After reading the notes on the piano score, Shen Xiaoxiao quickly began analyzing the little girl’s family situation.
โPiano lessons are really expensive. For Meng Jinru to have systematic training and place third in the childrenโs division of a competition, her family must be paying at least ten thousand yuan a month for lessons.โ
โAnd thatโs just the bare minimum,โ Shen Xiaoxiao said. โOur family runs a few piano studios in Jiangcheng. I checked their course fees recentlyโthese days, you rarely find any classes under 200 yuan an hour; itโs usually 300 or 500, and full professors charge two or three thousand per hour as the norm.โ
โAll in all, learning piano is just like buying designer bagsโitโs a luxury project. Unless theyโre extremely gifted, most people have to pour money into it to get good,โ she finished, nodding seriously, as if affirming her own logic. โSo Meng Jinruโs family must be quite well-off!โ
Jiang Yan took the sheet music and carefully read through Ruruโs notes, then pointed to one line.
โNot necessarily.โ
โMeng Jinruโs family sells fish. Other parents wouldnโt sit with hers at the competition, which tells you they rushed over from the seafood market, still reeking of fish,โ Jiang Yan said slowly. โThey didnโt bother to go home and change or clean up in order to appear more presentable at their daughterโs competition, or even change into backup clothes somewhere nearby. That means they didnโt want to lose out on fish-selling time.โ
Shen Xiaoxiao thought about it and said, โBut what if her parents had a really big order that day? The expensive kind? Maybe thatโs why they couldnโt leave early. And selling fish doesnโt mean youโre working a stallโthey couldโve been running a seafood processing business and needed to handle the place, getting that sea smell on them.โ
Jiang Yan pointed to another clue in the writing.
โMeng Jinru says she wasnโt dressed nicely for the competition.โ
โIf it were just a matter of different taste, her piano teacher would have corrected her, not used that โbeauty comes from withinโ line to comfort her,โ Jiang Yan said. โIn that context, โbeauty of the soulโ is a stand-in for physical beauty. Clearly, Meng Jinru didnโt match the other kids in appearance at the timeโher clothes were far too plain.โ
โAnd the most important evidence is what she wore todayโher clothes are very worn; the back of her white shirt had turned yellow with sweat stains.โ
Shen Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered what sheโd seen earlier.
When Meng Jinru sat on her back, sheโd gotten a clear look at the little girlโs pink childrenโs shoesโthey were an old-fashioned pair.
She promptly nodded, chicken-pecking style: โYeah, I really should cut back on the overanalyzing, such a waste of time. But how did her family pay those expensive tutoring fees? Iโm so curious.โ
Just then, little Xiaoxiao gave a dismissive โtch.โ
She lay flat on her back, head under a standing lamp, a lovely black lampshade circling the bulb. She flicked her eyes up toward the inner wall of the shade. โSomethingโs stuck in here.โ
Jiang Yan walked over, bent down, and peeled off what was stuck inside the lampshade.
It was several sticky notes, the childish handwriting unmistakably Meng Jinruโs.
โ3.11โ
โToday, Mom met her best friend from middle school on the street. Mom said Aunt Xu was her old desk-mate and studied really hard; later, Aunt Xu went abroad and they lost touch for years.โ
โAunt Xu took our family to eat at a grand hotel. It was so tall and bright, Iโd never been anywhere so fancy. Aunt Xu asked what I wanted to eat, and I said tomato and scrambled eggs. Mom said it was embarrassing, Dad said Iโd never seen the world.โ
โBut Aunt Xu didnโt careโshe ordered me tomato and eggs. Aunt Xu runs a company and is always away from home. She asked if Iโd like to visit her house. She said she has a daughter my age, and we could play together.โ
โ3.14โ
โToday I went to Aunt Xuโs house. Her house has three stories, and a huge garden. Aunt Xuโs daughter wore a white dress like she did, so gentle and pretty. After watching cartoons together, her daughter asked if I could stay overnight.โ
โAunt Xu called my mom to ask, and Mom happily agreed.โ
โMom said I should visit Aunt Xuโs house more often, to see how rich families live. I know what Mom meansโshe wanted me to become a gentle person.โ
From here, Jiang Yan could guess what happened next without reading.
Aunt Xuโs daughter was learning piano from Teacher Yang, and Meng Jinru was curious while playing at their house. So Aunt Xu paid for her tuition, inviting her to attend lessons alongside her daughter.
And so it went.
According to the notes, the two girls got along very well. Aunt Xuโs daughter was two years older. They often took classes, ate, and slept together. Because her friend wanted her there, Meng Jinru would stay for several days at a time without going home; her parents never hurried her back, letting her stay with Aunt Xu.
Meng Jinru did not waste the costly tutoring.
She revealed exceptional talent in pianoโbetter, in areas like pitch and rhythm, than some whoโd trained for years. Teacher Yang told Aunt Xu about this, and Aunt Xu happily invited Teacher Yang and Mengโs parents out to dinner. She promised that as long as Meng Jinru studied hard, sheโd cover all the costs, and asked Teacher Yang to teach her as well as possible.
Meng Jinru became Aunt Xuโs goddaughter.
She wrote on her sticky note that this was her happiest day. She swore to study hard, to become a piano teacher like Teacher Yang, and to earn enough to buy her parents a big house with a garden.
But things didnโt go as sheโd hoped.
A week after the dinner, her mother called her home.
There was the biggest argument the family had ever had.
Her mother pushed her into a corner and made her stand as punishment, lecturing her for agesโhow she used to bring breakfast to Aunt Xu, how she helped Aunt Xu get through her PE exams, and how Aunt Xu owed her success to her in part. Her mother ordered her not to โchange mothersโ for money, said all her piano gifts came from family genes and had nothing to do with Aunt Xu.
On a sticky note, Meng Jinru wrote:
โMomโs eyes look so scary.โ
โMy arm hurts where she pinched it. Dad says Mom is short-sighted, but Mom says Iโm an ungrateful, dumb child whoโs proud of being the crown prince’s study buddy, acting like a maid every day.โ
โMom doesn’t seem to like Aunt Xu.โ
After that, Meng Jinruโs visits to Aunt Xuโs house got fewer and fewer. Except for classes, she seldom stayed overnight. The older girl begged her several times to stay, but every time, Meng Jinru just shook her head.
She was so young and lacked judgmentโher motherโs words were law.
Shen Xiaoxiao couldnโt help but complain: โWhat do you mean, acting like a maid? Aunt Xuโs obviously richโif she just wanted a playmate for her daughter, she had any number of choices. She just picked a way to sponsor Meng Jinru. God, how I hate that kind of malicious interpretation!โ
Jiang Yan said nothing and flipped forward.
There werenโt many sticky notes left. She soon reached notes about the childrenโs competition.
โ5.11โ
โAunt Xu knew I was going to a competition, and took me out to buy a beautiful dress for it, but Mom confiscated itโI could only wear my old skirt.โ
โMom changed so much. Didnโt she want me to be gentle like Aunt Xu?โ
โ5.18โ
โMom left home with a lot of money, saying that soon Iโd have a good life and wouldnโt have to be anyoneโs maid again.โ
โ5.22โ
โA man came to the house, wearing a long yellow robe. He looked hot. He held my palm and stared at it for a long time.โ
โ5.24โ
โThe uncle came by again today.โ
โ5.25โ
โToday I read a sentence in a book: Jealousy is inkโif you donโt stop it from seeping, it stains the whole page.โ
โI donโt really get it, but I copied it down~โ
โ5.28โ
โThe uncle came a third time today. He somehow got a photo of Sister Xiaoyu. Her palm in the photo was so white and softโI remembered how it felt holding her hand. I miss her so much.โ
Sister Xiaoyu was Aunt Xuโs daughter.
Jiang Yanโs eyes flew down the page, reading the rest.
โ6.1โ
โToday is Childrenโs Day. The uncle used a knife to carve three lines on my palm, copying Sister Xiaoyuโs photo. The bleeding wouldnโt stop, it hurt so much. But Mom wouldnโt let me hide.โ
โMom said I was a treasure she prayed for at the temple, she doesnโt want me to have a hard life. After this, Iโll have Sister Xiaoyuโs fate. With me, Mom will get rich.โ
โ6.6โ
โI heard Sister Xiaoyu was hit by a motorcycle. Mom wouldnโt let me visit her.โ
โMy hand still hurts. I canโt hold my palm tight anymore. Iโll never play piano again.โ
โ6.7โ
โI snuck off to the hospital. Sister Xiaoyu hugged me and cried for a long time.โ
โShe saw the wounds on my palm and cried even harder. She said sheโd get Aunt Xu to find someone to fix my hand. But did she forget something?โ
โShe forgot she was in pain too.โ
โ6.8โ
โMom scolded me again. She said as long as I help her get rich, she can buy me any piano, no matter how expensive.โ
โBut I canโt play piano anymore, Mom.โ
โ6.11โ
โSister Xiaoyu fell unconscious.โ
โ6.12โ
โI decided to change my palm lines back. Isnโt it just cutting with a knife back and forth?โ
โHope Mom doesnโt yell anymore.โ
That was the end of the sticky notes.
On the last page, an unfamiliar handwriting summed up the story.
โMeng Jinru died from excessive blood loss. During the last minute of her life, she was taken into Tongyuan Amusement Park.โ
โGame zoneโRuruโs Cleaver Challenge.โ
โClear conditionโlet the cleaver carve your fate line and change your destiny.โ
Meng Jinruโs story was now complete. Jiang Yan put away the sticky notes.
Shen Xiaoxiao was still puzzled. โSo that fortune-teller wasnโt a real oneโฆthen why did Sister Xiaoyu get hit by a car? Did her fate really get stolen?โ
Jiang Yan: โNo, he was just a fraud.โ
Shen Xiaoxiao understood. โSo, the accidentโฆโ
Jiang Yan nodded.
She left the room with the sticky notes in hand. Now, not only was Meng Jinruโs story clarified, but even more importantly, the recruitment rules for the energy field were confirmed.
โIt doesnโt just take in those present at the abandoned amusement park at three oโclock. It also takes in dying children with tragic childhoods from the surrounding towns.
This method of choosing people was pretty interesting.
And this energy fieldโs background spiritโฆ
It seemed to not only have the ability to recall memories, but also to possess a measure of rationality.
Jiang Yan thoughtfully rubbed her finger joint.
Earlier, theyโd agreed to meet in Room 303 in half an hour to share clues, and now it was time. As she walked there, Jiang Yan flipped through the sticky notes again.
Halfway through, three lines of small red text slowly appeared that hadnโt been there before.
ใThe time limit for completing the theme park is three days.ใ
ใBefore entering the sixth attraction, all guests must guess the animation on which the attraction is based.ใ
ใYou have three chances to answer correctly. Dear big and little friends, please enjoy the games and take the quiz enthusiastically!!ใ
Jiang Yan had just been surprised that the background spirit actually presented the clearance conditions so directly at this stage. But when she saw the requirement, her expression instantly sharpened.
The livestream comments also froze for several secondsโthen quickly exploded.
ใWait, am I seeing this right? What the hell??ใ
ใArenโt the fifth and sixth attractions both in the animation zone? The rule is, you enter a little house, pass the level inside, *then* guess which cartoon itโs based on. But now, this??ใ
ใSo they have to guess which animation will be reenacted in the houseโ*before* they even enter itโฆใ
ใSo did the background spirit make it harder because Sister Yanโs group was clearing too fast???ใ
ใโฆโฆ..ใ
ใJust kill me :๏ผใ