Chapter 109

Useless

"It's actually raining!"

The downpour came all at once. Ah Peng didn't care about getting soaked — he wanted every bottle and container out in the open to catch water. "Xiao Juan — the NPC you know is the real thing! Said it would rain, and it rained!"

"Wait!" Da Chang stopped him, carefully touching the raindrops falling from the eaves. No corrosion. No toxin.

He withdrew his hand. "This is a problem," he said, almost to himself.

"The water's bad?" The tension on every face sharpened at once. Even Curly Hair turned to look outside.

"No — it's the opposite. The fact that there's nothing wrong with it is what's frightening." He dried his fingertip. "You've all been in survival instances. When did you ever see rain this normal?"

Survival instance rain was always toxic, cursed, or carrying something carnivorous. Whatever it contained, it was never just rain.

Rain that was completely ordinary, appearing in a survival instance — that was the most alarming thing of all.

Curly Hair stopped herself from saying anything. She looked at the falling rain. A 3S instance that had ended up in a completely different world — from a certain angle, yes, that was unsettling.

They didn't have time to think further, because the roof started leaking.

A thick stream of water poured through a hole in the roofing and saturated the floor in moments. Everyone scrambled to patch the gap. They fixed one spot and another opened. After half an hour of chaos, the room had successfully become a water curtain cave.

"I'm actually not very good at repairs..." Ah Rou looked at the large hole she'd accidentally made worse, smile full of awkwardness.

"This place is uninhabitable." Hua Ba wrung out her clothes. "We're going to those abandoned buildings across the way."

The middle floors of those buildings, at least, wouldn't turn into waterfalls.

"Those buildings?" Ah Rou remembered someone seemed to be living in one of them.

"Yes." Hua Ba nodded. "I'm worried this place will flood soon."

"Then let's move." Ah Peng gathered the bottles and containers and ran out into the rain first.

The dirt path, after the downpour, was wet and treacherous. Curly Hair followed the players to the third floor of the abandoned building — the doors and windows there were in better condition; even the broken window had only a small hole in it.

She found a thick plastic bag and went to patch the gap, and found herself looking directly into a pair of eyes across the way.

The moment they realized she'd seen them, the eyes withdrew.

This wasn't the kind of place people lived. The furtive way they were behaving — whatever they were, they weren't respectable.

*

The man ducked back into the room, stepping over a floor full of instant noodle packaging. "I got a good look — three men and three women, all young. Happy to crouch in an abandoned building rather than go find honest work. Clearly nothing good."

"People are getting harder to fool these days," his companion chimed in. "Even the old grandfathers at the village entrance have anti-fraud apps on their phones. Those lot across the way — no background worth mentioning, otherwise they wouldn't be living in a ruin."

The boss stubbed out his cigarette, looked around at the others in the room, and let something ugly into his eyes. "Go negotiate a good price with the people trafficker."

"Got it, boss!"

"Those aren't worth much. The real money is the woman's daughter." He flicked the cigarette end into a corner. "That Chen woman runs a factory this size — even the city officials give her face. She's sitting on a pile of money."

"Boss — we've been following her daughter for days. School drop-off, school pick-up, there's always someone with her. We can't find an opening."

"If you can't find an opening, you have to create one." He stood and kicked the small folding table in front of him.

The table overturned, drenching him in instant noodle broth.

The underlings turned their faces in various directions, all urgently preventing themselves from laughing.

Useless idiots, all of them.

*

"Rain just keeps getting heavier." The six of them had spent considerable effort tidying the room, and were drenched in sweat again.

"If this were a school or office instance, I'd be mistaken for a beggar walking out like this." Ah Peng held his hand out the window, using the rain to wash it.

"Xiao Juan — with rain this heavy, if you're late getting back, won't the NPC who took you be angry?" He was a little worried.

"No." She sat on a plastic bag, nothing dignified about the scene at all. "Don't worry about me. I'm safe out there."

Clean hotel bed. Hot shower. Proper meals with vegetables and meat. Air conditioning. Most importantly: air conditioning.

Every time she brought them food and listened to them worry about her, she felt quietly guilty.

"Ding."

Everyone assumed it was a system notification and didn't bother.

"Ding ding."

Wrong — the system hadn't made a sound. So what was this? The five players who'd been lounging against the walls straightened instantly, the atmosphere going taut with cold, contained intent.

"Relax — it's my phone." Curly Hair took it out and opened her messages.

Why had Xiao Chao suddenly sent her three red envelopes in a row?

[?]

[Zhaozhao Mumuou: Sharing a good mood.]

What?

She was baffled, but her hands moved quickly — three envelopes, six hundred yuan total. Xiao Chao was generous.

"Xiao Juan — what are you doing?" Ah Peng was puzzled. A player's phone in this instance was about as useful as a brick. What was she tapping on it?

She didn't hide it from them. "Collecting red envelopes."

"Oh, collecting — HUH?!"

Collecting red envelopes?!

Five heads turned to stare at her.

Setting aside the question of why her phone was working — this was supposed to be a survival world. What was the concept of sending red envelopes doing here?

"Was it the NPC who took you?" Da Chang had always considered himself reasonably sharp. Since entering this instance, nothing he'd encountered made sense by any standard he had. "Is this instance actually legitimate?"

"You guessed right." She nodded. "This phone I'm using was also bought in this world."

Back when they'd entered the Kunlun company instance, each player had been issued a phone — those had been bought in this world too, technically.

"No wonder it can receive red envelopes — it's this world's product." Ah Peng scratched his head. He still had no idea what was going on outside.

When they first entered, all he'd been thinking about was food. He'd ended up stuck in this area before he had a chance to look around properly.

"Xiao Juan." Da Chang looked at the phone in her hand again. "The NPC you're with — what's their standing in this instance?"

"The kind that every person in Hanyue will treat warmly?" She smiled. "All you need to remember is that he's powerful, and that you absolutely cannot harm him."

Hanyue.

The players filed the name away.

"What would happen if we did harm him?" Ah Peng asked, curious.

She held his gaze for several seconds. Her tone was one they had never heard from her before. "You would die."

The room went quiet with the weight of that word, until her phone rang.

"Xiao Chao." She picked up fast.

"Me?" She heard that he'd finished work and was asking where she was, and she glanced at the others around her with a slightly guilty look. "I'm out and about."

The other players also tensed up.

They were dead. Xiao Juan had been caught wandering around with them, and the NPC had found out.

"You and Xu Chenzhu are both coming to get me?" Her skin went cold.

Xu Chenzhu.

Coming with Xiao Chao. To collect her.

She was just a hanger-on clinging to Xiao Chao's coattails. She didn't merit Xu Chenzhu making the trip.

"No, no." She got up from the plastic bag. "I'll be back soon — you and Xu Chenzhu go back to the hotel first."

After hanging up, she had a lingering sense that Xiao Chao had seemed different today.

"Go back now." The five players were worried she'd offend the important NPC. "The situation is still unclear. Getting on the wrong side of a key NPC won't help you. We've still got plenty of the food you brought — don't come tonight."

"All right — I'll come at noon tomorrow." She said quietly: "Watch the people in the other building. Something's off about them."

*

After she left, Ah Peng sniffed the air. There was a smell of instant noodles drifting over from across the way.

Was that from the other building?

Curly Hair walked downstairs. In the rain ahead, a man in a dark raincoat was approaching, carrying a large bag of instant noodles and sausages. Half his face was hidden beneath the hood, features obscured.

As they passed each other, she caught a strong smell of cigarettes and stale sweat.

He narrowed his eyes at the woman walking by without an umbrella. In rain this heavy and not even carrying a brolly — probably not all there.

*

"Xiao Juan says she'll get back herself — no need to go for her." Chao Musheng hung up and turned to Xu Chenzhu. "Your clothes and shoes are soaked — go shower and change first."

Xu Chenzhu's expression fell slightly. With Xiao Juan coming back alone, how would she know he and Zhaozhao were together now?

"What are you thinking about?" Chao Musheng watched him, smiling.

"Nothing." Xu Chenzhu's expression was, as ever, composed. His posture, as ever, impeccable.

He only wanted everyone to know that he and Zhaozhao were together.

*

Assistant Yang had organized the documents sent over by his colleague, printed and sorted them, and knocked on the boss's door.

When it opened, it wasn't the boss on the other side — it was Chao Musheng.

Chao Musheng glanced at the folder in his hand. "Assistant Yang?"

"Where's the boss?" Yang hesitated in the doorway. "There are some documents that need his signature."

"He's in the shower. Come in." Chao Musheng held the door open.

In a township hotel with no suite, stepping inside brought him immediately within earshot of the running water. He went to the chair by the window. "Consultant Chao — you finished early today?"

"The work went well."

When the bathroom door opened, Yang furiously semaphored at Chao Musheng with his eyes.

Consultant Chao — get off the bed. That is the boss's bed. How are you this bold?

He had not yet managed to convey his meaning. The boss was already out of the bathroom. Yang had no choice but to sit back down, defeated.

"Assistant Yang." Xu Chenzhu saw him in the chair and nodded.

"Boss — there are documents needing your signature." Yang stood, side-eyeing Chao Musheng — who had not only not gotten up, but was now lying face-down across the boss's blanket.

"Give them here." Xu Chenzhu took the pen, was about to sign — stopped. Turned to look at the person on the bed.

Over. Everything's over.

Yang's mind raced, trying to find a way to intercede on Chao Musheng's behalf.

"It's cool in here with the air conditioning on — cover your stomach with the blanket." Xu Chenzhu issued his instruction, waited for Chao Musheng to pull a corner of it over his navel, then redirected his attention to the documents.

Yang stared at the figure on the bed. The boss had already signed the first page before he registered what had happened.

"Sorry, boss." He hastily turned to the next signature line.

"It's fine." Xu Chenzhu finished signing and returned the pen. "Everyone's been working hard lately. Let's stay a few more days in Hanyue to rest."

"Understood, boss." Yang took the signed documents and walked out.

Was Hanyue some kind of rest and recuperation paradise?

When he turned to close the door behind him, he caught a glimpse of Consultant Chao sitting up on the bed and picking up the hair dryer from the nightstand.

Was he... drying the boss's hair?

Strange. The boss had never let any assistant do something like that on previous trips.

Something wild and improbable was beginning to form in his mind.

*

"There." Chao Musheng set the dryer down. "You want to stay in Hanyue a few more days?"

Xu Chenzhu nodded. "I want to do a more thorough investigation of the area."

Chao Musheng looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"The investigation is only what I'd tell others." Xu Chenzhu reached over and took the dryer from his hands, set it aside. "What I want is to stay near you a little longer."

What kind of couple confirms their relationship and immediately separates?

"All right then." He smiled. "I heard there's a shop outside the primary school that does a very good sweet potato jelly — let's drive over and try it after work tomorrow."

"It's a shame about today's rain." He looked at the window and the unrelenting downpour. "The project is moving well — we should be on schedule before Mid-Autumn Festival."

Mid-Autumn Festival.

Xu Chenzhu considered. An important festival for humans.

"Do you have plans for Mid-Autumn?"

A head shake.

"Then I'll take you back to my hometown for local specialties." He took out his phone. "Come to think of it — my hometown is only about five hours from here by car."

Hometown?!

Xu Chenzhu went slightly dazed. Was Zhaozhao proposing to bring him home to meet the family?

"All right." He was very deliberate about it. "I have absolutely no plans for Mid-Autumn."

Quietly, he opened his phone's search engine and typed: 'Bringing loved one home to meet family — what gifts are appropriate?'

Only twenty-odd days to Mid-Autumn. He needed to prepare properly. Make a good impression on the family.

Humans had always said relationships without family support don't last. He understood this very well.

Chao Musheng watched Xu Chenzhu's expression become suddenly and intensely grave, and gave a soft laugh. He opened the family group chat.

[Zhaozhao Mumuou: Ahem. I have an important announcement.]

Grandma replied first.

[Grandma: What is it? Shengsheng — I checked the forecast and Hanyue has a severe storm warning today. Be careful not to catch cold.]

[Chao Yin: ?]

[Grandpa: Grandpa's here — what does Shengsheng want to say?]

[Chao Dad: What big news? You're being very solemn about it.]

He glanced at Xu Chenzhu, whose grave expression had not lifted — the man was still staring at his phone. He sent the next message.

[Zhaozhao Mumuou: I'm in a relationship.]

A few seconds of silence in the group, then it erupted.

Grandma and Grandpa both asked at once — where was he from, was this person a good person?

[Zhaozhao Mumuou: He's from the capital. I'll bring him home for Mid-Autumn.]

[Grandma: Wonderful, wonderful — I'll keep the chickens and ducks for you to eat when you come.]

Chao Yin's response was more direct — a transfer of funds: relationship money.

[Chao Yin: Now that you've made up your mind to be in a relationship, be in it properly. Don't play games with feelings.]

Chao Yin sat at her desk reading her son's messages in the group. She gave a quiet sigh.

A he, not a she.

*

Dinner was at the hotel. The presentation was unpretentious and the ingredients unremarkable, but the cooking was actually quite good.

Xu Chenzhu picked up his phone and photographed the meal, then posted it to his social feed. To the untrained eye it looked like a simple dinner photo. But someone fluent in entertainment industry observation would have spotted the issues immediately: a second person's shadow in the drink cup, a hand visible at the bottom right corner — the two of them sitting pressed together, clearly close.

His social feed, unfortunately, consisted entirely of employees and business partners.

None of them could work out why Xu Chenzhu had suddenly posted such an unassuming dinner photograph. They answered the only way they knew: a flood of likes and compliments.

Praise for the food tasting good. Praise for Xu Chenzhu's frugal lifestyle. One person even praised his photography.

Nobody asked who he'd been eating with.

In the entire business world — who didn't know that Xu Chenzhu's personal life was as bare as a machine? Who would read a dinner photo as romantic?

After the meal, he checked the comments again. His raised mouth corners dropped two pixels.

A population completely without observational capacity.

"Still raining out — no walk tonight." Chao Musheng yawned.

"You didn't sleep well last night. Early to bed tonight." Xu Chenzhu pressed the elevator call button. When Chao Musheng stepped in, he followed and stood beside him, then reached out and quietly took his hand. His expression remained perfectly composed.

Feeling the movement, Chao Musheng smiled. He didn't pull away.

"Wait—!"

Curly Hair sprinted to the elevator, hitting the door-open button as it was closing. When she saw who was inside — and registered their joined hands — the popsicle she'd been eating dropped from her mouth and hit the floor.

She snapped back to herself and bent immediately to pick it up.

"Come in." Xu Chenzhu held the door-open button inside the whole time, his voice carrying an uncharacteristic gentleness.

She pressed herself into a corner. "Good evening, Xu Chenzhu."

"Good evening." He shifted slightly. "Have you eaten?"

"I — yes." She glanced up, saw the hands again, and looked away quickly.

"Good." He gave a small laugh. "Don't be strange about it. Zhaozhao is my boyfriend — holding hands is perfectly normal for us."

Curly Hair: ...

Big shot, I hadn't even said anything.

She swallowed. Carefully looked up at him, thought for a moment, and said: "I wish you and Xiao Chao a long and happy life together?"

"Thank you."

Something warm and red and substantial landed in her palm.

A red envelope?!

She stared, then looked to Chao Musheng with a helpless expression. Xiao Chao — can she accept this?

"You actually carry these?" Chao Musheng reached into Xu Chenzhu's jacket pocket and found — several more red envelopes.

"When you confirm a relationship, giving red envelopes to your partner's friends — isn't that the custom?" Xu Chenzhu's ear tips went red. "I'm only respecting the custom."

"That is not a custom." Chao Musheng extracted every single red envelope and put them in his own pocket. "Taking friends out to eat — that's what you do."

"Oh." Xu Chenzhu glanced at the one still in Curly Hair's hand.

Curly Hair put the hand holding the red envelope quietly behind her back. You're a CEO of this scale — surely you won't take it back now just because Xiao Chao said no?

"What Xu Chenzhu gave you — keep it." Chao Musheng smiled. "When the rain clears, we'll all go out for a meal."

Curly Hair nodded energetically. "Thank you, Xiao Chao. I wish you and Xu Chenzhu a sweet, happy love."

Anything less after a red envelope that thick would be impolite.

"Thank you." He looked back at the person beside him and saw, as expected: bright eyes, and upturned lips.

Outside, the storm continued unabated.

*

Ah Rou was roused from sleep by the smell of instant noodles drifting through the window. She got up and looked out — a light had appeared in the opposite building. Someone was cooking quietly.

She swallowed. She retrieved two bags of bread from the wall corner, opened the window, and vaulted across.

*

"Eating instant noodles every day — I'm nearly sick of the sight of them." A junior, dropping cabbage leaves into the pot, had a complexion greener than the vegetables. "This place is poor and backward. Not even anything interesting to do."

"Hold on a bit longer — heard that primary school is doing some kind of fair tomorrow. We can use that to get in and take the target." Another one added a sausage to the pot. "Keep your voice down. If the boss hears us cooking noodles at midnight, we'll be finished."

"You don't like it? I'll trade with you."

"In the middle of the night, stop whining like a girl." One junior kicked the other.

"I didn't say anything!" The kicked one was indignant. "That was you talking!"

"It was me."

In the window frame, a dripping wet head appeared.

Pale skin, dark hair plastered flat to the skull, hollow eyes — and those hollow eyes were staring at them steadily.

Both juniors went rigid with terror. Third floor. How was there a head in the window?

A ghost.

Fear at full intensity produces no sound.

The two juniors watched the ghost-head rise slowly in the frame. Their eyes rolled back. They collapsed.

"What's going on?" Ah Rou climbed over the sill, looked at the two people on the floor. World inhabitants really were fragile.

She checked their breathing — both alive. She put a bag of bread in each of their hands, then picked up the pot of finished instant noodles and left.

In a survival world, she hadn't robbed or hurt anyone. She'd traded.

They were lucky to encounter someone as principled as her.

*

"Boss — there's a ghost!"

The next morning, the two juniors woke, found the bread in their hands and the empty pot on the windowsill, and scrambled to the boss in a panic. "We need to leave — this place is cursed!"

"What happened?"

They told him the full story. He gave a cold laugh. "You're saying a ghost appeared just to steal your instant noodles — and then returned the pot?"

What kind of ghost was this reasonable about it?

"Get out of here!" He threw the bread at their faces. "Go get me those people. If you don't get it done today, you're both out."

Making up this kind of excuse just to be lazy. Absolutely useless.

Just like those vagrants across the way. Equally useless.