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墨書 Inktalez
Perhaps feeling that he had misspoken, Jiao Ziqian surprisingly did not interrupt. He obediently took two steps back, retracting his foot that had stepped into the cafeteria. The lights from the crowd did not reach this side, and in the dim light, it was hard to see the expressions on everyone's faces. Song Jiu turned to glance at Jiao Ziqian, who nodded and quietly said, "Then... I'll wait for you outside." Xiao Zhu cleared his throat a couple of times and walked in last. The atmosphere became a bit awkward; Xiao Zhu, who had been chatting animatedly just moments ago, suddenly fell silent and followed behind, appearing even more restrained than Song Jiu and the others.
"What are we eating?" The chef, wearing a chef's hat, skillfully navigated around several clean long tables and casually lit a few candle holders. "Just something simple... sorry for the trouble," Song Jiu replied, feeling uncertain about the chef's demeanor. Seeing that Xiao Zhu did not respond, he could only muster the courage to reply. "Sit wherever you like." The chef lifted one side of the curtain and entered the kitchen area. After a while, the inside was illuminated by flames.
The cafeteria was indeed quite spacious; just looking at the seven or eight rows of tables and chairs lined up from the entrance made it easy to imagine how many people would come to eat during meal times. It was decorated similarly to a campus dining hall, with rows of fast-food tables and chairs that, although old, were spotless. Sitting on a round stool, one could catch a faint scent of dish soap.
The kitchen area was set back; judging by the size visible through the glass window, it probably occupied about one-fifth of the entire cafeteria. There was an opening in the middle of the window for food pickup, behind which was a shiny stainless steel countertop equipped with cutting boards, knives, and various pots and utensils neatly arranged in their respective places. The lighting inside was also from open flames; perhaps there was no need to fire up large stoves since only a single candle was lit.
The chef's slender figure appeared intermittently as she busily worked without paying any attention to the four people in the empty cafeteria, making Song Jiu and the others even more suspicious. "Xiao Zhu, can I step outside for a moment?" Song Jiu lowered his voice as he leaned closer to Xiao Zhu and hesitated, "My brother can't sit still; I'm afraid he'll wander off again..."
"Oh right, I almost forgot. You all stay here; I'll go take a look." Xiao Zhu seemed to wake up from a daze and stood up to call out towards the kitchen area: "Sister Jia, I'm leaving for now; I'll come back to take them to the dormitory later."
"You can go," the chef replied without looking up as she returned to the countertop with something large in her hands. "You don't need to come back later."
"Uh... but they haven't been to their rooms yet..."
"I'll take them." The chef removed her hat and tied her long hair back before waving at Song Jiu: "Come here."
Song Jiu put on a nervous expression and hurried over: "What do you need?"
"Move out." The chef turned around and blew out a candle while pointing at a drawer on the counter: "This is the simplest; eat it while it's hot."
Song Jiu brought the drawer over to the table and lifted it; steam wafted up into his face. A Hai and another young man exchanged glances, regret written all over their faces. A full tray of steamed buns couldn't compare to the lavish feast outside!
"Do you want vinegar?" The chef tapped on the glass window and shook a dark bottle in her hand.
"Yes, please give us some," Song Jiu said awkwardly. Since entering until now, everyone he encountered felt inexplicably strange; wanting to avoid trouble, he chose to go along with local customs. He realized that if they didn't finish this tray of buns today, something unpleasant might happen.
"Why are you still here? Do you want to eat too?" The chef emerged from the kitchen holding several jars and saw Xiao Zhu still standing by the table. She pointed at him with one finger: "Either leave or eat."
"I-I'll leave first; please take care of them for me, Sister Jia," Xiao Zhu said with a change in expression before turning around to leave quickly. Watching Xiao Zhu flee like that made Song Jiu's group feel even worse; this place hardly resembled a cafeteria—was it some kind of black market?
"Eat," Song Jiu decided firmly as he picked up a steaming bun and stuffed it into his mouth. Initially, he thought that upon entering they would at least meet someone in charge or go through some kind of screening process. However, reality deviated from his expectations; not only did they witness a lively banquet but also had to eat buns with determination—it was as awkward as it could get.
A Hai and another buddy saw Brother Jiu act this way and felt they couldn't refuse any longer. Xiao Zhu's sudden change left them somewhat intimidated by this female chef. But upon reflection, they understood it was reasonable; after all, they were newcomers—being given a little warning by someone familiar with this place was normal. In these times different from before, if someone wanted to harm them, they could use knives without needing precious food as bait.
"Is it good?" The chef had ignored them until now but came out after busying herself in the kitchen for a while wearing casual clothes instead of her uniform.
"It's good!" The three nodded vigorously while struggling to swallow their buns internally lamenting their situation.
Song Jiu hid his face behind a bun while secretly observing this cold chef. To be honest, after changing into casual clothes, her entire demeanor seemed different. Now she looked more like an ordinary urban white-collar worker—still cold but slightly more approachable than when she wore her chef's outfit.
"If it's good then eat more," she said as she brought several candle holders over to their table and sat down next to Song Jiu with her chin resting on her hand while watching them devour their food with an amused expression.
"Uh... Sister Jia... my brother speaks without thinking sometimes; I apologize on his behalf—"
"What is your relationship with him?" The chef interrupted Song Jiu flatly with an indifferent expression before casually tossing out: "If he's your son then I'll accept your apology."
"…"
"Not? Then mind your own business." She pouted slightly and huffed: "Hurry up and eat; once you're full you can leave—I’m tired."
A Hai and both young men felt relieved as they quickly swallowed their dough balls in unison exclaiming: "We're full! We’re full!"
Song Jiu felt embarrassed but held back his displeasure after thinking it over again. When under someone else's roof, one must yield; he just didn't expect that on their first night here they would offend someone.
The subsequent events were uneventful; Chef Jia was an iceberg while Xiao Zhu was fiery—one spoke little while the other chattered incessantly. On their way from the cafeteria to their lodging area, Chef Jia spoke less than five sentences total—three of which were just “mm-hm.” Even though Song Jiu had thick skin enough not to feel embarrassed trying to strike up conversation with her as they walked together around several large rooms whose purposes were unknown until finally arriving at what was supposedly “the lodging area.”
Song Jiu began doubting whether Sister Jia was intentionally trying to make things difficult for them. When Xiao Zhu led them through the main entrance earlier he briefly introduced that those two rows built against walls surrounding sculptures and green spaces were indeed where they would be staying—though crowded there seemed ample room based on layout.
However where did this chef lead them? As Song Jiu looked at several large black pigs rolling around in mud his brain momentarily went blank.
"This is the pigpen; there are several pens behind here where sheep and chickens are nearby," Chef Jia said with one hand on her hip pointing at the nearby pigpen: "These animals are accounted for so you'd better not get any funny ideas."
"…"
"This way—yes right behind the pigpen—you’ll stay there." Chef Jia pointed toward an ominous dark direction: "It’s too dark for me so I won’t go in; you all should rest early tonight—if you need anything go find Xiao Zhu for meals."
With that she turned around ready to leave.
Song Jiu could hardly contain himself anymore; surrounded by nothing but foul odors from animal pens there was nothing else around—though their weapons had been confiscated three against one shouldn’t be too difficult.
A Hai noticed Brother Jiu’s fierce gaze and instinctively took a few steps back creating space between themselves encircling Chef Jia who attempted to walk away.
"Is there anything else?" Chef Jia paused glancing at them with an expression revealing no emotion whatsoever.
Song Jiu adjusted his breathing several times signaling A Hai and another young man silently suggesting they step aside before stepping forward asking: "Could you please guide us? We’re new here after all—and since this is where food is stored we wouldn’t want any mistakes."
Chef Jia raised an eyebrow looking at Song Jiu: “What if I don’t go?”
“Then we’ll have no choice but follow Sister Jia back—we wouldn’t dare venture out without an experienced guide,” Song Jiu chuckled awkwardly saying: “Besides my brother seems like he left with Captain Xiao Zhu—we should look for him.”
A Hai chimed in eagerly nodding along trying hard to flatter this cold woman showering her with compliments hoping she’d relent.
Song Jiu figured giving her some face would suffice since after all Jiao Ziqian had spoken hastily—while annoying it wasn’t worth being toyed with like this either so he thought better of pushing too hard just yet figuring maybe she’d scold them then let them go quickly afterward.
However this chef didn’t buy into Song Jiu’s act at all listening coldly before dismissing them saying “Do as you wish” then turning away leaving three young men bewildered amidst stench near pigpens.
“Brother Jiu—is she doing this on purpose? I’m going to teach her a lesson,” A Hai fumed having followed Song Jiu for over a year never experiencing such humiliation before immediately bending down picking up a sharp stone near pigpen preparing for revenge.
“Come back.” Song Jiu felt furious pacing around pigpen several times ultimately deciding against acting rashly realizing besides enduring there weren’t many options available when trespassing onto someone else’s territory—it was crucial knowing one’s own strength limits.
“What about Qian'er Brother? Just forget about him?” Another young man appeared confused still hearing echoes from earlier festivities while now surrounded by foul-smelling pigpens—the contrast felt overwhelming.
“Let’s check behind first—don’t cause trouble tonight,” Song Jiu spat bitterly contemplating how best deal with Chef Jia later under moonlight discerning directions following where she indicated heading deeper into darkness beyond pigpen area.
Song Jiu wasn’t great with directions recalling distances vaguely estimating this must be towards fortress rear end—the area behind pigpen resembled slum conditions starkly contrasting plaza nearby. Recent heavy rains likely soaked ground making footing treacherous muddy paths lined damp grass patches piled high uncertain purpose traversing trench-like pathways finally spotting straw hut ahead.
Under dim moonlight straw hut appeared ghostly shadows walls crumbling dirt bricks door barely hanging shut against gusty winds outside rain-soaked air filled despairing atmosphere surrounding them.
Song Jiu checked pockets finding matches still intact striking one illuminating circle revealing damp straw hut interior indistinguishable from outside conditions—“Is this even livable? This is outrageous!”
Two young men filled with indignation couldn’t hold back anymore questioning why despite harboring ill intentions they faced such blatant discrimination!
“Shh! Let’s make do tonight,” Song Jiu gathered drier straw collecting into pile igniting fire using flickering flame light illuminating surroundings tidying up somewhat cramped space resembling size small restroom except littered chicken droppings ground though less muddy than outside still emanating chill dampness within walls enclosing them tightly huddled together beside flickering flames staring blankly into firelight lost deep thoughts contemplating future plans ahead…
“First let’s retrieve signal flares—straw hut may serve its purpose hiding items,” Song Jiu frowned calculating options deciding stick original plan since six days remained until agreed rendezvous time no need rushing headlong into trouble first night here!
Two young men barely containing excitement dashed outside straw hut returning shortly after ten minutes each carrying plastic bags smeared yellowish substances wafting foul odors filling air surrounding them instantly overwhelming senses!
“…”
Song Jiu nearly fainted pointing accusingly shouting: “What’d you bring those back for! Bury those damn things in pigpen! What do you think we need more stink added?”
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