Realistic Longevity

Coming out of the self-service steak shop, Cheng Chuhua stood at the intersection and waited for the green light.He hooked the extra small pendant on the bracelet with his fingers, and adjusted the chain to a position where it would not affect his movements. When he looked up and saw the green light was on, he strode forward.

The Yunhai community where he lives is just across the road.

As soon as he walked to the entrance of the community, Cheng Chuhua received a call from the owner of Time Restaurant.

"Hey, Boss." Cheng Chuhua picked it up casually, and the indifference on his face suddenly changed into a smile, "Have you returned from your trip? How did you go?"

A man's hearty laughter came from the other end of the microphone: "Hahaha, if you ask this, you can't wait to come back to work, right? That's right, you should be tired of staying at home after taking such a long vacation."

Hearing this, Cheng Chuhua said solemnly: "No, no, the longer the paid vacation like this, the better. Boss, you continue to travel, eat and drink well, and don't rush back to open the shop."

"You have a good idea! Two months of paid leave is not enough for you to rest. Now go to the restaurant and it's about to open." The boss scolded with a smile, "I went to Jianghai City yesterday, and I brought you back a helper Don't worry, you won't be the only one busy up and down in the kitchen in the future."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Cheng Chuhua agreed with a smile, and ended the call after joking with the boss.

Time Restaurant reopened after being closed for two months. As the only chef in the restaurant, Cheng Chuhua couldn't go home, so he had to change his route and walk in another direction.

Time Restaurant is not far from the community, two streets away, just cross the intersection and walk a short distance.

The size of the restaurant is small, but it is a two-story single-family building. The first floor is the storefront, and the second floor is the residence of the boss and some employees.

Walking into the gate of the restaurant, the warm air from the air conditioner blows towards your face, gently blowing away the moisture and coolness Cheng Chuhua brought from the outside.There are soft carpets under the feet, and green plants and flowers such as pothos, succulents, and cosmos are placed on the beds on all sides, adding some bright colors to the simple decoration.

The log-colored tables and chairs are placed neatly, and the tableware and tea sets are cleaned and placed on the carefully wiped tabletops to ensure that guests can drink hot tea when they sit down and have tableware that can be used immediately.The sets of tables and chairs are separated by low beige fences, which are decorated with brightly colored fake flowers, creating a very comfortable and comfortable dining environment for diners who come to the store.

When Cheng Chuhua entered the store, the boss was leading the kitchen assistant he was looking for to familiarize himself with the surroundings. The two came down from the stairs, and happened to meet Cheng Chuhua who had just entered.

"Here we come." Seeing him, the boss quickly put on a smiling face, waved his hand at him, and patted the shoulders of the people around him, "Get to know him, this is the helper I found for you, my cousin Zhuo Yiran. Also, he is the chef in the shop, Cheng Chuhua."

"Hello." Zhuo Yiran nodded to Cheng Chuhua, and greeted him coldly and politely.

Cheng Chuhua smiled back.

The restaurant owner's surname is Bai, and his name is Bai Tan. He himself complained about it. I don't know what his parents thought about naming him this name. If his grandfather hadn't reserved a restaurant for him so that he could support his family, he would probably be really serious right now. The stall went.

Bai Tan has a bold personality and is generous in dealing with things. Because he owns a small single-family building in the urban area, he is considered semi-financially free, so he doesn't care much about the restaurant's business. Of course, the wages for the employees are not high, but There are holidays that are not available elsewhere, and the work pressure is very low, so the employees who are willing to stay basically will not leave.The reason why Cheng Chuhua chose to work in Time Restaurant was because of the relaxed and leisurely working environment here.

Some time ago, Bai Tan went on a trip for two months to avoid his parents’ urging marriage. During this period, the employees’ wages were paid as usual, but the basic salary was only in the early two thousand, but for the salted fish in the store, this was considered Had a great experience with paid time off.

Compared with Bai Tan's easy-going approach, his cousin Zhuo Yiran seemed very difficult to get along with. Cheng Chuhua looked at him coldly. This person's painting style was quite similar to Tang Ran, but Tang Ran was only superficially indifferent and didn't like to be with others. There is physical contact, but the heart is still gentle, which can be seen from the fact that he is worried about the fact that he, who only has a relationship with two sides, even gave him a talisman.

Zhuo Yiran is different, he is really indifferent, from the inside out, the coldness of true emotion.

The opening of Time Restaurant was as quiet as its closing, and only two customers came in half an hour, which was the same as before.

Cheng Chuhua hasn't cooked for two months, so he just took advantage of this leisure time to recover his hand.

He first prepared the cheap fast food dishes, and asked Zhuo Yiran to package them and put them on the shelf at the front desk for guests to take.After finishing [-] fast food meals, a customer came in to order food, and with Zhuo Yiran's assistance—preparing the ingredients—he quickly fried a few dishes out of the pan, put them in the window for picking up the food, and the waiter gave it to him. The guests serve it.

The efficiency of the back kitchen did not decrease because of the addition of an unfamiliar person, Zhuo Yiran was quick in his hands and feet, and he was quite proficient in handling the ingredients, and his cooperation with Cheng Chuhua was a tacit understanding.

Neither of them is a talkative person, and there is almost no communication when they are working. I don't know if it is because of this reason that he always feels panicked. Zhuo Yiran's silence made him feel an inexplicable flustered feeling for a long time, and This sense of unreasonable panic basically only appeared when he was in a fatal crisis.

Taking the washed vegetables from Zhuo Yiran, Cheng Chuhua looked at him from the side without any trace.He didn't show any abnormalities, his expression was cold, his movements were skillful, and he was at least two meters away from Cheng Chuhua.

Strangely, Cheng Chuhua's flustered feeling still existed, and it didn't go away because everything was normal.

Cheng Chuhua pretended to look away casually, as if he just glanced at Zhuo Yiran by accident.

At least for now, it seems that Zhuo Yiran has not shown any hostility towards him, and even stays far away from him, not intending to approach him at all.

Cheng Chuhua thought for a moment, and thought that his flustered feelings should not be because Zhuo Yiran wanted to hurt him, but more likely that Zhuo Yiran himself was a dangerous person, so he felt panic when he was alone with him.

So, Zhuo Yiran is actually a person so dangerous that even just approaching him will trigger his vigilance instinct?

Why doesn't it look like it?

When Cheng Chuhua was thinking, he habitually raised his hand to support his chin, put the thumb of his left hand on the set ring of his index finger, and twirled the ring with the original text of "Tao Te Ching" engraved on the outside.The cuffs slipped off, revealing the red string bracelet on the wrist, and the small peach blossom pendant fastened between two jade stones flickered slightly, flashing a touch of golden luster.

Zhuo Yiran's meat-cutting hand slipped suddenly, and the blade almost scratched the back of his hand. Before he could do anything, Cheng Chuhua was startled, and hurried forward to check.

He grabbed Zhuo Yiran's hand that was almost injured: "Zhuo Yiran, are you okay?"

"...It's okay." Zhuo Yiran looked up at him, then gently withdrew his hand, "Accidentally slipped my hand and missed the knife."

Cheng Chuhua breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, be careful next time, the knives in the kitchen are sharpened by the boss himself, they are very sharp."

Zhuo Yiran nodded; "I see, thank you."

After confirming that his hand was fine, Cheng Chuhua returned to his original position, just in time for the waiter to bring over the new order, and started cooking again.

After frying for a while, he suddenly realized that the flustered feeling just now was gone, and Zhuo Yiran's silence no longer made him feel creepy. Instead, the sound of the collision of kitchen utensils, the sound of rushing water and the occasional aggressive sound of cutting vegetables sounded more Take a breath of leisure.

That inexplicable sense of panic was indeed related to Zhuo Yiran.

Shaking his head, Cheng Chuhua no longer entangled in this matter, and devoted himself to the cooking business.

Resting and busying for most of the day until nine o'clock in the evening, the restaurant closed on time, and Cheng Chuhua was finally able to leave the kitchen and escape from the fumes.

Zhuo Yiran followed him out of the kitchen, saw that several waiters had left, and the boss was the only one keeping accounts at the front desk, so he walked towards him.

Cheng Chuhua glanced at the two of them, did not go over, greeted the boss and left the restaurant gate.The milk tea shop across the street closes at 09:30, and he might still be able to buy the signature milk sago there.

He doesn't like sweets and rarely drinks milk tea, but he is used to drinking a glass of pure milk every morning and evening.The milk sago at the milk tea shop opposite Time Restaurant uses pure milk, and the price is about the same as buying a box of pure milk alone. For the sake of frugality, he will use this milk sago instead of two cups a day as long as he is working. The cup of pure milk in the morning can even help him save his breakfast.

Watching Cheng Chuhua rush towards the opposite milk tea shop, the boss wrote down the last payment, without raising his head, he said: "Jianghai City is very uneasy recently, you should hurry up and find a chance to leave."

"En." Zhuo Yiran responded, "What's his situation?"

"I don't know." The boss opened the drawer and took out a bottle of Yanshan Baijiu, bit off the iron cap and took a big gulp, "I'm not a person with special abilities, anyway, I haven't shown any signs of having special abilities after working here for three years. But there is something strange about him, my special ability doesn't work on him, and I don't know if it's my problem or his problem."

"What do you mean it doesn't work?" Zhuo Yiran frowned slightly.

The boss took out another plate of peanut wine from the drawer that he didn't know when he hid it: "It's just that my ability is useless to him."

"Haven't you ever thought that maybe this is his special ability?" Zhuo Yiran's indifferent expression cracked, revealing a little helplessness from the gap.

The boss waved his hand and said indifferently: "Whether it is or not, anyway, he is my employee and I am his boss. He helps me with the work and I pay him. Our relationship is as simple as that."

Zhuo Yiran was silent for a moment: "I know you don't want to get involved in matters related to the metaphysical world, and leave here after I avoid the pursuit of those star seekers."

"Star seekers? Members of the Special Forces? How did you mess with those wolves?" The boss looked over strangely, "Those people are ruthless people who keep their eyes on their prey and won't let go. Why do you provoke them if you have nothing to do?"

"I don't want to provoke them either, but I really can't help it. I have something I have to do." Zhuo Yiran didn't say much, swiped his employee card on the time card machine, and clocked out, "I'm going back first."

The boss hesitated to speak, and finally said: "Well, be careful on the road."

When Zhuo Yiran left Time Restaurant, Cheng Chuhua also walked out of the milk tea shop with Simi Lu in the direction of Yunhai Community.

Walking on the road, he took out his mobile phone, placed an order for a bouquet of flowers on the "Quick Delivery" app, and the delivery date was set at noon tomorrow.

Jianghai City is lively during the day and bustling at night, especially in the urban area.

The streets are filled with pedestrians and traffic, and rows of street lamps interweave a vast ocean of light. Looking down from a height, the whole city is shrouded in a sea of ​​light, and thousands of houses are brightly lit.

Cheng Chuhua put away his mobile phone, walked through the crowd with sago dew, walked through the square with loud noises and parks full of people, saw the complexity of the world and the various states of the world, and deeply realized what is meant by "the joys and sorrows of human beings are not It's the same, I just think they are noisy."

He used to live in isolation for a long time, and he preferred quietness to excitement, so he was unable to integrate into the modern society for a long time.To this day, he still finds many things of this era noisy, complicated, and tiresome, although they are also quite useful at certain times.

Unable to yawn, Cheng Chuhua quickened his pace and crossed the intersection, walking into the neighborhood that was completely quiet after nightfall.

Yunhai Community is one of the older residential areas in the urban area. When Cheng Chuhua bought the house here with his savings, it was far from being as prosperous as it is now.Later, with the development of the city, the nearby wasteland was bought one by one for development. From office buildings to branches of large enterprises, and then to the construction of primary schools and middle schools, Yunhai Community has gradually changed from ordinary residential buildings to a hot school district. Housing prices have gone up.

Occasionally looking at the price of his own house, Cheng Chuhua would have the illusion that he had stepped into the circle of financial freedom, and he didn't even want to work, he just wanted to be paralyzed.If he is not very clear that he is a long-lived person, the house will depreciate sooner or later, and he has nothing but this house, he will really choose to sell the house and live his life leisurely and contentedly.

Due to the high housing prices and the housing in the school district, the residents here are basically renewed every six to 12 years. The quality is not high or not. Anyway, everything is for the sake of their children’s study, so there will never be square dances or parties in the community. The loudest time is when students commute to and from school, and the rest of the time is quiet.

Cheng Chuhua did not sell the house because other places did not have the benefits of Yunhai Community.

The inside of the community and the outside of the community can almost be called two worlds. The hustle and bustle outside and the lights that seem to never go out will stop at the gate of the community. Cheng Chuhua is walking on the cobblestone path, except for the sound of the wind, only the sound of his own footsteps can be heard .

A gust of cool wind blew by, bringing with it the humid coolness of the rainy season. He shivered, put down his rolled up sleeves, and brushed his fingers against the pendant under the bracelet, unexpectedly getting burned.

Wait, why is it hot?

Cheng Chuhua raised his right hand suspiciously. Through the dim street light, he could vaguely see that the small peach blossom pendant Tang Ran sent was covered with a layer of red gleam, which dyed the originally transparent gold into red gold, like a burning red The charcoal fire, you don't need to touch it, it's hot when you look at it.

Although Tang Ran said it was an amulet, he didn't tell him what the change of the amulet represented.

However, seeing the reaction of this amulet, there must be some dangerous existence dormant around... right?

Cheng Chuhua swallowed, and stopped at the same spot, wondering if he should continue walking.

If there was any real danger around, it wouldn't be safe for him to go home or not.

What else did Tang Ran say after giving him the amulet?

"Remember my number later, and call me if you need anything."

Yes, that's it!

Cheng Chuhua quickly took out his mobile phone, flipped through the address book, and pressed Tang Ran's number that he had just added today.

There were two "beeps" from the microphone, and as soon as it was connected, a puff of black smoke suddenly appeared on the screen of the mobile phone, and the cold shell quickly became hot.

Cheng Chuhua threw away the phone abruptly.

……

On the other side, Tang Ran was handing over tasks to the new colleagues sent by the top in the temporary stronghold of the special department, and discussing the future action plan by the way.

In the middle of speaking, his phone vibrated, and he frowned and took it out of his pocket to take a look. The name flashing on the screen made his eyebrows frowned even tighter.

Cheng Chuhua?How did he have my phone number? ...Oh, it seems I gave it to him myself.

Reluctantly remembering the scene of eating with Cheng Chuhua at noon, Tang Ran quickly slid to the answer button, but as soon as he picked it up, the line was disconnected.

not good!

Realizing that Cheng Chuhua was in danger almost instantly, Tang Ran stopped talking with his new colleague and told him, "You stay here, I'll go out for a while, and I'll be back soon."

The new colleague nodded without asking, "Okay, do you need my help?"

"Not for the time being. Didn't the call bell be sent to you? We'll use that link."

Tang Ran put on the thin windbreaker that hung on the back of the chair, and without waiting for the new colleague to answer, he used the amulet to directly lock Cheng Chuhua's position, stepped out in one step, passed through the void, and reached the place where the amulet was, that is, Cheng Chuhua's side.

As soon as he landed, he was staggered by the oncoming strong wind, and had to pause to resist the sudden impact.In the process of stabilizing his body, he felt an unusual force surging around him. He thought that the special ability he possessed had a high enough personality, but compared with this force, it was still slightly weaker. Falling behind.

Under the action of this force, the time within a radius of [-] meters gradually tended to chaos. Even Tang Ran, who had received strict training, was involuntarily affected, and reverse changes appeared in varying degrees from body to soul.

It's "back in time".

Needless to say, the owner of such a powerful ability must be the special ability user who just escaped from the branch today, that is, the target of his mission.

Tang Ran put his fingers together in the knot seal, and a ring of invisible fluctuations vibrated at his heart and solidified within two meters of his body, temporarily isolating the impact of "backward in time".

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he used "Catch the Wind and Shadow", one of the branches of "Wen Tao" ability, to try to find the location of the person with special ability.

"Catching Wind and Shadow" is the highest-ranking tracking ability, and it is also the one Tang Ran uses most proficiently among the many branches of "Wen Tao" ability. He has never failed in location tracking.

However, compared with "Retrospective Time", the personality of "Chasing Wind and Shadow" is still too low. Once it is used, it is like a drop of water falling into the sea, and it is completely suppressed by "Retrospective Time", and almost nothing can be detected.

No, it seems that I can still feel a little bit.

The source of the chaos cannot be located, but its end is clearly visible—

Tang Ran managed to stay awake under the impact of the turbulent flow of time, and looked up at the calm "Eye of the Storm" in the middle of the storm.Cheng Chuhua squatted there, holding his half-burned phone and showing an expression uglier than crying.