Chapter 49 Part 1

Bo Ting was truly puzzled with genuine confusion.

He remembered that establishing a residents’ committee required a vote, right?

Why hadn’t he received any voting notification?

Bo Ting hesitated for a moment before @-ing Aunt Qian.

“Auntie Qian, who all is in our residents’ committee?”

The air fell silent for a moment.

Only after sending the funds did Aunt Qian remember that she hadn’t notified Bo Ting when the committee was formed!

This was disastrous.

How could she have forgotten something so important?

Though Aunt Qian didn’t know why she was a bit afraid of little Bo, her years of experience mingling with the elderly sisters’ group gave her sharp instincts.

Aunt Qian let out a dry chuckle and quickly typed.

“Look at my memory, I completely forgot about this.”

“A couple days ago, I saw you were busy with the flower shop, little Bo, so I didn’t notify you.”

“We old folks just got together and picked casually. It wasn’t anything important.”

Oh, that was how it was.

It was all the uncles and aunties in the neighborhood who had chosen.

That made sense. Bo Ting revealed a slight smile.

“That’s good then.”

“I thought I was the only one who didn’t know.”

The air quieted again.

In fact, Wu Ge, who was fully aware of the matter and had eagerly participated in the election, forced a stiff smile and voluntarily withdrew from the residents’ committee roster.

“I didn’t know either.”

“Haha.”

“It was all handled secretly by Auntie Qian and the others.”

Upstart Bro seemed about to say something but stopped himself.

Seeing how cowardly little Wu from Lele Fast Food Restaurant was being… he decisively chickened out too.

“I didn’t know either.”

“The residents’ committee should just be Auntie Qian and a few others.”

“Uncle Wen seems to be in it too.”

Hearing that it was all elderly folks, and upholding the tradition of respecting the old and loving the young, Bo Ting decided not to pursue it further.

“Then thank you, Auntie Qian.”

“I’ll accept the funds. If everyone needs anything, you can list it in the group later.”

Bo Ting had originally planned for the neighbors buying things to message him privately, but since it was now neighborhood public funds, it was better to post in the group for transparency.

After all, this was the only chat group in the neighborhood, and everyone checked it daily… right?

Bo Ting pondered thoughtfully.

With the most suffocating moment passed, the group finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Afraid Bo Ting might think of something else and press further, Aunt Qian immediately changed the subject:

“Little Bo, have you decided on a specific time to head out?”

“You young people need to prepare well for a date. Can’t be careless.”

“Back in the day, Old Qian and I took a liking to each other during a date.”

Bo Ting coughed lightly, a bit embarrassed as he reminded Auntie Qian that this was an in-person meetup, not a date.

It wasn’t the same nature as hers and Uncle Qian’s.

However, most people of that age didn’t understand internet slang, so Bo Ting hesitated and ultimately didn’t correct her in the group.

“Not yet.”

“But I’ll go ask right now.”

“Everyone can discuss first.”

The avatar upstairs grayed out after he spoke, as if he had really gone off to handle other things.

Wu Ge slowly exhaled. He subconsciously wanted to switch chats and spam messages wildly.

But his fingertips paused, suddenly recalling the near-miss with Bo Ting earlier. His head jolted, and he quickly switched back.

Now staring seriously at the chat records full of danger, he righteously declared:

“What does everyone want?”

“You can post it, and I’ll help little Bo tally it up.”

Upstart Bro: …

Fine, coward.

“I want a gaming console.”

Miss Du: “Register some seeds for me.”

“Best if they’re the local Mengjia City specialties.”

And Miss Zhou, who loved making desserts.

“Get some ingredients for me too. The previous ones are almost used up.”

The group buzzed with various discussions.

Bo Ting, who had pretended to go offline but was still lurking, secretly checked and saw the neighbors really discussing. He finally relaxed.

He knew it.

The residents’ committee thing must have just been an oversight. The neighbors couldn’t have elected without him using some other chat method.

He had totally overthought it earlier.

With the messages piling up in the group, Bo Ting happily finished admiring them before tapping on Mr. Xu’s avatar.

“Good morning, Mr. Xu!”

The cute cool-guy cat stretched out its paw like it was yawning, suddenly leaping out from the screen.

It made Xu Qinglai, who had just opened his eyes that morning, skip a heartbeat. At that moment, he retracted the tentacles from the swimming pool.

“Good morning.”

“You’re in a great mood today?”

He subconsciously picked up on Bo Ting’s mood again.

The guy opposite him seemed to have some strange ability to transmit his emotions to others.

Just now, Bo Ting’s emotions had clearly been very high-spirited.

Bo Ting hadn’t expected Mr. Xu to guess right on the first try:

“The neighborhood just allocated some funds.”

“This time meeting up, I won’t be so broke.”

Xu Qinglai: …

Perhaps it was the first time seeing a being that could be called “It” so poor, he couldn’t help but feel a headache.

For them, having money should be easy, right?

Human currency was just a string of numbers to Xu Qinglai. He simply didn’t understand how Bo Ting lived like this.

Thinking about it, seeing how happy the other was, he surprisingly didn’t have the heart to say discouraging words.

He paused for a moment before saying, “Actually, you don’t need to worry about the expenses.”

“Huh?”

“Mr. Xu, are you going to treat me?”

“That won’t do.”

He already troubled Mr. Xu enough with daily stuff. It would be too much if the other had to pay for this meetup too.

They weren’t a couple, after all.

Bo Ting thought this way and firmly disagreed.

“I said I’d treat Mr. Xu to a movie.”

Xu Qinglai found it somewhat amusing.

Fine then.

After the other finished speaking, he rustled around checking for a while.

Then he sent over the movie listings for Mengjia City’s theaters that week.

“Mr. Xu, which one interests you?”

“I’ll book the tickets. Let’s meet at the cinema entrance.”

Get milk tea first, then watch the movie, then eat—perfect!

Bo Ting mentally planned the itinerary. Thinking of his long-overdue real-life outing, he felt like he’d lived like a wild man for a month.

He’d only had milk tea once in a month.

Ridiculous!

He had to make up for it big time tomorrow.

“That one then.”

Xu Qinglai didn’t know Bo Ting’s thoughts. He scanned them and his gaze landed on “Tianxin Cinema.”

“The new sci-fi movie just released there should be good.”

Hm?

This one?

Bo Ting looked at the screenshot’s pitch-black poster, which seemed to show only a single seed. He couldn’t quite tell.

But Mr. Xu had good taste—if he said it was good, it probably was.

As for the niche poster…

Probably the director’s unique arrogance?

Bo Ting nodded and clicked in to check the tickets.

It was a recent release, with the earliest show tomorrow at 1 PM.

This time then?

“Mr. Xu, tomorrow at noon work for you?”

Bo Ting asked once more.

After Xu Qinglai nodded, he decisively purchased them.

“Click click”—two tickets slowly spat out amid the laggy network.

Bo Ting stared at the ticket numbers on screen, wishing time would jump straight to tomorrow.

“Then it’s settled: 1 PM at Tianxin Cinema on Anhua Road.”

“Okay.”

Xu Qinglai replied, then thought for a moment.

“Need me to pick you up?”

Bo Ting immediately shook his head: “No need, no need.”

“I’ll just take a cab myself.”

So touching—when he went out with other male colleagues, he’d never seen anyone picking each other up.

Mr. Xu was too considerate.

“See you then!”

With twenty hours left, he needed to tidy himself up properly.

Not just clean and neat, but gear to avoid cameras too.

Though Mr. Xu had already seen his true form on video, when out and about, he still needed to look as human as possible.

Bo Ting felt refreshed as he went to pack up.

Anhua Road:

The Sixth Esper Squad had arrived at Anhua Road Private Hospital as early as the night before.

This private hospital, established years ago, had gone through all sorts of eerie events and was long abandoned by now.

Pushing open the doors released a choking cloud of dust.

Zhao Jiang fanned the dirt in the air, his brows furrowed tight.

“Captain, doesn’t this place feel… different from before?”

Like the Golden Summit Night Crying Woman incident, the Anhua Road Private Hospital Incident was also a long-accumulated old weird case.

It had originally been taken by the Second Esper Squad, but they halted upon discovering involvement with the Filthy Earth Tree, fearing unpredictable consequences. They’d sealed the hospital until now.

They’d pulled the records from a few years ago.

Everyone in the Sixth Esper Squad had studied them before entering, but now that they were inside, something felt off right away.

The entire hospital’s layout was completely different from four years ago when Captain He had sealed it?

The reception desk position had changed, the billing area direction too, and even the wards had moved to the basement level.

The massive shift hit their minds. Zhao Jiang instinctively looked to Si Ning, his expression growing grave.

They knew involving high-level entities meant the mission wouldn’t be simple, but they hadn’t expected such a big surprise right upon arrival.

Had someone sneaked in during the years they’d sealed it? And changed the hospital’s layout?

“Could it be followers of the Filthy Earth Tree?”