Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Meanwhile, Yuan Zhou arrived at a pharmacy after leaving the restaurant.
“Medicine for colds, please,” Yuan Zhou said.
“Colds? What are the symptoms? Any fever? Cough? If coughing, is there any phlegm?” asked the pharmacy boss. “More importantly, is there dizziness or sore throat?”
The pharmacy boss was studying Yuan Zhou while speaking. Clearly, he thought Yuan Zhou was the patient.
“I’m not the patient,” Yuan Zhou said.
“What are the symptoms of the patient?” asked the pharmacy boss.
“I’m not sure of the exact symptoms, but I’m sure his limbs are feeling weak, to the point he’s having trouble getting off the bed,” Yuan Zhou said.
“That’s a high fever. It is recommended that he sees a doctor at the hospital. He might need some IV infusion or injection as well,” proposed the pharmacy boss.
“Ok, thank you for the advice. But can you give me some medicine first? We will see what’s the situation after taking a dose of medicine,” said Yuan Zhou.
The pharmacy boss nodded and gave a prescription of several kinds of medicines. After the pharmacy boss told Yuan Zhou how to take the medicines and the dosage size, Yuan Zhou paid for the medicines and headed straight to Wu Hai’s home.
Wu Hai’s apartment was located on the second floor of the building across the street from Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. There were two units on this floor and Wu Hai had directly demolished the wall separating the two units, turning it into one large unit. It was worth noting that he usually left his door unlocked so he could rush downstairs faster to line up for Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
As usual, the door was unlocked. In fact, it was slightly opened.
Through the tiny gap, one could see how the inside looked.
Yuan Zhou hadn’t heard about any new projects from Wu Hai recently. Although inspiration might come randomly for a painter, Wu Hai would usually go mess around at the restaurant before starting each project.
Thud. Thud. Yuan Zhou knocked on the door.
Then, Yuan Zhou waited outside for a while. However, the apartment was still blanketed by silence. Yuan Zhou frowned and pushed the door open before entering anxiously.
The room was very bright and facing the door directly was a sofa. Wu Hai was lying on the sofa, dressed in wrinkled clothes.
He looked like he was on his last breath.
Sure enough, Wu Hai was sick. Based on the deductions of Detective Yuan, that was the only reason why Wu Hai had not been to the restaurant for several days. Moreover, he was so sick he was having difficulty walking.
The weather had been changing rapidly recently and Zheng Jiawei was coincidentally not around. Wu Hai was one who usually dressed sloppily. Thus, it was not weird that Wu Hai had caught a cold due to the change in weather.
Of course, a person would still be able to get off the bed if it was a regular cold. Wu Hai was one that would crawl to the restaurant if he could still crawl. Clearly, he was so sick he couldn’t even crawl anymore.
When Wu Hai saw Yuan Zhou, he sat up in alarm, like how a person who was dying of thirst in the desert would behave when seeing an oasis.
Wu Hai might be sick, but he was still extremely excited to see Yuan Zhou. Of course, his body was too weak. Thus, he collapsed weakly onto the sofa again right after he sat up.
“Tell me what happened to you,” said Yuan Zhou as he moved a stool in front of Wu Hai and sat down, preparing to listen to a story.
“I forgot to shut the windows before sleeping…”
“… then it rained.”
“Rain… drifted inside the room,” said Wu Hai weakly with his hoarse voice. Even his mustache looked weak today. He was only able to finish his sentence after multiple attempts.
It was worth noting that Wu Hai’s sofa and bed were both next to the window. This was an arrangement Wu Hai made since Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was opened so he could have a clear line of sight to the restaurant by simply getting up.
Thus, it rained the other day, and Wu Hai found his bed and mattress soaked wet when he woke up.
It was understandable that he was sick right after that.
There was no point asking why Wu Hai did not wake up when it first rained. There was a saying that a person pretending to sleep could not be woken. Similarly, Wu Hai could only be woken up by Yuan Zhou’s food.
As for the dropping temperature or other elements, Wu Hai was able to ignore everything when he was sleeping.
Looking at Wu Hai’s current posture on the sofa, it was obvious he wanted to go to Yuan Zhou’s restaurant badly. After all, he was lying on the sofa beside the window and the window was left open. It was clear he had struggled to reach the sofa from his bed.
The result was obvious. He could move no further than his sofa.
“Eat the medicine. Follow the dose recorded in the prescription,” said Yuan Zhou after nodding his head.
Without waiting for Wu Hai to reply, Yuan Zhou tossed the bag of medicines at Wu Hai. He then stood up and started boiling a pot of hot water for Wu Hai.
“Help me up. I can still eat,” Wu Hai did not even give the medicine a glance. He sat back up after some struggle.
Wu Hai had zero interest in the medicine. He gazed straight at Yuan Zhou and made his request.
“Sure, get up yourself. If you can’t get up, eat the medicine. I will give Zheng Jiawei a call,” Yuan Zhou said and left before Wu Hai could answer.
“Come back, I want to eat…” Wu Hai stretched his weak arm out and yelled with a voice as weak as a mosquito’s buzz.
Yuan Zhou did not bother turning around despite his keen ears.
“Only Zheng Jiawei and Wu Lin can control this fellow,” Yuan Zhou muttered as he decided to call the two immediately.
Then, he left. After all, he still needed to return to his restaurant. His presence was still needed even though Shen Min was there and there was actually nothing for him to do.
Right after he reached downstairs, he took his phone out and called Zheng Jiawei.
After the pub was closed, as usual, Yuan Zhou watched on as Shen Min waited for the bus. He only closed the restaurant’s door after Shen Min got onto the bus.
During noon the next day, Wu Hai was still nowhere to be seen. Several surprise guests had arrived at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. The “surprise” here carried with it a derogatory meaning. Chef Li was the leader of the alliance known as the Bad Review Alliance. Naturally, he would not let the matter drop after being rejected by Yuan Zhou. Thus, he thought of a cheap trick to deal with Yuan Zhou.
That was truly a cheap trick. The Bad Review Alliance hired a bunch of people that kept lingering around the restaurant doing nothing but speaking loudly.
“There is actually such a long line here?”
“I don’t understand why so many people like a restaurant that does not dare to bear the consequences of its action like this.”
“Perhaps this is the popular style nowadays?”
“Hoho.”
“The boss is a coward. I wonder if the food here is really that good. Maybe the customers that have a bad taste.”
Similar words were being repeated without stop. Just like that, these people camped around Taoxi Road. Since Taoxi Road itself was a public place, not even the Queuing Committee could do anything about those people.
More importantly, when the people from the Queuing Committee went to negotiate with them, those people would apologize and leave. But the next day, a new group of people would come and repeat the same words.
It would seem like Chef Li was asking for it. He had hired a large number of people to come and cause trouble.
Although most of the customers of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant were well-behaved, there were still some with bad tempers.
When those with bad temper heard those words, they charged at the troublemakers fearlessly. Obviously, they were victorious during the confrontation. After all, the customers of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant were very united. Nevertheless, a great mess had still been created during lunchtime because of that.
…
