Home of Psychics

Chapter 4

"It's fake! That's boring." Vivi was very disappointed.

"Let me tell you, don't even think about that kind of thing, it'll scare people to death," Rui'er said seriously.

"Hey! Do we have that capability?" Kiyohiko asked while eating.

"By the way, starting tomorrow, it's your turn to cook. I've been doing it for a week now," Rui'er reminded them of their responsibilities.

"Oh dear, didn't I just say that? I'm going to Zhenjiang tomorrow to broadcast a table tennis match, and I'll be back on Tuesday or Wednesday." Qingyan pretended to suddenly realize something.

When Vivi saw Ruier turn to her, she quickly said, "My cousin asked me to go to Wuxi for fun. She's already bought the long-distance bus tickets—I don't have classes on Monday and Tuesday, so I'll be back in the afternoon."

"You two heartless and unjust bastards!" Rui'er roared.

When the sun shone directly on Rui'er's face, she groggily woke up. "Why is it so quiet? Have those two already slept?" she muttered as she got up. Qingyan and Weiwei weren't in the room at all; the bed was already empty. There was a note on the bedside table: "Honey, we've left. Take care of yourself these next few days. We'll bring back some good food."

P.S.: The bedroom phone is broken, so you'll have to make do with the one in the living room.

Rui'er was so angry that she tore up the note before she could finish reading it.

Being home alone is boring, and she doesn't want to go home. Her parents would worry about her even more, so being bored is better than being alone.

She tried calling everyone, but no one was available; even Tom had vanished without a trace. She could only watch TV for a while, then flip through comic books, finally managing to stay awake until dark, and went to bed early.

Who knew that the more bored I was, the less I could fall asleep, and I tossed and turned until after 11 o'clock before finally falling asleep.

She had just fallen asleep when the phone suddenly rang. She instinctively reached for the phone on the bedside table, but heard no sound. She then realized that the phone was broken.

She didn't want to go to the living room to answer the phone at all, but the ringing wouldn't stop until she got her answer. She finally turned on the light and went to the living room.

"Hello?"

It was quiet on the other end of the receiver.

"Hello……"

There was still no sound.

"..."

It was so quiet you could hear the clock ticking.

One, two, three, four...

She suddenly remembered the story that Kiyohiko had told her during the day.

"Trying to scare me? Humph! Let's see how long you can hold out," she said defiantly.

A minute later, a busy tone sounded, but there was no hanging-up notification.

"Sigh... Now I can't sleep at all. Who could it be? Qingyan? Weiwei?" Ruier went back to her bedroom, read for a while, and then turned off the light to go to sleep.

Sundays were spent in idleness and boredom.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [10]: She had to go to work on Monday, so she drank a glass of milk before bed and fell asleep quickly.

The sharp ring of the telephone seemed to pierce her heart. Rui'er jumped up, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest.

"That's outrageous! There's a limit to jokes!" She stormed into the living room, grabbed the phone, and shouted, "Hello!"

Who is it?

There was still no sound.

"Have you had enough fun?!" Rui'er wasn't good at swearing, and even in her anger, she couldn't say anything.

One, two, three, four...

It was so quiet you could hear the clock ticking.

One minute later, a busy signal sounded.

She was so angry that she couldn't sleep and sat in the living room for half a day.

Naturally, I was not in good spirits when I went to work the next day.

My colleague joked, "The game last night was so exciting, I didn't go to sleep until 2 a.m., did you too?"

"What competition?" Rui'er asked while yawning.

"The table tennis semi-finals! In the end, XXX and XX made it to the finals."

"Hmm? From what time to what time?"

"Didn't you watch it? It was from 11 o'clock to 2 o'clock. Today's final is sure to be even better, remember to watch it!" After saying that, my colleague walked away.

"11 to 2 o'clock? That means Qingyan was in the broadcast van the whole time. It couldn't have been her making the call." Ruier muttered to herself. "Could it have been Weiwei? That's unlikely. Her cousin would have scolded her to death, and she couldn't have kept quiet for even a minute. She would have laughed herself silly by now. Could it be... really... something's up?" She felt a chill run down her spine.

I originally planned to go home tonight and wait for Qingyan and the others to come back, but my parents actually went out too, saying they weren't coming home tonight. How pitiful.

That night, Ruier couldn't fall asleep in bed. The osmanthus tree in the yard cast dappled shadows on the curtains, which she found frightening. She was terrified at the slightest sound.

Time seemed to pass incredibly slowly; ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock—she felt like a prisoner awaiting trial.

Finally, without any warning, the phone rang loudly!

She abruptly pulled the blanket over her head, determined not to take it!

The phone ringing seemed to have a magical power, constantly drilling into her mind, ringing again and again.

She couldn't hold back any longer and jumped up to turn on all the lights.

He grabbed the microphone.

There was no sound.

It was very quiet.

Rui'er's hands were trembling slightly, and she felt cold sweat all over her body.

The clock ticked very slowly.

One, two, three, four...

The call finally ended.

It was still very quiet around us, but for a moment it felt like something unseen was approaching... How terrifying!

She didn't even know how she got back to bed; she was trembling, surrounded by danger and threats.

All the lights are on.

...

Kiyohiko and Vivi stepped into the house at almost the same time.

Rui'er was still asleep, and she didn't know how she fell asleep. Anyway, nothing happened that night.

"Honey, I'm so glad you're okay! We can't leave you home alone again." The two of them exclaimed.

"You guys still know... I'm almost dead," Rui'er said irritably.

“I didn’t even call back. I got off the bus halfway there. Look how dangerous it was. Vivi must have heard about it too.”

Kiyohiko handed over the day's newsletter as he spoke.

"The perpetrator who broke into a house at night, burgled the homeowner, and stabbed the homeowner was apprehended in the early hours of the morning."

The perpetrator broke into six homes in a month, succeeding easily each time. Last night, during another burglary, he accidentally woke the homeowner. When the homeowner begged for mercy, he pulled out a knife and stabbed the homeowner, seriously injuring him before fleeing. In the early hours of the morning, his flustered demeanor and bloodstains aroused the suspicion of community security officers, leading to his arrest. According to his confession, his original target was a first-floor apartment. Knowing that only a young woman was home recently, he had been lying in wait for three days, but each time he was about to strike, the lights inside would suddenly turn on, deterring him from acting, so he changed his target.

"Oh my god! So... that phone call saved my life!" Rui'er's face turned pale after reading it, and she muttered to herself.

"What's that ringtone?" Kiyohiko and Vivi asked in unison.

Ruier suddenly raised an eyebrow: "Who broke the bedroom phone?!"

"Hi! I'm back!" Ruier shouted as she pushed open the door. As usual, Weiwei hadn't returned yet. Qingyan sat on the sofa, hugging a cushion, lost in thought.

"Get up, get up! Let's go buy some delicious food, we can have some fun today." Rui'er was in high spirits.

"Payday?" Qingyan remembered the date more clearly than she did.

Yes, that's right.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [11]: "Then, can you give me something?" Kiyohiko did not respond positively to her suggestion and continued to sit and lie lazily.

"Tell me about it." Rui'er was clearly in a very good mood.

"The crystal ball, you know I've wanted it for a long time."

Where can I buy it?

"Golden Eagle..."

Before she could finish saying the word "eagle," Rui'er had already snatched another cushion and thrown it on her head: "You can go die now, Golden Eagle?!"

Even selling me wouldn't be enough!

"You told me to say it!" Kiyohiko retorted with the cushion in his hand, and the two burst into laughter.

The next day, Qingyan got off work late. When she got home, the sky was full of stars, but the house was quiet. If the living room light hadn't been on, she would have suspected that the two guys hadn't come back.

Pushing open the door, Ruier and Weiwei sat there with serious expressions, a package placed on the table in front of them like a priceless treasure.

"Tell me honestly, when did you first meet rich people?" Vivi was the first to challenge.

"What is this? Is it mine?" Qingyan tried to pick it up to take a look, but Ruier slapped her hand away.

“FedEx, do we know anyone who can afford this? You must be doing something behind our backs, confess!” “How should I know? Don’t you guys check the address?” “Well, he must have written it down.” “Oh?” Kiyohiko took the package. The sender’s name was written as: Details inside.

"Let's open it then." She solved the problem in a few quick movements, revealing a red velvet bag inside, which felt round and heavy.

What could it be?

"It won't be like the thing Doreen sent last time, will it?" Vivi still felt lingering fear.

Kiyohiko ignored her and opened the bag on his own.

A crystal ball, sparkling and translucent, changes its magical colors under the light.

"You two are really good at this, you made me really think it was an anonymous package," Qingyan said, half annoyed and half pleased.

“Miss, take a good look,” Rui’er handed the package to her. “Even if I were to buy you a glass ball or something to coax you, I wouldn’t be so extravagant as to use FedEx to play with it.” It really was true. And, details to be continued, details to be continued, it was just a crystal ball. “Then who could it be?” Qingyan asked curiously.

"Let me ask you, anyway, unexpected wealth is never a good thing," Rui'er said gleefully.