parfum

Chapitre 9

"What... what do you want to do?" Chen Kai suddenly had a bad feeling.

"What else can I do? I'm the class monitor, of course I have to show some class spirit. I can only squeeze in with the boys for a couple of days~" Liang Dong said, then plopped down on Chen Kai's bed. "The two of us will just have to make do~"

"Why me?" Chen Kai jumped up immediately. Did he have a grudge against him in his past life?

Liang Dong looked him up and down: "Why else? You're so skinny, like a stick. Who else would we ask if not you?"

Chen Kai was speechless after hearing this. He felt that his previous fantasies about traveling had been shattered piece by piece, and now he was only shrouded in nightmares.

"Alright, let's pack up and go out to play. We have half a day this afternoon, let's go hiking!" After saying that, he threw his big bag onto Chen Kai's bed, flopped down on the bed, and spread his body out in a starfish position.

Chen Kai stood by the bed, glanced at the spot Liang Dong had occupied, and felt utterly disheartened. He was afraid he wouldn't even be able to sleep in the corner of the bed tonight.

The rest of the day was spent with a large group of people climbing and taking pictures on the nearby hills. Chen Kai didn't know many of them and just felt bored. He didn't dare to get close to Liang Dong again, fearing that Liang Dong's small eyes might come up with some way to torture him again.

"I want to go back and rest!" Chen Kaichao said to Liang Dong. This kind of trip really disappointed him.

"Go ahead, go ahead, you can find your way. Oh, by the way, Wang Pingping from our class is also going back. She's not feeling well, you can take her."

Chen Kai never dreamed that this fatso would give him such a chore before he left. He said gruffly, "Who is Wang Pingping? I don't know her!"

"Yes, that's me. You must be Chen Kai?" A girl came up behind me with a smile.

Chen Kai glanced at her, showing no sign of discomfort. If there was anything about her that was uncomfortable, it was that she was unbearably ugly, both fat and short, with no outstanding features on her face.

“Yes, you’re going back too? Let’s go together!” Chen Kai said, walking ahead with his head down, the pain of the journey adding to his already heavy heart.

On the way back, Wang Pingping kept asking Feixiao, "Who was that person with you that day? What does he do? How old is he?" "What? Older than us? That's great! How much older?"

Chen Kai wanted to say that the man was probably several hundred years older, but he swallowed the words back. Finally, when he could see the house with its red roof and white walls, he shouted, "We're here!" and ran all the way down the mountain, leaving the incessantly chattering Wang Pingping far behind.

As soon as he ran through the iron gate, he saw a girl in overalls smiling at him, holding a bucket in her hand. Chen Kai suddenly felt a sparkle in his eyes. To be honest, the girl wasn't particularly beautiful, but she seemed to radiate a faint glow that was exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

"Are you a student here on vacation?" The girl smiled at Chen Kai, probably in her teens.

"Yes, yes, I was a little tired so I came back early!" Why was it just an old man who came in? I didn't see this girl.

"Oh, it's good to interact more with your classmates!" The girl looked at Chen Kai with a reproachful gaze, but her tone was mature beyond her years.

"What are you going to do with that?" Chen Kaitian, being good-natured, didn't argue with her and asked, pointing to the bucket in her hand.

"Going to fertilize the flowers? Want to come along?" The girl smiled at him, and as she turned her head, her two braids seemed to come alive and jumped up.

"Go! Go! Go!" Chen Kai's heart fluttered, and he quickly followed.

The girl walked and talked, looking very happy. Chen Kai's mood gradually improved as he listened to her clear voice. The two walked to an iron gate, and she took out her key and opened the gate. Inside was an endless field of flowers, with vibrant colors that immediately caught the eye.

"What beautiful flowers!" Chen Kai didn't know what else to say besides that.

"Hehehe, don't be so surprised," the girl said with a proud expression. "There's a whole greenhouse in the back; this is only half of it!"

"Wow, you just grow flowers all day? You don't have to do anything else?" Chen Kai looked at her freckled face, which was tanned by the sun, and suddenly felt that this kind of life was also very happy.

"Yes, is it true that you don't have to do anything to grow flowers?" she said, opening the lid of the bucket in her hand. "Flower fertilizer smells terrible! How can most people stand it?"

"It stinks!" Chen Kai said, covering his nose and peering into the bucket of fertilizer. It was a purplish-brown liquid with brown foam, a sight that made him feel uneasy. He had never seen fertilizer this color before; it seemed he was truly unfamiliar with such things.

"Come help me quickly!" the girl said, already shoveling soil under the flowers, and handed Chen Kai a shovel.

"My name is Liu Ruyi, but many people call me Ruyi!" she said while she was busy.

Chen Kai pinched his nose. Why did this name sound so nostalgic? If names could be described like that... Enduring the stench, he managed to squeeze out a few words: "My name is Chen Kai~"

"Oh!" Ruyi didn't even glance at him, continuing to busy herself with fertilizing: "This is the garden my grandfather opened. My grandfather and I both love flowers. Looking at these flowers makes us feel much calmer!" As Ruyi spoke, her gaze truly became as calm as water.

"Was the old man who arranged our arrangements your grandfather?"

"No, that's Grandpa's friend. He's been taking care of Grandpa ever since! The three of us look after this garden together!"

Chen Kai felt something was amiss. Isn't it normal to hire younger people to take care of things? This family is really strange.

"Aren't these flowers beautiful?" Ruyi asked Chen Kai proudly.

Chen Kai pinched his nose and looked around at the garden in front of him. It was really beautiful, so beautiful that it seemed unreal. "But what's the use of being so beautiful? It will still wither in winter!"

"Hehe!" Ruyi smiled at Chen Kai: "These flowers will never wither, can't you see? It's already autumn, but they're still blooming so beautifully!"

It was true; even the autumn grass nearby seemed to be decaying, its leaves turning yellow. But these flowers bloomed as if in spring, showing no signs of fading.

"Who says flowers only bloom for one season a year? We're going to keep these flowers blooming forever!" Ruyi said, having already buried all the fertilizer in the soil.

"Flowering season? Flowering season!" Chen Kai felt that this matter was very strange. Could there really be a flower in this world that never fades? Once the flowering season is over, what will bloom then?

Before I could even figure it out, someone slapped me on the back of the head. "Chen Kai, you're really not a good friend of mine. You just left me all alone in the mountains and ran off!" It was the chubby Wang Pingping.

"Is that in the mountains too? Didn't we already see this house?" Chen Kai exclaimed.

"Enough with the nonsense, I'm not happy anyway. Go back and have your friend treat me to dinner!" Wang Pingping said angrily.

"Hey, is this our business? Why are we dragging other people into this?" Could this woman have taken a liking to Feixiao?

"Oh! Don't want us, ours!" Wang Pingping said, glancing at Ruyi standing beside her. "What do I have to do with you? It stinks here, I'm going back to rest!" With that, she turned and dragged her fat body away.

"How could this happen!" He was at a loss for words.

"If you don't have anything else to do, go and prepare dinner for me. Your classmates will probably be back in a little while!" Ruyi said to Chen Kai with a smile, her face radiating sunshine.

Chen Kai then realized that there are different kinds of demons. Liang Dong is an undisguised demon, Fei Xiao is beautiful yet wicked, and Ru Yi is a smiling demon. He had only known her for a short time, and he had already done several things for her.

An afternoon passed just like that. He helped Ruyi wash vegetables and cook, busy for half a day. It seems that he is destined to be a busybody. No matter where he is, he is always doing the work of washing vegetables and cooking. It is better to be with Feixiao. After all, it is a meal for two people, which is much smaller than the portion for more than forty people.

As soon as I stepped out of the dimly lit kitchen, I saw the old man I had seen when I first came in, his back hunched, emerging from the shadows of the corridor.

"Hello!" Chen Kai met him face to face, unsure of what to say.

"My surname is Zhang, just call me Old Zhang!" the old man said as he walked into the kitchen. "Ruyi, don't touch the fire, be careful not to get hurt!" He sounded extremely worried.

Chen Kai felt that something was strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was the Undefeated Garden behind him? Maybe it was the way Old Zhang looked at people. Anyway, everything seemed odd. He just hoped to go back as soon as possible and end this trip to the deep mountains.

By the time the students returned, all covered in sweat, it was already evening. Liang Dong had just entered the room when he saw Chen Kai and looked very happy: "Oh my, why did you come back so early? It would have been great to go hiking with us!"

"Really? Is there any beautiful scenery?" Chen Kai felt a pang of regret upon hearing this.

"Where? We're playing games. The loser either has to drink or carry someone on their back, and the winner has to choose!" Liang Dong said, even happier.

"Oh!" Now he no longer regrets it.

"It's a pity you couldn't come! We had so much fun!"

"Yes, it's such a pity!" Chen Kai said, but he didn't feel any regret at all.

"We definitely have to go tomorrow! Let's go rafting! Liang Dong has already negotiated the location and the price of the kayaks!"

"Okay, okay, okay~" This sounds pretty good, tomorrow is still something to look forward to.

During the meal, Chen Kai finally met Ruyi's grandfather, an elderly man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies. He was upright with white hair like snow in winter, but he had a certain air about him, completely different from that old Zhang.

He exchanged a few polite words with the students and then sat down to eat together. The meal was very lavish, even excessively so, with large amounts of fish and meat filling the table, making it seem as if he were entertaining some important guest rather than a group of poor students.

The students, tired and hungry after a day of playing, were all busy eating. Chen Kai happened to be sitting next to Ruyi's grandfather, and it wouldn't be right not to say something, so he forced himself to make conversation: "Um, are you Mr. Liu? The garden is very beautiful!"

Upon hearing this, a strange expression suddenly appeared on the old man's face: "Why did you go to the garden?"

"It was Ruyi who led me in!" Chen Kai said, glancing at Ruyi across from him. Ruyi winked at her grandfather and stuck out her tongue.

"Ah, is that so? That garden is what I'm most proud of; most people can't see it!"

"Oh!" Can't ordinary people see it? I and Wang Pingping both saw it this afternoon. "The flowers there are so beautiful, it's been so long since I've seen such beautiful flowers!"

“Yes, and it won’t decay!” he said, laughing heartily. “It’s my treasure!”

"Um, um!" Chen Kai scratched his head: "Are there really flowers in this world that never fade?"

"Little child, you're still too young!" he said, chuckling twice. "Beautiful things have the right to immortality, and I am the one who pursues beauty!"

Chen Kai found it increasingly strange. This person's argument was similar to, yet different from, what Fei Xiao had said. It was hard to say whether it was right or wrong, but the old man's helpless tone about beauty and immortality was exactly the same as Fei Xiao's.

After dinner, everyone helped Lao Zhang and Ruyi pack up their things. With their bellies full and backs stretched, they were all exhausted and went upstairs one by one. Lao Zhang looked at them from downstairs, his back hunched, and said loudly, "We won't have electricity here after ten o'clock. I'll lock the door. You guys get some sleep. We're going out to play tomorrow!"

Looking into his eyes, Chen Kai felt a chill run down his spine again; it was as if he were looking at a group of lambs to the slaughter.

"Liang Dong, don't you feel something's wrong?" He tugged at Liang Dong, who was going upstairs in front of him.

"What? Go to sleep, I'm so sleepy~" She grabbed Chen Kai and dragged him upstairs, tugging him under her arm.

Everyone else had played all day and collapsed into bed to sleep, but Liang Dong hadn't even settled on a sleeping spot with Chen Kai before he was already snoring loudly on the bed. Chen Kai had no choice but to push Liang Dong's bulky body further into the bed, squeeze himself into a spot on the edge, and make do for the night.

I wonder what Feixiao is doing? He's probably at home enjoying sleeping and playing video games, right? Maybe he's lying on his bed looking in the mirror after he's eaten? But I don't even have a place to sleep anymore, and only now do I realize how good he is. Thinking about this, I drifted off to sleep.

He didn't know how long he had slept, but he heard a faint sound in the corridor outside. Liang Dong next to him was snoring loudly, but the sound still reached his ears through the walls.

After being woken up, Chen Kai struggled to turn over a few times, but still couldn't fall back asleep. He felt like he was being drowned out by the noise, so he had no choice but to get out of bed, walk around for a bit, and come back later.

He pushed open the door and went out. There was no one in the corridor, only the faint moonlight shining through the window onto the brown floor. He had no idea where the soft, rustling sound had come from.

Chen Kai stretched and wandered around cautiously, afraid of waking anyone, but the rooms on both sides were deathly silent, with only the occasional snore from a sound sleeper. These people must be sleeping too soundly.

He wandered along the long corridor, which seemed unremarkable during the day but became quite frightening at night, enveloped in darkness. Just as he reached the point where he was about to go downstairs, a room door creaked open.

Chen Kai was startled and quickly squatted down on the stairs. Who was it? Was someone else unable to sleep so late, just like him?

In the darkness, a figure could be seen emerging from a room. Chen Kai breathed a sigh of relief, guessing it was a classmate who had gotten up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Just as the person was about to emerge from the shadows of the stairs, they didn't head towards the bathroom. Instead, they took a few steps to another room, took out a bunch of keys, and fumbled in the darkness to open the locked door. The keys clinked together, making a soft, metallic clanging sound, just like the one he had heard earlier.

It must be a thief! Chen Kai thought, barely daring to breathe, and tiptoed down the stairs to see if he could find anything to deal with him.

Just as Chen Kai reached the bottom of the stairs, before he could even find anything in the darkness, the person upstairs had already come down. He quickly ducked behind the stairs. How could they be so fast? Before he could even think about catching the thief, the person had already descended the stairs, pushed open the living room door, and gone out. The cold moonlight illuminated his face, revealing a face etched with wrinkles and a strange smile. It was Old Zhang. He was hunched over, carrying something that looked like a bucket, and headed straight for the backyard.

What's he doing here? And what's he looking for at their place so late at night? They're just poor students, and they didn't bring anything with them on their trip. Or is it something he's looking for that only they have?

As Chen Kai suppressed his fear, he followed. Old Zhang made a few turns in the night, bypassed the garden, and headed towards a row of glass houses at the back. It seemed that this was the greenhouse that Ruyi had mentioned during the day.

Chen Kai lay prone in the grass outside, waiting for him to come out. The autumn grass was damp and cool, and coupled with his fear, he kept shivering. He just hoped that he would come out quickly so that he could see what was in that greenhouse.

Fifteen minutes later, Old Zhang closed the greenhouse door and walked back into the house with a relaxed expression. Chen Kai waited until he was far away before daring to crawl out of the bushes. He looked back carefully in the direction Old Zhang had gone to make sure he wouldn't come back before tiptoeing towards the greenhouse.

The glass door was unlocked, but in the darkness, it was impossible to see what was inside; shadowy figures seemed to be lurking within.

Chen Kai stood outside for a while, feeling as if there was something dangerous inside, and his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of his chest.

"Feixiao, Feixiao, please bless me," he thought as he pushed open the glass door of the greenhouse. A stench hit him, making it hard to breathe. Then, by the moonlight, he saw many plastic buckets on the ground, just like the ones Ruyi had taken during the day. It seemed that this was where fermented flower fertilizer was made.

He covered his nose and walked around inside. There were dozens of barrels, all emitting a sour and foul smell. Apart from the stench, there was nothing strange about this greenhouse.

The stench was unbearable, and he felt he was making a mountain out of a molehill. He quickly looked for a way out and just as he reached the door, he saw a bucket placed on the outside. It looked like the one Old Zhang had just brought. It seemed to contain liquid, and some of it had already spilled out as it was shaken.

It was a dark brown liquid! Chen Kai's heart started pounding again. He squatted down, dipped his hand in it, and smelled it. It had a fishy smell—it was blood!

Could it be? Could it be? Chen Kai looked back at the buckets in the room. Were they all filled with blood?