Chapter 20
The bell’s sound came to an end.
Before Yu Le’s ears could fully process the noise, Lu Yao withdrew his hand and, before Yu Le could speak, offered an explanation, “The town’s mountain bell. If you haven’t heard it before, it’s best not to listen the first time you enter a temple.”
Yu Le was still disoriented. “Where should I listen then?”
Lu Yao: “Anywhere outside the temple gate will do.”
Yu Le, only half understanding, responded with an “oh” as he finally processed what had happened, quickly grabbing Lu Yao’s wrist. “Wait, you still haven’t told me what your wish was.”
Lu Yao: “I already told you.”
Yu Le argued, “But you covered my ears. I didn’t hear anything.”
Lu Yao remained calm, “That’s your problem.”
“Really, Lu Yao?” Yu Le said incredulously, “Are you playing tricks on me?”
A smile flickered in Lu Yao’s eyes as he turned around and began walking slowly, “It was just a coincidence. I didn’t expect the bell to ring at that moment.”
Yu Le didn’t let go, keeping pace with him, “Then say it again.”
Lu Yao: “You can only make a wish once in front of the Buddha.”
Yu Le: “Then let’s wait until we leave the temple and go down the mountain.”
“Buddhas have omnipresent ears. Leaving the temple won’t help,” Lu Yao said, taking his hand, “Be good and don’t anger the Buddha.”
At this point, even Yu Le, not the sharpest, should have realized that Lu Yao was just teasing him.
“What kind of person are you?” Yu Le felt wronged, “You heard my wish clearly, but when it’s your turn, you hide it from me. That’s really unfair.”
The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off, “And how could there be a Buddha who requires reverse wishing? This couldn’t be something you made up to fool me—”
Before he could finish, Lu Yao’s phone rang.
Yu Le fell silent, and after Lu Yao answered with a few “mm-hm,” “okay,” and “thank you,” he hung up and stopped, turning back, “That’s enough for now. Let’s head down the mountain.”
Yu Le: “Did something happen at the inn?”
Lu Yao: “Nothing’s wrong at the inn. Your luggage has arrived.”
When they returned to the inn, they expected the luggage would be delivered by a bus staff member, but instead, it was the same person who had mistakenly taken their luggage—the aunt who had been sitting next to him on the bus.
The inn was still open, and both Wen Yuan and Zhao Xiaosong were present. The aunt was not sitting on a chair but had made herself comfortable on Yu Le’s suitcase.
Seeing them return and recognizing Yu Le, her expression turned fierce as she began to murmur angrily, speaking in a way Yu Le couldn’t understand.
“Go get your suitcase first,” Lu Yao reminded him.
Yu Le walked to the back yard. As he passed Wen Yuan, he heard him quietly say, “Stay alert. This aunt isn’t someone easy to deal with.”
Yu Le nodded and went upstairs to fetch the suitcase. He handed it over to the aunt in front of everyone, “I’m sorry for taking the wrong luggage. I’ve only opened it once, and I haven’t touched anything inside. If you’re not sure, you can check it.”
“Whether you’ve touched it or not isn’t for you to decide!” The aunt huffed angrily, grabbing the suitcase and opening it in front of everyone to inspect.
Yu Le had no choice but to wait patiently as she rummaged through the suitcase thoroughly, flipping it over and over again, making Yu Le feel quite displeased.
“Have you finished checking? Can you give my suitcase back now?”
“Give back?! You stole my money and now you want your suitcase back?!” The aunt glared with her hands on her hips, her hair standing on end with sharpness, “What about the thirty thousand yuan I had hidden at the bottom?!!”
Yu Le furrowed his brow tightly: “How would I know? I never touched your suitcase.”
Aunt: “The suitcase has been with you for so many days, and you say you haven’t touched it? Anyway, my money is lost, so it’s all your fault. If you don’t give me the money, you can forget about getting your suitcase back!”
Yu Le had never dealt with such a situation before and was both angry and helpless. He felt he couldn’t outwit her and was red-faced, “I told you, I didn’t take your money!”
The aunt slammed the suitcase shut, sat on top of it, and hugged it tightly, refusing to move, “Pay up! If you don’t, you won’t get your suitcase!”
Zhao Xiaosong and Wen Yuan exchanged glances, clearly understanding that they were dealing with someone trying to scam them.
Yu Le took a deep breath, “Fine, then I’ll call the police. Let them check the fingerprints to see if I’ve touched your stuff!”
The aunt was taken aback: “Fingerprints?”
“Yes,” Yu Le said, “they can check fingerprints.”
Wen Yuan, smiling, added, “They can not only check fingerprints but also his income and assets to see if he had any motive for theft. If his daily income exceeds the amount you lost, why would he need to steal?”
“Exactly,” Zhao Xiaosong quickly agreed.
The aunt, with a scowl and squinting eyes, scrutinized the group of young people, her eyes darting around as if she was thinking. Suddenly, she let out a loud shriek that startled everyone.
“There’s no justice! A bunch of young people are bullying me because of my age, refusing to admit to stealing money, and trying to deceive me just because I’m an old woman. I’m telling you, if you don’t pay, I’m not leaving. I’ll stay right here and yell in front of your door every day until you can’t sleep at night!”
Yu Le was so angry he felt a pain in his chest. Since he couldn’t handle it, he was about to call the police when Lu Yao stopped him.
“It’s okay.” Lu Yao took his hand and whispered, “Let me handle it.”
The aunt became even more agitated, and Lu Yao called out, “Xiaosong, go get some water.”
“Yes, sir!”
Xiaosong, quick on his feet, dashed to the backyard and returned with a gourd full of water, “Boss?”
Lu Yao subtly nodded toward the aunt.
Xiaosong, understanding immediately, shouted “Old nun, take this!” and splashed the water onto the aunt’s feet.
“Ah!” The aunt jumped up in shock, cursing loudly, “Damn you! What kind of sin are you committing!”
Xiaosong, not backing down, pointed at her and shouted, “Damn old hag! The water’s for you, you shameless scoundrel!”
“You little brat—hey! Put that down!!!”
The aunt realized Lu Yao had used the opportunity to grab the suitcase and was trying to take it away. She twisted her round, plump body to snatch it back.
Lu Yao forcefully lifted the camera and placed it horizontally on the counter, pointing at the combination lock and asking, “Did you do this?”
His gesture drew everyone’s attention, and Yu Le then noticed that the lock on his suitcase had been deformed, evidently smashed with a hard object. The lock was of such good quality that despite the damage, it couldn’t be opened.
It seemed they had even tried to open his suitcase. If it had been opened and they saw the laptop and tablet inside, would Yu Le ever get the suitcase back?
Yu Le’s fists clenched.
The aunt stubbornly said, “I didn’t do it! It must have happened on the road. It has nothing to do with me!”
Lu Yao: “So can I say that your money was stolen on the road and it has nothing to do with him?”
The aunt was momentarily speechless.
Lu Yao smirked slightly, though his smile didn’t reach his eyes, “Don’t talk about his suitcase; just the lock alone is worth more than thirty thousand. If you want him to compensate for your lost money, shouldn’t you also compensate him for the lock?”
The aunt looked doubtful, unable to believe a lock could be so expensive, “Are you trying to scare me? That lock isn’t made of gold. Thirty thousand? You might as well go rob someone!”
Both the aunt and Yu Le were shocked.
A lock worth thirty thousand? Lu Yao’s claim sounded so extravagant that even he felt uneasy about it. Lu Yao really had a nerve.
Lu Yao: “Whether you believe it or not doesn’t matter. If the police come and check, you’ll find it’s not just your suitcase that’s being held, but you might be taken into custody as well.”
“Wow! Amazing!”
Wen Yuan, with an exaggerated expression, stared at his phone, “Is it this brand? The suitcase is 188,000! This lock alone, not just thirty thousand, would cost 59,000 if bought separately!”
“Let me see, let me see.”
Zhao Xiaosong stood on tiptoe to have a look, his expression even more exaggerated than Wen Yuan’s, “Oh wow, it’s really that expensive!! Wow, Lele, how did you get so rich!”
Wen Yuan: “Of course. Hey, hey, where are you going? You haven’t compensated yet! 59,000 minus 30,000 is 29,000. Hurry up and pay, or you can’t leave!”
“Compensate my foot!”
The aunt, dragging her suitcase, cursed while trying to escape, “What 29,000? I’m not going to let you scam me. You’re still wet behind the ears (young). Don’t think you can trick me out of my money!”
“Hey, how can you be like this, old lady!”
Wen Yuan and Zhao Xiaosong, enjoying the scene, chased after her with glee, shouting loudly, “Pay up or we’ll send you to jail!”
The aunt shrank her head and fled faster.
Yu Le, watching from behind, was dumbfounded, and suddenly felt a comforting hand ruffle his hair.
As if it were an unintentional gesture while passing by, Lu Yao quickly withdrew his hand and turned to go behind the counter. “Come here.”
Yu Le thought Lu Yao was speaking to him, but then turned around to find three people with backpacks and luggage who had appeared in the hall—two boys and one girl, all looking like university students.
“Give me your ID cards,” Lu Yao said, placing the suitcase at his feet and opening the computer.
Strangely, even though Lu Yao hadn’t said anything, Yu Le somehow understood he was being asked to wait.
Okay, patting his head, Yu Le sat down in the back, ready to share this amusing luggage drama with Yan Jia.
At the counter, the only girl among the three leaned on her chin and openly stared at Lu Yao, presenting two ID cards with her bright red nails even more glaring than the sunshine outside.
Her voice, laced with lazy charm, said, “Wang Wenyuan, and my man Chen Fa.”
She indicated the pale, indifferent-looking boy standing next to her.
Lu Yao didn’t look up, taking the IDs to check in.
Wang Wenyuan, resting her chin on her hands, gave seductive glances while wearing a revealing red dress that accentuated her voluptuous figure.
“Boss, are all the men in the mountains like you?” she teased with a flirtatious smile, “You’re really quite tempting.”
Lu Yao ignored her, returning the IDs and asking the remaining person, “And yours?”
The remaining boy, shorter and darker-skinned than the first, had a smirk that was quite unappealing.
He handed over his ID: “Zhou Fei.”
Lu Yao looked down and entered the information. Wang Wenyuan’s eyes stayed glued to him, her gaze bold and unabashed.
Chen Fa, standing beside her, pretended not to see, remaining silent with his head down.
“Boss, what’s your surname?” Wang Wenyuan asked with a light laugh, “Just so we know how to address you.”
“Lu.”
“And your first name?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Fei couldn’t help but scoff, “Tsk, Wang Wenyuan, you’re already starting?”
Wang Wenyuan ignored him, continuing to fix her gaze on Lu Yao.
Lu Yao handed Zhou Fei his ID, “Just call me Boss Lu. The rooms are on the third floor. You can enter through the back yard.”
After closing the computer, he dragged the suitcase over to Yu Le and was about to speak when Zhao Xiaosong burst in excitedly, “Boss, the aunt ran off so quickly, she fell and can’t get up!”
Lu Yao: “What about Wen Yuan?”
Zhao Xiaosong: “Wen Yuan called an ambulance. He’s sitting on the steps next to her, watching the excitement!”
Lu Yao nodded: “Got it. You go too, and let me know if anything happens.”
“Sure, I’m off to watch!” Zhao Xiaosong ran out.
Lu Yao turned to Yu Le, “Come with me.”
Yu Le got up, putting away his phone.
Wang Wenyuan watched the two of them walking side by side with interest, narrowing her eyes, and suddenly called out loudly, “Hey, Boss Lu, what floor are you and your little beauty staying on?”
Lu Yao turned back, his tone emotionless, “Is there something you need?”
“Nothing much.”
Wang Wenyuan smiled coquettishly, “I just wanted to ask if you’re also staying on the third floor? We might be a bit noisy at night, and I’m afraid it might disturb your sleep.”
