Zhou Yu raised his head and glanced at Hannah Zahn quietly, as if he felt that her words were quite subtle. Luo Binhan was not in the mood to understand whether there was a pun in this English sentence. He almost eagerly pushed Zhou Yu into the guest room.
"I'll help him pack his luggage." He said against Yu Xiaorong's gaze, "I'll be out soon."
"Don't wait too long," Yu Qingshu warned, "You can clean up after dinner. You have plenty of time anyway."
"We will clean up quickly." Luo Binhan said. He closed the door and put Zhou Yu's suitcase aside. Before Zhou Yu asked the question, he waved his hand to tell him not to say anything irrelevant.
"You see the blond girl" he said.
"I mean Hannah."
"You know her"
"I just introduced you outside the door. Is there anything wrong?"
Luo Binhan declared sadly: "She is my sister's accomplice."
"I guess it means being my sister's friend."
"She is a friend who works for the tiger." Luo Binhan emphasized, "Every time she appears suddenly with a smile, she is doing something bad for Yu Xiaorong on time."
Zhou Yu looked at him without hesitation, and suddenly asked: "Has Jing Huang contacted you since he left?"
"No. Why do you ask?"
"……nothing."
Luo Binhan waved his hand, as if to brush the topic aside. Visitors from outside the world didn't matter to him. He only had one thing on his mind at this moment.
"We have to reconcile our confessions before dinner." He said firmly, "Sooner or later, Yu Xiaorong will come to you to inquire about my situation."
"...I just need to say I don't know everything, right?"
That is indeed a way, especially when Zhou Yu adopts a concealment strategy, his serious and unsocial face always makes people believe it easily. On the contrary, if Zhou Yu was asked to make something up out of thin air, Luo Binhan thought that he would not be able to do it very well.
"But you still have to know something." He explained, "I will tell you a little bit. If any of them ask about my experience in Africa, you can just say that I hired a few local guides to wander around. Don't To answer any question about travel souvenirs, you can say that we never give any travel souvenirs to each other. We still have to agree on a time for my return. Just last Monday, at nine o'clock that night, I suddenly called you to tell you that I Came back, and then you came to my house to meet me. The date was fine, I checked there were flights to Africa on that day."
Zhou Yu agreed to his request, but hesitantly asked him if it was necessary. Luo Binhan asked him in surprise: "What else should I do? Tell them that I didn't actually go to Africa?"
He imagined the scene when he told Yu Qingshu everything, and couldn't help but shudder. It's hard to say what steps his mother would take, but she would probably try to contact a mental hospital first.
"...Try to tell your sister something?" Zhou Yu asked, "She seems to be more accepting of this kind of thing. It doesn't matter if you tell her a little bit, right?"
"No." Luo Binhan said flatly, "If you let her get a little bit of pancake edge, she will roll around and roll herself all the way to the middle."
Zhou Yu stopped talking, perhaps imagining Yu Xiaorong trapped in a giant pancake. Luo Binhan hurriedly checked a few dates with him, as well as a few made-up African stories that could be used as a last resort. He lowered his voice to confirm all this, although it was unlikely that Yu Xiaorong was spying on him under her mother's nose.
When Luo Binhan felt that it was basically safe, he started to really help Zhou Yu pack his luggage. This job is very simple, because Zhou Yu brought very few things, including a few sets of clothes, some toiletries, and a work computer in a handbag. Luo Binhan didn't even find a journal to kill time with.
"It seems you really don't plan to stay here long." He said, taking Zhou Yu's toiletries and putting them in the bathroom. When he came out, he found Yu Xiaorong wandering back and forth at the door of the guest room. Hannah Zahn was not with her, but Leo was lying on his side on the floor at her feet, brushing his little master's ankles with his tail.
As soon as Luo Binhan saw it, he suddenly remembered that he had not heard any movement in the study room before - Leo always barked at any new guest for a long time, not necessarily out of defensiveness or hostility, but just because he was easily excited. But the dog didn't bark when he entered the house last Saturday, and it was so quiet when Zhou Yu came in. He couldn't help but think sadly that the dog was old after all, and maybe it was tired of venting its abundant energy and emotions to every stranger.
"Have you finished your homework?" he said to Yu Xiaorong, "What are you doing here?"
Yu Xiaorong walked away indifferently, and Leo also got up and followed her. Luo Binhan confirmed that she had indeed entered the bedroom upstairs before closing the door to the guest room.
"We should talk more quietly in the future." He said to Zhou Yu, "There might be someone hanging on the door to listen."
"Are you talking about your sister?"
"She just likes to snoop around."
Zhou Yu raised his eyes from the suitcase, as if he was a little curious about this matter. Luo Binhan had never talked to him about Yu Xiaorong in detail before, only a few words he left before packing his bags and going abroad to fight fires. These clips can undoubtedly create a bad impression on people, that of a complete troublemaker. Of course, these are all facts. Yu Xiaorong is a tough nut to crack, but this is not the whole truth.
He didn't know what Zhou Yu would think after seeing it with his own eyes. Yu Xiaorong actually treats people well - I'm afraid he can't tell Zhou Yu that. Some people are born with a vicious look, regardless of their beauty or ugliness.
"At least she doesn't eat people." He could only guarantee that.
Zhou Yu blinked twice, as if he was surprised by Luo Binhan's assurance.
"Your sister, isn't that dangerous?"
"Really? Don't you think she's a bit difficult to handle?"
"I'm just an ordinary adolescent girl. Isn't it natural that she doesn't like strangers living in her home? Because there will be a lot of inconveniences."
Zhou Yu opened his notebook naturally and sat by the bed to check the documents. He really didn't seem to care, which made Luo Binhan have to suspect that he was making a fuss. In order to relieve the embarrassment, he had to go out to see if Yu Qingshu in the kitchen needed help. He and Yu Qingshu were both staunch fans of hot food, and could never live off instant cans for a whole week like Malcolm or Yu Xiaorong. As for Zhou Yu, his taste system operates in a way that Luo Binhan can't understand. He always doubts that Zhou Yu can shine in a zombie apocalypse type story.
"Why do you talk about your friend like that?" Yu Qingshu scolded, taking a pot of dried and chopped green peppers from his hand, "It's so rude."
"Come on, Mom. You know Zhou Yu doesn't care about this at all."
"But you have to care." Yu Qingshu said, hot oil sizzling under her shovel, exuding a smell of garlic, "What's on the surface is on the surface. How do you know what others think in their hearts?"
Luo Binhan didn't argue about this matter anymore. He had to admit that sometimes he really didn't know what Zhou Yu was thinking, even if it wasn't about etiquette.
"He is becoming more and more mysterious." He cut a small pot of spores. "I thought he would stay in school or hospital for the rest of his life."
"This is a good thing." Yu Qingshu said very realistically, "How hard is it to be in a public hospital? Look at the dark circles under his eyes. Besides, there is not much income - I am talking about salary income - remuneration from commercial projects. It's much higher. At least you don't have to go to the emergency room at one o'clock in the morning to save a person who is over seventy years old, right?"
Luo Binhan gave his mother a strange look. Of course, he has long understood that if there is a saint in the world, he will not appear in the lawyer profession. But it was still an amazing feeling, when he chanced to catch a glimpse of a cold, shrewd intelligence in those closest to him. But can this be called cold? Maybe he just molded his understanding of the world and life in his past wanderings. Those too pure, boring, extremely arrogant assumptions about morality and grand pictures...
He suddenly shouted. Yu Qingshu immediately turned his head to look at him.
"It's cut on my hand." Luo Binhan said, lifting his finger and looking at it, "But it's okay, there's no bleeding."
Yu Qingshu grabbed his hand and looked at it for a few times, leaving only a faint indentation on the side of her index finger. She looked at the kitchen knife with a little surprise, and then at the cabbage cut on the eucalyptus board.
"It's time to sharpen this knife." She said unconvincingly, as if she wanted to reach out and give it a try. Luo Binhan grabbed the handle of the knife first: "I'll do it."
The spices in the oil pan began to emit a dangerous smell that was too strong and approaching the burnt lake. Yu Qingshu had to walk away to watch the heat. In order to dispel her doubts, Luo Binhan did not continue chopping vegetables immediately, but said: "I don't think his condition has improved."
"who?"
"Zhou Yu. He doesn't work in the hospital, but I don't think he is much relaxed. In the few days when I returned to Lihai, he always looked like he would faint at any time."
Yu Qingshu sighed.
"He hasn't recovered yet." She said calmly, "It would be better if it takes a little longer."
It took Luo Binhan half a minute to understand what Yu Qingshu meant. He belatedly thought that Yu Qingshu knew about Zhou Yu's disappearance. In fact, almost all their relatives and friends knew about it. But to outsiders, that incident must have been too long ago. They no longer mention Zhou Yu. They may occasionally still wonder about her whereabouts, but they will never talk about it publicly. That's sensible of course, and whatever the ultimate truth is after so long, it's bound to be ugly and horrific.
Luo Binhan cut the cabbage without saying a word. He knew that Yu Qingshu's attention would not be on the blade now. She had to worry about his mood, even though he was hardly sad now. He and Zhou Yu got the answer, which was not even the worst among countless terrible guesses. And it is so certain - if compared with the endless fear of the unknown, the clear bad luck is too easy to bear. That was actually an end to fear.
If people could know when they were going to die, he thought to himself, things would be much easier to handle. He can accurately calculate how much savings he needs, how much responsibilities he has to bear, and how to allocate time between entertainment and work. He could say every word just right, and he would never regret that he was arguing with his best friend before he died, or that he didn't have time to severely hurt his enemy. But he doesn't have such enemies, at least not here. Then he realized what kind of social crisis this fantasy would cause. Before allocating time or resources more rationally, people would undoubtedly choose the time for revenge more rationally. Everyone spends a few days before their death trying to figure out whether to take away those they truly hate.
"I also heard about a vendetta that took place in the woods." Hannah Zahn said happily during dinner. "It was said that a middle school student once killed his classmates there because he was bullied. He put The body was hidden in the bushes, but when he surrendered and took the police there, the body was gone. From then on, people walking deep into the woods would pretend that they had nothing if they saw a blood-stained schoolbag on the ground. Don’t see it, then leave as quickly as possible.”
"What would have happened if I hadn't left?" Luo Binhan asked.
"They say bad luck will come soon," Hannah said. She then giggled, not taking it seriously at all. "But it's just a little scare story, because the adults don't want us to go into the woods. What do you think, Jania?"
Yu Xiaorong was busy picking out all the broken green peppers from his plate. "Huh?" she said against her mother's threatening gaze, "Oh, I don't believe that is true. Maybe a student really died in the woods, and then the body was taken away by wild animals. Judit's dog Just do it.”
Luo Binhan asked jokingly: "Does dogs also take away schoolbags?"
"It will happen if there is blood on the schoolbag," Yu Xiaorong said coldly, as if he knew that he had cut the extra finely chopped green peppers. "They will even pick up bloody bandages from the trash and smell them."
"Can you do the same?" Luo Binhan looked down at Leo, pretending to be asking the dog.
Yu Xiaorong sneakily kicked him under the table.
"I'm so scared." Luo Binhan said, "I cut my hand while making dinner. What if a wild dog wanders outside my door in the middle of the night?"
Zhou Yu looked at the door of the guest room in confusion, and then at the main door from the living room to the outside of the house. Hannah Zahn covered her mouth, not letting out a snicker.
"Okay," Yu Qingshu said, "let's not talk about this during dinner, my dear. We have guests here today."
In fact, no one present would have an appetite affected by this. Of course, the family members living in No. 15 had grown up listening to Yu Qingshu's career examples, and Hannah Zahn was also a bold girl. As for Zhou Yu, since he can be so calm about the existence of Jing Huang and Momoluo, Luo Binhan feels that the local evil spirits and ghosts may not be able to give him a different experience.
“I love ghost stories,” Hannah said. “Whenever I feel like I don’t want to do my homework for another minute, I imagine the ghost-haunted people in the story, so I can do my homework peacefully. It seems pretty good!”
In Luo Binhan's view, this kind of preference based on utilitarian motives cannot be said to be true love. People who really like ghost stories, for example, Yu Xiaorong, would rather tear up their homework and experience being haunted by a powerful ghost. As soon as she finished dinner, she immediately invited Leo to go for a walk.
"Yu Xiaorong," her mother asked kindly in front of the guests, "how is your group assignment?"
"Leo must go out!" Yu Xiaorong shouted. Leo waggled his tail fiercely next to her legs and whined to support his little master's point of view.
"Ask your brother to take it. He's free tonight."
"Okay!" Luo Binhan said happily as he put the leash on Leo. And Leo, despite being the most loyal to his little master, couldn't resist the temptation to go out and play. It only hesitated for two or three seconds before wagging its tail ingratiatingly at Luo Binhan, who was holding the rope. Luo Binhan first touched its chin and then pulled the fur on its head. This is how he always greeted cats and dogs.
"Brother will take you out to play." He said in a sinister tone, "Who kept us idle?"
He walked out of the house with Yu Xiaorong's eyes full of hatred. Before he could walk out of the front yard, Zhou Yu, who was standing by the flowers, caught up and said, "I'll go with you too."
"Okay," Luo Binhan paused and asked with emotion, "How long has it been since you went out for a walk?"
Zhou Yu couldn't answer for a while. While he was thinking silently, Yu Xiaorong walked out of the room again. She originally wanted to say something, but when she saw Zhou Yu, she closed her lips. Luo Binhan looked at her: "What's wrong?"
"Don't go to the woods." Yu Xiaorong's voice was vaguely stiff, "A passenger died there recently."
"Another death?" Luo Binhan asked casually, "What happened this time?"
"Beast attack."
While saying these words, Yu Xiaorong kept staring at Zhou Yu. Luo Binhan felt that this was not because she was overthinking it - Yu Xiaorong was indeed not very close to strangers, but she especially did not welcome Zhou Yu.
"We're not going into the woods," he promised, "we're just walking around town."
Yu Xiaorong turned around and went back. Luo Binhan shook his head at Zhou Yu to show that he had nothing to do with this weird-tempered girl. Then he raised his head to look at Yu Xiaorong's bedroom window on the second floor, and vaguely saw a wisp of golden light swaying there.
