Xingtie: My silly online friend is actually a raccoon!

After the light of the boundary anchor disappeared before my eyes, the familiar hustle and bustle of Jinren Alley immediately surged up.

The phone vibrated in Xing's palm.

[Jin Xing's son-in-law: The dishes are all served, have you arrived yet?]

As Xing walked into the alley, she quickly typed a reply with her head down.

[Galaxy Baseball Man: Immediately!!]

After finishing typing, she looked up and waved her phone at March 7th and Danheng behind her: "Lu Ze said all the dishes are served and they're just waiting for us."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

On March 7th, he placed both hands directly on Xing's back, pushing her forward to accelerate.

"I didn't even eat a bite of the Pam pie Pam made this morning in order to eat this meal, and now my stomach is practically sticking to my back!"

Xing stumbled as she was pushed, nearly knocking over a wooden stand with a sugar painting stall on the roadside.

Dan Heng followed behind the two without saying a word, moving a bit faster than usual.

The three of them weaved through the crowds in Jinren Alley and soon arrived at their destination—Aunt Gao's snack stall.

Several familiar wooden tables, a few bamboo chairs, and a high stack of steamers and iron pots on the stove were exactly the same as Xing remembered.

But her gaze swept back and forth between the tables twice, and she still couldn't find the figure she was looking for.

"Strange? Where is Lu Ze?" Xing stood still, turned his head left and right, and checked each table again.

"Why don't you ask him?" March 7 nudged Xing's shoulder from behind.

Xing immediately took out her phone and her fingertips flew across the screen.

[Galaxy Baseball Man: Luze, where are you? I can't see you!]

Lu Ze's reply came in no time.

[Jin Xing's son-in-law: Right in front of the food stall, next to Aunt Gao.]

[Jin Xing's son-in-law: Pictures]

Click on the image.

The scene shows a wooden table covered with bowls and plates, several steaming dishes, and Lu Ze sitting at the table giving a thumbs-up to the camera.

The top left corner of the picture also captured half of Aunt Gao's profile. She was busy working on the stove with her head down, the spatula hanging in mid-air. The moment was slightly blurry.

Xing looked up at the composition in the picture and gazed at the empty wooden table in front of her.

There was nothing on the table, but the position of the stove next to it, the pillar behind it with faded Spring Festival couplets, and the ever-burning lamp hanging overhead all matched up perfectly, even the angle at which the lamp was tilted was exactly the same.

Xing placed her hand on the empty table, looked down at the picture, then looked up at the stove, then looked down at the picture again, then looked up at March 7th.

"Is this some kind of New Year's Eve celebration?"

On March 7th, someone came over to look at the picture, and Danheng also came up.

The two carefully examined their surroundings, comparing the pictures with the surrounding environment.

The pillar is correct, the lamp is correct, and even the iron pot on the stove matches Aunt Gao's profile in the upper left corner of the picture.

Lu Ze was the only one not there.

On March 7th, I looked up at the bustling crowd of diners around me. Everyone had steaming hot food in front of them, but the table in the picture was spotless, without even a teacup.

Dan Heng zoomed in on the picture several times, his gaze falling on Aunt Gao's profile, and remained silent for a moment.

"Let's ask Aunt Gao. If she's seen Lu Ze, she should remember him."

Xing nodded, took her phone, and walked to the counter of the food stall.

Aunt Gao was busy tossing the wok, the firelight reflecting off her face, which glowed red. Garlic sprouts and pork belly were sizzling and popping oil in the wok.

Xing held the phone screen up to her and asked bluntly, "Aunt Gao, have you seen this person before?"

Aunt Gao looked up and saw Xing's face, and immediately smiled.

"Yo~ Isn't this Lord Dragon Lord's friend? I recognize you, your name is Xing, right? I still remember that time you drank a sip of soda juice here and threw up for ages, haha!"

After saying that, he laughed out loud, and even the spatula in his hand trembled a couple of times.

Xing's lips twitched.

The soda soy milk incident is one of the few dark chapters in her career that she doesn't want to revisit, but now is not the time to dwell on it.

"That's right, that's right, I'm Xing. Do you know him?" She pointed her finger at Lu Ze in the picture.

Aunt Gao leaned closer to the screen, placed the spatula on the edge of the stove, and squinted as she examined it carefully for a while.

"Hmm...you know what, it looks pretty familiar."

"Have you seen him before?" Xing's eyes lit up.

"I can't remember."

Aunt Gao shook her head, then lowered her head to continue stir-frying the vegetables, scooping up the spatula again and flipping the pork belly over.

Xing didn't give up. She moved her phone closer and tapped the blurry profile in the upper left corner of the picture with her fingertip.

"Is this you?"

Aunt Gao looked down at the screen again.

She looked at that profile, and the spatula slowly stopped in mid-air.

The stove crackled and popped, and oil sizzled in the pan, but she didn't stir it.

"This is me. I was very thin back then." Aunt Gao's voice suddenly became melancholy.

"Hmm... back then... back then... oh, I remember now, I've seen this person before." She finally nodded, her tone certain.

"Really? Where is he now?" Xing asked hurriedly, leaning forward slightly.

"I don't know about that."

Aunt Gao picked up the spatula again, stirred the food in the pot, and her tone returned to its previous crispness.

"After all, that happened thirty years ago."

What?!