Chapter 79 The truth comes out.
In the end, Lu Yusheng still gave out two extra communicators without charging her. After all, these things weren't that expensive, and the cost for five people combined was barely the same as the music box she lost. If they could be found, it would just offset the cost.
After hearing her words, Lu Xiaofeng assured her that she could rest assured, and then led the group back to Zhejiang.
Chu Liuxiang's idea was also to meet with that famous constable again and look for any missing clues in the information he had collected, so there was no objection.
Lu Yusheng didn't care too much about where these people went. After all, they had been missing for so long. If they were found, it would be a pleasant surprise. If they weren't, it would just be a missed opportunity. He figured the money was worth it to hire five strong laborers to work for him.
There are only some doubts about whether it's appropriate for thieves from these two centuries to voluntarily go to court together...
However, the status of officials in this world seems to be lower than what she saw in history books. Perhaps some chivalrous heroes would even take the initiative to kill one or two "corrupt officials" to make a name for themselves, just like in martial arts novels.
Thinking about it that way, I felt relieved.
Now she's quite used to parting ways with her friends. Although she's still a little reluctant, she doesn't forget to stuff a lot of snacks in oil paper bags into their bags.
Once she was alone in the building again, she put aside all other thoughts and focused on the house renovation and cleaning.
After several rooms on the second floor had been cleaned, Lu Yusheng took out his phone and realized that it was well past lunchtime.
Being home alone, she simply ate a few bites of fast food.
Seeing that it was almost evening and there was no one around, he simply locked the doors and windows and went back to his room.
As the temperature dropped day by day, it became increasingly difficult for a little-known shop to attract those rare, wild customers. For the next few days, she focused solely on cleaning the remaining rooms and didn't consider anything else.
No... damn it, this is so tiring.
Fortunately, although there were many scattered rooms, they were eventually cleaned up.
At the door of the last room, Lu Yusheng angrily threw the rag in his hand into the basin of water. He stretched his limbs with great force until he heard the bones in his lumbar spine and neck cracking before he felt a little better.
After tidying up and putting away all the remaining cleaning tools, she finally felt relieved and prepared to enjoy some time to rest.
On the way, she first checked her communicator to see if there were any new messages in the group chat... Yes, of course she also arranged one for herself.
The frequency of receiving messages only started to increase two days ago. At the beginning, all five of them were together, and each day only one person would briefly explain the progress to her, so there was no need for them to deliberately speak in the group.
Just two days ago, Chu Liuxiang and Hu Tiehua left the team.
He seemed to suspect something was amiss with Constable Jin and was preparing to secretly investigate him.
When his friend was suspected, Lu Xiaofeng did not refute it, or rather, he just did not refute it in the group chat.
After all, they were still together at the time, and it was always faster to say things directly offline than to awkwardly read a bunch of text that wasn't arranged in the reading order they were used to.
In short, the final result was that the group split into two groups.
The three Lu Xiaofengs who stayed in Zhejiang may not all have been influenced by their friendship or trusted Jin Jiuling's character. However, Hu and Chu had known each other for many years and had an extraordinary understanding of each other. It was more efficient for them to form a pair than to have to adapt to new teammates.
Jin Jiuling, whom they were searching for, was on official business apprehending a criminal. Now that the criminal had been executed, he was naturally returning to the capital to report on his duties.
Even though Chu Liuxiang's lightness skill was already among the best in the world, he couldn't intercept his opponent midway after being delayed by four or five days. He had no choice but to honestly try to take shortcuts to the capital.
Two days have passed, and the two have finally covered half the distance after speeding along.
At this moment, Hu Tiehua was complaining in the group that the wine he bought casually by the roadside had a sour taste. If they hadn't been rushing along the way, they would have been more than ten miles away from the tavern by the time they realized it. He would have ended up drinking all the wine himself.
Despite saying that, Chu Liuxiang still exposed his shortcomings in the group chat, revealing that he had drunk the entire pot of sour wine.
Lu Yusheng looked at the lines of messages, smiling as he recalled how they used their light-footed skills to type in the air. He couldn't help but remind them: "[Pay attention to flight safety, don't get distracted while typing.]"
The message then added: "[Remind Hua Manlou to clear unread messages promptly.]"
The voice broadcast has a drawback: no matter when it is turned on, it can only play the previous message in order. So when there is no important news, Lu Yusheng always asks him to finish playing the message so as not to miss important content.
Lu Xiaofeng replied directly on his behalf: "He's listening."
After that sentence, there was a moment of silence in the group chat. After guessing that everyone was busy, Lu Yusheng continued walking towards his room.
After replying to the message, she started walking again. Her legs, which had become muscle memory, were walking on their own toward the bedroom, which she could reach with her eyes closed. But she suddenly stopped when she passed a certain room.
Through the half-open door, you can see that in the newly cleaned and exceptionally tidy room, several VR gaming devices are quietly stacked in the corner.
Just as she was about to miss it, she remembered what she had been busy with before the incident, and she couldn't help but step inside again.
After donning the appropriate equipment and logging in, the half-built map quietly appeared before Lu Yusheng's eyes.
A pink sea of sand.
Although there were no guiding arrows, it was a scene that Lu Yusheng had set up himself, so he still remembered the general direction.
She followed the route she remembered, and along the way, besides sand, there were many decorations such as starfish and seashells scattered everywhere. The starry sky was laid out above her head, and when she looked up, she saw a sky full of stars.
The environment is basically like this, except that it lacks various traps or branching paths.
Lu Yusheng envisioned building a floating staircase in the air, but unfortunately, there were still many problems with the details of the image, and it lacked the realism of true holographic technology.
Furthermore, even if the altitude setting allows for a gradual approach to the sky, it can only magnify the flowing galaxy above, but cannot actually get closer.
After removing the headgear, Lu Yusheng brought back the computer that he had moved out earlier to clean.
After connecting to the game's backend, I found my save file, which was halfway through setting up, in the "Custom Map" section.
This was a return gift she prepared for Sikong Zhaixing, a map she specially designed for him.
After rubbing his eyes, Lu Yusheng opened the save file and continued his previous work by manipulating the mouse.
To be honest, after a few days, she already felt that the custom mode was more fun than the map exploration mode. The only inconvenience was that she had to reconnect to VR and log back into the game to check the effect.
But as she kept clicking the keyboard and mouse, she started to feel a little uncomfortable.
Although the gift given to Hua Manlou is the most valuable, he spent so much time carving the wood to create such an exquisite finished product. Isn't it a bit unworthy of her to only spend the time cost of choosing it?
This is a really difficult problem, especially now that the gift has been lost.
Lu Yusheng put down the keyboard and pondered whether he should try to make a music box himself. If the lost one was found, he wouldn't embarrass himself by taking it. If it wasn't found, it would still be a gift to make up for it.
While my brain was still struggling with the decision, my hands were already rapidly switching pages to search for relevant information.
Considering that the host might need to repair the computer herself, the store also sells some mechanical parts. Using her genius hands-on skills along with explanations might not be a bad idea.
Ten minutes later she put down the book... It really wasn't feasible.
After buying matching finished products for light bulbs, rocker switches, and the core power mechanism, Lu Yusheng realized that besides assembly, the only part she could make herself seemed to be the outer shell.
Well, it's the thought that counts...
So several more days passed in this chaotic, unpredictable way, day and night. When she saw the good news in the group chat that the murderer had been caught, she was overjoyed and her mood suddenly relaxed.
Even after seeing that the murderer was Jin Jiuling and that the lost items had been sold by his subordinates and could not be recovered in the short term, Lu Yusheng still couldn't hide his joy.
Anyway, I had already mentally prepared myself beforehand.
I only reply with comforting words when I see both sides write things like "sorry" or "I have failed in my mission".
What truly saddened her was that only Lu Xiaofeng's team of three returned; after completing the mission, Chu Liuxiang ruthlessly captured Hu Tiehua to "report back."
Of course, if the latter intended to refute, he probably wouldn't have succeeded so easily.
As he said goodbye, he also promised to bring her a gift when they met again.
After all, Chu Liuxiang had only taken the item for free because he thought it could help her find her lost item. Now that he had tried it himself and knew how wonderful the communicator was, he was even less willing to accept it for nothing.
Lu Yusheng thought for a moment and decided not to be too formal, so he didn't refuse and told them how to create a two-person channel, so that they wouldn't have any secrets between them that were inconvenient to say in front of everyone.
She didn't know if the test was successful, but afterwards, she rarely saw the two of them talking in the group.
The joy of reunion can wash away all unpleasantness, and passion is once again injected into Lu Yusheng's life, which was about to become stagnant.
At first, she thought her excitement came entirely from reuniting with old friends, but Lu Xiaofeng reminded her that there was another day that was etched into the bones of the Chinese people that was about to arrive.
After a brief moment of regret that he couldn't spend the winter with his parents in their old house in his hometown, Lu Yusheng began to ask the locals about their New Year celebrations with some curiosity.
"Just those few things, like staying up all night on New Year's Eve, setting off firecrackers, and paying respects to ancestors..." Lu Xiaofeng replied somewhat awkwardly.
But Lu Yusheng seemed determined to stick to this topic, pressing on, "You've been doing this all along?"
He coughed lightly: "Occasionally, I guess."
“He spent last year at my house.” Hua Manlou picked up where he left off, then turned to Lu Yusheng and said, “My ancestral home is also in Jiangnan, not far away. But my brothers who are traveling and doing business in other places will be coming back during the New Year, so I’m afraid I can’t stay here.”
Lu Yusheng, who had hoped to get together with everyone, lowered his head in disappointment. The next moment, he heard Sikong Zhaixing speak casually beside him.
"Anyway, I'm all alone, so I'll just make do here. Xiao Lu, do you have any plays or games suitable for New Year's Eve?"
"Really?!" Her expression immediately brightened with joy: "That's wonderful! I had prepared return gifts for you both, so you can keep them as New Year's presents."
Sikong Zhaixing's anticipation after hearing this goes without saying. Before Hua Manlou could express his opinion, Lu Xiaofeng grabbed her somewhat unhappily: "Who are you talking about?"
Lu Yusheng guiltily looked away: "Xiaoxing and Loulou, I guess."
He immediately accused them with a look of utter dismay: "We're all friends, how can you be so biased?"
Hua Manlou stepped between the two and mediated with a smile, saying, "What gift do you want? I'll prepare it for you. Don't make things difficult for Xiaoyu."
Sikong Zhaixing didn't like watching him fuss over Lu Yusheng either, but now that his initial excitement had worn off, he chimed in to support him.
Lu Xiaofeng didn't pay much attention to the matter at first, but in his heart he cursed several times for forgetting his friends for being attracted to women, while on the surface he made a gesture of angrily punching the wall.
"Hey!" Sikong Zhaixing quickly stopped him.
He then relaxed his movements, as if waiting for the person who had stopped him to say something nice and offer him a way out.
"The wallpaper was just changed, what if it gets damaged?" Perhaps because she was about to stay overnight for the New Year, Sikong Zhaixing was already acting as if she were half the owner.
Lu Xiaofeng felt his anger completely dissipate. Comparing the two, he couldn't tell whether the person who was blinded by love was more laughable, or whether he, who was arguing with him, was more laughable.
"The layout here seems to have changed slightly?"
In the silence, Hua Manlou spoke up again to defuse the situation, and his words indeed drew the attention of the two men.
Because some decorations were cleaned and altered, Lu Yusheng inevitably encountered situations where items could not be restored while moving them around.
These changes may not be significant, at least not as noticeable as the newly built wall in the backyard and the renovated kitchen, but every little change is something that Hua Manlou can personally experience, so the feeling is naturally particularly obvious.
"I got drunk too quickly that day and didn't even notice how much this place has changed."
Sikong Zhaixing nodded in agreement: "When we came back, from a high vantage point, it seemed like there was a small courtyard surrounding the back."
“Yes,” Lu Yusheng replied, then glanced quickly at Hua Manlou: “I want to grow some fruits and vegetables, and if we fence them off, they won’t be easily destroyed by wild animals.”
Her glance was so subtle that the other two didn't notice, but Hua Manlou, who was being secretly watched, seemed to sense it and replied with a knowing smile, "I have quite a bit of experience in planting flowers and tending to plants, so I can do it with you."
Then, without waiting for her response, he continued gently, "This place isn't far from my home, so even after I go back, I can come here often."
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