Chapter 42: White Mist in the Woods 7
The sky outside had already brightened considerably. A few birds flew south across the sky, their clear calls echoing through the mountains, making the surroundings seem even quieter.
“What are you thinking about?” Yi Ke asked.
“I’m thinking about He Yu,” Zhuang Ningyu said, sitting on the edge of the bed and patting his knee. “So far, she is indeed the most special one among all of us. Not like a guest, more like the nanny’s assistant.”
“You suspect He Yu has some connection to this house?” Yi Ke sat beside him. “But according to the information uploaded by the investigation team so far, she’s a native of Lucheng, grew up by the sea, and by the time she was admitted to Jincheng, Fengming Mountain Bay had already been relocated.”
Zhuang Ningyu hummed in agreement, pondered for a moment, then turned to look at him. “By the way, among your friends—”
“Are there any experienced motorcycle riders? Yes, I’m already looking for them,” Yi Ke skillfully finished his sentence, then chuckled. “What do you think? My identity as a rich second-generation is still somewhat useful, right?”
The wound on his face hadn’t healed yet. An unhealed scab, accompanied by some faint bruises, stretched his swollen muscles when he smiled, causing some pain. The way he frowned yet still looked smugly proud was rather comical. Zhuang Ningyu patted his head. “Sit up straight!”
Yi Ke didn’t really want to sit up straight, wanting to further establish his special status, but in the end, Zhuang Ningyu shooed him over to the work computer. A new message happened to come in at that moment. The sender was Bo Siyu. Zhuang Ningyu had some impression of this name—a famous foodie in Jincheng and also a shareholder in several restaurants.
“Is he the person you were looking for?”
“Yes.”
Coincidentally, Bo Siyu was not only a member of Zhou Huanchang’s motorcycle club, but He Yu had also worked part-time at his restaurant while preparing for her exams. Moreover, this person had some connection with Li Hao, and thus naturally knew Chu Feifei. Yi Ke made the call. “You’re so closely connected to the rule zone. Why don’t you just come in instead?”
Bo Siyu was lying on a beach, wearing shorts and holding a coconut, sipping leisurely. “That works too. I’ll come in and be your advisor, so you don’t spend so long without even a kiss—”
Zhuang Ningyu frowned slightly.
“I’m in a conference room!” Yi Ke interrupted him in time. “It’s on speaker.”
Bo Siyu’s smile froze on his face. He reacted for only a second before switching to a standard, announcer-like tone. “…so you don’t go so long without even the most basic balance between work and rest, working overtime every day. I know you’re dedicated to your job and happy to contribute, but as the saying goes, health is the foundation of revolution. You still need to rest when you should. I’ve already compiled the list of club members who frequently went to Qingquan Mountain over a decade ago. I’ll send it over right away. As for He Yu’s information, the turnover rate for restaurant waiters is very high. I can only do my best. I’m quite familiar with Li Hao and his girlfriend. We drank quite a bit recently, but it was just drinking. As for their characters… they’re not bad, I guess. At least I haven’t heard any bad rumors about them in our circle.”
“Alright, keep an eye out for me. Contact me anytime if anything comes up,” Yi Ke said, hanging up the phone and looking up at Zhuang Ningyu. “That’s all.” Then, before the other could speak, he raised his hand preemptively. “Don’t be angry.”
Zhuang Ningyu asked, “If I get angry, are you going to slap me?”
Yi Ke paused, his hand still raised. “…I was going to swear that I have never teased you in front of my friends. Bo Siyu just has a big mouth, don’t listen to him. I’m very serious, very serious about pursuing you. My friends also respect you very much, really. They usually just laugh at me for my slow progress.”
Zhuang Ningyu pushed his hand down. “Someone’s coming.”
Thump, thump! Footsteps approached from a distance.
Yi Ke peered through the old-fashioned peephole and saw the monster nanny holding a huge box, walking towards the end of the corridor.
The other tenants also noticed the unusual noise. Chu Feifei, wrapped in a blanket, whispered to her boyfriend, “Who… who is that?”
“The nanny. It looks like she’s holding a box of puzzles,” Li Hao said, standing at the peephole. “It should be the one for the birthday party.”
The monster nanny’s eyes were fixed straight ahead. She passed by everyone’s room and finally stopped at room 207 at the end, He Yu’s residence. She raised her hand and began to knock on the door, thump thump thump. The sound was as rapid as thunder, with no semblance of courtesy. Zhuang Ningyu said in a deep voice, “Xiao He, open the door for her!”
“Okay.” He Yu put down her communication device. With no time to hesitate, she took a deep breath, clenched her teeth, and pulled the door open. “Morning.”
At the same time, the doors of Qing Gang, Zhong Mu, and Zhuang Ningyu’s rooms also opened. Zhong Mu was closest to He Yu. She pressed one hand on the laser gun at her waist, ready to rush forward at any moment. But the next second, she saw the nanny extend both hands straight forward and shove the box crudely into He Yu’s arms! He Yu was caught off guard and stumbled back two steps. The box almost fell to the ground. The nanny quickly caught it, a look of displeasure instantly coloring her brows.
“I’m sorry!” Zhong Mu stepped forward in time to apologize on He Yu’s behalf.
The nanny’s eyes rolled up and down a few times. In the end, she did not continue her outburst, nor did she physically transform. Her expression slowly returned to normal. After handing the box over again, she turned and left. Seeing the others standing in the corridor, she didn’t forget to give a slight nod.
“Did you know her before?” Yi Ke asked after the nanny went downstairs.
He Yu’s arms were still trembling violently, partly from fear and partly because the box was really heavy. She answered with a mournful face, “Of course not.”
Zhong Mu helped take the box. Li Hao had seen correctly through the peephole. It was indeed a jigsaw puzzle. The box lid was painted with a classic illustration from The Wizard of Oz. It looked to have at least several thousand pieces and weighed dozens of pounds.
Li Hao, Chu Feifei, and Zhou Huanchang also came out of their rooms at this time. Everyone crowded into Qing Gang’s room, forming a circle to watch Zhuang Ningyu open the puzzle. Chu Feifei covered her eyes with her hands, peeking through her fingers. Li Hao didn’t understand. “What’s so scary about this?”
“Is it really a puzzle in the box?” Chu Feifei’s voice was very low. “Could it be… human tissue? For example, the dismembered body of Dorothy herself?”
The others: “…”
Zhuang Ningyu said, “Don’t worry, human tissue doesn’t make this kind of sound when shaken.” The ribbon was untied, and indeed, it was just a normal puzzle, a bit more high-end than the common paper version, made of metal and acrylic.
The instruction manual said it contained eight small bags that could be assembled separately and then put together, but now they were all mixed up. Zhong Mu said, “Jiajia probably tore it open to try, but couldn’t put it together, so the nanny needed to find an assistant.”
Li Hao felt immense psychological pressure looking at it. “This is too difficult.”
“It’s indeed not simple, but from the current situation, this is our only answer to leave the rule zone,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “Actually, it’s not so bad. Although the puzzle pieces are currently mixed together, we can still restore them to eight separate parts based on the colors on the back, to reduce the difficulty.”
“There are eight of us, and there are exactly eight bags of puzzles,” Li Hao asked again. “Does it mean that each person assembles one part first, and then we put them together?”
“The integrity of the puzzle is directly related to whether our mission this time is a success or a failure,” Zhou Huanchang said, looking at Zhuang Ningyu. “Not a single piece can be missing.”
Zhuang Ningyu could read between the lines. If among the eight people present, someone deliberately wanted to sabotage the birthday party and make the mission fail, they would only need to tear up or throw away one puzzle piece to easily achieve their goal. So the safest situation was actually to have only the four members of the Order Maintenance Department do the puzzle, not giving anyone else a chance to touch it.
Zhou Huanchang’s concern was not without reason. Although the vast majority of the public would choose to actively cooperate with the work of the Order Maintenance Department after entering a rule zone in order to get out safely as soon as possible, the probability was not one hundred percent. The criteria for this rule’s selection of ‘players’ were not clear. No one had “shown their cards.” In this situation, it was indeed necessary to remain vigilant throughout.
He Yu also asked, “So are we going to divide the puzzle now?”
Zhuang Ningyu shook his head. “No.”
“How is everyone supposed to do it if we don’t divide it?” Chu Feifei was puzzled. “It’s such a huge pile, and we only have a few days.”
Zhuang Ningyu said, “I’ll figure something out.”
He took the puzzle back to his room, calling Yi Ke, Qing Gang, and Zhong Mu along. The box and instruction manual were immediately sent to the investigation team. The price of such a large toy would generally not be cheap, and without brand backing, sales would probably not be very high either. If it had ever been circulated on the market, they might be able to try to find the buyer.
Qing Gang asked with great pressure, “Captain Zhuang, are we really just the four of us doing it? Not finding some helpers?”
Zhuang Ningyu corrected, “It’s not the four of us. It’s just you.”
Qing Gang was petrified on the spot. “Why?”
Zhuang Ningyu pressed one hand on his shoulder, raised his eyes, frowned slightly, and said with a solemn expression, “Because—”
Qing Gang stared back at him nervously. Because of what?
Zhong Mu couldn’t bear to watch his reaction speed. “Captain Zhuang, just stop teasing him.”
Qing Gang belatedly realized he seemed to have been tricked, but he didn’t quite understand how. He still looked confused. “Huh?”
Yi Ke coaxed him patiently, “Brother, why don’t you think about it again?”
Qing Gang was completely stuck in a dead end. “No, what are you guys talking in riddles for? Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi, as a fresh, youthful newcomer, don’t learn the bad habit of these old foxes who only speak half a sentence!”
It wasn’t until Zhuang Ningyu picked out the puzzle pieces, arranged them neatly in rows and columns, and had Zhong Mu take pictures to upload, that he finally reacted. Oh, take pictures and have the colleagues outside help put it together!
The rules only said to complete the puzzle, not who had to complete it. So it could be done by people inside the rule zone, or by people outside the rule zone, or even by a computer outside the rule zone.
“Captain Zhuang,” someone from the technical department called soon after. “We just discussed it. The fastest way is for you to lay out one bag of puzzle pieces and then not move it. We will use a computer to complete the matching as soon as possible and then send over a small program. You just need to click on a puzzle piece, and the four pieces above, below, left, and right of it will be displayed accordingly.”
“Okay. Eight bags in total.”
“Understood. Don’t worry, Captain Zhuang, we have enough time.”
“If we can’t move the puzzle pieces after laying them out, then this space is a bit small,” Qing Gang said, looking around. “How about this, we clear out Xiao Yi’s room, dismantle the bed and put it against the wall, and use it as a puzzle room. At night, Xiao Yi can come to my room to rest.”
Yi Ke had no objection to dismantling his own bed; in fact, he welcomed it. The wooden bed was easy to dismantle, and there were ready-made tools in their action backpacks. The two of them were busy in the room with a lot of “clanging” noises. The commotion was a bit loud. He Yu curiously stuck her head out. “What are you guys doing?”
Zhong Mu, who was leaning against the corridor watching the fun, replied, “Doing a puzzle.”
A puzzle? He Yu was obviously even more confused. She walked over and glanced into the room. “Does a puzzle require such a big production?”
Zhong Mu said with certainty, “It does.”
So He Yu didn’t say any more. After all, the Order Maintenance Department was still very authoritative.
Zhong Mu saw her frowning all the time and took the initiative to ask, “Still thinking about the monster nanny making you work?”
“Yes,” He Yu quickly replied. “Sister Zhong, do you know the reason?”
“It’s hard to say for now, but she just seems a bit rough. She doesn’t seem to have any real malicious intent towards you,” Zhong Mu said. “Don’t worry too much.”
He Yu nodded. “Feifei was also helping me analyze it just now. She said that among everyone, I’m the only one who looks relatively diligent, so the monster would ask me to tidy up the room.”
This wording should be Chu Feifei’s embellished choice. Saying “diligent” actually meant “easy to bully, easy to order around” in this specific context. Indeed, among the eight people present, if one had to pick who had the softest personality, He Yu looked the most like a pushover.
“Anyway, as long as she’s not deliberately targeting me, it’s fine,” He Yu said, seemingly not repulsed by her “pushover” persona. “If there’s nothing else to help with, I’ll go back first.”
The three men in the room also heard their conversation. After He Yu left, Qing Gang spoke, “We’ve been analyzing the reason she was chosen for the rule zone. Now it seems, could it be, as just said, really related to work?”
This birthday party seemed very important to Jiajia. Grandpa couldn’t help at all. If the nanny couldn’t handle it alone, she would indeed need to find a helper.
“Possible,” Zhuang Ningyu said, sitting in a chair, still studying the puzzle box. He couldn’t find a factory name or any quality inspection marks. He didn’t know if the investigation team could dig up a similar “unbranded” toy.
By the time the four of them had finished laying out one bag of puzzle pieces, it was already 8:30 in the morning. Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs again.
Zhong Mu and Qing Gang each slipped back into their rooms. A minute later, the monster nanny appeared pushing a food cart, coming to distribute breakfast to each guest. Zhuang Ningyu opened the food box and glanced inside. Steamed buns, buns with filling, fried eggs, green vegetables, porridge, and some small pickles—very normal dishes. Yi Ke stood at the door, watching the nanny deliver the food room by room. When she reached He Yu’s room, 207, there were no more food boxes, only a plastic bag containing two buns, one egg, and a carton of milk.
One couldn’t say it was abuse, but it was indeed more like an internal staff meal.
The table in room 202 was very small. With two adult men crowded together to eat, the space felt a bit cramped, but Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t send him back because room 201 had been completely dismantled of its furniture. The breakfast actually tasted pretty good. The salted duck egg looked sandy and oily. Yi Ke picked out all the yolks for Zhuang Ningyu, while he himself ate the pickled vegetable stems with his porridge. After chewing a couple of times, he looked up and asked, puzzled, “Why are you staring at me?”
Zhuang Ningyu replied, “Watching you eat so heartily.”
Since being transferred to the Dispute Resolution Department, Captain Zhuang’s regular meal companions had been reduced to two. Wu Tao was an incredibly picky eater. Qian Yue wasn’t picky, but he was a bit too not picky. In short, neither of them could achieve the visual effect of making their leader feel like he was watching a mukbang. But Yi Ke could. He “crunched” his way through half a small plate of pickles, making Zhuang Ningyu, who was sitting next to him, hungry just from listening.
Yi Ke swallowed the vegetables in his mouth and asked again, “Why are you laughing?”
Zhuang Ningyu slowly chewed on his bun. “Can’t I laugh?”
Yi Ke: “?”
In all their past interactions, he had always been the proactive one and had always been able to anticipate all of Zhuang Ningyu’s emotions. Now that their roles had suddenly reversed, Yi Ke was indeed a bit unaccustomed to Zhuang Ningyu’s unexpected laughter. He stared at him with a head full of fog for a long time, the more he looked, the less confident he felt. So he leaned a little closer, trying to figure out what was going on.
But this time, Zhuang Ningyu didn’t back away. The overly close distance between them made Yi Ke swallow all his words. For a moment, he was at a loss. Zhuang Ningyu, on the other hand, looked at his reddened earlobes, his bobbing Adam’s apple, and his slightly uneasy, apprehensive eyes, and finally couldn’t hold it in. “Pfft.”
Yi Ke belatedly realized, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you!”
Zhuang Ningyu asked with a smile, “What were you nervous about just now?”
Yi Ke had never considered the age gap between them a big deal and had long been accustomed to Zhuang Ningyu’s daily display of indulgence and speechlessness, as if he really had no way of dealing with him. But now, just now, he discovered that the other person did indeed have a kind of ease that belonged to an older person. With just a flick of a finger, he could easily take all the initiative.
He felt a subtle annoyance, which then developed into an annoyance tinged with a little bit of shame and anger. He looked up and saw the smile still in Zhuang Ningyu’s eyes, and simply lunged over to forcibly hug the person, threatening in a desperate, last-ditch effort, “Don’t laugh. If you laugh again, I’ll kiss you.”
Zhuang Ningyu didn’t tease him anymore. After all, there was a pile of work to do after the meal. So he nodded cooperatively. “Go on, eat.”
The redness on Yi Ke’s ears faded very slowly. Even after finishing the meal, a little bit of it remained. Zhuang Ningyu pretended not to see. A few minutes later, He Yu stood outside knocking on the door. She said, “Captain Zhuang, I’m here to collect the trays.”
“Did the nanny ask you to do it?” Zhuang Ningyu asked.
“Yes,” He Yu nodded. “There was a note in my breakfast bag that said to take everyone’s trays back to the kitchen.”
With the experience of working a few times before, she wasn’t so scared anymore. Before leaving, she remembered to remind them, “Oh, right, lunch is in the first-floor dining hall.”
“Okay,” Yi Ke said thanks. After locking the door again, he turned back to ask Zhuang Ningyu, “Grandpa won’t come downstairs. Will Jiajia eat with us?”
“She probably will. After all, the rules also said that Jiajia likes her new friends,” Zhuang Ningyu said, standing by the window and looking at the third floor opposite. Of the four rooms with curtains, three had been opened by now. Only the room in the corner still had its curtains tightly closed. It was unknown whether it was unoccupied or if the resident hadn’t woken up yet.
At twelve noon, except for Qing Gang who was guarding the puzzle, the others all gathered in the first-floor dining room one after another. The table was already laden with a sumptuous farmhouse meal. Jiajia, the little girl Yi Ke and He Yu had met in the woods, had indeed appeared, still wearing that blue and white dress and her hair in two small braids, sitting in her own special little chair.
Chu Feifei, Li Hao, and He Yu were unwilling to eat at the same table with her, but they didn’t dare to refuse, so they each chose the farthest seats. Yi Ke and Zhong Mu sat on the little girl’s left and right. The nanny had prepared a separate Western-style meal of oatmeal and vegetable omelets for Jiajia. She had a small appetite and ate very lightly. Only when her eyes met Zhong Mu’s at her side would she smile a little shyly.
Zhong Mu ladled a small bowl of soup and asked her, “Want some?”
Jiajia shook her head, then curiously scanned her “new friends” around her. Chu Feifei had been sneaking glances at her. When their eyes met suddenly, she was so scared she dropped her chopsticks and started coughing, bending over. Jiajia was obviously startled too. She jumped off her chair and ran out of the dining room. By the time Zhong Mu chased after her, the little girl had already run up to the third floor like a gust of wind.
The nanny came out of the kitchen, gestured to Zhong Mu that it was fine, and quickly prepared a new tray of food and carried it upstairs.
In the dining room, Li Hao said, “Look at you.”
Chu Feifei complained in a low voice, “I was scared, okay? Who knew she would suddenly stare at me like that? Didn’t Xiao He almost drop her chopsticks just now too?”
He Yu quickly defended herself, “I… I’m fine.”
“I also think that kid isn’t that scary,” Zhou Huanchang analyzed. “She’s not hostile either. Maybe she’s just too lonely and wants to have a group of guests to celebrate her birthday with.”
“Except for me,” He Yu corrected. After the meal, she still had to clean the dishes and tidy up the kitchen, which clearly had little to do with being a “guest here for a birthday.”
Zhong Mu said, “The nanny only asked you to do the cleaning, but she didn’t forbid us from participating. After the meal today, let’s all clear our own dishes. If the rules don’t stop it, then let’s not keep troubling Xiao He.”
No one else objected. After the meal, Zhuang Ningyu packed a portion for Qing Gang and took it up. Zhong Mu and Yi Ke carried the dishes and walked with He Yu towards the kitchen. The monster nanny was sitting in the courtyard. Seeing the crowd, she immediately stood up and gestured for the two to hand everything over to He Yu. Her tall and strong body was too imposing. When she looked down from above, there was almost no white visible in her eyes. The visual effect was terrifying and strange. Although she didn’t get angry about this, it was clear that she didn’t want anyone other than He Yu to do this work.
“I’ll just do these things myself in the future. It’s not that difficult anyway,” He Yu said in a low, mournful voice after coming out of the kitchen. “To avoid angering her.”
Zhong Mu didn’t want to cause any more trouble either, so she could only nod. “Then we’ll have to trouble you for the next two days.”
Yi Ke stood in the courtyard and looked up at the third floor. Jiajia happened to be leaning on the window looking down. When their eyes met, she “whooshed” and disappeared behind the glass.
She was a sensitive, fragile, and timid little girl.
