Chapter 18: Half a Person
“Hu—hu—!”
By the time Su Mi reached his home, he finally caught up with Lu Yibei, who had run like the wind. After taking a few breaths, he began to complain.
“I remember when we were kids we roamed everywhere, and we went to plenty of haunted places! Weren’t you having a great time back then? Why have you become so timid now?”
“Besides, you can run, but carrying this iron lump, aren’t you exhausting yourself? This seems to be a popular item on Taobao for warding off evil spirits, right? But while others have ones just palm-sized, why is yours so big? Is it a custom piece?”
As he spoke, Su Mi reached out to touch the Ming King Statue, only to be ruthlessly pushed away by Lu Yibei.
“Get lost! This is my savior! I won’t let your filthy hands desecrate it!”
Su Mi retracted his hand resentfully, leaned against the door frame, and surveyed the Ming King Statue. “You talk like it’s real. Even if your iron lump is several times larger than others, can it really ward off evil?”
“Tsk, who knows?” Lu Yibei shrugged expressionlessly.
Whether it can ward off evil is uncertain, but in terms of its effectiveness, it really does work well!
Should I also tell this fatass that I just smashed a ghost with it last night?
“Forget it, I can’t be bothered with you!” Seeing Lu Yibei act like a mother hen protecting her chicks, Su Mi waved his hand and said, “It’s not impossible for you to find shelter with me tonight, but…”
At this point, a lewd smile appeared on his face, his dark eyes greedily roving over Lu Yibei, as if standing before him was not a stoic monster but a JK beauty.
Lu Yibei warily covered his chest with both hands and said seriously, “What are you doing? I consider you a brother, and you actually want me to pay with my body?”
“Shut your trap! Just you? If you washed up, stripped down, and laid on my bed, I wouldn’t even be interested!” Su Mi laughed slyly, licking the corner of his mouth that was dripping with moisture. “But since you’re back, can you help improve my meals a bit? Ever since my mom went back to her hometown, I’ve been eating takeout that tastes worse than pig food every day, and I’ve lost weight.”
Like Lu Yibei, Su Mi grew up in a single-parent household; the difference is that his mother hardly touched any household chores beyond sewing, so from childhood to adulthood, half of his meals were taken care of at Lu Yibei’s house.
However, since the incident with Lu Yibei and his father, he hadn’t eaten at Lu Yibei’s home for two whole years, and these last two years made him realize just how big the gap was between ordinary restaurant takeout and Lu Yibei’s family’s culinary skills!
“I haven’t eaten your family’s cooking in so long; I’m dying for it. I don’t need much, just some spicy fish fillets, spicy bl**d stew, mapo tofu, garlic pork, eggplant with tofu, stir-fried kidney…”
“Stop, stop, stop! Are you listing dishes?” Lu Yibei interrupted impatiently. “I can cook, but you have to pay for the ingredients!”
“Of course, of course! As long as you’re willing to cook, money is no issue!” Su Mi patted his chest.
“Tsk, just wait! I’ll go buy some ingredients!” Lu Yibei rolled his eyes and said, “I bet since Aunt left, your place hardly has anything but frozen food!”
Upon hearing this, a flattering smile appeared on Su Mi’s face as he pulled out his wallet and handed it to Lu Yibei. “You know my skills; the dishes I make could poison the entire street, so preparing ingredients would be a waste!”
“Hold on!” Lu Yibei replied, his gaze scanning the Shu embroidery shop, finally landing on a guitar beside the cash register. “Give me your guitar bag!”
Su Mi scratched his head, puzzled. “What do you want that for when you’re going to buy ingredients?”
“DUANG! DUANG!”
Lu Yibei slapped the Ming King Statue beside him and said emotionlessly, “Carry it!”
Su Mi, “……” This guy used to seem pretty sharp! How did he become so foolish, believing in such an obvious scam?
…
Exiting Mudan Street and walking less than a kilometer east through a narrow alley crowded with old buildings, they arrived at the entrance of the market. Even from a distance, the sounds of bargaining could be heard.
This agricultural market has been around for some time; at least since Lu Yibei’s memory began, it has been here. With time, the rusty iron doors have faded, and people have forgotten its original name, so now everyone just refers to it as Market 96 since it was built in ’96.
Entering through the gate, the air suddenly became murky, reeking of rotten vegetable leaves and raw meat. The alley, wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side, was not flooded with sewage, but it was certainly covered in grime.
“Buns, steamed buns, rice cakes! Fresh out of the oven!”
“Grass carp, crucian carp! Grass carp and crucian carp just pulled from the reservoir this morning!”
“Locally grown vegetables! Young man, want some? They’re super fresh, totally organic, see, there’s even some dirt on the leaves… Hey! Young man, don’t go!”
“Bone setting ointment, potent pills! I’ll help you become a real man!”
…
At around twelve o’clock noon, the market was bustling with various vendors calling out, and hurried pedestrians occasionally stopped to pick ingredients or waved their hands impatiently to pass by.
As a child, Lu Yibei would often follow his father here to buy groceries, his bright eyes curious as he looked around at the vegetables, chickens, ducks, and fish, as if walking into a gigantic botanical and zoological garden.
Thus, being in this somewhat dirty, chaotic, and noisy environment did not make Lu Yibei feel uncomfortable at all; on the contrary, he felt an inexplicable warmth.
However, this sense of familiarity lasted only a brief moment.
With a sudden sharp pain in his eyes, Lu Yibei frowned.
In the air, murky gray mists flowed around.
The fish and shrimp in the water tank were whispering to each other in strange languages, and the distant sounds of chickens and ducks being slaughtered were unsettlingly shrill.
Entwined around the pig legs hanging from iron hooks was a mass of dark mist, resembling a gelatinous substance, coalescing into the shape of a pig, emitting faint whispers as if pleading for something.
…
Lu Yibei, “……” Here we go again! It was one thing to be startled before, but has it developed to the point of not letting anyone eat properly now?
How can I eat this? It would make me feel guilty!
“Young man, young man! Want some beef or lamb? Freshly butchered, just this morning!”
From behind came the enthusiastic seller’s voice. Lu Yibei turned around to find that the same mist enveloped the lamb and beef at the stall behind him.
No doubt! It’s also pig!
Lu Yibei expressionlessly glanced at the smiling owner eager to serve him, then at the meat on the stall, and coldly said, “Sorry, not interested!”
I’m not falling for your eating disorder! Using specially treated pig meat to pass off as beef or lamb, doesn’t your conscience hurt?
Thinking this, Lu Yibei turned away, his gaze casually sweeping over a store selling frozen meat, and suddenly froze in place.
It was a storefront not very large, illuminated by cool white fluorescent lights. The thin, stooped owner with waxy skin leaned against a reclining chair, fanning himself and resting with his eyes closed.
The old, upright freezer hummed softly, and through the thin frost-covered glass, one could vaguely see swirling mists inside, much thinner than those at the fresh meat stall.
The shapes in the mist included chickens and ducks, cows and sheep, and also…
Half a person!
Half a person split from top to bottom, the cut surface appearing as if it had been sliced open with a dull kn*fe, uneven and distinctly outlined!
The half person’s features were dark and void-like, lying face up at the edge of the freezer, with disheveled black hair hanging down to the ground. Each time a passerby went by, its mouth would emit a strange, indistinct throaty sound.
“Not… not… not the other half…”
Staring at the humanoid mist, Lu Yibei felt as if something in his stomach had been stirred, convulsing uncontrollably. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to vomit, covering his mouth and sprinting away.
…
Back on Mudan Street, in front of the Ancient Brocade Handmade Shu Embroidery shop, after Lu Yibei left, Su Mi picked up his phone and tirelessly began calling, spreading the news of Lu Yibei’s return to the neighbors who remembered the Lu family’s culinary skills.
“Hello! Old Liu! Yes, yes, Lu Yibei is back! What kind of store are you looking for; come over for a meal!”
“Uncle Zhang, do you want to eat Lu’s spicy pig liver? If you do, just come over at noon! Of course, it’s cooked by Lu Yibei! How could it be me!”
“Li Li, it’s me, Su Mi! No, no, I’m not confessing this time, don’t hang up! I want to tell you that Lu Yibei is cooking at my place for lunch, you should come over for a meal!”
…
When Lu Yibei hurriedly returned, several neighbors, sitting on small stools in front of the Ancient Brocade Shu Embroidery shop, looked at him with eager anticipation, but when they saw he was empty-handed, that hope momentarily faded.
Noticing this, Su Mi stepped forward and poked Lu Yibei, whispering, “Why did you come back empty-handed? You wouldn’t be trying to slack off knowing I called everyone over, would you?”
“Hu—hu—!” Lu Yibei’s chest heaved violently as he rolled his eyes at Su Mi. “I…I’m not that petty! I’m…. I’m…”
Just thinking of the misty figure he had seen earlier turned Lu Yibei’s face pale. He quickly took out Su Mi’s wallet and handed it back. “Forget it, you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you! In short, if you want to eat the dishes I make, you need to go buy the ingredients yourself!”
Su Mi scratched the back of his head, looking at the group of eager neighbors and then at Lu Yibei, whose eyes were red from stress. Muttering, “I’ll go buy, I’ll go buy, why are you crying?” he reached for the wallet.
Just a few steps out, he was called back by Lu Yibei.
“Wait!”
“What now?”
“Don’t buy frozen meat!” Lu Yibei said sternly.
Su Mi, with his back to Lu Yibei, waved his hand. “Got it! Make sure to get the freshest for Chef Lu!”
“And also, don’t buy beef or lamb from stall 37!”
Su Mi stopped, his thick arms crossed over his chest, tilting his head to look at Lu Yibei and asked, “Anything else?”
“That’s it.” Lu Yibei said expressionlessly.
