You Really Are a Good Person

In a budget restaurant near the Trist Detective Agency.

These restaurants are in a somewhat awkward position, because the truly poor people, those who barely make ends meet, won't come to these restaurants.

Wealthy people, however, look down on restaurants of this caliber.

Only a small minority of people, like Trist Fate, who fall somewhere between rich and poor, would come to a restaurant like this to satisfy their hunger.

It gives the impression of someone standing while drinking, wearing a long gown.

"The taste is alright."

In front of Lu Ban was a large bowl of plain noodles with only a tiny amount of minced meat and a few drops of oil. It cost ten dollars. According to Trist, an ordinary rickshaw driver could earn fifty dollars a day, so it was indeed unaffordable for him.

"It's delicious!"

The same noodles were in front of Xiya, and she ate them even faster. Lu Ban had only finished a small portion when Xia Ya had already finished the soup.

"Mr. Trist, you are such a good man."

Xiya thanked the other party sincerely.

"It's alright, it's alright."

Trist laughed it off, shifting his body slightly to obscure the restaurant's price list, and then quietly placing the menu on the next table and hiding it there.

Trist's intuition told him it was best not to tell them this was the cheapest thing available.

"Wait a minute, I'm a little curious, these noodles are made from wheat, right?"

Lu Ban slurped his noodles and suddenly felt a bit of insect PTSD.

"Otherwise what?"

Trist was puzzled.

"Even if it's an insect, it tastes so good, it should be fine, right?"

Xiya said from the side.

"Insect?"

Trist looked at the girl beside him and thought she seemed to be having a hard time.

After finishing the noodles, Lu Ban felt very satisfied; he was a person who was content with what he had.

"Shall we go to the publishing house first?"

Trist asked again.

"No problem!"

The publishing house is also located on the Fourth Ring Road, on the other side of the city.

"This is also the Fourth Ring Road, but there are differences between different areas. The place where I live is considered to be in the middle range within the Fourth Ring Road. The area east of the Fourth Ring Road is considered to have the worst public security, with the headquarters of a gang located there. The publishing house is located in the best location within the Fourth Ring Road."

Trist explained.

"Then why doesn't the publishing house just locate in an affluent area within the Third Ring Road?"

Xiya asked curiously.

"Because not everyone in the publishing house is rich. Those who are responsible for distributing newspapers, doing odd jobs and cleaning, and printing are all ordinary people. Some of the editors are from outside the Fourth Ring Road, mainly for the job."

"That's perfectly natural, "Trist said.

"What about the servants in those wealthy households?"

Lu Ban asked a question out of curiosity.

"They all live in rich people's homes and rarely come home more than once a year. To be honest, some of the servants already think they are people within the Third Ring Road and look down on people living outside. But who knows, if these people make a mistake, they might have their legs broken and be thrown into the wilderness to feed those monsters."

Trist sighed.

The gap between rich and poor in the Ruined City has a distinct sense of hierarchy, with all social classes present, but each class is extremely fixed, and there are very few cases of class crossing. After all, people living in the tenth ring can't even afford to go to school, they are illiterate, and they simply cannot start from scratch.

The three of them soon arrived at the publishing house.

This building is considered impressive for the Fourth Ring Road, but there aren't many people coming and going. When Trist walked into the lobby, he saw a woman in a cheongsam reading a newspaper at the front desk and greeted her.

"I'm here to find Editor Qian."

Did you make an appointment before?

The woman had clearly seen Trist before; her tone was somewhat arrogant. Her gaze lingered on Trist for only a moment, then on Xiya's face for a second, before finally settling on Lu Ban's face.

"Ahem, let me contact Editor Qian for you."

She picked up the phone, turned the dial, and called upstairs.

After a while, the receptionist smiled.

"Please come upstairs, the editorial office is on the third floor."

Finally, she glanced at Lu Ban one last time, with the same look as a dog that hadn't eaten for days seeing a bone. Lu Ban felt like the word "danger" might appear above his head.

Go up the stairs to the third floor, where it's a bit noisy.

All sorts of magazines, books, and newspapers were piled up, filling everyone's desks and obstructing their view.

But as I walked along, all I saw were editors flipping through erotic magazines, not looking like they were working.

"Old Qian."

Trist walked to a table and knocked on it.

The editor, who was reading a novel, looked up, his eyes still somewhat dazed.

"Old Cui, what's this? You've agreed to help me with this?"

He stood up and put down the book in his hand. Lu Ban saw that it was a novel called "The Village of the Rat People," also a work by Gudu.

The editor was of medium build, wore glasses, and looked somewhat greasy.

"Yes, my assistants and I are ready to take on your commission and find that person."

Trist remained unhurried.

"Shh, come with me."

Editor Qian led the three to a small conference room, which seemed to be a place where editors and authors usually communicated. He went out to get some documents, returned, closed the door, checked them, and then spoke.

"This is very important to us, Old Cui. Gudu's new book is sure to be a bestseller, which will boost our publishing house's overall revenue. But how could he have disappeared?"

Editor Qian said with annoyance.

"I know he often mingles with women, and I know this is bound to cause trouble, but why now? Sigh, Old Cui, you have to help me, help the publishing house. As long as we can find the remaining manuscript, it doesn't matter if Gudu is missing an arm or a leg, it doesn't matter if he's dead, as long as we can get the remaining manuscript back."

Xiya frowned slightly and asked a question.

"You don't care whether he lives or dies, you just want the remaining manuscript?"

"No, no, of course I care. If he hasn't finished writing his novel, I'll bring him back to life even if he's dead. I care about him a lot."

Editor Qian's expression inexplicably became somewhat ferocious.

Trist gave a wink, stopping Xiya from dwelling on the issue, and instead pressed her for an answer.

"Old Qian, could we take a look at the manuscript of his novel? After all, it involves his disappearance, so I think the content of his manuscript might have some clues."

Upon hearing Trist's words, Editor Qian suddenly became alert, fearing that these three were spies from other publishing houses who wanted to spy on the secrets of Gudu's new work.

You see, novels, especially horror novels, are often a matter of creativity. If someone else has already taken the idea, the story loses its freshness. What Gudu is most good at is creativity; he can come up with unique stories every time.

He gave Trist a deep look before slowly uttering his words.

"Wait for me a moment."

He went out again and came back with a stack of manuscript paper.

"You can only read this here."

"That's what Editor Qian said."

The three of them took the manuscript, Lu Ban immediately saw that the title of this unfinished novel was "The Mouth of the Madman".

The story begins with the disappearance of a novelist.