CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 48: MY NAME IS LI WEI, AND I WANT TO FILE A REPORT!

My name is Li Wei.

Born under the red flag and grown up in the sunshine, today I intend to do something big.

A new guy selling buns at the community entrance has such delicious buns that they leave you wanting more after one serving.

I suspect there’s something wrong.

The police uncle always educates us to stay away from gambling, drugs, and something else, which I forgot but it’s not important anyway.

The police uncle said the main characteristic of drugs is addiction. Always wanting to eat buns day and night, isn’t that addiction?

These buns definitely have some issues!

At 5:30 in the morning, Li Wei suddenly opened his eyes.

Before sleeping yesterday, he hypnotized himself to wake up at 5:30, and it worked perfectly.

Li Wei got up, put on his clothes, and with the demeanor of a warrior going on a journey never to return, he walked out the door, leaving Feng Haoyu, who was sleeping on the other bed, surprised.

Seeing the time is just half past five, what is he doing up so early?

Perplexed, Feng Haoyu watched as the door that had just closed swung open again, and Li Wei, shivering like a cold chick, came back in.

Feng Haoyu looked more closely and realized that Li Wei had just gone out in a sweatshirt without wearing a down jacket.

"What are you doing?"

"Don’t bother, go back to sleep."

Shivering slightly as he finished speaking, Li Wei went out the door again.

When he left the community, he saw Wang Fan was already there, which immediately lit up Li Wei’s eyes.

"I have to act naturally, he absolutely can’t notice anything odd."

Thinking this, Li Wei slowly walked over to Wang Fan’s stall.

"Boss, what are the fillings in the buns today?"

Wang Fan explained: "The mushroom beef buns are still three for ten yuan. Zucchini egg with wood ear bun and minced meat tofu vermicelli bun are five for ten yuan."

"Yeah, give me ten yuan worth of each."

Wang Fan gave Li Wei a somewhat puzzled look.

He sort of remembers this guy, seemed a bit jumpy and neurotic before, why is he acting so unusual today?

But he didn’t really care, they weren’t close or anything, not his place to ask.

He quickly packed the buns and handed them to Li Wei.

Li Wei paid, took out a bun, pretended to wipe it against his mouth as if he was about to eat it, put thirty yuan in the money box, and turned around to leave.

"I’m sure I looked very cool just now, and acted totally normal."

Even Li Wei couldn’t help but praise his composure in the face of danger.

He jostled the buns in his hand and chuckled.

These are to be saved for testing!

As he thought about it, he headed to the bus stop, took the bus straight to the police station.

Wang Fan didn’t pay much attention to Li Wei, he didn’t have the time anyway.

Though he returned late, laborers who leave early had already surrounded his bun stall at the moment.

The fellow at the front of the line said approvingly to Wang Fan: "Boss, what you said last night makes sense, even though I came back late, I leave early, like today, I’m able to have your buns!"

"Let’s not talk about it, the more we do, damn it, brings tears!"

"Exactly, it’s all darn tears, I’ve spent my half life waking up early, staying up late, during school to pass college exams, after graduation to earn a pittance while being up early and staying up late again."

"Oh? The guys up ahead are from the Four Provinces of Shanhua?"

"I’m from Lu Dong Province, you too?"

"Of course, I’m from Nanhe, scored over 500 points for a college exam, just ask who else?"

"You two are off-topic, now we’re talking about boss’s buns."

"Oh right, right, ten yuan for beef, ten yuan for zucchini with wood ear and egg."

"I’ll take ten yuan’s worth of zucchini with wood ear and egg, and ten yuan’s worth of minced meat tofu vermicelli."

"Today, I’ll splurge, bring me nine mushroom beef buns! I must have meat today!"

"Hey, I’m dieting, I can only eat some vegetarian. Boss, bring me twenty yuan’s worth of minced meat tofu vermicelli buns."

Wang Fan lifted his head, took a good look at the fellow weighing over 200 pounds, kindly reminded him: "Seriously, if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s better to eat the zucchini with wood ear and egg buns, even mushroom beef buns are fine. If we’re talking calories, of the three types of buns, the minced meat tofu vermicelli buns have the highest."

The fellow was stunned: "That’s true?"

Wang Fan nodded: "Beef barely adds much meat, my buns don’t mix in pork, plus the vermicelli, I’ve deep-fried them once, they’re calorie bombs."

His recipe even lists the calories and precautions, so he can say things accurately.

The fellow took the advice, immediately changed to six mushroom beef buns.

Xu Youyou usually leaves for work at 8 in the morning, but for a bite of buns, she forced herself to get out from under the covers at 6.

In the icy weather, clutching hot buns and chomping down offers a unique enjoyment.

She ordered three mushroom beef buns, mixed ten yuan of the two other types, placed them in a plastic bag, picked one up without looking and stuffed it into her mouth, like opening a blind box.

She bit into the bun, with a burst of rich meat aroma, Xu Youyou thought she was eating the beef buns, but upon closer tasting, there was no beef flavor.

Another bite led to silky tofu blocks and soft vermicelli, with thick meat juice absorbed by the tofu and vermicelli, giving them a meat-rich aroma, real meat bits seemed subordinate compared to them.

She remembered her mom also liked adding vermicelli to buns or dumplings, but for some reason, her mom’s buns or dumplings were either too oily or too dry, yet the boss’s buns were neither oily nor dry, just perfectly seasoned, making them irresistibly delicious.

She picked up another, munching while walking.

This time it’s the zucchini, wood ear, and egg bun.

After steaming, zucchini seemed even softer than eggplant, the whole bun emitted a fresh vegetable aroma.

Adding wood ear made the texture notably fun.

The chewy texture of the wood ear was simply addictive.

While walking and eating, Xu Youyou finished all the buns she bought before entering the building.

She snuck back into the covers, the hot water bag kept the warmth from dropping much, she took off her clothes and dove in, well-fed and satisfied Xu Youyou took a nap, entering dreamland once more.

To hell with going to work, I’m taking a personal day today!

...

Li Wei calculated everything yet made one mistake.

That mistake was that generally, police stations open at 8:30.

For reporting cases, the police work 24/7, but for his kind of direct visit, he needs to wait until 8:30.

Looking at the watch showing 7:30, Li Wei was almost in tears.

No reason other than it’s too cold.

Sitting at the police station entrance, Li Wei hugged his legs, curling up into a ball for warmth, a chilly breeze blew, sweeping the snowflakes around, some sneaking into his collar nearly killed him.

Just as Li Wei felt almost done for, a sound, heavenly to his ears, rang out.

"Comrade, what are you doing squatting here?"

Li Wei was on the verge of crying, with a sob-like tone, he said: "I... I’m here to report a case..."