Strange, did I take a wrong turn?
Shi Liaoliao glanced at the unlocked storage room, recalling and confirming the directions the waiter had given her earlier when she asked for the way.
That’s right, this is the place.
The room was small, with a few metal cabinets standing alone in the dim light. There were no windows.
And no guard.
Just as Shi Liaoliao was about to step back and double-check the room number, footsteps suddenly sounded behind her.
“What are you doing here?”
A familiar voice followed immediately. Shi Liaoliao turned her head and saw Lu Yanzhou, who seemed to belong to a different dimension compared to the shabby room.
When his tea-brown eyes looked over, the warm light cast an illusion of deep affection.
【So handsome, Yanzhou. I wonder if someone this handsome is just as vulnerable as everyone else when taking a shit.】
Lu Yanzhou: “…”
He was truly fed up with Shi Liaoliao’s habit of bringing up shit and piss every three sentences.
Yet, despite this person who couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning bodily functions, she appeared extremely respectful on the surface and asked him, “Young Master, you didn’t have to come here yourself. You could have just called me.”
Lu Yanzhou casually waved his phone. “It’s out of battery.”
He then pointed at Shi Liaoliao. “Yours is out of battery too.”
Shi Liaoliao lowered her head to look.
【Wow, so accurate. How did you know?】
Lu Yanzhou thought helplessly, guess why my phone is out of battery.
Shi Liaoliao stepped toward Lu Yanzhou. “I—”
She had barely started speaking.
A dark figure suddenly flashed past the doorway, followed by the door slamming shut with a loud “bang.” The clear sound of the lock clicking into place echoed in their ears.
Lu Yanzhou reacted first, his eyes sharpening as he turned and kicked the door.
Shi Liaoliao: 【That door is made of iron, but your foot isn’t, Yanzhou.】
With that kick, the iron door dented inward, and the entire doorframe trembled.
Shi Liaoliao: !
【Damn, Yanzhou! You look like a skinny dog, but you’re actually strong!】
Wanwan: 【………How can someone as thin as a lamppost like you have the confidence to call someone with an inverted triangle physique and a narrow waist a skinny dog??】
Before Lu Yanzhou could land another kick.
Trouble arrived.
The already dim lightbulb overhead suddenly emitted a crackling sound of electricity, and the next second.
The light flickered off with a “snap,” plunging the entire room into darkness.
Shi Liaoliao’s first reaction was to rush toward Lu Yanzhou.
【Ah! Who the hell is messing with me? Don’t they know Lu Yanzhou is afraid of the dark!!】
She tried to turn on her phone’s flashlight, but the screen remained dark. Only then did she remember that this damn fruit phone drained its battery quickly and was now completely dead.
【Damn it, I’m switching to a certain brand’s Mate 60 when I get back. Leading the way!】
“Young Master!”
Before Shi Liaoliao’s eyes could adjust to the darkness, her hurried forward movement caused her leg to collide hard with something solid, bringing tears to her eyes from the pain.
But Lu Yanzhou’s condition was even worse. He had almost silently pressed himself against the wall, curling up, and Shi Liaoliao could hear his increasingly heavy breathing as she drew closer.
“Young Master?”
Shi Liaoliao couldn’t help but reach out toward him.
“Don’t… touch me.”
A hoarse voice, filled with unmistakable fear, reached her.
Shi Liaoliao withdrew her hand. “Okay.”
Once her vision fully adjusted, she plopped down on the floor, not caring whether her suit would get dirty.
The spot where she had been bumped earlier throbbed faintly. She took a deep breath, and once her vision fully adjusted, she could clearly see Lu Yanzhou’s posture at that moment.
He was crouched on the ground, his long legs propped up, elbows resting on his knees, head drooping weakly, fingers trembling faintly.
Lu Yanzhou feared darkness—this was the first and most important thing the old steward had told Shi Liaoliao about Lu Yanzhou before his passing.
The specific reason the old steward hadn’t explained, only informing Shi Liaoliao that since his mother’s suicide, Lu Yanzhou even needed lights on at night, insisting the house must remain brightly lit at all times.
After moving into dormitory number thirteen today, Shi Liaoliao had also discovered candle holders in various corners, numerous ones, clearly prepared as a precaution against power outages.
Lu Yanzhou’s heart felt as if it were being squeezed, his vision repeatedly darkening, forehead densely soaked with cold sweat.
“Say… something.”
He spoke with difficulty.
Across from him, Shi Liaoliao withdrew her scattered thoughts and asked in return, “What would you like me to say?”
【I don’t know any dirty jokes】
Lu Yanzhou: “…Anything, jokes or such…”
Observing his reaction, Shi Liaoliao suddenly leaned closer, disregarding Lu Yanzhou’s instinctive resistance, abruptly grabbing his wrist.
Lu Yanzhou tried to break free, but he was currently weak all over, utterly powerless, and could only submit to the person before him.
He wondered, is the little manservant taking advantage of me?
Her palm touched something hard, and amidst the repeatedly darkening vision, a faint light suddenly emerged.
Multicolored, like flowers blooming abruptly in the gloom.
Shi Liaoliao’s hand released, and then Lu Yanzhou saw clearly what it was.
A bundle of glow sticks bound together with tape.
In a sudden lift of his head, aided by this faint light, Lu Yanzhou simultaneously saw clearly the little manservant’s reddened eye circles, as if she had cried, the corners of her eyes tinged with pink, her usually icy gaze now moist and soft.
She cried…
Why?
Because she didn’t want to tell me jokes?
“How do you have this…”
Wanzi: 【………When did you remove this thing from your leg】
Shi Liaoliao ignored it, instead looking at Lu Yanzhou, not answering his question but asking in return:
“I’ve thought of a joke, would you like to hear it, sir?”
With light, albeit faint, Lu Yanzhou’s condition improved somewhat.
At least the chest that had nearly suffocated from frantic throbbing had calmed down, and his hands no longer trembled as before.
“Alright…”
He quietly lowered his gaze, looking at the glow sticks in his hand. His usually noble and unapproachable demeanor softened, his refined face nearly gentle.
“One day, Xiaoming had a nightmare. He tried hard to open his eyes, exerting great effort until he finally opened them.”
“But he couldn’t see anything.”
“Guess why?”
Lu Yanzhou’s thoughts were somewhat sluggish at that moment, but after a brief silence, he spoke: “He died.”
Shi Liaoliao: “Because he opened his asshole.”
Lu Yanzhou: “”
Didn’t you say you don’t know dirty jokes?
Seeming to sense her sir’s speechlessness, Shi Liaoliao coughed lightly.
“Sir, the person earlier might be retaliation from those few at the banquet. Their target should be me, and you were implicated because of me.”
“I’m sorry.”
【Annoying, I could have claimed work-related injury for this, but now it’s implicated the employer】
Lu Yanzhou’s lips curved slightly upward.
Taking advantage of the dim light, he gazed unabashedly at the person before him.
Though not quite 180 centimeters tall and not particularly robust in build, the little manservant possessed a stubborn resilience, as if afraid of nothing.
When faced with injustice, he would quietly seek revenge; if in a secluded place, he would openly defend himself with a butt-poking stick.
“Many people hold prejudices and misunderstandings about you. Does that make you sad?”
Lu Yanzhou suddenly spoke softly, posing a somewhat untimely question.
Shi Liaoliao didn’t know how the topic had suddenly shifted here, but he still shook his head obediently. “No.”
【What a joke】
【If the world kisses me with pain, I’ll kiss it back with my tongue. If the world flips me off, I’ll just sit right on it. If the world slaps me across the face, I’ll cry out: Daddy, more please~】
Lu Yanzhou: “…”
Knowledge, attempting to infiltrate my brain in such a despicable manner.