Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Zhou Yao woke up in the morning, a smile already on her lips as she opened her eyes. She turned over, hugging the thick blanket to her chest, feeling a warmth in her heart, as if it were filled with hot cotton candy.
The autumn sunlight was thin and cool, streaming through the window. She didn’t want to get out of bed, smiling as she snuggled deeper into the covers.
The morning in the mountains was so quiet.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of someone sweeping the ground, the broom brushing against the dirt, swish, swish. She immediately sat up, leaned over to the window, and wiped away the droplets and fog on the glass.
The courtyard of the inn was silent; it was Wu Di who was sweeping.
A few tourists set off to circumambulate the mountain, passing through the courtyard and bidding him farewell.
Zhou Yao opened the window, letting in the autumn breeze that was crisp and icy. She poked her head out to look around but didn’t see Boss Luo.
Pouting slightly, she returned to bed for a moment before getting up. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she let her hair down and styled it into a complex yet beautiful arrangement. Then she changed into a red dress.
The mirror on the wall was too short to reflect her entire figure. She stretched her neck and bounced around to see herself fully before finally satisfied and heading downstairs.
...
Luo Yi had woken up early but hadn’t left his room.
Beside his desk, a trash bin held a pile of crumpled tissues from last night.
The ashtray on the desk already contained seven or eight cigarette butts, and Luo Yi sat in the chair beside it, holding a cigarette in his hand.
Last night, he felt a bit frustrated and helpless; he had let a little girl disrupt his composure, which was something he was doing to himself.
However, now that he had calmed down, he couldn't make sense of it. Just thinking about her made him feel troubled.
But this was not something he should be considering at the moment.
Luo Yi rubbed his forehead, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
A few days ago, he had gone down the mountain to procure supplies. At Wu's Jade Shop, he told Asang that he wanted to be a guide, merely to attract Wu Ming's attention and give him an opportunity to take action against him. This way, he could catch one or two people and follow the leads to expose Wu Ming's group to Lu Xu.
However, Lu Xu was not cooperating with him, and at the same time, Zhou Yao refused to go into the mountains with his companions. Luo Yi was worried about other unforeseen circumstances and changed his plans to stay behind. The flash flood incident was indeed suspicious.
Later, Luo Yi asked Zhou Yao about it; it was an unexpected trip that Moyang had first suggested going into the gully. Moyang thought there was time left to take a look. After hearing Zhou Yao's account, Luo Yi believed safety should come first and decided they should not go.
But why did this group insist on heading towards danger?
Even more puzzling was that the rescue team had only received one distress call, which Amin made; and Amin received the distress call from Moyang. According to Amin, she later received another call, but that was ten minutes after she reported it.
So what were the people on the shore doing?
The one who got into trouble was the most innocent Sulianlin, while the one trying to save her was Zhou Yao, who had the purest heart among them.
Was it coincidence and misfortune, or did someone calculate their gamble?
On the day of negotiations with Lu Xu, Lu Xu asked him why he suddenly returned to Daocheng after being away for less than two months. Naturally, Luo Yi had his reasons.
Luo Yi lightly tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair. After a moment, he leaned down and opened the bottom drawer of his desk, pulling out a Black Notebook from a stack of books. Inside the notebook was a photo.
The photo was taken at the entrance of the graduation ceremony hall, where the grass was covered in flowers and ribbons. A man smiled faintly, one hand in his pocket and the other resting on the shoulder of a Young Boy beside him. The young man wore a blue Master's Robe, holding flowers and a diploma, looking warily at the camera while nervously gripping his brother's t-shirt with one hand.
That child always spoke slowly, taking a long time to form a sentence.
"Brother,... I like stones,... and I like soil.... I want to travel across this country's mountains and rivers."
"Brother,... I would be willing to spend my whole life buried in the laboratory.... It's not lonely, how could it be lonely?.... I often sit alone in the lab,... looking at the remote sensing images hanging on the wall.... I see those red... brown curves,... and I think,... this land is so beautiful.... It won't be lonely, how could it be lonely?.... Our country,... every inch of land... is deeply buried with treasures bestowed by heaven."
"Brother, I want to draw... the most accurate National Resource Map.... I want to increase the current... mineral detection accuracy... tenfold, twentyfold.... Chromium, platinum, diamonds, and many more,... many resources, precious metal ores, non-ferrous ores; we have plenty,... we are not lacking. In the future, we won't need to be dependent on other countries.... We have them,... it's just that we are constrained by current technology,... they haven't been discovered in large quantities yet.... One day, I will draw the most accurate... National Resource Map."
"Land, everything is a gift from the earth; let's call it land."
...
Suicide?
Huh, how could his brother commit suicide?
Luo Yi came back to his senses and realized that he had unconsciously crushed the cigarette in his fingers into tiny pieces. The burning tip had even touched his hand without him noticing as he extinguished it forcefully.
He discarded the cigarette in his hand, wiped his hands with a piece of paper, and took another cigarette from the pack, placing it in his mouth to light it.
In recent years, he has investigated and learned that the Jade Buddha Tower is still in Dan Shan's possession, with no buyer found. It's not that there are no buyers, but rather a lack of intention to sell.
Luo Yi has increasingly begun to suspect that the so-called Jade Buddha Tower and his own downfall are merely a pretext; Dan Shan's target is actually Luo Yu and land behind him.
There are many conspiracy theories surrounding Luo Yu's death, and as his older brother, Professor Zhou Qidao has been implicated as well. Currently, he does not know the truth, but one thing is certain.
Luo Yu would not commit suicide.
Luo Yi believes that Dan Shan has set his sights on land.
So when he learned that Zhou Yao, who was involved in research related to land, was coming to Daocheng, Luo Yi hurried back. If Zhou Yao is safe and sound, then his speculation is wrong; otherwise, it is confirmed.
However, Luo Yi increasingly believes that his judgment is correct; otherwise, Dan Shan would not be in such a hurry to have Wu Ming eliminate him. After all, if Wu Ming only wanted to harm Luo Yi because of being discovered for forgery, he neither has the financial resources nor the power or courage to do so.
That day while accompanying Zhou Yao to buy clothes, Luo Yi deliberately let Asang see that he was still alive and had not been dealt with by Jiang Peng. He feared that Wu Ming would have to act quickly again. With no way to act on the Luo Ke Line, the only remaining location was this inn.
Fortunately, Lu Xu was also at the inn, providing just the evidence he needed to show him.
Luo Yi bit on a cigarette, slightly furrowing his brow as he prepared to close the black notebook but flipped to another page instead—there was that photo booth picture.
It was the only somewhat informal photo of Luo Yu.
In the photo, the young boy looks a bit nervous and restrained with his head lowered, yet his eyes are sneakily glancing towards the camera. There’s a hint of an unpracticed but secretly happy smile at the corner of his mouth; he seems to be looking at the girl beside him on the photo booth screen. The girl has a big smile on her face, her eyes curved like crescent moons, with both hands raised in a "V" sign above her head, resembling rabbit ears.
The boy's bashful voice seems to linger in his ears: "Brother, I think I like her."
"Then just confess to her," he said.
"Can you help me?"
He laughed, "How can I help with something like this? You have to do it yourself."
"...Hey..." The boy lowered his head, rubbing his hands together. "...Then I'll wait until the first phase of the land project passes the test before I tell her."
...
"Maybe I'll wait until the second phase of the land project passes the test."
...
"Or maybe I'll wait until the third phase passes the test."
...
Now, according to the timeline outlined by Luo Yu before his passing, the first phase of the land project was nearing completion and about to enter the ninth stage of testing. Once successful, subsequent phases would rapidly advance, gaining momentum.
Luo Yi closed his notebook, put it back in its place, and shut the drawer.
After finishing half a cigarette, Luo Yi's thoughts returned from their earlier wandering back to reality.
Slowly, he recalled last night.
He recalled her moist eyes, soft lips, and the milky scent reminiscent of a child.
He closed his eyes again, pressing his fingers against his temples with force:
"Tsk."
As he sighed, a knock came from behind him, causing Luo Yi to feel a sudden chill on his scalp. His fingers reflexively loosened, and half a cigarette along with ash fell onto the table.
Luo Yi: "..."
He took a breath, turned around, and asked knowingly, "Who is it?"
The person outside did not respond, waiting calmly.
Luo Yi's lips curled into a smirk. Ah, the little girl had come to ride on him; she wouldn’t even answer his question now.
He picked up the cigarette from the table and tossed it into the ashtray, then stood up and walked over to open the door, his tone not very pleasant:
"Can't you hear me asking you? Did you forget your ears—" The end of his sentence faded away as a momentary look of surprise flashed in his eyes before he quickly regained his composure.
A beautiful and seductive woman leaned against the doorframe, her red lips smiling as she tilted her head to look at him, her apricot-like eyes sparkling.
"Who are you getting angry with? Yi Ge—" Yan Lin lightly raised her finger, the smoke curling delicately from its tip.
She smiled slightly, her eyes fixed on him. Her crimson lips slowly parted, revealing a hint of her pink tongue. Her jade-like hand that had been suspended in mid-air returned to caress her red lips as she gently inhaled a puff of smoke.
She was utterly enchanting.
Luo Yi calmly looked down at her, his expression unruffled. After a moment, he smiled and said, "What brings you here, General Yan?"
"What do you think?" She stepped forward, lightly pushing against his chest as she dragged her suitcase into the room.
Luo Yi shifted his shoulder slightly from her push and stood at the door for a few seconds before closing it.
Yan Lin threw her nude coat onto the bed, revealing a fitted dark blue dress underneath that accentuated her curvy figure. Leaning against the table, she flicked some ash from her cigarette and asked, "Have you been keeping up with my activities?"
"How should I know?" Luo Yi leaned against the cabinet, maintaining some distance from her as he casually picked up a cigarette box from the shelf.
"Otherwise, how would you know I started a company and still call me General Yan?"
"You mentioned it once over the phone," Luo Yi replied flatly, taking a cigarette from the box and playing with it in his hand.
"I only said I 'wanted' to start a company, not that I 'had already' done so." She remembered clearly, without any ambiguity.
Luo Yi glanced at her with a hint of light mockery in his voice: "With your personality, whatever you want to do, you'll surely accomplish. Is it surprising that you've become 'General Yan'?"
She smiled inwardly, raising an eyebrow and adding a hint of interest to her gaze: "So you do understand me. And to think you still remember a phone call from so long ago."
Feeling she had the upper hand, Yan Lin noticed that Luo Yi did not respond.
After being left hanging for a moment, she stopped smiling and observed Luo Yi. He merely lowered his gaze, playing with the cigarette in his hand, indifferent; even when they had just met at the door, there was no joy in his eyes.
He is just like that; if he is interested, he will chat with you for a while. His mind reacts quickly, and his words can be sharp. In the past, when Yan Lin talked to him, she would be amused to the point of laughter, and they had a great time together. But once he loses interest, not even the King of Heaven could get his attention.
"Don't call me President Yan anymore," Yan Lin stepped back and said. "I prefer you to call me Yanni."
Her nickname is Nizi, but he has taken to calling her Yanni, leading his old friends to believe that Yanni is her real name. That name belongs only to their intimacy. Her company is called Yanni Jewelry, which he must know.
Luo Yi paused with the cigarette in his hand and turned to look at her with little expression. "Yan Lin, what are you doing here?"
His aloofness did not irritate Yan Lin. She inserted the cigarette butt into the ashtray and straightened her slender waist as she walked toward him.
"You’re not still angry about our breakup, are you?" She approached him, pressing her body against his without reservation. She gently wrapped her arms around his waist and stood on tiptoe to seductively whisper in his ear, "It was my fault. I'm here to make it up to you; you can have whatever compensation you want."
He didn’t push her away, and she knew he couldn’t refuse her body.
Luo Yi glanced at the deep cleavage beneath her collar, raised his hand, and firmly squeezed her rounded chest through her dress. She let out a soft "oh."
Luo Yi smiled lightly and said, "Breakups are common; no one owes anyone anything."
"Then—" Her hand slipped under his shirt, caressing his abs. "Consider it as me being unable to pay rent; I’m here to make a deposit."
"Hmph." He pinched her bottom lightly but firmly; she instantly felt weak all over. He leaned in close to her ear and said, "Sister, then you need to give me money."
Yan Lin felt even softer as she leaned against him and laughed. She truly missed the way he spoke like this, and her hand eagerly began to slip into his pants.
But Luo Yi pointed a finger at her chest; with a slight push, she took a step back. She looked up at him; his expression was unusually calm.
"Is it wet already?" Luo Yi asked.
He smirked, "Came all this way for a hookup?"
"And so what?" Yan Lin provocatively raised an eyebrow and stepped forward.
His fingertips exerted pressure to block her, preventing her from getting closer.
"You have quite a bit of confidence in yourself," Luo Yi said. "But next time, it's best to call ahead and confirm, so you don't waste a trip."
Yan Lin took a light breath, her gaze turning cold. The pressure from his earlier grip on her chest and waist still lingered. "Are you messing with me?"
"Sort of."
Luo Yi's smile faded as he straightened up and walked to the bed, picking up her coat and draping it over the suitcase. He dragged the suitcase over to the door, opened it, and pushed it into the hallway. Turning back to her, he gestured for her to leave. "Let's go."
Yan Lin's expression had returned to calm. She held her chin high, maintaining her poise as she walked out the door. Looking back at him, she smiled slightly. "I'll be staying here for a few days. You'll come looking for me."
Luo Yi closed the door.
...
Zhou Yao walked down the stairs briskly. As he reached the corner, a woman in a nude-colored coat was struggling to carry a heavy suitcase up the stairs. She stumbled and accidentally bumped into Zhou Yao.
"Oh!" Zhou Yao quickly stepped back.
"I'm sorry," Yan Lin apologized.
"It's fine," Zhou Yao waved her hand, quickly lowering her head to look at her skirt. Oh no, mud from the box had smeared all over it.
"I'm really sorry," Yan Lin said. "I'll pay for your laundry." She reached for her wallet.
"No need, no need. Just a quick wash in water will do," Zhou Yao replied. When she looked up, she inadvertently noticed that Yan Lin's shirt buttons were misaligned. She intended to remind her but was taken aback by her face and forgot.
She was beautiful, yet had a mature and alluring look.
"You've caused me trouble," Yan Lin said calmly, nodding slightly as she carried the box upstairs.
Zhou Yao looked down at the mud on her skirt, planning to hurry back and wash it while the stain was still fresh, but then she heard Amin chatting with someone in the stairwell.
"Boss gets up early every day to handle things. I was wondering why he was late today; turns out his girlfriend came over."
Zhou Yao paused mid-step.
"Boss has a girlfriend?"
"All the long-time employees have seen her; it's the one who just went upstairs."
"She's beautiful."
"Yeah, she's stunning and assertive; they make a great match. When the inn first opened, everyone called her Boss Lady. But she didn't stay long and seemed to have left. Maybe she's back to reconcile."
"Looks like the combination didn't work, otherwise why would they book a room separately?"
"Our Boss has his temper too, okay? I actually think it will work. I just noticed that she looked different after coming out of the Boss's room."
"What looks different?"
"Her shirt buttons are misaligned," Amin said ambiguously. "What do you think they were doing in there?"
Zhou Yao returned to her room and cleaned the mud off her skirt before sitting by the bed.
The wet hem of her skirt clung to her calves, feeling chillingly cool.
Zhou Yao sat alone in the room for a while. She suddenly felt a bit lonely and missed her companions, Sulianlin, Tang Shangri-La Duo, and Summer Melody, wishing they were there to chat with her.
She took out her phone and tapped it a few times, biting her lip as she dialed a number, but there was no signal; none of their phones could connect.
Zhou Yao tossed her phone aside and sat in confusion for a while, feeling a bit homesick.
She pulled out a cigarette and put it in her mouth, lighting it with a lighter.
She was unexpectedly choked by the smoke, like a novice. She coughed until her face turned red. After finally recovering, she thought about going downstairs to find Luo Yi.
She walked to the mirror to check herself out, smiled lightly, and then headed downstairs.
Luo Yi was organizing the liquor cabinet at the bar and glanced at his watch; it was ten in the morning.
A slender figure passed by, and he turned to see Yan Lin sitting on a bar stool on the other side. With one hand propping up her chin, she said, "Give me a Deep Water Bomb."
In the past, Yan Lin had always loved drinking the Deep Water Bomb he made. They would drink, embrace, and kiss passionately, leaving their home in disarray. Back then, they were so proud of themselves.
It wasn't business hours now, and Yan Lin wondered if Luo Yi would refuse her request. He didn't; instead, he took some beer and vodka from the shelf, mixed them together, and handed it to her.
Yan Lin lifted the drink and downed it in one go.
Luo Yi frowned slightly and finally asked, "Drinking such strong liquor this early in the morning—what do you want to do?"
Yan Lin's face flushed slightly. "What do you think I want to do?"
Luo Yi stared at her for a moment before suddenly smiling. "Are you really here to ask for reconciliation?"
Zhou Yao stood on the stairs and saw him smile. He looked good when he smiled, like a knife piercing her heart.
Perhaps sensing something, Luo Yi's smile faded. He looked up towards the stairs and saw Zhou Yao leaning against the railing in a red dress, smoking a cigarette.
There was little emotion in her eyes as she gave him a slight smile before turning to head upstairs.
Comment 0 Comment Count