Page Six A Good Show
“Xiao Kai? Of course he’s at home.”
I gulped down the remaining coffee and smiled as I retorted, “Senior Shàojié, why are you asking this?”
“Playing dumb won’t work. Can you call him now to prove it?”
To buy time, I shook my head slowly.
“It can’t be helped. As you know, our family isn’t well-off, so my brother and I share a phone… Ultimately, we have telepathy, so there’s no need for phones!”
“Telepathy? Damn, I forgot about that setting!”
Líng Shàojié frowned deeply, smacked her forehead, and stood up.
“I need to go out for a bit, wait here!”
She seemed very anxious.
Probably guessing the house was robbed, she was hurrying to the rental unit.
I couldn’t let her leave after noticing such a short internet outage.
The attic was already sealed with a barrier; not only could no sound escape, but even the room door was locked. Unless Aunt Lín came upstairs to check, Líng Shàojié’s shouting would be useless.
Realizing the door was locked, the senior student turned around and questioned, “Did you lock the door?”
Forced to endure Líng Shàojié’s one-sided harassment, she wasn’t much of a threat when it came to action.
I wagged my finger and laughed, “Senior, that won’t do. You haven’t told me anything about yourself yet!”
I manipulated the scarf to transform into indestructible threads, quickly wrapping around Líng Shàojié’s body, pinning her to the sofa with great force.
Seeing this, she lost her composure.
“What do you mean by this?”
“Huh, there’s indeed a secret in that rental unit?”
It’s time for a counterattack!
I couldn’t help but laugh, realizing there was no point in hiding it anymore.
Líng Shàojié yelled angrily, “That’s too far!”
“Far? Think about your own actions. Do you really have the right to say that?”
“I messed up recently, but that house is important to me. Please don’t touch anything inside.”
She switched to a pleading tone.
“Alright, then my secrets aren’t important? Or anyone else’s? You investigate others’ privacy recklessly, from taking photos to eavesdropping, breaking in illegally, and misusing their images without consent… Big reporter, even though you have strange equipment, I’m still someone with supernatural powers! Are you underestimating me? If you had any respect, you wouldn’t be in this situation now.”
I raised my chin, looking down my nose at her, while Líng Shàojié just sighed in frustration.
This is kind of satisfying…
Seeing her humbled, I felt a surge of joy.
“Why did you rent an unused house?”
“I’ll tell you.”
“Alright, I’ll give you a chance to explain… Just so you know, I can analyze if you’re lying based on your physical reactions.”
This was true.
Though originally not meant for lie detection.
“But first, take me to the rental unit!”
What could be so important in the rental unit to make her so conflicted?
— “Have you found anything? There should be some important secrets hidden there.” —
Xiao Kai’s response.
[Not yet, looks like it hasn’t been lived in for a long time.]
— “Líng Shàojié has sensed the situation over there.” —
[Really? How sensitive is she?]
— “Sensitive…敏锐 might be more appropriate. But she’s willing to be honest.” —
[Then let’s hear what she has to say.]
— “I plan to bring her here first.” —
[Bring her here?]
— “Yeah, but we need to arrange the script.” —
—————
Scene Setup
—————
I pushed Líng Shàojié downstairs.
Aunt Lín: “Oh? Going out so late?”
“Lingmèng is leaving, I’m seeing her off to the station.”
Aunt Lín: “Of course, but come back early. I need to close up.”
Unbeknownst to us, it was almost ten o’clock.
On the surface, Líng Shàojié wore a mask, but actually, her mouth was muffled by me.
“Mmm—”
She couldn’t speak, struggling to produce any sound, which I easily blocked.
The voice through the mask was a mimicry of my words, barely raising suspicion.
We left the café, entered the neighborhood, and took the elevator.
In front of Líng Shàojié, I opened the rental unit door.
“Please come in… you can talk now.”
I removed the mask.
“Ha! Are you trying to suffocate me?”
“No, I left you holes to breathe through.”
In the living room, the blonde Lady Lin Hua sat elegantly drinking tea… where did she get that tea?
Líng Shàojié looked surprised at the sudden appearance of the unfamiliar foreign beauty.
“Who’s this… isn’t she your brother?”
“Xiao Kai is at home, didn’t I say that?”
I introduced, “This is Miss Málìwēi from England, responsible for confidentiality in East Asia.”
“Your colleague… is she a mage too?”
“You can interpret it however you want, but her purpose here is to eliminate risks.”
Líng Shàojié frowned.
“Aurors?”
“Hey, don’t use jargon nobody understands.”
Her rhythm shifted to an unknown territory, clearly confused, her sharp mind unable to stay clear. If I wanted to confuse her, I was quite good at it.
“Alright, alright, she’s the target, right?”
Lady Lin Hua put down her teacup, flicked her hand, and magically produced a short wand, its tip flashing with expensive effects worth at least fifty thousand yuan.
“Lingmèng, introductions are unnecessary, you’ll forget soon anyway. Let me handle this directly.”
To distinguish herself from her former self, Lady Lin Hua adopted a lazy speaking style, paired with her princess-like appearance, giving her an unexpectedly noble aura.
“Huh, British people speak Chinese…”
Líng Shàojié paused, then anxiously asked, “Wait! What are you doing?”
She was wary of the wand in Lady Lin Hua’s hand.
“I’m responsible for keeping the ritual secret. The existence of the practitioner mustn’t be known to the general public. I must eliminate all potential leaks… but don’t worry, I have memory deletion spells. I won’t kill you, considering the time you’ve been involved, two months of memory should suffice.”
Though unprepared, Lady Lin Hua spoke convincingly. Seeing her raise the wand, Líng Shàojié quickly ducked behind me, protesting, “Memory deletion is scary! Lingmèng, think of something. Losing two months of memories is a huge loss for me!”
I spread my hands in resignation.
“Even if you say so, Miss Málìwēi is above my rank, I can’t stop her…”
“You wanted to know about me!”
“So Miss Málìwēi, I have some questions. Let me hear what she plans to say first.”
The light from the wand disappeared, and Lady Lin Hua retracted it, half-closed eyes saying, “Lingmèng, no matter what you say, I’ll erase her memory in the end.”
“I know, that’s why you’re here.”
“How dare you say that…”
Lady Lin Hua, no, Miss Málìwēi, frowned, hands on her hips, ready to scold.
“Ultimately, Lingmèng also bears responsibility for letting ordinary people know the secrets. Reflect on this later!”
“Sorry, you had to travel all this way.”
“It’s part of the job.”
She sat back down on the sofa.
“Let’s talk about you first, I’ll wait here.”
Though improvised, Lady Lin Hua got into character, making me feel like I was being scolded.
Pulling me by the arm to the door, Líng Shàojié accused, “She’s like the police in your magic world, bringing such trouble here…”
“What do you mean ‘bring here’? Come on, the address you filled in at school is here. Miss Málìwēi would have found this place anyway. This is all your problem. I warned you, and you insisted on your reckless actions… By the way, I don’t mind if you lose your memories. It’s a relief for me, and I won’t be bothered by you again.”
“Hey! I was helping you find someone, and you’re so heartless!”
Líng Shàojié’s face showed disgust.
Seeing the moment was ripe, I closed one eye and said, “But there’s a way. Among regular people, we have collaborators. If you become my collaborator, you can avoid having your memories erased by Miss Málìwēi.”
“Huh? Aren’t I already your collaborator?”
“No, no, not just anyone can be a collaborator. First, I don’t trust you. If I take you as one, I’d be implicated too.”
She asked suspiciously, “Are you playing with me?”
“Try it, you won’t remember anything that happened until now anyway.”
“How do I become your collaborator?”
She began using formal language.
“But Shàojié, based on what I know about you, it’s hard to trust you… Tell me about yourself first? Even a formal introduction could convince me. If I trust you, not only will I make you a collaborator, but Miss Málìwēi might show leniency too… maybe.”
“I understand…”
She stood up, walked to the refrigerator, and opened the freezer drawer.
Just as I thought she was going to drink something, she pulled out a green transparent file bag from under the drawer.
“This is why I can’t lose my memories.”
It was a…
Birth certificate?
