Starting with the flesh-based stimulant

Zhou He did not speak again.

Quietly watching Ga Gouwa eat.

The kid ate with gusto, ignoring the conversation, and just kept his head down, eating bite after bite until his mouth was greasy.

The others had no idea what he was thinking. Jiang Qi gave Yao Yao a wink, and Yao Yao shook her head almost imperceptibly.

Jiang Qi's face lit up with joy, and he whispered to his slightly taller underling, Chen Hai:

"See? Yao Yao and I are on the same wavelength. She understands what I mean with just a glance."

"I don't understand. Shaking your head means you should shut up and wait to hear what your senior has to say."

Yao Yao's voice was cold as she looked at Zhou He.

Zhou He adjusted his hat, exhaled a breath of stale air, and asked in a very slow voice:

"So, are all the people in this city just flesh and blood?"

He glanced at Ga Gouwa and only then did he understand why the boy had said in the car that those who ate meat were not human.

Yao Yao frowned, seemingly lost in thought, and after a long pause, she finally spoke:

"Of course not. There are some people in this city who are people of status."

Jiang Qi hurriedly added:

"It means that people with a profession, not just the thirty-six legitimate professions, but anyone who has a status in any of the three hundred and sixty professions, cannot be treated as meat."

Zhou He's hand, which was pressing on the hat, trembled slightly, as if he wanted to pinch the tiger's mouth (the area between the thumb and index finger).

He wasn't as naive as Jiang Qi.

The rule that "if you have a profession, you're not a meat seller" is completely unreasonable.

As long as meat-eaters are willing, regardless of their profession, they will all be meat.

The reason we don't eat these people is simply because meat-eaters still need them.

I am meat, Ga Gouwa is meat, and these students in front of me might also be meat for others.

Moreover, the other party's explanation of their identity seemed to differ from what the peddler had previously revealed.

Who is telling the truth?

His thoughts became clearer and clearer.

No, it's not clear; that feeling of being shrouded in fog from before is still there.

There was just one thought, incredibly domineering, unwavering, as if it were engraved in my mind.

"If you don't want to become meat, you must become more familiar with the rules and possess greater power."

Just like the peddler, Old Man Taochuan wanted to catch him, and might even want to kill him.

But no one can treat him like meat!

Because he is powerful, and also cunning and treacherous enough.

"Senior, you..."

Seeing that Zhou He remained silent for a long time, Yao Yao asked anxiously.

Zhou He shook his head, pressed his hat down, and said, slowly and deliberately:

"I can carry the meat for you, but I need to go to the mine."

"Once you leave, you won't be able to come back in," Jiang Qi interjected.

Yao Yao spoke:

"Shouldn't your senior have his own way?"

Zhou He shook his head and said:

What price are you offering?

Yao Yao gritted her teeth and spoke:

"200...250 yuan."

Zhou searched his memory and realized that the old hunchback could earn 70-80 yuan for carrying meat on his back once.

This price quote likely takes into account the current market conditions.

After agreeing on the price with the group and setting the date for the transaction the next day, Zhou He left Jincheng University with Ga Gouwa, who had already eaten and drunk his fill.

After turning a corner, Ga Gouwa suddenly spoke:

"Sir, are they meat-eaters too?"

Zhou He nodded, then shook his head:

"Not really."

Yao Yao and the others, after all, wouldn't actually eat meat.

A thoughtful look appeared in Ga Gouwa's eyes as he spoke:

"Then why did you help them carry the meat?"

"Because I'm a meat carrier."

"But they also said that none of the other meat carriers are in the city anymore."

Zhou He glanced at the boy beside him without making a sound.

Does he know about the meat carriers?

Ga Gouwa, unaware of Zhou He's thoughts, hesitated before speaking:

"Sir, if you're going to the mines outside the city..."

"Um?"

Ga Gouwa looked at Zhou He, as if he had made up his mind, and said:

"I know a small path that leads out of the city and into the city, and there are no guards."

Is that really such a coincidence?

Zhou He frowned once again.

The guide I randomly picked, a thief who looked to be about ten years old, happened to know the shortcut out of the city?

He vaguely realized something.

But the next moment, the fog in his mind churned, and he couldn't grasp the thought from just now.

Shaking his head, Zhou He stopped a tricycle parked next to him and took Ga Gouwa back to Yongqiang Guesthouse.

In the basement of the guesthouse, the incandescent light flickered intermittently. The owner, Yongqiang, hid behind the counter, listening to the radio with his eyes half-closed.

Someone was singing opera on the radio; the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

"He sits in a high-ranking official position, wearing an official hat, but little does he know that I have broken fingers and a hoarse throat."

The injustice is deep, the hatred is boundless.

I am a woman from Shangzhu, kneeling below the hall, to recount the root of this injustice in detail.

We grew up together, sharing the same father but different mothers, and were known as the twin sisters who ruled the household.

She had the face of a saint but the heart of a tiger; the sisters became mortal enemies.

Qin Niangzi's voice.

Zhou's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

I couldn't resist pinching my brow with my thumb and middle finger and gently massaging it.

"Uncle Yongqiang, we're back!"

Little Gouwa scurried behind the counter and called out to the boss.

The boss slowly opened his eyes, patted his head, and laughed:

"Having fun?"

"No, we went to Kincheng University. This gentleman is really impressive."

"Don't tell me that just because someone hired you to show them the way and paid you, you should keep your mouth shut."

Yongqiang spoke meaningfully, then slowly sat up and said:

"Boss Zhou, shall I get you a different room?"

Zhou's mind became increasingly muddled, and he couldn't help but pinch himself with his fingernails to barely clear his head.

Why?

"There are some friends from the countryside staying in your room, and they want to stay together... How about I get you a double room?"

Zhou He wanted to ask something more, but the key was already pushed in front of him:

"I won't charge you extra money."

After saying that, Yongqiang hid behind the counter again, as if he didn't want Zhou He to see him.

Zhou He shook his head, picked up the key, and followed Ga Gouwa into the new room.

The room wasn't big; it had two beds and a washbasin.

He was dressed and lying on the bed at the back, with some newspapers piled up on the bedside table.

Some of them he saw yesterday, and some he saw today.

There wasn't much to see in the newspapers, except for the deputy director's visit to Jincheng University and some other trivial matters.

The only unusual thing was that there was a newspaper with portraits and names of missing persons on two sides, and what looked like some kind of business information on the other two sides.

However, the items being bought and sold are somewhat strange.

For example, this:

"I have an old man on hand."

"We need a mother vehicle, either two-wheeled or four-wheeled."

There is no contact information attached.

After scanning his surroundings, Zhou He finally couldn't stand the feeling of being shrouded in thick fog in his head, so he collapsed onto the pillow and closed his eyes.

......

"Aze, set the table and light the lamp."

Outside Jincheng, the brothers Bao Ze and Bao Kuan returned to the same grove they had visited before.

No, now there's just an empty lot.

"Brother Kuan, it's only been a day, your skin hasn't even healed yet."

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up, we have to tell the old man right away that the wild donkey has entered Jincheng."