As Su Qingyu's thoughts swirled, a tribute card appeared in the white smoke.
A Vacheron Constantin 4605F automatic mechanical watch.
Su Qingyu put on the watch.
The strap was red, and the dial was inlaid with sparkling real diamonds.
The time displayed was 9:07.
Su Qingyu's tense expression relaxed slightly. Fortunately, she had burned a pile of luxury goods.
There were no windows in this room.
Su Qingyu looked at the book, frowning.
The text in the book was completely illegible, like a string of gibberish.
Su Qingyu flipped through the book and found a love letter inside.
She unfolded the love letter, and the text inside was legible. The handwriting was neat, full of affection.
「Baby, I want to see the brilliance of a shooting star falling, I want to brew a cup of hot new tea in early spring, I want to read a book about longing, and I want to ask you, will you be with me?
Saying "I love you" directly felt too heavy. Saying "I like you" felt too simple. It's a pity I can't draw, otherwise, I would have painted you into every scene I've ever seen.」
Signed: Xiao Hei.
Su Qingyu remembered the third rule.
【You are a good child, and good children are not allowed to date early.】
This love letter must be hidden; Mom and Dad cannot find it.
Where should the love letter be hidden?
This question was a bit troublesome.
The trash can was empty; throwing it in would be too obvious.
The space under the bed was pitch black. Su Qingyu's intuition told her it was best not to touch such dark places.
The bookshelf was full of books. Su Qingyu saw a book titled 《Guide to Cat Behavior Habits》.
A bookmark was tucked inside the book, a photo of a girl hugging a black cat.
The rules mentioned that Mom disliked anything related to animals, so she likely wouldn't open this book.
And Dad, being male, wouldn't casually enter his daughter's room.
To be safe, Su Qingyu folded the love letter in half and tucked it into the 《Guide to Cat Behavior Habits》.
After doing all this, Su Qingyu glanced at the time again.
It was now 9:18.
Shuangxi stood silently beside Su Qingyu. As long as Su Qingyu didn't speak to it, it remained silent, like a lifeless doll.
It was just a one-star instance, yet it was full of crisis.
At this very moment, the 【Sweet Home】 instance descended upon the world.
There had already been casualties of varying degrees.
Some people saw their homes suddenly change appearance, opened the door to leave, and disappeared down the corridor, never to be seen again.
Others treated "Mom and Dad" as a prank, shouting at them, only to be devoured.
Still others entered the study room early, leaving behind a scream and a pool of blood, disappearing without a trace.
The ways of death were bizarre and varied.
At 9:30, Su Qingyu picked up a book and a pen and walked out. Where there was no room before, a closed door now appeared.
She could tell it was the study.
Pushing open the study door, a chilling aura rushed towards her.
The study was pitch black, still without windows.
Only the computer on the desk emitted a faint light.
Su Qingyu turned on the study light.
With a "click," the entire study lit up.
Su Qingyu moved the mouse and opened the computer.
On the computer, a female teacher wearing glasses and a black tight-fitting uniform was lecturing.
The teacher spoke in understandable words, pointing at the gibberish.
This teacher was explaining the meaning of each piece of gibberish!
Su Qingyu realized this lesson was very important.
She needed to master the ghost language.
Therefore, Su Qingyu listened carefully, took notes, and kept an eye on the time.
Mid-lesson, Su Qingyu suddenly saw two figures in the computer's reflection on the screen.
Mom and Dad were standing silently behind her!
They were staring intently at her!
She absolutely could not look back now.
The rules mentioned that Dad had high expectations for her. From watching TV, Dad hoped she would study diligently.
So, she absolutely could not look back or get distracted now.
Even if she was faking it, she had to appear as a diligent student.
Su Qingyu forced herself to continue listening to the lecture.
Time ticked by, and the mechanical watch on her wrist gave Su Qingyu a sense of peace.
She sat until 12 o'clock, and the feeling of being watched from behind disappeared.
Shuangxi whispered, "Master, they have left."
Su Qingyu massaged her sore neck, pulled a piece of paper from under the mousepad, and stuffed it into her pocket.
She walked out of the study. It was past 12 o'clock, and the study had not disappeared.
Looking into the study from the outside, it was too dark to see anything.
Su Qingyu looked away.
Outside of study time, the study did not exist.
The open door directly facing her bedroom door was a bit unsettling.
It was like a gaping maw, ready to devour anyone who entered.
Arriving in the living room, Su Qingyu looked at the hanging clock. The time on it was consistent with her watch.
Mom was cooking in the kitchen, holding a bone knife that gleamed coldly as she looked at the big bone on the cutting board.
Dad was still sitting on the living room sofa watching TV.
However, the TV was broadcasting news about migrant workers demanding their wages.
Grandma's wheelchair was moved from one side of the balcony to the other.
Her younger brother had not yet been seen in the house.
The rules indicated a connection between her younger brother and Grandma.
Given the uncertainty about whether the rules were compromised, Su Qingyu dared not approach Grandma rashly.
There were two and a half hours until her online class in the afternoon.
Su Qingyu wanted to return to her room to look at the paper she had just obtained.
Dad suddenly spoke, "Dinner will be ready soon, don't go back to your room."
Rule two.
【Dad has sacrificed a lot for this family, don't refuse Dad, he's under a lot of pressure. If you refuse, you can act cute with Mom.】
The first part stated that Dad's request could not be refused. The latter part said she could refuse by acting cute with Mom.
This was a contradictory rule.
Mom was cooking in the kitchen. If Su Qingyu disturbed her now, it wouldn't be the behavior of a "good daughter."
Therefore, she could only agree to Dad.
"Okay, I'll go back to my room after dinner."
Mom prepared four dishes and one soup and brought them to the dining table.
A plate of stir-fried greens, a plate of stir-fried pork with green peppers, a plate of braised pig's trotters, and a bowl of tomato and egg soup.
There were no rules known regarding food.
However, without seeing all the rules, Su Qingyu dared not eat anything casually.
Dad wasn't eating. Instead, he took out a bottle of wine from under the table and drank it.
As he drank, he inserted the bottle opening very deep, and a slippery, crimson tongue emerged from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing Su Qingyu not picking up her chopsticks, Mom asked with concern, "What's wrong, baby? Don't you like this food?
You need to eat more meat. How can you grow without eating meat?"
After speaking, Mom picked up a pig's trotter and placed it in Su Qingyu's bowl.
Dad threw the wine bottle on the ground and slammed the table, "That's right, you can't let down your mother's hard work.
Do you know how difficult it is for me to earn money outside?
To pay for your schooling! To pay for your food! To pay for your clothes! When will you be able to earn money to repay us?"
Su Qingyu was extremely cautious about what Dad said.
From her previous observations, Dad was bad.
She couldn't eat just anything at this meal.
Su Qingyu clutched her stomach, channeling her inner actress, and squeezed out two tears, acting cute to Mom, "I love Mom's cooking the most, but I'm on my period today, and my stomach hurts, so I can't eat anything."
Mom immediately softened, "If you don't want to eat, then don't. Go back to your room and rest well."
Dad, however, threw down his chopsticks and roared in rage, "You just keep spoiling her every day! You've spoiled her rotten!"
Su Qingyu immediately retreated to her room and locked the door.
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