editor: K
Zhou Jiayu wiped away some of the blood he’d just smeared on, and when he did, the mirror in his hand seemed to slowly get hotter. At first, Zhou Jiayu thought it was just an illusion, but when he’d wiped the mirror clean, he’d found that the entire mirror had actually grown scorching hot.
The blood on the mirror was wiped away, revealing a smooth mirror underneath. Zhou Jiayu lifted the mirror and gazed at his reflection. Then his breath caught in his throat, he was shocked at what he saw.
In the mirror, another face had appeared, a face that Zhou Jiayu was both familiar and unfamiliar with— his face before his rebirth.
“What do you see?” Lin Zhushui’s voice rang out.
Zhou Jiayu’s hand trembled and he nearly dropped the mirror. His breathing had quickened, and he responded vaguely, “I, I see myself.”
Lin Zhushui raised his eyebrows slightly. “Yourself?”
Technically, Zhou Jiayu wasn’t lying. It was just that the “self” in the mirror was different from his current self. He quietly made a noise of agreement. “Yes, I see myself in the mirror.”
Lin Zhushui said, “It seems that this mirror is merely a legend.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Legend?”
Lin Zhushui said, “Yes. Legend has it that if the blood of a special person is smeared on this mirror, one may see the truest side of things in the world.”
Zhou Jiayu stared at his reflection in the mirror. He knew that the legend was true, but he didn’t dare to tell Lin Zhushui. He was afraid, afraid that Lin Zhushui would find out that he was a soul that had possessed someone else’s body.
“Is that so…” Zhou Jiayu murmured. “I don’t see anything, I can only see myself.” Though this “self” was definitely different from his current self.
Lin Zhushui said, “No matter. Even if it’s only a legend, this mirror is still useful. But your constitution leans towards yin, so don’t keep this on you.”
Zhou Jiayu obediently agreed.
Lin Zhushui said, “If there’s nothing more you wish to ask, then you may leave.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “There’s nothing else…”
Lin Zhushui said, “Go.”
Zhou Jiayu stood up and walked away. As he approached the door, about to leave, he couldn’t help but quietly lifted the mirror again, pointing it at Lin Zhushui. Lin Zhushui’s reflection really did appear in the mirror, and it really seemed that there was nothing unusual about him. Zhou Jiayu felt a smidge of regret in his heart. Just as he was about to put away the mirror, he suddenly found that the Lin Zhushui in the mirror had begun to burn ablaze. Fiery flames shrouded his body, enveloping him completely. The flames grew stronger and stronger, and by the end of it, Zhou Jiayu couldn’t even see Lin Zhushui’s appearance clearly.
“What is it?” Lin Zhushui questioned Zhou Jiayu, who had stopped at the door.
“No, nothing.” Zhou Jiayu answered unconvincingly, putting the mirror away and leaving.
With a creak, the door gently closed. Eyes closed, Lin Zhushui slightly opened his thin lips, seemingly speaking to himself. “Did he really not see anything? How interesting.”
As he left, Zhou Jiayu’s complexion was terribly pale. He clutched the mirror fiercely, veins popping out on the back of his hand.
“What is this?” Zhou Jiayu asked Jiba. “Why did I see Lin Zhushui burning?”
Jiba said, “Don’t worry, it should be related to Lin Zhushui’s constitution.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Constitution?”
Jiba said, “Yes. You’re extreme yin, and Lin Zhushui is extreme yang, so seeing Lin Zhushui surrounded by flames should be normal.”
Only then did Zhou Jiayu finally breathe a sigh of relief. “That scared me to death.”
It was fortunate that this mirror showed reality and not the future.
“I thought it was foreshadowing a disaster or something. That scared me.” After Jiba’s explanation, Zhou Jiayu relaxed a little.
Jiba said, “En… I feel like this mirror is quite powerful. Even I can feel an unusual aura on it. You should keep it safe, maybe it’ll be useful in the future.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded.
In the afternoon, the three of them boarded a plane back.
At the airport, Xu Ruwang bid farewell to Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu asked, “Are you really going to Changbai Mountain?”
Xu Ruwang scratched his head. “No, my master was only joking with me.” His expression was a little strange. “I don’t know if he took the wrong medicine or something, but he told me I shouldn’t have shaved my hair…”
Zhou Jiayu didn’t understand either. The both of them were quite confused.
Xu Ruwang said, “And then he said that he’d give me more pocket money in the future so that I could dress myself up a little nicer— those were his exact words.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I thought he’d buy you a pair of sunglasses and a big gold chain.”
Xu Ruwang: “…” He had nothing to say in response.
The two bid each other goodbye, promising they’d meet again, and only after the farewells had finished did Zhou Jiayu enter the security checkpoint.
Shen Yiqiong remarked sourly beside him, “Lonely is the white rabbit, rushing east but looking west. Friends are better old than new, clothes are better new than old.”
Zhou Jiayu: “Speak like a normal person.”
Shen Yiqiong: “Don’t play with him!”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” Are you in elementary school or something?!
The competition was finally over. After winning first place, Zhou Jiayu felt completely relaxed and even felt like he was returning home in a rush of glory.
Shen Musi and the weasel had been living together for more than ten days. When Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong dragged their luggage to the house, they saw the two playing cards with each other.
The weasel was miraculously using its furry little paws to hold the cards— through natural selection, survival of the fittest, the weasel had finally evolved to be able to hold cards, no longer having to place them down on the table in front of it.
Upon seeing that Zhou Jiayu returned, the two warmly welcomed him. At first, Zhou Jiayu didn’t understand why they were so enthusiastic. Then he saw the refrigerator stocked full of fresh ingredients. Apparently, in this place, his most popular identity was still that of a chef.
He made braised yellow croaker and stewed a delicious chicken soup. At dinnertime, Lin Zhushui also came over to eat with them and brought something to Zhou Jiayu.
“I promised you before.” Lin Zhushui handed a box to Zhou Jiayu.
At first, Zhou Jiayu thought it was some life-saving magical tool, but when he took the box and opened it up, he found a beautiful laptop with its system already installed, fully ready to use.
“Thank you, sir!” Zhou Jiayu said gratefully.
“En,” Lin Zhushui replied lightly. “Keep working hard.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded his head and put away Lin Zhushui’s gift.
After dinner, the three of them had finally found another source of entertainment— the computer. Shen Yiqiong whined that he wanted to watch porn but was sternly shot down by Zhou Jiayu.
“Why not?” Shen Yiqiong asked, feeling aggrieved.
Zhou Jiayu said very seriously, “I can’t do something so dirty with what Sir has gifted me!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Shen Yiqiong asked, “Is watching porn dirty?”
Itbe Aljse gfrqbcvfv, “Nfgs vlgas.”
Vtfc Tldlbcu kjr vlrtfjgafcfv, yea tf tjv cb kjs ab wjxf Itbe Aljse mtjcuf tlr wlcv. Pc atf fcv, Itbe Aljse mtbrf j tbggbg oliw, jcv atfs jii kjamtfv la abufatfg.
Kgeatoeiis, joafg fzqfglfcmlcu rb wjcs atlcur jcv fnfc vluulcu eq j ugjnf lc atf wlvvif bo atf cluta, Itbe Aljse’r tfjga gfwjlcfv mbwqifafis ecjoofmafv ys atf tbggbg oliw. Lf kjr fnfc fjufg ab ub ab riffq.
On the contrary, the weasel was scared again and again, to the point that Shen Musi complained, “Is there something wrong with you? Are there other weasels out there that act like this?
The weasel chirped in anger, but it was of no use because no one could understand what it was saying. Zhou Jiayu felt a sense of pity in his heart and took it into his arms, petting it.
In the evening, Zhou Jiayu returned to his bedroom with his computer. After confirming the door was firmly closed, he carefully opened up the browser, entered a time and location, and began searching for information about the accident he’d been in.
The information online was disorganized and messy, and very little of it was useful. Zhou Jiayu searched for half an hour before finally seeing some relevant information on a news website.
Two years ago, a large truck suddenly lost control and ran into a crowd, leaving three dead and five injured, which was considered relatively big news at that time. It was just that car accidents were a common occurrence every year, and soon people forgot about this accident and those who lost their lives in it.
Zhou Jiayu had been an orphan with no relatives. Few would feel sad at his death. Colleagues might sigh and mutter a few words about the impermanence of life, before going on and forgetting about him.
Zhou Jiayu suddenly felt a sense of desolation in his heart. He spoke, “Perhaps only a few of my friends would feel sad at my death.” He had two or three close friends, so they were the ones that had felt the loss the most after his death.
Jiba said, “In this world, life is inherently transient. Since it’s already in the past, don’t get hung up on it.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “That’s right.”
Jiba said, “Besides, you have me now.” It raised its fluffy white chest.
Zhou Jiayu said, “Yes, I have you.” Although your name’s a little sleazy, your appearance is quite cute.
Jiba struck while the iron was still hot and asked a question that had probably been bothering him for a long time. It asked, “Then who do you like more, me or the weasel…”
Zhou Jiayu: “…Why are you suddenly asking me this?”
Jiba pretended to casually tidy its feathers with its delicate yellow beak. “No reason, I’m just asking.”
Although Zhou Jiayu wasn’t too emotionally intelligent, he wasn’t stupid. He immediately understood what was going on in Jiba’s little head and replied, “Of course I like you more. You’re so cute.”
Jiba was satisfied.
Then Zhou Jiayu added in his heart: but being cute is useless when I can’t even touch you with my hands.
After checking the news for information about himself, Zhou Jiayu thought for a moment, then went to the feng shui internal website. As soon as he clicked in, he was scared to death by a photo placed at the top of the website. It was a photo of three people carrying shovels at night. Upon closer inspection, Zhou Jiayu found that it was actually a photo of him and the others sneaking up the mountain to dig up graves.
Zhou Jiayu was terrified. “Fuck, when was this photo taken?”
Jiba said, “Looking at the angle, they probably took it by satellite?”
Zhou Jiayu: “…You even know about satellite imagery?”
Jiba said, “Who do you think you’re looking down on?”
Zhou Jiayu remained silent, thinking that it was lucky that the photo was of them walking at night and not them digging up graves, or the photo would’ve become irrefutable evidence of a crime.
The traffic on the website was just as high as before with over 50,000 online, even this late at night. Zhou Jiayu clicked on the competition section and found a video about their competition.
Of course, because the cameras had been hung on competitors’ chests, the film quality was far from perfect. But it was real footage, and Zhou Jiayu had little else to do. After carefully watching the video once, his entire body felt unwell. The camera was really able to capture certain things the competitors weren’t able to see. For example, during the first funeral, Yun Xiu’s sister was standing quietly in the bushes next to them, but no one had seen her. As for the accident at the funeral, it seemed like she’d had a hand in it.
Zhou Jiayu, who had participated in this competition, was covered in goosebumps, while the people on the forum were even more freaked out. Looking at the posts, most people said that this round was the most exciting. Some praised Zhou Jiayu for his intelligence and bravery, commenting that he truly deserved to be Lin Zhushui’s disciple…
Reading this, Zhou Jiayu was full of satisfaction with himself.
After watching the video, Zhou Jiayu went to the flood section to take a look. Most of the flood section was filled with supernatural stories and small talk, but Zhou Jiayu was drawn to a certain post title. The title read, “I clicked on a cursed website, and now I constantly have bad luck. Can a great god out there help me?”
Place for nonsense and spam posts
Zhou Jiayu was a little curious, so he clicked on it to take a look and found out it was a help post posted by a girl.
She seemed to be new to this field and was unaware of many taboos. In her curiosity, she’d clicked on a cursed website sent by a classmate. After that, she became very unlucky. The jade Buddha she had been wearing for several years suddenly broke, her dog suddenly died, and her parents started getting sick. At first she thought it was just a coincidence, until a few days ago when she’d looked in the mirror and suddenly realized that something wasn’t right with her reflection. Under normal circumstances, the person and their reflection would have their actions mirrored. For example, if the person outside the mirror stretched out their left hand, then the person in the mirror would stretch out their right hand. Whenever the girl got ready for bed in the evening, she’d brush out her hair in front of the mirror. But when she picked up her comb, her entire body froze.
Because the girl in the mirror, like her, had raised her right hand.
After that, she could no longer lie to herself and had sought help online.
Zhou Jiayu finished browsing the post and found that most comments said that the girl was lying and asked her to provide evidence. A senior member also came out to say that cursing people was really not as easy as imagined, and it was something that harmed the cursed as well as the curser. They even asked the girl to post the cursed website for them to identify and verify.
At first the girl refused to do so and everyone’s doubts grew. Then she seemed to be angered by their skepticism and posted the website on the forum. To her surprise, the people who clicked on it said the website didn’t even exist.
Zhou Jiayu was a little curious. With a click, he found that his screen changed. But instead of a 404, a black website page appeared, and upon it were words in red: Is there anyone you wish was dead? Below it was an input box.
404 error: page not found
Zhou Jiayu: “…” He didn’t do anything and silently closed the webpage.
Jiba said, “Wow, you actually managed to get in! Why didn’t you take a second look?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I don’t want to become the main character of a horror movie…”
Jiba said, “But aren’t you curious?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “No, no, I’m not curious at all.”
Jiba: “…” If all main characters were like you, horror films would’ve ended the moment they begun.
But despite saying so, Zhou Jiayu still left a message for the girl, saying that he’d also clicked into the website and saw an input box. A few minutes after he’d left the message, the forum webpage chimed a notification sound. Zhou Jiayu took a look and found that someone had sent him a private message.
Zhou Jiayu clicked on the private message and saw a message saying, “You also saw it?” The private message was sent by the girl who’d posted.
Zhou Jiayu hesitated for a moment before replying, “I saw it.”
The girl said, “Great Master, I’m scared. Can you help me?”
Zhou Jiayu helplessly replied: I’m not some great master, nor do I know how to exorcise ghosts and things like that, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to help.
The girl was silent for a long time. Just when Zhou Jiayu thought she had given up, she sent another message: Can you really not help me? I feel like I’m about to die, about to be killed by this curse…
Zhou Jiayu looked at her words, but suddenly remembered something. He hesitated for a moment before saying: I have a few talismans. Can you give me an address? I’ll send them to you, but they may not be very helpful. It’s best for you to go to a nearby temple to pay respects.
At Zhou Jiayu’s words, the girl quickly sent an address, then asked if they could exchange phone numbers. Zhou Jiayu said that exchanging phone numbers wasn’t too convenient. After the girl reluctantly gave up, she bid good night to Zhou Jiayu, and then her profile picture went dark.
Zhou Jiayu said, “This cursed website, is it real?”
Jiba said, “En… the world is so vast that nothing is to be surprised at.”
The second day, Zhou Jiayu asked Shen Yiqiong to help find a delivery man to send the talismans he’d drawn to the girl from the website. Shen Yiqiong asked curiously, “What are you sending?”
Zhou Jiayu briefly explained what had happened yesterday.
“Even that kind of thing can happen?” Shen Yiqiong said. “Wow, then will your talismans even be useful?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Of course, they’re useful…” During the finals, if it weren’t for this talisman, the grass at Xu Ruwang’s grave would’ve been five meters tall. He said, “I just don’t know if they’ll work on curses.”
Shen Yiqiong looked doubtful, saying that curses were not simple. After following Lin Zhushui for so many years, he’d never seen an instance where someone had been cursed through a screen without any information about them.
“Even if you use voodoo dolls, you still have to know the person’s birth date and eight characters,” Shen Yiqiong said. “If you don’t know their birth date and eight characters, then you at least need to know their appearance and name. Otherwise, if you want to kill a person through a screen… I’m afraid it wouldn’t be possible, even for Sir.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded thoughtfully.
After sending out the talismans, Zhou Jiayu logged onto the internal website again, only to find the girl’s post from last night was missing. He clicked on the post through his browsing history, only to see the words, “This post has been deleted.”
Zhou Jiayu thought this was a little strange and asked a moderator why the post was gone. The moderator replied that they deleted the post because it was suspected of being fake. It seemed that regardless of one’s identity in this field, everyone agreed that cursed websites were not real.
Zhou Jiayu sent a private message to the girl again, saying that he had already sent out the talismans and asked her to remember to receive them. The girl’s status showed she was online, but she did not reply to Zhou Jiayu’s message. Zhou Jiayu waited for a while, but saw that she still did not respond, so he closed the website and went to do other things.
Even after winning the competition, life hadn’t changed much. As always, he learned, cooked, and grew talismans. Moreover, at Shen Yiqiong’s persistence, Zhou Jiayu’s nickname of “Little Urn” had spread.
“Do you really think that Sir will drag you away and burn you to make an urn?” Shen Yiqiong asked Zhou Jiayu during lunch one day.
Zhou Jiayu said, “….He won’t?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “Hahaha, of course not, murder is illegal.” He laughed heartily. “Just like how your parents will tell you before an exam that if you don’t do well, they’ll beat you to death… in the end, they won’t really take action.”
Zhou Jiayu stopped eating for a second, and he smiled. “That’s true.”
In fact, he’d never had such an experience since he was born an orphan. In the orphanage, although the teachers weren’t bad, there were so many children that it was impossible to carefully take care of each and every one of them.
A few days later, when Zhou Jiayu had almost forgotten about the website, the girl replied to Zhou Jiayu, saying that she was grateful for his talismans.
Zhou Jiayu was surprised and asked if she was alright.
The girl said she was alright, but she had really encountered something dirty, and the people around her didn’t believe her, believing she was suffering from paranoia.
Zhou Jiayu could understand this situation. If, before his rebirth, someone came to talk to him about a cursed website, his first reaction would be to suggest that the person go find a psychologist.
The girl started calling Zhou Jiayu “Great Master” again, begging him to help her.
Zhou Jiayu really was powerless about this matter. He could only helplessly say that he would ask a real great master for her. As for whether the great master was willing to help or not, he didn’t know.
But unfortunately, when Zhou Jiayu wanted to find Lin Zhushui in the afternoon, he found that Lin Zhushui had gone out, and the date of his return was still unknown.
Shen Musi asked him why he wanted to see Lin Zhushui, and Zhou Jiayu explained the girl’s situation to Shen Musi.
Shen Musi said, “Are you certain she’s not lying?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Ah?” Why was everyone saying the same thing?
It was evident that Shen Musi knew more about these things than Shen Yiqiong. He said bluntly, “It’s impossible for a website alone to curse people. She’s either lying to you or hiding something.”
Zhou Jiayu remembered the input box he saw when he opened the website and a thought came to mind.
“Even in metaphysics, we have our own basic laws,” Shen Musi said. “Don’t trust what people online say too much.”
That was true. After considering this, Zhou Jiayu went to ask the girl if she had been exposed to other similar things. Who knew that when the girl saw this question, her emotions would become very agitated? She angrily replied, “I haven’t!!! Why don’t you believe me!!!!!!!!”
Zhou Jiayu could hear her furious tone from the numerous exclamation marks. It was alright if she hadn’t, but why was she so angry? It gave off the feeling that something embarrassing in her heart had been prodded at.
However, she quickly calmed down and responded that she had been too frightened. She begged Zhou Jiayu not to give up on her.
Zhou Jiayu: “…” He also felt that the girl really seemed to be scared.
“Why are you so concerned about her?” Jiba seemed a little puzzled by Zhou Jiayu’s attention on this matter.
Zhou Jiayu said, “A life is a life, after all. What if she’s speaking the truth…”
Jiba said, “What if she’s lying to you?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Then she’s lying to me. I won’t lose anything.” He was quite open-minded, so open-minded that Jiba admired him.
Zhou Jiayu thought that he couldn’t be of much help with this matter, but a few days later, things turned around.
Lin Zhushui, who had returned, said he was going on a trip to B City and asked Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong to prepare for it. Zhou Jiayu was a little surprised to hear that it was B City because the girl on the internet was also in B City.
Shen Yiqiong said, “Sir, what happened there?”
Lin Zhushui said, “There’s a problem with a newly repaired bridge.”
Zhou Jiayu originally wanted to tell Lin Zhushui about the girl on the website, but he was a little worried that the girl was actually lying, so he thought that he might as well go and meet her while they were in B City and confirm the truth of this matter, and then ask Lin Zhushui if he could help.
He checked the news about B City online again and found that it’d been plagued by many disasters recently. Just the bridge mentioned by Lin Zhushui had several consecutive car accidents within a month, with heavy casualties and commonly with four or five consecutive collisions. Moreover, the time of the accidents was quite unusual, all in the early morning.
After three or four crashes, the higher ups finally felt something wasn’t right, so they contacted Lin Zhushui and asked him to go and take a look.
After Lin Zhshui had carefully examined the photos of the car accidents and reviewed some information about the bridge, he agreed to the other party’s request and immediately booked a flight for the next day, taking Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong to B City.
Zhou Jiayu told the girl about his upcoming trip, saying that if there was time, they could schedule a meeting. The girl agreed very happily and said that she didn’t think she could hold out any longer, wishing to meet up with Zhou Jiayu as soon as possible.
At this time, it was already autumn, the season of clear and crisp weather. B City was located on a plain with open views and fresh air. On the plane, Zhou Jiayu saw the curtain-like blue sky, which really brightened his mood.
Lin Zhushui had brought Shen Yiqiong and Zhou Jiayu along but didn’t expect them to be of help. He’d mainly just hoped they would learn something on this trip.
A few hours later, they arrived at the B City airport. The person greeting them was very enthusiastic, suggesting to them that since it was getting late today, they should get some rest for now and take a look at the site tomorrow. The three immediately agreed.
In the morning, the three of them got into the car to see the accident site.
The person greeting them introduced himself, explaining that his name was Jiang Shijiu.
Upon hearing his name, Lin Zhushui smiled slightly and asked, “Are you the junior of Shiqi?”
Jiang Shijiu said, “Mr. Lin knows him? Yes, I’m his cousin.”
Lin Zhushui said, “En, I’ve met him once.”
Jiang Shijiu said, “Mr. Lin, do you think that bridge has been placed in some special formation by someone? Or is there a problem with its structure?”
Lin Zhushui shook his head. “Let’s see the site first.”
Jiang Shijiu agreed.
Zhou Jiayu felt that the atmosphere just now was a little strange. He felt that Jiang Shijiu seemed to be testing something. Later, Shen Yiqiong told Zhou Jiayu that their profession was actually divided by geographical boundaries. Only when people from one region weren’t able to do something themselves would they hire those from other areas. Jiang Shijiu’s family was probably the same. They weren’t able to handle the issues with the bridge, so they’d been forced to invite Lin Zhushui over.
The drive was two hours, heading from the airport in the suburbs to the city. The bridge was located in the center of the city and was considered a major new construction project. Less than half a month after its completion, however, a series of accidents had occurred at the bridge, causing widespread panic. The number of people willing to travel this way were much fewer than before.
The car drove onto the bridge, and through the window, Zhou Jiayu could see the structure of the bridge. It seemed to be a relatively common cable bridge crossing a surging river. Although scenes of a crash had already been cleaned up, faint traces of the accident remained.
“Stop the car. Let’s walk over,” Lin Zhushui said.
Shen Shijiu parked the car at the end of the bridge, and then they followed the sidewalk on the bridge towards the other end.
This bridge was over 700 meters long, almost entirely made of concrete. Every few hundred meters, huge piers stood tall in the surging river. Lin Zhushui asked, “When did construction start?”
Jiang Shijiu said, “Construction began in December, four years ago. It was completed in September last year and officially opened to traffic in August this year.”
This bridge had only been in use for a month or two, but there had already been three accidents, each of which had resulted in at least three deaths. With such frequent accidents, even those who weren’t superstitious would have their concerns and suspicions..
Lin Zhushui didn’t say anything as he listened and continued to slowly walk forward.
When Zhou Jiayu stepped onto this bridge, he noticed that an uncomfortable aura lingered on it, with occasional wisps of dark red drifting out of heavy blackness.
When he reached the center of the bridge, Lin Zhushui’s footsteps suddenly stopped. He said, “Jiang Shijiu, was this bridge taken over by your family before or after the accidents?”
Jiang Shijiu said, “We’ve managed it ever since construction started.”
Lin Zhushui said, “Have you been to the site?”
Jiang Shijiu’s tone was somewhat stiff: “…I came a few times, but at that time, I really didn’t find anything wrong.”
Lin Zhushui raised his eyebrows and said, “How many times?”
Zhou Jiayu clearly saw Jiang Shijiu hanging his head, similar to a child being scolded by his elders. “I’m sorry, Mr. Lin, it’s my fault, I was too careless.” He’d been busy with other things at the time, and after reviewing the blueprints, he thought everything would be fine. So he’d only visited three or four times during the entire construction process and hadn’t expected such a situation to arise after the bridge’s completion.
“Your brother didn’t say anything?” Lin Zhushui asked again.
Jiang Shijiu smiled bitterly. “How could he not? I was scolded a lot, but in the end, my brother said that he couldn’t do anything about it, so he asked me to invite you over.”
Lin Zhushui stopped talking. In fact, those in this line of work were quite concerned about face. If there was no solution within a group, and they were forced to invite an outsider, it could be said to be quite a shameful thing, but if things had gotten to this point, it must have been very serious.
Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong watched from the side. Shen Yiqiong took out a compass and began to calculate and deduce. Lin Zhushui looked around but didn’t say anything. He turned around and asked the two of them, “Have you found anything?”
Shen Yiqiong scratched his head and laughed foolishly, “No, I haven’t found anything.”
Lin Zhushui said coldly, “You haven’t found anything, yet you’re still so happy?”
Shen Yiqiong’s smile froze.
Zhou Jiayu trembled from beside him, “There, there seems to be a problem with the bridge deck.”
Lin Zhushui said, “What problem?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I don’t know…”
Lin Zhushui let out a light sigh and said, “You’re a little better than Yiqiong, at least.”
Shen Yiqiong: “…” He felt like crying.
Jiang Shijiu had only been paying attention to Lin Zhushui before, but now he seemed to recognize Zhou Jiayu. He said surprisedly, “You’re Zhou Jiayu? The one who won first in the competition…
ZHou Jiayu said modestly, “Luck, it was all luck.”
Jiang Shijiu obviously didn’t believe him and looked at Zhou Jiayu with admiration, saying, “Luck is also a part of strength.”
Zhou Jiayu was quite embarrassed by his praise.
The four of them walked back and forth on the bridge. Jiang Shijiu looked at Lin Zhushui eagerly and asked, “Mr. Lin, do you see the problem?”
Lin Zhushui said, “Just about.”
Jiang Shijiu said, “Then…”
Lin Zhushui said, “There are still some things I’m uncertain about. Let’s go back first and come back tomorrow night. Have you prepared the materials I asked you to prepare before?”
Jiang Shijiu nodded and said that everything had been prepared.
They traveled back, and Jiang Shijiu said that their hotel had already prepared food so they’d be able to eat the moment they arrived.
Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong were both a bit hungry, but Lin Zhushui, as always, had little interest in eating. It seemed like once he went outside, he’d barely eat and would have absolutely no interest in food at all. This time was no different. Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong indulged in eating, while Lin Zhushui chatted with Jiang Shijiu. Although they were chatting, most of it was Jiang Shijiu talking alone while Shen Yiqiong would occasionally say a few sentences to avoid embarrassing Jiang Shijiu.
Zhou Jiayu even kind of suspected that the reason Lin Zhushui brought Shen Yiqiong with him all the time was so that the person welcoming and guiding them wouldn’t feel too awkward. After all, Lin Zhushui didn’t like to talk, but Shen Yiqiong, being a chatterbox, kept them from embarrassing their guide.
This time was the same as ever. Shen Yiqiong quickly became acquainted with Jiang Shijiu, and if it weren’t for Lin Zhushui’s presence, they might’ve already begun addressing each other as brothers.
Zhou Jiayu watched from the side, thinking to himself that this was also a talent. He was listening to them carefully when Lin Zhushui suddenly called his name. “Zhou Jiayu.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Ah? Sir, what is it?”
Lin Zhushui said, “Musi told me you had something to talk to me about. What is it?”
Only then did Zhou Jiayu remember that there was something else he had come to B City for, and he hesitated a little before telling Lin Zhushui about the girl and the website.
After listening, Lin Zhushui remained silent and gently turned the jade beads on his wrist, saying, “When did you schedule to meet?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “The day after tomorrow, in the afternoon… Sir, should I go?”
Lin ZHushui said, “Go, and bring your talismans with you.”
Zhou Jiayu happily agreed.
Lin Zhushui said, “If you can’t dispose of them, you can bring them back.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Alright!”
With Sir providing him with solid support, there wouldn’t be any problem with this matter— Zhou Jiayu had thought naively then, and it wasn’t until he went that he realized the hidden meaning in Lin Zhushui’s words.
The author has something to say:
Lin Zhushui: I’m your solid support.
Zhou Jiayu: Just how solid are you?
Lin Zhushui raises an eyebrow: Why don’t you come over and find out?
Aaaaaaaaa!!!!! I waited for your new chapter 🫶
Thank you so much for your translation ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Waaahhh 😭😭😭 im so happy you came back!! 🥳🥳🥳 Oh my goodness 🤯🤯🤯 Thank you very much for the chapter🎉🎉🎉
OMG what a great surprise! So glad you’re back and thank you for keeping on with the translation!
Bring what back? Zhou Jiayu haven’t heard it? 🫣
welcome back!!!!! thank you for the chapter! hope everything stabilizes soon ❤️
💖✨💖✨
AHHHHHHH YOU’RE BACK!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE CHAPTER DESPITE LIFE BEING TOUGH 😭😭😭 hopefully it gets sorted out and all is well again ✨✨
Omg, thank you for translating this chapter <3 I adore this novel and im so glad that you came back! Good luck and looking forward to the next chapter!