The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

054 Visit

The great knight of the church wanted to stay as far away from Li Shanze as possible, but not long after breakfast, Li Shanze came to his door again like a ghost.

So Kate had to receive her master again very reluctantly.

After Kate personally brought him a cup of coffee, Li Shanze couldn't help but feel that this high-ranking FBI agent and great knight of the church seemed quite friendly.

Kate had no choice. A slave girl was supposed to serve her master, and serving tea was just the most basic service.

Although Kate, who has always been simple, does not like the service of knights and squires and advocates doing everything herself, in order to avoid being accused of being a "Puritan heretic" - even if Kate possesses extraordinary powers, she cannot be immune to common political struggles - she still accepted several knights and squires provided by the Catholic Church to help with some mundane affairs, which naturally included helping to receive guests.

Therefore, the fact that the Grand Knight personally served tea to Li Shanze caused an uproar in the eyes of the knight attendants who were usually responsible for entertaining guests.

Even when His Holiness the Pope visited, the Grand Knight never served coffee personally. This Lord Li must be of great importance.

Li Shanze didn't understand these tricks, nor could he hear the amazement in the hearts of the knights' servants. He naturally took the cup, took a sip of coffee, and took out the ring and the wooden box fragments from his arms.

In Li Shanze's opinion, since Charlie had temporarily lent this thing to Kate, it would be best for Kate to return it to Charlie in person.

He had rashly taken these things out and handed them to Charlie, and he had to explain to her how he found them from Anjie. As the saying goes, the more you talk, the more mistakes you make. If you are not careful, you might let something slip and reveal what happened between him and Anjie.

Therefore, it would be more reasonable to assume that the FBI recovered these things from Angel, and then Kate returned them to Charlie - after all, Li Shanze is also a consultant for the FBI, so there is no lie in this statement.

However, when Li Shanze took out the ring and wooden box fragments from his arms and filled the table with them, Kate was really scared.

What does he mean by taking out these things?

Why did the things stolen by the female thief Anjie Novak appear in his hands?

Are they in the same group?

Is this a conspiracy against me?

Is he trying to tell me not to struggle in vain but to accept his slavery obediently?

Countless questions suddenly popped up in Kate's mind. The more she thought about it, the more cold sweat she broke out in. She even felt suffocated, as if she was sinking into the deep sea and couldn't breathe.

At this time, Li Shanze pushed the ring and the box fragments towards Kate and continued, "I'll leave these in your care, Agent Mackenzie. Don't lose them again."

While Kate was gathering them up, Li Shanze revealed his true purpose: "By the way, Agent Mackenzie, could you please introduce the Good Buddy Herbicide Factory?"

In Li Shanze's opinion, I found the lost ring and box fragments for you, Kate, which is considered a gesture of goodwill. It should be okay for me to take this opportunity to ask you for more details about the mission, right?

Li Shanze didn't mind calling Kate an agent or a police officer, but he still didn't want to call Kate "Your Excellency the Grand Knight" - for Li Shanze, who had a modern education background, this title was somewhat embarrassing.

However, Kate had actually given up the idea of ​​making a deal with Li Shanze a long time ago. She had no idea what kind of evil would be brewing when an ominous herbicide factory came into contact with Li Shanze, the evil and cunning ogre king.

So Kate naturally tried her best to conceal the inside story she knew - anyway, Li Shanze used a tone of request, so she naturally had a way of passive resistance.

"I can only say that the place is very mysterious. Since it was abandoned, it has become some kind of restricted area. Even the agents sent by the FBI before were unable to sneak in, so please be careful." Kate said seriously.

Since her master Li Shanze used the name "Agent Mackenzie" to make the inquiry, Kate naturally only told the information obtained by the FBI and quietly concealed the information from the church.

Li Shanze didn't notice Kate's little trick.

After all, Li Shanze's impression of Kate was "reliable and trustworthy." He certainly could not have imagined that this great knight of the church was actually his little slave girl, and that this little slave girl was scheming and sneaky in order to escape his slavery.

Therefore, Li Shanze did not suspect anything. He stood up, picked up the coffee and drank it all in one gulp.

Then, Li Shanze grabbed the black bowler hat, put it on his head, and said with a smile: "Very good, thank you for the information, Agent Mackenzie. The coffee tastes good, but I actually prefer tea."

Li Shanze joked and walked away. He planned to first go to the local tyrant like Mayor Vincent to get some information, and then try his luck at the Old Time Tavern.

Kate stood there, seething with rage: "Who's going to prepare tea for you, you evil ogre king!"

However, these were her master's words after all. Although she was very resistant in her heart, Kate still reluctantly ordered the knights and servants: "Go, find some tea."

Then, the knights and squires once again exchanged meaningful glances.

When Li Shanze left the Sacred Heart Catholic Church for the second time, he persuaded Cohen to open a telephone call center in Fern. The news that this call center would provide thousands of jobs for Fern had spread throughout the town.

So, along the way, countless enthusiastic townspeople greeted Li Shanze and expressed their gratitude and respect for him.

Although Li Shanze maintained his composure and spoke to people in a friendly manner along the way, he actually always felt that this matter was weird and full of unreality - the money was not paid by me, and the matter has not been finalized yet. Now I just moved my lips, why are there so many people coming up to thank me, did someone hire someone to do this?

In fact, Li Shanze completely misunderstands American culture. The simple Chinese people value practicality and are willing to wait for implementation and results before making any decisions. However, Americans are completely different.

The American motto is "Fake it till you make it." Now that Li Shanze has finally gotten investment interest, it's only natural that he's welcomed and thanked by the locals.

Of course, compared with the simple Chinese people who like to express their gratitude by giving gifts in kind, the locals' welcome and gratitude are just verbal - in this sense, everyone is just talking, and no one actually suffers any loss.

Li Shanze, who was confused, heard the phone in his arms ringing. He politely said goodbye to an old woman who was praising him endlessly, and then answered the phone.

"Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?"

There was no sound on the other end of the phone.

Maybe it was a signal problem again. Li Shanze looked at the unfamiliar number and put the phone back into his pocket.

After living in the United States for some time, Li Shanze has become accustomed to the poor cell phone signal in remote towns - private telecommunications companies whose sole purpose is to make profits will not lay out base stations across the country as widely as in China.

However, this time, Li Shanze really blamed the telecom company wrongly. There was no problem with the signal this time, and the call was hung up on his own initiative.

The person on the other end of the phone was none other than Anjie, who had just had a romantic encounter with Li Shanze.

Anjie, who had just put on her clothes while enduring the tearing pain, saw the phone number left on Li Shanze's business card and immediately called Li Shanze in anger.

She seemed to have endless anger that she wanted to vent on the damn man who took her virginity.

However, when Li Shanze's voice really sounded on the other end of the phone, Anjie was speechless and didn't know what to say.

Should I scold him? Scold him for taking my virginity? Or curse him? Curse him for being a bastard who used magic to seduce me?

What if he hadn't done it, and the card had just ended up in my pocket by chance? Wouldn't that mean my scandal would be exposed to one more person? And let this old pervert from the church who had cast a spell on me know about it!

After all, Anjie is still not sure who she lost her virginity to - although she thinks there is a 90% chance that it was Li Shanze, but what if she is wrong?

So, after much hesitation, Anjie chose to hang up the phone without saying a word. Then, she dialed another number. In this somewhat confused moment, she hoped to get comfort from her lover.

055 Old Times Tavern

Mayor Vincent did not have a dedicated office. In order to save money, he directly converted his basement into the mayor's office. When Li Shanze arrived, he was writing and drawing something at his desk.

Mayor Vincent was very happy to see Li Shanze's visit. He warmly received Li Shanze, but he couldn't say much about the Good Buddy Herbicide Factory.

"It's probably empty... and it's probably the only place in town that hasn't cleaned up the chemical contamination. No one should go there normally. If you're talking about a telephone call center, I have a better address and don't need to consider that one," said Mayor Vincent.

In fact, after Kate demonstrated her strength, Li Shanze had already overturned his suspicion that the Good Buddy Herbicide Factory was a drug manufacturing den. If it were just a drug dealer, Kate would have simply rushed in and killed him, without having to make a deal with this "cannibal".

Hearing Mayor Vincent say this only made Li Shanze more convinced that there must be some deeper secret there, which even the local mayor doesn't know about, and Kate, the great knight of the church, wants to hire me to fight for him.

"No, I'm just curious. I want to know why such a catastrophic production accident happened in that factory." Li Shanze didn't want Mayor Vincent to worry about the factory's affairs - he was already too busy with drug control - so he found an excuse.

Mayor Vincent was eager to do something for Li Shanze. Upon hearing this, he immediately dug out a large pile of documents and reports from his archives and handed them to Li Shanze. These were all official investigation reports on the accident that year.

Looking at Li Shanze, who looked troubled, Mayor Vincent frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "I vaguely remember that a few old friends from the Good Buddy Factory still haven't left Fern Town. They often patronize a tavern called Old Times."

…………

This old-time tavern wasn't hard to find.

The pub looked very old, its outer walls stained a light grey by the years and covered with ivy. Due to the winter, the ivy had turned a dark green, which looked particularly dull and contrasted well with the snowy weather.

A wooden sign with the words "Old Time" written in faded letters hung on the door lintel. The door handle was made of ancient copper, polished to a smooth shine by the touch of countless hands.

Pushing open the creaking wooden door, Li Shanze immediately smelled a faint scent of tobacco and aged wine.

The first thing that catches your eye is the long bar. Behind the bar, there are all kinds of bottles of wine on the wine cabinet, from classic whiskey to Pennsylvania local beer, and all kinds of cheap alcohol are available here.

There are several retro movie posters hanging on the wall behind the bar. Li Shanze can even recognize Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times", Audrey Hepburn's "Roman Holiday" and Dustin Hoffman's "Rain Man".

The posters looked worn and scuffed, as old as the films they appeared in, stained with wine and with their raw edges held up with scotch tape.

From the 1930s to the 1950s and then to the 1980s...it seems that this bar is not a nostalgic theme bar of a specific era, but simply a pile of all the "Old Time" elements.

The bar always seems very deserted during the day. The bar looks empty. Apart from the bartender who is yawning and wiping the wine glasses, there are only two guys sitting at the bar drinking.

Perhaps due to economic reasons, the music player used in the bar is not very sophisticated. It is not the kind of vinyl record player that deliberately creates an old-fashioned atmosphere, but a tape recorder that looks like it is about to break down.

When Li Shanze walked into the pub, Billy Joel was humming softly on the tape recorder.

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday

It's 9 o'clock on Saturday night again

The regular crowd shuffles in

Patrons flocked to the pub as usual

There's an old man sitting next to me

There is an old man sitting next to me

Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He's having sex with his gin and tonic

"Ha, I didn't expect that all the guests here today are unworthy of this shabby bar." The bartender took a look at Li Shanze's black windbreaker and bowler hat, and said jokingly, "Sir, it seems that the Glass Palace is more worthy of your status."

The bartender looked very young, only in his twenties, and his clothes, which were washed a little pale, showed his poor conditions.

Li Shanze placed his hat on the bar, pressed the ring on his left ring finger with his right hand, and said with a smile, "Old Time! Who can resist reminiscing about the good old days?"

A middle-aged man in his early forties, who was drinking and looked rather down-and-out, befitting this shabby bar, heard Li Shanze's answer, patted Li Shanze on the shoulder and laughed: "Hahahahaha, I get it, I get it. What married man doesn't want to reminisce about the good old days before marriage?"

The bartender also smiled: "What would you like to drink, sir?"

Li Shanze glanced at the price list. He actually had no idea what these so-called Long Island Iced Tea, Tequila Sunrise, and Bloody Mary were.

He pulled out a Thomas Jefferson and handed it to the bartender: "Gin and tonic, thank you."

The bartender nodded and put ice in the highball glass while saying to the third customer who had his back to Li Shanze: "Sir, please stop playing with your dangerous little toy, otherwise the four of us will be blown to pieces."

The guest raised his head and turned around. He was wearing a navy jacket and was of burly build, about two meters tall, with bulging muscles all over his body. He looked like someone who was not to be messed with.

But the most striking thing about him was that he held a wine glass in his left hand and played with two grenades with his big right hand. His posture was exactly the same as that of a Chinese old man playing with walnuts.

Li Shanze was shocked.

Although Li Shanze had deeply realized the simple customs of the American people after traveling for more than a month, this was the first time he had seen people so simple that they used grenades as walnut plates.

There is no normal person in this bar!

One was wearing a navy jacket and playing with a grenade, one was heartlessly continuing to drink, and another was just complaining and continuing to mix cocktails. Aren't you guys a little too thick-skinned?

Especially when he saw that the big brother playing with the grenade was already drunk, Li Shanze always felt that this Old Time Tavern might become a thing of the past today.

At this time, the person who was handling the grenades spoke up. He pointed at the ring of the grenade and said, "You said this is dangerous?"

"Yes, this thing is too dangerous, sir." The bartender's hands were very steady. He slowly poured the gin into the highball glass, and he didn't look like he felt any danger at all.

"It's just the pull ring of a grenade. It's not as powerful as the thing on this gentleman's finger." The man in the navy jacket pointed at the ring finger of Li Shanze's left hand and said.

Then he turned to Li Shanze: "What do you think?"

"Ha, yes, if I take this thing off, my soul will no longer belong to me." Li Shanze nodded in agreement. This ring was indeed too dangerous.

The down-and-out middle-aged man laughed once again when he heard Li Shanze's answer: "Hahahahaha! Well said, young man!"

"You know what? When I took this thing off my left ring finger, guess what happened?"

He kept the audience in suspense, then suddenly raised his glass, drank the wine in the glass, and then slapped the bar.

"My house, my daughter, my income, all gone! Hahahahahahahahaha, I wish I had pulled the ring of a grenade when I was with my ex-wife, hahahahahahahahaha!"

The down-and-out middle-aged man bent down and banged the wooden bar, laughing so hard that tears were about to flow out.

"Hahahaha! He's right, this thing of mine is much more dangerous than a grenade!" Li Shanze laughed while patting the down-and-out middle-aged man's shoulder.

As soon as these words were spoken, the man in the navy jacket and the bartender burst into laughter, and for a moment the tavern was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

The loud laughter of several men almost completely drowned out the sound of the tape recorder, and Billy Joel's high-pitched singing became just a faint background.

Sing us a song' you're the piano man

Play us a song, pianist.

Sing us a song tonight

Play a song for us tonight

Well' we're all in the mood for a melody

Everyone is in a good mood

And you've got us feelin' alright