113: Chapter 53 Scrambled Eggs with Tomato (Extra 1000 words!) 113: Chapter 53 Scrambled Eggs with Tomato (Extra 1000 words!) “Eek~~~,” Lin Yi touched his goosebumped arm.
Thinking of the cafeteria where the green-aproned Pocket Chef looked at him fiercely, and the blue-aproned Pocket Chef who sneakily switched milk with tomatoes, he decided not to think about the Cafeteria Auntie for now.
No, he decided he didn’t want to think about anything anymore.
After leaving Under the Sun, all he wanted to be was a lazy fish.
But he had come to know some things and felt that even if he wanted to be a lazy fish, there would be some indescribable external factors that would turn him over when he least expected it.
Like the mysterious disappearance of the cafeteria just now.
Under the Sun, walking on the street without sea breeze or mist, and then…
unexpectedly, the cafeteria was no longer in sight?
He shook his head, burying the thought deep into his heart, then entered the Student Passage with Wei Liang.
Before entering, he looked up at the sign of the passage.
After confirming it was the “Student Passage,” he felt somewhat relieved and proceeded to walk in.
The moment he stepped into the Student Passage, Lin Yi’s hair slightly bristled — a strange discomfort seemed to have been born from nowhere and descended upon him.
This was his second time entering the Student Passage, and he didn’t feel this way last time.
His muscles tensed a bit, and under the incandescent light of the Student Passage, he focused his eyes on the exit ahead while closely following Wei Liang’s pace.
This time, he distinctly had a different feeling from when he came at noon.
When that strange sensation fell upon him, even the supposedly safe incandescent lights in the passage couldn’t provide him enough sense of security.
His hearing seemed to sharpen; he could hear his own slightly rushed breathing, the footsteps tapping on the passage steps, and…
a certain crackling noise, like frost spreading across the walls…
His pupils dilated slightly; his scalp tingled faintly.
He tried his best not to make any assumptions and began to shift his focus from auditory to visual.
The sound of the spreading frost gradually faded, but from the corner of his eye, he spotted some faint white traces on the walls, as though wisps of white mist were seeping out from the crevices.
“Damn…”
He shuddered and sped out of the Student Passage.
Wei Liang was startled by his speed, “What’s wrong, Old Lin?”
“I’m hungry,” Lin Yi threw out a natural excuse.
He ran faster and soon reached the exit of the Student Passage.
But at that moment, he noticed a figure standing at the exit of the Student Passage.
It was a cafeteria employee wearing a white chef’s uniform and cap, with a blue apron, arms crossed in front of his lower abdomen, body slightly leaning forward, similar to a hotel greeter.
“Blue-aproned chef?”
Lin Yi was slightly perplexed, but immediately a question popped into his mind — the cafeteria rules state that cafeteria staff should not appear in the Student Cafeteria, yet there was still some distance between the end of the passage and the entrance of the Student Cafeteria.
What should he do now that a blue-aproned chef has appeared?
“Ignore.”
When in doubt, choose to ignore.
He quickened his pace and dashed out of the Student Passage.
“Too fast, too fast!
Old Lin, you’re bursting with energy after swimming for an hour, right?” Wei Liang cursed and followed, “Can’t you consider a hot guy who did 40 minutes of gymnastics with a hunk?”
“Liangzi, hurry up, the sun is setting.
Time to eat!” Lin Yi turned at the end of the passage, hoping to make Wei Liang disregard the presence of the blue-aproned chef.
Meanwhile, he glanced at the Student Passage.
The incandescent light in the Student Passage remained bright, emitting a soft yellow light that seemed thoroughly reassuring.
There were no traces of frost spreading on the walls.
“Damn!!” Lin Yi’s heart skipped a beat, “Phantom hearing!
Phantom vision!”
He realized he had once again experienced that fantastical delusion that could not be ordinarily explained; whenever he focused a portion of his attention on his hearing or vision, he might fall into some sort of crisis he had faced before.
Either, like the path leading to the gym, where he blinked and found himself on a nonexistent path;
Or, like just now, unknowingly the “coordinates” of the cafeteria were lost, plunging into a severe, unknown crisis, his mind confused and nearly suffocating.
Or…
a third unknown condition unlike the two above.
But fortunately, this time he resisted.
“Here we go!” Wei Liang rushed to his side, “Let’s go, let’s eat!”
Wei Liang seemed utterly unaware of the blue-aproned chef, surpassed him, then pulled Lin Yi towards the Student Cafeteria.
At the main entrance of the Student Cafeteria, there was a sign indicating the entrance, and before entering, Lin Yi double-checked it, then he parted the plastic curtain and walked inside with Wei Liang.
Passing by the tray return spot, Lin Yi observed the blue-aproned chef outside the Student Cafeteria through the reflection from the alloy racks; the chef maintained a relatively slow and rigid motion, slowly turning around, those empty, soulless eyes seemingly fixed on them.
In between the Student Cafeteria and the Student Passage, the evening sun’s residue quietly lay, casting no shadow of the blue-aproned chef.