Chapter 13

Strange, did I take a wrong turn?

Shi Liao Liao glanced at the unlocked storage room, recalling and confirming the directions given by the servant earlier.

No mistake, this is the place.

The room was small, a few metal cabinets stood isolated, the lighting was dim, and there were no windows.

There were no guards either.

Just as Shi Liao Liao was about to step out to double-check the room number, sudden footsteps came from behind.

"What are you doing here?"

A familiar voice followed immediately, and Shi Liao Liao turned around to see Lu Yanzhou, who seemed to belong to a different dimension compared to the shabby room.

His tea-brown eyes looked over in the warm light, giving an illusion of deep affection.

[Wow, Yanzhou is so handsome. I wonder if such a handsome person is as vulnerable as everyone else when taking a dump.]

Lu Yanzhou: "..."

He was really fed up with Shi Liao Liao's way of speech that never strayed far from topics of excrement.

However, it was this very person who always talked about such matters who now asked him with utmost respect: "Young Master, there was no need for you to come in person, a phone call would have sufficed."

Lu Yanzhou casually waved his phone: "It's out of battery."

He also gestured towards Shi Liao Liao: "Yours is out of battery too."

Shi Liao Liao looked down at his phone.

[Wow, how precise. How did you know?]

Lu Yanzhou helplessly thought to himself, guess why my phone is out of battery.

Shi Liao Liao lifted her foot and walked towards Lu Yanzhou: "I—"

She had barely started speaking.

A shadow suddenly flashed at the door, followed by a loud 'bang' as the door was shut, and the clear sound of a lock 'clicking' into place resonated in their ears.

Lu Yanzhou was the first to react, his eyes sharpening, and he turned and delivered a kick to the door.

Shi Liao Liao: [That door is made of iron, but your little feet certainly aren't, Yanzhou.]

With that kick, a dent appeared in the iron door, and the entire frame trembled.

Shi Liao Liao: !

[Damn, Yanzhou! You really are something! You look as thin as a stick!]

Wanzi: [...How can you, who are as skinny as a utility pole, have the confidence to call someone with an inverted triangle waistline a skinny dog??]

Before Lu Yanzhou could deliver another kick,

trouble arrived.

The already dim light bulb overhead suddenly made a 'zzt zzt' electrical noise, and in the next second,

the light 'pop' went out, plunging the room into darkness.

Shi Liao Liao's first instinct was to rush towards Lu Yanzhou.

[Ah! Who the hell is messing with me? Don't they know Lu Yanzhou is afraid of the dark!!]

She wanted to turn on her phone's flashlight, but remembered the screen wasn't lighting up because this damn fruit phone's battery dies quickly, and by now it was completely dead.

[Damn it, when I get back I'm switching to a Mate60, way ahead of the game!]

"Young Master!"

Before Shi Liao Liao's eyes had even adjusted to the darkness, her rush to move forward resulted in her leg being harshly struck by something hard, the pain was so intense it almost brought tears to her eyes.

But Lu Yanzhou was in an even worse state. 

He curled up against the wall in silence, and Shi Liao Liao could hear his breathing becoming increasingly labored as she drew closer.

"Young Master?"

Shi Liao Liao couldn't help but reach out to him.

"Don't... touch me."

His hoarse voice carried an unmistakable fear.

Shi Liao Liao withdrew her hand: "Okay."

Once her vision fully adapted, she sat down on the ground, no longer caring if her suit would get dirty.

The place where she had been knocked was still throbbing with pain. 

She took a deep breath, and as her vision finally cleared, she could make out Lu Yanzhou's posture.

He was squatting on the ground, his long legs propped up, elbows resting on his knees, his head hanging weakly, and his fingers trembling slightly.

Lu Yanzhou was afraid of the dark; this was the first and most important thing the old butler had told Shi Liao Liao about him before he passed away.

The specific reason was not disclosed, but the old butler had explained that since Lu Yanzhou's mother committed suicide, he needed to sleep with the lights on and demanded that the house be kept bright at all times.

After moving into Dormitory No. 13 today, Shi Liao Liao also found many candlesticks in every corner, obviously prepared in case of a power outage.

Lu Yanzhou's heart felt as if it was being clenched, his vision was going dark in waves, and his forehead was covered in a dense cold sweat.

"Say... something."

He spoke with difficulty.

Shi Liao Liao retracted her wandering thoughts and asked in return, "What do you want me to say?"

[I certainly won't tell any dirty jokes]

Lu Yanzhou replied, "Anything, like a joke or something."

Shi Liao Liao observed his reaction, then suddenly leaned forward a bit, disregarding Lu Yanzhou's instinctive resistance, and quite abruptly grasped his wrist.

Lu Yanzhou tried to break free, but he felt weak all over and had no strength at all, so he could only let the person in front of him do as they pleased.

He wondered to himself if the young manservant was taking advantage of him?

When the palm of his hand touched something hard, a faint light suddenly appeared in the darkening surroundings.

It was colorful, like flowers that suddenly bloomed in the dimness.

Shi Liao Liao's hand let go, and then Lu Yanzhou was able to see what it was.

It was a bunch of glow sticks wrapped together with tape.

In that moment when he looked up, with the help of this faint light, Lu Yanzhou also saw the young manservant's reddened eyes, as if he had cried, with the corners of his eyes smudged with pink, and his usually cold gaze now looking damp.

He had cried.

Why?

Because he didn't want to tell me a joke?

"Why do you have this?"

Maru: [...When did you take this off your leg?]

Shi Liao Liao ignored it and looked at Lu Yanzhou. 

Without answering his question, he asked instead:

"I've thought of a joke, would you like to hear it, young master?"

With some light, although faint, Lu Yanzhou's condition had improved somewhat.

At least his chest, which had been on the verge of stopping due to frantic beating, had calmed down, and his hands were no longer trembling as they had been before.

"Okay..."

He quietly lowered his gaze, looking at the glow stick in his hand. 

His usually unapproachable demeanor due to his temperament softened at this moment, his face almost tender and gentle.

"One day, Xiao Ming had a nightmare. He tried hard to open his eyes, and with great effort, he finally managed to open them."

"But he couldn't see anything."

"Guess why?"

Lu Yanzhou's thoughts were somewhat sluggish at the moment, but after a moment of silence, he spoke: "He died."

Shi Liao Liao said: "Because he opened his butt eyes."

Lu Yanzhou: "..."

I thought you didn't tell dirty jokes?

Seemingly sensing his young master's speechlessness, Shi Liao Liao cleared his throat.

"Young master, the person just now was probably retaliating from those few at the banquet. Their target was probably me; you were implicated because of me."

"I'm very sorry."

[Annoying, I could have claimed a work-related injury because of this, but instead I got the employer involved.]

The corners of Lu Yanzhou's lips curved up slightly.

Taking advantage of the darkness, he unabashedly scrutinized the person in front of him.

Although he is not 1.8 meters tall and his build is not robust, the little manservant has a stubborn strength about him, as if he is afraid of nothing.

When faced with injustice, he would take his revenge quietly, and if in a secluded place, he would boldly use a spanking stick to defend himself.

"Do you get upset when people have prejudices and misunderstandings about you?"

Lu Yanzhou suddenly spoke softly, asking a somewhat untimely question.

Shi Liao Liao didn't know how the topic had suddenly come up, but still shook his head obediently: "No."

[What a joke]

[The world kisses me with pain, I respond with my tongue. 

The world gives me the middle finger, I just sit on it. 

If the world slaps me in a big fight, I'll shout: Daddy, I want more~]

Lu Yanzhou: "..."

Knowledge, trying to enter my brain in a despicable way.