"Anyone?" The Fatty pressed his eye to the crack in the door and peered inside. With the doors and windows shut tight, the room was rather dark, and he could make out only a few vague shapes. "Manager Qian sure ran off fast."
They had come up empty-handed and were just about to leave when someone came hurrying up behind them. A rag was draped over his shoulder, and he carried a cloth sack. Without even glancing at Jiang Cheng and the Fatty, he raised his hand and knocked on the antique shop's door.
The knocking boomed against the door, but there was still no sound from inside. The Fatty kindly told him, "Hey, don't bother knocking. Manager Qian isn't here."
"Not here?" The man, dressed like a shop assistant, scratched his greasy hair and blinked in confusion. "That can't be right. I just saw Manager Qian. He ordered a big batch of food from my boss and asked us to bring it over once it was ready. How... how did he vanish in the blink of an eye?"
"Food?"
"Yeah." The shop assistant opened the sack without a second thought to show Jiang Cheng and the Fatty. It was packed full of food: steamed buns, baked flatbread, and a large piece of sticky rice cake wrapped in a lotus leaf. It was far too much for an ordinary meal, and there were no dishes, just staple foods. Jiang Cheng figured Manager Qian had packed it for the road. He was planning to flee and leave Luo'an City.
With that in mind, Jiang Cheng smiled and gestured for the shop assistant to leave the food with him. "Manager Qian stepped out for a bit. I came to see him too. Leave it with me, and I'll pass it on when