Chapter 0013

"Do you want to come or not?" Zhou Fu asked Shen Shen. At that time, Zhou Fu had dressed up neatly and looked quite handsome, he came to Shen Shen to tell about his luck a while ago. Zhou Fu also invited Shen Shen to rest and eats in his room.

Shen Shen looked very displeased, she showed a sullen expression when she heard the good news from Zhou Fu. It seems that at that time Shen Shen was envious of Zhou Fu's good fortune. She only gave a small nod while her head turned to the left and her hands were folded in front of her chest. Shen Shen seemed to be annoyed and embarrassed at having to accept the help of the person she had ridiculed a while ago.

“I will calculate how much the cost of the assistance you provide. After arriving at Caihong, I will pay double! Remember that!" Shen Shen, who didn't want her self-esteem to fall, immediately boasted by treating Zhou Fu's help as a debt.

"Whatever you say, obviously there is something I want to ask you, but I think you must eat and rest first." Zhou Fu shook his head at the behavior of the girl who should be able to act more mature than himself.

Zhou Fu told the truth about the important thing he wanted to tell Shen Shen. However, he decided to ask Shen Shen to eat and rest first because he was worried that what he wanted to ask would make Shen Shen lose her appetite.

Inside the inn, Shen Shen seemed to be very voraciously eating various dishes that she did not realize that Zhou Fu was observing her seriously. Zhou Fu was thinking about how to start the question that was troubling his mind at that time. As the curiosity in his heart grew more and more incurable, Zhou Fu asked a question without permission.

“Shen Shen, are you acquainted with the person nicknamed Master Zhengyi in Caihong?”

Shen Shen stopped eating, she put down her chopsticks and took a sip of water. Shen Shen also frowned and then asked, "As far as I remember, I have never told a word about my father."

"So it's true, Master Zhengyi is your father?" Zhou Fu whispered.

“Yes, all Caihong people know…

Zhou Fu jumped from his seat and immediately covered Shen Shen's mouth. Shen Shen rebelled but Zhou Fu gestured for him to hear Zhou Fu's explanation first.

“Um, well… A while ago when I was about to leave the inn and meet you, I ran into several people who also happened to be staying here, one of whom mentioned your name. But something was strange, so I eavesdropped for a while. You know, they say...

Zhou Fu put his lips to Shen Shen's ear, "They said that Shen Shen the daughter of Master Zhengyi had died on the way to the student meeting."

Shen Shen swallowed many times, he did not expect that people would consider his disappearance as a death. But his surprise wasn't over yet because Zhou Fu's face seemed to still have something unsaid.

“Tell me more about the information you heard,” Shen Shen was determined to hear what else Zhou Fu might have to say.

“Do you know Yang Zi?” Zhou Fu asked silently.

Shen Shen's hair stood on end, she did not expect that name would be spoken by Zhou Fu. She didn't want to hear anything more from Zhou Fu but a part of her heart said the opposite.

"Just pass on your information, I don't think I need to answer."

Zhou Fu swallowed a few times. He tried to choose the best words among the bad ones. However, his vocabulary does not indicate a good choice of words to convey bad news.

“Yang Zi, she disappeared.”

Shen Shen covered her mouth with both hands. Her eyes glazed over, her head shook left and right.

“No… No way! My sister must have disappeared to look for me…”

"Unfortunately, that's not how the news spread!" Zhou Fu continued.

"Then? What happened to my beloved Yang Zi?” Shen Shen shook Zhou Fu's body hoping the teenager would give her reassurance soon.

“Yang Zi disappeared leaving behind a messy room. None of the housekeepers will know if your house is intruded by strangers. They only knew, in the morning, a few drops of blood were left in Yang Zi's room and she disappeared. But don't worry, we'll both find her."

Shen Shen shed her tears. She didn't understand how a second class noble had such a disaster. The government had to pay a very high price for a fatal disaster for the people living inside the giant wall. However, it was not compensation from the government that Shen Shen wanted. No matter how big the compensation that will be given, Shen Shen will choose the safety of Yang Zi, her younger sister.

***

In the evening, Zhou Fu took Shen Shen for a discussion. Zhou Fu first asked Shen Shen to take off her silver hair tie, as it was a sign that she belonged to a second class noble family in Caihong. If there were other attributes that could be a sign that someone was of a noble family, Zhou Fu also asked Shen Shen to let them go.

Shen Shen has been rumored to have passed away. So they too have to use a new identity as someone else who is just wandering.

"I don't want to change my name! I think there are quite a few girls with the same name. Enough of my nobility attributes that I took off. After all, I am the new Shen Shen!” Shen Shen refused when Zhou Fu asked him to come up with a new name.

“Alright, the important thing is not to say anything about Caihong if we're in a crowded place. Bad things can't just happen to happen over and over again, if your murder was premeditated, it means that what happened to Yang Zi was also done by the same party."

"How strange, I've never even been mean to anyone!"

"Bad people, there's no need to wait to be abused just to be evil, at least that's what my grandfather said!"

Shen Shen also nodded confirming Zhou Fu's reasonable words. She began to think about many things, whether a study she was doing was the cause of the chaos. But Shen Shen doubted her assumption, she had never even talked to anyone about her research. She just likes to visit the library to read history. Of course it was too weak to be an excuse for the other party to want to eliminate her existence.

And about Yang Zi???

Shen Shen couldn't find any idea. Zhou Fu who saw Shen Shen's confusion then reminded her to just rest. Problems won't be solved by just someone getting confused.

"Thank you," Shen Shen said softly to Zhou Fu, who was apparently quite thoughtful at times.