When they arrived ho, it was already 6:30 PM.
The madam and the younger son had already finished their supper, but when the madam asked Su Xiaoqian to bring so dinner over for her older son, she also didn’t forget her loving husband. She especially didn’t touch half of the dishes for her husband, particularly the small rats dipped in sauce that he really loved to eat. Furthermore, when the master was not there with her to enjoy the al, she was not even tempted to touch her chopsticks and take so of his, only devotedly waiting for him to eat his share.
Despite it being the autumn season, the food was still hot the mont the master had arrived. And after finishing his dinner, he went up to his study to read a book, just like yesterday.
After the master’s departure, Li Hao and the others all gathered into a room and asked, his voice full of uncertainty, “What happened to Liu Kui? How co only the two of you had returned? Where did he go?”
“Liu Kui, he…Liu Kui is dead.” Recalling Liu Kui’s dead and decapitated corpse, Lu Tianyi couldn’t help but choke up from the gory mory. His throat inadvertently closed up as he told everyone with great difficulty, “It was because I couldn’t help him that he was violently killed by the master.”
Lu Tianyi’s emotions were understandably in a stir, so Bai Yan graciously explained to everyone what had happened on behalf of Lu Tianyi.
One by one, everyone’s hearts fell after hearing this tragic story. Yesterday, no one died. They thought that they could peacefully survive the seven days if everyone were careful, but Liu Kui’s untily death was like a painful slap to the face for all of them, letting them know that people would never be truly safe inside the ga.
“By the way, there is one more thing we need to tell you. Lu Tianyi and I heard a lot of information about this family at the club. They all said that the youngest son of this family died a few years ago. An Qing, today, when you went into the young master’s room to tell stories, did you perhaps find anything strange?” Bai Yan asked.
As expected, after their discussion had ended, Zhu Fugui pulled Bai Yan aside as if he had sothing on his mind, making Bai Yan feel rather down.
What gave him the illusion that I was a kindhearted person that liked ddling in other people’s business?
Despite saying that in his heart, he still needed to know about other people’s troubles.
The survival of the villa staff was directly related to his workload as a butler. When Liu Kui died, he had to temporarily take over as the driver. Zhu Fugui was in a dark state of mind right now and if he died in vain, it would be him who would be handling the dead mice tomorrow!
So, even knowing that he was not a suitable ntal trash bin where one could dump his thoughts and worries, Bai Yan warmly patted Zhu Fugui’s shoulder and softly asked him, “What’s wrong?”
“Brother, I don’t know how to explain.” Zhu Fugui’s voice trembled as he spat the words out, making Bai Yan take this a little more seriously.
“Don’t worry and just talk slowly.”
“I… I was preparing the madam’s al during noon, and when she had finished eating, she called for and ordered to contact the delivery company because she owed the delivery company a sum of money. After that, the madam had left a series of calls that were about the number I should contact and as I returned to the kitchen, I tried to call the number using my phone.”
Speaking of which, Bai Yan noticed that Zhu Fugui’s shoulders were stiff and there was sweat pouring from all parts of his body, seeping out of his slightly damp clothes.
“Lao Zhu, what are you afraid of? What was the problem when you called?” Because Zhu Fugui stopped here and didn’t continue, Bai Yan might as well pat his back to comfort him, slightly urging him to continue.
“Phone…that phone…”
As he was getting to the part of the phone, Zhu Fugui’s face suddenly turned a sickly ash-gray color, “I went back to the kitchen and called the number, telling them that we would be paying them back. But as a result, this person… This person was extrely frightening! I was so scared that I could barely move…This person’s voice was so terrifying!”
“His voice is terrifying? What did he say?” Bai Yan asked intently.
“He, he said…he said, ‘I(1), will, find, you, tonight!'”
The person used 我 (wo), instead of 俺 (an).
Zhu Fugui didn’t speak Mandarin(2), but the strange thing was that he rembered every single word clearly from that phone call. He accurately repeated the words on the other end of the phone, his face filling with absolute panic while trembling nonstop, “He said that he’ll co and find tonight!”
Zhu Fugui has been using a Northern Chinese dialect while everyone has been using Mandarin Chinese. Although the words they use are mostly the sa, there are so variations when he’s talking, like instead of using 我 (wo) to refer to himself, he uses 俺 (an).
“After that, I was so scared but I still went to the madam. The madam ordered to wait by the villa’s gate at midnight and soone from the delivery company will co and collect the paynt. To think that the madam didn’t even give a single cent to hand over! Are they really going here to collect the paynt in the middle of the night?”
When Zhu Fugui finally stamred out the last few words of his story, Bai Yan realized that this wasn’t just a small matter.
To minimize the risk, he promptly called Lu Tianyi over to the conversation and got him on the sa boat.
During their ti at the club, Bai Yan found out that Lu Tianyi had a strong sense of justice. Because his other teammates tragically died too, he loved to ddle in other people’s business, hoping that it wouldn’t happen again.
Personally, Bai Yan liked nosy people the most. For one, he didn’t need to worry about being stabbed in the back by this kind of person. Secondly, if soone had encountered a bit of trouble, this person would surely help them. Although Bai Yan has been troubled by Wang Ze’s sudden death until now, he had to admit that it was the best to use compassionate people.
Zhu Fugui couldn’t stop shaking from fear as he tried to retell the story again. Fearing that Zhu Fugui would stop breathing, Bai Yan inford Lu Tianyi of what Zhu Fugui had told him before.
After listening to what happened, Lu Tianyi frowned instantly, “Earlier when we were having a group discussion, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Soone already died today. I was afraid if I had told everyone about this, they would even be more depressed.” Zhu Fugui said, convinced by his thoughts, “Plus, the room had young won in it. Wouldn’t they have trouble sleeping if they knew about this?
“You can’t do this. It doesn’t benefit anyone if you hold back on this kind of problem.” Lu Tianyi had trouble letting out harsher words. Seeing that Zhu Fugui was frightened by this, he let out a sigh, “Soone could die from this if you didn’t inform us beforehand. In the future, don’t hide anything from us. Everyone can share their opinions or advice and can even help you shoulder the burden.”
“I, I know.” Zhu Fugui sullenly nodded his head and said anxiously, “Brother, please help out, what should I do for tonight? Should I go or should I not?”
If he didn’t go, it would result in imdiate termination by the madam. But if he did go… to settle the debt at midnight, with the madam not giving him a single cent, anyone would easily see that there was sothing wrong in this situation.
In the rules of the ga, the servants were required to complete all of the villa owner’s tasks. Even if they knew that the task will lead them to death, they still must go and try. Lu Tianyi couldn’t think of a way out of Zhu Fugui’s quest. Fortunately for them, the delivery man, who brought the cat, dog, and mouse at, would co to the villa tonight. Lu Tianyi had firmly decided to ask the driver about it, maybe they could ask the driver and gather more clues.
To not miss the delivery, the three restlessly sat on the steps of the villa’s front door, slowly passing the ti by casually chatting and comforting Old Zhu.
Soon, it was already eight o’clock and the delivery truck arrived right on ti, parking in front of the villa’s gates.
As the others unloaded the goods, Bai Yan, who had talked to the driver the night before, slowly approached the strong dark-skinned man and asked, “Brother, my friend called your company using his phone and said he would pay the owed sum. The people from your company said that they would co find my friend tonight and our madam had also asked him to wait here at midnight. It’s nothing to be concerned about right?”
“Using his cell phone?” The dark-skinned man eerily revealed his set of pearly white teeth, saying aloud, “Your friend can’t be saved. Just let him quietly wait for his death tonight.”
Seeing that Bai Yan wanted to follow up another question, the driver impatiently shouted, “Your friend will surely die! If I were you, I would move on and find new friends. I already knew with just a glance that you are a person that doesn’t have many friends. If you don’t find so more as soon as possible, you won’t have any friends left.”
Did he have to say it? My friend will have an untily death!
Being ridiculed by the dark-skinned driver, Bai Yan’s dignity seed to have taken a blow. Yet, no matter how irritated he was, he couldn’t just insult him then go back imdiately. Instead, he continued to have a polite conversation with the driver.
However, just like yesterday night, the dark-skinned driver refused to answer his other questions, not acknowledging them no matter how much Bai Yan brought them up.
Grimly staring at the dust the delivery truck left behind, it wasn’t only Bai Yan, but all three of them sunk into despair.
In particular, Zhu Fugui, whose face showed nothing but pure sadness, had simply given up hope.
“It’s over, I’m going to die!” His nose started to sniffle as he unexpectedly started shedding tears.
Zhu Fugui, a strong man who was at the pri of his life, had stayed positive ever since he ca to the ga. Even if he usually panics towards smaller concerns, he doesn’t let himself easily show his distress to not affect the ladies in the team, fearing that he would also make them as anxious as he was.
After hearing what the dark-skinned driver had said, Lu Tianyi was left utterly speechless. He quickly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and handed it over to Zhu Fugui, also taking a cigarette for himself.
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