Chapter 33: Yi Ke: Crying Cat Meme.
Wen Ling was the sixth insider in this rule zone.
She wore her sister’s dress, her sister’s shoes, and appeared at the party as her sister.
Tian Luxin was completely frozen. She hadn’t recovered from the shock. The person lying in her arms was Wen Ling? It was Wen Yue’s older sister, a victim trapped within the rules just like the bartender and the others? Then where was Wen Yue?
“Wen Yue entered the rule zone to see you. She’s very worried about you.” Zhuang Ningyu looked into the white-clad girl’s eyes. “Tell me, where is she?”
But Wen Ling kept her mouth shut, only murmuring mechanically and slowly, “Sister protects… protects little sister.”
Tian Luxin tried to join the negotiation. “Right, we want to protect your little sister too. We’re not bad people.”
Although Wen Ling didn’t show much hostility towards her, she still didn’t speak. She knew that once her sister was found, she would suffer the same pain as her. It hurt so much, it was so scary. No, she couldn’t let her sister be hurt by bad people.
“Hide her… must hide her, protect little sister.”
Tian Luxin held her rigid body, her heart pounding as she glanced at her phone screen. 11:52 PM. There were only eight minutes left, or rather, less than eight minutes.
Zhuang Ningyu looked at the girl’s sewage-stained dress. “Wen Yue is in a restroom, isn’t she? You’re her older sister, you would definitely hide her in the safest place.”
As his words fell, the rule zone experienced a momentary chaotic distortion before returning to normal. A new area had been triggered. Wen Ling’s eyes showed panic, worried that the bad people would find her sister. She suddenly shot up, her hands outstretched stiffly as if to grab Zhuang Ningyu’s neck and stop his next move, but Yi Ke had already cuffed her wrist to the water pipe. Zhuang Ningyu stood up. “Search! All the restrooms!”
“But the time—” Tian Luxin swallowed the rest of her sentence. But there’s obviously not enough time. Seven minutes. There were eleven restrooms from the first to the fourth floors of Yin Bar, and the fifth floor was dormitories, with a restroom in every room. The three of them could never search them all, unless they got lucky and guessed the target on the first try.
But… what if they were lucky! There was no time to worry about that anymore. She took a deep breath and rushed out with Zhuang Ningyu and Yi Ke.
Outside the safe zone, chaotic and disorderly dolls were still everywhere. Under the influence of the constantly changing mental contamination concentration, all individual consciousness had been lost, leaving only the illusion of “I am the world” born from the large number of their kind around them. Rationality had vanished, replaced by an extremely, irrepressible primal impulse. On this night of revelry, no one was themselves anymore; they were all reduced to manipulated puppets, drinking madly, dancing madly.
The venue was packed solid. Zhuang Ningyu and Yi Ke held laser guns. Although firing would likely trigger monster mutations and riots, not clearing a path meant certain mission failure.
Boom! A deafening roar, but it didn’t come from the laser guns in their hands. It was a wall collapsing.
Through the spreading dust, dozens of heavily armed task force members from the Order Maintenance Department appeared, their silhouettes blurred by the light, like comic book heroes descending from the heavens. Zhuang Ningyu didn’t know how this group got in, but he had no time to ask. He raised his voice, shouting hoarsely, “Search all the restrooms! Last three minutes! Find Wen Yue, quick!”
“Roger!”
Yi Ke had drawn and uploaded a detailed map of Yin Bar to the internal network days ago, so the task force members quickly divided the labor, crashing through the dolls and fanning out to different floors. Tian Luxin also dodged through the crowd and ran upstairs with them.
“First floor, clear!”
“Second floor, clear!”
“Third floor, clear!”
Reports kept coming through the walkie-talkie. Zhuang Ningyu kicked open the door to the fourth-floor restroom. The DJ, who had regained consciousness, was looking at him with eyes full of terror.
“…”
“Captain Zhuang!” Tian Luxin’s joyous, tearful cry suddenly came through the headset. She pressed one hand against the blinds that were rattling in the wind and gripped the communication device tightly with the other. “519, there’s an extra restroom here!”
The task force members on the fifth floor rushed over. Yi Ke hoisted the unconscious girl wearing a protective bracelet from beside the bathtub and charged down the safety stairs to the third floor. Seeing that time was running out, he simply launched himself over the railing, tumbling to the ground with Wen Yue. Ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, he used all his strength to push her forward, and finally, at 11:59:56 PM, the girl pushed open the “door of life.”
The dolls let out a deafening, terrified scream.
Zhuang Ningyu braced his hands on the railing, watching the familiar light pour in from outside the world.
The white mist was swept away by a golden flame, and then it disappeared forever.
…
This time, the one admitted to Andao International Medical Center was Yi Ke. When he landed from the third floor, he had cushioned Wen Yue with his own body, absorbing most of the impact for her. He managed to return the volunteer to Qiu Meng and Wen Yue’s parents unharmed, while he himself reported “some internal injuries.” The director of the First Action Zone was a sharp, wise, and fiercely protective old man, who was still in the phase of blind affection for Yi Ke, seeing him as a “new kid who is sensible, obedient, capable, and hardworking, so much better than those old sly dogs in the team.” So, with a wave of his hand, he approved a week’s leave and even used three hundred yuan from the department’s petty cash to get him a deluxe fruit basket.
Pei Yuan walked into the hospital room with two X-ray films. “It’s nothing serious, just two broken ribs. But with your recovery ability, you’ll heal on your own soon. When are you planning to be discharged?”
Yi Ke leaned against the headboard, crunching on an apple. “Not yet.”
Pei Yuan reminded him, “…Your insurance doesn’t cover this kind of troublemaking hospitalization. The bed fee is 5,800 a day.”
Yi Ke waved his hand dismissively. “Round it up to six thousand. Have my dad pay.”
Yi Guodong walked in from outside the room, holding a huge bouquet of flowers. “I’ll pay, I’ll pay.”
Pei Yuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He didn’t disturb the father and son’s private time and politely took his leave after completing his rounds.
From the moment his father entered the room, Yi Ke’s apple-crunching had slowed down, because he found it a bit hard to understand. “Who brings red roses to see their son?”
“I went to the flower shop in our neighborhood. The young owner, Shen, recommended them. He said you have him deliver Ecuadorian red roses to the house regularly, so you must really like them,” Yi Guodong said. “I think they look nice too, so I bought a bouquet. I’ll give them to your mom when she comes later. Son, you’ve got good taste!”
Yi Ke air-dropped the apple core into the trash can and, while wiping his hands, offered his opinion. “So you actually came empty-handed. Honestly, that’s not much better than bringing roses.”
“You and your,” Yi Guodong ignored that topic and leaned in for a closer look. “Why are you wearing a diamond earring while hospitalized?”
Yi Ke turned his head to dodge. “Because I want to maintain a positive and optimistic attitude and look radiant even in my time of illness.”
Yi Guodong smacked him on the head, laughed and cursed, then asked, “Where’s Ningyu? Didn’t he come?”
At the mention of this, Yi Ke’s voice immediately filled with the thick sorrow of abandonment. “He came, but he left right after his physical. He didn’t even come to see me.”
“So what if he didn’t see you,” Yi Guodong comforted him. “You’re not much to look at anyway.”
The son’s fault lies with the father’s teaching. What did he mean, not much to look at!
Yi Ke decided to demonstrate on the spot what qualified parental love looked like. He skillfully dialed a number. The moment the call connected, he switched topics. “Mom, Captain Zhuang was right next door doing his physical, but he left right after and didn’t even come visit me in the hospital.”
Ms. Deng immediately empathized, sucking in a sharp breath and asking incredulously, “Really? He didn’t even visit our baby?”
Yi Guodong put a hand to his forehead.
Yi Ke said with satisfaction, “Actually, it’s not—”
Deng Zongyun: “Here, here, Ningyu, you tell him yourself.”
Yi Ke’s expression froze. “Wait, Mom, where are you!”
Zhuang Ningyu’s voice came from the other end. “Director Deng is in my office.”
Yi Ke: “…”
Zhuang Ningyu: “I’m sorry, but I had to rush to the Order Maintenance Department for a meeting, and you were still in the examination room.”
Yi Ke: “…”
Yi Guodong: “Ningyu, it’s alright. Xiao Ke gave me the phone. He needs to be on oxygen now.”
Yi Ke really was on oxygen. He breathed it for two hours with little effect, then grabbed a copy of Critique of Pure Reason from the bedside bookshelf, trying another method to find peace of mind. Reason does not generate any concepts, at best it can only free the concepts of the understanding from the unavoidable limitations of a possible experience and thus try to extend it beyond the limits of empirical things. Okay, still no peace. His mind bounced back and forth between Zhuang Ningyu and Kant, but in the end, the former won out. So, he quickly shooed his parents, who were being lovey-dovey in his room, away and, as if nothing had happened, cleared his throat and made a call.
After it connected, a light chuckle came from the other side first. Although he knew the laugh was mostly teasing, Yi Ke’s heart shamelessly softened for a moment. “Finished with the mission analysis meeting?”
“Yes.” Zhuang Ningyu tidied his desk with one hand. “The meeting contents will be uploaded before the end of work tomorrow.”
Yi Ke looked at the wall clock. “So are you coming to see me now?” He quickly added, “I haven’t had dinner yet.” Then he added an addendum to that addition, “I don’t eat hospital cafeteria food.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “Then starve.”
Yi Ke: “Come on, come on.”
“No time.”
“Then I’ll come find you.”
Five seconds later, a young nurse’s exclamation was heard. “Mr. Yi, where are you running off to in a hospital gown and slippers, carrying our IV stand?”
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
A light rain pattered across the city, misty and steamy, like being in a humidifier.
At 5 PM, well before closing time for most offices, the South Gate was already congested with rush hour traffic. Zhuang Ningyu didn’t drive. He scanned a shared bike, holding the handlebar with one hand and putting in his earbud with the other. “Yes, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
The owner of the private kitchen hung up the “closed” sign, went back inside, and continued to watch over the “gurgle, gurgle” clay pot in front of him. The aroma filled the kitchen, and a layer of fog formed on the window, through which a dim, warm light shone. An extended Maybach was parked across the street. A few minutes later, the owner’s phone rang. He swiped to answer. “Brother Fu… treating friends? Probably not these couple of days… I’m still on vacation, the shop isn’t open… The lights are on because Ningyu forced me to come make soup for him. He throws a fit if I don’t… He should be here soon… Forget it, I haven’t eaten either. Why don’t you come in, we can whip up a few simple dishes?”
Fu Han smiled. “No need, thanks.”
He hung up but didn’t have the driver leave, continuing to wait. A dozen or so minutes later, Zhuang Ningyu indeed rode his bike into the frame. His hair was a bit wet from the rain, and his hands and face looked paler than usual from the cold. He looked impossibly beautiful. His movements were agile; he bent down and slipped into the half-open restaurant in a flash.
Ten minutes later, a green-plated ride-share car squeezed with difficulty into the small alley. Zhuang Ningyu sat in the car holding a kraft paper bag. “Andao International Medical Center, thank you.”
The driver was very familiar with the roads in this area. He weaved through streets and alleys, even following a pickup truck along a construction site road for a stretch, and managed to get his passenger to the destination without much traffic. At a little past 7 PM, the hospital corridor was quiet. Hearing footsteps, two round heads peeked out from the nurse’s station. The young nurse greeted him, “Teacher Zhuang, you’re here!”
“This is for you.” Zhuang Ningyu placed a large box of strawberry cake he had brought specifically for them on the counter. “Yi—”
“He’s in 1111!” the young nurse answered, grinning. “Thank you, Teacher Zhuang, we won’t be polite then!”
The door to the hospital room was ajar. The moment he heard Zhuang Ningyu’s voice, Yi Ke had completed a series of complex procedures: fixing his hair, straightening his hospital gown, arranging his posture against the headboard, and casually grabbing Critique of Pure Reason to start reading. The bedside lamp had also been specially adjusted, the light like a twilight shrouded in rosy mist, setting the mood perfectly.
Zhuang Ningyu flicked on the eye-friendly ceiling light. “Stop acting. Tidy up and get ready to eat.”
Yi Ke: “…Oh.”
The caregiver deftly set up his small dining table and helped open the food containers. This private kitchen was most famous for its stews. The matsutake, lily bulb, and free-range chicken had been simmered until tender and flavorful, the aroma wafting through the air. Yi Ke tried to warm his slightly cool hands but failed, so he could only crunch on the cartilage. “I just finished reading the files from Yangcheng.”
The situation was largely as Zhuang Ningyu had previously speculated. Zhao Jiaxue had walked into Yin Bar out of curiosity while waiting for Song Guan to get off work one day. There, she met Tong Yishuai and, one-sidedly, fell in love with the masked boss at first sight. Initially, this affection brought about mostly positive changes for her: she started working out, focusing on beauty, trying to earn more money, and engaging in more social activities. Her circle of friends expanded, and she did indeed become more cheerful.
At that time, Tong Yishuai’s persona was perfect to a fault: wealthy, handsome, elegant, mysterious, with almost no flaws. Once, when Zhao Jiaxue was being harassed by some hooligans at the bar entrance, he even stepped in to help her. For Tong Yishuai, it was just a coincidence of passing by, but for Zhao Jiaxue, it was a fairytale-like magical beginning.
“She had never been in a relationship before. To fall for a top-tier expert of the bar scene like Tong Yishuai right off the bat, it was indeed hard to resist.” Zhuang Ningyu helped Yi Ke clear the bone plate from his table.
Although Zhao Jiaxue’s looks did not meet Yin Bar’s usual aesthetic standards, as long as one was willing to pay, there was plenty of hypocritical and shallow cheap affection to be found in Yin Bar. The promoters saw the girl’s secret feelings for their boss and intentionally or unintentionally guided her to fall deeper, in order to earn more commission. The medical touts from Star Beauty also saw their chance, persuading her that she could get a “minor adjustment” to become even more beautiful.
“Zhao Jiaxue wasn’t convinced at first. She wasn’t ugly to begin with, and looked even better with a little makeup. Coupled with the promoters’ flattery and the alcohol-soaked environment, she was completely immersed in the joy of becoming a ‘beauty’ and had no interest in the medical touts.”
But this intoxicating happiness came to an end when she discovered she hadn’t received an invitation to the Doll Party. The fake shell was shattered by reality. During that time, the internet was flooded with handsome men and beautiful women showing off their invitations. After each list was announced, the social media of the invitees would be flooded with thousands of followers. Zhao Jiaxue refreshed the webpage over and over again, and finally took out the business card with the Star Beauty logo from her bag.
She didn’t want to take out an online loan, so the medical tout introduced her to a “modeling” job. At the photoshoot, an assistant photographer gave her instructions, but the poses became stranger and stranger. Zhao Jiaxue vaguely felt something was wrong and was about to refuse when a man’s greasy, fleshy hand was suddenly placed on her thigh.
Zhao Jiaxue was scared out of her wits, screamed, and ran for her life. Fortunately, she was not further harmed. Afterward, she went to the Star Beauty tout to demand an explanation, but the other party claimed to know nothing about it. Zhao Jiaxue had little social experience and didn’t dare ask her family for help, so she was almost helpless against such shameless thugs.
“Zhao Jiaxue was raised very strictly. She didn’t want to call the police, fearing that those photos and the final scene of being molested would be edited out of context and posted online. The other party was very good at psychological manipulation. Seeing her hesitation, they immediately used a mix of coaxing, deception, and threats, saying that as long as she didn’t report it, they would delete the video and keep everything a secret. Otherwise, they would use editing techniques to make her the ‘star’ of a foreign adult film.”
Zhao Jiaxue eventually agreed not to pursue the matter, and the other party pretended to format the memory card in front of her.
The incident passed “peacefully.” Zhao Jiaxue was traumatized by Star Beauty, but it didn’t stop her from continuing to be infatuated with Tong Yishuai. In fact, due to the psychological trauma, she became even more attached to the gentle comfort of the promoters at Yin Bar. As the anniversary approached, she decided to put aside major cosmetic procedures for the time being and use her savings to get hyaluronic acid and botox injections at another beauty salon.
“She was very satisfied with her face after the minor cosmetic procedures. By then, the invitations had all been sent out, but Zhao Jiaxue still decided to confess her feelings to Tong Yishuai on the day of the Doll Party. A promoter she was on good terms with thought she just wanted to come for a drink and figured that with all the lights and music, the boss wouldn’t notice an extra person. So he told her that if she didn’t have an invitation, she could climb over the low wall on the southwest corner. There was an internal service road there that led directly to Yin Bar’s basement.”
The night before last, when Zhao Jiaxue finally, trembling, told the investigators about this, Qiu Meng in the jeep had also rushed out immediately, roaring, “Quick! Everyone! Follow me!”
Five years ago, Zhao Jiaxue had entered the bar without an invitation. So five years later, this hidden rule most likely still applied, and indeed, it did. The members of the Order Maintenance Department passed through the white mist and successfully broke through the wall at the southwest corner. This was a loophole in the rules.
Zhuang Ningyu said, “Zhao Jiaxue had actually never seen Tong Yishuai’s face from beginning to end. Just as you said, the mask gave every admirer infinite possibilities. What she fell in love with was most likely just her own imagination.”
Unfortunately, the one involved is always blind. At the time, Zhao Jiaxue didn’t think she had fallen in love with a fictional character. She gathered all her courage, holding the most beautiful expectations, and pushed open the silver door of the third-floor office area, only to be met with extreme humiliation.
Zhao Jiaxue recalled tearfully, “When he first saw me, he was clearly stunned. Then… before I could even finish my confession, he flew into a rage and threw a wine bottle from the table at me.”
Half a bottle of XO nearly hit her in the head. Before Zhao Jiaxue could recover from the shock, Tong Yishuai had already grabbed her by the collar. The words that came from behind the mask were as cruel as sharp knives—”bitch,” “slut,” “take a look at yourself”… The insults, mixed with references to reproductive organs, were a hundred times more vulgar than any street hooligan. Zhao Jiaxue stood there, completely stunned and terrified. Then, Tong Yishuai grabbed a glass of mango juice from the table, pinched her chin, and tried to pour it into her mouth.
Zhuang Ningyu said, “To this day, Zhao Jiaxue still can’t understand why Tong Yishuai suddenly went crazy.”
Yi Ke picked meat from a pile of soup dregs. “It means she didn’t understand Tong Yishuai at all. You definitely can.”
Zhuang Ningyu could indeed understand. For Tong Yishuai, the anniversary night was his final masterpiece. To ensure this masterpiece was flawless, he had to meticulously craft every single detail himself. Letting You Hong be a part of it was already a disruption to perfection. Who knew that besides You Hong, another person would sneak in—Zhao Jiaxue, a plain-looking, disgusting, unforgivable, and nameless crazy fan.
Zhao Jiaxue thought Tong Yishuai had humiliated her, but in Tong Yishuai’s eyes at that moment, the one who had been humiliated was probably himself.
Yi Ke said, “Zhao Jiaxue said there were two glasses of juice on Tong Yishuai’s table, one full, one half-full. I guess the half-full one was the poison prepared for You Hong. In his rage, Tong Yishuai tried to feed the poisoned juice to Zhao Jiaxue, just like his plan for You Hong—kill her, then push her out the window, as if they had never appeared on the anniversary night. But in his agitation, he mistakenly grabbed his own glass.”
Zhao Jiaxue used all her strength to push Tong Yishuai hard against the wall and ran out of the office. She was truly terrified, her mind a blank. She fled blindly into the fire escape, and after falling, her legs were almost too weak to get up. Then, through the crack in the door, she saw a familiar figure.
You Tu.
According to the police files, the sequence of events at Yin Bar that night, from first to last, was: the poisoning of the patrons on the first floor, You Hong’s poisoning and fall, the fire on the third floor and Tong Yishuai’s death, and the fire on the first floor. So, among those who were present at Yin Bar, had the opportunity to start the fire on the first floor, and had a connection to the bar, the only one left was indeed You Tu.
Yi Ke asked, “How are things on his end?”
Zhuang Ningyu watched him drink the soup. “Captain Qin is still questioning him. I now deeply suspect that ninety percent of You Tu’s original testimony was fabricated. Spreading salacious rumors about his own mother, he’s this.”
Yi Ke chuckled and reached out to pinch the tip of the little finger Zhuang Ningyu had extended.
Zhuang Ningyu pulled his hand back. “Eat your food!”
After Yi Ke finished eating, Zhuang Ningyu didn’t call the caregiver, but helped him pack up the food containers himself. “You should rest early then.”
Why is it time to rest already! Yi Ke grabbed his hand. “Read with me for a while.”
Zhuang Ningyu glanced at the Critique of Pure Reason on his bedside table. “I can’t understand it.”
Yi Ke immediately tossed Kant onto the carpet and eagerly suggested they read something else instead of critiquing.
Zhuang Ningyu was pulled down to sit on the edge of the bed.
The books on the bedside shelf, according to the nurse, were left by the old gentleman who stayed here before—a whole collection of Hegel, Kant, and Wittgenstein. Zhuang Ningyu felt sleepy just looking at the titles. But it didn’t matter, since Yi Ke hadn’t kept him here to read anyway. He wrapped his arms around Zhuang Ningyu’s, rested his chin on the other’s neck, and pressed his whole body against him, complaining righteously, “Ten minutes, and you’ve already tried to run away five times!”
Well, didn’t I fail every time? If I’d succeeded on the first try, there wouldn’t have been the other four. Zhuang Ningyu tried to pull his hand back, but Yi Ke immediately started wailing in pain, weakly reminding him like a teary-eyed kitten meme, “My ribs are broken.”
“Your ribs are broken and you’re still not resting!” Zhuang Ningyu said. “Let go.”
“I won’t.” Yi Ke dawdled, hugging the arm in his embrace even tighter. He felt the atmosphere tonight was good, so he decided to push his luck. But before he could speak, Zhuang Ningyu squeezed his non-broken ribs, and the sour pain instantly made him lose his strength.
Zhuang Ningyu got up to run.
Yi Ke lunged and hugged him from behind.
Zhuang Ningyu was about to burst into tears in the hospital room. Is he crazy? He cursed, “Do you want to keep your ribs or not!”
Yi Ke had no time to worry about his ribs. Pain was just pain. He pulled the person back onto the bed, using his hands and feet to trap him, refusing to let go. “Change your phone wallpaper to me!”
Zhuang Ningyu found this change of topic bizarre. “Why?”
Yi Ke was like a broken record. “Change it to me, change it to me, change it to me.” The more he said it, the more wronged he sounded. “You can even choose my dad, why can’t you choose me? My dad doesn’t like people using him as a wallpaper!”
Zhuang Ningyu was pinned and couldn’t move, mainly because he was afraid that if he moved wrong, this puppy’s ribs would go from cracked to displaced. He could only continue to be miserably clung to. “If you get off me, I’ll change Director Yi.”
Yi Ke: “Change it to me.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
Yi Ke: “You’re not even using my dad anymore, and you’re still not using me!”
Zhuang Ningyu: “Do I have to choose between you and your father?”
Yi Ke: “Mhm, mhm, mhm.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “Get off me.”
In the end, both sides took a step back. Yi Ke sent a cartoon Q-version picture of himself on his birthday as a child. Zhuang Ningyu, seeing that the thing kind of looked like Sonic the Hedgehog, reluctantly set it as his wallpaper, hoping to achieve a deep, compassionate peace for his soul—in just ten minutes, he had almost been driven to a nervous breakdown by the noise.
Yi Ke: “I want to eat braised pork ribs tomorrow.”
Zhuang Ningyu ran faster than a ghost.
Leaving Yi Ke behind to call out, “…no green onions.”
The two young nurses watched as a phantom blurred past them.
The wind it stirred up smelled nice.
After a moment, one of them muttered—
“Hey, doesn’t that smell like the cologne Mr. Yi was wearing tonight?”
