Stalker

Noon.

Lin Mo got up, ready to enjoy a satisfying meal.

Jiang Yunlu's voice came from behind him, and a hand lightly rested on his wrist.

"Lin Mo, help me out."

Lin Mo replied without hesitation, "Sure, what do you want to eat?"

Jiang Yunlu was taken aback. "How did you know what I was going to say?"

"Just guessed. So, what are you craving today?"

"I want fried rice. I heard there’s a place at the end of Backstreet that makes amazing fried rice."

Lin Mo nodded. He knew that place well. The owner was from Mianhu and insisted on using lard for frying, resulting in perfectly separated grains of rice with an irresistible aroma.

It was pricier than your average fast food, but the taste was absolutely worth it.

"Alright, no problem. I’ll go get it for you."

Jiang Yunlu immediately handed him the money in her hand.

He didn’t refuse, casually accepting it.

Lin Mo had spiritual awareness, so of course, he knew why Jiang Yunlu was asking him to buy the meal.

If she had been bolder, she would’ve just gone with him to eat together.

But Jiang Yunlu understood that threats and outright defiance would elicit different reactions.

If she pushed too far, her father might impose stricter control over her.

For now, all she needed was a subtle threat.

At the school gate, Lin Mo strolled out leisurely.

Ever since the badminton match where he’d met Jiang Yunlu’s father, there had been someone keeping an eye on him outside the school.

However, this watcher didn’t follow him everywhere.

They usually left after school and didn’t tail him during holidays.

A faint smirk curled at the corner of Lin Mo’s lips. What was the point of such half-hearted surveillance?

Lin Mo headed toward the fried rice shop.

It was called "Chaoshan Cured Meat."

The so-called "cured meat" was essentially blanched meat slices.

In simple terms, it was thinly sliced fresh pork or offal, quickly scalded in boiling water to preserve the natural sweetness and tenderness of the meat—a second too little and it’d be raw, a second too long and it’d be tough.

The shop was small and tucked away deep in Backstreet, with a modest sign.

It wasn’t packed with customers because many people didn’t even know what "cured meat" was. The name alone didn’t draw them in, and its location at the far end of Backstreet didn’t help.

But those who had tried it always came back.

Most people, in a hurry to eat, crowded the restaurants at the front of Backstreet instead.

Lin Mo walked in and placed his order right away.

"Two fried noodles with meat slices, to-go. One cured meat soup with dry noodles to eat here—dry noodles with sugar and satay sauce."

The shop owner, who had been jotting down the order, looked up in surprise and blurted out in Chaoshan dialect,

"Lei si Chaoshan nang? (Are you Chaoshan?)"

Lin Mo smiled. "No, but I have a few Chaoshan friends who taught me how to eat this. I’ve grown to like it."

The owner’s surprise turned into pride, then shifted to a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese.

"You know your stuff! This is good eating. Around these streets, we’re the only ones making this, especially the dry noodles."

Truthfully, Lin Mo’s Chaoshan friends were from his past life, but he had indeed tasted authentic cured meat soup with dry noodles before.

He just hadn’t tried this shop’s version before graduation in his previous life.

Back then, he simply hadn’t known better.

Soon, the soup and noodles arrived.

Most people only knew about Chaoshan’s beef hotpot and fish sauce.

Few realized that lard was also one of the soul ingredients of Chaoshan cuisine, holding an irreplaceable place in the hearts of locals.

Lin Mo picked up his chopsticks and carefully mixed the lard, garlic oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, satay sauce, sugar, and scallions at the bottom of the bowl with the chewy alkaline noodles.

This dry noodle dish shared similarities with Meizhou’s marinated noodles—both used alkaline noodles, blanched to remove the alkaline taste, relying entirely on the sauce for flavor.

Adding satay was already distinctive, but tossing in a spoonful of sugar made it an even more niche local preference.

At first, Lin Mo had been reluctant to try it, thinking it sounded like a bizarre combination.

But one bite revealed how beautifully the salty and sweet flavors melded together in the bowl.

It wasn’t entirely unlike dipping roast pork in sugar—there was a similar logic to it.

He took a mouthful. The noodles were smooth, the lard rich, the satay complex and fragrant, the fish sauce savory, and the sugar added just the right touch of sweetness—all harmonizing perfectly without overpowering each other.

The interplay of salty, sweet, and umami was downright addictive.

A sip of the cured meat soup followed—clear broth with tender slices of meat, highlighting the purity of the ingredients.

In truth, cured meat soup wasn’t much different from pork offal soup, just rebranded for broader appeal.

By the time Lin Mo finished the noodles and soup, the two fried rice orders were ready.

His timing was impeccable.

Carrying the two boxes of fried rice, Lin Mo stepped out of the shop.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the watcher still standing under the shade of a tree nearby, staring straight at him.

When Lin Mo emerged, the man seemed momentarily startled but didn’t look away.

Probably assuming Lin Mo wouldn’t recognize him or even realize he was being followed.

Sure enough, Lin Mo merely glanced at him twice before turning back toward the school.

Upon returning, Lin Mo’s first stop was the security booth.

The head guard, Wang Jinxi, naturally knew Lin Mo. Seeing him approach, Wang asked politely, "Lin, is there something you need?"

Lin Mo pointed at the surveillance monitor.

"Uncle, could you check this for me? I think someone’s been following me."

At that, Wang Jinxi straightened up immediately.

This was the kid Principal Huang had personally asked them to look out for. Plus, after Lin Mo had taken down a gang of troublemakers single-handedly, the entire security team had been commended. Wang Jinxi wasted no time pulling up the footage.

The cameras covered the street across from the school.

Lin Mo pointed at one figure in the feed.

"That’s him. He’s been tailing me for days. Could you call the police?"

Wang Jinxi thumped his chest. "No problem. Leave it to us."

Noticing the takeout boxes in Lin Mo’s hand, he patted his shoulder.

"Don’t worry, Lin. Go eat your lunch. We’ll have this sorted before school lets out."

Lin Mo nodded gratefully.

"Then I’ll leave it to you, Uncle."

As Lin Mo walked toward the school building, Wang Jinxi couldn’t help but mutter in admiration,

"If I had a son as sharp as him, I’d gladly trade twenty years off my life."

Another guard chuckled. "Old Wang, your son’s in college already. He’s not bad either."

Wang Jinxi snorted. "What do you know? This kid Lin Mo took on a dozen thugs by himself and even subdued an armed attacker at the start of the semester.

But when someone’s tailing him, he doesn’t act rashly—he comes straight to us.

That kind of thinking? My dumb son could never."

With that, Wang Jinxi picked up the phone to call Principal Huang.