Demons Beside You

“You sure you don’t want the tripe?”

“No! Certainly not. Don’t put it into my side... Why would the supermarket sell such a weird thing?”

“Fine. I’ll eat it.”

Chen Zhao and Fali were having hotpot. In fact, it was not the first time.

After trying hotpot for the first time, Fali could not stop herself from having more.

The preparation for hotpot was actually very simple. The only troublesome parts were the soup base and the dipping sauce.

It was not easy to make a good hotpot broth. Chen Zhao’s favorite were pork bone soup and mala soup.

Fali preferred plainer ones. Of course, that did not mean she did not like meat, but rather she could not take food that was too spicy.

Just like Chen Zhao, she was a carnivore.

She would eat vegetables, but she had to eat meat for every meal, or she would not feel full and satisfied.

After all, Fali was a member of the Coastal Rescue Team, which meant a tremendous amount of exercise everyday. Vegetables alone would not fill her stomach.

Today, they were having a double-flavored pot, because Chen Zhao had bought a lot of offal.

Actually, many Americans did not eat offal because of their history. Without many famines in the past, they did not have to eat any intestines.

On the other hand, Chen Zhao still maintained his dietary preferences and taste from China. He loved tripes and other offal.

He could not change another person’s taste, but he would also not change his own taste for another person.

The two clinked their beer bottles and then drank from the bottles directly.

Fali was never a gentlewoman, at least since she had moved in.

Chen Zhao had never seen her being gentle. She was always so careless and casual.

She said that if she still had to pretend to be someone else at home, life would be too tiring.

Fali’s broth had beer inside. She did not expect pork bone soup to be so delicious after adding beer.

She really loved the soup and could not stop from eating more.

Suddenly, they heard someone knock on the door. Fali was just scooping a piece of pork bone up to eat.

“Go and open the door. I’m not free.”

Chen Zhao wiped his mouth and trotted to the door.

Realizing that Leonardo was outside, Chen Zhao immediately tried to pull him in. “You came at the right time. Come in and eat dinner with me and Fali.”

“Chen, I’m working,” Leonardo said somewhat awkwardly.

“Work?”

“Chen, did you have a conflict with Deppler Rastan earlier?”

“Who’s that?”

“A gangster in town.”

“Did he call the police? He harassed Fali so I beat him up.”

“He’s dead.”

“Why?” Chen Zhao widened his eyes. “You suspect that I’m the murderer?”

“No. We’ve already done some investigation. After your conflict, you and Fali went to the supermarket and then came home. There are a couple of videos captured by surveillance cameras so you are not under any suspicion. I only came here to do my routine questioning. Don’t even have to record it,” Leonardo explained.

After all, Chen Zhao was one of his few friends. He did not want to lose such a friend for this.

“Alright. Now that you’re done with your questions, can you come in and eat with us? Fali and I prepared a lot of food, including many special Chinese dishes. Come.”

Leonardo looked into the house for a while and eventually stepped in.

Without being over-polite, Leonardo took a bowl and started scooping food up from the hotpot directly.

“Hmm... This tastes great! What is it?”

“Tripe.”

“What’s tripe?”

“Stop asking and just eat.” Chen Zhao rolled his eyes at Leonardo.

“It’s so delicious! I’ve never had this before.”

Fali looked doubtful. “Is it really that nice?”

“Leonardo, how did Deppler Rastan die?”

“Who’s Deppler?”

“The gangster that harassed you earlier.”

“What? He’s dead?” Fali exclaimed and stared at Chen Zhao.

It was no wonder that she had such a reaction. After all, she had just asked Chen Zhao to kill him with sorcery.

In the end, he really died. How could she not be surprised?

Her first thought was that Chen Zhao had secretly killed him with a spell.

“He died in his own house. His heart was dug out by someone and placed on his own hand.”

“Wait... Let us finish eating first,” Fali said, covering her mouth.

Chen Zhao and Leonardo seemed to be much calmer. After all, Leonardo was a police and had seen many corpses before.

Chen Zhao was a doctor and had seen many too. As long as the corpse was not badly mutilated, Chen Zhao would not really feel disgusted.

They continued wolfing down food and beer. The meal was in full swing.

Fali finally tried a piece of tripe. Actually, once she managed to overcome her unease, tripes were quite nice.

Their special taste and chewiness were really addictive.

“It’s an animal organ, right?” Leonardo asked.

Chen Zhao was momentarily stunned. He originally did not intend to tell Leonardo the truth as he was worried that Leonardo would be disgusted.

“My grandpa and grandma immigrated here from Italy. My family eats offal,” Leonardo said. “I can even make lampredotto sandwiches, but I really can’t tell what organ this is.”

“It’s also cow stomach, but it’s the inner layer.”

“Oh I see.”

Knock, knock...

Just then, someone knocked on the door again.

Chen Zhao opened the door and realized it was Melson.

“Melson, come in.”

“No, I’m still working. I’m looking for Leonardo.”

“Err...”

“I saw his car outside, so he must be here.”

“Sir.” Leonardo ran out hurriedly.

“Melson, I’m sorry. I forced Leonardo to come in.”

“Don’t worry. Chen, do you know if that victim had any conflict with anyone?”

Chen Zhao immediately thought of Ken. When he came back that afternoon, he saw Ken and Deppler arguing.

However, Chen Zhao decided to hide it and answered, “Me. I had a conflict with him.”

“Anyone else?”

“I only moved here for a month. I don’t even know all the people in this town. In fact, I don’t even know the victim before today.”

“Okay. If you find out anything, remember to call me.”

“I will.” Chen Zhao invited again, “Why don’t you come in and eat with us? We’re having a hotpot.”

“Maybe next time. I still have to go back to the crime scene.”

“Alright then. See you.”

Chen Zhao sent Melson and Leonardo out. He noticed that opposite his house, Ken was also at his door, looking in their direction.

Chen Zhao had an ominous feeling. It can’t be Ken, right? he thought.

To be honest, he really did not want Ken to get into trouble. Bant and Mary were both very kind neighbors, while Ken was a rather shy big boy. Chen Zhao did not think that Ken would be the murderer.