MFELY CH60

Edited—

Xu Ruwang still didn’t understand the meaning in Lin Zhushui’s words. Seeing Shen Yiqiong and Zhou Jiayu both looking like they had lost all will to live, he opened his mouth and asked: “What’s wrong? Why do you all have those expressions?”

Shen Yiqiong said dejectedly: “What do you think will happen if you play paranormal games with Guan’er?”

Xu Ruwang laughed out loud upon hearing this: “Play paranormal games with Zhou Jiayu? Why go to all that trouble?”

Shen Yiqiong told Xu Ruwang all about Xiaomi and that organization. After listening, Xu Ruwang fell into thought and said: “There’s this too? Otherwise, I’ll accompany you guys?”

“Forget it.” Lin Jue waved her hand from the side. “With your appearance, would they dare take you?” With Xu Ruwang’s height of nearly 1.9 meters, which pyramid scheme organization would dare recruit him?

Xu Ruwang touched his head: “That’s true.”

Although his heart had already cowered into a dog, Zhou Jiayu still straightened his back in order not to show cowardice before Lin Zhushui, indicating that he actually wasn’t very afraid.

Lin Zhushui said: “Really not afraid?”

Zhou Jiayu said: “Hmph, really not afraid.”

Shen Yiqiong showed a grievous expression from the side, thinking to himself that you’re just bullying Sir for being blind. If you’re not afraid, don’t grab my hand so tight. Even my dark skin is being pinched red by you.

“Alright.” After hearing Zhou Jiayu’s words, Lin Zhushui said lightly, “I was originally planning to accompany you. Since you’re not afraid, then forget it.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…”

Shen Yiqiong: “…”

Lin Jue laughed happily from the side and said: “Alright, stop bullying them.”

Shen Yiqiong hurriedly said: “Right, Sir. Zhou Jiayu is pretending he’s not afraid. He’s pinching me so hard it hurts.”

Zhou Jiayu: “Shut up!”

A faint smile floated at the corner of Lin Zhushui’s lips, making Zhou Jiayu’s heart start beating wildly again in a very hopeless manner. A moment later, he heard Lin Zhushui say: “I’ll go with you.”

Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong were both overjoyed. They high-fived and cheered. Lin Jue poured cold water from the side: “Of course, that’s provided Hei-zai can convince the person in charge over there to let Sir and Guan’er accompany you. If you can’t convince them… then I think you might be going alone.”

Shen Yiqiong: “…”

Plans are something that can never keep up with changes.

After returning from the mass burial mound, Shen Yiqiong borrowed Xu Ruwang’s computer and began exerting his social butterfly skills, crafting identities for Zhou Jiayu and Lin Zhushui.

In the end, through Shen Yiqiong’s mouth, Lin Zhushui became a big brother neighbor who liked taking him out to play. This big brother’s parents died in a car accident when he was young. His family conditions were very poor, and he had a younger brother with an IQ of only three or four years old who was completely unable to take care of himself in daily life—that’s right, this intellectually disabled younger brother was Zhou Jiayu. Because of his brother and his impoverished family circumstances, Lin Zhushui had never met a suitable woman to marry. Thus, he and his intellectually disabled younger brother had depended on each other for decades. The two had no relatives, and their relations with neighbors were average. Even if they disappeared, it would probably be a long time before anyone discovered it. One could say they quite matched that group’s screening criteria.

And this older single man was also quite interested in paranormal matters. After hearing Shen Yiqiong’s introduction, he wanted to come to this organization with him to participate in activities.

Zhou Jiayu was truly impressed by Shen Yiqiong. He said: “Won’t this fabrication fall through? Sir’s appearance—is he an older single homebody?”

Shen Yiqiong said very softly: “Actually, from a certain perspective, it’s not wrong.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…How old is Sir this year?”

Shen Yiqiong said: “Thirty.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…”

Shen Yiqiong said: “Older, single. Is there a problem?”

Zhou Jiayu had nothing to say, so he turned the topic back to himself: “Then why do I have an intellectual disability?”

Shen Yiqiong said: “Isn’t this to make them lower their guard? Aiya, it’s just an unimportant character setting. Don’t mind it too much.”

Zhou Jiayu truly felt that Shen Yiqiong’s skin was getting thicker and thicker. He even began to wonder how Shen Yiqiong could say such a bizarre character setting to Lin Zhushui’s face.

Who knew that he had clearly underestimated the thickness of Shen Yiqiong’s nerves. This Hei-zai, after successfully deceiving the QQ group person in charge, very happily announced these two identities to everyone.

After everyone heard, they were all quite silent. Lin Jue even gave Shen Yiqiong a thumbs up.

Shen Yiqiong’s proud tail rose sky high: “How about it, am I amazing?”

Lin Jue said: “You are amazing. This one is intellectually disabled.” She pointed at Zhou Jiayu. “This one is an older single dog.” She pointed at Lin Zhushui. “Very creative.” After saying this, she burst into laughter.

This little bastard Shen Yiqiong also joined in the fun.

Zhou Jiayu had originally thought that Shen Yiqiong pulling this would be ruthlessly rejected by Lin Zhushui. Who knew that his expression was indifferent, and he actually said: “Then let’s go with that.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Then as this intellectually disabled person, didn’t he lose the chance to refute?

But then he remembered something and said: “Then how do we explain Sir’s eyes to them?”

Lin Jue smiled: “It’s fine. I have a way.”

And so the matter was actually settled like this. The time Shen Yiqiong and the person in charge agreed to meet was tomorrow afternoon. Supposedly, they were going to have a dinner gathering first to bond, then play some interesting games together.

Zhou Jiayu felt that this person in charge’s attitude was a bit too lax. Shen Yiqiong said: “I don’t know either, but they seem a bit anxious… Right, could this be related to Xiaomi’s livestream room being banned?”

“Possibly.” Lin Jue analyzed. “That livestream room should be quite important to them. Quite a lot of people in the group joined because they watched the stream, right?”

“I see. No wonder they’re anxious.” Shen Yiqiong nodded.

The next afternoon, before setting out, Lin Jue did makeup for the few of them. Shen Yiqiong was playing himself and completely didn’t need it. But Zhou Jiayu and Lin Zhushui both had their appearances altered a bit. At first, Zhou Jiayu didn’t think the makeup would be very effective. Who knew that after Lin Jue finished, Zhou Jiayu looked at himself in the mirror and was silent for a long time.

The person in the mirror no longer had those beautiful peach blossom eyes. The corners of his eyes drooped down. His nose bridge looked flat. The corners of his mouth pulled downward. If one only looked at the face, he really did look like someone with an intellectual disability. Zhou Jiayu didn’t make a sound. He turned to look at Lin Zhushui sitting beside him. Lin Zhushui’s facial features were extremely exquisite. The corners of his eyes and brows were all jade-like, delicate, and coldly beautiful. And Lin Jue only made slight adjustments to him. That stunning appearance of his was actually suppressed. His temperament also changed. Although his bearing was somewhat similar to before, at first glance one would completely not feel that they were the same person. And most importantly, after the makeup was done, Lin Jue burned a talisman paper into ashes and had Lin Zhushui swallow it. After swallowing the talisman paper, Zhou Jiayu actually saw Lin Zhushui’s eyes open.

Zhou Jiayu was extremely surprised: “Sir, your eyes…”

Lin Zhushui said: “Just an illusion.”

Lin Jue nodded: “Right. Actually, they’re still closed. It’s just that to you all, they look like they’re open.”

Zhou Jiayu could only admire: “Shibo, you’re too amazing…”

Lin Jue said: “Of course. Don’t make your expression too exaggerated. When you have nothing to do, twist your mouth and drool a bit.” Probably because it was truly too funny, she couldn’t hold back and laughed again. “Anyway, your Sir is right beside you. He’ll wipe clean any drool that comes out.”

Everyone laughed. For a time, the room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Your sense of humor is truly terrifying.

Lin Zhushui maintained an expressionless face the entire time. Normally, he looked like an exquisite jade beauty. But now he seemed like a gloomy, older single youth who was depressed at home every day.

Zhou Jiayu was simply in awe of Lin Jue’s makeup skills.

Shen Yiqiong said: “Let’s go!”

So the group prepared to head to the place Shen Yiqiong and the person in charge had agreed upon.

The place they agreed on wasn’t in the city center, but rather in a small town slightly far from the urban area. Of course, according to the person in charge, the reason they chose such a location was because the activities they were going to carry out were special in nature. It would be inconvenient in a crowded place.

Zhou Jiayu joked: “If one didn’t know better, they’d think they were running a pyramid scheme.”

Xu Ruwang very ruthlessly said: “Zhou Jiayu, how did you forget your own identity? You’re intellectually disabled. How can an intellectually disabled person have so much to say?”

Lin Jue beside him held back her laughter and nodded in agreement.

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Can you people not get so into character?

The gloomy homebody Lin Zhushui beside him had quite integrated into his role. He originally didn’t like talking. Now, his expressionless appearance was practically radiating a damp, mushroom-like aura of world-weariness from head to toe. One truly couldn’t see the slightest sense of dissonance.

Zhou Jiayu felt that Sir was indeed Sir. No matter what he played, he was so convincing…

Arriving at the destination, Shen Yiqiong and Lin Zhushui led Zhou Jiayu out of the car. Before getting out, Lin Jue didn’t forget to remind Zhou Jiayu: “You have to act the part. Don’t blow your cover.”

What else could Zhou Jiayu say? He could only nod foolishly. After getting out of the car, watching the backs of the two people walking before him, he suddenly felt like something wasn’t quite right… Clearly Lin Zhushui could have just accompanied Shen Yiqiong. Why did he have to bring him along? Adding or removing one intellectually disabled character seemed to have no effect at all.

Of course, by the time Zhou Jiayu realized this, everything was already too late. Shen Yiqiong had already trotted eagerly to the place where he was meeting the person in charge. The two successfully made contact.

“These are my friends. His name is Lin Shui. This one is Lin Yu.” Shen Yiqiong’s way of choosing names was quite casual.

“You’re Shen Fu?” That person in charge was a young man in his twenties, holding a stack of documents and checking them against the group one by one.

Shen Yiqiong nodded.

The moment Zhou Jiayu heard the name Shen Yiqiong had given himself, he nearly broke character and laughed out loud. Fortunately, the makeup Lin Jue had done for him was quite amazing. His expression of wanting to laugh but not laughing looked even more like an intellectually disabled person.

The person receiving them looked at Zhou Jiayu with disgust in his eyes. But they might really be short of people, because after one glance, he actually didn’t question anything. He waved his hand to let them in.

This was a residential building. They had probably rented it. When they entered, there were already seven or eight people inside. Some were chatting. Some were looking down at their phones.

Although Shen Yiqiong had been constantly teased about his skin color, he was actually quite a lively and energetic cute Hei-zai. His luck with women should be pretty good. Sure enough, the moment he entered, a girl came forward to receive him. After smiling and asking about some situations, she arranged seats for them.

“You look like you shouldn’t be very old, right? You can call me Xiao Su.” Xiao Su’s gaze was entirely on Shen Yiqiong. She clearly had no interest whatsoever in the intellectually disabled person and homebody friend behind him.

“Xiao Su?” Shen Yiqiong said, “Are you and Xiaomi on good terms?”

Xiao Su said: “Mm, we’re classmates who graduated from the same school.” She said, “How old are you?”

Shen Yiqiong said: “I just turned seventeen this year.”

Xiao Su nodded. She glanced at Zhou Jiayu, who was deeply immersed in playing an intellectually disabled person, and Lin Zhushui, who hadn’t spoken the whole time. She said: “These are your friends?”

Shen Yiqiong introduced Zhou Jiayu and Lin Zhushui’s identities again.

Xiao Su hesitated: “Will they also participate when we play games later?”

Shen Yiqiong said: “Lin Shui might. As for Lin Yu… I’m afraid he might not quite understand. Better forget it. Just let him stand to the side.”

Xiao Su visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly, she also didn’t want Zhou Jiayu getting involved. After all, when playing these games, the thing one feared most was making a mistake. If at the time when they were supposed to send something back, he performed the wrong step, wouldn’t that mean everyone would have an accident?

At this moment, Zhou Jiayu suddenly became suspicious of Shen Yiqiong. He began to believe that Shen Yiqiong had created this identity for him unintentionally. But now thinking carefully, Shen Yiqiong very likely deliberately made him play an intellectually disabled person, because no one would let an intellectually disabled person play paranormal games. So actually, Shen Yiqiong had figured this out from the very beginning?

Shen Yiqiong was chatting with Xiao Su. To call it chatting was actually more like mutual probing. Although Xiao Su’s questions were subtle, most of them involved Shen Yiqiong’s social circle and his family situation.

Shen Yiqiong was inquiring about the content of the games they played and their relationship with Xiaomi.

After a round of chatting, both sides were quite satisfied. Because Shen Yiqiong’s explanation to Xiao Su was that his two best friends were both behind him. One could practically say he had dragged his entire family here.

Seeing this, Xiao Su was extremely pleased. Moreover, Shen Yiqiong’s friends were an older single youth with no presence plus an intellectually disabled younger brother. If what Shen Yiqiong said was true, these two people could probably disappear for a long time without anyone discovering it.

If that was the case, then it was really too suitable. Xiao Su smiled as she thought. But this matter couldn’t be rushed. They still had to observe for a period of time.

More and more people arrived in the room. In the end, there were close to twenty people in total.

The twenty people sat separately at two tables. Dishes were brought out from the kitchen. These dishes were supposedly specially made by a chef they had hired. The dishes were all quite exquisite, not like something ordinary people could make. Because of Xiao Su’s enthusiastic attitude, Shen Yiqiong had to expend most of his energy on her. Meanwhile, Zhou Jiayu and Lin Zhushui beside him ate while observing the people around them.

Although he already knew that most of their target demographic was very young, seeing a room full of children around their teens still made Zhou Jiayu a bit uncomfortable. Speaking of which, the oldest person in here should probably be Lin Zhushui beside him…

Just as Zhou Jiayu was thinking this, a pair of chopsticks was extended before him. Zhou Jiayu was slightly stunned, but saw that Lin Zhushui was looking at him: “Eat.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” He silently opened his mouth and held Lin Zhushui’s chopsticks.

Lin Zhushui’s movements were extremely natural, as if he was long accustomed to taking care of this intellectually disabled younger brother. The dish he chose was actually one Zhou Jiayu liked.

Zhou Jiayu: “Mmph…”

Xiao Su saw the interaction between the two and said softly from the side: “He can’t even eat by himself?”

Shen Yiqiong was actually also startled, but he still forced himself to remain calm and said: “Sigh, there’s no helping it. His IQ is that of a three-year-old child. He needs someone to follow him to the bathroom… He also doesn’t quite know how to eat.”

Hearing this, disgust flickered in Xiao Su’s eyes. But this emotion passed in an instant. She smiled again and said: “The two of you have such a good relationship.”

Zhou Jiayu was directly fed dumb by this chopstick from Lin Zhushui. So much so that when Lin Zhushui fed him later, his entire reaction was to obediently open his mouth and say “Ah.”

And because he had to feed this intellectually disabled younger brother, Lin Zhushui also successfully avoided the trouble of eating the food on the table. Of course, in other people’s eyes, it was because he had to take care of his brother that he was forced to not eat much.

Shen Yiqiong was truly a social butterfly. He became familiar with Xiao Su after just one meal. From the content of their conversation, one could tell that they had frequently organized this kind of activity recently. Because the activity funds were quite abundant, there were quite a lot of participants. Even if they didn’t play paranormal games, everyone eating together and chatting was quite nice.

Most of the people at the dinner table were drinking alcohol. The alcohol relaxed people’s nerves, making the atmosphere even more lively.

Fortunately, Zhou Jiayu and Lin Zhushui were both neglected parties. Lin Zhushui had no expression on his face the entire time, continuously feeding Zhou Jiayu.

Zhou Jiayu was almost full, but Lin Zhushui was still feeding him fish. He glanced at Lin Zhushui with somewhat grievous eyes.

Who knew that when Lin Zhushui saw his expression, he actually understood his meaning. He put down the chopsticks in his hand and naturally took out a clean tissue from his pocket, wiping Zhou Jiayu’s mouth for him.

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Being intellectually disabled is really nice. Truly.

“Xiao Fu.” Lin Zhushui called out softly.

Shen Yiqiong was currently urging Xiao Su to drink. Hearing this, he turned back: “Brother Lin, what is it?”

“I’m taking him to the bathroom.” Lin Zhushui said.

Shen Yiqiong nodded, indicating he understood.

So, two inconspicuous people stood up from the dinner table and walked toward the bathroom.

Arriving in the empty bathroom, Zhou Jiayu was about to speak when Lin Zhushui raised a finger and made a shushing gesture.

Zhou Jiayu shut his mouth upon seeing this. The next moment, a man walked into the bathroom outside. When that man saw Zhou Jiayu and Lin Zhushui, an extremely obvious expression of disgust appeared on his face.

And Lin Zhushui was still gently persuading Zhou Jiayu. He said: “Xiao Yu, be good. Can you go into the bathroom and pee by yourself?”

Zhou Jiayu was so shaken by this “Xiao Yu” that his liver trembled. He was just preparing to obediently nod and agree when Lin Zhushui gently squeezed his wrist. He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head according to the hint Lin Zhushui gave him.

Lin Zhushui persuaded him a few more times. Zhou Jiayu remained resolute. Finally, he showed a helpless expression and said: “Alright. Brother will accompany you inside.”

Seeing the interaction between the two, the disgust on that man’s face grew even stronger. Before leaving, he spat on the ground and cursed: “Fucking retard.”

Hearing this sentence, Lin Zhushui was somewhat angry. But his long-term withdrawn personality made him unable to seek justice for his younger brother. So he could only watch this person walk out.

The moment he left, Lin Zhushui pulled Zhou Jiayu into a bathroom stall.

In the narrow bathroom stall, the two people’s bodies were almost pressed together. Lin Zhushui put his lips to Zhou Jiayu’s ear and said softly: “In a while, when they play the paranormal game, pay attention to the other people’s situations.”

The hot breath from his words blew onto Zhou Jiayu’s ear. The tip of his ear shamefully turned red again. But fortunately, the foolish expression on his face didn’t expose him too much. Zhou Jiayu nodded and obediently gave an “mm.”

Lin Zhushui tilted his head slightly and said another sentence: “There are cameras everywhere here. You must be very careful when speaking. Don’t expose yourself.” He paused briefly, then said softly: “Let’s go. We’re going out.” After saying this, he heavily pressed the toilet’s flush button.

Hearing this, Zhou Jiayu relaxed inwardly. He was about to walk out when he saw Lin Zhushui suddenly reach out and gently pinch his ear tip.

Zhou Jiayu: “Huh?”

When Lin Zhushui did this action, his expression and movements were quite natural. After pinching, he said in a very calm tone: “It really is red.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” He opened his mouth but didn’t know what he should say. The redness on the ear tip pinched by Lin Zhushui’s fingers instantly spread to his entire ear. That patch of skin also became burning hot.

“Let’s go out.” Lin Zhushui didn’t intend to say anything more to Zhou Jiayu here. He directly pushed open the bathroom stall door, took Zhou Jiayu’s hand, and led him out like he was leading a small child.

At the dinner table, no one cared about the two who had suddenly left.

When Shen Yiqiong saw them return, his expression relaxed slightly. It seemed that without backup by his side, this Hei-zai was actually quite hollow inside.

Everyone chatted a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, Xiao Su proposed the paranormal game they were going to play today.

Probably because the people who came were all newbies, the game Xiao Su proposed was also of the more elementary kind. The folk name for this game was Dish Immortal. The methods of summoning varied, but the medium was always a small porcelain dish.

Then Xiao Su divided the twenty-some people into four groups and had them play in their respective rooms. And because of his identity as an intellectually disabled person, Zhou Jiayu was ruthlessly rejected. In the end, under Shen Yiqiong’s strong request, Xiao Su very reluctantly placed Zhou Jiayu in their group.

Of course, throughout the entire process, Zhou Jiayu didn’t need to do anything. He just quietly sat to the side like a chicken eating melon seeds and watching the show—which suited everyone’s wishes perfectly.

Shen Yiqiong really didn’t want to think about what kinds of strange things Zhou Jiayu would attract after eating a midnight snack and then playing paranormal games. Although Sir was right beside them, it was better to avoid trouble that could be avoided.

The props used for this paranormal game were quite simple: a small porcelain dish and a sheet of paper covered with all kinds of characters. Xiao Su placed the dish upside down on the paper, then had the people playing the game press their fingers on the back of the dish.

Including Xiao Su, their group had five people in total. They all sat around the table and, as Xiao Su said, pressed their index fingers on the dish.

“Dish Immortal, Dish Immortal, please come out.” Xiao Su softly recited this three times. But the dish on the table showed no reaction whatsoever.

“Strange…” Xiao Su seemed somewhat puzzled and repeated it several more times. But the dish under their fingers showed no change.

She couldn’t figure it out, but Zhou Jiayu understood very clearly. With Lin Zhushui, such a big sun, present, which Dish Immortal would dare to respond? If one really appeared, wouldn’t it be roasted into nothingness by a single slap from Lin Zhushui?

Xiao Su was silent for a while, seeming somewhat conflicted. In the end, she still said: “It’s already been summoned. If you have any questions, ask them. One by one.”

Shen Yiqiong eagerly asked the first question: “Lord Dish Immortal, I’d like to ask—when will I be able to get a girlfriend?”

The moment he asked this question, that dish really began to move. Then, under everyone’s gaze, the dish slowly, slowly moved to two numbers—seven, three.

The moment Shen Yiqiong saw the two numbers seven and three, his eyes went wide. His puffed-up appearance made Zhou Jiayu suspect he wanted to flip the table and leave. Xiao Su was also a bit embarrassed and said softly: “N-next, who wants to ask?”

Lin Zhushui, who had been without presence the entire time, took over: “I’ll ask.”

__

Author’s Note:

Lin Zhushui: Mm… feels nice.

Zhou Jiayu: E-ear tip…

Lin Zhushui: Pinch again.

Zhou Jiayu was pinched until his eyes were watery and his whole body went soft.

Forgot that Sir can’t see. Fixed it—used an illusion technique during makeup (:з」∠)