“What happens next?” Surprisingly, the person asking wasn’t Gong Zhu but Zhou Xin He.
“Xin He, which part exactly are you hoping to hear?”
Zhou Xin He immediately turned red. “I-I’m not.”
Gong Zhu gave Zhou Xin He an understanding pat. “Free yourself, Xin He. There’s no need to hide being a fujoshi. Believe me, if you walked into any classroom and loudly announced, ‘I’m a fujoshi,’ someone would definitely stand up and say she was one too.”
“I-I really am not.” It wasn’t that Zhou Xin He refused to admit it. She genuinely didn’t think she was one. Ke Bu rested both hands behind his head. “If it were dangerous outside, I wouldn’t go out in the first place.”
“Obviously.” Zhang Luo’s voice overflowed with mockery. “A horror movie could never get started with someone like you. If somebody gave you a videotape and told you not to watch it because watching it would kill you, you’d definitely smash the tape to pieces.”
“What’s wrong with someone like me? Maybe I’d be the person who survives until the end of the horror movie.”
While they chatted, they arrived at Yinguo Town. Ke Bu loved the feeling of the sea breeze hitting him the moment he stepped off the train. He stretched. Chu Hao Yu and several others immediately threw their luggage onto the ground and started running. “Last one has to carry the luggage!” By the time Ke Bu thought of running, it was already too late. He desperately wanted to leave everyone’s bags at the station, but if he did that, the next time it was somebody else’s turn to carry the luggage, they might abandon his too. He turned toward Zhi Li beside him. Zhi Li took one step forward. “I’m not last.”
“Thank you so much for making this possible for me,” Ke Bu said through clenched teeth. He hung several bags from each hand. After walking about a hundred meters, Zhi Li asked, “Heavy?”
“Of course it’s heavy.”
“Mm.”
“‘Mm’? What does ‘mm’ mean? If you’re not going to help, why did you even ask?”
“I only wanted to know whether the luggage was heavy.”
“You have no other thoughts?”
“I do. Your stamina is terrible.”
Ke Bu resigned himself to continuing forward. Come to think of it, it had truly been a very, very long time since he had seen Lan Yin. Her name came up often enough, though. Logically, knowing Zhi Li was coming, Lan Yin should have appeared at the station to meet her precious son. Yet even after they left the station, there was no sign of her. Was she not in Yinguo Town?
“Did you tell Lan Yin we were coming today?”
“She knows.”
“That’s good. I didn’t bring that much money either.”
“Ke Bu, hurry up,” the impatient Ying Xiu Jie called. Ke Bu shouted back, “If you want me to hurry, carry your own luggage.” By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, Ke Bu was panting heavily. Taking pity on him, Chu Hao Yu kindly offered, “If you kneel down and beg me for help, I might be willing to take some of my luggage back.” Ke Bu set the bags on the ground. “What are you talking about? That round is already over, isn’t it?” The very next second, he bolted forward. “Last one has to carry the luggage up the mountain!” Everyone else started running too. In the blink of an eye, only Chu Hao Yu, Su You Yan, and Zhi Li remained. Chu Hao Yu had just lifted a foot when Su You Yan smacked the raised leg with the book in her hand. Zhi Li slowly walked ahead, followed by Su You Yan. Chu Hao Yu shouted angrily as he picked up the bags. “This method of yours doesn’t count as fair competition!” His anger abruptly vanished. From his position at the bottom, he bent down, hoping to peek beneath Su You Yan’s skirt, only to discover disappointedly that she was wearing denim shorts underneath.
Knowing the shortcut saved them considerable time compared with their first climb. The villa’s surroundings were silent and eerie. Even in daylight, it looked very much like a haunted house. On top of that, Lan Yin didn’t want adventurous tourists disturbing her, so she had scattered extremely realistic fake human remains around the villa. Ke Bu knew perfectly well they were fake, but occasionally stepping on one still made his skin crawl. Ancient stories were always filled with ruined, sinister old houses inhabited by beautiful female demons. That image truly suited Lan Yin.
The front door was tightly shut. There was no movement at all.
“Is nobody home?”
“Hey! Anyone here?!” Ying Xiu Jie’s powerful shout echoed around them. Ke Bu had just started forward when Zhi Li forcefully shoved him aside. Ke Bu crashed into Gong Zhu, Gong Zhu crashed into Zhang Luo, Zhang Luo crashed into Zhou Xin He, and Zhou Xin He lost her balance. All four fell onto the ground. At the same time, a single-seat sofa crashed down beside them. Still shaken, Ke Bu looked up. At some point, Lan Yin had appeared on the second-floor terrace. Her expression was contemptuous and icy. “What are you doing here?” What an awkward question. The group had come to Yinguo Town full of anticipation, only for the one person capable of giving them somewhere to stay to make it clear she didn’t welcome them. Everyone immediately threw the awkward situation at Zhi Li to solve.
Zhi Li looked up at Lan Yin. Before he could speak, even more objects came flying toward him. “What are you doing here now? You haven’t come to see me in so long. You already forgot about me, didn’t you? You break my heart and then come asking for forgiveness? It won’t be that easy. What did I do in my previous life to end up meeting you and that man in this one?” This was bad. Lan Yin was throwing a tantrum. Judging by the situation, she wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon. Ke Bu watched the objects rain down and, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, tugged at Zhi Li’s clothes and whispered, “Think of a way to coax her.” He genuinely meant it. Ke Bu actually felt a little guilty toward Lan Yin. During winter vacation, Zhi Li hadn’t gone home because of him. Lan Yin hadn’t said anything the last time she called, but she probably got lonely too. Ke Bu couldn’t imagine just how much Lan Yin loved Zhi Li. Lan Yin loved herself, and she loved Zhi Zuo Si. Zhi Li, the child she had with Zhi Zuo Si, was almost like all of her love mixed together.
Zhi Li looked blankly toward Lan Yin. “Sister.” Lan Yin’s expression instantly changed. She stepped onto the terrace railing, jumped down, and hugged Zhi Li. “My baby! I already ran your bathwater. We’ll bathe together later, and tonight we’ll sleep together.” Zhi Li pushed her away. “I refuse.”
“Why are you refusing?!” Lan Yin was beautiful even when angry, but what she said could only be described as indecent. “I haven’t seen your whole body since you were five years old. I want to see whether it’s still as perfect as it was when you were little!”
“I’ll say it again. I refuse.”
“Tch.” Lan Yin pouted like a young girl and shot Ke Bu a sideways glance. “You’ll let trash see it but not your sister? That makes no sense.” What you’re saying is what makes no sense! Ke Bu badly wanted to say it, but lacked the courage. Lan Yin grabbed Ke Bu by the collar and pulled him closer. “Kid, while you’re in Yinguo Town, I want you to describe Zhi Li’s entire body to me in extremely precise detail.”
Describing my boyfriend’s entire body to his mother—what kind of torture is this?!!!
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