Under the Light of Truth
"This is force majeure! How can we possibly get a refund? We've already set up the venue, and you can see for yourself. We've already paid most of the money in advance."
"Refund? Impossible!"
Zhang Li slammed the table and confronted the person in charge of the children's playground opposite.
The person in charge sat across from the conference table, frowning and lowering his voice, "Team Leader Zhang, the park's opening date is nowhere in sight, and we have to pay our employees every day. This is just budget cuts. The initial budget wasn't as high as it is now. It's very difficult for us to manage this..."
Wu Siqi on the side did not speak, but lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the new contract in front of him, his fingertips pressing on the edge of the paper, silently calculating the rationality of the amount.
Boss Cui pulled Zhang Li back to her stool, his tone gentle but with a hint of sarcasm: "Don't get angry right away. We're cooperating. If something isn't reasonable, we can talk it over. You can't just beat someone to death with one blow."
There was something hidden in his words, which made the face of the person in charge on the other side change, but he couldn't get angry because he was in the wrong.
Zhang Li sat back in her office chair with a thud, crossed her legs, folded her arms across her chest, and looked angry.
Boss Cui twirled his pen, tapping the numbers on the new contract the other party had brought today. "We can't accept this new amount. We understand your difficulties, but our company can't afford such a loss. Let's each take a step back. What's the lowest amount you can pay? Give me a number."
The person in charge of the children's playground turned the contract over, wrote a string of numbers on it with a pen, and pushed it forcefully in front of Boss Cui.
An A4 paper floated over. Boss Cui glanced at it and handed it to Wu Siqi: "You have a good memory. Calculate how much we paid in advance and how much we will lose at this price."
She already had a rough idea in her head, and the moment she saw the amount, she made a judgment. She leaned close to her ear, shielding her face with her hand, and whispered, "We're currently losing over 110,000 yuan. Staff salaries have basically been paid. Adding in equipment rental, the total loss is 180,000 yuan."
The amount was still too large to accept. Boss Cui nodded with a serious face. Wu Siqi returned to her seat and pinched her eyebrows. She was still a little dazed.
In the morning, she woke up in bed in a daze. The faint ringing of the phone from a distance suddenly woke her up. She remembered that she had fallen asleep in the entrance hall, so how come she was lying on the bed now, with her shoes taken off and covered with a quilt.
The rapid ringing of the phone left her no time to think. The cat in her arms was woken up by her and looked up at her drowsily. She casually picked it up in her arms, stepped barefoot on the cold floor, and looked for the source of the phone ringing.
The cell phone was in her bag and she threw it at the entrance. The caller ID showed that it was Zhang Li. She was very angry on the phone and said that the person in charge of the children's playground came to ask for a refund and asked Wu Siqi to go back to the company for a meeting.
After hanging up the phone, she didn't even have time to change her clothes. She just washed her face and ran downstairs to take a taxi back to the company.
It took only twenty minutes from the time she woke up to the time she sat here. Her head was throbbing with pain. Fortunately, she went back to her workstation and put on some lipstick, which made her look less terrible.
The two sides argued continuously at the conference table. Wu Siqi suppressed her unwell physical condition and argued with her colleagues at full speed. She spoke in a deep and powerful voice, using data to speak, leaving the other party speechless.
After arguing for a whole morning, the new amount was finally agreed upon within a range acceptable to both parties. After re-signing, Boss Cui and the other party's person in charge shook hands. It was obvious that both parties were gritting their teeth and were very angry.
The conference room fell silent, and everyone packed up their documents. Boss Cui went to see the guests off, and Zhang Li and Wu Siqi stood up side by side and walked out of the conference room door.
Wu Siqi walked slowly, her steps feeling light and empty, as if she was stepping on empty water.
Zhang Li slowed down and moved closer to her: "Are you okay?" Her eyes focused on the clothes she had not changed.
She waved her hand: "It's okay, I didn't sleep well, I'm going to the bathroom."
After washing her face with two handfuls of water, Wu Siqi felt a little more refreshed. She let the water droplets slide down her cheeks to the collar of her shirt and looked at herself in the mirror.
The person inside had hollow eyes and a pale face, with darkness under his eyes, and looked so haggard that he looked like he would collapse at any moment.
She returned to her workstation and sat down, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. Her stomach was burning. She opened the drawer, opened the chocolate she had bought earlier, and brought it to her mouth, biting it into pieces.
Sweetness can warm people’s mood, and bitter days really need sweeteners.
She was stubborn and didn't want to continue working. She took a second to decide to slack off, picked up her phone and walked to the convenience store downstairs. For the sake of her stomach, she wanted to buy some breakfast to comfort it.
I walked out of the convenience store carrying a latte and a sandwich. There were quite a few people out fishing at this time. Many of them bought a cup of coffee and slipped into the alley to smoke.
Not in a hurry to go back to the company, she sat on the outdoor bench, tore open the sandwich wrapper, crossed her legs and opened her mobile phone.
Enter the green software and click on the address book blacklist.
Slide to the name "Yining".
Without any hesitation, her fingertips directly pulled the person out of the blacklist.
The dialog box instantly regained its color, and she took the initiative to break out of that layer of self-protection shell, typed a line of words on the keyboard, and pressed send.
Wu Siqi: Were you the one who brought the police here last night?
The other party was probably busy, so I waited for a few minutes but still got no reply.
She added: Did you discover those?
After waiting for a long time, there was still no response.
She threw the sandwich bag into a nearby trash can. Wu Siqi stood up, dusted off her pants, and prepared to return to the company.
The message from the other party popped up slowly, and there were many messages popping up.
Yi Ning: Xiao Wu! Let me out!
Yi Ning: I was busy just now! I just saw your message now!
Yi Ning: Yes, yes, I called them here. I hope they didn’t make things difficult for you. I’m sorry for affecting your work, but this matter is too urgent and cannot be delayed.
Yi Ning: I found them. I searched for a long time and my nose was almost hurt from sniffing around before I finally found those kids.
Yi Ning: It's hard to explain in a few words. Xiaowu, what do you want to know? Can you call me now? I'll tell you everything you want to know.
It was almost noon and the sun was shining brightly. Wu Siqi turned the screen to the brightest setting. The phone felt slightly warm in her hand. She glanced at the time in the upper left corner. It was still early, so there was no need to rush.
The phone was dialed, "Xiao Wu!" The phone was picked up as soon as it rang. The background noise on the other end was a bit mixed, and the other party seemed to be outdoors.
Wu Siqi lowered his voice: "Well, how did you know those children were buried in the paradise?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, as if considering something. Then a vibrant voice came out, "Yes, I found out. We were here collecting folk stories. We heard there were some missing persons cases recently, so we looked them up for fun."
Wu Siqi: "The police couldn't find it, but you did? Am I that easy to fool?" She frowned.
There was silence over there, as if the question was difficult to answer, and they sighed.
Wu Siqi asked in a low voice: "Didn't you say you would tell me whatever I wanted to know?" She walked to an empty alley near the building.
Yi Ning waved his hands at the air while holding the phone. "I'm not lying to you. How could I? We can use informal channels. The police have to follow the path of human law to find it. They're almost there. We're just giving them a push."
She didn't sound like she was lying, so Wu Siqi believed her. "Why didn't you tell me about this big thing last night?"
Yi Ning pouted and said dissatisfiedly, "I didn't make it in time. I was afraid of scaring you and was still thinking about what to say. The police came too quickly. I only notified them ten minutes ago."
"Really?" Wu Siqi opened her mouth, wanting to ask more, but she didn't know where to start. A thought suddenly occurred to her, and she asked, "You're not just an ordinary band, are you? Boring investigations are just your excuse."
Yi Ning was silent. She answered softly, "Xiao Wu is still as smart as ever."
Wu Siqi didn't answer. When she continued, the midday sun gave her a headache. She walked into the shadow of the building with no expression on her face.
"I didn't expect you to see through me so quickly."
Wu Siqi's breathing stopped.
"We are members of the Chinese branch of the Men in Black organization. My code name is Cat Demon. I only work at night. That day, I was on a mission at the amusement park and stumbled upon those children. Out of humanitarianism, I chose to call the police."
Yi Ning changed his usual nonchalant tone and spoke in a pretended deep voice.
Wu Siqi was speechless: "Is it fun?"
At this moment she wanted to hang up the phone.
Her tone was so calm that it was almost impossible to tell her emotion, but the other end of the line immediately fell silent. Yi Ning stopped joking and lowered his voice: "I'm not trying to tease you, but, I don't know how to put it, this matter is rather absurd to you humans, you probably won't believe it."
"You say, I believe you."
Wu Siqi leaned against the electric pole in the alley and looked up at the sky. The tall buildings cut the sky into several pieces. She was in the shadow, and the corner of her shirt was blown by the breeze.
Looking down at the sign in front of her, which read "psychic," Yining said softly, "Actually, they came to us in a dream, saying they were trapped under the amusement park and crying miserably." Her tone was deliberately softer. "I have a friend who can communicate with spirits, and she helped them ask for directions. You humans don't know these things."
In fact, it was her cat nose that smelled it. Yi Ning touched her nose. She was not very good at lying, but she couldn't tell her the truth clearly, and her face was very red.
"If you say something as weird as 'you humans' again, I'll hang up immediately." Wu Siqi narrowed his eyes, looked at the ticking call time on the phone screen, and wondered whether he should just hang up.
"No, no, no, I'm serious." Yi Ning laughed softly, "I'm not playing a prank, nor am I making up a ghost story to scare you, Xiaowu, I know you don't believe me, but we are indeed not human."
Seeing Fan Yu angrily throwing down his notebook, she seemed to have said too much. She gritted her teeth and said silently: "You big mouth, you talk too much!"
"Then what are you?" Wu Dabingshan asked, his tone as cold as a leaf hit by frost.
The other end was silent for a while, and finally said, "I can't tell you this, Xiaowu. You can't know this."
"Is it your turn to decide whether I can know?" Her voice became colder.
Yi Ning took a deep breath and said, "No, it's just that once you know, you can't go back." Mortals who explore another world will be punished by heaven.
The air fell silent.
Wu Siqi: "Okay." She gave up on this question that had no point in exploring.
His tone calmed down: "Those children, they... Since you have found them, you will also help them find the murderer, right? Teacher Yi Ning is so capable."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a second, followed by Yi Ning's soft laughter.
"Of course, it will," she said softly. "No one will get away with it."
Wu Siqi hummed but didn't say anything. She put the phone to her ear and heard the wind blowing from the other side. The sunlight slanted down through the gaps between the tall buildings, and the ground reflected the dazzling white light. She stood for a while and raised her hand to block the light.
"No more questions, go back to your work," she said. "I have to go to work."
"Okay." Yi Ning's voice became a little lighter again. "I'm not busy. Xiaowu, you can always come to me if you need anything."
She didn't respond, just hung up the phone, put the phone in her pocket, and turned to walk towards the office building.
As she stepped into the building, the air conditioner blew into her neck, making her back feel cold, but her heart felt hot, as if it was stirred by some unnameable emotion.
She had a premonition that she was involved in something very serious.
And this is just the beginning.
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