The cramped, dim room only contained two bunk beds and a table.
Snoring, teeth grinding, and sleep-talking—though there were only four people, it felt incredibly lively.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone lightly knocked on the door three times.
The fourth brother suddenly opened his eyes and sprang up from the bed with a carp jump, startling Zhang Baobao, who was on the bottom bunk.
“It’s time, it’s time.”
Zhang Baobao’s sweet dream was disturbed, and he angrily kicked the upper bunk’s bed board.
“Boss, it’s time, let’s get to work.”
“If we wake up late, we won’t even have breakfast.”
“Who the hell cares about that crappy breakfast? I want to sleep more!”
“Boss, if you don’t eat breakfast, you’ll have to wait until dinner.”
Zhang Baobao cursed under his breath and reluctantly threw off his blanket.
“Damn, I’ve never suffered this much in my life!”
“Wake up the second and third brothers.”
“Okay, Boss!”
The four of them got dressed and went to the staff cafeteria, lining up to get breakfast.
It was a bowl of white porridge that was almost as clear as water, some sour steamed buns that had probably been left over for days, and a small dish of extremely salty pickles.
Three days ago, they docked at this stop.
As soon as the four of them saw it was a hot pot restaurant, they went in and ate and drank to their hearts’ content, ending up owing dozens of train coins.
Just as their organs were about to be deducted, the manager appeared.
He offered Zhang Baobao another option—sign a contract of servitude, stay and work at the restaurant, and repay their debt.
“Boss, with this kind of food every day, we’ll starve to death before we earn any train coins.”
“Yeah, Boss, why don’t we escape?”
The third and fourth brothers echoed each other.
“Escape? Where to? Our contract of servitude is still in their hands, you forgot, what we sold was our souls; whether we live or die is up to them.”
They shivered, remembering the manager who was not human.
The second brother was big and a stutterer, so he didn’t talk much and had already quietly finished his breakfast.
In just three days, the second brother had already lost some weight from hunger.
Zhang Baobao threw a steamed bun to the second brother.
“You eat it, I don’t like it.”
“Th-th-thank you, Boss.”
The third brother quickly reached out, wanting to break off half.
After Zhang Baobao glared at him, he pulled his hand back.
Just then, the supervisor walked in, and he pointed at the second brother.
“We’re short-staffed in prep, so you’ll be transferred to the back kitchen for prep work from now on.”
The supervisor then looked at Zhang Baobao:
“There are guests in the private room on the second floor today, you’ll be in charge of serving them.”
“Alright, hurry up and finish eating, then start working.”
After speaking, the supervisor left.
“Bo-bo-boss,”
The second brother seemed a bit nervous about being transferred alone.
Zhang Baobao patted his shoulder: “Go ahead, it’s fine. I trust you to go, but I wouldn’t trust the third brother.”
The third brother pouted.
Yesterday, a woman in the back kitchen’s prep area stole food, and her fate was tragic.
She could have been made into Mapo Tofu.
“Third brother, fourth brother, you two be sharp in the main hall. Let’s work hard, trick more people, and get our damned contracts of servitude back soon. This hellhole is no place for humans.”
“Okay, Boss!”
...
Second floor private room, Listening Rain Pavilion.
“Hello, excuse me everyone. Here’s your lubricating oil, engine oil, and mandarin duck hot pot.”
Zhang Baobao placed the hot pot base and turned on the heating switch.
“These are the cold dishes: nuts and bolts platter, five-spice button batteries, and cold mixed display screen.”
“The hot pot ingredients will be here shortly.”
After pouring 98 octane gasoline into their cups, Zhang Baobao wiped his sweat and left the private room with a smile.
My goodness, the diners are getting weirder and weirder. The day before yesterday, a group of octopus-headed people came, and today there are robots!
Gasoline, engine oil, batteries—won’t this explode?
Damn, this supervisor is trying to kill me!
“Bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-boss!”
The fourth brother scrambled to Zhang Baobao’s front, tripping and stumbling.
“What’s wrong, why are you so flustered? How many times have I told you to be steady, steady!”
“Qi, Qi, Qi Xiao! Qi Xiao is here!”
“Holy cow? Is it that kid?”
Zhang Baobao went to the stairwell and looked in the direction the fourth brother was pointing. It was indeed Qi Xiao.
“What do we do, Boss?”
“What do we do? That kid used to sell ice water and cotton quilts, he must have a lot of train coins on him. We’ll extort him hard!”
“Whether we can redeem our contracts of servitude depends on him.”
“You and the third brother be smart, take turns harassing him. I can’t get away from here, so it’s up to you two.”
“Don’t worry, Boss, we’ll make sure he doesn’t even have his underwear left!”
...
At 7:50, the Train stopped.
Qi Xiao opened the door; it was pitch black all around, so dark he couldn't see his own hand.
Only the hot pot restaurant in front of him was lit.
The Huo Huo Hot Pot Restaurant.
A pair of stone lions stood at the entrance of the restaurant, with red lanterns hanging on them.
A female waitress wearing a black apron stood at the entrance, a professional smile on her face.
Qi Xiao stepped out and arrived at the restaurant entrance.
The female waitress bowed.
“Hello, welcome to the Huo Huo Hot Pot Restaurant.”
“Hello, beautiful.”
“Sir, would you like to dine?”
Qi Xiao smiled:
“Of course.”
He followed the waitress into the restaurant.
The restaurant had wooden tables and chairs, and lanterns hung from the wooden beams, giving it a rather classical decor.
Qi Xiao found a random seat against the wall and sat down.
“What’s included in your Huo Huo set meal, and how much does it cost?”
“Hello, sir. This set meal includes complimentary dipping sauces, one mandarin duck hot pot base, twelve kinds of meat dishes such as thinly sliced beef, lamb rolls, tripe, yellow throat, and shrimp paste, and twelve kinds of vegetarian dishes such as frozen tofu, fried bean curd rolls, enoki mushrooms, spinach, and vermicelli.”
“Sir is a new customer to our restaurant, and your first order enjoys a half-price discount, only one Train coin.”
Good, good, good, one set meal includes all the possible pitfalls, truly amazing.
Qi Xiao nodded.
“I’ll have this one.”
“Okay, sir, please wait a moment, your dishes will be served shortly.”
While waiting for the dishes, Qi Xiao got up to get dipping sauces from the condiment area.
It must be said that the condiment area had a very complete selection of sauces.
There were even some he had never seen before.
【Rule Three: When taking dipping sauces, one bowl cannot contain more than five kinds of sauces.】
Qi Xiao filled a bowl with beef sauce and added some chopped celery.
“Oh, young man, you look new, first time here, right? You absolutely must try our restaurant’s secret honey sauce!”
A man wearing a mask and holding a wooden bucket approached Qi Xiao.
“Huo Huo’s special flavor! You can’t find it anywhere else.”
Qi Xiao glanced at the sauce in the bucket.
Chopped chili, cilantro, celery, minced garlic, dried shrimp, balsamic vinegar, beef sauce—a quick glance showed more than five kinds of sauces.
“Come, come, let me scoop a spoon for you!”
The fourth brother’s eyes gleamed as he scooped up a spoonful of sauce, about to pour it into Qi Xiao’s bowl.