"Ren Mo?"
Liu Chen sat on the sofa, watching Ren Mo pour water for everyone, feeling a bit perplexed.
If she remembered correctly, today was supposed to be the day she visited as Ren Yu's girlfriend, right?
After Ren Mo finished filling everyone's cups, he touched his nose and said a little sheepishly, "Dad said Big Brother was bringing his girlfriend today, so he asked me to bring my girlfriend too, so we can all meet together."
Liu Chen: ???
This uncle was really good at saving time, wasn't he?
As Liu Chen was thinking this, she saw Ren Mo place the kettle on the coffee table and pull out his phone to answer a call.
"Hello? Yes, I'm coming down to pick you up. Coming, coming."
After Ren Mo finished his call and was about to leave, the kitchen door, which had been quiet, opened, and a middle-aged man's head poked out. Although middle-aged, the man was quite handsome, and it was clear he must have been a handsome young man in his youth.
However, Liu Chen could also guess that, after all, the looks of brothers Ren Yu and Ren Mo were quite striking.
The handsome middle-aged man first glanced at Ren Mo, who was preparing to leave: "Ren Mo, is your girlfriend here? Perfect timing, this pot will be ready in another ten minutes. Call me when you come up, and I'll let out some steam from the pressure cooker."
After saying this, he seemed to notice the people sitting on the sofa. Upon seeing the two bodyguards sitting next to Liu Chen, his pupils contracted slightly, but then a smile appeared on his face.
"You must be Ren Yu's significant other, right? Uncle's name is Zhou Ren, just call me Uncle Zhou. When I was young, Ren Yu's classmates often got confused and always called me Uncle Ren, hehe."
After saying this string of words, Zhou Ren looked at Liu Chen expectantly.
Liu Chen sat on the sofa, swallowed, and for some reason, felt a bit awkward.
"Uncle Zhou, hello, my name is Liu Chen. My family usually calls me Chenchen."
After saying this, Liu Chen offered a sweet smile.
Zhou Ren looked deeply at Liu Chen, who was acting like an obedient college student in front of him, then nodded, and retreated back into the kitchen, closing the glass sliding door.
Seeing Zhou Ren's demeanor, Ren Yuanying rolled her eyes and then turned sideways, holding Liu Chen's hands with both her hands, and said softly, "You don't need to pay attention to him. Although he is Ren Yu's father, he hasn't cared much about him over the years. If he dares to boss you around after you two get married, just send him to me, and I'll sort him out."
Liu Chen was supposed to express her understanding and comfort her godmother at this moment.
But at this moment, all that remained in Liu Chen's mind was a system notification she had just received.
'Triggered hidden daily quest, S-rank, Make everyone escape the room alive. Countdown: One hour. Reward upon completion: The truth of the mastermind.'
Escape alive?
One hour?
Liu Chen was almost driven mad by the system's quest prompt.
What made Liu Chen feel most suffocated was that this daily quest was rated S-rank!
The highest-level quest she had taken so far was D-rank. Although it required a lot of money and had some minor pitfalls, the time was relatively ample.
But this S-rank quest had a countdown of only one hour!
And the reward for success was also strange. Instead of some system-produced item, it was the truth of the mastermind, whom she had always been wary of.
"Chenchen?"
Ren Yuanying looked at Liu Chen's silent expression and her heart skipped a beat. Had Zhou Ren's attitude hurt Chenchen?
Zhou Ren was also like this. For so many years, he had never taken care of the two children. Now that they had found their happiness, he was coming to interfere. Ostensibly, it was to meet them and give the children his mother's silver bracelet.
But did she, Ren Yuanying, lack a silver bracelet from him?
"Godmother, I want to say a few words to Brother Ren Yu. Don't worry, Uncle Zhou is a good person. Look, we're here, and Uncle Zhou is still busy in the kitchen by himself."
Hearing this, Ren Yuanying's burning anger was somewhat appeased.
"You child, alright, alright, you and Ren Yu chat first. I'll also ask Ren Mo to bring some things."
When Ren Yuanying said "bring some things," she actually meant for Ren Mo to take Sang Ling to buy some gifts. Originally, Ren Mo had asked if he needed to bring gifts, but at the time, the thought of the children bringing gifts to that scumbag Zhou Ren made her head throb. She told Ren Mo not to buy any gifts, and if he did, she would throw him out.
But...
Just now, she had personally carried the gifts Chenchen had bought upstairs, so she naturally knew that Chenchen had spent a lot of money on this visit.
The elder daughter-in-law brought expensive gifts to visit, while the younger daughter-in-law came empty-handed. She didn't care much about what Zhou Ren thought, but she was worried that the younger daughter-in-law might feel embarrassed.
After sending the message, Ren Mo, who had already received Sang Ling and was about to go upstairs, saw it. He thought for a moment. Although he didn't know why his mother suddenly asked him to buy some ginseng and deer antler, his years of experience told him.
Sometimes, when his mother asked him to do something, he shouldn't ask why. Just do it. He wouldn't lose out anyway.
Sang Ling, however, seeing Ren Mo pull her and turn to leave, thought something had changed.
"What's wrong? Did we forget something?"
Ren Mo scratched the back of his head, "No, it's my mom who sent me a message asking me to go to the gift shop to buy some ginseng and deer antler."
Sang Ling thought a bit more than Ren Mo. Hearing this, she was stunned. She knew that Ren Mo's mother had said not to bring anything.
"Have Brother Ren Yu and the others already arrived?"
"Yes, I just finished pouring them tea before I went out to pick you up."
"Then, when they came to visit, did they have many gifts with them?"
Sang Ling knew her friend Liu Chen well. She was very mature in her actions and would definitely not let people find fault with her on her first visit.
Hearing Sang Ling's words, Ren Mo seemed to recall for a moment, then tilted his head slightly and frowned, "It seems so. When they came up, apart from those two bodyguards who always followed Sister Chen, everyone was carrying something."
Hearing this, Sang Ling nodded. She probably understood. Ren Mo's mother must have noticed the gifts Liu Chen brought and was worried about her own reputation, so she hurriedly asked Ren Mo to take her to buy some more.
This was for her to save face.
Thinking of this, Sang Ling felt a bit more anticipation for the mother-in-law she had never met.
-
Liu Chen didn't know that Ren Mo and the others hadn't returned, and instead had gone to a farther shopping mall.
At this moment, she was holding the incredibly hot pendant on her phone, her mind filled with the thought of escaping the room to complete the quest.
The first thing Liu Chen thought of was, could she simply find a way to get everyone out of this room and complete the quest?
But...
As soon as this thought surfaced in Liu Chen's mind, the pendant on her phone became even hotter.
It seemed this method wouldn't work.
At this moment, Liu Chen felt very lucky to have a danger-warning pendant. It could give different danger-warning reactions based on her inner thoughts.
Since the method of forcing everyone out of the room wouldn't work, she had no choice but to get up and see if there was anything wrong with the house.
For example, a time bomb.
Liu Chen forced herself to calm down and began to think. The system's quest was to escape the house alive, which proved that it was dangerous inside the house. She decided to take a risk. Under the guise of touring the house, she would see if the mastermind had sent assassins to hide in some corner of the house beforehand.
Since she was going to tour, it was best not to alert the enemy. Liu Chen got up, pretending she was going to the restroom. As soon as she stood up, before she could say she was going to the restroom, Ren Yu grabbed her right hand.
Then, Ren Yu also stood up from the sofa.
Liu Chen blinked, not understanding why Ren Yu was standing up with her.
She saw Ren Yu lean close to her ear and whisper, "Is something wrong?"
Liu Chen was startled by the question. Of course, something was wrong, but was she that obvious?
After a moment of hesitation, Liu Chen took Ren Yu's hand and walked into the hallway of the house. Lowering her voice, she pressed the pendant into Ren Yu's hand.
"Feel it."
Ren Yu, although somewhat puzzled, obediently touched the pendant on the phone as Liu Chen instructed.
The moment he touched it, he felt the intense heat.
Ren Yu instinctively let go of his hand and looked at Liu Chen, a bit confused.
"This pendant..."
Why was it hot?
Could someone have tampered with it, installing a bug?
Thinking of this, Ren Yu reached out and examined the pendant carefully again. But it was thin and small. What kind of bug could be made with such advanced technology to be so small?
Seeing Ren Yu in a researching mode, Liu Chen quickly interrupted him and explained, "This pendant can alert me to danger. The hotter it gets, the greater the danger. In several previous incidents, I managed to escape thanks to its warnings."
Hearing Liu Chen say this, Ren Yu immediately became serious.
"You mean... there's someone in this house?"
The previous incidents made Ren Yu's first reaction be that there was a killer hidden in this house!
Thinking of this, Ren Yu's muscles tensed subconsciously, and his gaze swept across the five doors in the hallway, his eyes sharp.
Liu Chen quickly reached out and held Ren Yu's hand, "Don't be nervous. It's just a guess. I want to look around each room, but Summer and Winter are my bodyguards. Your dad will definitely be angry if he finds out they went into his room."
Ren Yu nodded, indicating he understood. Listening to Chenchen's tone, it seemed she had already figured out a plan.
As expected, in the next second, Liu Chen said, "How about this, we two sneak into each room to take a look. If we find someone, we two charge forward and call for help?"
In fact, Liu Chen hadn't planned to bring Ren Yu along. She had countless rewards from the system, and she had also given everyone a good luck charm earlier. Even if there were assassins ambushing, the good luck charm would at least help everyone avoid vital injuries.
Of course, Ren Yu also understood Liu Chen's intention to go it alone at this moment. His heart was filled with mixed feelings. Did Chenchen still not trust him enough?
Or did she think he was too weak and lacked security?
Strange thoughts ran through Ren Yu's mind, but it didn't delay him from holding his breath and opening the nearest bathroom door with Liu Chen.
This was a guest bathroom, only about three square meters. There was no shower curtain, so everything was in plain sight.
The two exchanged a look and quietly closed the door, then turned together to look at the door opposite the guest bathroom.
Liu Chen's hand was on the doorknob, preparing to press it down to open it, when her hand on the doorknob was covered. Ren Yu took a step forward and stood in front of Liu Chen.
Liu Chen pursed her lips slightly. While she was hesitating, the doorknob was gently pressed down and opened inwards.
This was a secondary bedroom, about ten square meters. There was a dark brown solid wood bed, which looked about 1.5 meters wide. There was no space under the bed, so even a madman wouldn't hide there. To the left of the entrance was a two-door wardrobe.
Before Liu Chen could make a move, she saw Ren Yu quickly and quietly open the sliding door of the wardrobe.
It was empty, everything in plain sight.
Only then did Liu Chen heave a sigh of relief and turn to look at the bed.
"Let's lift the mattress and take a look. What if someone planted a bomb in advance?"
For some reason, Liu Chen meant to casually give a reason to have Ren Yu help her lift the mattress and take a look for peace of mind.
But this casual excuse made Liu Chen herself freeze.
Yes, escaping this house not only proved there was something wrong with the house, but it was also possible that the house itself was problematic. If there was a bomb in the house, then the system's countdown would make sense.
Thinking of this, a fine layer of sweat broke out on Liu Chen's forehead.
At this moment, the mattress had already been lifted by the two of them. Liu Chen carefully looked it over, then nodded.
"No problem."
Next, the two of them searched the remaining master bedroom and a secondary bedroom. What made Liu Chen uneasy was.
These rooms had no problems!
There was one more door at the end of the hallway. Liu Chen swallowed and followed Ren Yu in.
This was a study.
A large bookshelf, and then a desk. These two pieces of furniture occupied most of the room. After searching, Ren Yu confirmed that there was no place to hide anyone in this room. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he turned and saw Chenchen almost rummaging through the bookshelf and desk.
"Chenchen?"
Liu Chen heard Ren Yu's voice and knew that her guess could probably no longer be hidden. She straightened up and looked at Ren Yu.
"Brother Ren Yu, my jade pendant is still very hot."
Ren Yu was not stupid. He was very intelligent, otherwise, he wouldn't have accumulated a net worth of hundreds of millions before graduating from college.
But when he heard Chenchen's words, Ren Yu was stunned for a moment, then realized.
"You mean, you suspect there's a bomb in the house?"
He said this in a very low voice, as if afraid of being overheard.
Liu Chen nodded and handed the pendant on her phone to Ren Yu.
Ren Yu slowly reached out and held it. It was hot, and it wasn't an illusion. Ren Yu could clearly feel that the heat in his hand was even higher this time.
"Then let's tell everyone and go out for dinner. I'll persuade my dad."
"Go out where? Everyone will stay home and eat. I've been cooking all morning!"