Chapter 71: Ravine Stone

Chu Susu said “wait a moment” to Li Le’er, then grabbed a tissue and bent down to pick up the shattered little packaging bag.

She stared at it thoughtfully for a moment, feeling utterly baffled.

She rarely brought people home because they had a little dog, to avoid scaring Pipi—not to mention doing something like this.

Xia Zilu had come over before, but they’d only watched a movie together at most. After that, it had been Han Xuan.

The lubricant inside the packaging bag hadn’t dried yet, clearly opened recently. With the dry air in the Imperial Capital, she had no doubt that anything over a week old would have evaporated completely.

This meant it was new trash from this period, but that made it even more impossible.

Chu Susu had special pet monitoring at home. She spent some time reviewing the bedroom footage from the past two months but couldn’t find when this fragment had been left behind.

It was mainly in a blind spot at the corner of the bed, out of the camera’s view.

Moreover, the only people who had entered her home were herself, Han Xuan, Fang Chen who occasionally came to deliver things, and Chu Qingyang who had specially visited her last time.

None of them could possibly have left behind a finger cot packaging bag?

“How strange…”

She muttered softly, picked up her phone, and continued her video call with Li Le’er.

Li Le’er, clueless, asked, “What were you doing? What weird thing did you say?”

“This packaging bag isn’t mine.”

Li Le’er thought she was joking. “No way. Did a thief break into your house or something? And all they did was leave a packaging bag?”

“I don’t know.” Chu Susu frowned and tossed the trash first—good thing it hadn’t dirtied the floor. “I just checked the surveillance from the past two months. I’m sure it wasn’t me.”

Li Le’er thought for a moment and offered a new idea. “Could it be Pipi? It’s just a fragment. Maybe it saw it and treated it like a toy and chewed it up.”

This explanation made a bit of sense. A little dog’s intelligence could sometimes surpass human imagination. Pipi understood basic commands and even helped her take out the trash sometimes, so it wasn’t entirely impossible.

She was also familiar with this brand of finger cots. If she’d bought some occasionally before, it would sound normal…

Wait, the brand.

She suddenly recalled that in the dream with Han Xuan, she’d ultimately picked this one from a row laid out on the bed.

Was it really such a coincidence?

Chu Susu instinctively felt that if the dream wasn’t a dream but something that had actually happened, it would explain everything.

After all, Han Xuan was fully capable of making her forget…

But there were inconsistencies. Han Xuan had been so weak at the time that even a touch made her skin hurt like a burn—how could she have done anything else?

Besides, if Han Xuan had really done it, why would she have had that dream? Wouldn’t that be self-contradictory?

And Han Xuan had no reason to make her lose her memory. With their current relationship, anything would happen naturally.

…Though the fact that Chu Susu had been the receiving side in the dream really irked her.

Amid her jumbled thoughts, Li Le’er pulled the conversation back to her and Zhou Xiaoying, rambling on with a bunch of complaints:

“Actually, I don’t dislike Xiaoying. I like her as a friend. But with her acting like this now, I don’t even know how to face her…”

Chu Susu listened while checking the other bed corners for similar trash, but found nothing.

She offered some comfort, though she knew it wouldn’t help much. Both of them were close to her—you couldn’t go too hard when both sides were like flesh on your palms.

Li Le’er started sniffling again. “Wahh, when does your conference end? I wanna eat with you.”

“In three days.”

“It’s already December. New Year’s in two weeks.” Li Le’er said, “I don’t care. When you get back, you have to drink with me. We gotta go out for New Year’s too!”

After thinking, she added, “Best if you bring the little lamb. Hehe.”

After all, she couldn’t ruin their chance to spend such an important day together, hehe.

Chu Susu: …

You don’t seem that heartbroken.

The next day, Chu Susu flew to Jiang City with Rebecca. The climate here was much more humid than the Imperial Capital. Even just staying in the hotel made her skin feel more comfortable.

A company-sponsored business trip naturally wasn’t too extravagant. She’d thought she and Rebecca would each have their own room, but they ended up in a suite.

It had two bedrooms, a living room, and was fully equipped with a fridge, microwave, even an oven—much larger than a standard room.

“So generous of the company?” She set down her luggage and smiled at Rebecca. “Even booking us a luxury suite?”

Rebecca seemed to be in a good mood and smiled warmly. “I requested it. After all, you’re helping me out this trip. The least I could do was fight for better accommodations for you.”

Chu Susu shook her head with a smile. “You’re too kind.”

The conference started tomorrow; guests were arriving one after another today.

The project was a government-funded theme park themed around local customs and scenery—essentially a large amusement park. If done well, it would become a major local attraction. The main goal was to boost the area’s fame, attract tourists, and develop tourism.

But it had nothing to do with Chu Susu’s usual work. In her mind, media handled these kinds of projects. She had no idea how Rebecca had connected with them.

Tomorrow’s schedule was morning speeches from various parties, then afternoon and evening visits to the park to experience the facilities. The day after would continue with experiences, but focused on tasting local specialties.

Rebecca said she needed to video call her daughter and asked Chu Susu to order some takeout for her.

Of course, she had to handle these chores when out with the boss. While deftly placing the order, she listened to Rebecca talking to her daughter—her voice so soft and gentle, none of her usual decisive sharpness.

“Lanlan, Mommy’s arrived.” Rebecca murmured softly to the camera. “Has Lanlan been good and listened to Grandma and Grandpa?”

A childish baby voice came from the phone, loudly declaring, “Yes!”

Then she slowly reported what she’d been doing at home. Her language skills weren’t great yet, but it was clear she was trying hard to express herself clearly, wanting Mommy to understand.

Listening, Chu Susu felt a pang of envy.

Her own mother had passed early, and cell phones didn’t support video calls back then, so she’d never experienced a scene like this.

On the other hand, she empathized with Rebecca. Pipi was like her daughter at home. Witnessing this mother-daughter chat made her miss the little dog too.

She wondered how it was doing at Han Xuan’s place.

Lost in thought, she heard Rebecca’s daughter ask, “Mommy, who’s the big sister behind you?”

“Oh.” Rebecca realized the phone had accidentally captured Chu Susu boiling water behind her. “That’s Mommy’s work sister.”

“Oh, can I say hi to her?”

“Of course.”

Rebecca shot Chu Susu a look, and she was more than happy to join. She leaned over by the screen and waved. “Hi there.”

On the screen was an adorably chubby little girl wearing a knitted hat. From her cheeks to her fingers, everything was excessively fair—whether from her complexion or the screen light, who knew.

Rebecca prompted, “Lanlan, aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

Following Mommy’s words, the little baby puffed her cheeks, seeming to let out a tiny burp, and said cutely in her baby voice, “Hi, big sis! I’m Feng Zhilan, four and a half years old. I haven’t started school yet.”

Her soft, fluffy cuteness melted hearts.

Even though Chu Susu had never liked kids and had no plans for children, she couldn’t help being charmed and wanted to reach out and pat her.

“Mm.” She smiled and introduced herself in the same format. “I’m Chu Susu, twenty-five years old, already graduated from university.”

Feng Zhilan’s eyes clearly lit up. A grown-up’s response was silent encouragement, making the little human cub’s excitement soar.

Rebecca was naturally delighted to see her daughter happy.

The three of them chatted around the phone for a long time, until they’d finished the takeout and it was time to review tomorrow’s speech draft, before reluctantly ending the call.

Feng Zhilan looked a bit sad. “Mommy, after your trip, can you bring Susu-jie to play with me?”

“Don’t make such demands. Work is busy…” Rebecca said softly.

But Chu Susu readily agreed. “Sure, no problem.”

Feng Zhilan cheered, then happily stuck out her pinky. “Pinky promise?”

“Mm, pinky promise.”

After hanging up, Rebecca glanced at her, smiled, and sighed, seemingly apologizing for Zhilan’s cheeky request:

—

“Don’t take what a child says too seriously. She probably invited you over on a whim and will forget about it in the blink of an eye.”

“It’s fine.” Chu Susu said, “I can go, as long as you don’t mind.”

Rebecca gave her a hesitant look, as if she wanted to say something but held back.

“This child,” she murmured softly, “is a little different from other kids, so I’m always especially worried about her.”

Beyond that, Rebecca didn’t explain further. She opened her computer and focused on reviewing the documents.

Thus, Chu Susu didn’t quite understand. Zhilan seemed no different from any normal child. Was it a health issue?

Of course, she wouldn’t pry, and instead concentrated on proofreading the manuscript with Rebecca.

Later, after finishing up her work, Chu Susu also wanted to check on Pipi. Back in her own bedroom, she sent a message to Han Xuan.

The other side seemed busy and didn’t call back until quite a while later.

“Sorry.”

A smudge of paint streaked Han Xuan’s cheek, and she pursed her lips in embarrassment.

“I’m painting an oil painting, and the room’s a bit of a mess…”

The video quality was low, only vaguely revealing a corner of the canvas behind her—an embryonic form with colorful blocks piled up, impossible to tell what it depicted.

Chu Susu didn’t pay it much mind.

But if she knew that one day in the future, she’d be fucked senseless right in front of this painting, unable to even speak, she swore she’d scrutinize it closely right now.

Too bad there were no ifs.