She Liked Choosing for Herself
Upon arriving at Nanhua Street, Lao Xia directly stopped near the place where the "vampire patient" had been arrested after her "attempted kidnapping," based on the scene that appeared in her dream.
Xiang Kun got out of the car and began to stroll leisurely along the roadside.
Lao Xia also turned off the car and waited by the side.
She knew that because of differences in sensory and cognitive abilities, Xiang Kun's way of observing was different from that of ordinary people, and also different from hers, so there was no point in her following Xiang Kun.
However, she was also recalling the "vampire patient's" dream from her own perspective while comparing it with the real scenery on the street, looking for an angle to approach the story.
For Xiang Kun, if the "Mutated Parasite" was still nearby, it would be easy for him to find it, whether it was hiding somewhere or parasitizing humans or other animals.
However, it is clear that the chances of that "Mutated Parasite" still being nearby are almost zero, given that nearly a year has passed.
Xiang Kun came here partly to try his luck, and partly to observe the situation firsthand and see if he could find any clues to help him investigate further.
It's past midnight now, but there are still quite a few pedestrians in this area. There are two food stalls nearby, as well as some noodle shops and barbecue stalls, which are still open. Occasionally, you can see people who have finished eating and are a little drunk walking by with their arms around each other.
Kidnapping someone in such a bustling place—that "vampire patient" certainly doesn't have the talent to be a "criminal."
Xiang Kun noticed a flower shop diagonally across the street. It was still brightly lit, filled with flowers inside and out, and had many employees busily going in and out.
It's normal for food stalls, barbecue stands, and late-night snack shops to stay open past midnight, so why are flower shops open this late too?
However, Xiang Kun immediately understood the reason. He remembered that it was past midnight, and today was February 14th, Valentine's Day, which is also the day when flower shops make the most money every year.
At times like these, it's quite normal for florists to work through the night preparing various bouquets and making all sorts of arrangements.
After observing the location of the flower shop, Xiang Kun thought for a moment, then called out to Lao Xia, who was leaning against the Camry in the distance, resting her chin on her hand and deep in thought, and beckoned her over.
A moment later, Xiang Kun led Lao Xia into the flower shop.
"Handsome, buying flowers for your girlfriend?" A middle-aged woman who looked like the owner greeted him from behind the cashier. "These on the right have already been ordered, and these on the left are in stock. We have more flowers, which will be delivered tomorrow morning. You can scan the QR code on the wall, follow our official WeChat account, and order directly there. We'll send someone to deliver them to you at the appointed time..."
As they were talking, the proprietress noticed the tall, ponytail-wearing beauty who had been hidden from Xiang Kun's view by his broad frame. She was taken aback and smiled, praising, "Handsome, did you bring your girlfriend to buy flowers? And you arrived just in time? How thoughtful!"
Xiang Kun smiled shyly and scratched his head, "My girlfriend is quite opinionated; she likes to pick out everything herself."
Although Xiang Kun hadn't discussed it with her before coming, Xia Libing Xiang Kun very well why he was at the flower shop. Upon hearing this, she understood his meaning, so she "seriously" put down what she was doing and stood up to talk to one of the female shop assistants about the flowers. She also mentioned that she wanted to buy flowers for both sets of parents and wanted to look at other products like "preserved flowers," giving Xiang Kun plenty of time to chat.
"Boss lady, you guys are really working hard. It's so late and you're still busy. I guess you'll be working all night?" Because most of the space in the shop was occupied by flower boxes and bouquets, and any space was also given to Lao Xia and the shop assistants who were choosing flowers, Xiang Kun stood by the cashier and chatted casually with the boss lady.
"It's Valentine's Day, so of course we're a bit busier. Today's the most profitable day of the year. Look, I even called my two nieces, who are still in middle school, to come and help out," the proprietress said with a smile, pointing to the two little girls sitting by the door.
As soon as Xiang Kun entered the store, he used various information to determine that the proprietress was someone he could talk to. At that time, the five young women were busy with the store's affairs, so there was room for casual conversation.
"It's quite lively here at night. What time do you usually close your shop?"
"We usually close around nine o'clock, but sometimes we might close as early as eight. It depends on whether we have anything urgent to do, like weddings or grand openings, where we need to prepare the products overnight."
"If we open late, there will be a lot of drunks passing by, right? Will some of them cause trouble or something?"
"That's rare. On the contrary, quite a few people come here after drinking to buy flowers to confess their feelings to girls, which brings us a lot of extra sales," the proprietress said with a smile.
Xiang Kun nodded in agreement. "That's true, the public security in our Citong has been quite good in recent years."
He struck up a conversation with the proprietress mainly to find out if anything strange or unusual had happened in the vicinity, or if any residents or businesses exhibited any unusual behavior.
For the "Mutated Parasite" to leave this place, it will most likely have to go through a host or intermediate host, and it will probably parasitize the nearby residents first.
Of course, the chances of getting any useful information from the question are slim; it was just a spur-of-the-moment idea, a trial run.
Just as he was about to change the subject and probe from another angle, a girl making flower boxes not far from the counter looked up and said, "Sister Ning, have you forgotten? Last year, someone was kidnapped on the street right here!"
The proprietress seemed to remember something and nodded repeatedly. "Oh, right, right, right, about what happened last year, it's funny to think about, no, it should be quite a serious matter, it shouldn't be funny... but it really is funny."
"Oh? What happened? Kidnapping in the street?" Xiang Kun asked with a mixture of curiosity and surprise.
"Yeah, right across the street, outside the Agricultural Bank, a few people in a van came and kidnapped a man. But the funny thing is, three or four of them tried for ages, probably five or six minutes, and still couldn't get him into the van. The guy was screaming so hard, everyone on the street could hear him. Oh, and I even recorded a video, and I was the one who called the police." The girl who had spoken earlier chimed in, clearly bored after working so late.
Xiang Kun, naturally eager to satisfy the young girl's desire to express herself, immediately asked with a surprised expression, "So arrogant? Aren't they cracking down on organized crime right now? How dare someone do this?"
"It's not some criminal organization. I heard later that it's just a few mentally ill people," the proprietress said with a smile, then said to the young girl, "Xiao Ma, show that video you took to the handsome guy."
The young girl was naturally happy to have this opportunity to openly slack off. She immediately got up, took out her phone, found the video she had taken earlier, and played it for Xiang Kun.
"It was around this time that day too. Because the next day was 'Women's Day,' we had a lot of customers ordering products and needed to prepare them overnight, so we stayed open. If it were any other day, we probably wouldn't have seen this," the young woman explained enthusiastically.
Xiang Kun knew that the "Goddess Day" she mentioned referred to International Women's Day on March 8th. Judging from the date, it coincided with the time when Alice found the "vampire patient" was arrested, so it seemed that it was indeed that case.
Judging from the angle from which the video was filmed, it was clearly taken in front of a flower shop, but the footage was actually taken in front of an Agricultural Bank of China branch diagonally opposite the flower shop.
A van can be seen parked on the side of the road, and three young men are dragging a man who looks like he's had a lot of alcohol into the van.
You can also vaguely see that there is someone in the passenger seat of the van who hasn't gotten out. Judging from the outline, it's a woman, who should be the "vampire patient".
The three young men were clearly doing this for the first time as well. They were a little nervous and flustered, and the drunkard was struggling so fiercely that they couldn't subdue him for a long time.
The drunkard shouted in a hoarse dialect, "Bang~gà~lou! (Kidnapping!), tǎi~lang~la!!! (Murder!), giu~lang~o! (Help!)!! Pa yao yao ling ah (Call 110!)!!!--"
Judging from the volume, it definitely startled the whole street; not only the people in the flower shop, but also the surrounding residents were probably awakened.
The drunk man was harassed for several minutes before being barely shoved into the van. The van hadn't gone far, just across from the flower shop, when it was stopped by a police car.
It makes sense, considering the young girl told Xiang Kun that she had already called the police before filming the video. And clearly, with such a commotion, it's unlikely that only one or two people called the police; probably others in the vicinity did so even earlier. The failed kidnapping attempt by the "vampire patient" and his group, resulting in their arrest on the street, is hardly surprising.
However, from a certain perspective, perhaps the "vampire patient's" incompetent "kidnapping" attempt actually saved her life.