False evidence

Chapter 43 Bamboo Forest Manor
The woman had her back to the door, so I couldn't see her face, but her near-perfect body proportions still made me take a second look.

"What to eat?"

A hoarse voice suddenly asked.

Turning my head, I was startled.

The person asking the question was an old man who looked to be around fifty or sixty years old. Although he was slightly hunched over, he was still half a head taller than me.

What frightened me was his face.

His facial features were distorted, with black circles, white patches, and red patches. One-third of the corner of one eye was stuck together, and the temple on the side of that eye was dented in a fist-sized area!

This doesn't even look like a human face; it's more terrifying than a ghost.

The old man seemed to realize he had startled someone, and quickly took two steps back, saying somewhat embarrassedly:
"I just wanted to ask you what you'd like to eat."

As he spoke, he raised the menu in his hand.

Seeing his embarrassed look, I felt a little apologetic.

This old man is certainly not a ghost; he has just suffered severe trauma, perhaps from being burned, which has led to his terrifying appearance.

"We...we're here for the first time, let's take a look around first."

Meng Chao was in a similar situation to me. He swallowed hard and took the menu.

I lost interest in looking at pretty girls, so I found a table near the window and sat down.

Meng Chao nudged me with his elbow and gestured to the side with his lip.

That's when I realized that Gu Haitao was still staring at the beautiful woman's back.

I initially thought he was just insatiable with lust, but I soon discovered that wasn't the case.

In short, the way a man looks at a beautiful woman is definitely not like this now.

I felt even more strongly that something was wrong with him.

Even that old man with disfigured skin, Meng Chao, who is quite brave, was still quite frightened.

Gu Haitao didn't react at all, as if he hadn't seen the old man at all.

"Hey, what do you want to eat?" I patted him on the shoulder.

He swayed slightly, turned his head, and looked somewhat dazed.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked again.

He then realized what was going on: "Order whatever you like, I'll cover all the expenses."

Meng Chao and I exchanged a glance and both frowned.

"Since we're here, we might as well make the best of it." Meng Chao grunted, ordered a few local specialties, and a pound of homemade liquor from the mountains.

Gu Haitao fiddled with his phone for a while, then surprisingly looked up at the woman again.

I thought to myself: You really are here to find a girlfriend, but it seems like it's not the same one you had before.

Thinking this to himself, he subconsciously glanced at the woman.

"hiss……"

When I saw that woman again, my hair stood on end.

The woman was still facing the window, her back to me, her upper body ramrod straight, as if she were drinking alone. However, just as I looked at her, her upper body... her entire body didn't move, but her head suddenly turned around.

I could see it clearly; her neck had turned at least 180 degrees, and her head and back were completely reversed!

What's most horrifying is her face.

If it were just a case of someone who looks terrible from behind, even if they were as ugly as a disfigured old man, I wouldn't be this scared.

The crucial point is, that's not a human face at all!
Pointed mouth and nose, face covered in downy hair...

This isn't a human; it's clearly a fox's face... or perhaps the face of some kind of rodent.

"Hey, I said, are you two ever going to stop?" Meng Chao shoved me.

When I came to my senses and looked more closely, I could only see that the beautiful woman was still in the same position, with only her cascading hair facing this way.

I shook my head inwardly: I must be seeing things.

The same old man served the food and drinks. I tried chatting with him for a bit and learned that he was a relative of the same family. People in the neighborhood called him Lao Fu, Uncle Fu, or Uncle Fu.

This place is actually a farmhouse inn, mainly catering to group bookings because it's relatively remote.

There are no dedicated waitresses in the shop; when things get busy, a few female relatives from the family come to help.

Normally, when there are no group business, Uncle Fu is the only one who serves as the dining room staff.

The meal was full of local flavor, and Meng Chao and I both enjoyed it immensely.

Gu Haitao was distracted the whole time. He stopped looking at the beautiful woman, but kept glancing around as if he was looking for someone.

Meng Chao wanted to ask him several times, but I stopped him each time.

After returning to his room after dinner, Meng Chao began complaining as soon as he entered:
“I really can’t stand Gu Haitao. He said he asked us to help him find a girlfriend, but now that we’re here, he doesn’t mention it at all. Do you think he just used this as an excuse to invite you here? If that’s the case, it’s understandable. At least he knows how to be grateful, and he’s a decent guy.”

I shook my head: "If he doesn't mention it, we won't ask. We're already here, let's just treat it as a chance to relax. We're not the same kind of people, we really can't get along. I'll find a way to return the three thousand when I get back, and we'll just have less contact with him in the future."

Meng Chao plopped down on the bed, slapping his thigh and sighing, "I thought he'd 'make arrangements' for us, but now look what's happened! We're sharing a room! That's definitely not going to work out! He's got a room all to himself. Seriously, do you think he'll find something to do himself? If you ask me, he's probably already flirting with that pretty girl from earlier."

"I'm not exaggerating, I saw it myself. That woman can really drink. We only drank about a pound, but she drank at least a pound and a half by herself. Most women can't hold their liquor like that. And how can a young woman drive such an expensive car? Either she has a powerful father, or she has connections."

"Ha, do you think someone who drives a car like that would be interested in Gu Haitao?"

"Hey, that's where your stupidity comes in." Meng Chao said with a beaming smile, "I just mentioned two possibilities, but there's actually a third one. That is—that beautiful woman is a 'businesswoman'!"
People these days are incredibly quick-witted. This place may be a bit out of the way, but these days many wealthy people enjoy a return to simplicity, and they might just come here every now and then to experience rural life.

"That woman... I didn't see her face, but let's talk about her figure... At twenty-one, honestly, she's supermodel level, right? If she had even a 50% chance of being attractive, she could definitely get clients. She could hook up with a rich, lonely old man, and in just one night, he'd earn more than you make in a year at a Sichuan restaurant!"

"That's going too far."

I glared at him, stood up and stretched my arms. "Are you sleepy? If not, go for a walk."

"What's there to be sleepy about? Let's go!" Meng Chao said, trying to stand up.

But as soon as he got up, his head suddenly tilted to the side, and then he fell straight back onto the bed.

I chuckled. "You've gotten yourself into trouble, haven't you?"

I saw it clearly and heard it perfectly.

It was as if he had been slapped hard across the face and thrown onto the bed.

Even worse, his head hit the headboard with a loud bang, and it was quite a hard hit.

(End of this chapter)