Chapter 126: Sense
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Now both of them were speaking in their real voices, so it was very easy to tell them apart. Plus, Yan Tinghuan was sharp as a tack. The moment she heard the tone and meaning of Xi Mo's question, and remembered that earlier line from Ruan Yesheng saying “Huanhuan,” she instantly figured it out.
“What’s going on?” Even though Yan Tinghuan had seen a lot and could accept things quickly, her voice still couldn’t hide her surprise. “You two actually switched back?”
Ruan Yesheng didn’t keep teasing her this time and smiled as she said, “That’s right. We switched back.”
“When did it happen?” Yan Tinghuan was shocked and happy.
Xi Mo said, “This afternoon.”
Yan Tinghuan’s curiosity exploded. She turned serious and asked one question after another: “How did you do it? I’ve been thinking about your case for so long, but still couldn’t figure out a way for you to switch back. Tell me what exactly happened.”
So the two of them explained everything in detail to Yan Tinghuan. Mostly it was Ruan Yesheng talking, and Xi Mo added more details here and there.
At first, Yan Tinghuan was excited listening to it. But the more she heard, the heavier her tone became. By the end, she was way more worried about the whole thing than she was happy that they had switched back.
Especially when she heard the part about the doctor and that box, Yan Tinghuan cut in and said, “This whole thing seems strange to me. A lot of things don’t add up. You have to go ask that doctor. You’re at the hospital now, right? Can you find her?”
Ruan Yesheng sighed. “We went to look already. We found out the doctor’s name is Zhao Yinchu. She works in the cardiology department on the eleventh floor. But we went at the wrong time. She already went home for her break. She’ll be back at the hospital tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s fine,” Yan Tinghuan said to comfort her. “As long as you can find her, that’s good. The scary part is if you can’t even find the person. Then it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack—way too much trouble. Just go ask her tomorrow afternoon. My gut feeling says this Doctor Zhao Yinchu is definitely a breakthrough. I really want to go help you ask her myself tomorrow, but I’ve got something urgent to finish here. I can’t get away just yet. I’ll be back in two days.”
Ruan Yesheng let out a sigh of relief. “You’ll be back in two days? Then you’re free after that?”
“I’ll be free,” Yan Tinghuan laughed. “Why? You haven’t seen me for so long, you miss me already?”
When Xi Mo heard Yan Tinghuan joking like that on the phone, her face turned a little dark.
But Ruan Yesheng answered naturally, “Come back soon. I still have something I need your help with.”
“No problem,” Yan Tinghuan, as shameless as ever, ran her mouth like a train, “As long as my Ruanruan needs help, even if I don’t have time, I’ll make time. However much time you need, that’s how much time I’ll have.”
Xi Mo's face got even darker.
But she also knew what Yan Tinghuan and Ruan Yesheng were like when they were together. At first, she thought those two were totally raccoon dogs of the same hill*—crooked and shady, always working together. She had seen them pull stunts like that plenty of times.
*birds of a feather/equally bad. Racoon dogs - (tanuki in Japanese), often seen as urban tricksters in folklore.
But after spending so much time with Ruan Yesheng in the film crew, her impression of her had completely changed. That raccoon dog was now a shining pearl, a world away from what she thought before.
As for Yan Tinghuan—she was still that raccoon dog.
But now, Xi Mo did trust that raccoon dog a bit. She might still be a raccoon dog, but at least she was pleasing to the eye.
So Xi Mo only stayed upset in her heart and didn’t say anything. She just let them keep joking and talking.
Ruan Yesheng mentioned the time for the variety show and said, “In a few days, I’m going to a town in Sichuan to film a variety show. Xi Mo’s coming too, but she doesn’t want to bring Gu Qisong along. But I’m still a bit worried, so I was wondering if you’re free to come with us.”
“Understood, so you want me to be your bodyguard,” Yan Tinghuan agreed right away. “Of course I’ve got time. I’m your manager anyway. That’s my job. I’ll just moonlight as your bodyguard, too. And I’m way more reliable than Gu Qisong. That guy’s too professional—follows you everywhere like a stick, gives you no room to breathe, always has that stiff face. Anyone would feel suffocated. No wonder the goddess doesn’t want to bring him this time. I’m not like that. I’ll protect you both, and I’ll make sure you have enough time alone. I know when to back off—I definitely won’t be that guy glowing in the background.”
Xi Mo: "..."
...What kind of messy nonsense is this?
Ruan Yesheng knew that Yan Tinghuan always talked without any filter, but after hearing those silly words, her cheeks strangely felt a bit hot. She quietly turned her face to the side and looked at Xi Mo. She didn’t expect Xi Mo to also be looking at her.
The two of them locked eyes. Their eyes felt like they got burned a little, and they quickly looked away at the same time.
“Then I’ll send you some detailed plans for the next few days, later. You get yourself ready. That place is pretty remote. It’s cold. You remember to bring more warm clothes. Don’t just care about showing off and forget about warmth.” To change the topic, Ruan Yesheng said on the phone to Yan Tinghuan, “Do you want me to buy you a ticket? Just fly straight to Shanghai in two days. I’ve already finished filming, so don’t come to Hengdian anymore. After Xi Mo and I leave the hospital, we’ll go back to Shanghai. Then the three of us can go together.”
When Ruan Yesheng said these things, she was very thoughtful, and her tone was very warm.
Xi Mo stood beside her and watched her quietly. In her heart, she felt it’s no wonder Ruan Yesheng is well-liked in the circle.
Ruan Yesheng was like the warm sunshine in spring. People always liked standing in the sunlight.
Especially because she felt that Ruan Yesheng really trusted and cared about Yan Tinghuan. Yan Tinghuan said before she wanted to try being a manager for fun, and Ruan Yesheng actually let her do it. There must’ve been many things they went through together. Maybe even danger. That’s the only way this kind of strong friendship could be made.
She didn’t know what Ruan Yesheng and Yan Tinghuan had been through before.
She only had a strange feeling of regret in her heart.
She had missed a lot of Ruan Yesheng’s past.
Luckily, now is not too late. She can still have more time and chances to understand her now.
“Okay, just right, the internet here is not good. You help me buy it. After I go back to Shanghai, I’ll come to your house to find you,” Yan Tinghuan said. She also felt a little sorry: “Ruanruan, how do you feel now? Before I didn’t have signal, I couldn’t see the news, and I didn’t know you were in danger. If I was at the wrap up party, maybe this thing wouldn’t have happened.”
“I’m fine. I just fainted a little.” Ruan Yesheng smiled and said, “And this was allergy, not poison. Even if you were there, it’s hard to find out. Don’t blame yourself.”
“If I release the cicadas, at least I can feel if something’s strange at the wrap up party.”
Ruan Yesheng felt very touched. At this time, Yan Tinghuan was still thinking about releasing cicadas.
She said, “But you can’t know the future. How do you know someone will do something bad at the wrap up party? Releasing cicadas also needs to be prepared first.”
Yan Tinghuan said, “Maybe that person just saw there were too many people at the wrap up party, so they chose that time to make a move. Next time if we have this kind of big crowd again, I will be there and I’ll release cicadas. That time we can see everything clearly. I’ll see who dares.”
“It’s okay.” Ruan Yesheng was worried and said, “Didn’t you say before that putting cicadas is not like eating a meal, you can’t do it anytime? It takes energy. And the bigger the place, the more tired it is. So many people, how can you handle it?”
“It’s just I’m not strong enough.” Yan Tinghuan, who was always very confident, this time also sounded like she got hit: “My grandmother said in our Yan family’s younger generation, I’m the best one at breeding cicadas. That time I was really proud. I thought from now on I would run way ahead of others. Until this time I went back home to look for something. I found some old books from my ancestors in the ancestral hall. Then I knew how wrong I was.”
“You went back to your hometown?” Ruan Yesheng frowned. “Why was there no signal in your hometown?”
“Of course there's a signal in my hometown, but our ancestral hall is built underground. When I stayed in the ancestral hall, my phone signal was totally dead.”
Xi Mo had been silent the whole time, but now she couldn’t help speaking: “Aren’t ancestral halls for worshipping? Why would it be built underground?”
Yan Tinghuan immediately laughed. “Goddess, are you interested in my family’s ancestral hall? Then I have to tell you all about it.”
“I’m not interested,” Xi Mo said. “Just asking casually.”
Yan Tinghuan’s face was thicker than the city wall. She chuckled and said, “You’re just being stubborn. I get it. So, here’s the thing — our Yan family’s ancestral hall is not like ordinary ancestral halls. There are a lot of important secrets inside. Of course it needs to be hidden. Outsiders can’t even find the exact location, let alone go in.”
Xi Mo said seriously, “If it’s that secret, why tell anyone about it? Isn’t hiding it safer?”
“You’re Ruanruan’s closest… sister.” When Yan Tinghuan said this, it was like she hit some kind of funny bone, and she burst out laughing on the other end of the call. She laughed while saying, “Ruanruan trusts you. Of course I trust you won’t spill it.”
Ruan Yesheng: “…”
Xi Mo gave it a thought. She didn’t know what exactly Yan Tinghuan was laughing about, but she was sure it wasn’t anything good.
Ruan Yesheng’s ears turned hot. She pretended nothing happened on the surface and quickly changed the topic. “Just now you said you found some old books left by your ancestors, and only then realized how off you were. What did you mean?”
Yan Tinghuan finally stopped laughing and said, “Remember I told you before about our Yan family’s old cicada-listening ritual?”
“I remember.”
Xi Mo also listened carefully.
Ruan Yesheng had told her before about the Yan family’s cicada-listening ritual, but what she remembered even more clearly were the two women mentioned in the old books—women who had helped the Yan family solve a huge problem during one of the rituals. The Yan ancestors were so grateful that they wrote the two women into the family’s records.
Yan Tinghuan said, “Before, I only read a small part of the books, so I didn’t really understand a lot. But now I’ve found an old record that describes everything in detail. It mentioned those same two women who helped during the cicada-listening ritual. You remember them, right?”
“Mm. Weren’t they the two who owned an antique shop? I remember you telling me about them,” Ruan Yesheng replied.
Yan Tinghuan took a deep breath and said, “I just found out that during the cicada-listening ritual, those two women could actually ‘catch’ cicadas. That’s terrifying. I always thought the cicadas we raise couldn’t be seen or touched by outsiders. Normally, only the people who raise them can feel them. A few really sensitive people might sense something, but they can’t actually touch the cicadas. Now my whole way of thinking has changed. It turns out if someone is strong enough, not only can they sense the cicadas, they can catch them too.”
The more she talked, the more excited she got. Clearly, this had shaken her a lot. “What’s even scarier is that back then, during the ancient cicada-listening rituals, there were tons of masters with the cicada-breeding skill. All of them were our ancestors, and their skills were way above mine. But even so, those two women in the book could still sense the cicadas that the head of the Yan family released.”
“You mean… your cicadas aren’t safe? That there are some people with special skills who can not only sense them, but even catch them?” Ruan Yesheng realized something and felt uneasy.
Xi Mo also understood what Ruan Yesheng was thinking. She said to Yan Tinghuan, “When you released your cicadas in Ding Qihong’s room, she could feel them too. She was on guard and even lit something like mosquito incense to make your cicadas dizzy. That’s why you fell asleep.”
Yan Tinghuan’s tone turned serious. “Exactly, that’s what I meant. Ding Qihong is not a simple person. I used to think she could only sense my cicadas. But even though she made them dizzy, that kind of thing should be almost impossible in theory. I’ve never been able to figure out how she did it. But now I’m thinking maybe she could even catch my cicadas.”
Just thinking about Ding Qihong’s face looking through the peephole made Xi Mo shiver without meaning to.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
If Ding Qihong really escaped with help from that prop master, Yang Zhen… where is she now?
Cui Jiayu still hasn’t caught her.
Ruan Yesheng noticed Xi Mo had gone quiet. She knew Xi Mo really cared about Ding Qihong and was feeling uneasy too. She said, “Tinghuan, then that means Ding Qihong is way more dangerous than we thought. You need to be careful.”
“You two don’t need to worry too much,” Yan Tinghuan said. “My cicada-listening skill is nowhere near what our ancestors had. Just because Ding Qihong can feel my cicadas doesn’t mean she’s powerful. But yeah, she can feel them, so I’ll be more careful.”
She added, “Those two women in the book—they were truly scary. The head of the Yan family back then had the strongest cicada skill, and even his cicadas couldn’t get close to those women. They could even catch the cicadas other people released. If I ran into them, my cicadas would be turned in to ashes in seconds.”
When she said this, she sounded like someone who had just been taught a big life lesson. Her voice didn’t have that usual playful tone. Instead, she respectfully sighed, “Good thing those two women lived in ancient times. They’re definitely not alive anymore. If I ever met them, I’d probably just drop to my knees. I’m nervous just thinking about it.”
Ruan Yesheng laughed. Her analysis was pretty spot on. “Those two women were your Yan family’s benefactors. They helped your family so much. Your ancestors respected them enough to write them into your ancestral records. That means they were good people. What’s there to be nervous about? It’s not like they’d eat you.”
“That’s admiration,” Yan Tinghuan shamelessly made things up again. “Nervous in front of masters. From today on, I’ve got two new idols. Goddess, now my heart’s been taken by someone else too—you're not gonna be mad, right?”
She didn’t have any idols to begin with, and Xi Mo knew that. Even though she kept calling her “goddess,” it was all just joking.
Seeing Xi Mo say nothing, Yan Tinghuan asked again, “Goddess, how’s your body feeling? After all, you were the one who had the allergic reaction—it must’ve been really awful, right? I won’t say more. You should go rest. If we keep talking, my dear Ruanruan will feel so bad for you. And how can I make my Ruanruan feel bad? I’d be so ashamed.”
Ruan Yesheng: “…”
...You are the only one who talks too much nonsense.
Author's Note:
Note from Director Jun:
Two lovely characters from my other book, “Exploring The Empty Tomb - Modern Times” appear in this chapter. I’m so excited~
It's New Year's Eve, please rate and leave a message to show your love. Thank you for your support~ I will randomly drop a small New Year's surprise in the rating and message reply of this chapter 23333. I wish you all a happy New Year one day in advance~
