Masks

Ren Ziling seemed confused by the black card Luo Qiu noticed, muttering subconsciously, "Was this thing here last time? Why don't I remember it?"

Luo Qiu heard Ren Ziling's confusion and knew the reason.

The black card before him was indeed an item belonging to the Club. This thing might have always been here, but very few people would notice its existence.

It wasn't that it was truly invisible, but rather that people chose not to see it. These black cards possessed the ability to make ordinary people subconsciously disregard them—much like the existence of the Club itself.

Even if it were located in the center of the main road, those who needed to see it would naturally see it, while those who didn't need to see it would simply not see it.

"Yes, it's here. Perhaps Chief Editor Ren didn't notice it last time," Zhang Qingrui said to Luo Qiu naturally, her expression unchanged. "Are you interested in this black card?"

The existence of each black card represented a potential client for the Club. Of course, these were all things left behind by previous owners—but it was impossible to say he wasn't interested.

However, Luo Qiu felt it wouldn't be appropriate to show too much interest directly.

So he shook his head and said, "Not really, I just found it strange."

He looked at Zhang Qingrui and said, "This black card doesn't look like an antique craft at all, yet it's placed here. If I were to say I cared about it, it's probably this sense of disharmony?"

Zhang Qingrui smiled and said, "Some guests have asked this question before. How do you think I answered them then?"

Luo Qiu directly shook his head, giving off an impression that she could say it if she wanted, but it was also fine if she didn't.

Zhang Qingrui was taken aback, thinking that this guy really wasn't going to engage in casual conversation.

As classmates, they saw each other quite often during the month. While it wasn't to the point where they absolutely had to understand each other, human nature is curious, and one would naturally develop a desire to understand someone who could maintain such silence so frequently.

However, since it was just a fleeting thought, Zhang Qingrui didn't dwell on it too much. If Luo Qiu didn't intend to open his heart, she didn't need to persistently knock on it. They weren't related by blood or anything, just a chance encounter in the same class, a connection that could dissipate at any moment.

"No comment."

With that thought, Zhang Qingrui slowly spoke her answer from back then.

Ren Ziling was taken aback when she heard this. Thinking that Luo Qiu, being such an unromantic fellow, had probably displeased the young lady and was now being playfully teased, she didn't say much more.

Having worked as a reporter for many years, she was observant. At this moment, hearing Zhang Qingrui's words, she knew it was a polite way of asking them to leave.

Ren Ziling pretended to check the time on her phone, then exclaimed with feigned realization, "Is it that late already? I'm so sorry, Miss Zhang. I just remembered I have an interview to get to... Yes, thank you for your hospitality today. Also, my Luo Qiu is a bit of a blockhead, please don't mind him. Since we're classmates, we can keep in touch if we have time. It's only natural to be good friends as classmates! He's actually a very good kid, kind-hearted, and also... Hey, hey, you stubborn Luo Qiu, I haven't finished speaking yet and you're already... "

Damn, she's an idiot...

Luo Qiu thought to himself, feeling embarrassed. He sighed and walked out first. After Ren Ziling quickly said a few more polite words, she hurried after him.

Zhang Qingrui's smile faded only after she watched the two of them leave the collection room.

The woman in the elegant, antique-style cheongsam frowned slightly. Looking at the black card on display, she suddenly opened the glass cabinet, intending to reach out and touch it.

But her fingers stopped in front of the black card. After a moment of hesitation, she finally withdrew them and closed the cabinet again.

The young female general manager of Gu Yue Zhai frowned beautifully. She had only started managing Gu Yue Zhai in the past two years but had met no small number of influential people.

However, few guests who came to the collection room would specifically notice the black card. She knew that her grandmother, the true owner of Gu Yue Zhai, had deliberately placed it there. She had also asked the reason before, but always received no answer. Her grandmother would silently shake her head, as if she were apprehensive about something.

This black card seemed to possess a magical allure. Whenever one paused to look at it, they would feel an urge to grasp it. Zhang Qingrui, perhaps, was the person who had the most contact with this black card besides her grandmother, and thus this feeling grew stronger and stronger.

Not only her, but even those guests who noticed the black card's existence would appear unable to tear their eyes away, only snapping out of it when they suddenly came to their senses.

Some guests even offered to pay any price, no matter how high, just to obtain this black card.

Unfortunately, it was not for sale... which was why she didn't understand why her grandmother kept it there.

"Qingrui."

Just as she was lost in thought, Zhang Qingrui heard her grandmother's familiar voice. The young girl felt startled and quickly turned around, hurrying to her grandmother's side and taking her arm. "Grandma, why did you come down? You rarely come to the collection room."

"I suddenly wanted to come down and take a look," Old Madam Zhang said slowly, then frowned. "How many times have I told you not to look at that black card too much?"

Zhang Qingrui's parents had died early, and she had been raised by Zhang Li Lanfang. She deeply loved, respected, and feared her grandmother. She quickly stuck out her tongue. "I was just entertaining two guests, Qingrui wasn't paying attention for a moment..."

The old lady suddenly sighed, but she also walked towards the location of the black card. She stood in front of the cabinet, motionless, and murmured to herself, "I shouldn't have kept it back then."

"Grandma?" Zhang Qingrui called out in confusion.

Old Madam Zhang shook her head. "Child, take it out, and then immediately put it in a box. I need to use it."

This item had likely been here since Gu Yue Zhai was established. It had never left all these years, but today she suddenly said she wanted to take it out. Zhang Qingrui's curiosity surged, and she couldn't help but ask directly, "Grandma, did something happen? I think I saw that Young Master Zhong come to find you just now, is it..."

Old Madam Zhang nodded, then shook her head, and finally said, "Although that Mr. Zhong is an excellent young man, he is too calculating. It's best you don't get too close to him."

Zhang Qingrui didn't say anything, but in her heart, she thought: I've figured out his arrival times recently. If it weren't to avoid him, I wouldn't have decided on the spur of the moment to personally bring Ren Ziling and Luo Qiu here.

Zhang Qingrui then took out the black card and packed it as her grandmother instructed.

Old Madam Zhang then said, "Next time that Mr. Zhong comes again, give this to him. But remember to tell him he can only use it once, and he must return it immediately after use, or he will face the consequences."

Although Zhang Qingrui was curious, her grandmother clearly didn't intend to say more, so she could only nod. She said nothing more about anyone noticing the black card.

Actually, it wasn't a big deal.

"Master, what is this?"

At noon, Ren Ziling dropped Luo Qiu off at a bus stop and then stepped on the gas pedal, showing the terror of a female driver as she sped away.

Since he had already skipped half the day of classes, Luo Qiu decided to skip the rest and returned to the Club, where he began to carefully examine the illustrated books he had obtained from Gu Yue Zhai.

"Hmm, nothing concrete yet," Luo Qiu said casually.

But then he seemed to remember something and looked at You Ye. "Oh, right. I remember there were a few masks in the warehouse on the sub-level. Could you get them for me?"

He could use anything in the Club freely—these items were accumulated over the Club's history.

This brings us to one of the Club's rules.

Items that have been stored in the warehouse cannot be used for sacrifices.

In other words, if Luo Qiu chose to store any future transaction proceeds, they would also be unavailable for sacrifice. Furthermore, storing transaction proceeds would require the Club's owner to compensate with their own lifespan.

This sounded like a pretty bad deal.

However, in reality, items received as transaction proceeds were protected by a time limit under the Club's contract. During this period, the 'transaction proceeds' could not be used; the only options were to store them or sacrifice them.

"Understood. Please wait a moment, Master." You Ye didn't ask why.

Just as the Club's owner had to abide by the rules in the manual, You Ye, as a doll maid, would unconditionally follow the Club owner's commands.

As You Ye went to retrieve the items, Luo Qiu touched his face and muttered to himself, "It's quite troublesome that Zhang Qingrui actually possesses a Black Card. It'll be difficult if she ever comes over with that Black Card..."

Thinking deeper, Luo Qiu felt that when he appeared as the Club's owner in the future, he probably couldn't use the identity of 'Luo Qiu.'

Hmm... perhaps he should think of a more high-class title?