Shen Qingran entered Donglaishun wearing a blue work uniform, her hair cut into a No. 5 style.
The moment she stepped inside, a wave of heat rushed straight at her face.
Thanks to her recent cultivation in the spatial realm, Shen Qingran immediately noticed the two people sitting near the corner.
They were two middle-aged men—one with buck teeth, the other sporting an eight-shaped mustache.
The two were speaking in low voices, glancing around from time to time, their eyes darting about with a distinctly shifty look.
Without making a sound, Shen Qingran directly sat down behind them.
Donglaishun now had booth-style seating with backrests.
So even though a backrest separated them, Shen Qingran could clearly hear every word they said.
“Hey, let me tell you—did you know? There’s been a hit order going around the underworld lately!”
“Oh? Really?” The man with the eight-shaped mustache leaned in, clearly intrigued.
The buck-toothed man lowered his voice mysteriously.
“I heard Brother Du has issued a kill order to find someone!”
“This person supposedly killed Brother Du’s foster mother—an irreconcilable blood feud!”
When Shen Qingran heard the surname “Du,” she was slightly startled.
Mentioning someone surnamed Du reminded her of the news she had seen in her previous life, back when she had already become a ghost.
If it really was that person, then Shen Qingran actually knew who they were!
It was just that, according to the news back then, even after turning the city upside down, they still hadn’t managed to find that person.
If she could befriend this figure now, it might prove useful in the future.
The man with the eight-shaped mustache continued,
“Ah, too bad our brothers don’t have any leads!”
“Otherwise, if we could follow Brother Du—and Brother Gao and Brother Fang too—we definitely wouldn’t go wrong!”
“When the time comes, we’d be living the good life, eating and drinking without worry!”
“What a pity. People like us—without a pledge of loyalty, they wouldn’t even take us in.”
The two continued to sigh there.
They talked about how righteous Brother Du was, how formidable Brother Gao was, and how clever Brother Fang was.
“Back then, someone really pissed off Brother Du,” one of them said.
“The other side relied on having more people!”
“They even thought Brother Du was some insignificant short guy!”
“Who would’ve thought Brother Du is one meter eighty tall, and nearly two hundred jin in weight!”
The two spoke vividly, embellishing Brother Du’s exploits.
“Hello, your sliced lamb is here!”
The server smiled brightly at Shen Qingran.
Shen Qingran nodded. Once the copper pot was set up and the water came to a boil, she immediately started eating hotpot.
She ordered two plates of lamb and also some noodles.
The prices at this time were truly touching—two yuan per plate of lamb, twenty cents per lamb skewer.
Most importantly, there was no frozen meat!
This was genuine, fresh lamb!
And it really had to be said—Donglaishun’s hotpot lamb was excellent.
The slices were cut paper-thin, and the quality of the meat was indeed superb.
Fresh, fragrant lamb dipped in chive flower sauce, paired with the scalding hot broth and sweet, crisp sugar-pickled garlic—it was simply divine!
Shen Qingran felt deeply emotional. In her previous life, when she was finally sent down to the countryside, there were many times when she couldn’t eat her fill or keep herself warm.
Those days were truly worse than death.
Being alive was wonderful!
As Shen Qingran ate to her heart’s content, the two men behind her finally noticed the beauty sitting in front of them.
They exchanged a glance—both old hands—and instantly understood each other.
At this moment, Shen Qingran naturally had no idea what those two were thinking.
As she ate the lamb, she began to feel hotter and hotter.
She directly took off her outer jacket, revealing the white blouse underneath.
Her curves were full and well-defined, rising and falling like mountain peaks!
The two men took advantage of going out to get condiments, sneaking several extra glances at Shen Qingran.
While eating, Shen Qingran quietly observed her surroundings.
She had just been thinking about how she should go about finding this so-called big boss.
After all, in places like this, if you weren’t an insider or didn’t know someone on the inside, finding them would be nothing short of a fantasy.
Not to mention someone who would later shake the entire capital.
Now it seemed the opportunity had delivered itself right to her doorstep.
Shen Qingran knew that although this person’s future would be full of twists and turns, he was still someone she could make use of for now.
Forming connections early, before someone rises to prominence, was always different.
In this world, there were plenty of people who added icing on the cake, but those who offered help in times of need truly showed real sentiment.
Lost in thought, Shen Qingran cast a sidelong glance at the two men behind her.
Sure enough, they were practically drooling from the corners of their eyes.
What disgusting behavior.
Still, Shen Qingran wasn’t afraid.
After cultivating in the space, she felt that with her current level, dealing with ordinary petty thieves wouldn’t be a problem.
Even so, she didn’t dare to be careless. Using the excuse of going to the restroom, she took out a few items from her space.
Everything was prepared.
“Waiter, check please!”
“Hello, your total comes to five yuan.”
Shen Qingran sighed inwardly—food in this era was delicious and reasonably priced.
After paying, she casually walked out.
It was already past three in the afternoon.
This was the hottest time of day in the capital.
As she walked, Shen Qingran lightly kicked the pebbles by the roadside.
“Soda!”
“Cold soda!”
An elderly woman dressed in white, wearing a white cap, was supporting a bicycle and calling out by the roadside.
It really was hot at this hour.
“How much?”
“Twenty cents!”
“Miss, it’s ice-cold—really refreshing!”
The old lady lifted the white basket in front of her, revealing Beibingyang sodas packed in ice.
“One bottle, please.”
After paying, Shen Qingran drank under the sunlight.
The taste was truly wonderful.
Back then, food didn’t have so many additives. Compared to later generations, things were simpler, with far fewer preservatives.
The sweet orange flavor, mixed with bubbles, rushed straight into her mouth.
So refreshing!
“Burp!”
Shen Qingran let out a satisfied burp.
Very comfortable.
The two men kept following Shen Qingran from the shade.
In their minds, as long as they kept tailing her, they would eventually get their chance.
A fat sheep like this couldn’t be allowed to escape easily.
They were thinking this way—and Shen Qingran was thinking the same.
Afraid the two would run off, Shen Qingran spent the entire afternoon leading them around like dogs.
She neither walked too fast nor too slow, always maintaining a distance of about ten meters from them.
Just like that, the sky quickly darkened.
Shen Qingran looked at the sky and knew the timing was just right.
Once it was dark, making a move would be much less noticeable.
Walking and walking, she finally entered an alley.
Paoju Alley.
“Hey, this girl finally stopped!”
“Yeah, this is it. Let’s take her down right here!”
“Damn, it’s been so long since I’ve had a taste!”
The two men secretly rubbed their hands together, watching as Shen Qingran turned into the alley ahead.
“Hey, hurry up, catch her!”
“Move it—don’t let her get away!”
Just as the two turned the corner, they froze in shock.