FI CH63: Silently Awaiting the Clown’s Entrance

After a while, Zhou Li returned from his phone call.

He sat back down at the table, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Hua Xi glanced over and cautiously asked with concern, “Your dad? Is there something wrong again?”

“Yeah, he’s pressing me for money.”

“…Didn’t you just give him some in the middle of the month!?”

Hua Xi paused again, then asked, “So, are you going back to school with us later, or going home first?”

Zhou Li said, “Back to school. I need to ask about the subsidy. I can’t just ignore him, he is my dad after all…” He suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something, and fell silent.

A solemnity appeared on his youthful face.

Hua Xi and the others, not knowing what was going on, also fell silent.

Thwack! A game piece suddenly landed on the board.

Lin Su pulled his hand back. “It’s a hit, senior. You’re going back to the start.”

Zhou Li snapped back to reality, clutching his head. “Ah—!”

…

They played until around four o’clock, then prepared to go back and pack their things.

Lin Su walked back with He Zhenling.

He walked with his sleeves gathered, sighing leisurely, “It’s over after just three days. Our ‘honeymoon’ is so short.”

The person beside him stopped abruptly and turned his head. “?”

Lin Su realized, “…I didn’t tell you about this setting?”

He Zhenling looked at him for a few seconds, his voice gentle. “No, only the person involved would know.”

Lin Su said embarrassedly, “I forgot to inform you. An oversight.”

He Zhenling’s lips curved. “It’s fine. At least you didn’t forget to bring me along.”

“You’re being humorous again.”

After the two went back and packed up, there was still plenty of time.

The cruise ship would return to the port around five o’clock.

Since it was around dinnertime, a meal was prepared before disembarking. Lin Su planned to go devour some more.

He called He Zhenling. Just as they stepped out the door, he saw a familiar talisman flash past the corner of the corridor.

He paused and looked over.

“What’s wrong?”

“I remember the rooms are zoned by status.”

He Zhenling, as if sensing something, also glanced in that direction. “Mm.”

“I’ll be right back. You go to the restaurant first, get me some food, and wait for me.”

Lin Su said, and turned back to go upstairs.

“Okay.” He Zhenling also turned and went to the restaurant.

In the restaurant, the lights flowed and the piano music was melodious.

Many upper-class socialites were gathered inside. He Zhenling didn’t greet them and went straight to get food.

He had just taken some baked shrimp and fried sausages when a few figures approached him:

“Isn’t this Mr. He?”

A few people from the upper circles stood before him, one of them with a charming female companion. The man at the very front held a glass of champagne and greeted with a smile:

“These past few days, we haven’t had a chance to talk. I heard Mr. He came on someone else’s invitation? With Mr. He’s status, if you wanted to come for a vacation, wouldn’t it just be a matter of a word?”

“Is your companion your partner? Introduce us.”

He Zhenling’s gaze swept over the few people, and he suddenly let out a soft laugh.

The few of them were baffled by his laugh and were all stunned.

Before they could speak again, He Zhenling had already turned back to continue getting food. “My partner isn’t interested in socializing, so I won’t introduce you.”

“As for why I’m here, no comment.”

The faces of the few people before him immediately turned ugly.

The man who had spoken first, having lost face, “tsked” and turned his head. “What’s with the attitude?”

The others also glanced at He Zhenling and turned to follow.

The man with the female companion said sarcastically, his voice not low, “Give him an inch and he takes a mile. We’re all ‘old money,’ and he can’t even fit into this circle…”

The provocative voice carried across half the hall.

Lin Su heard it as soon as he came back.

He glanced over, then leaned close to He Zhenling. “What are they talking about? …Oh, my beloved baked shrimp. Get me some more.”

He Zhenling scooped them all up for him and chuckled. “They’re here to probe.”

Lin Su’s brow arched, understanding. “Oh… they’re with Bump-head Jin.”

After their failed room search last night, they sent people today to probe their identities. On this cruise, Jin Yongwen was definitely not the only one who knew about and benefited from the “luck transfer.”

“They’ve exposed themselves. Saves us the trouble of finding them.”

Lin Su was pleased and glanced over in that direction again.

Those few people seemed to have had their pride hurt by He Zhenling and were still talking loudly, arrogantly boasting about “their old money,” occasionally casting disdainful glances over…

He secretly calculated, “Old money… must be very lucrative to seize, right?”

Xuenima stood on his shoulder: [Money fine, seconds mine.]

He Zhenling smiled, “I’m not sure. If you’re curious… the list can be shown to the ‘little boss’ for review later.”

“Sigh…” Lin Su pursed his lips. “We’re in public. Don’t flirt.”

Around five o’clock, the cruise ship was about to enter the port.

Lin Su brought his luggage onto the deck.

The sea breeze blew in their faces. In the distance, the city’s coastline was already visible.

People were gathered in small groups, waiting to disembark.

The students stood by the railing taking pictures, their luggage too heavy, so they placed it by their feet. Not far away, those few rich kids were also leaning against the railing, chatting.

In the leisurely atmosphere, a voice suddenly said, “Huh?”

Lin Su followed the gazes around him and turned his head.

He saw Song Jin’an standing in the middle, feeling his pockets. A rich kid next to him asked:

“What’s wrong? What are you looking for?”

“My watch is gone. I took it off when I washed my hands just now and put it in my pocket.”

He said, pointing to a restroom not far away.

The path from the restroom back to here happened to pass where Zhou Li and the others were standing. Everyone’s gaze searched the path to no avail, then subconsciously looked at the group of students.

One of the rich kids asked, “Is it your 30 million watch?”

Song Jin’an nodded.

The students immediately panicked, looking at each other. “We didn’t take it.”

Besides them, this area was filled with people from the upper circles. While scanning with their eyes, they began to discuss: “If it fell out and is gone, someone must have picked it up.”

“30 million is not a small sum.”

“Who took it? Just admit it, before things get out of hand.”

The students all shook their heads. “We really don’t have it.”

Zhou Li frowned and stepped in front of them, saying loudly, “We said we don’t have it, so we don’t have it! We are all students on full scholarships, with excellent character and grades. Please don’t casually suspect us!”

The surrounding gazes awkwardly retracted a bit.

Song Jin’an stood there with a look of disappointment.

A rich kid next to him, seeing this and with a mind to curry favor, stood up for him:

“Since you say you don’t have it, then empty your pockets and let us check your luggage. That way you can prove your innocence!”

Someone in the crowd immediately agreed, “Yeah, open your bags!”

As soon as the words were spoken, the students erupted in an uproar:

“Why should we open our bags?”

“We all have personal belongings. Don’t you respect our privacy?”

Amidst the noisy clamor, Lin Su glanced over.

He saw that Song Jin’an hadn’t said a word, an attitude of tacit approval.

He narrowed his eyes and suddenly spoke up, “Young master, everyone is offering you advice. Why don’t you say something too?”

Song Jin’an was singled out by him again! His face suddenly stiffened. He hesitated for two seconds and said, “Um… let’s just do as everyone suggests.”

Lin Su raised an eyebrow slightly, pointing it out. “So ‘your’ suggestion is to have people open their bags? With just one word from you, everyone has to open their bags to prove their innocence…” His tone was gentle. “What kind of watch did you lose? The kind that’s ‘shameless’?”

“…” Everyone.

Hua Xi let out a hearty “Ha!”

Song Jin’an’s face flushed red. He endured it and said, “This watch is very important to me. How about this, if we don’t find it, I will apologize and compensate everyone.”

“Compensation?” A few students looked at each other.

They were all on poverty scholarships. Hearing this, it was acceptable.

Two of them were the first to open their suitcases. “Fine.”

One by one, others followed suit and opened their bags for inspection.

Lin Su leaned against the side, watching.

Xuenima floated: [Did he really lose his watch? He didn’t slip it to Zhou Li, did he?]

“It’s fake.”

Lin Su glanced over nonchalantly. “He won’t really involve himself in a case. After all, he has to keep himself completely clean. ‘Losing the watch’ is just a pretext.”

Just as he was speaking, he saw Zhou Li also open his suitcase.

The suitcase opened, revealing two simple sets of clothes and toiletries. Song Jin’an’s watch was not there, but as the clothes were turned over—

Two “thuds” were heard.

Two exquisite craft cups rolled onto the floor.

Zhou Li was stunned for a moment. “Huh?”

This time, even Hua Xi was stunned, because these were the cups Zhou Li had used to drink plain water when they were playing board games. Others in the crowd also recognized them:

“Aren’t these from the shop upstairs?”

“How are they in his suitcase…”

Song Jin’an looked very surprised. “Did you take the cups from the shop?”

Zhou Li frowned. “No! I—”

Just as he started to speak, a rich kid remembered, “Hey! We passed by in the afternoon and heard him on the phone. His dad was telling him to swipe some things from the ship!”

“His classmates heard it too, ask them if you don’t believe me!”

Zhou Li’s expression immediately turned ugly.

Hua Xi was speechless for two seconds, then argued, “But Zhou Li said ‘impossible’! He wouldn’t take other people’s things either!”

The rich kid asked, “Then how are the cups in his suitcase?”

While they were arguing, Jin Yongwen heard the commotion and came up. “What’s going on here?” He saw Zhou Li at a glance, his eyes narrowing. “Oh… it’s this student.”

His gaze fell. “Stole something from the ship?”

Jin Yongwen smiled again. “Sigh, these cups are only a few hundred bucks. What’s there to steal?”

Zhou Li clenched his fists and said directly, “I didn’t steal.”

Just as Jin Yongwen was about to say something more, Song Jin’an suddenly interrupted, “There are no cameras in the lounge area upstairs. How about this, let’s get a fingerprint analysis on the cups. If there are other people’s fingerprints, maybe Zhou is innocent.”

Xuenima was sharp: [He only left Zhou Li’s fingerprints?]

Lin Su nodded: He even checked the surveillance-free zones.

Hua Xi said unwillingly, “What about the cameras downstairs? There must be places on the way that were caught on camera, right?”

Song Jin’an quickly glanced at Jin Yongwen.

Jin Yongwen was also a sharp one. Tasting the meaning in this play, he pretty much guessed what was going on.

And as it happened, he was still holding a grudge about the array.

So Jin Yongwen smiled regretfully. “Sigh, that storm destroyed a lot of equipment on the ship. The cameras are gone too.”

“…What!?”

“There are no cameras? Then how can we prove it?”

The students were in a state of panic, all looking worriedly at Zhou Li.

Zhou Li bit his lip tightly, as if thinking about what else he could do to prove his innocence.

Song Jin’an quietly breathed a sigh of relief, finally feeling at ease. Everything was developing smoothly according to his plan. His tone even became lighter as he took out his phone:

“We’re about to dock. Let’s call the police to get a statement.”

This time was also enough for Boss Jin to go delete the surveillance footage.

He was secretly rejoicing in his victory when he suddenly heard a sigh break the heavy stalemate:

“I don’t know what you’re all talking about.”

Lin Su leaned against the side, seemingly helpless.

He swept a glance over the stunned Song Jin’an and Jin Yongwen, his lips curling with hidden meaning:

“You said my friend ‘took’ something from the shop, and that the cameras are broken. Are you sure?”

Song Jin’an panicked for a moment. “What?”

The cruise ship was approaching the port. Faintly, two rows of people in supervisory uniforms could be seen standing on the pier.

Under everyone’s gaze, Lin Su took out a receipt.

He sighed, “From beginning to end, I haven’t understood this play of yours.”

__

Author’s Note:

Drowsy Su: I’m the one who gave it!

He Daniao: Oh, the little boss is so generous.

Drowsy Su: Silently watching the performance, then a one-click face slap.

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