Ke Jiujiu sauntered off with a light bounce in her step. A short distance away, she gathered the other five—everyone except Yang Zhiqi, who was still messing with the door—for a game. Soon, peals of laughter and cries of “UNO!” echoed through the entire living room. About five or six minutes later, even Yang Zhiqi gave up on the door and joined in.
Shen Li sat there with his arms crossed, perfectly at ease a short way off, quietly observing the group.
Ke Jiujiu—who had clashed with Li Weiwei on the first day—was now glued to her side, cooing “Sis” in the sweetest tones.
Lin Xu lounged against Ke Jiujiu and Kris; both women seemed to enjoy his company.
On Kris’s other side hung Jiang Nan, sporting massive dark circles under his eyes. He’d heard the rules repeated several times and still kept screwing up.
Every time he messed up, Yang Zhiqi burst into hearty laughter. Even from a distance, Shen Li could practically feel the spray of spittle flying from his mouth with every word…
Shen Li was well past the age of forcing himself to fit in. Compared to pushing into social circles, he much preferred lurking in the shadows, watching everyone else.
And so, on instinct, he once again tried to size up this group’s professions—and their real reasons for joining the show.
……
Ke Jiujiu: entertainment streamer.
Li Weiwei: probably ran her own business already—like a proper boss.
Lin Xu: the kind of trust-fund kid who could coast off his parents forever.
Kris: PhD candidate in the sciences, maybe chasing permanent residency.
Zhao Yunzhi: former housewife, now an office worker.
Jiang Nan… He’d dug into that one as far as it went. Next up.
Yang Zhiqi: self-made coal baron from the first generation, but his company’s tanking now—hence the pivot to new ventures.
A motley crew like this…
Who was here purely to remarry? And who was just chasing romance?
—The landlord’s fool of a son: Lin Xu.
Anyone else?
Nope.
Shen Li ran through his analysis, crisp and thorough. He nearly cracked a smile and had to clamp down hard on his lip to keep it from curling up.
If he’d felt any trepidation before entering the cabin—worried that his money-grubbing ways might be too obvious, killing any chance at dates—that was gone now. This bunch wasn’t any better off than him.
In a circle of failed marriages, love bubbles just didn’t form anymore. They wouldn’t inflate, swell, or grow.
Like damp wood that refused to spark, no matter what flint you struck it with.
Cupid’s arrows wouldn’t pierce a shattered heart—let alone stitch two wary ones together by force.
And these days? Forget appeasing the god of love. Better to pray east to Bi Gan, west to Guan Yu, south to Chai Rong, north to Zhao Gongming… and chant “as the law commands, with utmost haste” a few times.
Shen Li yawned again. He sat there listlessly for another half hour or so before finally getting why modern young people were so into slacking off.
Who wouldn’t love to slack off?
Slack off forever, bliss forever. Bliss forever, slack off forever.
If only the show were nothing but dates, dates, dates—no forced money-making tasks to earn those coins.
He idly wondered if Jiang Nan got voted out, whether he could snag a direct split—or even swallow all those coins…
Shen Li mulled this over in bored detachment. The next second, he was on the verge of dozing off.
But it wasn’t long before Yang Zhiqi’s voice boomed right in his ear.
“Hey! Little Shen! How about a pick-me-up coffee?”
With a slap, Yang Zhiqi set a cup on the table and shoved it toward Shen Li. Then he plopped down in the empty seat beside him, clearly there to talk business.
Shen Li picked up his thermos cup without a flicker of expression. “…No thanks. Coffee keeps me awake. What’s up?”
Yang Zhiqi’s face split into a beaming grin. Gone was the bluster from the first day’s car ride, when he’d pointed fingers and cursed Shen Li out. Now he was all amiability, laugh lines crinkling his eyes, his whole demeanor screaming “harmony breeds wealth.”
“Heh heh, Little Shen, I’ve got something to discuss. Truth is, I was gonna invite you on a date last night—not to hit on you or anything. Just wanted to talk.”
Shen Li leaned back slightly, nodded, his expression coolly detached. “Mm.”
“Great, I’ll get right to it then.” Yang Zhiqi looked every bit the entrepreneur. Sure enough, he dove into show business. It was about what Shen Li had expected.
“See, you know how I raked in a hundred grand yesterday? That’s half the fish pond’s two-hundred-grand prize pool. I’m the type who always fights for first place…”
“—Cut to the chase.” Shen Li’s brows knit with a touch of roguish chill. He cut in without ceremony. “Just tell me what you want from me.”
“Ha, straight shooter! Fine, cards on the table—I want to team up with you.” Yang Zhiqi dropped his voice.
“Little Shen, these daytime money games? They’re straight out of those econ variety shows. Mark my words, there’ll be team-ups later—heck, even today. I need a partner to play good cop, bad cop with!
“I scoped everyone out. You’re the perfect fit!”
Shen Li: ……
“These past couple days, I’ve clocked it: you’re soft-hearted deep down, all tsundere on the surface. Super capable, too—and you don’t do cliques or petty factions…”
Shen Li’s head throbbed. He cut Yang off cold. “If you’ve figured all that out, why ask me to form a clique? What, you figured I’d toss my principles just for you? Am I that special to you?”
Yang Zhiqi got interrupted again, his second half swallowed back down his throat.
Truth be told, Shen Li’s words weren’t polite at all. No one had spoken to Yang Zhiqi like that—not without kid gloves—since he’d become a big boss.
So Yang Zhiqi turned to look.
Shen Li’s face was like a finely sculpted statue—sharp lines etched in cold marble. His eyes remained steady and calm. In their back-and-forth, Shen Li was always the more grounded one at the core.
Even Yang Zhiqi’s thick skin couldn’t hide the slight stiffening of his expression. He started to deflect on instinct. “Come on, the way you put it…”
“—Did I get you wrong?”
Yang Zhiqi’s brows shot up. He felt scolded like a dog.
Gritting his teeth, he powered through.
“Aw, Little Shen, with a temper like yours, you’ll offend every friend you’ve got. Look at you—great image, stole the show yesterday. Me? I butted heads with you day one, and now the internet’s been roasting me nonstop these past couple days!
“You have no idea. I checked my Weibo backend yesterday—wall-to-wall hate. I got cyberbullied hard. That’s why I’m asking for your help to turn my rep around! That’s the gist. It’s human nature—who likes getting dogpiled online?”
Shen Li: ?
Shen Li’s cool, striking eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of puzzlement in his gaze. “But you seem to enjoy that kind of attention.”
Yang Zhiqi: ……
Shen Li’s expression didn’t shift a millimeter. He took a sip of his plain water and tacked on, “You know right from wrong but still pull that weird crap. Be real—you don’t think that’s pretty shameless?”
……
Silence.
One second.
Two seconds.
Yang Zhiqi was stumped for real this time. He took a sip of his coffee, blinking nonstop. It wasn’t until five seconds later that he sighed, shook his head—even seemed a bit helpless—as he said to Shen Li.
“Fine. If you don’t care about connections, don’t complain when you’re left out in the cold.”
“Mm.”
“I’m saying, watch your back after the show’s over.”
Shen Li: ?
Having vented his frustration, Yang Zhiqi slapped his thigh and walked off.
Shen Li stayed put, turning the exchange over in his mind for a good long while. It didn’t take much to read the last bit as a threat.
What a nutjob.
Shen Li’s stiff expression even cracked into a faint smile. This industry really did have all types—one crazier than the next. Still, from years of experience on the job, Yang Zhiqi struck him as the all-talk type. Ask him to actually do something? He’d lack the guts.
Shen Li was just thinking this when the clock struck noon precisely, and the System Voice appeared right on schedule.
However, this time the arrogant and unrestrained tone came without any musical accompaniment—only a piercing alarm blared through the processed mechanical voice, grating on the ears:
“I am your Butler System. This is an important message—
“When you hear this message, the Butler may already be in danger.”
Everyone in the living room fell instantly silent.
Shen Li glanced toward the speaker.
During the gap in the lengthy message, Lin Xu whispered to Kris:
“Huh? What’s going on? Wasn’t it supposed to be some money-making activity during the day?”
Kris widened her smiling eyes, feigning surprise. “Wow, so is today about rescuing the Butler or something?”
“That kind of deduction game? Damn, we’re doomed. What if my brain isn’t sharp enough?” Lin Xu rubbed his head and tsked. “Kris, you’re a PhD, right? Mind lending me your brain for a bit?”
Kris waved him off with a polite refusal. “Nah, better ask Shen Li to lend you his. He seems sharper.”
Shen Li ignored the banter. He eyed the doors locked tight and the rooms they couldn’t return to for another two hours. As he pondered this, the System Voice paused dramatically once more:
“Today, the Butler rose early to prepare fish fry for your production activity in the warehouse. At approximately 5:13 a.m., the gold vault alarm triggered—likely someone attempting to open the gold vault door. The Butler went to investigate and activated my alert mode before leaving, setting it for exactly 12:00!
“If the Butler fails to deactivate the alert after 12:00, it means he is in danger…”
Shen Li’s gaze sharpened. 5:13?
The Butler System continued, “The Butler believes the one who triggered the gold vault alarm is among you! Find clues quickly and gather evidence in the shortest time possible. Rescue the Butler, and I shall reward you handsomely!
“—The system has locked down the entire estate’s doors and sealed the grounds. No doors show signs of forced entry, so even if the Butler is in peril, he remains within the villa! Begin! Start investigating now!”
“Wow! We nailed it! This is so exciting!” Lin Xu exclaimed, rapidly flicking back his slightly long hair with his right hand.
By now, Ke Jiujiu had sidled up beside Lin Xu and instinctively grabbed his arm. “I’m terrified of this kind of thing. What do we do, brother? Damn it, if I’d known this was coming, I wouldn’t have signed up…”
At that moment, Yang Zhiqi and Jiang Nan—who had somehow paired off again—both rose from the sofa.
Yang Zhiqi took charge. “Alright, everyone, listen up while I say a few words.”
?
Everyone turned toward Yang Zhiqi.
Everyone except Shen Li.
Shen Li felt a faint throbbing start in his temples.
Why did it have to be this kind of thing again?
…
Why not stick to playing security guards like yesterday afternoon? Wasn’t that fine?
The man pressed on. “Jiang Nan and I actually hashed this out during those two hours. We figured today might be a deduction-and-chase-the-killer project. Turns out, we guessed right…”
Shen Li tuned out the mumbling.
It dragged on for more than three full minutes.
Until Jiang Nan finally spoke.
Shen Li snapped back to attention and looked over.
Compared to Yang Zhiqi, Jiang Nan appeared humble—even refined and gentle. Before he began, he even tugged at the cuffs of his shirt, unfazed by the summer swelter:
“Ahem, here’s the thing. Let me say a couple words too. You’ve probably noticed over the past couple days that I’m not much for speaking up. But today calls for us all to band together, so I’ll lay my cards on the table.”
“Wow, Brother Jiang, you jumping right in to finger the killer?” Ke Jiujiu had apparently forgotten her fear; she sounded excited now, unconsciously shaking Lin Xu’s arm. Lin Xu glanced at Kris, his throat bobbing as he pulled his arm free.
Jiang Nan replied, “Not at all. This isn’t Werewolf—no prophets or anything like that. I’ve been involved in plenty of detective deduction variety shows and dramas, start to finish. Oh, that probably doesn’t count as spilling my job? Nah, just the general field. So yeah, I’m pretty familiar with this stuff.”
Lin Xu’s eyes lit up. “Whoa, you’re that good, bro?”
Li Weiwei couldn’t hold back an exaggerated eye-roll, turning her face away completely.
Shen Li sat motionless in the corner, taking in everyone’s expressions and movements.
He cast a faint glance their way, his pale and indifferent face showing no spark of energy.
Until Yang Zhiqi inexplicably called him out:
“Hey? Shen Li, got any objections?”
Shen Li sneered inwardly. You want to call the shots, but feel the need to hypocritically ask if there are “any objections.”
“None,” Shen Li said. “I’ll follow your lead.”
