I Deduce the Female Lead Likes Me [Transmigration into a book] - Chapter 33: Villa
Due to the frank conversation in the cafe, the three tentatively reached an agreement—information sharing.
Although they called it information sharing, Kou Shuang and Song Muxue actually didn’t have much information. Strictly speaking, it was just Zhang Zhiruo’s one-sided confession.
Kou Shuang had once curiously asked Zhang Zhiruo: “Why are you telling us all this? I thought you were very wary of everyone else.”
Zhang Zhiruo smiled and said: “Honestly, I don’t trust you now either. I agreed to come to the cafe because of Miss Song.”
Kou Shuang: “…”
It’s impossible to live like this! Song Muxue always has the upper hand.
“Why don’t you trust me? Is there something suspicious about me that you’re very concerned about? I’m just an enthusiastic citizen of Chaoyang District,” Kou Shuang said.
Zhang Zhiruo, however, ignored Kou Shuang and looked at Song Muxue, saying: “Miss Song, I am confessing all of this because you accepted Ms. Wu Wenyu’s commission. I am sharing my experience, hoping you can understand me, hoping you can convey my position to Ms. Wu Wenyu, and hoping she can withdraw the lawsuit.”
Song Muxue’s response was very cautious. She said: “If you can make me feel your sincerity,” Song Muxue’s response was very cautious, and she immediately pressed on: “Where are the children from the begging syndicate now?”
Zhang Zhiruo paused, then said: “At my house.”
“I want to see them, at least to confirm that Wu Hongye is not among them,” Song Muxue said.
Zhang Zhiruo bit her lip, hesitated for a while, then said: “Okay.”
Adding to that, the witness Zhang Zhiruo had been looking for was Xiao Huzi’s brother. This was truly a huge coincidence, probably the only source of intelligence Kou Shuang and Song Muxue could provide.
Kou Shuang and Song Muxue arranged to take Xiao Huzi to the mental hospital to see his brother on the weekend. After explaining the situation to Xiao Huzi, Zhang Zhiruo was also present when Huzi Brother went to the mental hospital. Zhang Zhiruo had pursued Huzi Brother for so long just to get an answer. And now, the answer was almost within reach.
Kou Shuang thought Zhang Zhiruo’s experience was quite lamentable; not everyone encountered such unfortunate twists of fate, falling into almost eternal regret.
Song Muxue, however, said: “I think there’s something wrong with Zhang Zhiruo’s words.”
“What’s wrong?” Kou Shuang asked.
“I just feel that in her narration, all the motives are very far-fetched and vague. But this is just a feeling; I can’t just assert it, nor can I prove anything.”
“Vague motives? What do you mean? Are you saying her psychological activities aren’t detailed?”
“Um… take the time we met her in the snack city as an example. That day, we both followed Xiaodie. I filmed her truck, and she’s already confirmed that it was hers. If she wasn’t lying, she was heading towards Huzi Brother that day. But the place where I filmed the truck disappearing and the place where we found Huzi Brother were at least a block apart. Even if there really was another group chasing Huzi Brother, she wouldn’t have panicked and fled from such a distance.”
“This…” Kou Shuang tried to find an excuse for Zhang Zhiruo: “Perhaps it was to get all the children onto the truck? You saw Xiaodie get on the truck, and then the truck disappeared, right?”
“But we didn’t see the so-called ‘other group of people,'” Song Muxue said: “Let’s put this aside for now. We can verify something else.”
“What?” Kou Shuang asked.
At this moment, she felt incredibly stupid in front of Song Muxue, only capable of asking “why” and “what.” A human, yet her intelligence was actually inferior to a character’s! This made Kou Shuang feel somewhat frustrated.
But on second thought, was Song Muxue merely a character? Over these days of interaction, she learned Song Muxue’s eating habits, her pains, her inclusiveness and gentleness, and she had seen so many different smiles from her. How could she simply be a character setting?
Even Sun Jiawen could possess free will and realize that this world was limited by humans, so why couldn’t Song Muxue? And she was so intelligent.
Kou Shuang didn’t realize she had been staring at Song Muxue’s face, but after she said this to herself, she vaguely felt Song Muxue’s face become more radiant and vivid.
Very… beautiful.
“I won’t peek at your information,” Song Muxue said.
“What?”
“WeChat. I want to ask your colleague to verify something,” Song Muxue repeated: “Ask your colleague if Zhang Zhiruo is married and if she has children. What were you just thinking about?”
Kou Shuang felt a little embarrassed. She couldn’t very well say she was thinking about her, could she? So she could only honestly take out her phone, unlock the screen, find her junior colleague’s WeChat, and type: [Is my mentor married?]
The other side quickly replied: [No! Why?]
[When I was shopping today, I think I saw her with a child. I don’t know if I saw wrong, but were they her and her child? Does she have a child?]
Junior colleague: [Absolutely not, I can guarantee that! Definitely not! Either you saw wrong, or it’s a relative’s child. How old is the child? Are there any boys or girls of similar age around?]
The junior colleague asked several questions, clearly a gossip expert. Kou Shuang casually responded while saying to Song Muxue: “My colleagues don’t know she has children. Two possibilities: one is that for some reason, she lost her child and transferred her emotions to Wu Hongye; the second is that she’s lying to cover something up. The first one is understandable. For the second, what would it be for? Which do you think it is?”
“Given her age, it’s unlikely she has a child close to Wu Hongye’s age, unless it was a premarital birth. This child explains why she would pay attention to Wu Hongye on the subway, but she didn’t say what happened to this child later. The child might have died or is not with her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t abandon her own child just to wander the streets looking for another child who strongly resembles her own. I just want to confirm that she is not currently living with her child, that fact,” Song Muxue concluded thoughtfully: “There must be something about Zhang Zhiruo that we don’t know, but without evidence, we can’t confirm anything based on speculation alone. We’ll have to wait until we see Zhang Zhiruo tomorrow. Let’s sleep for now.”
Song Muxue turned off the lights in the room, and her calm, peaceful voice echoed in the small room: “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
••••
The next day, Zhang Zhiruo drove Song Muxue and Kou Shuang to see the children.
“The children are all in my villa in the suburbs. I bought a large truck and drive them back and forth to the city every day. There’s no other way; nowhere is safe,” Zhang Zhiruo explained: “After I find the kitten, I will personally meet Wu Wenyu and apologize to her and her child.” Zhang Zhiruo explained to the two.
Kou Shuang got out of the car, looked at the house before her, and her eyes widened in surprise, saying: “Such a large villa, and the air quality is excellent. You go to work from here every day? Your life must be so comfortable!”
Zhang Zhiruo smiled and said: “I like the quiet. Besides, I haven’t worked in a long time.”
“You’re rich!” Kou Shuang exclaimed, feeling like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.
“I bought it years ago, when property prices weren’t so expensive.”
As Zhang Zhiruo spoke, she turned off the car. She didn’t walk towards the main gate but went to the right. Only then did Kou Shuang discover that next to the magnificent large villa, there was another independent small villa, like a garage or a warehouse, with an unknown purpose.
Zhang Zhiruo knocked on the door and said: “The children live in here.”
The door quickly opened, and Xiaodie appeared at the doorway, looking somewhat happy: “Auntie, you’re finally back!”
Kou Shuang was just about to follow Zhang Zhiruo’s steps when she heard Song Muxue ask her: “Do you like living here?”
Kou Shuang said: “It’s just too far from the city center, but it’s quiet enough, very nice for a vacation.”
Song Muxue said: “It’s also very good for sketching.”
Zhang Zhiruo waved to the two and said: “Come in.”
Kou Shuang had originally intended to say something else to Song Muxue, but after being interrupted by Zhang Zhiruo, she had no choice but to enter the house.
Upon entering, she saw a large truck parked in the center. Several children were playing in the truck’s seats and cargo area. This must be the large truck Zhang Zhiruo mentioned, and the one Song Muxue had filmed.
Kou Shuang asked: “Such a big truck, isn’t it inconvenient to drive in and out of the city? Where do you park it?”
“The truck is too big to park in a parking lot, so I have to park it in the slum. The parking spot isn’t fixed each time. That time was a coincidence; I ran into you and Huzi Brother,” Zhang Zhiruo explained.
Kou Shuang nodded. Recalling the casual chatter of customers she heard at the barbecue stall that day, she understood what the so-called “corpse driving” was about. It must have been seen by others when Zhang Zhiruo occasionally walked back with the children. Plus, they looked a bit creepy, so everyone had a deep impression.
“I’ve been looking for Huzi Brother for a long time. He’s the only eyewitness. I just want to know who took the kitten away.”
“How many times have you met him in total? What have you managed to get out of him?”
“About three times. The first was when I found the whistle. He said a car took Xiaohong away and also beat Xiaohong…” Zhang Zhiruo’s expression became somewhat pained, perhaps imagining the specific scene.
After a while, she continued: “The second time, he mentioned ‘food.’ I thought he was trying to extort me. I bought him some bread and gave him some money, but he took the things and ran. I couldn’t catch him and could only watch him leave.”
“The third time was in that alley. After seeing you in the snack street, I blew the whistle, and the children scattered. Later, I saw him in a certain alley. While blowing the whistle to gather the children, I noticed other people chasing him. I was worried about the children’s safety, so I had to take them and run first. Yes, I even met you that day; I don’t know if you remember.”
Kou Shuang nodded and pressed on: “Other people? Who were they? Didn’t you think at the time that they might be the ones who took Wu Hongye? You’re so desperate to find Wu Hongye; did you really not chase that car?”
Zhang Zhiruo’s expression paused. She retorted to Kou Shuang: “In your eyes, do children’s lives have different values?”