Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 618 A Snail Restaurant
……

The place where Professor Cao invited Sun Hang to dinner was neither one of those high-end hotels in Chunming City where a single table could easily cost tens of thousands of yuan, nor one of those famous restaurants that claimed to be centuries old. Instead, it was a small, unnamed hole-in-the-wall restaurant located in an alley in the old town of Chunming City.

It took Sun Hang quite a while to find this shop. It wasn't until two minutes before the appointed time that he finally found the iron door, which was sandwiched between the barbershop and the funeral wreath shop and was extremely sticky with grease and smoke.

“No. 57 Liuming Lane…this should be it.” Sun Hang looked at the barbershop with the number 56 and the wreath shop with the number 58 next to him, and then glanced at the unknown small workshop across the street. Only then did he confirm that the rusty and oily iron gate in front of him was indeed No. 57 Liuming Lane that Professor Cao had mentioned.

As soon as Sun Hang pushed open the door, a whiff of smoke wafted out from the crack—behind the iron gate was a small courtyard with several folding tables as sticky as the gate itself. In the semi-open kitchen, shirtless chefs were tossing huge iron woks, and the crackling sounds of the woks popping and popping were incessant.

Professor Cao sat at a table near the base of the wall, squinting and smacking his lips. He held a small glass in his hand. On the table were two plates of freshly stir-fried snacks and a bottle of cheap liquor that was already a third full.

“This wok hei (wok aroma) is pretty good.” Sun Hang sat down opposite him. “It’s much better than those restaurants that sell a pre-made steamed bun for twenty-one yuan.”

"Do you even need to tell me?" Professor Cao glanced at Sun Hang, picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. He chewed and said, "Back when I was an intern at Tian Shu Tower, Lao Pei often brought me here to improve my diet... Back then, the canteen in Tian Shu Tower didn't have so many different dishes. Eating those so-called healthy meals every day was really boring. I knew that heavy oil and salt were unhealthy, but it was really satisfying to eat them."

"Old Pei... Pei Zongjun ate here with you?"

"Yes, that saying is almost sixty years old now," Professor Cao said with emotion. "It's just a pity that not long after I became a full-fledged employee, Lao Pei's health began to deteriorate day by day, and after that he rarely appeared in public."

Before he finished speaking, the owner brought over two more plates of freshly cooked dishes.

The marbled pork slices glistened with tempting oil, while the garlic shoots nestled among them released a spicy aroma. Just looking at them was enough to make your salivary glands start producing saliva like crazy.

"How is Nur, the one I brought back?"

"Aside from being curious about everything he sees, he's quite cooperative with the research team." Professor Cao took another small sip of his drink. "Those lunatics even plan to find him a few women to test whether there's reproductive isolation between the desert survivors and normal humans, and how the latent memes in his body manifest in his offspring..."

"If human rights organizations find out about this, they'll probably launch a barrage of criticism, right?" Sun Hang asked half-jokingly.

"What's so surprising? There are hardly any research projects in the Tian Shu Tower that won't be criticized by those people... But that's just how it is. When a monster emerges from the crowd, you can't expect those guys who are busy typing on their keyboards to pick up their keyboards and kill the monster, can you?" Professor Cao shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.

"Hehe." Sun Hang chuckled dryly twice.

"Won't you have a drink?" Professor Cao picked up the bottle and shook it. "Or do you think this wine is too low-class?"

“I don’t like drinking baijiu (Chinese liquor),” Sun Hang shook his head.

"What would you like to drink? These snacks are a bit too oily and salty to eat on their own."

"Coke, please." "Sure." Professor Cao waved to the restaurant owner, and soon two bottles of Coke were brought over.

The Coca-Cola sold at this restaurant is in glass bottles. With a gentle pry of the bottle opener, the liquid level inside, mixed with foam, quickly rises to the bottle opening.

"I thought this kind of packaged soda had been discontinued long ago." Sun Hang picked up the bottle and took a swig.

“Old people like me who love nostalgia love these things that are as old as me.” Professor Cao took another sip of wine. “The space left for old people in big cities is getting smaller and smaller. I don’t know when they will disappear silently, as if they never existed.”

Professor Cao glanced at the bustling kitchen and continued, "This restaurant has been passed down for three generations. When Old Pei brought me here, the owner was still wearing diapers and playing in the mud. Now he's almost a great-grandfather."

"I'm a little curious, what exactly did you ask me to come here for? It can't just be for a meal and to reminisce, can it?" Sun Hang asked.

"You're too impatient... But for young people, impatience isn't necessarily a bad thing." Professor Cao glanced at Sun Hang, then went back to drinking and eating.

Just as Sun Hang was considering whether to use his mind-reading ability on the old man, the other party suddenly asked in a casual tone, "Old Pei is no longer here, is he?"

"Hmm?" Sun Hang was slightly taken aback. The other party casually uttered explosive news that could shake the entire Federation's top leadership, but judging from his tone, it seemed as if he was just asking if the twice-cooked pork at Sun Hang's restaurant was cooked enough.

"Don't play dumb with me here. I know Old Pei too well." Professor Cao took another sip of wine. "The mainframe projection right now is a soulless, lifeless thing. It's not him at all."

"When did you know that?"

"Don't worry, I haven't told anyone. I know what's important." Professor Cao poured himself another glass of wine. "So, it seems you're Old Pei's chosen successor?"

"I guess so," Sun Hang nodded.

“Since it was Lao Pei who made the choice, I have no objection.” Professor Cao placed an empty wine glass in front of Sun Hang and poured him a small half glass of cheap liquor. “I believe he won’t misjudge people… not to mention he has the main brain as his advisor.”

Just as Sun Hang was thinking about whether he should have a drink with the other person since the emotions had been built up to this point, Professor Cao suddenly rolled his eyes at Sun Hang and said in a low voice, "This is not for you to drink... Old Pei used to like drinking this wine, but the medical team strictly forbids him from consuming alcohol. He can only secretly drink a little when he brings me here, and each time he can only drink a small half cup, just this small half cup."

Professor Cao picked up his wine glass, then slowly poured it onto the ground, muttering, "Old man, I'll toast you... Damn it, even when you're dead you still have to hide it, you've had it tough."

Sun Hang didn't say anything, but instead imitated Professor Cao, picked up the half-glass of wine, and poured it on the ground.

"Alright, the old folks will all die eventually, and the future belongs to you young people. You shouldn't waste too much time mourning the dead... Now that we've finished talking about personal matters, let's get down to business."

(End of this chapter)