Chapter 30: How’s That for a Slap in the Face?
As Hu Yifei walked over without issue, the fatty no longer hesitated and hurriedly followed. Staring at the two strange compasses in front of him, he gulped and turned to Chen Yuze: “Bro, these compasses must be worth a fortune, right? Can we take them?”
“Did eating crow at clog your brain? These are part of the chanism—how are you supposed to remove them? And who knows if touching them will trigger so other nasty trap?” Hu Yifei also studied the compasses curiously. Truth be told, she had never seen ones like these before, she had only ever seen the compasses belonging to Chen Yuze and Old Hu. But these were enormous, with a radius of about twenty centiters including the inner directional markers and outer nurals. They looked like two small millstones, made of stone. What use would they even be?
Chen Yuze shot Hu Yifei a sidelong glance. She had just cursed with gusto, and now, as Old Hu joined them, all four stood at the end of the corridor, facing the strange door with its two compasses and stone arms. Having rested enough, Chen Yuze slowly stood up.
He approached the door, examined the compasses, then glanced at Hu Yifei. Before she could figure out what he ant, he placed his hands between the two discs and gave them a sharp twist. With a click, the compasses detached from the door.
In Chen Yuze’s hands were now two compasses—specifically, the outer halves of each, while the central eye patterns remained on the door. He weighed them in his hands. Sothing had felt off to him earlier.
Hu Yifei and the others might not have noticed, but Chen Yuze had been close to the compasses the whole ti. When he pressed the eye symbols earlier, he sensed the discs pop out slightly—though it was subtle, and since the others were too far away, they hadn’t seen it.
“Heh. Face hurt?” Chen Yuze smirked, holding up the compasses as he looked at Hu Yifei. “Next ti, if you don’t know sothing, maybe don’t spout nonsense. Pretty embarrassing, huh…”
Hu Yifei’s gaze turned murderous. “I’ll… give you one chance to explain yourself. Better choose your words carefully, Xiao Zezi.”
“Sorry, my bad. I got carried away.”
Chen Yuze imdiately switched to playing dumb and backing down. Compared to survival, a little humiliation was nothing. But if he pissed off Hu Yifei, he could already picture the miserable future awaiting him. Besides, there was no sha in yielding to her—after all, everyone in Love Apartnt had to bow to her sooner or later.
Right now, machismo was irrelevant. If he made Hu Yifei lose face, she’d make sure he lost all his dignity. After weighing the options, surrendering was the smarter move.
“Hmph. Good. I’ll let it slide this ti. Now open the door.” Hu Yifei nodded in satisfaction and issued her command.
“Yeah, got it.” Chen Yuze stepped forward to open the door, looking like a bullied victim, his face full of grievance, like a wronged little wife.
Old Hu and the fatty exchanged amused glances. The dynamic between Hu Yifei and Chen Yuze was… odd. At first, they seed like just teammates, but later, it felt like their relationship was closer. Now, it appeared even more complicated than they’d imagined.
Chen Yuze studied the double doors, then the stone arms holding the compasses. He waved at Old Hu. “Co help pull these arms.”
“No problem.” Old Hu and Chen Yuze each grabbed one of the stone arms while Hu Yifei and the fatty watched from the side.
“A little help?” Old Hu glanced at the other two.
“I’m just a delicate, helpless woman. How could you expect to handle manual labor? Shouldn’t you three n be ashad? I’ll stay here and cheer you on—consider it a morale boost. Go for that MVP!”
Hu Yifei retreated to the side. The three n’s faces darkened. They decided to just ignore her. “Delicate, helpless woman”? Which part of that applied to her? Yifei, stop lying to yourself.
“Got a problem with that?”
“Nope, nope! You just rest, elder sister. Leave the dirty work to us.” The fatty quickly backtracked—he’d already experienced Hu Yifei’s wrath, and his arm still ached from it.
Hu Yifei’s expression didn’t soften. She barked, “Then what are you waiting for? Open the damn door!”
“Right, right!”
The three n didn’t dare protest. Exchanging glances, they began pulling at the arms with all their strength.
“Co on, you can do it! Push harder! Perseverance leads to victory!” True to her word, Hu Yifei cheered them on from the sidelines—though the trio’s expressions suggested they weren’t exactly thrilled. She looked downright gleeful, as if mocking their struggle.
“Rumble…” The doors slowly creaked open under their combined effort. Hu Yifei could now see a narrow gap.
“Put your backs into it! Are you three really this weak? It’s just a door!”** She taunted, eyeing the tiny gap—too small for even her to slip through.
Chen Yuze and the others fud. Weak? Pathetic? This was an outright insult to their manhood! Fueled by indignation, they redoubled their efforts, forcing the doors wider.
“Good, good! Not bad. Sure, you’re all embarrassingly frail, and the way you three clung to those arms looked extrely sus, but the result is what matters. Gold star for effort.” With the doors finally open, Hu Yifei dropped the cheerleading and switched straight to sarcasm.
“Piss off!” Chen Yuze rolled his eyes exhaustedly. Engaging with her was pointless, Hu Yifei was a force of chaos, and arguing only made things worse. Right now, they were spent. Stone doors weren’t easy to move, no matter how casually she dismissed it.
Hu Yifei kicked each of the three n where they sat on the ground. “Quit playing dead. It’s just a door. Move it, Adventure Tomb Raider Hu Yifei is coming through!”
“Hold on—even slave drivers give their workers a break! We’ve burned through so much energy already!”Chen Yuze blocked her.
Reviews
All reviews (0)