotton textile factory gate like a guerrilla fighter.

Unable to see Xu Nuo, Qin Huai could only quicken his pace, running at the fastest speed he had ever used while watching so many spirit memories to catch up with Shi Dadan.

Shi Dadan clutching his satchel sprinted into the canteen and queued up.

Then he took out three lunchboxes, simultaneously handed over three meal tickets, and gave the food server a simple, honest smile.

The food server, very accustomed to this, filled three large boxes with food for him, and additionally asked: "There are still some cornmeal mixed with black flour Huaihua Huaihua Mantou; no meal ticket needed, just money; do you want them?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Shi Dadan nodded repeatedly, happily acquiring six large wotou.

Shi Dadan happily hugged the lunchboxes and wotou, walking outward, his face full of the joy of having secured his meal.

Workers currently eating who were not familiar with Shi Dadan looked at the lunchboxes and wotou in his hands and were stunned.

"Which workshop is working overtime tonight? Both lunchboxes and wotou."

"What workshop? That's Xu Mo from the convoy, the one who eats specially well; the one who ate twenty-six white flour steamed buns in one meal on his first day at our factory; the one that prodigal son Xu Nuo treated; you actually don't know him."

"Twenty-six white flour steamed buns!"

"Yes, twenty-six white flour steamed buns. Rumor has it he is Factory Director Xu's relative; previously in the countryside he ate too much to be supported, so he came here to seek refuge. Don't look at him being in the convoy; he is also a master at farming. Isn't there a plot of land behind the canteen? The radishes in that land were planted by him; they grow so well; otherwise, the canteen staff wouldn't fill his plate so full every time."

"No wonder he had to come seek refuge with Factory Director Xu; with this appetite, who in the countryside could support him?"

(End of Chapter)