Proofreader: Sandra

Chapter 161

Inside the cake shop, the surroundings finally quieted down, and from a distance, the sound of wind, rain, and ocean waves could be heard.

The girls stood half a meter away, frightened, while Song Wen squatted nearby, feeling he couldn’t do much to help.

Teacher Su, still kind-hearted, gave Chen Zui a heart massage and pinched the acupoint above his lip, talking to him in an attempt to revive his consciousness.

For a moment, Chen Zui opened his eyes. His eyes were wide open, but his consciousness seemed hazy, and he could only make some humming sounds, as if his brain wasn’t functioning properly.

After a while, Chen Zui’s complexion finally began to improve, and his breathing became more stable, but there was still no sign of him regaining consciousness.

It was only at this point that Yan Min, the shop owner, finally arrived, leisurely walking in and immediately directing, “Don’t let him lie on the ground, move him to the sofa.”

The tourists looked at each other, but no one dared to move him.

Amy cried, “He was convulsing badly earlier and fell to the ground on his own. I tried to pull him up, but I couldn’t.”

Yan Min reassured her, “It’s okay, he just took too much. Let him rest for a while, and he’ll be fine. He’s young, he can handle it.” The tone of her voice clearly indicated that this wasn’t the first time she had seen such a situation.

Amy, terrified, continued to cry, “Isn’t there anything else you can do?”

Yan Min stood silently on the side.

By this time, Jiang Jiang had already realized that the shop had no safety measures in place at all and asked sharply, “What if something happens to him today?”

Yan Min glanced at the unconscious Chen Zui, her expression somewhat indifferent as she said, “Well, most people are fine. This is a special case. Why didn’t he say he had health issues earlier?”

Her words now were a complete reversal from her previous attitude, as if she wanted to distance herself from the situation.

Amy became anxious and said, “He’s always been healthy, never had any problems before. You know, the times we’ve been here…”

Yan Min quickly cut her off, “You haven’t been here that many times. This was originally just an ingredient we used to make cakes, but you insisted on inhaling it.”

Fortunately, at that moment, Chen Zui seemed to regain a bit of consciousness, letting out a long breath, and his eyes moved slightly.

Yan Min breathed a sigh of relief, “See, he’s waking up. I’ve got cakes baking in the back, so let him rest for a bit. You’d better not inhale anymore today.” From beginning to end, she didn’t squat down to check on him, nor did she show any panic. Compared to the warm welcome she had given them earlier, it was as if she had become a different person.

As she turned to leave, Lu Siyu stepped aside to let her pass.

The woman glanced at him, took a cigarette from her pocket, lit it skillfully, and then headed to the back kitchen.

For a moment, only the tourists were left in the room.

Song Wen, although he had helped, still found Chen Zui very annoying. He stood up and said to Amy, who was standing nearby, “He’s lucky this time.”

Teacher Su, still shaken, added, “That was too dangerous. This place lacks medical supplies. If it had been any worse, we wouldn’t have been able to save him.”

Jiang Jiang asked Amy, “Did you really not know this stuff was illegal? Didn’t you know it was dangerous?”

Amy lowered her head after hearing this, “A year ago, it was popular at the bar where we worked. Back then, you could buy it online everywhere, and it was cheap. When we first started using it, we only knew it wasn’t a drug, so we didn’t think much of it. Later, it seemed people started paying attention, so the bar stopped selling it openly. But by then, we were already addicted, always looking for more. It was through a recommendation that we found out this place sold it. Every time we came, we got our fix and brought some back.”

“You knew it was regulated, so why did you keep using it? And drag more people into it?” Qiu Lan asked indignantly.

She had just watched Chen Zui almost die, and an hour ago, this person had been tempting her. She had just been scared out of her wits.

Amy looked up, her expression somewhat blank as she said, “Because… it feels so good… It’s like your life suddenly changes, like you’re in a dream. That thrill, that rush to the head…”

Every time she inhaled those gases, it felt like she could see and feel different worlds. Her calm and boring life seemed to open up, with time and space becoming different, and the world turning vibrant and colorful. Joy was magnified, and worries seemed to vanish.

However, that feeling was always fleeting. A single puff could bring her about ten seconds of happiness before she sobered up and returned to reality. She wanted that feeling to last a bit longer, and as a result, she gradually inhaled more and more…

Sometimes, she could go through several boxes in one night, inhaling until she passed out. When she woke up the next day, she would find herself lying on the sofa, not even remembering when she fell asleep.

Mr. Su, seeing that she still seemed to be immersed in that feeling, frowned and said, “Young lady, you need to quit this stuff…”

Covering her face, Amy said, “I used to have confidence in my self-control. I even managed to quit smoking before. But I never expected that these little gas canisters would be so hard to quit. We’ve used them so many times without any problems, but just now, he passed out after inhaling several in a row…”

Song Wen remarked, “This stuff is like a one-second paradise, one-second hell. The damage it does to your body is irreversible.”

Song Wen knew well the terrifying nature of this soft drug. It makes you think it’s not a real drug, lowering your guard, but it’s the very rope that can pull you into the abyss.

At this moment, Chen Zui, lying nearby, finally regained consciousness. His eyes and lips were still a bit dark, as if he had just been through a severe illness. He opened his mouth and said weakly, “Water… Give me some water.”

Mr. Su handed him a glass of water, and Chen Zui gulped down a few sips before catching his breath. “I was scared to death just now… When I reached the peak, my mind suddenly went blank… I felt like my body couldn’t hold onto my soul anymore, like my body was about to disintegrate, like I was standing at the gates of hell… And then, starting from my fingertips, I began to disintegrate…”

He spoke quickly, as if his thoughts were still not entirely clear, rambling a bit, and no one nearby offered any comfort.

Qiu Lan muttered softly, “That’ll teach you to keep inhaling.”

Song Wen snorted, “Maybe next time, you won’t be so lucky.”

Chen Zui wiped his face with his hand and waved dismissively, “I won’t dare anymore, I won’t… If I do it again, I might not make it.”

After saying this, he tossed a box of unfinished gas canisters into the trash bin nearby.

Seeing that he was alright, Lu Siyu tugged on Song Wen, “I’m done eating, let’s head back.”

As Song Wen stepped out of the private room, he looked up and saw the little girl from earlier standing not far away, watching them.

For a moment, her gaze met his.

Then the girl lightly opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something. But her eyelashes fluttered a few times, and without saying a word, she turned and ran off.

The girl’s skirt-clad figure flashed by, like a ghost in the deserted cake shop on this isolated island.

The sky darkened, and the rain on the road grew heavier.

The group made their way back to the inn, with the couple following them from a distance. It was Mr. Wang who opened the door for them. He called out to them, “I just got word that the base station still hasn’t been restored. The typhoon is coming soon. We’re on a cliff here, and the wiring is a bit old. If the typhoon is strong, we might lose power. I’ve prepared matches and candles. If the power goes out, you can use them.”

Each room was given two candles and a pack of matches. The couple, seeming a bit embarrassed, quickly headed upstairs after receiving their candles.

Qiu Lan tidied her hair and skirt and asked Song Wen and Lu Siyu, “Guys, do you have any plans for tonight?”

Lu Siyu shook his head. Suddenly being unable to access the internet left these modern people, heavily reliant on their phones, feeling a bit lost.

Qiu Lan then suggested, “How about we play some games? Werewolf, Mafia, anything like that?”

Song Wen looked around and said, “With just these few people, it might not be enough.”

Teacher Su also felt it was too early to head back to the room, so he put away his raincoat and sat down on the round sofa.

Lu Siyu tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, “If it’s something simple, you can count me in.”

The wind howled outside the window, making it hard to sleep. With no signal on their phones, it was such a boring night that even heading back to the room seemed pointless. Lu Siyu didn’t want to confine himself entirely to the case, so he figured playing cards for a while to pass the time might be better.

Although Lu Siyu didn’t particularly like the couple, he had a favorable impression of the students and the teacher, especially Teacher Su. The way Teacher Su helped Chen Zui earlier was something Lu Siyu felt he wouldn’t have done himself, yet the teacher had done it so naturally.

They had only five people, not enough for a game of Werewolf or Mafia, but fortunately, Jiang Jiang had brought two decks of cards. She pulled them out from her small bag and asked the others, “What do you want to play? Dou Dizhu or Upgrade?”

Qiu Lan asked, “Do you all know how to play Upgrade?”

Teacher Su automatically stepped back and said, “I’m not too familiar with you young people’s games. You four can play, and I’ll just watch.”

So Lu Siyu and Song Wen teamed up, while Qiu Lan and Jiang Jiang formed the other team, with Teacher Su as the observer.

Song Wen had good luck with the cards, quickly drawing the trump card in the first round and taking the lead. The game soon picked up pace as they exchanged moves.

Back in police academy, when the nights were dull and they couldn’t go out to play video games, Song Wen and his roommates would play cards together, honing his card-playing skills. He didn’t expect Lu Siyu to be quite good at it too, but considering how smart Lu Siyu was, it made sense that this simple game of 80 points would be no challenge for him.

In Upgrade, skill is essential, but so is the cooperation between partners. When two people have worked together for a long time, they naturally become very in sync. Just from a single round, they could gauge what cards the other might have based on the moves made.

After a couple of rounds, they had a good grasp of each other’s strategies and habits.

Perhaps because of the boredom, Lu Siyu didn’t hold back at all. With seamless teamwork, they went from level 2 all the way to King, leaving the two girls utterly defeated.

Qiu Lan and Jiang Jiang had no chance of making a comeback, and in two rounds, they were even completely wiped out.

Qiu Lan started to complain, saying that her luck with cards was bad today. As the game progressed, the poor girl couldn’t even come up with excuses anymore. Even with a hand full of good cards, she couldn’t score any points, getting crushed every time and gnashing her teeth in frustration.

When they reached the King level, it became easy to leak points. Song Wen began to lure out the trump cards. Qiu Lan couldn’t help but cough and give Jiang Jiang a look. With only a few trump cards left and a Joker still in hand, she thought she’d at least score some points, not wanting to end up with nothing.

Lu Siyu noticed this, lifted his long eyelashes, and coldly exposed Qiu Lan’s intentions, “She doesn’t have any points left. There are two more trump cards, and she’ll probably play a Jack this round.”

“Huh?” Qiu Lan was stunned for a moment.

Then she saw Jiang Jiang play a Club Jack.

Qiu Lan blushed and muttered softly, “Lu Ge, you didn’t peek at her cards, did you?”

Lu Siyu didn’t answer her, holding his cards silently.

“Aren’t you counting the cards?” Song Wen couldn’t help but say, “Jiang Jiang has a hand full of Diamonds, no Hearts. She wants to run a sequence with the Diamonds, but the Diamonds’ Queen is in my hand. If I hadn’t drawn out the Queen earlier and had gone with Hearts instead, she could’ve scored with that Jack. And aside from the Ace of Spades, you don’t have much left to score with, do you?”

Qiu Lan was caught red-handed and placed her cards on the table, pouting as she said, “I don’t want to play anymore, we give up. How are we supposed to play like this? It feels like you two always know exactly what cards we have.”

Jiang Jiang also put her cards down, and sure enough, it was almost exactly as Song Wen had predicted.

Teacher Su, who had been observing, sighed and said, “Sigh, I can see what’s going on. You guys just aren’t on the same level as them. No matter how you played, they were far better than you in both skill and teamwork. The whole time, you were just being led around by the nose.”

Qiu Lan pouted, grabbed the deck, and started shuffling the cards. “This is too unbalanced. How about we switch it up and each of you brothers team up with one of us?”

By this time, it was close to ten o’clock, and the wind and rain outside had intensified.

Lu Siyu rubbed his eyes, and Song Wen, noticing this, suggested, “Let’s save it for next time. It’s getting late, and we should head back to our rooms to get some rest.”

With that, the game came to an end. The two of them went up to the third floor and entered their room, where Song Wen closed the door behind them.

Lu Siyu sat down on a chair by the window. “I have a thought… Do you think it’s possible that the girl who disappeared before was also lured into inhaling laughing gas at the cake shop on the island?”

Judging by how blatantly the shop was selling laughing gas, it’s likely they were even more reckless at other times.

Song Wen nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. The missing girl kept extending her stay and mentioned she was having a great time on the island, spending nearly all her cash. Then she suddenly vanished, leaving all her belongings behind. Something might have happened to her, or she encountered some situation.”

Lu Siyu thought for a moment and added, “The lady boss clearly isn’t new to this. After inhaling too much laughing gas, a person can lose their senses, leading to dangerous accidents like falling off a cliff. Or perhaps, like Chen Zui tonight, she might have had a physical reaction and died on the island.”

If the police were informed truthfully, it would definitely catch their attention, leading to a thorough investigation.

The sale of laughing gas here is highly profitable and brings a steady stream of customers to the cake shop.

So, someone used the girl’s phone to send a suicide note, making it look like she had taken her own life due to depression, and then disposed of the body to cover everything up. It’s the easiest way to keep things quiet.

With this in mind, Lu Siyu said in a serious tone, “No matter what, I think the girl’s death might be related to that cake shop.

“The shop owner just died, yet the lady boss didn’t seem sad at all. She was even flirting with the pastry chef. Something is definitely off.”

As Song Wen spoke, he walked to the window, drew the curtain back slightly, and looked outside. The night was pitch black, with wind and rain lashing down as if the gates of hell had opened and all the demons and ghosts had descended upon the earth. “But right now, the situation is special. We have to wait for the typhoon to pass.”

Lu Siyu glanced at his phone, which had low battery and no signal. He plugged it into the charger. If the power went out tonight, the phone would probably shut down.

Song Wen said, “Let’s get some rest first. With the typhoon here, they can’t run, and they won’t be able to move anything.”

The two of them were here to investigate other cases, and this wasn’t their jurisdiction. All of this was just their professional instincts kicking in. Even if there were suspicions, they would need to notify the local criminal police or narcotics officers, but that could only happen once communications were restored.

Lu Siyu got up and double-checked the doors and windows, locking the door securely. After finishing all this, he took a shower and changed into his pajamas.

By the time he finished drying his hair, Song Wen had also finished his shower and come out.

The room had only one large bed. Lu Siyu lifted the covers and climbed in, and Song Wen followed, switching off the main light. The room instantly went dark, with only a faint glow coming from the bathroom.

This wasn’t the first time the two had shared a bed, but now, their relationship was completely different from before.

Song Wen moved closer to Lu Siyu, feeling a slight chill. “Your feet are so cold.”

Lu Siyu responded with a hum, blinking as he pulled his feet away. His health wasn’t great, and his hands and feet would get cold whenever the temperature dropped.

Song Wen asked, “Does this hotel have hot water bottles?”

Lu Siyu replied, “How could it? Hot water bottles are never standard in hotels.”

Song Wen said, “Then come closer. I’ll warm you up.”

Just as Lu Siyu was about to say something, he felt Song Wen press against him, not only touching his feet but also pulling his hand over to hold in his arms. Then, under the covers, Song Wen wrapped his arm around Lu Siyu’s waist.

The waist under his hand was slender and supple, and just by touching it, he could imagine its beautiful curve.

The two of them lay quietly like that, close to each other. Lu Siyu didn’t fall asleep; Song Wen’s body was so warm that just being next to him made him feel cozy and safe.

Song Wen also didn’t sleep for a while. He looked down at Lu Siyu in the faint light and suddenly whispered, “I think I’ve found another clue.”

“What clue?” Lu Siyu looked up.

Song Wen gazed into his beautiful eyes. “A clue you left in my heart.”

Lu Siyu responded, “Captain Song, that cheesy line is so cringy…” Even as he said this, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly.

Song Wen tucked the blanket around Lu Siyu and gave him a kiss on the forehead, then leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “Lu Siyu, I like you.”