Chapter 24
In a warmly decorated Western-style house, with steaming hot food on the dining table, a group of people sat around the table. If not for being in a horror game, this would have been a perfect leisure time.
But Cheng Da’s words from the evening were still fresh in their minds, so no one was in high spirits. The atmosphere during the meal was somewhat cold and silent.
As Jiang Liu was eating, a pair of chopsticks reached over and placed a piece of pork rib in her bowl. She turned to see Xiao Si’s eyes sparkling as she presented the rib like a treasure.
She looked at the heaping pile of food in her bowl, and an indescribable emotion welled up from the bottom of her heart. A thought she had deliberately ignored and refused to consider finally resurfaced.
Xiao Si seemed a little too attentive to her.
Zhao Ziming’s words echoed in her ears. Jiang Liu’s chopsticks paused, and a sense of bewilderment rose in her heart.
Chen Si, Yang Caisi, and now Xiao Si—the three of them treated her in vastly different ways, yet there were subtle similarities in certain details. What was their relationship?
Yang Caisi.
Jiang Liu silently repeated the name. It was as if someone had thrown a stone into the calm lake of her heart, sending ripples spreading out, making her feel agitated.
Her momentary distraction was noticed by Xiao Si. The light in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by a hint of bitterness that was difficult for others to detect. “Is it not to your liking?”
Jiang Liu pulled herself out of her chaotic thoughts and couldn’t help but look down at the person beside her.
Xiao Si was beautiful. Her watery eyes were slightly red, as if she were terrified of hearing a single word of rejection from her.
Faced with such an expression, Jiang Liu’s heart was in turmoil. For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything to refuse. She could only take a large bite of the pork rib and give a thumbs-up in praise. “It’s delicious.”
Just a single compliment made Xiao Si beam with joy. She couldn’t hide her smile and became even more diligent in serving her food.
Zhao Ziming, who had witnessed everything from across the table, was speechless.
Why does the atmosphere feel so strange?
He wanted to ask the others what they thought, but when his gaze swept to the left, he saw Zhang Xiaochen diligently fulfilling his mission, discussing flower care techniques with Li An’an.
Looking to his right, Xu Meng was in a daze, chewing on a single mouthful of rice for what seemed like an eternity, lost in her own thoughts.
As for Cheng Da—that kid was still passed out on the sofa!
Zhao Ziming sighed. He knew he couldn’t rely on anyone.
Eyeing the most delicious part of the sweet and sour fish—the belly—Zhao Ziming’s eyes darted around, and he decisively went for it.
But unexpectedly, an ambush came out of nowhere—
One second, Xiao Si was speaking softly to Jiang Liu; the next, her chopsticks had accurately knocked his away, landing on the piece of fish first.
“Sister Liu, have this.”
A series of question marks popped up above Zhao Ziming’s head.
They were all players, so why was she showing such preferential treatment! Was it really because Jiang Liu was better looking? But did you forget you’re an NPC! Shouldn’t your primary task be to make things difficult for the players?
He resentfully shoveled rice into his mouth, making a ruckus as if he were in a fight, trying to attract some attention.
His little scheme did succeed in one way: Zhang Xiaochen gave him a huge eye-roll.
As for the two across from him, they acted as if they were deaf, completely ignoring him.
Zhao Ziming deflated. He could only brainwash himself into thinking that he should be content just to have something to eat.
After all, in previous instances, he never had this kind of treatment. If you didn’t prepare your own food, you would genuinely starve to death!
After the meal, Li An’an took a watering can and went to the balcony. Finally freed, Zhang Xiaochen let out a sigh of relief and quickly sidled up to Jiang Liu. “What are we going to do tonight?”
If they didn’t deal with them, this house full of plants would be the death of him!
Jiang Liu, having just eaten her fill, was in a rare good mood. She stood by the window with a cup of tea to aid her digestion and said nonchalantly, “We’re not staying here tonight.”
Zhang Xiaochen was astonished, and his admiration for Jiang Liu rose to a new level.
This was a true Big Shot! Unflappable in the face of disaster, and she had even figured out a safe place to stay in such a short time!
He was so moved he was on the verge of tears. Just as he was about to ask where they could go to avoid these potted plants, he saw Jiang Liu gesture toward the balcony with her chin. “Is she talking to someone?”
Zhang Xiaochen glanced back and saw Li An’an squatting in front of the potted plants, talking to herself. He waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, she’s just muttering to herself about why the leaves have turned black, that it must be because she didn’t take good care of them or something.”
He had heard these things all afternoon until his ears were calloused. Especially when Li An’an would stare at the flowers and shed a tear or two, it was driving him crazy.
At this thought, Zhang Xiaochen couldn’t help but shiver. “If she knew we were the ones who burned the flowers, she might come at us with a kitchen knife.”
The woman was completely obsessed. He had been on edge all afternoon, terrified of letting something slip by accident.
“What kitchen knife?”
A curious voice suddenly came from behind. Zhang Xiaochen, already feeling guilty, was so startled he nearly jumped. He relaxed when he turned around and saw it was Xiao Si.
Jiang Liu turned around and saw that Xiao Si had already washed up. She was wearing a loose nightdress, and the ends of her medium-length hair were still dotted with water, hanging precariously over her collarbone.
Her appearance was identical to Yang Caisi’s, but the feeling she gave off was completely different.
Recalling Yang Caisi’s stern and unsmiling expression when they first met, Jiang Liu couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile.
“He was sleepwalking last night, hacking at the tables and chairs with a kitchen knife. He’s afraid you’ll find out.”
Xiao Si’s mouth dropped open. She looked at Zhang Xiaochen in astonishment and subconsciously took half a step back, her expression clearly saying she couldn’t believe he had such tendencies.
Zhang Xiaochen stammered, “…Huh? Me again?”
Wasn’t it Jiang Liu who had broken it with the knife?
Being stared at by him, Jiang Liu didn’t blush or pant, showing no guilt for lying.
Seeing Jiang Liu like this, Yang Caisi’s lips unconsciously curved into a wide smile. A moment later, realizing it was inappropriate, she forced it down and suppressed her laughter to chime in, “No wonder when I was cooking tonight, I found all the kitchen knives were dull. Luckily, there were spares.”
She paused, then added pensively, “But sleepwalking with a kitchen knife is quite serious. Have you considered taking some measures? Like tying yourself up or something…”
Zhang Xiaochen: “????”
Are you so love-struck that you’ll believe anything Jiang Liu says? Who in their right mind sleepwalks and hacks at wood with a kitchen knife? Isn’t that what a psycho does?
He opened his mouth, about to defend himself, but Jiang Liu stepped forward, pushed him aside, and cut in, “We’ll keep an eye on him. But An’an, does she really like flowers that much?”
A single sentence successfully diverted Xiao Si’s attention. She completely forgot about the bewildered Zhang Xiaochen and also looked toward the balcony.
“An’an does like flowers and plants, but she was never this fanatical before.”
She was a bit puzzled too. After thinking for a while, she guessed, “Perhaps it’s a case of being influenced by her surroundings, assimilated by the people here?”
After all, living in a town full of flowers every day, it was normal to become interested in these things.
Her tone was casual, as if she were used to this phenomenon.
Hearing this, a spark of insight flashed through Jiang Liu’s mind. She quickly seized this fleeting thought and asked curiously, “Are the other people in town all like this?”
Although she had indeed seen every household growing flowers, wasn’t it too strange to say that everyone was so fanatically devoted to them?
Xiao Si nodded earnestly. “Yes. I heard that there were originally plans for tourism development here, with many commercial projects planned. But because the townspeople were unwilling, the work was forced to stop and was changed to building a garden instead.”
She pointed to a direction outside the window. From here, they could vaguely see the bright lights at the garden entrance.
“I found it strange at first too, but after coming here, I realized that everyone really loves and protects the flowers and plants. There are never any gardeners in the garden; every day, residents voluntarily go to water and fertilize. It’s like their second home.”
Xiao Si smiled. “Isn’t it heartwarming?”
Jiang Liu neither nodded nor denied it, simply changing the subject. “You mentioned unfinished projects, like that children’s playground?”
Xiao Si seemed not to have expected her to bring this up. After a brief daze, her expression returned to normal, her tone a little surprised. “You know about that playground too?”
She took out her phone, quickly typed a line of text, and then handed the webpage that popped up to Jiang Liu.
“This is a guide I looked up before coming here for tourism. It mentioned that playground.”
Jiang Liu skimmed through it. The phone displayed a travel guide for this place, with most of the content describing the garden scenery, urging all kinds of flower lovers to come and check it out.
But as she continued to scroll, a picture suddenly jumped out.
It was of the two old swings in the playground, taken at dusk. There were no streetlights around, and at first glance, it looked dilapidated and desolate, standing out starkly amidst the pages of vibrant flowers.
Xiao Si quietly observed Jiang Liu’s expression. Seeing her face remain unchanged, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Sister Liu is so brave. I was startled when I first saw this picture.”
She looked a little embarrassed, her face slightly red as she pointed to the photo and explained.
“They said that when this playground first started construction, it caused a huge sensation. Everyone was very excited. But for some reason, the townspeople disagreed with continuing the construction and insisted on starting to build a garden.”
Later, the matter escalated, and the developers had no choice but to temporarily abandon that area, which is how it became what Jiang Liu had seen.
Jiang Liu fell into deep thought after hearing this.
If they wanted a garden, why did they agree to build a children’s playground in the first place? Such a large project would require careful consideration from multiple parties, precisely to avoid situations like this.
What made them change their minds? Was it related to the townspeople’s fanatical flower planting?
Jiang Liu was lost in thought and naturally didn’t notice that Xiao Si, beside her, had at some point looked away from the phone and was staring at her without blinking, her expression a mix of joy and sadness.
Ding-a-ling…
The vibration in her pocket brought her back to her senses. She looked down; it was eleven o’clock.
“Why did you set an alarm so late at night?” Xiao Si asked, watching her movements with a puzzled look.
Jiang Liu patted her head. “I forgot to tell you, Zhang Xiaochen has a distant relative here. We arranged to visit tonight, so we won’t be staying here. You should get some rest early.”
In the time it took to say that, Zhao Ziming had already hoisted the unconscious Cheng Da onto his back and was pushing Zhang Xiaochen and Xu Meng toward the door.
Their movements were so swift that Xiao Si was stunned for a moment. “Huh? A visit this late at night?”
Jiang Liu, with her back to her and her feet not stopping, waved her hand coolly. “Don’t worry, they won’t mind.”
These ‘relatives’ were much more interested in going out at night, after all!