Upside Down Grocery Shop - Chapter 7

The Upside Down Grocery Shop was quite close now, but the recent incidents made Xiao Ling increasingly uneasy. She had no choice but to come find Su Ran again to get some answers.

The sun had yet to set, and the Shang Xia Grocery Store was still open.

Su Ran stood at the door, watching Xiao Ling approach, and smiled slightly, “So, you still can’t let this go.”

“Zhang Haisheng is missing! Do you realize he might already be dead?” Xiao Ling demanded as she stepped forward.

“He’s with me,” Su Ran tilted his head, “safe and sound.”

Xiao Ling was startled and entered the shop, only to see Zhang Haisheng sitting there, listless, as if his soul had left him. When he saw her, his first reaction was actually fear.

“Zhang Haisheng, what happened?” Xiao Ling asked anxiously.

Zhang Haisheng looked at her, then at Su Ran, as if struggling with himself, but finally shook his head, “No, no, I can’t tell you. I can’t get you involved.”

Zhang Haisheng seemed mentally unstable, as if he’d been deeply traumatized or was under some kind of spell.

In such a state, whether his words could be trusted was truly uncertain.

Xiao Ling turned to Su Ran, “What kind of spell did you cast on him?”

Su Ran looked innocent, “I didn’t do anything. In fact, I was kind enough to bring him into my store. You have no idea how much trouble I went through for this.”

Ignoring Su Ran, Xiao Ling focused on Zhang Haisheng, softening her voice to calm him, “Zhang Haisheng, please take a deep breath and listen. I need your cooperation right now.”

Zhang Haisheng looked up at her. “I’m fine. I won’t say anything.”

Xiao Ling held her frustration, trying to remain calm.

“Zhang Haisheng, I know something must have happened to you. I also understand that you have reasons you can’t tell me, but this is about your wife. Are you really going to stand by and watch as she lies there, cold and alone?”

At the mention of Li Haiqing, Zhang Haisheng visibly trembled, fear growing in his eyes as he looked at Xiao Ling.

“I’ve already seen my wife and daughter. I’ve said everything I needed to. There’s no regret. This ends here.”

What did he mean? He’d already seen his wife and daughter?

Could Zhang Haisheng have really lost his mind?

“Xiao Ling, you won’t get anything out of him. Just let it go.” Su Ran glanced at them calmly. “Everything about him is up to you to investigate. I can’t keep him here, so he’s all yours.”

Seeing Zhang Haisheng’s pitiful state, Xiao Ling turned to Su Ran. “You know something, don’t you? Can’t you just tell me? Are you really going to sit back and watch this family be torn apart?”

Su Ran fell silent. “Every world has its own rules. You do your investigation; I don’t interfere. My affairs are none of your concern, too!”

“Fine, I won’t bother you!” Xiao Ling led Zhang Haisheng away.

Su Ran watched them go, his expression darkening, “Come out already!”

“Heh heh,” Fang Yuan chuckled awkwardly, entering the store with a nervous grin. “Boss Su, please don’t be angry.”

“You got what you wanted from me and didn’t even say thank you, yet you still dare to show up here? Do you think I’m easy to push around, or that I won’t do anything to you?”

“Of course not,” Fang Yuan quickly explained, taking out a thick file. “I wouldn’t dare make you mad. I came to apologize. Here’s everything on Zhang Haisheng from the past year, only the important stuff for you.”

Su Ran took it, flipping through a couple of pages. “Fine, I’ll take a close look.”

Fang Yuan laughed awkwardly but couldn’t help himself, “Boss Su, that book you gave me before—it’s empty.”

Su Ran took a sip of tea, “Of course it is. It only works if several volumes are combined. When I saw you weren’t cooperating, I didn’t bother giving you the rest, so of course, you couldn’t find anything.”

Internally, Fang Yuan was furious, cursing Su Ran silently.

“Hmm?” Su Ran glared at Fang Yuan, “You still dare to insult me? Do you have a death wish?”

And with that, he kicked Fang Yuan out.

Just as the sun set, he closed the shop door.

In a spacious Jiangnan-style courtyard, four people were sitting and drinking tea. The tea was scalding hot, but they didn’t care and downed it in one go.

“Not satisfying; nothing beats a good drink.”

“Tea has its own flavor.”

The person kneeling before them didn’t dare to make a sound, kneeling there for six hours.

Finally, one of them noticed the person kneeling. “So, Su Ran admitted to breaking the rules and even injured you?”

“Yes,” replied the kneeling man, fear written on his face.

“And what else did Su Ran say?”

“He also said… he’s already involved, and no one else should interfere. He promised to give everyone a satisfactory answer.”

“A satisfactory answer?” came an irritated voice.

After a brief silence, another voice spoke, “You can leave now. I’ll spare you this time. But if there’s a next time, you will be dead.”

“Yes!”

After another moment of silence, someone spoke up, “Third Brother, why do you think Su Ran, who’s always played by the rules for hundreds of years, suddenly acted so uncharacteristically this time? What could make Su Ran so determined?”

The Third Brother, a calm-looking middle-aged man, stared into his teacup. “Fifth Brother’s right. Su Ran used to be quite troublesome for us, but ever since he took over Upside Down Grocery Shop, he’s been so well-behaved. Could it be that something so outrageous happened this time that he couldn’t let it go?”

“If that’s the case, I might just have to take matters into my own hands!” Another middle-aged man spoke up, his face revealing a fierce sense of justice.

“Didn’t a junior go to get information from Su Ran? Have we learned anything?” asked the Fifth Brother.

“That idiot,” another man cursed, “Su Ran asked him to do something, and he flat-out refused, claiming it wasn’t proper. How does an idiot like that even survive? I had to scold him and send him back to Su Ran.” He pulled out a photo. “This is the man Su Ran wanted to investigate—Zhang Haisheng, and here’s his history over the past year.”

“It seems Zhang Haisheng is at the heart of this,” Fifth Brother muttered, “We’ll wait and watch. If anything happens, we’re here to make sure it doesn’t go out of control.”

“Agreed.”

The four resumed drinking tea.

Xiao Ling brought Zhang Haisheng back to the police station, intending for him to confirm Li Haiqing’s body. But Zhang Haisheng just shook his head, saying there was no need, that he’d already seen her and didn’t need to see her again.

Now, it wasn’t only Xiao Ling—the entire station suspected Zhang Haisheng had been broken by the loss of his wife and daughter, that the shattering of his family had finally crushed him.

Xiao Ling looked at Zhang Haisheng; he truly was a pitiful person.

“Zhang Haisheng, where is your daughter?” Xiao Ling poured him a glass of water.

“Dead.”

Her hand trembled, hot water spilling onto her hand without her noticing. “What did you say? How do you know?”

“I saw them, so I know.”