Infinite Cosmic Cafeteria Chapter 92: Doorbell

Translator: StellarNovels Editor: StellarNovels

After leaving the hotpot restaurant, Old Wang thought Ma Lu would head straight home, but to his surprise, he rode just about 20 meters before stopping at a roadside stall.

The stall owner, an auntie, initially thought another tricycle had arrived to compete for business, looking ready for a fight. However, Ma Lu simply said, “I’ll have some stir-fried rice noodles!”

Only then did the auntie relax. “With meat or without? With meat is 12 yuan, without is 8 yuan.”

“With meat, and add an extra 5 yuan worth of meat,” Ma Lu said as he took out his phone to scan the payment code.

Rarely encountering such a generous customer, especially a fellow street vendor, the auntie couldn’t help but chat a bit more. “Young man, are you guys wrapping up or just starting your shift?”

“Wrapping up.”

“So early? You must have done well today.”

“Not bad, made over twenty thousand.”

The auntie laughed at his response. “My old man, even after two jins of Erguotou, wouldn’t dare boast like you! You’ll definitely find a wife someday.”

“Hahaha, thanks for the good wishes.”

As they chatted, the auntie kept her hands busy, skillfully tossing various ingredients into the wok. Not only did she add the extra 5 yuan worth of meat, but she also threw in an extra egg for free.

While squatting by the roadside, enjoying his deluxe stir-fried rice noodles, Ma Lu saw Ms. Chen and Mr. Zhou driving away in their white GLC. Ms. Chen glanced at Ma Lu and Old Wang on the roadside but just sneered and drove off without greeting them.

Boss Zhang, on the other hand, had an appointment with a friend for a foot massage and was the first to leave.

Ma Lu slowly finished his generously portioned rice noodles, returned to his tricycle, and Old Wang, who was in the front seat, opened his eyes.

“Time to go?”

“No, I want to take another look.”

“At what?”

“To see if I can find the real owner of this shop,” Ma Lu said as he looked around. Without a napkin, he grabbed an oily paper bag used for a roujiamo and wiped his mouth.

“What do you mean? Wasn’t the owner of that shop the couple we just met?” Old Wang asked, puzzled.

“That’s what I thought at first, too. But don’t you find it odd? There’s a tenant living above the hotpot shop.

“There are three residential complexes nearby; you can easily find a whole bunch of rental listings with a quick search. But instead of renting a cheaper, quieter apartment, the tenant chooses to live in a more expensive, noisier mixed-use building with commercial rates.

“And when I suggested evicting the upstairs tenant and renting the second floor to Boss Zhang, who’s willing to pay more to turn it into a card and chess room, both Ms. Chen and Mr. Zhou, despite being sharp business people, hesitated and didn’t agree immediately.”

“Maybe the lease on the upper floor hasn’t expired yet,” Old Wang suggested.

Ma Lu shook his head. “That couple doesn’t seem like the type to strictly honor contracts. The previous hotpot restaurant was doing fine, but when the lease expired, they didn’t renew it. The story about their family having issues was just Ms. Chen’s excuse; no one knows what really happened.”

Ma Lu then pointed to the surrounding streets.

“These street-facing mixed-use buildings have cheaper upper floors, but they’re hard to rent out because most people are lazy, and to them, climbing stairs is as daunting as scaling Mount Everest.

“Not to mention, this is a low-traffic area, and many second floors are used by shop owners as their own residences, saving on commute time and getting better rest.

“Besides, since you’re not from this universe, you might not know, but many cities have something called a ‘second landlord’ profession.”

Ma Lu shrugged. “Of course, this is all just my speculation, but we can wait for the tenant on the second floor to come back and verify.”

However, they waited until almost 9 PM, and the windows on the second floor remained dark, showing no signs of occupancy.

“Could it be that they’re out traveling or maybe a corporate slave working at a big company?”

Ma Lu yawned, feeling a wave of drowsiness wash over him.

He had been out collecting ingredients since yesterday afternoon and had run into a beast tide on the other side, keeping him busy for over ten hours. After returning, he barely rested before heading to the werewolf’s hardware store for a quick look, then setting up his stall near Civil Aviation University until nightfall, and finally rushing to check out the shop.

It was about time to rest.

“Why don’t we come back tomorrow morning?” Old Wang suggested.

“Sure.” Ma Lu was also feeling exhausted, but before leaving, he had a sudden inspiration and decided to go upstairs and knock on the door.

This was Ma Lu’s style; even if the chances seemed slim, he would give it a shot as long as it didn’t cost him anything.

But then came the question: how to get upstairs?

From the massage clinic next door, the first floor had a staircase leading to the second floor, but Ma Lu hadn’t seen any stairs when he checked out the hotpot restaurant earlier.

They had likely been removed, adding a few more square meters to the ground floor, which could then fetch a higher rent, but whoever lived upstairs would still have to come down at some point.

Given that there were shops on both sides of the hotpot restaurant, there was only one possibility left.

“Let’s go, head to the complex,” Ma Lu said to Old Wang.

They followed an elderly couple walking their dog, smoothly passing through the complex gate, and looped around to the back of the hotpot restaurant, where they indeed found a back door.

Ma Lu knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside. Looking up from here, the second-floor window was also dark.

Could it really be unoccupied?

Ma Lu was a bit disappointed and was about to leave when a thought struck him.

Wait, this iron door is on the first floor, but the person upstairs lives on the second floor, so they probably wouldn’t hear an ordinary knock.

How do they receive packages or get deliveries then?

Ma Lu switched on his phone’s flashlight and scanned the area. Finally, he spotted a small, inconspicuous black doorbell at the bottom right corner of the iron door.

“...”

Who in the world would install a doorbell in such a ridiculous spot?!

Ma Lu pressed it twice, but after waiting for half a minute, no one came down.

He pressed it twice more, then looked up, and out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to catch a fleeting glimpse of something moving behind the window. However, when he looked again, there was nothing.

Ma Lu wasn’t sure if he was seeing things, so he turned to Old Wang.

“Did you see that just now?”

“I did.” Old Wang nodded confidently.

“What did you see?”

“I’ll send the recording to you directly.”

After saying that, a thin metal wire extended stealthily from under Old Wang’s tactical jacket and plugged into Ma Lu’s wristband.

Once the transfer was complete, a 2.4-second video appeared in the Traveler's Bracelet.

Ma Lu didn’t rush to watch the video but instead exclaimed in surprise.

“Wow, you’ve got a built-in camera?”

“Yes, my eyes can function as high-definition cameras.”

“So we won’t need a dashcam for the tricycle anymore.”

Ma Lu joked, but his smile quickly faded.

“Wait, does that mean you’ve recorded me walking around in my boxers at home too?”

“I routinely delete irrelevant data like that.”

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