Pitiful Widower (03)

Xue Ci was startled by the not-so-quiet sound of the door closing behind her.

Before I could even turn around, I felt something warm coming from beside my ear.

Um?

Lu Min was covering his ears with his hands.

This seemed to be a subconscious reaction, and it was only after making eye contact for two seconds that the socially awkward nerd realized he had touched the little male servant's skin.

"I'm so sorry!"

Lu Min apologized awkwardly, his ears, hidden in his black hair, burning red.

Even though it was only a brief touch, the soft, smooth feel lingered in my palm.

He unconsciously rubbed his fingers together and glanced at the door opposite. "Does Fu Chengsi live in there? He probably just closed it."

Inwardly, however, he thought to himself, "Why close the door so loudly?"

Xue Ci pursed her lips.

Fu Chengsi has a terrible temper; he's dressed in a suit and his face is cold and stern.

He's the type who wouldn't actively seek help even if he got lost on the street.

Xue Ci felt so embarrassed at the thought of having to say to Fu Chengsi, "Did you steal my stockings?" that her toes curled up.

You can roughly guess what kind of vicious words the other party will use to insult you.

In this situation, he temporarily backed down.

The deadline for the task is 10 PM.

Just as I was pondering this, the door to another room opened from the inside.

"Who slammed the door so hard?" He seemed to have just woken up, arrogantly tossing his messy red hair back, his youthful face full of impatience.

His gaze fell on Xue Ci and Lu Min, but he didn't say anything. He walked past them to the bathroom at the end of the corridor.

Qin Zhou didn't close the door, and through the crack, you could vaguely see him standing in front of the sink washing his face.

The butler's voice came from downstairs, asking Xue Ci to call the three guests down for dinner.

Xue Ci responded, tugging at Lu Min's clothes. "You go down to eat first, I'll go call the other two."

Lu Min obediently went downstairs.

Xue Ci walked up to Qin Zhou. The boy had just washed his face, and water droplets rolled down his neat face to his Adam's apple.

The other person clearly hadn't slept well; there were bulging veins on their forehead and arms.

Although this person wasn't easy to talk to either, he was much better than Fu Chengsi. Xue Ci softly, "It's time to go downstairs for dinner."

"Okay." Qin Zhou felt the water droplets slide down his neck to his chest, tickling him. He put his hands in his pockets and casually asked Xue Ci, "What did you Lu Min talk about?"

Is the NPC finally going to provide clues to the players?

Qin Zhou found this place too boring and wanted to trigger the clues quickly to clear the level and leave.

"Did you tell him about the homeowner?"

He continued asking questions, but the next second, Xue Ci lowered her voice and leaned close to his face. "I asked him if he stole my white stockings."

... What.

Qin Zhou's eyelids twitched slightly.

No matter how hard he racked his brains, he would never have guessed that it was about this kind of thing.

Why would she take a boy's worn socks? Song Xueci's size is different from theirs.

His mind went blank. Then, as if remembering something, Qin Zhou's expression immediately turned awkward. He opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and finally managed to ask, "Then... did he take it?"

"No," Xue Ci pressed on, "But I can't find it. Did you take my white silk?"

Qin Zhou was incredulous. He froze for two seconds before exclaiming, "Why would a straight man like me steal another man's white stockings?!"

"Besides, I have absolutely no interest in that stuff!"

"Only otaku like it."

Qin Zhou spoke several times, seemingly very concerned about being wrongly accused of stealing a man's stockings.

Xue Ci hadn't expected Qin Zhou to react so strongly. To calm him down, he replied, "I understand. I just had one question. Where did it fall? I'll look for it again."

"Let's go downstairs for dinner first."

He reminded the other party.

Qin Zhou realized he had overreacted and made a fool of himself. He put his hands in his pockets, looking cool and aloof, and followed Xue Ci downstairs.

I started chatting with Xue Ci.

The conversation revolved around the stolen white stockings.

"Have you been robbed before?"

"Is he a repeat offender?"

"This is not a good thing. It would be bad if we were targeted by a pervert."

"Otherwise, I'll help you look for it after dinner. If we can't find it, then there's definitely a pervert involved."

Xue Ci has become accustomed to having abnormal people around her and has tried to accept it.

However, Qin Zhou's willingness to help him provided a good opportunity to build a closer relationship.

He had barely uttered an "Oh" when he heard Qin Zhou lower his voice and ask, "Did you ask Fu Chengsi?"

Xue Ci froze, stopping in her tracks.

He was already almost a head shorter than Qin Zhou, and now, standing on the lower steps, he looked even smaller.

Just like... that rabbit in the backyard.

It's so white and smooth, it makes you want to pinch it all over.

"I dare not ask," Xue Ci dejectedly, pouting. "But it definitely wasn't him who took it."

"How can you be so sure? He seems more like a good person than Lu Min or me?" Qin Zhou's lips curled into a playful smile. "He's only serious on the surface."

"When we were playing chess, your foot brushed against his leg. He told you to move your leg away, but why didn't he just step back himself?"

Xue Ci's blood rushed to her head, her cheeks and ear tips flushed red, and her eyes widened. "I... I didn't touch him!"

Qin Zhou looked on in disbelief. "Is that so?"

Xue Ci didn't care whether he truly believed her or not, and remained silent.

The aroma of steak had already filled the entire living room.

The castle's chef prepared a lavish dinner, along with portions for the servants.

Xue Ci served Mrs. West's dinner, and that completed her work for the day.

It wasn't until the butler coldly reminded him, "Where is Mr. Fu?"

"..."

Oh no! I forgot to shout...

Xue Ci pursed her lips, and then a sound came from the other end of the stairs.

Fu Chengsi was coming down from the second floor.

*

Fortunately, Fu Chengsi did not make sarcastic remarks in front of the butler.

The dinner was eaten quietly. The NPCs stood respectfully to the side, their smiles seemingly programmed, which, after a while, gave off an eerie feeling.

"The group can go upstairs to rest; toiletries and clothes should be sent up immediately."

Players are portrayed as honored guests of the West Family, and the butler will naturally treat them with great care.

The old man's smile, hidden in his pale beard, finally provided the players with a clue. "Don't leave the room after midnight."

"Because terrible things will happen."

Qin Zhou, being the first to speak, was young and directly commented on the game. "Another midnight setting, how outdated."

"And the secret will definitely happen at midnight."

His tone was firm, and the butler simply smiled and said, "You may go upstairs now."

"No rush." Qin Zhou put his arm around Xue Ci's shoulder as if they were old friends. "Has anyone seen Xue Ci's white stockings? Don't accidentally put them in your pockets."

Xue Ci hadn't expected him to bring this up in front of so many people, and felt so embarrassed he wanted to disappear into the ground. Seeing that Qin Zhou was about to say something more, he immediately covered his mouth.

"Okay, okay... Everyone's busy, I'll look for it myself."

Qin Zhou was taken aback by his actions.

Xue Ci's hand seemed to touch his lips.

Further inside is the tongue.

What game gives NPCs this kind of behavior? What is this NPC trying to do?

Qin Zhou soon heard the system voice in his mind.

[Trigger hidden storyline.]

NPC: Song Xueci.

Purpose: To live happily with my husband.

husband?

Looking to find a suitable husband among them?

Qin Zhou hadn't expected there to be an NPC for this kind of quest.

Perhaps he's just inexperienced.

Perhaps it's just a trick used in survival games to mislead players—creating a handsome young male NPC who wears cologne, a very short skirt, and carries a pair of slightly sheer white stockings. He comes close to your face, looks at you with that expression, and asks if you stole his socks.

Those whose will faltered even slightly were taken down.

For example, that otaku.

I don't know how many times I glanced in Song Xueci's direction while eating dinner.

Song Xueci ate much smaller bites than them, very politely, her cheeks would bulge out.

My lips turn red when I eat hot food.

Occasionally, it will stick out its tongue and lick the milk off the corner of its lips.

Ultimately, it was just a guy eating; I don't know what was so interesting about peeking at him.

And then there's Fu Chengsi.

He appears very composed, but he might have already smelled the scent of that white silk stocking behind the scenes.

unreliable.

The only hope for beating this game is that he, this unmoved straight man, will succeed.

*

Qin Zhou truly kept his word, searching almost the entire sofa and carpet area.

Xue Ci herself was losing patience and urged him to go upstairs to wash up.

"You forgot, Mr. Joel said we should go back to our rooms early tonight, or something terrible might happen."

Joel is the butler's name.

It's fine during the day, but the castle starts to feel eerie and sinister at night. Perhaps it's because of the lack of light, or perhaps because the sunlight can't reach it, but it also has a faint musty smell.

All sorts of horror and ghost stories would flood my mind in an instant.

The two did not linger and quickly went upstairs.

Xue Ci returned to her room.

Seeing that the bathroom was empty, he went back to his room and casually pulled a large T-shirt from the closet to wear as pajamas.

The bathroom wasn't small; the steaming hot water poured onto Xue Ci's fair skin, instantly giving it a powdery sheen.

Water droplets fell and slid down her milky skin.

Xue Ci's stomach was soft, her waist was slender, and even when she bent over to wash her calves, her stomach remained flat.

The bathroom was filled with steam, and Xue Ci didn't notice that when he bent over, for a moment, a pink mark seemed to appear on his stomach.

The patterns are intricate.

There's a heart in the middle.

After being drenched in hot water for more than ten minutes, Xue Ci looked like a kitten that had just licked its fur clean; even its paw pads were pink.

After putting on his T-shirt, he discovered his underwear was missing.

"Didn't you bring it...?"

Xue Ci muttered to herself, glancing at herself.

The clothes are quite long; they can completely cover everything.

Everyone was probably afraid something might happen, so they all stayed in their own rooms.

Xue Ci hadn't expected that none of the three of them would stay put.

Qin Zhou was searching for clues in a dusty warehouse on the third floor.

Lu Min was in the room, but he was lying on the table, seemingly smelling something, when a suspicious red appeared on his face.

And Fu Chengsi—

His shirt was still almost wrinkle-free, and his gaze shifted back the moment Xue Ci opened the bathroom door.

Fu Chengsi raised his hand, his fingers hooking around the edge of his underwear. "First you lost your socks, now you're losing your underwear."

"They have quite a few moves."

Xue Ci was stunned.

Fu Chengsi's expression was calm, and his gaze was fixed on him.

Xue Ci unconsciously felt a strong sense of aggression, which caused goosebumps to appear on his arm.

My toes curled up uncomfortably.

Did you find it? I must have accidentally dropped it...

Xue Ci wasn't paying attention to what Fu Chengsi was saying, otherwise she wouldn't have used such a gentle tone.

He really wanted to reach out and take it, but his herbivorous instincts prevented him from going forward.

In addition, Fu Chengsi's posture when handing things over was very strange.

He could have just given it to him with his hand, but his arm didn't seem to reach forward; his underwear was being gently hooked with his knuckles like a small flag.

That's strange.

Xue Ci watched longingly.

Fu Chengsi glanced at his round eyes, remaining in his original posture. "What were you talking about with Lu Min this evening?"

"Are you introducing him to the West Family?"

Fu Chengsi has already experienced several infinite flow survival games, and he has more experience in completing them than the other two players.

He could easily see that the clue to passing this level lay with the castle's owner.

She also knew perfectly well that Xue Ci wasn't talking about this with Lu Min.

Otherwise, Lu Min wouldn't have acted so disgracefully.

"No. I was asking him if he'd seen my socks." Remembering she still had a mission, Xue Ci the opportunity to ask, "Did you take my white stockings?"

really.

He quickly saw a mocking sneer on Fu Chengsi's face.

"I didn't even hide your underwear, why would I steal your socks?"

After the man finished speaking, his gaze on Xue Ci froze.

Wearing a thin nightgown... everything around her chest was visible.

His face remained expressionless, but his breath paused for a second when Xue Ci leaned forward with her small face up and pulled the underwear from his hand.

His hands involuntarily tightened their grip.

A vein bulged on his arm instantly.

The two were pulling at small pieces of cloth.

Finally, a muffled tearing sound filled the air.

"..."

Xue Ci sullenly at the torn underwear she had retrieved, her face cold when she looked up again.

You can keep it yourself.

The next moment, Fu Chengsi's vision was blocked.

Song Xueci actually threw her underwear at his face.

Author's Note:

Xiao Lu and Fu Gou both had a great time.

The remaining foolish man earnestly tried to decipher the mystery, but found nothing.