Although Tan Zaozao wanted Lin Qiushi to help her persuade Ruan Nanzhu, Lin Qiushi was not in the place to do so. Going into the world of doors wasn't like vacation, after all, and regardless of whether it was themselves or they were bringing a client, it was a large risk. Once something happened, all their prior efforts would have been for nothing and their lives would be at stake.
Afterwards, Lin Qiushi didn't mention it to Ruan Nanzhu again.
Summer was over during that time and the weather had begun to cool. The students were on winter break and the end of the year was about to arrive.
A few people in the villa returned to their hometowns for the new year. Lin Qiushi originally thought that he'd be the only one left in the villa, but unexpectedly, Ruan Nanzhu said that he wasn't going back either.
"Aren't you going back as well?" Surprised, Lin Qiushi asked. He was not familiar with Ruan Nanzhu's background in the real world, nor did he know why Ruan Nanzhu got involved with the doors in the first place.
"No," Ruan Nanzhu said, "There's almost no one left in my home."
Lin Qiushi replied with an "Oh", but he didn't press on and instead lowered his head, pondering over the menu for tonight. Ruan Nanzhu was not a picky eater and he seemed to be fine with everything. He was an incredibly easy person to take care of.
Lin Qiushi stared at the menu and something came to his mind. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Right… Do you mind if I asked you a question?"
Ruan Nanzhu was looking at his laptop, he didn't even turn his head, "Speak."
Lin Qiushi, "What's your reason for entering the doors?"
Ruan Nanzhu's movements froze momentarily as he slapped his laptop closed, then looked at Lin Qiushi.
Lin Qiushi was momentarily stifled by Ruan Nanzhu's gaze. He was just about to say 'I'm only asking for fun. It's not necessary to reply.' when he heard Ruan Nanzhu said, "I don't know."
Lin Qiushi, "Ah?"
Ruan Nanzhu spoke serenely as if what he was speaking of wasn't anything of importance. "Not everyone needs to know the reason they've encountered the doors."
Lin Qiushi gave it some thought and found that it was quite reasonable. How would anyone know how their deaths would be if the time for it to happen hasn't come yet? In this manner of thought, he found himself quite lucky because he knew why he was going to die, so he was spared from that bit of concern.
"There's nothing to know about." Ruan Nanzhu raised his hand to glance at his watch, "It's about time."
Lin Qiushi knew that he was about to enter another door. Just as he wanted to persuade him to rest tonight since it was New Year's Eve, Ruan Nanzhu vanished before he could speak.
Lin Qiushi, "…" Sigh, let it go. Let it go.
He went downstairs to prepare dinner.
At this moment, there were only three people left in the villa. Other than the two of them, Yi Manman, who was mincing meat in the kitchen, had also remained.
If one were to ignore Yi Manman's gentle look, he looked absolutely vile as he minced the meat, his kitchen knife turning the meat into grinded powder in a matter of seconds.
Lin Qiushi didn't know what etiquettes they had for family union dinners so he decided to make both some dumplings and dishes.
Lin Qiushi fetched the fish that he'd bought and placed temporarily in the pond, preparing to kill it and scrape off its scales. "So do you guys like Squirrel Fish? Or do you guys prefer pickled ones?" He recalled that Ruan Nanzhu would eat everything as long as it tasted good.
Yi Manman said, "Everything's fine. Let's take the Squirrel Fish. It looks nicer as a decorative dish."
Lin Qiushi nodded his head and began to heat up the oil.
Just as he was heating up the oil, a bell rang from a corner of the villa. Yi Manman was dealing with some dough so he couldn't open the door. Lin Qiushi said, "Let me do it." before walking towards the door and watch their visitor from the security camera only to see Tan Zaozao and Zhang Yiqing.
Lin Qiushi contemplated for a moment and gave Ruan Nanzhu a call. Ruan Nanzhu wouldn't be in a high-level door at this moment and a low-level door could be dealt with in just a couple of minutes. He should've come out of the door by now.
As he expected, Ruan Nanzhu picked up the call and asked him what's the matter.
"Tan Zaozao brought Zhang Yiqing over," Lin Qiushi responded, "Should I let them in?"
"Do it." said Ruan Nanzhu.
Lin Qiushi acknowledged it and opened the door.
Seeing Lin Qiushi, Tan Zaozao said, "Happy New Year, Lin Qiushi!"
Lin Qiushi nodded his head, "Come in and make yourselves home in the living hall while I cook dinner. He too knows that you guys are here so just wait for a bit."
Tan Zaozao replied, "Alright."
Zhang Yiqing followed behind Tan Zaozao. He appeared to have lost some weight and greenish stubbles were all over his lower jaw. It made him look terrifyingly worn and tired. However, he was standing with his back straight and his expression didn't look any friendlier than he was before. These details still made him appear prideful.
Lin Qiushi had only spared him a look before he turned away. This person had nothing to do with him and whether Ruan Nanzhu will accept him as a client or not, he had no power nor say over it.
Tan Zaozao and Zhang Yiqing sat in the living hall and after a while, Ruan Nanzhu came down from the second floor. Today he wrote a collarless back fur shirt and because it was considerably warm in the villa, he hadn't put on a coat. The shirt was a little tight-fitted and made the broadness of his shoulders and the slimness of his waist much more obvious, a perfect measurement. His hair was growing a little long since he hadn't been for a haircut, bundled loosely behind his head.
Ruan Nanzhu walked up to the sofa in front of Tan Zaozao and sat down. He picked up a jujube and tossed it into his mouth, "Speak."
Tan Zaozao bitterly laughed, "Nanzhu… My apologies…"
Ruan Nanzhu, "Why are you apologizing?" He turned to Zhang Yiqing and said in an impolite tone, "Be quick if you have anything important to say. Today is New Year's Eve. I have no intentions of letting strangers stay for dinner."
Zhang Yiqing pursed his lips. His expression tightened and just when Tan Zaozao thought that he was furious, he said, "Mister Ruan, I am deeply guilty of my rudeness earlier. I hope you could forgive me."
Ruan Nanzhu leaned against the sofa, a drawled expression on his face, "Speak then. What did you encounter in the second door?"
Zhang Yiqing sighed, "Very terrible things."
He was, after all, a script writer. He was skilled in describing his situation like they were life-like. He said that the people from White Deer had been unreliable in the door. Not only was the hint wrong, but they had died quicker than he did. The worse was that the second door involved a scenario where they had to run for their lives. Zhang Yiqing was finally forced to attack his own teammates.
Ruan Nanzhu's expression didn't change as he listened, "Did you kill someone?"
"No," Zhang Yiqing said, "I only wounded them so they were rendered immobile, but…"
But inside the door, being wounded was equivalent to death. As long as the door was opened, all the monsters would quickly become aggressive. When that time comes, those who couldn't move would only be awaiting their deaths.
Ruan Nanzhu nodded his head to signify that he understood, then he said, "Then what do you plan to do this time?"
Zhang Yiqing sighed, "I… I want Mister Ruan to pardon me for my previous offense." He was incredibly self-depreciative at that moment, especially when Ruan Nanzhu was too beautiful and as someone who had been involved in the entertainment circle for so long, he'd labelled Ruan Nanzhu for being nothing more than a flower pot. Adding the slanders that White Deer had towards Ruan Nanzhu…
Ruan Nanzhu, "What did White Deer say?"
Zhang Yiqing didn't dare straightforwardly voice them out loud. He had an awkward expression on him as he said, "Very ugly things…"
Ruan Nanzhu, "There's no harm in saying."
Zhang Yiqing coughed and kept his voice low, "They said you judge people by their looks…" He was speaking very tactfully, his words blatantly meaning that Ruan Nanzhu gets his clients simply by his face.
Ruan Nanzhu snorted coldly, and said, "Hm, I understand now."
Zhang Yiqing spoke and paused.
In the end, Tan Zaozao stepped out and quietly said, "Big brother Ruan, could you help big brother Zhang? He really hadn't done it on purpose."
Ruan Nanzhu said, "I will not." His tone was steady, clear, without an ounce of leeway.
Tan Zaozao sighed and knew that she would not be able to convince Ruan Nanzhu.
"However, I can recommend you to another organization." Ruan Nanzhu said.
Zhang Yiqing said, "Another one?"
Ruan Nanzhu could see confusion in Zhang Yiqing's expression, so he calmly said, "Relax. Trash like White Deer are not even fit to polish their boots. But I should give you a warning first."
Zhang Yiqing, "Hm?"
Ruan Nanzhu, "The leader of that organization is a fan of yours."
Zhang Yiqing, "…"
Ruan Nanzhu, "The type where something's not right with his mind. He sits cooped up in his home all day along watching every film you made."
Zhang Yiqing gave a dry cough. He didn't know why he was feeling a little embarrassed.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "If you're clear on it, then I will give you his contact."
This time, Zhang Yiqing no longer hesitated. He immediately nodded his head in approval. Although Ruan Nanzhu would not be taking him in person, a recommendation from him wouldn't be anywhere terrible—at least they would be more reliable than those master of pits known as White Deer. At the mention of them, Zhang Yiqing found himself incredibly furious. After all, they even had to rely on him to get one White Deer member out alive.
"Alright then, it's getting late. Take your leave." Ruan Nanzhu looked at his watch and showed no hesitation sending them off.
Tan Zaozao propped her chin in her palm as she looked towards the kitchen and undeservingly said, "Big brother Ruan, can't we stay for dinner? It smells so good."
Lin Qiushi was at the moment of frying his fish and the entire villa was filled with its aura.
"No." Ruan Nanzhu mercilessly said, "Leave quickly."
Tan Zaozao, "…" Everytime it came to this, she would begin to miss the version of Ruan Nanzhu inside the door. At least lady Ruan Baijie was a little bit more philanthropic than Ruan Nanzhu.
Since they failed to leech onto dinner, Tan Zaozao and Zhang Yiqing could only take their leave.
After they finished discussing, Lin Qiushi was done with his Squirrel Fish. As he brought it out, he saw Ruan Nanzhu sitting on top of the sofa, "They've left?"
Ruan Nanzhu nodded his head.
"Oh," Lin Qiushi said, "What filings would you like for your dumplings? I've prepared chives, cabbages, and mushrooms…"
Ruan Nanzhu looked at him. Lin Qiushi was wearing an apron as he looked at him with a gentle expression. Warm the light was shining on atop of his head, bouncing off his cheeks in rays of orange. It made him look very gentle and soft, filling him with a unique sense of warmth that didn't belong to the mortal world.
It's been a very long time since someone asked him that question. Ruan Nanzhu replied only after a while, "Cabbage."
Lin Qiushi failed to discover that Ruan Nanzhu was behaving oddly. He nodded his head, turned around, and resumed preparing dinner.
Although they were only three people in total, they had a great time eating reunion dinner and watching the spring night.
After their sight-seeing was over, the three of them went to set off fireworks on the roof. Yi Manman was the one who bought the fireworks. Lin Qiushi originally thought that Ruan Nanzhu wouldn't be spending time with them, but he's said, unexpectedly, that there was no harm in setting them off together.
The sky was very dark as those beautiful fireworks exploded atop their heads. From somewhere far off, there were also sounds of crackers popping. Tonight, they didn't have to worry of any monsters appearing, nor did they have to worry that they would suddenly meet their deaths.
A new year has come and as Lin Qiushi looked at the night sky, hope for the future began to fill him.
After New Year's Eve, everyone began returning to the villas one after the next.
Cheng Qianli and Cheng Yixie returned first. Both of them had brought quite a large amount of items that were local products from their hometown.
"My mom insisted on letting me take them back." Cheng Qianli grumbles, "A whole ten catty of meat—I told her to email them over but she said it's not the same. How can it not be the same? Was it because it's not stained with the sweet scent of my sweat?"
Yi Manman, "Can you stop being disgusting?"
Cheng Qianli, "Wah! If you think it's disgusting then don't eat it later!"
According to Yi Manman, Cheng Qianli's family made incredibly delicious preserved foods, especially when it was meat. After it's sliced and steamed, they would smell irresistibly delicious.
Their fried peas were extraordinarily delicious, so were their soup; in any way, everything was very welcomed.
When Lin Qiushi just arrived, the preserved foods were practically gone so they could only wait for the arrival of this year's batch.
Cheng Qianli and Cheng Yixie were from an ordinary family. If they hadn't encountered the doors, perhaps they would have already left this world due to their illness. But now, here they are, though imperiled but at least there was a sliver of hope.
Who wouldn't want to live such a pleasant life?
Lin Qiushi smiled as he looked at them.
After New Year, it's time to get back to work.
Ruan Nanzhu sought out Lin Qiushi to tell him something.
"I want to go into the sixth door one more time," Ruan Nanzhu said, "Do you want to go in with me?" This time, he didn't directly inform Lin Qiushi. He was asking him.
"Is this because you want to go looking for hints for my seventh door?" asked Lin Qiushi.
"Yes and no." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Actually I already have a hint for the seventh door with me, but from the looks of it, it's not a pleasant door to go into."
Lin Qiushi gave it some thought, "What's the hint?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "It's a painting." He didn't speak in detail, "But according to the background of the painting, it's likely a world with no abiding rules."
Lin Qiushi, "No abiding rules?"
Ruan Nanzhu nodded and explained, "As time approaches the end of the world, the rules to follow by would grow fainter, then ultimately disappearing."
Lin Qiushi felt shocked hearing that, "Wouldn't that leave us a dead end?"
Ruan Nanzhu calmly said, "Correct. No time would be given to you during the most dangerous moment and you could only rely on your instincts, so…"
Lin Qiushi, "Hm?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "So you need to go into doors more often."
Things such as instincts mostly relied on experience. Only after a person has seen thousands of strange incidents in the world of doors would they know how to react to unusual situations.
"Then I'll go in this time as well." Lin Qiushi answered him, "With you now, at least it's safer compared to going alone. As long as I practice more, I could save myself."
"Good." Ruan Nanzhu nodded that he understood.
The general time to enter doors wasn't set, but Ruan Nanzhu told Lin Qiushi that the hint for this door was the name of a place: Well-being Mountain Sanatorium.
Well-being Mountain Sanatorium was located in the state of Kentucky in America. It was a very historically famous sanatorium.
This sanatorium was established in 1910 and its purpose was to provide medicinal attention to a severe outbreak of tuberculosis. However, due to poor management, it had turned into the cemetery of its patients.
According to the sayings, there were a countless number of people who died in the sanatorium and the methods of the treatment used by the sanatorium was filled with a terror that only exists in horror films.
The doctors could even do things such as insert balloons into the patient's lungs and plump air into it, causing the patient's lunge to collapse—all for the sake of allowing their lungs to obtain more oxygens.
Of course, methods such as these would only bring pain and death. More than eight thousand patients had died in Well-being Mountain Sanatorium. Thankfully, it gradually became empty with the decrease of tuberculosis patients.
However, it wasn't completely abandoned and was being used as an old folk's home. Only, in the process of being used, the old folks who lived in it constantly received torture. Electrical shocking methods at that time were being taken for othordox treatment methods. One could imagine how this place had turned into somewhere akin to hell.
With such a backstory, anyone would feel their hairs standing on its toes upon hearing it. Little thought was needed to imagine the terrifying incidents that happened in this place.
After Lin Qiushi read through the information, he asked Ruan Nanzhu, "Is this door a request received on the website?"
Ruan Nanzhu, "Right, you too can go to the website and take a look. Now you're qualified to accept your own requests, but don't accept too frequently since there's not many people who are reliable on the website."
Lin Qiushi nodded to imply that he understood.
He, too, usually kept an eye on the website. Strange people were aplenty on it and aside from the usual posts for accepting and requesting to be taken through doors, the fees were very far apart. Some of them would even offer their bodies as payment.
"The time for the door should be on the first day of the next month. I have already mailed the bracelet out." Ruan Nanzhu said, "So let's wait."
Lin Qiushi, "Alright. I understand."
There were more than twenty days before the first day of the next month. They had plenty of time.
Since they returned from their homes, Cheng Yixie had brought Cheng Qianli into a few doors although those were all low-level doors and weren't too dangerous.
Cheng Qianli was still afraid of ghosts, but the more he was afraid the more Cheng Yixie refused to let him hide. Cheng Yixie believed that the more he looked at them, the more he wouldn't be afraid.
It was a trick Lin Qiushi thought would work on normal people but not someone with Cheng Qianli's IQ. To this, Lin Qiushi had expressed severe concerns. After all, this fellow could even forget what films he'd watched even before a month had gone by. Lin Qiushi often discovered that he was watching the same few films.
"Didn't you watch this one before?" One time, Lin Qiushi couldn't stop himself from asking.
Cheng Qianli was shocked, "Did I? Why don't I remember?"
Lin Qiushi, "Do you have a goldfish's memory? …. The murderer is A."
Cheng Qianli, "Fucker! Don't spoil me!"
Lin Qiushi thought his expression didn't look like it was faked, so he let it go and sighed as he thought it was no wonder Cheng Yixie was so headache over this little brother of his.
After the new year, a reply also came from Zhang Yiqing. He contacted the person Ruan Nanzhu had recommended and they'd already been through one door.
Zhang Yiqing expressed his satisfaction of that person's capabilities but that person also has a shortcoming. His shortcoming was no serious matter except that he was a fanatic of Zhang Yiqing's.
"Hahahahahahaha… I laughed my ass off." Tan Zaozao hiccuped when she was laughing as she chatted with Lin Qiushi, "You wouldn't know how much I laughed during that time. Once Zhang Yiqing went to that person's place, that fellow brother dragged him to watch a film Zhang Yiqing starred in himself. How awkward was that?! What's more is that that person had even taken out a book that he'd written all his comments on. There were at least seventy to eighty thousand words!"
Lin Qiushi, "…" He felt embarrassed even listening to it.
"I was also present during that time. You wouldn't know; I've never seen Zhang Yiqing so creeped out before! I almost laughed myself to death—hahahahaha." Tan Zaozao smiled without hesitation, "The funniest of it all is that because Zhang Yiqing needed his help, he hadn't dared to say it out loud!"
Lin Qiushi's lips curled into a smile, "Did the door went well?"
Tan Zaozao, "Of course. It's not like you didn't know people had completely different attitudes inside the world of doors. That fanatic was incredibly reliable inside the door." She said, "What about you? Are you going into another door soon?"
Lin Qiushi nodded.
"Take care of yourself." Tan Zaozao reminded him.
Lin Qiushi answered, "I will."
It wasn't easy to come out alive from the sixth door. Now he has to go in again. To many people, this was torture, especially those with fragile emotions. This was the reason why Ruan Nanzhu hadn't forced Lin Qiushi to come with him.
But Lin Qiushi's performance often astounded others. It's as if to him, death wasn't something difficult to accept. His attitude was calm and his mind was at peace. Even Ruan Nanzhu managed to do this, but the reason for him was because Ruan Nanzhu had been into a countless number of horrible worlds within the door.
In essence, Ruan Nanzhu was normal.
However, Lin Qiushi didn't feel the difference of himself compared to the majority. This was the way he has been since he was little to adulthood, as if he didn't have any desires to try out something exciting.
He liked a mundane life and didn't think anything bad about it.
Now that he was suddenly pulled into the world of doors, Lin Qiushi also quickly got used to it and has turned it into his norm. He had always been a very adaptable person.
The time to enter the door was drawing quite near. Ruan Nanzhu once again brought him to the shopping mall.
Armed with experience from last time, Lin Qiushi carefully asked, "Nanzhu, I don't have to wear those clothes from last time do I?"
Ruan Nanzhu eyed him and said, "Nope."
Lin Qiushi let out a sigh of relief before he heard Ruan Nanzhu say, "This time, you're wearing a dress."
Lin Qiushi, "Ah?? But I haven't practiced my voice!!"
Ruan Nanzhu, "What's not good about Little Miss Mute?" His tone was extremely calm as if he wasn't speaking of something important, "Doesn't it make you happy?"
Lin Qiushi, "…No."
Ruan Nanzhu, "Then learn to be."
Lin Qiushi practically knelt before Ruan Nanzhu.
His memory on the way back to the villa was blurry. A group of people with pitying gazes fell upon him and he said, "Why…. why must it be me…"
Cheng Yixie was sitting on the sofa. Only so rarely, he opened the door and commented in a tone cold with the faintest hints of sympathy, "Someone must be the unlucky one."
Lin Qiushi, "…"
Cheng Qianli said, "Right. Just bare with it and it'll pass."
Lin Qiushi, "…" He exasperatedly decided to use the time left to practice his voice. There was no reason for him to be a mute for eternity since Ruan Nanzhu has such bad guilty-pleasures.
Ruan Nanzhu was very satisfied with Lin Qiushi's proactivity. He said, "You are stronger than Chen Fei."
Chen Fei almost cried out loud when he heard that. His posture inside the door was a muscular man of 1.8 metres tall. He wasn't suited for crossdressing. After a few rounds of torture from Ruan Nanzhu, everyone thought of him as a crossdrossing pervert whenever he entered doors. Even after countless sacrifices, he was being taken for granted right now…. This really is… unacceptable!! Chen Fei gave plaintaive expression that made him appear to be stifling his laugh.
So, how long would he take to talk Ruan Nanzhu out of this strange hobby of his…
Author's Comment:
Lin Qiushi: As long as I don't have to crossdress you can do anything you want!
Ruan Nanzhu: What if I want to do you?
Lin Qiushi remained silent and picked up the skirt on the ground.
Ruan Nanzhu: Tch.