32: Chapter 30: Prison (6) Specious Arguments 32: Chapter 30: Prison (6) Specious Arguments Hao Hu hung his head and, despite harboring resentment, he endured it silently and quietly found another chair to sit on.
“Admiral Lu, now that the issue is resolved, why don’t we sit down and talk?” Shen Du clasped his hands on the snake-headed cane, squeezing out an awkward smile as the sagging wrinkles on his face slightly lifted.
Mo Yan and the others dragged their chairs to the table and sat down.
Chu Mengyao occasionally cast a pitiful look at Su Mo, prompting Su Mo to roll her eyes frequently; she really wanted to stuff all the Biluochun Tea from her System Bag into this woman’s mouth.
A group of people quietly waited around a table of ruined food for the person at the head of the table to speak.
“Clear it away and let Su Niang bring up a new batch,” Shen Du ordered, tapping the table with his cane, his expression displeased.
Li Qian, upon receiving the order, went out to summon help.
Soon, a group of ordinary people with sallow complexions and lethargic expressions wearing tattered clothes entered from outside.
They hung their heads as they cleared the items from the table, their eyes emitting a faint green glow.
Shen Du said, “I never expected, Admiral Lu, that one day I would meet you again.”
He touched his empty left pant leg, his expression unreadable.
“Just passing by,” Lu Chen said coldly.
Old Shen Du tightened his grip on the snake handle and said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “In that case, I’ll get straight to the point.
The supermarket batch, is it with you, Admiral?
Our brothers are all counting on that for food.”
Hao Hu and a few other burly men nodded immediately in agreement.
Jianxiong slapped the table and repeatedly said, “What nonsense is this, who spread it?
We have only a few bags; how could we fit all that!”
“Right, such valuable food stores, why didn’t you bring them back instead of leaving them in the supermarket?” Su Mo said, resting her chin on her hand as she leaned on the table, feigning confusion.
“This prison houses hundreds of people; the whole town’s living people have been taken care of by us,” Mo Yan said, pausing as he looked at Su Mo and then adding, “The prison’s generator is only enough to maintain our necessities.
There’s no place to store, and the weather is too hot to keep so much food.”
Several students nodded along, and Hao Hu and the other burly men immediately were displeased.
“It’s all because you students are acting above yourselves, insisting on bringing all the ordinary people back.”
“And now, look, the goods are gone!”
“They are lives after all,” Chu Mengyao said, her eyes brimming with tears as she twisted her clothes.
It was she who had originally suggested this to Mo Yan.
Just as both sides were about to come to blows, Shen Du pulled a gas gun from under his chair and opened fire on both parties.
Mo Yan hurriedly shielded Chu Mengyao, while the others were hit and staggered back several steps, instantly silencing.
“Next time, it won’t be a gas gun,” Shen Du said.
Old Shen Du scowled and threw the gun on the table, then leaned on his cane.
Upon hearing this, Li Qian approached him and whispered in his ear.
“Admiral Lu’s companion, may I take a look at her?” Old Shen Du’s gaze shifted slightly, locking onto Su Mo as he opened his hand wrapped in wrinkles towards her.
“Hmm?” Su Mo tilted her head, engrossed in the drama and puzzled as to why she was being dragged into it.
She looked towards Li Qian beside Old Shen Du, guessing internally that it must be something from the morning that caught his attention.
Lu Chen was about to speak, gripping her arm to keep her seated, but Su Mo spoke first, “Sure.”
She had to test it out.
She pried Lu Chen’s hand off, shook her head to reassure him with a confident look, and in a few steps, reached Old Shen Du, placing her hand in his wrinkled palm.
Jianxiong was nearly scared stiff by her bold move, his thighs shaking uncontrollably as he considered how to wrap things up if they were caught.
Zhao Xiwen stared intensely at their clasped hands, feeling strong disapproval inside.
Although she anticipated Su Mo’s bad end if the truth were to come out, she knew she would not fare much better.
Shen Du closed his eyes and summoned energy within his body.
After a moment, he frowned, opened his eyes, and saw the young woman smiling at him.
He turned his head to glance at Li Qian and released her hand.
Momo sat back down under the watchful eyes of everyone, and no one noticed her hands trembling under the table—she was excited!
Although she didn’t know what kind of superpower Old Shen Du had, it was a new discovery!
Her system could actually function as a shield!
Lu Chen watched her, his face carrying a look of ‘I will settle the score with you later,’ which made her reluctantly retract her smile and sit properly.
A loud slap broke the silence of the room, and Li Qian’s glasses flew off, leaving a bright red palm print on his face.
Old Shen Du shook his hand and sat down, leaning on his cane, “Admiral, it was a misunderstanding.”
The people below held their breath, with Hao Hu and others sitting without even lifting their heads, and the few students who attended the banquet with Mo Yan also dared not breathe.
Momo watched with schadenfreude as the palm print appeared on Li Qian’s face, inexplicably feeling thrilled.
“I was just saying, how could my sister do such a despicable thing,” Jianxiong’s thighs were almost trembling with fatigue, and he finally relaxed, folding his arms across his chest and tilting his head in an arrogant pose.
Momo unconsciously tilted her head towards Lu Chen, Jianxiong was scolding him just now, wasn’t he?
Sure enough, the man’s face was so dark it looked like it could drip ink.
The door opened, and a middle-aged woman in a decent shape wearing an apron walked in pushing a cart filled with fresh food.
Silently, she arranged the utensils in front of everyone and served the dishes.
As she passed by Momo, she locked her gaze on this busy figure, memorizing her appearance.
“Let’s eat first,” Old Shen Du picked up a spoon and scooped up some mashed potatoes in front of him, putting them into his mouth.
Only then did the people at the lower seats start to move their chopsticks.
Li Qian picked up his glasses, which had shattered into a spiderweb pattern, from the floor.
Beneath his long eyelashes, the depths of his eyes were a boundless black.
He put on his glasses, his face still bearing the palm print, and he smiled slightly as if nothing had happened, returning to his seat and starting to eat.
Momo, holding her bowl, watched as Lu Chen started eating, and then she too scooped up a spoonful of potato mash mixed with aromatic sauce into her mouth.
The mash melted instantly in her mouth, the taste was fragrant, sticky, and absolutely delicious!
After finishing her meal quietly, Momo decided in her heart that she must go and apprentice to learn the culinary art.
“Admiral, times have changed, since you’ve come to my humble temple, you must abide by my rules,”
Old Shen Du’s statement didn’t get much of a reaction from Lu Chen, who leisurely put down his bowl and coldly replied, “Fine.”
Seeing his easy agreement, a hint of suspicion flashed in Old Shen Du’s eyes, but he then relaxed and said, “Wait a moment, there’s a grand event coming up to welcome a few guests.”
Upon the mention of the event, Momo clearly noticed that the faces of Mo Yan’s group looked very bad, and Chu Mengyao’s face had turned pale, while the big men present were all excited.
After the meal, as the dishes were cleared away, Li Qian, with his spider-web-like glasses, helped Old Shen Du to lead the way out first.
They passed by the prison dormitory, and Mo Yan and others left first.
Before he left, he specifically came to Momo and worriedly said, “Come back with me, that doesn’t look good.”
Momo shook her head and shrank behind Lu Chen, smiling brightly, “It’s fine, you go ahead.”
Mo Yan’s hand extended towards her stopped mid-air, and Chu Mengyao stepped forward to embrace his arm, saying pitifully, “Since Momo is fine, let’s go.”
Momo and her group followed Old Shen Du to a large venting area they had passed during the day, which she had admired for being so well-transformed.
At night, searchlights swept over the large venting area where a huge space was cordoned off with barbed wire.