Author Archives: Thingyan

After the matter with Jia Xiaotao temporarily settled down, Xie Li did not keep dwelling on it for long. He focused wholeheartedly on reviewing textbooks and preparing for the college entrance examinations, while also teaching Li Tiantian her lessons along the way.

Still, amid all the busyness, he heard about what happened afterward.

Jia Xiaotao’s maiden family lived in a village twenty li away. News spread quickly in the countryside, and it was said that when she first returned home, she loudly declared she intended to stay there permanently. Unless Li Erniu personally came to beg forgiveness, she would never go back.

But the Jia family’s circumstances could not support such an idea.

Jia Xiaotao had three brothers, all married with children. Altogether, the household contained more than ten people across three generations. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Their courtyard was already cramped with their own family members. Where would there be room for Jia Xiaotao to stay? If she were merely returning to visit occasionally, that would be one thing. But this time, she announced she planned to live there long-term…

No one in the family welcomed the idea.

On top of that, little fatty Li Tiansheng was spoiled and badly behaved. Even after arriving at another household, he remained unruly. Relying on the fact that he was much taller and stronger than children his age, he either bullied one uncle’s child or hit and cursed another uncle’s child. Whenever he encountered older children he could not beat, he immediately threw tantrums and screamed for Jia Xiaotao to save him.

Jia Xiaotao had grown used to acting tyrannically in the Li household. Back at her maiden home, she remained just as unreasonable. Whenever her nephews upset her, she would immediately grab them and unleash a furious scolding without restraint…

Watching their own children cry so hard they could barely breathe while having nowhere to seek justice, the wives of the three brothers finally exploded with anger.

In less than a month, several huge fights erupted one after another inside the Jia family.

Left with no other choice, Jia Xiaotao could only return to Xiaoxipo Village in disgrace with Li Tiansheng.

Because she had returned voluntarily, and because she had cuckolded Li Erniu while stubbornly refusing to reveal the identity of the outside lover, Li Erniu’s attitude softened not at all. Instead, he became unusually hardheaded. Whenever interacting with Jia Xiaotao, he refused to give even a single inch.

The two of them constantly fought.

Arguments turned into screaming matches.

Screaming matches turned into physical fights.

Pots, bowls, and basins shattered across the floor on a daily basis.

At first, the villagers still went over to watch the excitement unfold. Li Jianguo also rushed over repeatedly to break up the fights, afraid something serious might happen.

But after enduring this chaos day after day, eventually even the villagers grew too lazy to watch anymore. They simply let the couple continue fighting as they pleased.

As for Li Jianguo, he finally gave up entirely on this nephew and nephew’s wife and focused all his attention on preparing for the summer harvest instead.

After hearing about everything, Li Tiantian ended up telling Xie Li the whole story as well.

“Do you think… she’s kind of pitiful now?” she asked cautiously, secretly studying Xie Li’s expression.

After listening, Xie Li merely nodded. His expression did not change in the slightest, nor did he comment on the matter. Instead, he calmly rolled up his sleeves and somehow produced a thick stack of exercise books from who knew where.

“Forget about that. Let’s talk about the homework you handed in yesterday instead.”

Li Tiantian: “……”

Helpless.

Small.

Wronged.

Perfectly composed, Xie Li slowly pointed out each mistake in her homework one by one. Watching Li Tiantian lower her head further and further in defeat, he accepted the notebook back and quietly curled his lips upward as she trudged back into the room to redo her assignments.

Li Tiantian did not know the outrageous things Jia Xiaotao’s family had done in the previous life, which was why she remained softhearted.

Xie Li actually thought that was a good thing.

He had no intention of telling her those ugly matters. He wanted her to continue living without worries, remaining a carefree young girl untouched by such darkness.

Of course, he also did not want Li Tiantian dwelling endlessly on the matter either. Since that was the case, then it was best to slowly let the incident fade away and stop bringing it up in the future.

After all, with him around, Jia Xiaotao’s family would never again gain even the slightest advantage in this lifetime.

Right now, Xie Li’s greatest priority was getting into university.

…

The textbooks of this era were still fairly simple and not difficult. Relying on the memories in his mind, Xie Li reviewed the material at an astonishing pace.

What remained afterward was reinforcement practice, using endless drills and problem-solving to strengthen his exam-taking ability.

Li Tiantian’s learning progress was also quite good.

In only two months, she finished reviewing all the elementary school curriculum and began studying middle school material.

At this pace, although she would not make it in time for the very first restored college entrance examinations, if she continued studying, she should be able to take the exams in another two or three years.

There was, however, one unexpected problem Xie Li found difficult to explain.

Because of the times, schools currently taught Russian rather than English. His flawless Oxford-accented English was completely useless here, forcing him to seek help from other educated youths to learn Russian instead.

Fortunately, he had excellent talent for languages. His self-study progressed rapidly, and he could even teach Li Tiantian along the way, so there were no major setbacks.

Just like that, time passed in a blur.

By July, the season for the summer harvest arrived, and the production brigade officially began work as well.

Vast stretches of ripe rice fields waited to be harvested, gleaming with rich golden color. Whenever the wind blew across them, the fields rippled like waves rolling over an ocean.

Because after harvesting, the villagers immediately needed to replant the second batch of rice seedlings in order to harvest a second crop before winter arrived, both tasks had to happen simultaneously. The entire production brigade bustled with frantic activity.

Xie Li and Li Tiantian temporarily set aside their studies and joined the other educated youths in the brigade’s exhausting labor.

Before work officially began, the brigade first needed to assign duties. The entire village gathered at the threshing ground for a meeting.

Xie Li and Li Tiantian went as well.

The meeting was scheduled to begin at ten in the morning, but Li Jianguo was delayed by other matters and had not arrived yet. Xie Li went to hurry him along, but on the way out of the village brigade office, he unexpectedly ran into Hu Dezheng.

Since they had not seen each other for a while, Xie Li greeted him first.

Hu Dezheng turned around. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. The moment he saw Xie Li, panic briefly flashed across his face. Tugging awkwardly at the corner of his mouth, he forced himself to remain calm.

“Xie Li, you’re here too.”

“Yeah. I came to find the brigade leader for the meeting. What about you?” Xie Li glanced at the girl standing beside Hu Dezheng, then smiled slightly and raised an eyebrow. “Came together with Qian Lanxiang?”

Qian Lanxiang’s face instantly reddened.

“No. We just happened to run into each other on the way here, so we walked together.”

“Really?” Xie Li frowned slightly and studied the two of them thoughtfully. After a moment, he decided not to ask further and simply patted Hu Dezheng on the shoulder. “Then take your time. I’ll head off first. Tiantian’s still waiting for me.”

“Alright.” Hu Dezheng did not try to stop him and calmly watched him leave.

Walking back toward the threshing ground, Xie Li replayed the earlier scene in his mind and sharply sensed something unusual.

If they had truly just happened to meet on the road, why were they acting so nervous about it?

Could it be that, just like the recent rumors claimed, the two of them were actually together?

That was different from the previous life.

Still, the usually restrained Hu Dezheng, who never wanted anything to do with village girls, had unexpectedly fallen in love…

Xie Li did not know anything about Hu Dezheng’s family circumstances or understand his difficulties. From the bottom of his heart, however, he felt happy for him.

After arriving at the threshing ground, he told Li Tiantian about it.

Li Tiantian tilted her head and thought for a moment.

“There’s still an empty house plot next to ours. If Lanxiang and Educated Youth Hu get married, maybe we could become neighbors.”

“That might be difficult.”

Xie Li knew Hu Dezheng’s financial situation. His family only mailed him ten yuan every six months. With only that amount of money, building a house and marrying Qian Lanxiang would be nearly impossible.

Then again, not every father-in-law was someone like Li Jianguo.

Maybe they could still be together without building a house first.

Xie Li was quite optimistic about the relationship. With Hu Dezheng’s self-discipline and character, he should be able to get into university eventually. By then, the two couples might even become schoolmates.

If Qian Lanxiang married him, that would not be a bad future at all.

And once they reached the capital, she could keep Li Tiantian company so Li Tiantian would not feel lost and alone in a strange city.

…

More than ten minutes later, Li Jianguo finally finished handling his business and hurried over to the threshing ground, interrupting Xie Li and Li Tiantian’s conversation before stepping onto the stage to begin assigning work.

To conceal his current wealth, and also because his strength had increased enough that ordinary labor no longer challenged him, Xie Li chose the heaviest work this year, earning the maximum ten work points each day.

As for Li Tiantian, after some thought, he selected a much easier task for her: herding cattle.

Although it earned fewer work points, it was relaxed work. It was also the same task Li Tiantian had always done.

As the brigade leader’s daughter, Li Jianguo could not bear to let her suffer too much in the fields. Usually she simply herded cattle to casually earn a few work points, since Li Jianguo himself earned enough to support both mother and daughter without needing her to labor heavily.

When Li Jianguo saw Xie Li’s choices, approval surfaced in his eyes. He openly praised Xie Li for being a real man with responsibility and backbone.

Xie Li smiled and did not take the praise too seriously.

After the meeting ended, the two of them returned home. Thinking again about Li Tiantian’s studies, he repeatedly reminded the young woman that even while herding cattle, she could not neglect learning.

“Preferably, you should study while herding the cattle. No slacking off. When I come back after work, I’ll check your lessons. If your grades slip, I’ll punish you.”

Punish her?

Heat instantly spread across Li Tiantian’s face. Biting her lip, she hesitated before saying,

“But… won’t my work be too easy? I’m worried I won’t earn enough work points by the end of the year and won’t get enough grain distributed.”

She was worried the two of them might go hungry next year?

Xie Li thought for a moment, then turned and walked back into the room. On the surface, it looked as though he was fetching something from inside, but in reality he took a cloth bag out of his space and tossed it toward Li Tiantian.

“What is th…”

Li Tiantian caught the cloth bag and opened it in confusion. The moment she saw the thick stack of ten-yuan bills inside, her unfinished question abruptly stopped.

Her eyes widened round with shock.

“So much money?!”

A trace of amusement surfaced in Xie Li’s eyes as he stroked his chin.

“There’s eleven hundred yuan in there. Keep it. Now you don’t need to worry about starving.”

After getting married, Xie Li stopped selling vegetables outside.

Because he could tell that the more produce he traded, the more curious Old Luo from the black market became about his identity. The man wanted to know where the vegetables came from and wanted to investigate who he really was…

So Xie Li simply stopped going to the county town altogether. He stopped growing vegetables as well and only casually raised ginseng in his space, ignoring everything else.

After all, with their savings, neither he nor Li Tiantian would starve.

The thousand-plus yuan he handed over was what remained from the previous three months of savings after purchasing the “three big items.”

Even so, it completely stunned Li Tiantian speechless.

One jar of face cream cost three yuan, and most people could barely bear to use it. The pile of money in front of her represented more than three hundred jars of face cream.

“How do you have so much money?” Li Tiantian blinked, looking at Xie Li with open admiration.

Then, as if suddenly thinking of something, her expression stiffened. Carefully testing the waters, she asked,

“You didn’t do anything bad, right?”

Xie Li rubbed her hair helplessly.

“Don’t worry. Your husband didn’t do anything illegal. My family gave me this money. Keep it safe and save it for university later. But… you probably understand my family’s current situation, so for now, don’t tell anyone about the money.”

After thinking briefly, he added another sentence.

“Your parents included.”

When Xie Li was assigned to Xiaoxipo Village, Li Jianguo knew exactly where he came from and understood it was impossible for him to naturally possess such a large sum of money. So eventually Xie Li would need to stage some sort of “selling fountain pens” excuse in front of Li Jianguo to explain the appearance of the money.

But Li Tiantian did not understand any of those complications.

As long as he explained something to her, she would believe it.

“Oh…”

Seeing Xie Li’s serious expression, Li Tiantian obediently gave up asking further questions. Raising three fingers solemnly, she promised,

“I swear I won’t tell anyone!”

Gentle laughter rippled through Xie Li’s eyes. Pinching her cheek lightly, he lowered his voice and praised her near her ear,

“Tiantian’s getting more and more obedient.”

Li Tiantian covered her burning cheeks, pressing her lips together to suppress a smile while sweetness filled her heart.

However, after learning they had this much money, Li Tiantian no longer wanted Xie Li doing heavy labor.

Even after Xie Li demonstrated his strength for her, she still insisted there was no need and stubbornly refused to let him continue.

Unable to argue with her, Xie Li could only give in and switch to slightly lighter work instead: nine work points a day, driving ox carts to transport harvested rice to the threshing ground.

Bright joy spread across Li Tiantian’s eyes. Holding her face in her hands, she said coquettishly,

“If you’re driving the ox carts, then I’ll definitely take very good care of the cattle. If they behave better, you’ll save more energy too.”

Xie Li looked into her eyes for a moment before quietly replying,

“Whatever you say.”

╰───♡───╯

After the banquet ended, the guests gradually dispersed. The villagers helping in the kitchen cleaned everything up, collected their pay, and left as well.

Xie Li saw his father-in-law and mother-in-law out, closed the courtyard gate, then calmly said to Li Tiantian,

“It’s getting late. After washing up, we should sleep.”

“Mm.” Li Tiantian lowered her head and answered softly, almost too quietly to hear. Her fingers trembled as she twisted the corner of her clothes before turning toward the kitchen to fetch water.

Xie Li took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and followed after her.

…

A spring wedding night is worth a thousand pieces of gold. And so, the long night passed…

The next morning, Xie Li woke up and turned his head to glance at the sleeping girl beside him. Touching his face, he forcibly suppressed the upward curve of his lips before carefully getting out of bed and heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Now that he had married her and brought her home, there was no way he would let her go hungry.

Xie Li had previously bought quite a lot of supplies for the kitchen. Taking some flour and eggs, he made a pot of dough-drop soup.

Because he had added spirit spring water, even without any special seasonings and using only salt, the finished soup still smelled wonderfully fresh and rich. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. He also added some boiled bok choy as garnish, making the dish look beautifully white and green, simple but appetizing.

Satisfied, he nodded to himself, carried the food into the main room, and went to wake Li Tiantian.

“You already made breakfast? Why didn’t you wake me earlier to cook?” Li Tiantian came out of the room, saw the food on the table, and asked somewhat embarrassedly.

Xie Li ladled a bowl of dough-drop soup onto the table in front of her and answered casually,

“You were sleeping so peacefully I couldn’t bear to wake you. If you can’t get up in the mornings, then I’ll just make breakfast from now on.”

Li Tiantian pressed her lips together, the corners of her mouth lifting into a tiny smile.

“Then wouldn’t I become useless? Relying on you for everything.”

“It’s fine. I married a wife, not a hired laborer. Even if you rely on me for everything, I’d still gladly take care of you.”

Xie Li did not think much of it. After setting down the bowls and chopsticks, he urged Li Tiantian to hurry and wash her face so she could come back and eat.

Li Tiantian obediently went to wash up. When she returned and sat down across from Xie Li, she thought for a moment before saying,

“I don’t want you to be too tired. I want to help you with things too.”

Xie Li paused with his chopsticks, sat up straighter, and looked her over from head to toe.

“You want to share some of the housework?”

“Yes. I want to share the housework.”

Xie Li smiled faintly and stroked his chin as he thought for a while. Finally, he nodded.

“In that case, after breakfast, how about I leave the dishes for you to wash?”

Living together was always a process of bumping into each other and gradually adapting. Since Li Tiantian wanted to help share the burden, Xie Li naturally intended to indulge her. Besides, doing chores together could help deepen their feelings.

“…That simple?” Li Tiantian sounded dissatisfied instead.

“Yes, that simple. What else were you expecting?” Xie Li asked with an amused laugh. Stretching out his arm, he patted her on the head. “Hurry and eat. I still have something to talk to you about later.”

Sweetness bloomed in Li Tiantian’s heart. Pretending to sigh helplessly, she picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

…

After breakfast, Xie Li watched Li Tiantian happily clean up the bowls and chopsticks. Then he beckoned her over and pulled out the ledger book used to register gifts the previous day.

Almost the entire village had attended the wedding banquet, and the gift money varied from person to person. Hu Dezheng, who had handled registration, had been so busy he practically lost track of time. Every payment received was marked down hastily, filling seven or eight messy pages in the notebook.

“What are you doing?” Li Tiantian asked curiously when she saw Xie Li open the notebook.

“First, calculate yesterday’s gift money totals.” Without answering directly, Xie Li handed her paper and a pen.

Li Tiantian accepted them with a bewildered expression. After glancing at him, she obediently lowered her head and began doing the calculations.

When she finished, Xie Li checked the numbers against the total himself. He discovered the young woman was actually quite careful. Though she calculated slowly, she had not made a single mistake.

His satisfaction increased a little.

Getting up, he went into another room being used as a study and brought back the elementary school textbooks he had prepared long ago, placing them in front of Li Tiantian.

“Your foundation is actually pretty good. Next, we’ll review elementary mathematics again. Afterward, depending on your progress, I can prepare a set of test questions for you.”

Li Tiantian blankly followed along for an entire lesson. Only after they finished did she suddenly remember to ask what exactly he was doing.

Xie Li calmly organized the textbooks and stationery in his hands as he explained his purpose.

“You’re going to teach me to study?” Li Tiantian blinked in surprise.

Xie Li nodded.

“That’s right. I’m going to teach you.”

Li Tiantian had only attended elementary school. In Xiaoxipo Village, that already counted as an above-average education. She could solve simple math problems and recite a few classical poems.

But to Xie Li, that was far from enough.

When two people spent their lives together, having common ground to talk about was important. Because even if he devoted himself entirely to Li Tiantian, decades later, if the two of them had nothing to say to each other, could only sit there staring blankly, or could only gossip about neighbors and relatives over meals before falling into awkward silence once the gossip ended…

Then such a marriage would be unbearably tragic.

Li Tiantian would not truly feel happy either. She would only grow lost and regretful.

Xie Li did not want Li Tiantian to regret anything.

He wanted to take her out to see the world. He did not want her trapped forever inside tiny Xiaoxipo Village or buried endlessly beneath housework. He wanted her to understand that the meaning of life was not merely eating, drinking, and surviving. There were far more wonderful things waiting beyond that.

But at present, Li Tiantian’s education level made it difficult for her to keep up with his pace. So he planned to personally teach her at home first, then decide their next step based on her progress and comprehension.

If her grades were poor, then he would continue teaching her at home. Even if she never became especially accomplished, gaining more knowledge and broader horizons would still be a good thing.

If her grades were good enough, then he would take her to compete in the college entrance examinations. The two of them could attend university together and go to the capital together.

He believed that would be a wonderful experience.

There were some things that had not happened yet, however, so Xie Li could not explain too much. He did not mention the college entrance exams directly and only said that he hoped Li Tiantian could study more.

Li Tiantian was very obedient. Even though she did not really understand what use studying would have for her, since Xie Li asked it of her, she agreed without hesitation.

“Alright. From now on, you teach me, and I’ll study properly.”

Xie Li curled his lips into a smile and gently patted the young woman’s head.

“So good.”

Having such an obedient and adorable student greatly satisfied Xie Li’s urge to teach.

He taught her all morning. By noon, worried that pushing too hard might make his “older student” Li Tiantian develop an aversion to studying, he stopped forcing her to read and let her rest for a while.

He himself got up to head toward the kitchen to cook lunch.

Just then, Li Jianguo arrived and told them not to bother cooking. Instead, they should come eat at his house.

It turned out Wang Cuihua was not used to the house suddenly having two fewer people and had accidentally cooked too much food. The couple could not finish it themselves, so Li Jianguo had specifically come to invite them over.

Since both Xie Li and Li Tiantian were already used to eating at the Li household, neither of them stood on ceremony. They simply nodded and followed him over.

“Oh right, Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, there’s something I forgot to mention.”

After sitting down at the Li family table, Xie Li suddenly recalled yesterday’s events and hesitated deliberately before speaking.

“It’s about Cousin Sister-in-law coming to the wedding banquet yesterday. It suddenly reminded me of the time Tiantian and I passed by the woods and heard her in there with someone…”

His words were deliberately suggestive. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. After speaking halfway, Xie Li stopped there and said no more.

But Li Jianguo already understood.

He froze for a long while before finally recovering enough to ask in disbelief,

“You didn’t see wrong?”

Xie Li and Li Tiantian had only heard voices at the time and never actually seen anything. But Xie Li trusted his own ears.

“It was definitely Cousin Sister-in-law. There’s no mistake.”

“This…”

Li Jianguo found himself speechless.

Even if he no longer intended to support that nephew of his, he had never intended to simply watch the man get cuckolded either.

Bang!

Li Jianguo slammed the table hard and abruptly stood up, pacing restlessly around the room.

“No, I have to go ask whether it’s true or not!”

He no longer had any appetite to eat.

Having made up his mind, Li Jianguo grabbed his homemade bamboo pipe and strode out the door.

Wang Cuihua froze for a moment as she watched Li Jianguo’s departing figure.

“You two eat slowly. I’m worried about your father, so I’ll go take a look.”

Once both elders were gone, Li Tiantian glanced at Xie Li. Seeing him calmly continuing to eat as if nothing had happened, she gave him a questioning look.

Xie Li remained completely unhurried.

“It’s fine. Eat slowly. By the time we finish and head over, we’ll catch the show at just the right moment.”

Li Tiantian blinked, seeming to understand something.

Thinking back on it, ever since childhood, she had been bullied by Li Erniu’s family more times than she could count. Yet her parents had never truly fallen out with them because of her. No matter how angry they became, at most they simply stopped interacting.

Only Xie Li remembered the grievances she had suffered.

And now he was even setting the other family up for her sake…

Her eyes lit up brightly. Smiling sweetly, she obediently lowered her head and continued eating.

…

After lunch, the two of them leisurely headed toward Li Erniu’s house.

Before they even arrived, Jia Xiaotao’s familiar shrill screams could already be heard from afar.

“Li Erniu, are you trying to kill me?! You dare hit me?! I’ll fight you to the death!”

Then came the sounds of smashing objects, one crash after another.

Xie Li and Li Tiantian unconsciously quickened their pace and headed over faster.

After turning a corner and reaching Li Erniu’s home, they saw a crowd of villagers gathered outside the doorway watching the excitement, pointing and gossiping. Not a single person stepped forward to break up the fight.

Well, there was no helping it.

Jia Xiaotao’s mouth was simply too vicious. She had offended more than half the village.

When the villagers saw Xie Li and Li Tiantian arrive, they assumed the pair had come to stop the fight. Somewhat unwillingly, they moved aside and let them through.

Taking advantage of the opening, Xie Li entered the house.

Inside, Jia Xiaotao had a glaring handprint across her left cheek. Her hair was a complete mess as she clawed and bit at Li Erniu like a madwoman.

Li Erniu was not backing down either. Grabbing Jia Xiaotao by the hair, he viciously slapped her while cursing,

“You filthy woman! Filthy woman! Sneaking around with men behind my back!”

As for their son Li Tiansheng, he stood by the doorway clutching the wooden frame, hopping excitedly and clapping as he watched his parents fight, completely thrilled and not the slightest bit worried.

The “culprit” behind all this, Li Jianguo, stood awkwardly to one side trying to separate them, but no matter what he did, he could not pull the two apart.

Li Erniu even shouted at him,

“Uncle, stay out of it! If I don’t beat this filthy woman to death today, then my surname isn’t Li!”

Wang Cuihua looked somewhat distressed, but remembering everything that had happened before, she did not interfere. Instead, she stood far away watching.

Seeing Xie Li bring her daughter over, she quickly advised,

“Why did you two come? There’s nothing worth watching here. Hurry back and don’t get involved.”

Even though Xie Li had intentionally revealed the matter, not a single person suspected he had done it on purpose. Everyone believed Li Jianguo had simply been too impulsive, come to scold his nephew’s wife, gotten talked back to, and then angrily blurted out the truth.

Only Li Tiantian vaguely guessed the truth.

But instead of exposing him, she shamelessly went along with him, the two of them pretending innocence together.

Three hours later, the chaos finally came to an end.

Jia Xiaotao wiped her face and, bruised and swollen, took Li Tiansheng back to her maiden home.

Li Erniu did not chase after her. For the first time in his life, he acted tough, spitting toward her retreating figure.

“Bah! Filthy woman. If you’ve got the guts, then don’t ever come back!”

Just like that, the family fell apart.

And honestly, that was for the best.

Xie Li curled his lips slightly, extremely satisfied.

In his previous life, if Li Jianguo had not tried to save the ungrateful brat Li Tiansheng from drowning, he himself would never have drowned either. And when Jia Xiaotao arrived afterward and saw Li Jianguo drowning, not only did she refuse to save him, she did not even call anyone for help. Instead, she grabbed her son and ran away.

After Li Jianguo died, Li Erniu clearly knew the truth, yet he still brought his wife and child to seize Li Jianguo’s inheritance.

Because Li Jianguo had no son, and in Xiaoxipo Village, having no son was considered the same as having no bloodline. By default, nephews were entitled to claim a large portion of the property.

For the sake of money, Li Erniu forgot all the care and support Li Jianguo had given him. He forgot Wang Cuihua’s patience and generosity toward their family. Shamelessly, they came to bully a widow and orphaned daughter.

It could be said that half of Li Tiantian’s tragedy in her previous life came from Jia Xiaotao’s family.

Xie Li thought coldly that if not for this family, then even after the original owner left in the previous life, Li Tiantian would still have inherited Li Jianguo’s property and would never have suffered so bitterly.

╰───♡───╯

For today’s wedding banquet, Xie Li collected half a pig and two huge basins of fish from the villagers. He also hurriedly planted water spinach, long beans, and winter melon in his space.

The banquet spread was incredibly lavish.

Xie Li planned to serve five dishes and one soup: braised fish, braised pork belly, cold dressed water spinach, stir-fried long beans with pork, twice-cooked pork, and winter melon pork rib soup.

In this era, such a menu was practically unbelievable. Most families hosting weddings would already be considered decent if each table had three dishes, and they were usually all vegetables. But Xie Li’s menu was almost entirely meat dishes, leaving the villagers helping in the kitchen utterly dumbfounded.

Very satisfied with their reactions, Xie Li smiled gently and said, “Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”

“Not hard at all, not hard at all.”

The villagers hurried to answer. Helping cook for one day earned each person one whole yuan. To them, it felt like money had fallen from the heavens. Who would complain about a little trouble?

Xie Li smiled, straightened his new clothes, and estimated it was almost three in the afternoon. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. It was time to head to the Li family home to bring Li Tiantian back. The educated youths had arrived early, all wearing their best clothes. Seeing him set off, they laughed and noisily followed behind, helping make the wedding procession look more impressive.

Thankfully, this place did not have the custom of tormenting the groom during the wedding. Xie Li brought his whole group to the Li household, slipped a red envelope to the bridesmaid Qian Lanxiang, exchanged a few words with his future in-laws, and smoothly got to see Li Tiantian.

Li Tiantian was alone in her room.

She wore a red short-sleeved blouse and a red ankle-length skirt. A red rose bloomed in her black hair. Sitting on the bed with her chin propped in her hand, she stared blankly into space. The moment she noticed Xie Li enter, she jumped to her feet, her cheeks quietly flushing red.

“You came?”

“I came to take you home.” Xie Li extended a hand toward her, his gaze calm and reassuring as he let out a soft laugh. “Tiantian, come with me.”

A thin gold bracelet circled Li Tiantian’s wrist, a gift Xie Li had given her a few days earlier. Lowering her head, she fiddled nervously with the chain before finally gathering her courage and placing her hand into his.

“Mm. Let’s go.”

Xie Li said nothing. He lowered his eyes to glance at the young woman beside him, warmth quietly surfacing in his gaze.

Hand in hand, they walked out of the room, and the crowd waiting outside instantly burst into noise.

“The bride’s here! The bride’s here!”

For every girl, the day she marries the person she loves is undoubtedly the most beautiful day of her life. Li Tiantian was no exception. Her eyes were clear and shy, gentle light glowing softly within them. Leaning beside Xie Li, she looked at him with complete trust and dependence as he accompanied her out of the house.

“Dad, Mom, I’m heading over first.”

Li Tiantian spoke to Li Jianguo and Wang Cuihua standing nearby.

Wang Cuihua laughed fondly. “Go on, go on. You head over first. We’ll come afterward.”

Li Tiantian puffed out her cheeks slightly and forced out a nervous smile. Then she turned toward Xie Li and opened her arms, allowing him to lift her onto the ox cart.

Behind them, people carried out her dowry: a bicycle, a wristwatch, a sewing machine…

Li Tiantian could not help pursing her lips into a smile, her unease about marriage gradually settling.

All of those things had been part of the bride price Xie Li prepared for her. Her parents told her that Xie Li had spent all his savings just to buy the “three big items” and help her save face. They told her to live well with him after marriage. With a man who cherished her so deeply, they could finally feel at ease for the rest of their lives.

But in truth, they had worried too much. Even without the three big items, she would still have chosen to stay with Xie Li wholeheartedly.

Li Tiantian’s eyelashes trembled lightly as memories of all the moments they had shared surfaced in her mind. The smile at the corners of her lips turned sweet enough to melt people.

“Sit tight. We’re setting off.”

Xie Li suddenly reminded her.

Snapping back to herself, Li Tiantian obediently answered with a soft “Mm.”

The ox cart slowly began moving forward, leaving the Li family home behind.

Seeing this, all the village children who loved excitement chased after them. Along the way, they watched the bride toss flowers and candy, swarming together to snatch them up. It was called “sharing in the wedding joy.”

After circling the village once, the ox cart finally stopped in front of Xie Li’s house.

Most of the villagers were already gathered there waiting. The moment they saw the bride and the dowry arrive, whispers immediately spread through the crowd.

“Did you know? All those dowry items were actually bought with Xie Li’s bride price.”

“Really?”

“Why would I lie to you? I saw it the day the things were brought back. Xie Li and those educated youths hauled them into the village together.”

“He even got all three big items? He’s really willing to spend money.”

“The Li family’s daughter really married into a blessed life.”

The villagers watched with envy, muttering that appearances truly could be deceiving.

Judging from the way Xie Li normally dressed and behaved, he did not seem like the child of a wealthy family. No one expected him to be this generous.

Meanwhile, the unmarried young women were focused entirely on Li Tiantian. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Holding their cheeks dreamily, they sighed, “The bride’s wedding clothes are so beautiful. I wonder if I’ll be able to borrow them when I get married someday?”

“I heard Xie Li specially had them mailed from out of town. You can’t even buy fabric or craftsmanship like this in the county. They’re incredibly rare. If you damaged them after borrowing them, you’d never be able to pay for it,” an older, more mature girl beside her coldly poured water on the fantasy.

“Ah? Then forget it. I wouldn’t dare borrow them.”

An older auntie in front of them turned back and glanced at the girls with a smile. “If you can find a man like Xie Li, why would you need to borrow anything from others?”

The girls froze for a moment, clutching their wounded hearts as they sighed.

“How could we possibly find someone like that…?”

…

The wedding procedures were incredibly complicated: welcoming the bride, helping her off the cart, tossing red envelopes, handing out wedding candy…

Before they knew it, evening had arrived.

At dinnertime, as dish after dish was carried onto the tables, everyone’s eyes locked onto the food and refused to move away. The courtyard instantly fell silent.

“The dishes are all served. Everyone, eat well and drink well.”

Li Jianguo and Wang Cuihua had only just arrived. They quickly stepped forward to help Xie Li greet the guests.

Seeing them there, Xie Li relaxed and, after saying a few words, went inside to check on Li Tiantian.

When they first met that afternoon, he had already noticed how nervous she was. Earlier, he had left her in the bridal room to rest for a while, and now he wondered whether she was feeling any better.

Creak.

Xie Li pushed open the door and saw Li Tiantian standing by the window in a daze.

Smiling, he walked over and sat beside her, chatting softly to comfort her and tell her not to be nervous.

Li Tiantian nodded firmly. “I’m not nervous.”

After saying that, she glanced at him and whispered softly, “I think you’re the nervous one.”

“?”

Xie Li froze for a second. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he laughed helplessly.

“So you noticed.”

Alright. Truthfully, he was nervous too. But in front of a girl, he still wanted to appear dependable and steady, to make her feel safe and calm her emotions.

Now, seeing that Li Tiantian seemed much calmer than he was, he felt there was probably no need to comfort her at all.

“The banquet’s already started. Let’s go toast the guests.”

Xie Li stood up as he spoke.

Li Tiantian nodded obediently, and together they left the room, moving from table to table to toast the guests who had come to celebrate.

Halfway through, the shrill voice of a child suddenly rang out from the courtyard gate.

“Mom! I saw so much meat! I want meat!”

Xie Li frowned slightly and exchanged a glance with Li Tiantian before both of them turned toward the entrance.

“How did they end up here?” Xie Li found it strange, because he had never invited this family.

The people who had arrived were Li Tiantian’s cousin’s family: Li Erniu, Jia Xiaotao, and their precious son Li Tiansheng.

Ever since Li Tiansheng ruined Li Tiantian’s face cream three months ago and showed no remorse afterward, and after Li Tiantian complained about it to him, Xie Li had developed a terrible impression of the entire family.

Later, he bought Li Tiantian another jar of cream to make up for the loss, but once he learned how the little girl had been mocked and bullied by them before, he could no longer change his dislike for them. He had even started resenting Li Jianguo by association.

Not to mention the scene Jia Xiaotao caused in the fields…

From that moment onward, Xie Li had already decided he would not let them off easily.

They should count themselves lucky. If Xie Li had not spent the last three months busy making money and preparing for the wedding, their family would long since have lost the peaceful life they still had in the village.

And now they had walked right into his hands themselves.

A trace of coldness surfaced between Xie Li’s brows as he raised his voice.

“Cousin, sister-in-law, you came?”

Jia Xiaotao had originally planned to sneak inside quietly and freeload off the banquet, but her noisy son drew everyone’s attention. Furious, she pinched him hard before forcing out an awkward laugh.

“Yes, yes, we came. Almost missed the feast.”

Xie Li smiled faintly and said nothing. Instead, he turned toward the inside of the courtyard and called out loudly,

“Hu Dezheng, come register them!”

Hearing the shout, Hu Dezheng rushed out of the house clutching a small notebook.

“Coming, coming! Who’s here?”

Today, Hu Dezheng was in charge of collecting wedding gift money.

Jia Xiaotao’s family stood out far too much among the crowd, so he spotted them immediately. Walking over while flipping through the notebook, he asked,

“What names should I write down?”

Jia Xiaotao’s expression instantly darkened. Forcing a smile, she said,

“We still have to give gift money? We’re family. No need to be so formal, right?”

“…Uh…” Hu Dezheng froze and glanced back at Xie Li. Seeing his cold expression, he immediately understood something. Pretending to look troubled, he turned back to Jia Xiaotao.

“But everyone who came gave some. Wouldn’t it look bad if you didn’t?”

“You blind idiot!” Anger flashed through Jia Xiaotao’s eyes as she cursed him. Then, with a dark expression, she turned and ordered Li Tiantian,

“Tiantian, I’m your sister-in-law! Since when does eating one meal require paying money? What kind of logic is that? Hurry up and send this educated youth away!”

Li Tiantian looked at her coldly.

“I don’t have a sister-in-law as impressive as you.”

Jia Xiaotao nearly exploded with rage.

This was outright rebellion!

Unable to win against Li Tiantian, she immediately turned toward the usually silent Li Jianguo for support. But the moment she opened her mouth, she saw Li Jianguo deliberately shift his gaze away.

He looked at the sky.

Then at the ground.

Anywhere except her.

Jia Xiaotao froze, suddenly unable to speak.

She had already stopped going to the Li family house to freeload meals for three whole months. Why was her eldest uncle still angry?

No one spoke.

For a moment, the atmosphere stiffened awkwardly.

The dishes Xie Li prepared today were all excellent. The villagers originally came out of respect for Li Jianguo, but the banquet food turned out to be an unexpected delight. Every single dish smelled incredible, and everyone was happily eating mouthful after mouthful with their chopsticks.

Little fatty Li Tiansheng stared at the food with wide eyes, drool practically spilling out. Seeing the meat dishes he liked were almost gone, he immediately began wailing loudly.

“Meat! Meat! I want meat!”

Her son’s screaming made Jia Xiaotao even more irritated. Her face alternated between green and white while the villagers, enjoying both food and entertainment, all stared openly at their family.

She felt utterly humiliated, like she was being paraded through the streets for public shame.

At that moment, she finally understood why her father-in-law had committed suicide after being publicly humiliated.

Right now, she wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it.

“Money!”

With a dark expression, Jia Xiaotao slammed down fifty cents, then dragged her husband and son toward the banquet tables.

Hu Dezheng immediately beamed.

“Alright, got you registered!”

Xie Li nodded, his smile faintly mocking as he continued leading Li Tiantian around to toast guests.

This was his wedding day. He did not want to cause trouble here.

Still, fifty cents meant nothing to him.

But to Jia Xiaotao, it probably hurt like carving flesh from her body.

This was only the first step, just collecting a little interest first.

Xie Li was very much looking forward to the retaliation that would come after the wedding.

He was not afraid of their hatred.

What he feared was that they would not come at all.

╰───♡───╯

After relations with Li Jianguo eased somewhat, Xie Li officially began building the house under the guidance of this future father-in-law.

He planned for two bedrooms, one main hall, plus a kitchen and a bathroom, built overall with a family of three in mind. The chosen location was not far in front of the Li house. Walking two hundred meters would reach it easily, convenient for the highly vigilant Li Jianguo to keep an eye on things at any time.

For the exterior, Xie Li intended to use gray bricks. They cost more than red brick or mud brick, but they were sturdier, and their color carried an elegant, antique charm. Continue reading on HololoNovels dot com. Black roof tiles and wooden beams would top the structure. The interior walls would be painted white, while the floors would be paved with blue stone slabs, making cleaning easier and preventing dampness and strange insects during rainy weather.

Li Tiantian had seen the concept sketches and was ecstatic.

“It’s ten thousand times prettier than I imagined.”

All she had wanted was a house that could block wind and rain, yet Xie Li had given her an enormous surprise. She had never known she could one day live in such a beautiful home, prettier even than many houses in the county city.

Under her expectant gaze, Xie Li smiled helplessly inwardly and sped up construction.

In the blink of an eye, two months passed. By the time the rice stalks began forming ears, Xie Li’s first little house in this world was finally complete.

On the day construction finished, half the village came to watch.

“This house is really nice. I thought educated youths were all poor, but looks like Xie Li’s different. The brigade leader really has good judgment. We were the ones who misjudged him.”

“Yeah, building a house must’ve cost a fortune, right?”

Back when news of the engagement first spread, everyone thought Captain Li had gone crazy. Only now did they realize the ones getting slapped in the face were themselves.

“Money’s nothing. Look at Captain Li’s daughter marrying an educated youth like this. He paid for the house himself. Unlike that brigade leader’s daughter from the neighboring village, who had to provide money and a house for the educated youth she married.”

“Stop gossiping. That brigade leader’s daughter from the neighboring village jumped into the river not long ago. Barely got rescued.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. Let’s just admire the new house.”

Hu Dezheng came too, bringing a group of educated youths at Xie Li’s invitation. After looking around a few times, he sighed in admiration.

“Starting a family and building a career. You’ve already completed half your life goals.”

“If you’re jealous, you could do it too,” Xie Li replied meaningfully, giving him a look.

According to Li Tiantian, over the past three months Qian Lanxiang had been constantly visiting the educated youth point to bring Hu Dezheng food.

Hu Dezheng froze for a moment. Something flashed through his eyes before he gave a bitter smile, pulled himself together, and deliberately changed the topic by looking back at the house.

“Let’s not spoil the mood. We should keep admiring your new place.”

Xie Li looked entirely unconcerned. Seeing Hu Dezheng intentionally steer the conversation away, he merely smiled without exposing him and continued leading everyone around the house.

The more the educated youths looked, the more envious they became, letting out mournful groans.

Xie Li laughed helplessly.

“Stop envying me. When I get married in a while, just remember to come drink at the wedding feast.”

“So soon?”

Xie Li leaned against the doorway with arms folded and raised an eyebrow.

“How is it soon? It’s already been more than three months.”

These past three months had nearly exhausted him. Almost every single day, he had to find ways to avoid everyone and enter the space. Once inside, he had to check whether crops were ripe, harvest and pack them, then figure out ways to secretly sell mountains of vegetables.

The quantities had become so absurd that later even Uncle Luo suspected he was collecting vegetables from the entire village to sell, warning him to be careful not to get caught.

Fortunately, the rewards had been equally great.

Not counting the ginseng that still had not been harvested, Xie Li’s current net worth had reached over fifteen hundred yuan.

The eggplants alone, growing at ten times the normal rate, had produced nearly ten thousand jin over ten consecutive harvest days, earning him a total of 635 yuan.

Chinese cabbage sold for three fen per jin. Xie Li planted two thousand heads and earned another 220 yuan.

After that, as summer arrived, he gradually sold off the string beans and pumpkins from the space, making another five hundred plus yuan altogether…

With this amount of money, he already had enough for Li Tiantian’s bride price.

As for the remaining ginseng in the space, Xie Li no longer intended to sell it for now. He planned to let it continue growing slowly, only taking out one or two roots if urgently needed. Perhaps one day he might even grow some thousand-year-old ginseng spirit.

Recalling the hardships of the past three months, Xie Li smiled faintly without revealing anything outwardly.

The others had no idea what he had suffered through and merely continued teasing him for being impatient, unable to wait even three months.

Xie Li did not argue. After touring the house, everyone headed back.

Even after the house was built, it still needed airing out, furnishing, arranging furniture, and preparing for the wedding banquet… There were still plenty of troublesome steps before anyone could move in.

…

“We’ll buy the furniture ourselves.”

That evening, Xie Li went to update Li Tiantian’s family on the progress and was once again kept for dinner by his future mother-in-law.

Well, mostly because she had bought pork ribs and wanted Xie Li to cook them.

Thanks to the spirit spring, Xie Li had spent recent months frequently cooking to win over his future in-laws. No matter what ingredients he used, the dishes always came out perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

Even simple vegetables, after a few drops of spirit spring water, carried an extraordinary fragrance once cooked, crisp and juicy with a glossy sheen.

Over time, whenever the Li family bought meat, they handed it directly to Xie Li to cook, afraid of wasting expensive ingredients.

Once the dishes were on the table, Wang Cuihua casually made the suggestion.

Xie Li opened his mouth to refuse, but before he could speak, Li Jianguo chimed in:

“That’s right. We’ll buy the furniture. We only have Tiantian as our daughter anyway. Everything we own will belong to her eventually. Buying it earlier or later makes no difference.”

After saying this, Li Jianguo looked at Li Tiantian somewhat wistfully.

“Tiantian, after you get married, you still have to come back often to visit your parents. Don’t forget us.”

“Dad, Mom, what are you talking about?” Li Tiantian found it amusing. “Our houses are going to be this close. If something happens, shouting from one house can already be heard in the other. How could I forget you? Besides…”

As she continued speaking, she lowered her head shyly.

“It’s still early before marriage.”

“Not early. We’re planning to let you two marry soon.”

Li Jianguo’s single sentence made Xie Li raise an eyebrow while Li Tiantian’s eyes widened in shock.

“Really?”

Only Wang Cuihua looked completely unsurprised, clearly already aware of the situation. She nodded and said:

“If your father already said it, how could it be fake?”

Li Tiantian looked at Li Jianguo, then at Xie Li, then at Wang Cuihua, before covering her mouth and laughing foolishly in delight.

Xie Li looked at her helplessly yet fondly, patted her lightly on the back, then turned to Li Jianguo and asked:

“Although I’m also very happy we can get married sooner, I still want to ask, Father-in-law… did something happen for you to suddenly change your mind?”

“It’s about that family your cousin-in-law introduced before. Sigh…”

Back then, the neighboring village’s Sun family had wanted to arrange a marriage. Continue reading on HololoNovels dot com. They offered the Three Big Items plus one hundred yuan in bride price. Jia Xiaotao had specially come to mention it, and Wang Cuihua had even been tempted for a moment.

But by then Li Tiantian had already fallen for Xie Li and firmly refused, so the matter died there.

Unexpectedly, trouble later surfaced.

Only then did Wang Cuihua learn that the Sun family’s intended groom was not the eldest son, but the younger son.

The younger son was a fool. Everyone knew it.

Yet the Sun family still insisted on finding a normal girl to marry him, intending for the daughter-in-law to take care of their son for the rest of his life.

That explained why they offered such an enormous bride price yet still could not find a willing bride. They had to constantly search for matchmakers, even promising five yuan as a matchmaking fee if the marriage succeeded.

That was exactly why Jia Xiaotao had suddenly thought of Li Tiantian and hurried over to bring it up while freeloading a meal.

But that was not the main issue.

The real issue was that after searching for so long, the Sun family either could not find willing girls, or disliked the ones who were willing. In the end, they had set their sights on Li Tiantian and had recently even sent someone to formally propose to Li Jianguo.

“What?!”

Li Tiantian shot to her feet in shock, eyes wide open.

“They set their sights on me?!”

She was so angry she could barely speak. Pacing circles around the table with her hands on her hips like a furious little teapot, she muttered nonstop:

“Who do they think they are? Just because their family has connections, they think they can treat people however they want. I’m already engaged and they still have the nerve to propose. Shameless! Shameless!”

Xie Li was equally displeased, his expression darkening. But seeing Li Tiantian’s furious little performance instantly dispelled his irritation. His brows relaxed and he laughed.

“It’s alright. Father-in-law didn’t agree, did he?”

“I’m still angry even if he didn’t!” Li Tiantian grumbled resentfully.

Li Jianguo picked up a rib and chewed on it with satisfaction before sighing.

“That’s why I said you two should marry earlier. It’ll save a lot of trouble.”

The Sun family had relatives working in the county city, specifically in finance-related positions. Everyone had to give them some face. If this dragged on and they became fixated on Li Tiantian, trouble might arise.

It would be better to marry her off sooner.

Besides, a daughter was destined to leave home eventually. Li Tiantian’s heart was no longer here anyway, and they did not want to drag things out and risk the son-in-law changing his mind.

Li Tiantian froze for a moment before instantly turning from anger to joy.

“That’s right! Let’s get married earlier! Dad, what date do you think would be good for the wedding feast?”

“……”

Suddenly Li Jianguo could not even enjoy his meal anymore. He glanced at Li Tiantian while biting into a rib, feeling utterly heartbroken.

Even if he had agreed to let them marry early, did she really have to sound this impatient?

“Sigh… I’ll go ask Old Zhao to pick a date later.”

The more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt.

Only Wang Cuihua understood his mood. Suppressing her laughter, she punched him lightly in amusement.

…

In the end, the wedding date was set for before the summer harvest.

Xie Li moved out from the educated youth point and into the new house first. He invited villagers over to help decorate the home, then busied himself buying vegetables, rice, and supplies while preparing for the wedding banquet.

In the countryside, marriage was not judged by registration papers but by the wedding feast.

If a man and woman registered legally but never held a banquet, people would still gossip about them living together.

But if they held a banquet, even without registration, nobody would criticize them, even if children were born.

This was also why, during this era, many educated youths who married local villagers could later abandon their spouses and children once they received permission to return to the city.

Legally speaking, they were still considered unmarried. After returning home, they could simply marry again.

Only the people left behind in the countryside suffered, still waiting hopelessly for someone who would never return.

In the previous life, the original owner had been able to leave so easily precisely because they had never officially registered the marriage.

This time, however, Xie Li fully intended to register properly.

While preparing the banquet, he was already considering when he and Li Tiantian should go to the county city together afterward to obtain their marriage certificate.

Li Jianguo wandered over with his hands clasped behind his back.

“This afternoon, when you go pick up Tiantian, remember to circle around the whole village first. Right, is the ox cart ready?”

Xie Li nodded.

“Father-in-law, don’t worry. I already cleaned and refurbished the ox cart. It’ll definitely arrive on time this afternoon.”

Li Jianguo nodded in satisfaction and glanced around the bustling courtyard, where villagers helping with preparations were working enthusiastically. Not wanting to linger and become a nuisance, he waved his hand.

“Alright then. I’m heading back.”

With Xie Li’s parents absent, even he, the father-in-law, had to come supervise things personally.

Li Jianguo slowly wandered back home, thinking of his daughter’s joyful, expectant expression.

His heart softened completely.

He truly hoped these two young people would live happily together for the rest of their lives and never separate.

╰───♡───╯

Previous

Hot Spring Bathhouse (6)

Soon, a system notice stating that a player had failed to escape and had been eliminated was sent to everyone’s app.

Yi Han took his phone from the waterproof pouch and read it. His expression did not change, but his gaze darkened as he looked toward several teammates.

These teammates, assuming for now that they were all “human,” had not entered the hot spring instance willingly, but they had at least cleared two normal-difficulty stages of the same rank. They should have encountered forced missions before, so they should know that no matter how scared they were, they must not leave the pool.

A five-year-old child being unable to endure it was one thing, but an adult woman being this irrational…

The ten minutes had almost passed. If she had held on just a little longer, they could have completed the task. For her to die here at the final moment really felt unworthy.

Thinking carefully now, Yi Han actually believed that the first sacrifice had not happened without certain teammates maliciously egging things on.

During the task earlier, everyone had been panicking, but at first, they had still held themselves together. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. It was only after certain people began creating chaos, shouting that it was too dangerous and that they had to leave the pool, then seeing that everyone was still holding on, loudly claiming that the water would crawl into their mouths and nostrils.

Others might not have noticed such obvious words meant to shake morale, but Yi Han had.

It was just that in that situation, even if someone spoke up to stop it like the child’s father had, the effect would probably be limited.

And the final result was exactly this:

The people who had shouted the loudest never actually left the pool.

Instead, the teammate who had already been timid and mentally unstable was provoked into losing reason.

Yi Han shook his head and sighed, silently memorizing the two suspects. Then he left the indoor hot spring hall alone.

He had already obtained the exploration progress for this area, and he had also obtained the recipe. It was time to go to the remaining areas and earn points.

But before that…

Yi Han examined the directions of the corridor. Seeing that the dining area was still pitch black, he turned and went directly to the outdoor hot spring area. By the outdoor path lights, he found a small pavilion close to the entrance and sat down.

…Then he took out the iron pot, added ingredients, and waited for the dishes.

The remaining areas in this stage were the outdoor hot spring area and the water park area, and by conservative estimate, there were five enemies.

The steel-headed female ghost he had captured earlier had already been rescued by her companions not long after the forced mission began.

Time was tight and the task was heavy. Yi Han decided to apply his buffs first.

This time, he made two dishes: “Honey-Glazed Chicken Leg” and “Fresh Scallop Scrambled Eggs.”

The wait time was only two minutes before both dishes emerged with fragrant steam.

There was no need to say much about the honey-glazed chicken leg. It was golden in color, tender and juicy. Even without mentioning the mouthwatering aroma of meat, its appearance alone was enough to hook a person’s appetite.

And the fresh scallop scrambled eggs, whose recipe he had just obtained today, was not bad either. The soft, springy scallop meat mixed with tender scrambled egg looked bouncy and delicate, smelling both fresh and savory.

The two dishes were placed on exquisite small plates, paired with chopsticks and a small bowl of rice. Yi Han had not been very hungry originally, but now just looking at them made his stomach feel empty.

The winter night wind was somewhat cold.

Perhaps to let players experience outdoor hot springs in the snow, the environment setting of this stage was actually a northern winter.

Even though he had taken a thickened yukata from beside the door before leaving the corridor, Yi Han sat upright in the small pavilion amid the snow, under the warm yellow light of the little night lamp, eating hot, steaming food, yet still felt coldness spreading through both his body and heart.

Ever since entering this game, things had gone fairly smoothly for him. Today was the first time he had seen a teammate die right in front of him.

He could not quite describe the feeling…

Maybe there was some regret, or maybe a sense of sorrow for another rabbit’s death.

But the stage was not over yet, so that emotion only remained in his heart for the length of a meal.

Once the meal was finished, only one thought remained in Yi Han’s mind:

He had to work even harder to save points and strengthen himself.

After putting away the dishes, he stood from the pavilion.

The enormous outdoor hot spring area held only him. No teammate had followed him out.

They had probably all been scared out of their wits and planned to cower in the hot spring hall until the end.

Only…

If Yi Han’s guess was correct, among those six people, at least two were probably “ghost” players.

Staying together with ghosts until midnight without realizing it, how many of them would survive to leave was still unknown.

Yi Han knew they would still fall into danger.

But before leaving the group, after hesitating for a moment, he ultimately had not warned them.

It was not because he felt the others’ lives did not matter, but because even he himself was not completely certain how many of those six were true “human” players.

Even that dead woman might have been a skilled actor among the ghosts, using this move solely to create panic. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. It was not impossible.

Speaking rashly before the situation was clear would make the humans begin suspecting one another. The ghosts naturally would not admit anything. In the end, the blame would most likely be directed at him.

This sort of thankless task was something Yi Han had already stopped doing when he was a teenager. And he also had no desire to waste precious time explaining such things.

Smart teammates did not need his reminder.

Foolish teammates, even if saved this time, would not survive long afterward.

In this real escape game, if one wanted to live, one had to rely on oneself.

Holding the pot, Yi Han walked out of the pavilion and finally stepped onto the small path of the outdoor hot spring area.

The stone path was a little rough underfoot. Beside the road were open-air hot spring pools one after another, steaming in the winter night lights.

There was no one around. Everything was quiet.

There were no insect sounds that should exist in a normal world. Only the sounds of faint wind and flowing water reached his ears.

The small path circled the area once. After walking a full loop, Yi Han returned to where he had started.

He had already obtained the exploration progress here and discovered nothing special, so he prepared to return to the indoor corridor.

But the moment he turned, he stopped.

The place that should have been a fork in the road now only had one small path left.

The stone path twisted and wound, still leading in the same direction he had just walked once.

“…A ghost wall?”

He was currently standing beside the pavilion where he had eaten earlier.

But the path on the other side of it, the one that should have led back to the corridor, had disappeared.

Now behind the pavilion, there were only pine trees and enclosing walls.

The nearby lights seemed to have been swallowed by abnormal space. In the breeze, the shadows of the trees and pavilion swayed slightly, dim and indistinct.

Sure enough…

After he had deliberately been alone for so long, those three extremely grudge-holding little ghosts had finally made another move against him.

Yi Han had planned for this, so he was not surprised. He only focused on thinking of a way to break through.

The three of them had not really had anything special about them back in the beginner stage.

But now, after relentless effort, each of them had developed their own special ability.

For example, that male ghost: as long as someone was touched by his water, they would become entangled by that thing, whether illusion or invisible current. Right now, it seemed only to induce fear, but near the time limit for clearing, it might gain the ability to cause real damage.

That ability paired perfectly with this stage full of water. He must have chosen it specifically to take revenge on Yi Han.

That slow-moving female ghost he had once captured had clearly strengthened her steel head…

She had probably developed a psychological shadow from being hit by Yi Han back in the beginner stage.

And that bathroom-stall little sister of hers was most likely the maker of the mind-bewitching drinks, possessing the power to confuse people’s minds.

This ghost wall was definitely her doing.

But even knowing who was behind it, and even knowing that the scene before him probably was not real, an ordinary person would still find it very difficult to break out.

If all five senses were deceived, how could one find the real path?

Yi Han sighed.

“I really didn’t want to do this…”

Before entering this game, Yi Han had clearly never felt that he was especially violent.

He was only a little more capable with his hands, had beaten every school bully and nasty neighbor into defeat, repaid grudges as they came, and dealt with matters case by case.

It was not as though he would blow up someone’s house just because they disagreed.

But who knew why, ever since entering this game, Yi Han always felt like every stage involved him demolishing buildings, smashing walls, and wrecking people’s courtyards.

The landscaping of this outdoor hot spring area was actually quite beautiful.

This time, even Yi Han himself felt slightly reluctant to act.

“You might as well come out yourselves. I’m not afraid of a crossdressing debuff, but I wonder how much repair cost you’ll have to split if I tear this place apart.”

Yi Han said indifferently.

---

The breeze swayed the light. The tree shadows on the ground shifted slightly, slowly forming a question mark…

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──

Next

Hot Spring Bathhouse (5)

This forced mission had a time limit. After the system assigned everyone a pool, the countdown began.

Whether intentionally making things difficult or not, Yi Han was assigned a very remote pool. When he went over, he saw it was a high-temperature pool.

The family of three was still struggling nearby. The two adults had already changed their tune. While preparing to enter the water, they kept repeatedly warning the child:

“Absolutely do not pee in the water. Hold it a little longer! Be good!”

Although it was a sad and awkward story… they had been the first to attempt uncivilized behavior and were now being taught a lesson by the system, so no player expressed sympathy.

The countdown soon ended. Yi Han entered the pool right on time. As his body sank into the water, he immediately felt the heat.

This pool was 42 degrees. By hot spring temperature standards, that was already very hot. Pools this hot usually had warning signs advising guests not to soak too long, or the body would easily become uncomfortable.

Yi Han knew this might have been arranged by the system on purpose. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. After all, for a thorny player like him who increased staff workload dozens of times every round, the system had probably long found him annoying…

But forced missions had to be completed, so he could only endure for now.

Yi Han quietly leaned against the edge of the pool and observed the other players from afar.

The family of three was in the same pool the child had nearly peed in earlier. The couple was not far from them. Only the pair of best friends was farther away, because one of them had fainted in the sauna room. When the forced mission was issued, the other girl had been near her, so now she was supporting her slightly recovered companion as they sat properly in the pool assigned to them.

Everything seemed calm enough.

But Yi Han guessed this situation would not last long.

After all, during these ten minutes, players had to stay inside the pools and could not leave. There was no way the ghosts would ignore such a good opportunity.

Sure enough, when the mission reached the third minute, one player spoke up fearfully.

“A-Are you all okay? Why do I… feel like there’s something in the water?”

The speaker was the girl from the best-friend pair who had not fainted.

Her companion “Yanyan” was still weakly leaning against her and could not discuss it with her, so she could only ask the others.

Hearing her question, everyone started panicking again.

But the pool water was actually very clean, clear enough to see the bottom. Even the girl who had asked the question stared into the water for a long while before finally confirming that there was nothing unusual in her pool.

But…

She had clearly felt something touch her foot under the water earlier.

Frightened, she pulled her feet back slightly and held her friend tighter.

Time passed second by second.

Soon, they reached the fifth minute.

The five-minute mark seemed to be a signal. Suddenly, the players all began to stir uneasily.

“Why do I also feel like there’s something in the water?”

“Me too… Something seemed to grab my calf just now. I moved, and then it disappeared.”

Everyone exchanged panicked words, and the atmosphere abruptly became even more tense.

As a single dog with no one to duo queue with, Yi Han stayed alone in the high-temperature pool far from the group, listening to them talk.

He had originally thought that with his isolated location, he would be the ghosts’ main target. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Unexpectedly, five minutes had already passed. Everyone else’s pools had become abnormal, yet nothing at all had happened on his side.

Yi Han’s skin had already reddened from the heat, and the steam made breathing a little difficult, but his expression remained unchanged.

Calm and composed, he simply waited to see what tricks these ghosts could come up with.

Sure enough, he did not wait too long.

A faint touch began at his ankle, slowly extending up toward his calf.

…It felt exactly like what he had experienced in the restaurant.

At that time, he had been in the darkness, and after his hand touched that strange water, something had felt around his hand for quite a while.

But because he had been focused on opening the door and catching the person outside, he had not paid it much attention. By the time the person outside fled, whatever had been on his hand was gone too. So even afterward, he still did not know what it had been.

Yi Han felt the sensation crawling along his calf and lowered his head.

Sure enough, just as the others had said, the pool only contained perfectly clear hot spring water with nothing abnormal visible.

“I-I got touched by that thing again. What do I do? It feels like it’s still there…” Almost at the exact moment Yi Han was touched near the knee, another scream came from the direction of the couple.

“I can’t take this. I’m getting out.”

The one who had cried out just now was the woman, but these words came from her boyfriend. The man seemed even more terrified than she was. Both their voices shook with fear, instantly making everyone else panic even more.

“Don’t act rashly, you two. If the forced mission fails, this round fails,” the father with the son spoke up.

But the moment he finished, his wife suddenly screamed too. Then the five-year-old child started crying.

Clearly, they were almost unable to endure it either.

The splashing sounds mixed with everyone’s screams and the child’s crying. The entire indoor hot spring hall fell into chaos.

“It, it, it touched my chest! No, I have to get out…” the child’s mother screamed.

Her husband held her with one hand and pressed down their son with the other, yet somehow still had the energy to shout to the other teammates,

“I think this thing is just scaring people! It’s nothing! Everyone, absolutely do not leave the pools!”

“How do you know it won’t hurt us?! What if it crawls up to our throats, to our mouths and noses?!” the man from the couple shouted.

Both of their guesses sounded possible.

But clearly, continuing to hold out for the full ten minutes was the only possible path to clearing this mission successfully.

Yi Han sat calmly in the pool, listening to his teammates scream and panic. From beginning to end, he said nothing.

He had experienced this before, so he leaned more toward the child’s father’s view.

But knowing that was one thing. Even if one knew its goal was to make people panic and leave the water, causing the mission to fail…

To keep sitting there while an invisible thing kept groping and harassing them still required considerable composure.

Human instinct was to seek benefit and avoid harm.

At this point, there were two minutes left before the forced mission ended. Aside from Yi Han, every other player was almost unable to suppress their instinct to flee.

“Could it crawl into our noses and ears? Waaah…” someone said.

The description was so horrifying that the players instantly fell into fresh chaos.

Yi Han felt the unseen thing crawl up his waist, then slowly to his back, chest, collarbone…

Very soon, it reached the most fragile part of the human body: the throat.

That thing lingered near his Adam’s apple, as though searching for the best place to break through the skin and burrow inside.

Yi Han lowered his eyes and listened to the countdown.

【Forced Mission 1: Complete.】

The instant the system notification sounded, Yi Han stood up from the water.

Scalding hot spring water slid down his already reddened skin. The strange sensation around his neck vanished instantly.

A black iron pot appeared in his hand.

Yi Han ignored the sudden rise in screams from his teammates’ side and turned toward the only door in the hall.

Without waiting to see clearly, he shifted sideways, raised his arm, and hurled the pot with force.

Clang!

It happened to smash into a figure.

When he threw the pot, that person had not even reached the door yet. But while fleeing at high speed, braking was extremely difficult.

The person had only just managed to touch the door handle when the pot struck the back of his head perfectly.

“Ow!”

The skinny male NPC clutched his head with a groan of pain, but did not dare stop. He pulled open the glass door and fled at top speed.

Yi Han stepped out of the pool to chase him, but it was already too late.

Even though his assigned hot spring pool was the closest to the entrance among all the players, he still could not catch up in the end.

Standing at the doorway, Yi Han memorized the direction the man escaped.

Then he could not help touching his neck. The water-formed thing had lingered there for quite a while earlier, and even now he still felt uncomfortable.

He turned and went back into the hot spring hall.

Then he discovered the teammates had all gathered around one pool deeper inside…

Someone in the crowd seemed to be crying.

Yi Han walked over and saw that inside the hot spring pool assigned to the family of three, a woman floated on the water with her eyes tightly shut.

She seemed already dead.

Her child and the child’s father stood outside the pool, crying.

“The child and his mother couldn’t hold back and tried to get out just now. The father was holding both of them at the same time, but couldn’t keep his grip for a moment, and then…” a female teammate said pale-faced, arms wrapped around herself.

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──

Hot Spring Bathhouse (4)

Unexpectedly, this time when the female ghost’s head collided with the bottom of the pot, she merely staggered a little. Forget fainting, she did not even fall on her butt.

The female ghost had clearly come prepared. She had probably spent all the wages she earned from working on strengthening her head. But even though she had become more resistant to beatings, she was still incomparably furious at Yi Han’s behavior!

“Mmmph mmmph!!”

She screamed angrily and reached her hands outside the door, trying to claw at Yi Han’s face.

At this moment, Yi Han actually had another option.

He could have kicked the door shut again while she had her arm extended outside. Given the female ghost’s lightning-fast movement speed (?), one good slam might even break her arm.

But that was simply too cruel…

No matter what, she was still technically a girl (?), and she had worked so hard just to avenge the grudge from back when Yi Han kept smashing her head.

Yi Han very much admired this kind of hardworking, positive spirit, so he felt he should not use such a brutal move on her.

Thus he extended the pot once more.

Abandoning the underhanded tactic of crushing her arm, he instead directly smacked the pot toward her face.

This time, Yi Han used the side of the iron pot.

His arms were already longer than the female ghost’s to begin with, so the instant the pot struck her, all her forward momentum stopped. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Though she still desperately tried pushing forward, her little hands wildly scratch scratch scratching, Yi Han blocked her completely. She could only remain pinned helplessly inside the doorway, unable to reach him no matter how hard she tried…

“Anyone got rope?” The female ghost was actually pretty strong. Back in the beginner stage, Yi Han had nearly lost to her in a contest of strength at the end, so he did not want to stay in a deadlock. He turned and asked the teammates behind him.

By now the people behind him had mostly recovered their wits. Seeing that Yi Han had already subdued the ghost, they hurriedly began searching frantically for rope.

Unfortunately, rope was one of those things that felt like it existed everywhere when you did not need it, but once you actually needed it, suddenly nobody had any.

In the end, it was the woman from the couple who, while secretly coaxing her blushing boyfriend, contributed a length of red rope.

“It might not be very sturdy…” she said.

Yi Han: …

Now was not exactly the time to question what mysterious purpose this rope originally had…

Yi Han wrapped it around several times and tied up the female ghost. Just to be safe, he also dislocated her arm joints first.

Unable to exert strength and unable to stand, the female ghost could only squat on the ground glaring angrily at Yi Han.

After all the struggling, the hair that had covered her face had scattered aside. Only then did Yi Han realize she was actually not very old.

And furthermore, her appearance somewhat resembled the female ghost who had disguised herself as “Yanyan” earlier.

Perhaps the two had really been sisters while alive.

“You four all came this time?” Yi Han placed the iron pot in front of her, squatted down himself, and faced her, deliberately softening his tone as he questioned her.

Unfortunately, the female ghost merely glared at him without speaking.

“There should be others in this stage besides you guys, right? Where are they hiding?”

This time, the female ghost directly turned her head away. Not only was “I’m not telling” written all over her face, she clearly did not even want to look at him anymore.

Seeing this, Yi Han could only lean closer and change his approach.

“You appearing here wasn’t a coincidence. Looks like you spent quite a few points just to come after me, huh?” Yi Han said softly. “Though ‘points’ probably isn’t quite the right term for your side. Maybe something like ‘performance credits’ would be more appropriate.”

Sure enough, after hearing this, the female ghost finally turned back and looked at him again.

“Ever since recognizing you just now, I’ve been thinking. There are countless stages in this escape game. I’ve only cleared three in total, yet I’ve run into you people twice already. That kind of probability can’t really be explained away as fate.

“So the only possibility is that at some point I obstructed something important for you guys. And of course, I’m not talking about knocking you out of the beginner stage. That’s why you’re so determined to come after me.

“So what exactly was that thing?”

Seeing the female ghost completely drawn in by his words, Yi Han slightly curled his lips.

“There was something in the beginner stage that I never fully understood. Why did the system announce there were two players when in reality I was the only player? At the time, I thought it was simply fake information intentionally released by the system. But now that I’ve seen you all, I understand. It wasn’t fake.

“There really were two players in that stage. It’s just that one was a ‘human’ player, while the other was a ‘ghost’ player. This real escape game was never designed solely to test the human side from the very beginning. That’s why you ghosts also have apps, a point system, and ways to strengthen your bodies and abilities through effort.

“It’s just that the process is probably much harder for you than it is for us. That stage was only an ordinary stage to me, but for the other player, namely the one who kept following beside me, it was probably a rare opportunity. I’m guessing it wasn’t easy for him to obtain the chance to challenge a stage as a ‘player.’

“And because of that, there was that woman at the end of the stage who clearly wasn’t on your side. Her mission wasn’t just directed at me, but also at the other player. In a certain sense, she was the shared ‘examiner’ for both players. Which is why this time she didn’t come together with you all.

“Although I don’t know exactly what he lost after failing that stage so miserably, if your skills aren’t good enough, missing an opportunity is normal. Holding a grudge over it is kind of pointless. After all, even if you come back a few more times, it still seems like you can’t beat me.” Yi Han said calmly.

The not-very-old female ghost’s eyes had widened completely in shock.

And Yi Han immediately knew his guesses had basically all been correct…

He did not ask whether there were ghost players mixed among the eight “players” in this stage too.

Because even if he asked, she would never tell him.

And besides, Yi Han could completely figure it out himself.

At this point he only felt emotional about how much occupational pressure ghosts apparently faced too.

No line of work was easy…

These little ghosts had probably worked themselves half to death just to come after him. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. And now that they were getting smashed offline again, they would probably lose more performance credits too.

Seeing that she could not break free, Yi Han stopped making things difficult for her.

He planned to use this ghost as bait instead, to lure the others over so he could smash them all together.

“Just leave her there for now. I’ve got another use for her later,” he explained to the teammates behind him as he stood up.

After this ghost was captured, the one outside the door had already run away. But Yi Han believed she had not gone far, and that male ghost was probably still somewhere in this hall.

After a brief discussion, everyone decided to continue searching according to the earlier arrangement.

Once everyone dispersed, Yi Han looked toward the now-open restroom door.

Suddenly he remembered that during the last stage, this female ghost had stubbornly remained beneath the podium blocking the way because she had been guarding the recipe.

And now she had appeared in the restroom…

Yi Han’s heart suddenly stirred.

Stepping around the ghost squatting in the corner, he entered the restroom.

Not long afterward, he really did find that familiar glowing recipe page hidden in a crack.

Only this time, the paper looked wrinkled…

It seemed to have been deliberately moved here.

…Looks like these little ghosts really held creative grudges. Knowing Yi Han wanted this thing, they had specifically hidden it in the bathroom just to disgust him.

【Recipe: Fresh Scallop Scrambled Eggs (Learned)】

【Description: After consumption, enhances underwater vision depending on deliciousness. Duration: 2 hours.】

After integrating it into the recipe book and reading the description, Yi Han slightly raised an eyebrow.

This buff would probably be useful in this stage.

The hot spring area still had not been fully explored, and afterward there would still be the water park, wave pool, and swimming pools.

If the key happened to be hidden at the bottom of some pool, he might very well need to dive underwater to retrieve it.

But it was inconvenient to make it immediately.

Yi Han walked back out and saw the teammates all diligently continuing their search efforts.

After thinking for a moment, he still felt it was better to prioritize collecting exploration percentage first.

Just as he was about to go regroup with everyone, Yi Han suddenly heard several screams from the other side of the hall.

Immediately afterward:

【System Notification: Due to improper behavior by team members, Forced Mission 1 has been triggered. Enter the designated hot spring pool and soak for 10 minutes. Leaving the pool during this time will be judged as stage failure. Successfully completing the mission will allow the game to continue.】

“Who did what?” Yi Han quickly walked over.

Then he discovered that among the seven teammates, only the parents with the child looked absolutely miserable.

“That little kid said he wanted to use the bathroom just now, but because there was a ghost near the restroom entrance, his parents didn’t want to go over there. So they suggested secretly letting him pee in the pool instead…” one female teammate whispered secretly to Yi Han. “And then the mission triggered. Every one of us got assigned different hot spring pools, but for their family of three, the system specifically stated they had to soak in the exact same pool the kid almost peed in earlier… hahaha!”

Yi Han: “Pfft…”

System: 🙂

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──

Hot Spring Bathhouse (3)

There were no other exits in the indoor hot spring hall. Only several doors had been built into one side wall, leading to sauna rooms, heated stone rooms, and restrooms.

Yi Han briefly swept his gaze across the teammates soaking in the pools and walked straight over.

“Did anyone see someone come in just now?” he asked.

“No?”

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Although they all looked like tourists, these players still remembered they were inside a Hard Mode instance. Hearing the seriousness in Yi Han’s tone, they immediately became alert.

“I saw someone come in near the entrance just now, then disappear,” Yi Han said. He did not mention what had happened in the dining area, only briefly describing the figure as a somewhat skinny man.

Clearly someone had entered, yet not a single person had noticed. And now, scanning the entire room, there was no extra person in sight.

Everyone instantly felt as if they were facing a great enemy.

“Even though none of us saw anyone come in, we really weren’t staring at the entrance the whole time…”

“Maybe someone slipped in while we weren’t paying attention. Sneaking around like that definitely means bad intentions.”

“There’s only one main entrance here. Doesn’t that mean the person is still somewhere inside this room?”

The teammates all started talking over one another, throwing everyone into panic. The seven of them immediately climbed out of the pools and gathered together.

“There should still be quite a few NPCs in this stage, but so far we’ve only seen one in the lobby,” Yi Han said. “The rest are definitely hiding in the dark.”

As he spoke, he observed the seven teammates before him.

None of them really matched the figure he had just seen.

But something about that person had felt familiar. He just could not remember where he had seen them before.

The sodas and beers the group had taken earlier from the restaurant refrigerator were still sitting beside the pools, all partially drunk, their bottles covered with condensation from the heat in the room.

There was definitely something wrong with that refrigerator.

These people had drunk the beverages from inside it. There was no telling whether something might happen to them later.

Though these teammates were extremely laid-back, they were not troublemakers dragging everyone down. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. After all, with ghosts hiding in the shadows, none of them could truly relax and enjoy themselves.

So after hearing Yi Han’s words, they all nodded in support.

“Then let’s search together. More people means more strength,” one of the girls from the pair of best friends volunteered. “We’ll search the sauna rooms over there.”

“Then we’ll look around the main hall.”

“We’ll search from the other side.”

Everyone quickly divided the work.

Yi Han then said, “Then I’ll go with you two to the sauna rooms.”

The two volunteers were both girls, and the sauna rooms were separate enclosed spaces, making them easy places to hide someone. If they really encountered a ghost, it would indeed be dangerous.

Although Yi Han mainly said this for exploration percentage purposes, no one felt there was anything strange about it.

Unexpectedly…

“Sure.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

The two girls spoke at the same time.

Then they both looked at each other in surprise.

“I… I mean, the main hall area is bigger. It needs more manpower,” the girl who had objected nervously waved her hands as she spoke.

Ever since climbing out of the pool earlier, she had wrapped herself tightly in a huge bath towel that almost completely covered her body.

Her long wet hair clung to her face, revealing only a somewhat pale bluish complexion.

And her expression…

She seemed to be avoiding Yi Han’s gaze.

Wait.

Had there been a girl like this in the group earlier?

Yi Han had mainly focused on observing the male teammates before, so he truly had not paid much attention to this somewhat strange girl.

Her acting was obviously not very good.

Before she explained herself, nobody had thought too much about it.

But once she spoke, everyone’s attention turned toward her instead.

“Yanyan… ever since you came back from the sauna room just now, you’ve been acting weird…” the other girl looked confused, as though she had forgotten something. She hesitantly examined her best friend, almost like she suddenly no longer recognized her.

She had gone to the sauna room earlier.

And now she did not want unrelated people going near the sauna room.

If there was not something suspicious about this, nobody would believe it.

Yi Han raised an eyebrow and turned to walk directly toward that side.

“Ah…?” The girl seemed like she still wanted to explain something, but seeing how firm he was, she did not say another word.

The sauna room door appeared to be locked.

Pushing it normally did nothing.

But in reality, this type of door did not even have a lock. Its current condition was absolutely abnormal.

Yi Han increased the force of his push.

The door still did not move at all.

So Yi Han once again pulled out his iron pot.

Aiming at the wooden door panel, he swung hard.

Boom.

The S-class iron pot instantly smashed a huge hole through the wooden door.

At that moment, the remaining teammates also nervously gathered around.

Everyone immediately felt the scorching heat blasting outward.

Who knew how long this door had been sealed shut.

Yi Han smashed it several more times before it finally burst open completely.

“Help… sob…!”

The instant the door opened, it was as though some invisible barrier had shattered.

A weak female cry for help finally emerged from inside.

Then everyone finally saw it.

A girl was slumped against the sauna room doorway, her entire face flushed red, breathing weakly, clearly on the verge of suffocating and passing out from lack of oxygen.

“Yanyan?!” one of the best friends who had spoken earlier immediately cried out.

Only then did everyone realize that the girl on the floor was the real teammate from their group.

But when they hurriedly turned back to look again, the fake “Yanyan” with the terrible acting had already disappeared.

Everyone immediately rushed forward and carried the trapped girl out of the sauna room, settling her onto a nearby chair and fanning her.

“We were soaking in the hot spring just now, and Yanyan suddenly said she wanted to go to the sauna. I said I’d go with her, but she refused, and then less than two minutes later she came back…” the unconscious girl’s best friend said dazedly.

Now that she thought about it, the person who had returned back then had already not been her best friend.

The original girl had been swapped out, and she had not noticed a thing.

“The person just now, from appearance to personality, was completely different from Yanyan. Why didn’t I feel anything strange at all…” the girl’s face filled with horror.

Not just her.

Once the other teammates thought back carefully, they also realized that the stranger who had mixed into their group had obviously been completely different from everyone else from head to toe.

Yet not a single person had sensed anything wrong.

It was like they had all been drugged.

So it really was those drinks.

Yi Han thought to himself.

These sightseeing players had previously received a system prompt saying the food inside the stage was safe.

The food was safe.

But that did not mean the drinks were safe too…

This kind of cunning wordplay really was exactly the system’s style.

Yi Han sighed, just about to say something else, when suddenly:

Click.

The door to the hot spring area had been locked by something unknown.

Everyone was shocked and immediately turned around.

Behind the frosted glass, there was vaguely the silhouette of a woman standing there.

It was exactly the same person who had blended into the players earlier before disappearing after being exposed.

The figure seemed to grin at them through the blurry glass.

Creeeak—

From another direction came the slow sound of a door opening.

It was the restroom.

Perhaps for architectural consistency, nearly all the doors in this hot spring bathhouse were wooden doors coated with waterproof material.

And now, behind the restroom door…

Something seemed to be slowly pushing it open.

The motion was deliberately slowed, as if intentionally torturing the players’ taut nerves.

Even though the hall was filled with the faint sounds of flowing hot spring water, it still could not drown out the sound of the wooden door creaking open.

The players huddled together beside their companions. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. None of them dared split their attention to keep watching the silhouette at the main entrance anymore. All eyes were fixed on the restroom.

The atmosphere was unbearably tense.

Yet Yi Han once again felt that strange sense of familiarity…

“Did the woman pretending to be your friend have any obvious characteristics?” Yi Han asked in a low voice.

The girl was still immersed in panic. Yi Han had to ask a second time before she realized he was speaking to her.

“I… I don’t really remember…” the girl trembled. But she also understood that if Yi Han was asking now, he might have thought of something, so she forced herself to think harder. “Ah… I think… her wrists and calves had bruises.”

Such obvious abnormalities.

Yet at the time it had been like their awareness had been distorted. Nobody had noticed anything.

Thinking back to how she had seemed completely mesmerized earlier, the girl shuddered again.

After hearing the answer, however, Yi Han’s expression turned rather strange.

The skinny male ghost outside the restaurant who had looked oddly familiar…

The female ghost with strange bruises around her wrists and ankles…

The slow-moving ghost inside the room deliberately opening the door bit by bit to scare people…

This combination…

Emmmmm.

Yi Han’s mood suddenly became complicated.

Gripping his iron pot, he walked straight forward.

“Be careful!” the teammates all cried out in alarm.

Yi Han waved a hand to reassure them and then stopped beside the restroom door.

The wooden door had already been pushed open slightly, revealing behind it a head covered with long hair.

The strands were soaking wet, droplets still dripping from the ends.

The owner of the head made meaningless muffled noises from her mouth.

Seeing this, the players immediately could not help letting out sharp screams, clutching one another in terror.

Then they watched as Yi Han lifted his foot and kicked.

Bang.

The restroom door slammed shut again directly against the female ghost’s forehead.

The players’ eyes widened.

The female ghost behind the door let out furious huffing noises!

“So it really is you…” In the middle of this horrifying scene, Yi Han actually felt a trace of familiarity and warmth.

This familiar slowness.

This familiar way of opening doors.

This familiar furious reaction after getting smashed in the head…

Wasn’t this the same slow-moving female ghost from the podium in the beginner stage? The one who had stubbornly guarded the recipe and refused to move aside, only to get the door slammed into her repeatedly by Yi Han before ultimately suffering an iron pot to the head and being mortgaged for ten points.

And that female ghost with bruises on her wrists and ankles was the unlucky ghost who had hidden in the bathroom stall trying to scare him, only to end up sacrificed for Yi Han’s benefit, earning him that bankrupt shop.

Which meant the one outside the restaurant entrance had definitely been the fake teammate male ghost from back then.

“So you guys still haven’t been fired by the game company…” Yi Han sighed internally.

Not only had they not been fired, despite completing their tasks so terribly, they had actually risen from beginner-stage NPCs to Hard Mode NPCs in just a few days…

Was it because that crushing defeat at Yi Han’s hands had been too humiliating, and they could not swallow the anger, so they had worked tirelessly for promotion out of sheer determination…?

Unexpectedly, while the game system was so cruel toward players, it actually seemed fairly tolerant toward its own employees.

“Then let me see whether your skull’s become harder after your promotion.”

Yi Han raised his pot.

When the long-haired female ghost angrily, yet still very slowly, pushed open the door again, Yi Han swung the pot directly at her head once more.

BONNGGG—

The sound echoed across the hot spring pools, incomparably melodious…

---

Yi Han: Even the NPCs know how to work hard, get promoted, and earn raises. Why do you players only know how to eat???

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──

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