Chapter 169

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Protagonist:

Lin Hao

That evening, after finishing up his business, Lin Hao wandered over to the Chaoshan Hot Pot shop on that snack street again.

To be honest, after trying the hot pot here last time, he really had taken a liking to the flavor—the rich, fragrant broth paired with tender beef and all sorts of abundant ingredients was unforgettable, so he'd been thinking about it, and sure enough, he'd come following the taste again.

As soon as he reached the snack street, the familiar bustling scene came into view, but the congestion showed no sign of improvement at all; in fact, it was even worse than before, with heads bobbing everywhere on the street, pedestrians and vehicles jammed together, the scene simply a complete mess.

Lin Hao walked toward the hot pot shop while carefully observing the surroundings, and it was clear that many shopkeepers wore expressions of helplessness and dissatisfaction, obviously unhappy with the current congestion.

But these were all old neighbors who'd lived on this street for years, very familiar with each other, and nobody was afraid of anybody.

Take the matter of occupying space at the shop entrances, for instance—one shop saw that the neighbor had set up their stall another meter out into the street, taking up public space, and thought, humph, you can occupy it, why can't I? So they immediately moved their own things outside too, taking up another meter and a half, as if that would give them an edge over the other side.

The result was that everyone kept competing like this, neither yielding to the other, and the already narrow street got squeezed tighter and tighter, making traffic more and more congested, until now it was almost completely gridlocked.

Thinking of what had happened a couple days ago, Lin Hao couldn't help but shake his head helplessly.

Previously, he felt that the root of the snack street's congestion problem lay with Hesheng Sheng, after all, it was their territory.

So he specifically went to find Han Bin for help, hoping to contact that Deng Bo from Hesheng Sheng through Han Bin's connections—the "fat bastard" he'd been thinking about.

He figured that since they were all people on the same road, they could at least give some face, sit down and talk properly about how to solve the street congestion issue.

Who would have thought, though, that old codger was incredibly arrogant, didn't put Lin Hao in his eyes at all, wasn't even willing to see him, and directly turned him away at the door.

That had really made Lin Hao furious at the time, and he cursed Deng Bo several times in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about him.

Lin Hao thought about these annoying things while stepping into the familiar hot pot shop. As soon as he entered, he saw there were quite a few people inside, lively and bustling; he looked around, found an empty seat and sat down, then greeted the boss, ordered some usual dishes, and sat there, waiting for the food to be served while frowning and continuing to think about how to resolve this thorny problem.

Before long, the steaming hot pot and the dishes he'd ordered were served one after another.

Lin Hao looked at the table full of food and thought he shouldn't think so much right now—eating was most important, and only when full would he have the energy to ponder those matters.

So he picked up his chopsticks, ready to dig in heartily.

Just as Lin Hao picked up the first slice of beef from the pot, about to put it in his mouth, suddenly a figure sat down opposite him. Lin Hao subconsciously looked up, and upon seeing, he was stunned—it was a woman, and moreover, the woman who had gone wild with him in the room last night.

Lin Hao's heart went "thump," but he quickly came back to his senses, acting as if he hadn't seen her, lowered his head, and continued to put that slice of beef into his mouth, pretending to eat nonchalantly.

The woman opposite him was not polite at all, boldly picking up her bowl and chopsticks and starting to eat as well, while shouting at the boss between bites: "Boss, add two more plates of beef, the best in your shop!" Her manner was as if this place were her own home.

Strangely enough, Lin Hao and this woman were just like two children, competing with each other as they ate beef together, and six plates of beef were gone in no time, all down the two of them's stomachs.

After eating her fill, the woman slammed her chopsticks down on the table, lifted her head, and looked straight at Lin Hao, her tone flat yet carrying an undeniable meaning, saying: "Help me kill someone."

Lin Hao was in the middle of putting a chopsticksful of food into his mouth; hearing this, he paused, then continued eating unhurriedly while replying: "I don't even know your name, and you come out asking me to help you kill someone—how can there be such a thing?"

The woman heard this, showed no extra expression, just said lightly: "Marry." After saying that, she fell silent, just quietly watching Lin Hao.

After hearing this, Lin Hao just nodded slightly, said nothing more, and continued eating with his head down.

After more than ten minutes passed, Lin Hao finally finished eating. He stood up, patted his belly, turned around and walked toward the shop exit. Just before leaving, he didn't forget to shout loudly at the boss: "Boss, put it on my tab."

The boss was busy behind the counter; hearing Lin Hao's shout, he quickly looked up and replied: "Alright, Hao Ge, take care."

Lin Hao waved his hand and left the hot pot shop without looking back.

Marry saw Lin Hao get up and leave, with no intention of responding to her request at all; she grew anxious inside, quickly stood up, and hurried after Lin Hao's steps.

She followed closely behind while raising her voice to call out: "Hey, did you hear what I said or not? I asked you to help me kill someone—I'm not joking with you."

Lin Hao acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing to walk forward at his unhurried pace, while secretly pondering in his heart.

This woman didn't look simple at all; what happened last night was just a momentary impulse, and now she suddenly made such an absurd and dangerous request—who knew what tricks were involved here.

Besides, killing someone wasn't a small matter; how could it be agreed to so casually? If he wasn't careful, he feared he'd get dragged into some big trouble again.

Marry saw Lin Hao ignoring her, and she grew increasingly anxious. She walked a few quick steps and suddenly blocked Lin Hao's path, her eyes showing stubbornness and urgency, saying again: "Lin Hao, I know you heard me. I'm serious. As long as you help me with this, I definitely won't shortchange you. Give me a definite answer."

Lin Hao then stopped, frowning at Marry before him, and said helplessly: "Move aside first. Out here on the street, killing someone isn't a joke."

Marry heard Lin Hao's words, hesitated for a moment, looked at the pedestrians coming and going around them, gritted her teeth, and lowered her voice: "It's not convenient to say here. Find me a secluded place."

Lin Hao slightly narrowed his eyes, sized up Marry, and said: "Fine, then come with me."