Zhang Mian's personality seemed quite outgoing. Coupled with his baby face, he was even more approachable. When he smiled, the two little dimples at the corners of his mouth made him look especially cute.
The people in the house were very friendly to him, except for Cheng Qianli.
"I don't like him at all," Zhang Mian had come the day before, and Cheng Qianli had already found Lin Qiu Shi, muttering dissatisfaction, complaining incessantly about his dissatisfaction.
"Why don't you like him?" Lin Qiu Shi also had a good impression of Zhang Mian.
"Haven't you noticed that Brother Ruan has been taking him around since he came?" Cheng Qianli said. "He doesn't take us anymore..."
Lin Qiu Shi was silent for a moment.
Cheng Qianli looked expectantly at Lin Qiu Shi, hoping he would agree: "Don't you think so too?"
"No," Lin Qiu Shi answered very straightforwardly. "Isn't it a good thing that he doesn't take us? Do you still want to go in frequently?"
Cheng Qianli: "..." Well, that makes sense.
However, Ruan Nan Zhu was indeed quite special to Zhang Mian. In just one week, he had taken him into the doors at least three or four times. Zhang Mian was also adapting well and quickly got used to going in and out of the doors.
As for Lin Qiu Shi, Ruan Nan Zhu just told him to rest well and recover.
From an outsider's perspective, Ruan Nan Zhu was obviously trying to groom Zhang Mian, which was why he took such risks to bring him along. But Lin Qiu Shi always felt something was wrong, he just couldn't pinpoint what exactly at the moment.
One morning, Zhang Mian suddenly greeted Lin Qiu Shi and tactfully asked if there were any other people in the organization.
Lin Qiu Shi was eating breakfast at the time and was puzzled when he heard this question: "Other people? What do you mean?"
Zhang Mian smiled, revealing two sweet little dimples, looking especially cute. "I mean other team members. Haven't you met them?"
Lin Qiu Shi shook his head.
"Oh, Brother Ruan took me to meet other team members yesterday," Zhang Mian said. "So I'm a little curious how many people are on our team."
This was a more sensitive question. Even if Lin Qiu Shi knew, he couldn't possibly tell him. And since he didn't know anything anyway, he just shook his head to indicate that he didn't know.
Zhang Mian oh-ed and didn't pursue the question further.
At the same time, others gradually came to the table as well, and they all exchanged a few words with Zhang Mian, no less. Lin Qiu Shi soon noticed a strange phenomenon - except for a few special people in the house, everyone else was smiling at Zhang Mian as they spoke.
Chen Fei was smiling, Yi Manman was smiling, Lu Yanxue was also smiling, beaming smiles that made Lin Qiu Shi feel completely baffled.
Not to mention Cheng Qianli, the only one in the house who didn't smile when seeing Zhang Mian was the ever expressionless Cheng Yixuan.
Lin Qiu Shi was confused. He couldn't understand why everyone was acting so strangely all of a sudden.
Afterwards, Ruan Nan Zhu continued to partner with Zhang Mian and both of them disappeared from sight.
Privately, Cheng Qianli asked Lin Qiu Shi if he was jealous. Lin Qiu Shi was browsing forums at the time and his first reaction upon hearing this question was: "Jealous? Jealous of what? Did you guys make dumplings?"
Cheng Qianli: "..." Lin Qiu Shi, are you still functioning properly?
Seeing that Lin Qiu Shi still didn't understand, Cheng Qianli had no choice but to spell it out. He said Brother Ruan now had all his attention on the newcomer, didn't Lin feel aggrieved? Whether it was going into the doors or getting to know Brother Ruan, Lin was clearly first...
Lin Qiu Shi was shocked: "We're not dating, why does it matter who came first?"
Cheng Qianli: "...You're really not jealous?"
Lin Qiu Shi looked at Cheng Qianli suspiciously and said, should I call your brother over to beat some sense into your head?
Cheng Qianli: "No no no need for that!" Upon hearing his brother being mentioned, Cheng Qianli cowered instantly and turned to leave.
However, it was unclear whether Cheng Qianli had said something to Ruan Nan Zhu or not. After dinner that night, Ruan Nan Zhu suddenly called Lin Qiu Shi out to the corridor.
He lit a cigarette and asked if Lin Qiu Shi wanted one.
Lin Qiu Shi politely declined: "I have liver cancer..." Although he himself had almost forgotten about this alleged cancer.
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Oh, sorry." He put out the cigarette. "Bear with it for a little longer."
Lin Qiu Shi: "Huh?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "One more week at most."
Lin Qiu Shi said: "..." He still didn't understand.
But Ruan Nan Zhu didn't elaborate further. He turned and glanced coldly at Zhang Mian, who was smiling and chatting with everyone in the house. Then he lightly patted Lin Qiu Shi on the head and walked away without another word.
Lin Qiu Shi was confused the whole time and still didn't understand what Ruan Nan Zhu meant.
But perhaps due to the frequent trips into the doors, Zhang Mian's body seemed unable to withstand it anymore. Worst of all, he was even injured during the last door trip and had to be hospitalized after coming out.
Everyone in the villa went to visit him in the hospital and expressed admiration for his perseverance.
Chen Fei went with Lin Qiu Shi to the hospital. He bought a bag of fruit at the entrance while Lin Qiu Shi had also wanted to buy some, but was stopped by Chen Fei.
"Don't buy any," Chen Fei said. "Aren't your roles positioned differently?"
Lin Qiu Shi: "???Roles?"
Seeing the bewilderment on Lin Qiu Shi's face, Chen Fei was stunned for a moment. "Didn't Brother Ruan tell you?"
Lin Qiu Shi: "...Tell me what?" Now he felt everyone in the house was being weird.
"Never mind, it's nothing," Chen Fei seemed to realize something from Lin Qiu Shi's confused look. He sighed and said, "Just endure it for another week, it'll be over soon."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." What on earth are you guys talking about? He really didn't understand anymore.
Zhang Mian's injury wasn't too serious. When Lin Qiu Shi went to visit, Ruan Nan Zhu was sitting by his bed keeping watch over him.
Seeing Chen Fei and the others, Zhang Mian managed a smile.
Chen Fei showered Zhang Mian with concern and said that if it ever became too difficult, he must inform Brother Ruan. Although this was a necessary stage for newcomers, they could still make exceptions if need be.
But Zhang Mian stated that he could keep up with Ruan Nan Zhu's pace and hoped to officially become a member of the team soon.
Upon hearing this, Chen Fei looked approving and said they hadn't seen such outstanding newcomer quality in a long time. Zhang Mian would surely become a backbone of their team in the future.
Standing on the side, Lin Qiu Shi didn't dare make a sound. Compared to Zhang Mian's intensity of going in and out the doors, he himself was practically just grinding mobs in the novice village...
After visiting Zhang Mian, Lin Qiu Shi had assumed this state of affairs would continue for quite some time, given that Zhang Mian was someone valued by Ruan Nan Zhu. But unexpectedly, on the sixth day after Zhang Mian returned to the villa, he suddenly disappeared.
It was a morning. Lin Qiu Shi went downstairs as usual for breakfast but didn't see Zhang Mian anywhere. He waited for a bit before noticing that everyone else seemed to be acting like nothing had happened. "Where's Zhang Mian? I don't see him around?"
"He ran off last night," Chen Fei said casually while gnawing on a scone made by Cheng Yixuan.
"Ran off??" Lin Qiu Shi was shocked. "What do you mean ran off?" This wasn't some pyramid scheme, why would someone just run off like that?
"Literally ran off," Chen Fei said. "Couldn't take Brother Ruan's exploitation anymore and slipped away."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." He felt like he had missed some important plot point.
Ruan Nan Zhu happened to come down then as well. He sat down casually next to Lin Qiu Shi and took a scone to slowly nibble on.
Facing Lin Qiu Shi's confusion from start to finish, after finishing his scone, Ruan Nan Zhu slowly and methodically started to explain: "A part-timer."
"...Part-timer??" Lin Qiu Shi was shocked.
"Internal White Deer personnel," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "An acquaintance of ours, Lai Dongyuan."
His words were always so concise, but every single one was key. Lin Qiu Shi instantly understood what was going on. His eyes widened in disbelief: "Lai Dongyuan??? That was Lai Dongyuan??"
Ruan Nan Zhu nodded.
Lin Qiu Shi: "..."
"It's not over yet, don't break character," Ruan Nan Zhu said.
Everyone else at the table happily nodded their heads. As for why they were so happy, and why they would smile upon seeing Zhang Mian, Lin Qiu Shi soon understood the reason - Ruan Nan Zhu took out a stack of small paper slips from his pocket. Anyone who had seen them before would not forget what those little paper slips were - clues about the doors. Right now these clues were stacked together as if they were free. Ruan Nan Zhu casually grabbed them in his palm.
Faced with this pile of paper slips, Lin Qiu Shi was rendered speechless. Those "part-timer" words were indeed too apt.
"So what exactly was he here to do?" Lin Qiu Shi couldn't comprehend Lai Dongyuan's brain circuits.
"Looking for someone," Chen Fei smiled meaningfully at Ruan Nan Zhu. "Looking for Meng Yu..."
Lin Qiu Shi: "Cough cough cough cough!!" He almost choked on his saliva.
"Later realized he couldn't find her and got exploited by Brother Ruan for free labor instead..." Chen Fei said. "Hope he doesn't actually think those were real door clues that he took from Brother Ruan's room when he slipped away."
Ruan Nan Zhu smiled coldly.
Staring at his smile, Lin Qiu Shi was suddenly reminded of Ruan Nan Zhu's expression when he had discovered the fake key Lai Dongyuan used to trick them inside the door...it was so similar right now.
"I can't believe this was the case, why didn't you guys tell me?" After hearing the full story, Cheng Qianli was furious. "You all had so much fun acting, why didn't I get any scenes?"
Chen Yi Xuan emotionlessly answered Cheng Qianli's grievance. He said: "Because your IQ is not high enough to support this."
Cheng Qianli: "..."
Chen Yi Xuan: "Any objections?"
Cheng Qianli aggrievedly shook his head, on the verge of tears as he continued nibbling on his scone.
It seemed that in that house, the only ones kept in the dark about the truth were Cheng Qianli and Lin Qiu Shi. Cheng Qianli lacked the intelligence while they probably doubted Lin Qiu Shi's intelligence as well. As Lin Qiu Shi was thinking this, Ruan Nan Zhu seemed to perceive his thoughts and said, "There wasn't time."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." He would have to be an idiot to actually believe that. Clearly there was no issue of time.
Although Zhang Mian had left, the script was far from over. Because to outsiders, they had to pretend to be furious about Zhang Mian escaping with the door clues. Black Obsidian, the codename for their organization, began thoroughly investigating Zhang Mian's whereabouts.
Of course, they didn't keep up this act for long. Because Lai Dongyuan soon discovered that the clues he had taken were fake. He also realized his identity had been exposed after being used as free labor for so long. Unable to find Meng Yu and then getting played like a monkey, Lai Dongyuan was so angry that he called Ruan Nan Zhu, ready to hurl torrents of abuse. But Ruan Nan Zhu just indifferently said Meng Yu was also there.
Thus the torrents of abuse instantly transformed into gentle inquiries. Lai Dongyuan said: "Meng ah, how old are you now? Married yet? Let's meet up, I just like girls like you."
Lin Qiu Shi happened to be there as well and hearing Lai Dongyuan's voice that oozed like water gave him goosebumps all over his body.
Ruan Nan Zhu directly set the call to mute without knowing how long Lai Dongyuan had continued talking to himself.
"He actually likes Meng Yu now." Seeing the indifferent Ruan Nan Zhu in front of him, Lin Qiu Shi felt sad and sympathetic towards Lai Dongyuan's future love life.
"What's wrong with Meng Yu?" Ruan Nan Zhu asked.
"Nothing's wrong with him," Lin Qiu Shi said. "Who wouldn't like Meng Yu?" After all the person was right in front of them, he could hardly badmouth him to his face.
"So is Meng Yu better or am I better?" Ruan Nan Zhu's train of thought seemed rather strange.
Lin Qiu Shi had only seen people comparing themselves to others, never to themselves. Faced with Ruan Nan Zhu's serious expression, he could only tactfully state that they each had their own merits and there was no need to force a comparison. Moreover, no matter how great one was, they were still the same person.
Ruan Nan Zhu nodded in satisfaction and left.
Staring at his retreating back, Lin Qiu Shi deeply suspected something might be wrong with this person's mind.
Thanks to Lai Dongyuan, they had collected a large pile of door clues. Lin Qiu Shi had always been unclear about the use of these clues until Chen Fei explained it to him.
Under normal circumstances, people carrying clues would be assigned to different worlds. That meant in principle, there would only be one clue carrier per world inside a door. But there had also been exceptions before, exceptions that Chen Fei did not elaborate on. It was likely some very rare special situation.
Those with clues would enter the door corresponding to those clues, making these paper slips extremely important items. However, clue difficulties were also tiered. For example, the doors Ruan Nan Zhu had relentlessly taken Lai Dongyuan into recently were basically lower difficulty ones, hence the doors corresponding to those clues were also not very difficult. If Lin Qiu Shi wanted to enter his 6th door for instance, he would need to use the 5th door clues Ruan Nan Zhu had obtained last time. If he brought clues belonging to some other 2nd door, there could potentially be a mismatch between clues and the world.
And because of this, when taking jobs, Ruan Nan Zhu would have to repeatedly enter and exit the doors to obtain clues in order to ensure his clients' safety.
That was dangerous work with high risks, but Ruan Nan Zhu already seemed extremely proficient.
After ruthlessly duping Lai Dongyuan, Black Obsidian and White Deer should have formed a feud. But with Meng Yu acting as a lubricant between them, Lai Dongyuan also didn't completely tear faces with Ruan Nan Zhu. Instead he tactfully expressed they could collaborate - if Meng Yu was present, that is.
"Sure," Ruan Nan Zhu agreed indifferently. Lai Dongyuan had also passed the 8th door; his abilities surely weren't weak. Having someone like him provide backup was naturally a good thing. As for Meng Yu...that depended on his mood.
Lin Qiu Shi rested for three months and his body had mostly recovered.
With no more work obligations, he had started worrying about his source of income and thought about taking on some odd jobs. But unexpectedly Ruan Nan Zhu asked him for his bank card number and directly transferred 500,000 RMB into his account.
Lin Qiu Shi stared blankly at the figure in his text message and said, "Nan Zhu, what's the meaning of this?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Living expenses."
Lin Qiu Shi: "...We get living allowances here too?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Of course you're not getting it for free." He said, "I have a customer whose next door time is approaching. I plan to take her in together with me, come with us."
Lin Qiu Shi: "Can I really go too? I'm afraid I'll drag everyone down."
"You have to grind experience before fighting the Boss." Ruan Nan Zhu said. "The more doors you enter, the more used to it you'll become."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." He looked at Cheng Qianli next to him, whose face was twisted from reading a horror novel.
Ruan Nan Zhu said: "Don't use Cheng Qianli as an example."
Cheng Qianli happened to overhear Ruan Nan Zhu say his name next to them and turned his head blankly: "Brother Ruan, did you call me?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Yes, praising you."
Cheng Qianli: "Oh, hehehehe."
Lin Qiu Shi felt Cheng Qianli was truly pitiful for being so silly.
Although he felt uneasy and hesitant internally, Ruan Nan Zhu's composed attitude still helped calm Lin Qiu Shi's emotions.
The day after talking to Lin Qiu Shi about this, Ruan Nan Zhu brought him to meet the customer in the afternoon.
Lin Qiu Shi had assumed the customer would be an ordinary person, but unexpectedly it turned out to be Tan Zao Zao, the actress with extreme popularity in real life, whose real name was Tan Zao Zao.
Unlike the shy Xiao Cheng in the door world, the Tan Zao Zao of the real world had a mature and sexy image, with a head full of big curly hair. Wearing a red dress, she had an alluring figure that easily attracted eyes.
She was overbearing and not many could handle her, but Ruan Nan Zhu was not at all inferior to her. The two of them sat face to face, very pleasing to the eye.
"With your looks, do you really not consider entering the entertainment industry?" The first thing Tan Zao Zao said was this.
"If I entered the industry, wouldn't I still have to come looking for me if you encountered issues?" Ruan Nan Zhu casually retorted. "This person you recognize, Yu Linlin."
Not having noticed Lin Qiu Shi at first, upon hearing the name Yu Linlin, Tan Zao Zao's gaze finally turned to Lin Qiu Shi. Probably reminded of the experiences inside the door, Tan Zao Zao's eyes softened considerably: "You're cuter than you were inside the door."
Lin Qiu Shi: "...Thanks." As a grown man, being called cute by a girl wasn't something that made him too happy.
"He'll be going in with us," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Any issues with that?"
"If you don't have any issues, I naturally don't either," Tan Zao Zao said. "Pleased to work with you."
Ruan Nan Zhu nodded.
The two chatted about some more details, specifically price and who would carry the door clues and such matters. After finishing their discussion, Tan Zao Zao treated them to a meal.
During the meal, Tan Zao Zao seemed rather interested in Lin Qiu Shi and kept steering the conversation topic towards him.
Later on, Ruan Nan Zhu seemed a little unhappy about this. He cut Tan Zao Zao off and bluntly said: "If there's anything you want to ask, you can ask me. We merely have a business partnership, no need to understand each other so thoroughly."
Tan Zao Zao smiled meaningfully: "But I only wanted to get to know Linlin."
Ruan Nan Zhu put down his cutlery: "I'm full."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." But you've only taken one bite of that steak.
Tan Zao Zao: "..." Ruan Nan Zhu, aren't you being too petty?
Since Ruan Nan Zhu claimed he was full, the others could do nothing about it. Just after leaving the steakhouse, Ruan Nan Zhu pulled Lin Qiu Shi to a restaurant next door and ordered a table full of dishes.
Lin Qiu Shi: "...Weren't you full just now?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Got hungry again."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." How can you say that so shamelessly?
It seemed one had to pamper Ruan Nan Zhu like a child. Lin Qiu Shi helplessly sighed but didn't probe further. Ruan Nan Zhu said Tan Zao Zao was a rather special customer. Usually when taking jobs, they wouldn't meet the customers at all. But because Tan Zao Zao was introduced by an acquaintance and also had a special status, they made an exception to meet in the real world.
"But without meeting the customers, how do you enter the same door as them?" This was what Lin Qiu Shi couldn't understand.
Ruan Nan Zhu took out a few silver bangles from his pocket and said: "With these."
Those bangles looked very ordinary, only engraved with some complex characters. Lin Qiu Shi picked up a bangle and felt a coolness upon contact, as if it had been ice chilled.
"These bangles..." Lin Qiu Shi said. "They're from inside a door?"
Ruan Nan Zhu nodded: "One of the worlds."
Lin Qiu Shi oh-ed and put the bangle back.
"Jobs are usually taken from special forums that require huge security deposits," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Aside from the security deposit, there is also the service fee. The security deposit gets refunded to the customer after they return the bangle."
Lin Qiu Shi: "...You guys even have an industry chain?"
Ruan Nan Zhu spread his hands helplessly: "Of course, we need to make a living too. Can't just live on air right?"
Indeed that made sense. Lin Qiu Shi nodded: "But 500,000 is too much. I..."
He was about to say he didn't need so much money, but got interrupted by Ruan Nan Zhu: "That's money used to buy lives. Do you think your life isn't worth 500,000?"
Lin Qiu Shi fell silent.
Ruan Nan Zhu said: "Every entry is an enormous risk; there's always the possibility of not making it back out. If the person dies, they have to at least leave something for their family on the outside."
That was reasonable too. Although Lin Qiu Shi had no family ties, he understood what Ruan Nan Zhu meant. A dying person would always worry about their loved ones - their children, wives, parents. If the person perished, they should at least leave something behind to provide for their families.
After understanding this logic, Lin Qiu Shi accepted Ruan Nan Zhu's good intentions.
"This is Tan Zao Zao's 3rd door. The exact door opening time should be a week from now," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "I'll tell you the clue slip tomorrow morning."
Lin Qiu Shi hmm-ed in acknowledgement.
"Pleasure working with you," Ruan Nan Zhu extended his hand towards Lin Qiu Shi.
"Pleasure working with you too," Lin Qiu Shi smiled.
Previously those few door trips were practically all Ruan Nan Zhu bringing Lin Qiu Shi along. This was their first official collaboration in the true sense. Although Lin Qiu Shi felt apprehensive internally, there was also a vague sense of excitement.
The worlds inside the doors might be frightening, but the people by his side made him unafraid once more. Be they ghosts or gods, even death itself, it was as if nothing in this world was truly hopeless. Even in the darkest places, flowers would still bloom in the end.