Chapter 4
The French-style lattice windows and their black frames in the study clashed repeatedly, producing a menacing thud. Outside, the wind and rain raged, and the violent air currents lashed everything in their path.
The air inside the room seemed to freeze for a moment.
Qin Jianling asked quietly, "Is it as strange as you?"
Wen Zhiyu spoke clearly and distinctly, "She's even stranger than I am!"
The sound of fabric rustling came from the other end of the line. Qin Jianling seemed to have just sat up in bed, his tone filled with barely suppressed excitement, "I've never seen anyone stranger than our Teacher Wen! Tell me about it!"
Wen Zhiyu shifted his weight to make sure it was centered on the triangular stool. "First of all, she answers all questions seriously, and even asks if I have any questions. Previous guests never did that."
“Indeed,” Qin Jianling said. “They will either check out immediately and leave, or hide in the room until they leave the next day.”
"..."
Wen Zhiyu lowered his head and sighed from the bottom of his heart. He knew his question was a bit illogical, but what bad intentions could he possibly have?
"Continue, continue, what's next?" Qin Jianling pressed.
"Secondly, when she was answering questions today, she held up a fork and pointed it at me, saying, 'I want to stab his eyes, those who don't know what's good for them deserve to be blind.' Her eyes were filled with murderous intent, and her hatred was too obvious." Wen Zhiyu said in a deep voice, "At that time, I was terrified."
"Hiss—is your guest male or female?"
"female."
"...How tall? What do you look like?"
Wen Zhiyu recalled carefully, "She was not even up to my shoulder, small in size, but had big eyes."
Qin Jianling took a deep breath, exhaled, then took another deep breath and exhaled again. After several hesitations, he said, "The guest is just a young girl. You, a grown man of 185cm, what are you talking about?!"
"What's wrong with the little girl?" Wen Zhiyu asked seriously. "It's terrifying when she stares at me with those big eyes. After she finished talking about 'poking eyes,' she laughed like a goose, which was really weird."
"..." Qin Jianling tried to understand, "Is it possible that she only laughed because you had some vegetable stuck in her teeth?"
Wen Zhiyu turned on the front camera, grinned, aligned his teeth, and examined them from all angles before saying, "No, my teeth are very clean."
—My lips still hurt a little.
It was a mistake, a complete mistake. It's all his fault for forgetting that half of the yard wasn't paved with flagstones.
"Let them laugh if they want to, why do you care why they're laughing?" Qin Jianling changed the subject, "How's your new novel coming along?"
"Nothing much—we're talking about the top emergency right now, don't change the subject."
"If you don't like her, just let her leave. It's not that hard..."
"She'll definitely stay put during a typhoon. It won't be that easy."
Qin Jianling was speechless. "Then what did you mean by calling me? It's a typhoon, and I can't fly over there."
“I’m just reminding you that if anything happens, we should trace the check-in register to the woman named Han Shu who checked in on June 13th,” Wen Zhiyu emphasized. “And we should also strongly condemn your stubborn insistence on opening a guesthouse.”
"No, who am I going through all that trouble to go through all those procedures for? Isn't it because you said you wanted a new brain?"
"I've been running the guesthouse for three months and I haven't even collected half a brain."
"I gave you a chance, but you were useless."
"..."
Wen Zhiyu felt that Qin Jianling was right; he was indeed useless.
"Come to Hainan Island after the typhoon is over. I don't want to run a guesthouse anymore," he said dejectedly.
"Whether I open a guesthouse or not is another matter. But I'll definitely get there as soon as possible; my car is still submerged in the water!" Qin Jianling gritted his teeth. "Why did you park your car on the side of the road? Are you just going to leave the villa's garage empty?"
Wen Zhiyu blinked, thought carefully for a moment, and suddenly realized, "That day I was originally going to drive back to the villa, but I saw someone playing on a bouncy pole, so I went to learn how to play."
Qin Jianling was furious, "...You'll pay for the car repairs!"
"Okay." He knew he was in the wrong.
"And stop with your paranoia. Your first realistic novel, which you boasted about, hasn't even hatched yet. Focus on your work, great writer!"
After Qin Jianling finished speaking, he hung up the phone without hesitation, leaving Wen Zhiyu to sigh as he stared at the blacked-out phone screen.
Who is the agent and who is the employer? (This is a question posed by the Heavenly Gang.)
What do we do now? His guests are really strange.
Should he send her away in this weather? Even setting aside whether she agreed, his conscience bothered him. Besides, while her answers weren't exactly what he wanted, they were always unexpected and quite interesting.
Wen Zhiyu quickly shook his head, dismissing the idea.
He was indeed amazed by the first two questions, but by the third question, the way she stared at him clearly showed that she was projecting her hatred for her husband onto him.
Even if one could explain it with an immersive answer, the final sentence, "living in a villa means you're rich," combined with the gesture of waving the fork, is a blatant threat. Her unhappy marriage, simple clothing, and repeated questioning about the rent indicate that her financial situation is not good.
—She wouldn't be planning to kill and dismember someone during a typhoon and then take over the place, would she?!
"You're just delusional. How could anyone eat brains?" Ling Lin laughed.
Han Shu unconsciously picked at his hands, "What if we make them into specimens and collect them?"
"Honey, your imagination is a bit too wild."
"But he was very serious when he was collecting brains; it didn't sound like he was joking at all!"
“Hmm…” Ling Lin thought for a moment, “Is it possible that he’s not referring to the physical level, but rather the mental level of the brain?”
"How do you collect information on the spiritual level? Just by asking a few creepy questions?" Han Shu asserted. "He's just very strange!"
"Then what do you suggest we do? There's no way to move around during a typhoon, and you'll have to stay under the same roof with him for several days."
"I don't know." Han Shu rested his chin on his hand, gazing at the sky with melancholy. "If I sleep on the floor at the police station, will the police officers agree?"
"No way, that's obstructing official business. And think about it, if he were really a criminal, why would he dare to drive next to a police station?"
What if it's just a case of the devil being blind to his own work?
“I don’t think so—” Ling Lin paused, then suddenly lowered her voice, “Our supervisor is here, don’t overthink it, just send a WeChat message if you need anything!”
"Hey, no—"
The only response Han Shu received was the busy tone after the call was disconnected.
What do we do now? Her landlord is really strange!
Looking back, the initial check-in conditions were strange. Why were such restrictions set?
Hainan Island has a thriving tourism industry, and most visitors are on vacation, primarily couples, spouses, and families. Married travelers meeting these criteria are almost certainly traveling alone. Firstly, they might be experiencing relationship problems and emotional distance; a trip to clear their heads likely indicates a conflict, and prolonged periods of no contact wouldn't raise suspicion. Secondly, their parents are unlikely to be aware of the marital breakdown and probably don't even know the person in question is on Hainan Island.
—Is he already preparing to make a move?!
Inside the villa, there was a deathly silence.
10 o'clock... 11 o'clock... 12 o'clock... 1 o'clock...
Time ticked by, and Han Shu's stomach and heartbeats pounded in unison, their rhythm increasing exponentially.
After a half-hour internal struggle, Han Shu surrendered.
I'm so hungry!
She's the kind of person who gets hungry if she doesn't eat a meal; she can't miss a single meal!
Han Shu pondered carefully. In suspense movies, the killer always disguises himself and waits for the right moment, only striking prematurely after the protagonist discovers clues. Therefore, she must act as if nothing is amiss and be fully prepared in order to strike back when the opportunity arises.
She ran to the bathroom, removed the towel rack from the wall with her bare hands, and tucked it into the back of her wide-leg pants. She then changed into a loose shirt to cover herself. Looking in the mirror, there was no trace of injury. Perfect.
Han Shu took off his slippers, walked barefoot to the door, and listened intently. There was no sound.
So he slowly unlocked the door, peeking through a hidden crack in the lock. No one was there.
very good.
She will sprint into the kitchen at top speed, open the refrigerator, take out the 2L of milk from the first shelf and the oatmeal from the bottom shelf, then sprint back to the room and rely on these foods to get through the typhoon.
That's it. This brilliant plan is sure to work.
Han Shu took a deep breath and launched himself into the air the moment the door opened—
"Bang!"
She bumped into Wen Zhiyu, who was coming down the stairs.
The impact was so strong that Han Shu's back slammed against the door frame, and it took him a long time to recover from the dizziness. Looking up, he saw Wen Zhiyu leaning against the stair railing, one hand on his waist, his dark eyes gleaming with a cold light.
Their eyes met.
—None of them dared to move.
If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move either.
Han Shu glared back fiercely while subtly reaching for his lower back.
If he dares to move even slightly, she'll pull out her weapon and scare him to death!
In the spotless, elegantly decorated hallway, a man and a woman stood facing each other, two meters apart, locked in a stalemate. Until—
Wen Zhiyu raised his right foot and took a step back up the stairs.
At the same time, Han Shu rushed into the room and frantically tried to pull the doorknob.
"ah--"
A sharp pain shot through her toe, but she didn't bother to look at it. She slammed the door shut and locked it with a "click," then slowly slid to the floor, clutching her foot and wailing.
How pathetic! Not only did it fail to intimidate him, it also left him injured!
To die before even finishing one's entrepreneurial journey—that's just how it is!
On the other side, Wen Zhiyu stood on the stairs and slowly raised his eyebrows.
No, shouldn't he be the one fleeing in panic? Why is the script reversed?
Fortunately, round 1 is over, avoiding a conflict.
"Phew—" Wen Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his lower back, which was throbbing from the impact with the railing, and began to deeply condemn himself.
This is his own home, how could he be so sneaky?
The one who should feel guilty is someone else.
So Wen Zhiyu strode towards the kitchen, completely forgetting that he was still barefoot. While heating up lunch, he noticed a rolling pin in the cupboard, thought for a moment, pulled it out, and tucked one end into his pocket.
With everything prepared, he settled comfortably in the restaurant, picked up a short rib, and prepared to feast on it to soothe his parched stomach—
"Clatter!"
The door to room number 1 opened.
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