Chapter 97
After hearing Tao Zi’s plan, Zuo Bian promised to cooperate.
“I’m not sure if he’ll be happy about it.”
“He’ll definitely be happy, Sao Sao(sister-in-law), don’t worry,” Zuo Bian assured her.
Tao Zi had mentioned her plan during Zuo Bian and Qin Ai’s engagement ceremony. The plan was to propose to Zuo Yuan.
The reason she had waited until now to execute it was because she had been busy folding 9,999 paper rabbits. Yes, Zuo Yuan, despite his tall and muscular build, loved bunnies.
Of course, the proposal wouldn’t just involve bunnies. They were just a part of it.
Every time Zuo Yuan brought up marriage, Tao Zi would tell him to wait. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get married, she just wanted to surprise him.
“Sao Sao, my brother is actually quite easy to bully. After you marry him, you have to be good to him. If you’re not, I’ll make him… go back to his mother’s house.” Zuo Bian couldn’t come up with any harsh threats, and after struggling for a bit, she could only come up with “go back to his mother’s house.”
Tao Zi chuckled. “Zuo Zuo, that’s not how you use ‘go back to his mother’s house.’ And don’t worry, I swear I’ll be good to Zuo Yuan. He might seem shrewd, but he’s actually quite easy to deceive and coax.”
“Mm-hmm.” Zuo Bian nodded in agreement.
555 silently complained in her mind: The Zuo family was full of naive and innocent people, even the seemingly stern and taciturn Zuo Yan had a silly side.
Then Zuo Bian added, “Sao Sao, if Brother isn’t good to you, tell me.”
Tao Zi then explained her proposal plan in detail. Zuo Bian listened attentively, nodding and agreeing throughout.
They chatted outside for half an hour, while the three men inside were still engrossed in their card game.
Qin Ai occasionally made sarcastic remarks, as if she found playing cards with Qin Tian and Zuo Yuan boring. But if she was truly bored, she would have left already.
Qin Tian listlessly arranged his cards, while Zuo Yuan stared intently at the cards on the table, his posture suggesting that he was determined to win this round.
They were so focused on the game that they didn’t even notice two people were missing from the room.
When Zuo Bian and Tao Zi returned, the round had just ended. Zuo Yuan threw his cards on the table in frustration. “Is it even fun if you don’t let anyone win a single round?”
Qin Ai rested her chin on her hand, a smirk playing on her lips. “I only care about winning. If you can’t win, it just means you’re not good enough. Want to play another round?”
“Yes!” Zuo Yuan crossed his arms and leaned back, waiting for Qin Tian to shuffle the cards.
Qin Tian, being the worst player, was the one shuffling the cards most of the time. He had no talent for games, whether it was video games or card games. He would probably be crushed if he played against Zuo Bian.
After Zuo Bian returned, she pulled up a stool and sat beside Qin Ai, watching her play.
She observed for a few rounds and figured out the rules. She was eager to try it herself.
Seeing her interest, Qin Tian immediately volunteered to step down.
“Sister Zuo Bian, you play! I’m tired, I can’t play anymore.” He looked at Zuo Bian with pleading eyes.
Zuo Bian took his seat and picked up her cards, clumsily arranging them.
“This is my first time playing cards, I might be terrible at it.”
Qin Ai: “It’s okay, I’ll take care of you.”
Zuo Yuan: “It’s okay, I’ll take care of you.”
Before Zuo Bian could even respond, the two men, who couldn’t stand each other, locked eyes, their competitive spirit burning.
Of course, the scene where they both tried to help Zuo Bian, resulting in her winning by default, didn’t happen.
Zuo Bian held a large number of unplayed cards in her hand, confused. “It’s over already?”
Qin Tian, who was watching, couldn’t help but laugh. Tao Zi also struggled to suppress her laughter. “President Qin, Zuo Yuan, didn’t you say you were going to take care of Zuo Zuo? She didn’t even get a chance to play.”
Qin Ai said calmly, “Zuo Bian and I are one, it doesn’t matter if I win or she wins.”
Zuo Yuan shuffled the cards awkwardly. “Sorry, Brother got too carried away, I forgot.”
The next round went much better. Zuo Bian managed to play at least half of her cards. She was a fast learner, and by the fourth round, she was starting to surpass Zuo Yuan.
The clock on the bedside table ticked away, the hour hand pointing at nine.
Qin Tian yawned. Qin Ai glanced at the time. “It’s getting late, let’s call it a night.”
Zuo Yuan, who still hadn’t won a single round, reluctantly put down his cards, vowing to get his revenge next time.
They cleaned up the apartment together and then said their goodbyes.
Zuo Bian walked them downstairs. Zuo Yuan, like Du Yundong, gave her a long list of instructions, telling her to take care of herself, not to be too frugal, and reminding her that their family didn’t need her to earn money from acting.
Zuo Bian agreed to everything, and Zuo Yuan finally left with Tao Zi.
Qin Ai had wanted to say something, but Zuo Yuan had already said everything.
So she just said, “Let’s have lunch together tomorrow.”
Zuo Bian smiled and agreed.
“I’m leaving.”
Qin Ai patted Qin Tian’s shoulder. Qin Tian, who was almost asleep standing up, mumbled in response, not even fully awake as Qin Ai pushed him into the car.
======================
After Qin Ai’s car disappeared from sight, Zuo Bian slowly turned around and headed back upstairs.
Just as she turned, she caught a glimpse of a black figure out of the corner of her eye. But when she looked closely, there was nothing there.
Zuo Bian brushed aside her doubts and went upstairs. As soon as she entered the apartment, Little Frog jumped on her.
After meeting her master today, Zuo Bian had become wary. She wanted to ask 555 if it sensed anything unusual, but she had been distracted by the dinner with Qin Ai and her family.
Now that everyone was gone, she finally had time to talk to Little Frog.
But the first thing Little Frog said was, “Xiao Bianbian, ribbit, I can smell my master, ribbit.”
Bits of information she had previously ignored resurfaced: Little Frog saying it had been abandoned by its master and constantly mentioning “sacrifices.” The last time Little Frog had fallen into a coma and then suddenly woken up and tried to take her away was after she had discovered her master in this world.
She had met her master today, and now Little Frog was saying it could smell its master. Zuo Bian easily connected Little Frog’s master with Meng Zhen.
However, she remembered showing Meng Zhen’s photos to Little Frog before, and Little Frog had only said the face looked familiar. This puzzled Zuo Bian.
“Little Frog, what does your master look like?” She gently stroked Little Frog’s head, calming it down.
Little Frog’s trembling subsided. It rolled around in Zuo Bian’s palm. “I can’t describe her, ribbit, but I can draw her, ribbit.”
【Host, I have a feeling that Little Frog’s master is your master. Although we don’t have any concrete evidence, there aren’t many people who can act so freely in this incomplete world. I was censored when you met with your master, that’s very unusual.】
555 had disappeared for a while during the dinner with Qin Ai and her family. It had been contacting the higher-ups. They couldn’t find anything wrong in a short amount of time, but that was precisely why it was so concerning.
“I also have that feeling, but I’m not sure yet.”
Zuo Bian placed Little Frog on the table, took out a blank notebook and a pencil, and gave them to Little Frog, asking it to draw its master.
She sat beside Little Frog, watching it draw and chatting with 555. Of course, they couldn’t come up with any concrete plans. The enemy was in the dark, and they were in the light, putting them at a disadvantage.
Although they didn’t reach any conclusions, both 555 and Zuo Bian agreed that whoever the enemy was, they were definitely targeting Zuo Bian.
While they were chatting, Little Frog, holding the pencil, finally drew the outline of a woman’s face on the paper.
Its arms were short, so it had to stretch them out to draw its master.
The basic features were already on the paper, but the details were missing. Zuo Bian looked at the drawing, feeling like she had seen this face before.
The pencil scratched against the paper, and a complete face appeared before Zuo Bian’s eyes.
This face was all too familiar, yet there was a hint of strangeness.
Little Frog’s drawing skills were surprisingly good. It was just a face drawn on paper, but it felt like the woman was staring back at her.
The same face, but completely different eyes. In Zuo Bian’s memory, Meng Zhen had always been gentle and smiling, as if nothing could shake her composure.
But the woman in the drawing had sharp eyes, her ambition evident.
It was hard to believe that the same person, the same face, could have such a drastic difference. If Zuo Bian didn’t know Meng Zhen well, she wouldn’t have recognized her.
No wonder Little Frog had only said the face looked familiar when Zuo Bian showed it Meng Zhen’s photos.
Zuo Bian, being an actress herself, knew that acting could only deceive the camera. It was difficult to deceive the people around you for years.
She suddenly noticed the script lying on the edge of the table, the title “Twins” printed on the cover.
She picked up the script, flipped through the pages, and stopped at a certain page.
—To deceive others, you must first deceive yourself. Lin Ling created another self, bearing all the sins, deceiving everyone.
“This is my master, ribbit!” Little Frog put down the pencil and looked up at Zuo Bian.
Zuo Bian remained silent for a moment, then placed the script back on the table. “Thank you, Little Frog. Your master is my master.”
“Xiao Bianbian, are you the hundredth sacrifice, ribbit?” Little Frog’s eyes widened.
When they first met, Little Frog had asked, “Do you want to be the hundredth one, ribbit?”
She hadn’t expected those casual words to come true. Zuo Bian was the hundredth sacrifice chosen by Meng Zhen.
She wasn’t surprised to hear the word “sacrifice” anymore. It was unexpected, yet not entirely unreasonable.
Was Meng Zhen’s story about her senior sister true? Zuo Bian couldn’t help but wonder if her senior sister had died because she had discovered the truth.
Zuo Bian stared at the drawing for a long time, then she folded it and tore it into pieces.
“Little Frog, can you tell me what’s going on?” She looked at Little Frog.
Little Frog hopped around anxiously on the table, its face flushed, but it couldn’t speak.
“Xiao Bianbian, ribbit, I can’t say some things, ribbit.”
Zuo Bian wiped away its sweat and said gently, “Little Frog, then tell me what you can.”
Little Frog tried to speak. At first, it couldn’t make any sound, but when it reached a certain topic, it finally spoke.
“Xiao Bianbian, ribbit, I actually had two masters, ribbit. The other master was very gentle, ribbit. She was very good to me, ribbit. But one day, she suddenly disappeared, ribbit. Wuwuwu, ribbit, I miss her, ribbit.”
Zuo Bian comforted Little Frog while encouraging it to continue.
“My master told me that the other master would come back, ribbit. But I know she won’t, ribbit. The dead can’t come back to life, ribbit. When your time is up, you’re gone, ribbit.”
555 also spoke up. 【Little Frog is right. Everyone has their own destiny, recorded by the Heavenly Dao. Many people struggle their entire lives, thinking they can defy fate, but that’s also part of fate. That’s why there’s a saying, ‘Even if the King of Hell wants you dead at midnight, you can’t live past dawn.’】
Leave a Reply