Chapter Two: Murder
Page 1 of 3
Chapter Two: Murder
He entered the restaurant.
The dining area was small; after accounting for the freezer and the cashier’s counter, there were only six sets of tables and chairs. The trash can was overflowing with used napkins, and brooms and mops lay scattered haphazardly on the floor, giving the impression that cleaning was about to start.
Clack, clack...
Rough scraping sounds came from the kitchen—someone was sharpening a knife, most likely.
Li Can found an empty seat and sat down to wait.
“The few thousand left in my account can't possibly support me while I look for a job I’m truly satisfied with. Rather than wandering aimlessly, I might as well give this place a try. Besides, the ‘meals and lodging included’ deal is perfect for my situation right now.”
He picked up the menu out of boredom; it listed dozens of familiar dish names in dense rows.
“Judging from these dishes, the restaurant isn’t high-end. Even with injuries to my hands, I should be more than capable.”
Li Can wasn’t the least bit worried about whether he’d get the job.
“Is there something you need?”
A calm voice spoke, and a burly, broad-shouldered middle-aged man emerged from the kitchen, wearing an apron and holding a kitchen knife whose blade shone from recent sharpening.
An ordinary person might have been intimidated by this sight, but not Li Can. As a top chef, he felt an innate affinity for kitchen knives.
“Hello, I’m here to apply for the chef position,” Li Can explained his purpose.
“Apply?”
“That’s right,” Li Can said, a little surprised. “I saw the job posting and came in.”
The man slapped his forehead and laughed, “Oh, sorry, I’ve been so busy I completely forgot.”
Li Can nodded in understanding.
“Hey, what’s with the big bag?” The man pointed at the luggage beside Li Can.
Li Can replied, not altogether truthfully, “To be honest, I just arrived in Sakura District today. It’s all my clothes.”
“Don’t mind me, just curious.”
“I understand.”
The man bent down and picked up a cleaning tool from the floor. “You look just over twenty. Haven’t been working for long, have you?”
“Not more than three years in total, but I’m very confident in my cooking,” Li Can said earnestly.
“Oh?” The man clearly didn’t understand where Li Can’s confidence came from and responded with a perfunctory smile.
Clatter, clatter...
Li Can waited for the man to speak, but the latter was busy fiddling with the roller shutter at the entrance.
The shutter seemed to be broken; whenever he pressed it down, it sprang back up.
“It’s probably the spring inside,” Li Can offered helpfully.
“I think so too,” the man sighed. “Well, since you’re here for the chef position, talk is cheap. Go into the kitchen and cook something for me to taste.”
Page 2 of 3
“Alright.”
Li Can had no objections. In fact, he thought this should have happened sooner. He got up and walked toward the kitchen.
There was no door to the kitchen, just a gray curtain hanging as a partition. As he lifted the curtain, a strong smell of vinegar hit him, as though a bottle of aged vinegar had been spilled. The inside of the curtain was freckled with irregular stains, likely grease accumulated over the years.
The kitchen was only half the size of the dining area and poorly lit. The stove, sink, and the wall were connected in front of him, with a cabinet for miscellaneous items in the center. The remaining space barely allowed a single person to pass—cramped, to say the least.
The better the chef, the higher their standards for the kitchen; Li Can was no exception. But pressed by circumstance, he could only force himself to adapt quickly.
As he entered, the floor felt slippery beneath his feet.
Li Can glanced over the seasoning area—there were fewer options and less variety than at the Imperial Court restaurant, but it was just enough.
Click.
He opened the freezer. Inside were various ingredients: meats and vegetables alike.
“This tenderloin looks fresh, and the scallions are good too. Let’s make stir-fried beef with scallions.” To Li Can, the choice of dish hardly mattered; the point was to showcase his skills.
Stir-fried beef with scallions is a simple dish, but it truly tests a chef’s mastery of heat, ingredients, and knife work. Too much heat, and the beef becomes tough; too little, and the scallions won’t release their charred aroma. Achieving the perfect balance is difficult.
The only uncertainty was whether this middle-aged man had the palate to appreciate the dish’s essence, given how advanced Li Can’s skills were.
He took the beef and scallions to the sink, ready to wash them, when he suddenly felt something sticky beneath his feet.
The dim light revealed a puddle of liquid on the floor. Combined with the strong smell of vinegar, Li Can guessed it was probably vinegar.
“Wait, this isn’t vinegar—vinegar isn’t this sticky.”
He lifted his foot again; the pulling sensation was strong, as if something was sucking him down.
“No, there’s another smell too.”
Li Can looked closer and saw that the liquid was seeping from the cabinet.
He opened it. Inside, it was pitch black—he couldn’t see anything.
On instinct, he pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight, aiming it at the cabinet.
Damn!
In that instant, it felt as if Li Can’s blood flowed backward, his heart stopped, and his mind went blank!
Inside the cabinet—a long-haired woman with eyes wide open in fury was crammed inside!
Wait, something’s off...
Bracing himself against the stove behind him to keep from slipping, Li Can raised his phone for a closer look.
The woman’s pupils were unfocused, the whites of her eyes bloodshot, her waxen face devoid of any luster.
A bloody stench, tangled with vinegar, wafted through the air...
Page 3 of 3
Li Can could no longer think, for the woman—
—was clearly a corpse!
Her limbs were bent back at impossible angles, pressed against her back; the toes of her feet were missing, the broken ends jagged, as if torn off by biting.
Even more horrifying, she had been stuffed into such a tiny cabinet!
Li Can’s whole body went cold. He spun around, only to slam into a “wall.”
No, not a wall—the middle-aged man had silently appeared behind him.
The man gripped the kitchen knife, eyes cold and filled with menace.
Li Can had faced death before, so when it truly arrived, he was preternaturally calm.
His mind raced—
The kitchen was too cramped; there was no escape route.
His opponent was clearly ruthless; negotiation was out of the question.
In that case...
Li Can acted instantly, grabbing the nearest soy sauce bottle and smashing it against the man’s head.
Soy sauce splattered everywhere.
Yet, what seemed a ferocious blow drew only a cold laugh from the man and didn’t even faze him.
Li Can’s heart sank. He tried to step back and open some distance, but something yanked hard at his feet, and he fell flat on his back.
Looking down, he saw—a thick, rope-like appendage?
What the hell—this guy had a tail?!
The sight before him shattered Li Can’s understanding of reality.
The man bared a row of serrated teeth, his expression savage. He wasted no words, raising the knife to strike.
Li Can dodged left and right, seizing an opportunity to grasp the attacker’s wrist, preventing the knife from descending.
Unfortunately,
The old injury from his car accident flared up,
His hands went limp, as if all strength had drained away.
The blade loomed large in his vision—
“No, it can’t end like this, I still have so much left to—”
Before Li Can could finish the thought, consciousness was snuffed out.
(To be continued...)