Could it be… Long Yuehong walked to the door and probed the male employee, “Have you been to Zone B, Room 196?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The male employee heaved a sigh of relief.
Long Yuehong confirmed his guess and asked, “How many phones are you going to install this time?”
“Three. The other one is for the 622nd floor,” the male employee replied truthfully. “But that one will be moved to another room later. The exact details haven’t been determined.”
Long Yuehong nodded. “I understand. Come in and do the installation.”
At this moment, Gu Hong came over and hesitantly said, “What’s the use of installing this phone? There’s nobody to call, and it costs dozens of contribution points every month.”
“Shang Jianyao got a ‘buy one, get two free.’ It doesn’t cost us any contribution points.” Long Yuehong smiled. “After I married Little White, I definitely had to move out. Don’t you want me to call back often?”
“Can’t you just come back?” Gu Hong nagged without stopping the installation.
She and Long Dayong couldn’t hide their smiles.
Telephones were a rarity, just like portable computers. It was enough to make the neighbors envious!
After installing the landline, Long Yuehong accompanied the male employee to the 622nd floor and explained the matter to Bai Chen. Finally, he used the number pasted on the phone and happily called home to test it out.
…
The next morning, Room 14 on the 647th floor.
As soon as Shang Jianyao entered, he grumbled at Long Yuehong and Bai Chen. “The two of you didn’t even call me after installing a phone!”
He looked abandoned.
“Huh?” Jiang Baimian looked at them in confusion.
Long Yuehong quickly recounted last night and said, “You have to pay additional contribution points to make a call.”
He was explaining why he didn’t call Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao scoffed. “Don’t you know that the monthly fixed fee includes 120 minutes of free talk time?”
“That’s right.” Jiang Baimian testified.
“Is that so?” Long Yuehong was delighted; he planned on chatting on the phone with Bai Chen tonight!
Before he could calm down, Shang Jianyao turned to look at Jiang Baimian. “I learned something from Room 506’s trauma last night.”
“What is it?” Jiang Baimian asked seriously.
“It’s regarding the commonly seen price in the Arbiter of Fate domain.” Shang Jianyao’s expression turned serious.
Bai Chen pursed her lips. “What is it?”
Long Yuehong sensed that the atmosphere wasn’t right and unconsciously held his breath.
Jiang Baimian first confirmed that there were no wires or electrical appliances in the room before nodding. “Speak.”
Shang Jianyao said unhurriedly, “On top of what we know, there’s chronic gastric problems and a higher body temperature than normal people. I remember that Mei Shou’an always burps, while Director Su likes to perspire and likes to drink water in large mouthfuls. His hands are warmer than mine.”
An indescribable silence suddenly appeared in Room 14.
Everyone knew that Shang Jianyao meant that Su Yu and Mei Shou’an might be members of the Life Ritual parish. Although not all Awakened in the Arbiter of Fate domain believed in this Kalendaria, the possibility was definitely higher than that of other domains.
By reporting Mu Renjie’s death to Su Yu, it was akin to lodging a complaint at the person in question.
After a while, Long Yuehong slowly said, “Everyone knows that the company has Awakened in the Arbiter of Fate domain. It may be surprising that Director Su and Superintendent Mei are in this domain, but it’s reasonable. It’s not worth fussing over.”
“Back when the Life Ritual parish’s members were investigated, people like them should be the focus of attention, but the company didn’t discover any problems.” Bai Chen tried to eliminate the corresponding possibility from other angles.
“But why didn’t they put their price in the information?” The honest Shang Jianyao had a different opinion.
The Shang Jianyao that valued relationships explained, “Maybe it’s to effectively protect every Awakened’s secret. Those we often come into contact with won’t have their price listed on the information given to us.”
Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “In any case, we’ve reported the matter. Regardless of whether there are any problems with Director Su’s investigation, the subsequent matters have nothing to do with us. At most, Hey will mention it when he explores the Mind Corridor’s depths and is qualified to meet other directors.”
The meaning behind her words was that this matter ran deep. It was fine if there was no problem, but if there was really a problem, it was very easy to encounter something overwhelming if they continued investigating. Therefore, it was best to extract themselves first, observe the situation, and slowly plan.
Furthermore, the reason for their suspicion was relatively far-fetched. If not for the fact that Shang Jianyao held a grudge over the deaths caused by the Life Ritual parish, Jiang Baimian would’ve previously advised him to ignore Mu Renjie’s death.
“Alright.” Shang Jianyao was very serious this time.
Long Yuehong and Bai Chen also felt that this was better. At the very least, they didn’t have to worry about revenge for the time being.
…
622nd floor, Zone B, Room 59.
Long Yuehong—who had planned on returning home to make a call to Bai Chen—decided to stay the night when he thought of the parent-meeting session tomorrow.
The two of them slept early, not wanting to look exhausted the next day.
In a daze, Long Yuehong had a dream.
In his dream, he realized that Mei Shou’an was indeed from the Life Ritual parish. However, he couldn’t immediately find Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao. He could only report to the management he had seen—the Security Department’s deputy minister and the Old Task Force’s immediate superior, Xenny.
After Xenny heard his recount, she stretched out her hands. As she smiled, she assumed a rocking posture as if carrying a baby.
This was the Life Ritual parish’s salute!
Long Yuehong woke up with a start. He panted heavily, glad that it was only a dream.
Bai Chen sat up and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Long Yuehong described his dream and smiled bitterly. “I had what I was thinking about in the day reflected in my dreams. I scared myself.”
Bai Chen’s expression changed slightly as she whispered, “I had the same dream.”