April 23, overcast.
By the time Qi Si woke up, it was already noon. There were only two hours left until the agreed time to enter the Instance.
He lounged in bed for a while, washed his face, took the elevator downstairs, left the residential complex through the back entrance, and entered the bustling streets and alleys.
After the morning market dispersed, two rows of permanent shops remained. At this hour, every restaurant was busily preparing lunch.
Qi Si entered the breakfast shop he frequented—though at this time of day, it should perhaps have been called a lunch shop—but did not see the familiar proprietress.
Inside the smoke-filled shop, a young couple had set up a simple grill at the counter near the entrance, sweating profusely as they grilled skewers.
Seeing Qi Si look over, the husband raised a meat skewer of unknown origin and asked, "Hey, bro, want some skewers? Three for ten yuan, five for fifteen."
Qi Si had no interest in barbecue. After standing there for a moment, he said, "I remember this place used to sell egg-filled pancakes."
The husband froze for a moment, but the wife beside him smiled. "You mean Sister Wang's egg-filled pancakes? Sister Wang went back to her hometown for a while. She transferred the shop to us for these two weeks."
Coming back to his senses, the husband added, "No idea when she'll return. She said that if she can't make it back, she'll keep renting the place to us."
Qi Si nodded to show that he understood.
He suddenly remembered that the last time he had come here, it had also been an overcast day. The proprietress seemed to have mentioned that she would be returning to her hometown in a few days to attend a friend's funeral.
She was