"Snake plague?" A question mark slowly bubbled up in my head, not quite grasping what the uncle was getting at.

The uncle had made it halfway out when he turned back, "Eh, your restaurant hasn't had any snake disturbances?"

"Nope, if there were snakes, everyone here would've been scared to death." I scratched my head.

The uncle strode in, took a seat at a table.

He went straight to ordering three bowls of porridge and a whole table's worth of dim sum.

Serving him all by myself left my arms sore, "Uncle, can you really finish all this?"

"Do you know how many snakes I saw this morning when I went out for breakfast? Of course, I need to eat extra to calm my nerves." The uncle patted his chest, still shaken, and started wolfing down the food.

As the uncle was finishing up, he took out his phone and sent a voice message to a WeChat group, "Anyone who hasn't had breakfast, come to Chen's Restaurant, there are no snakes here."

No sooner had he spoken than I felt a twinge of foreboding.

I sent a voice message to Xiao Li, telling her to get out of bed quickly and stop being lazy.

Within ten minutes, a good number of customers had arrived at the restaurant.

"Holy shit, why are there so many people today?" Xiao Li hurried down before she even had time to comb her hair, her hair looking like a bird's nest.

Hands and feet all over the place, I said, "I've heard there's a snake plague in the other shops on this street."

Xiao Li jumped into the fray with me, meanwhile trying to gather some information.

A little while later.

She had a clear picture of the situation, "The little diner next door was surrounded by a ton of snakes last night."

"The one that made snake soup for that group of drunk customers?" I asked.

Xiao Li nodded, delivering a basket of steamed buns to a customer's table, "Lucky for us you and the boss had some principles last night and didn't agree to their request, otherwise we'd be the unlucky ones."

"But why did the other shops also have a snake plague?" I couldn't help but ask further.

A customer at the table, keen to join the chat, said, "It crawled in from that diner, of course. Someone caught on their phone last night several thousand snakes surrounding your neighboring diner, it was really scary!"

He was added to the community's WeChat group where photos related to the snake plague were going viral.

He found the photos and showed them to me and Xiao Li.

Looking at them turned us pale, scalp tingling behind.

This scene was all too familiar to me.

Every day back at home my doorstep was similarly surrounded by a swarm of snakes, it was really scary.

I pursed my lips, knowing this was probably retaliation from the Snake Immortal.

Xiao Li whispered to me, "I almost pissed myself, these can't be Photoshopped, right?"

"How could they be Photoshopped, my wife saw it with her own eyes when she passed by on her way home from the night shift last night." The customer, who seemed insulted by Xiao Li's suggestion, stiffened in the face and, with a curious and hoarse voice, asked, "Eh? Your place is so close to that diner, how come you don't have snakes here?"

"It's definitely the effect of the talisman my shop's famous for," said Chen Decheng, as he returned from restocking, radiating pride.

He had no concerns and was in high spirits these last few days.

Soon, word got out that my little diner could repel snakes with a talisman.

Neighboring residents and shop owners came seeking talismans.

Once Chen Decheng had blown his own trumpet, there was no taking it back. He scratched his head and asked me, "Can your boyfriend come over?"

"Definitely not, he's already gone back to school." While I was refusing, a lightbulb went off at the sight of a business opportunity, "But I can make Peace pouches. They can fight off snakes, fifty each."

I went upstairs and spent half an hour making a few.

A few shopkeepers bought them, albeit skeptically.

Soon after, more and more people came to the store to buy Peace pouches.

I was so busy that I almost regretted setting the price so low.

Amidst the chaos, Chen Shufen chuckled, "Tsk, I feel like making Peace pouches is more profitable than running a restaurant."

"Chen Decheng, come out here and give me my daughter's life back," a voice outside roared in outrage, "If you don't come out, believe it or not, I'll burn your place down."

My heart tightened and I turned to Chen Shufen, "Sounds like they're here for the boss."

"The boss is such a good man, how could he hurt someone's daughter? Must be a mistake, right?" Xiao Li pondered, stroking her chin.

Chen Shufen's smile had already frozen, and she said seriously, "I'll go take a look."

Worried Chen Shufen might be disadvantaged, I said, "I'll go with you."

Xiao Li spoke up, "Me too."