The story of Little Red Riding Hood

The funeral soon began. People took their seats, observed a moment of silence, tucked into the feast, or chatted away.

Zhang Youzhi's soul drifted back and forth, marveling at the funeral He Min had arranged.

The suona played alongside the piano, the erhu accompanied the French horn, opera was performed onstage, and guests feasted below. Pork knuckles were dipped in ketchup, and macarons were smeared with scallions. The only camera went around filming everyone right in the face, recording this one-of-a-kind funeral.

Perhaps feeling there weren't enough guests, He Min pulled over the staff, the performers who had finished singing, and the musicians, filling several tables. A bunch of grown men started drinking up a storm.

Most people got drunk, and naturally, the conversations ranged all over the place. He Min complained to Xu Nayuyan about work at the company. Hao Shanzhi pestered his master about the bloody events fourteen years ago. Gray Kitten and Duoduo chased each other around the venue. The police officer grabbed the thief Duo Erduo and earnestly lectured the thief for two hours, leaving Duo Erduo deeply moved and sobbing.

Zhang Youzhi left the venue early and floated toward the station.

There was no rule saying ghosts couldn't take public transport, was there?

Songjiang City.

Wearing a sun hat, Li Douyu furtively got out of the vehicle.

She had already keenly sensed that something bad was following her.

Granny had told her the story of Little Red Riding Hood: once upon a time, there was a Cinderella named Little Red Riding Hood. She built a straw house, only for the big bad wolf to blow it away in one breath. Then she built a wooden house, only for the big bad wolf to sit on it and crush it. Later, Little Red Riding Hood used the money she had earned selling matches to buy an unfinished house in the city. But before the house was finished, the big bad wolf caught up with her. With no other choice, Little Red Riding Hood fled into the forest and hired seven dwarfs to build a stone house deep in the woods. In the end, she hid inside the house and lived happily ever after with the big bad wolf.

The moral of this story was that you should build a sturdy house.

Li Douyu decided to find a sturdy house to use as a base first. Her safety had to come first. She had noticed early on that something was wrong with her chats with Zhang Youzhi on her phone. "Zhang Youzhi" had brushed off several video call requests with various excuses.

Li Douyu had been smart since she was little. Rather than alerting the enemy, she secretly made her way to Songjiang City.

First, shake off the big bad wolf chasing me!

Li Douyu took a taxi straight to the Songjiang City Police Station, then rented a place across the street. From then on, she greeted the police officers on guard whenever she came or went.

After checking how sturdy the doors and windows were, she bought several extra locks to secure the door from inside. Finally, she bought a chainsaw for self-defense.

Women's self-defense techniques and pepper spray were all useless. One pull of the chainsaw's starter cord, and its roaring engine would definitely make the big bad wolf think twice.

I'll buy some raw wood to keep in the room as cover, too.

"I'm a root-carving enthusiast. Having a chainsaw by my bed is perfectly reasonable, right?"

Li Douyu scouted locations during the day and hid in her room at night, drawing up plans and studying the situation. She also stayed in constant contact with the fake "Zhang Youzhi" to keep him from growing suspicious.

Li Douyu had once called Zhang Youzhi's good friend Zhou Mo to sound him out. To her surprise, this supposedly good friend of Zhang Youzhi's actually told her not to overthink things.

Li Douyu keenly sensed that something was wrong. The best-case explanation was that Zhou Mo simply didn't believe her account. The worst-case explanation was that this supposedly good friend had already switched sides.

After testing him repeatedly, Li Douyu had finally confirmed that the "person" controlling all of Zhang Youzhi's social media accounts was definitely not him. As for where the real Zhang Youzhi was, she had no idea.

She had contacted Zhang Youzhi's family to ask about it, but his parents didn't know either. To avoid worrying them, Li Douyu hadn't shared her suspicions.

The only lead she had was the location: "Songjiang City."

Her boyfriend's fate was unknown, and all his social media accounts were controlled by the fake Zhang Youzhi. Li Douyu remained extremely vigilant and guarded.

Her first thought had been to call the police, but the problem was that she couldn't prove Zhang Youzhi was really missing. Whether in text messages, on social media, in their chats, or even over the phone, "Zhang Youzhi" behaved perfectly normally.

The police couldn't possibly believe her word alone.

But she simply didn't believe it.

In the days since arriving in Songjiang City, she had scouted and investigated the entire urban area, established a contact point at Songjiang University, and paid off some students. She had also visited all the major hospitals. Their recent medical records showed that there had never been a young patient with terminal brain cancer in Songjiang City.

In other words, Zhang Youzhi's terminally ill friend and their bet were made up, too.

"But why would Zhang Youzhi lie to me?"

Remembering how her father had looked as though he wanted to say something when she left home, Li Douyu felt a surge of foreboding.

She felt as though everyone was lying to her, and it made her deeply uncomfortable.

The White Jade Capital Company's base in Songjiang City's university district.

A banner hung inside a school building.

"Li Douyu Take-Down Elite Team Meet-and-Greet and First Strategy Meeting"

Attendees: Si Weizhe (male), Bai Song (male), Gu Yu (female), Nanmen Yingyun (female), Wen Xuanjing (male).

Between the five of them, they couldn't scrape together a single normal surname.

Led by Si Weizhe, the mixed friendship-and-romance team of three men and two women sat anxiously around a rectangular table.

The atmosphere in the room was rather gloomy.

"There are three men here. Let's all try making contact with her and see which of us she likes best. That should help us decide which of the three of us takes the romance route." Si Weizhe adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and spoke first.

"The target is tricky. She usually stays in her room and doesn't come out. If we suddenly go knocking on her door, our intentions will look far too obvious." Wen Xuanjing was the first to object. He wasn't tall, and aside from Si Weizhe, he was the team's only other brain. He looked a little like a chibi college student, the sweet puppy-dog type of boy who was so popular online.

"We followed her all the way from Long City to Songjiang City. The target is clearly very alert. She's shaken us off several times, so we've already tipped her off." Bai Song spoke up. He looked like a sunny, boy-next-door type, but his manner of speaking was very calm.

"How about Gu Yu and I rent a place near hers tomorrow, then bring some desserts over for a visit? We can build a relationship with her first." Nanmen Yingyun raised her hand to offer her suggestion. This girl was about the same height as Wen Xuanjing and had a boisterous personality. She was clearly the most upbeat of the five, in stark contrast to the mature, big-sister-like Gu Yu beside her.

"Forget it. I'm afraid that if knocking doesn't work, you'll tear the door off with your bare hands and force your way in." Wen Xuanjing shook his head.

"Little Jing, do you have a death wish?" Nanmen Yingyun slapped the table, making everyone jump.

"Stop arguing, stop arguing." Si Weizhe pressed both hands down in a calming gesture.

"Here's the plan. Tomorrow, she'll probably keep scouting around Songjiang City. Judging by her previous route, her next destination should be the mall.

"Four of the five of us will go out. Cherry, you and Xuanjing will form a team and pose as a couple. Find some way to stage an accident and make contact with the target."

"No! I don't want to pair up with the shorty."

"I'm afraid she'll twist my head off with her bare hands."

They spoke at the same time, then glared at each other.

Si Weizhe clapped his hands. "Yes, exactly! That's just the effect we want. Couples bicker all the time. It's settled, then. You two will form a team and find a way to approach the target."

"Bai Song, you and Gu Yu will pose as siblings. Judging by your looks and personalities, let's make her the older sister and you the younger brother."

"All right," Bai Song said.

"That works," Gu Yu said.

"Find your own way to approach the target. Do either of you have any objections?"

"No."

"No."

Look at that. Those two make things so easy.

"Good. Tomorrow, I'll coordinate everything. Here are your headsets. Stay in touch. Don't follow her anymore today. The Hypnosis Expert probably won't get here for another few days. We need to establish steady contact with the target in the meantime. Ideally, we'll gain enough of her trust that the Hypnosis Expert won't need to hypnotize her by force."