Chapter 77: Reanimated Corpse?
Seeing Shen Lu finish frying the rice and set down her spatula, a dissatisfied customer in line shouted, "Boss Shen, don’t tell me you’re slacking off again?!"
"Boss Shen, I waited in line just for your fried noodles!"
"I don’t care. You have to at least finish my order before you go."
Shen Lu said, "The new shop is about to open, and I still have a lot to get done. Please understand. How about this? For everyone who didn’t get to buy fried rice or noodles, I’ll give you a complimentary portion of cold-tossed radish skins. I’m truly sorry."
Placated by the offer, the crowd became more reasonable. Shen Lu gave Cai Su some instructions and then headed to a furniture store.
Since she was in a hurry, Shen Lu hailed a rickshaw. After giving the address, the driver huffed and puffed as he pulled her to the furniture store.
There weren’t many furniture stores in the Lower City District—only four or five in total. Shen Lu went to the largest one, Mu Furniture.
After browsing inside, Shen Lu picked out two beds, several cabinets, and a set of a sofa, a table, and chairs. All told, she spent over 40,000 Star Coins.
"It’s all made from the latest materials—warp-resistant, formaldehyde-free, sturdy, and durable, with a ten-year warranty!" the salesperson pitched enthusiastically. "We also have curtains, mattresses, and bedding available. Would you like to take a look?"
Shen Lu was quite satisfied with the store’s product quality and service. At the salesperson’s suggestion, she went to have a look and, with a grand wave of her hand, bought a good deal of miscellaneous soft furnishings as well.
"Just deliver everything to this address the day after tomorrow."
With so many items, Shen Lu naturally opted for home delivery. She left the address of the unfinished building and a delivery time, then rushed back to her stall.
’Money sure goes fast.’
’All I did was buy some basic furniture, and it already cost me nearly 60,000 Star Coins. That’s even more than I spent renovating my living room.’
’It’s a good thing I’m earning a decent amount now. Otherwise, there’s no way I could’ve spent this much on furniture.’
"Money is earned to be spent. It’s okay. It’s all for giving myself a decent place to live. It’s worth it."
After cooking up all her remaining ingredients, Shen Lu continued selling until 4 p.m. before finally closing up her stall.
Wang Daguo was late, as usual. Shen Lu didn’t mind and had Cai Su go pick up her child.
As the two of them walked back toward their rented rooms, Shen Lu said to Wang Daguo, "Oh, right. I’ve been so busy lately that I forgot to tell you. I’m opening a shop at the end of Gold Street."
Wang Daguo was stunned for a moment. "Huh? C-congratulations."
He knew this part-time job would end sooner or later, but he hadn’t expected Shen Lu to be opening her own shop in less than a month.
"So you won’t be running the stall anymore, right?"
"That’s right." Shen Lu studied Wang Daguo’s expression. "Thanks for all your hard work during this time, running back and forth every day."
"No, this job isn’t hard at all." Wang Daguo had mixed feelings. "Will all this equipment need to be moved to the shop? You can let me know ahead of time. I’ll help you move it."
Shen Lu didn’t stand on ceremony. "The day after tomorrow, actually."
Wang Daguo nodded. "I’ll clear my schedule for the afternoon, then."
After settling his pay for the day, Wang Daguo took the Star Coins and congratulated her again, this time with earnest. "Boss Shen, I’m sure your business will become more and more successful."
"I hope you’re right." Shen Lu smiled. "And my previous offer still stands. If you’re willing, I’d like to hire you as an employee."
’Once the shop opens, the volume of food will be much higher. I don’t know if Wang Daguo has any talent for cooking, but he should be fine with simple physical labor.’
’Besides, having a burly man in the shop would be good. He’d serve as a bit of a deterrent.’
This time, Wang Daguo didn’t refuse. He said with particular sincerity, "Boss Shen, can I think it over?"
"Alright, but don’t take too long."
’It’s not like I can hold the position for him forever. With the Good and Evil Judgment Device, it shouldn’t be too hard to find another satisfactory employee.’
Wang Daguo jogged all the way to the Eleventh District, where he and his colleague were collecting bodies that afternoon.
Seeing him return, his colleague urged him impatiently, "Wang Daguo, you’re finally back! Let’s get a move on, there are still four or five bodies to carry!"
"Coming." Wang Daguo quickly pulled on a raincoat and went over to carry a body.
One after the other, they went upstairs, not stopping until they reached the top floor.
His colleague led him through a door to the left of the stairwell. It was a two-bedroom apartment, and it was clear the family who lived here had been relatively well-off for the Lower City District.
The apartment was decorated quite cozily, but the scene within was incredibly gruesome.
An entire family of three lay on the floor. The wife’s thigh was in her husband’s hand. The child’s eye sockets were empty; one of the eyeballs was in the wife’s mouth. The child was tugging on the husband’s ear, having nearly ripped it clean off.
’Wang Daguo had been seeing scenes like this almost every day, but it was still a gut-wrenching sight every single time.’
’If the poorer, lower-class citizens were dying from eating toxic Insect Cakes, then how could he explain the family before him?’
After casually stuffing them into body bags, Wang Daguo and his colleague carried the family of three downstairs and loaded them into the bed of their truck.
His colleague leaned against the front of the truck, pulled a hand-rolled cigarette from his pocket, and lit it. "One more family to go. You get them."
"Yeah," Wang Daguo agreed. Since he had to leave for his side job every day, his colleague naturally picked up some of his slack. In return, he had to make up for it elsewhere.
The last body was in this building’s garbage pile. It was a homeless man.
Half the man’s body was draped over a piece of scrap metal. He must have been dead for a while; a pool of decomposition fluid had collected on the ground beneath him.
Fighting back his nausea, Wang Daguo approached, intending to put the man in a body bag. But before he could even touch him, the corpse suddenly moved. Its lolling head snapped up and it lunged, biting down hard.
’A reanimated corpse?!’
It was the first time Wang Daguo had ever encountered something like this, and he scrambled backward in terror.
The corpse was far more agile than he’d expected. Wang Daguo had only taken a single step back before its teeth sank deep into his arm.
An intense jolt of pain shot through him. Wang Daguo grabbed a nearby metal sheet from the ground and started smashing it against the corpse’s head.
Bits of rotting flesh flew everywhere, revealing the stark white bone of its skull.
The corpse’s skull was unnaturally hard. Wang Daguo had to smash it seven or eight times before a crack finally appeared, and a viscous black substance began to ooze out.
The corpse biting down on his left arm suddenly released its grip. Its entire body went limp, as if something had been sucked out of it, and collapsed to the ground.
The black substance that had emerged from the crack in the skull fully detached itself. It writhed and morphed, almost as if it were reproducing, swelling from the size of a fist to the same bulk as Wang Daguo in the blink of an eye.
Wang Daguo was petrified. He clutched the metal sheet, not daring to let go, holding his breath as he stared warily at the black mass.
’If I’m not mistaken,’ he thought, ’this must be the new mutant beast everyone’s been talking about.’
’But wait, aren’t mutant beasts supposed to be mutated animals? How could this thing have come out of a human corpse?’
The mutant beast seemed to be sentient. It glanced at Wang Daguo from where its eyes should have been, then rapidly squirmed into the depths of the alley, vanishing completely within seconds.
’It’s gone?’
Wang Daguo didn’t dare chase it to make sure. Instead, he backed away step by step toward the collection truck. Only when he was about a dozen paces from the vehicle did he finally turn and run for his life.