The bright light shone through the window onto her face, making it itch.

Mu Dai reluctantly opened her eyes, unable to react immediately to where she was. There came a rustling sound from the door. She rubbed her eyes to look. Luo Ren was closing the door, carrying takeout bags as he entered.

Mu Dai asked curiously: “Eating again?”

Luo Ren said, “It’s noon.”

It was already noon, surprisingly.

Mu Dai got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up. As she passed by Luo Ren, he asked her: “Do you always tie your hair when you sleep?”

Mu Dai instinctively touched the small ponytail on her head and said: “I tie my hair at night when washing up. Sometimes I’m very tired and forget to untie it before going straight to sleep.”

Luo Ren said, “Letting it loose would be more relaxing.”

Mu Dai said, “Oh.”

After washing up, she came out to eat. It was rice topped with green peppers and meat. Both the vegetables and rice were still hot, and the taste was not bad. But today’s meal had an atmosphere far less comfortable than last night’s, and I felt strangely awkward.

She tried to make conversation: “What are we doing today?”

Luo Ren said, “You’d better not go out. I’ll think of a way, starting from those few points we analyzed last night, to see if we can find anything.”

Mu Dai fell silent, then, after a while, said: “Thank you, then.”

“It’s what I should do.”

After finishing the meal, Luo Ren took out a syringe to help her draw blood. He instructed her to roll up her sleeve and make a fist. When inserting the needle, he probably felt the position wasn’t quite right, so he reached out to support her arm. His palm was warm as it touched her bare forearm.

Mu Dai didn’t know what went wrong with her, but she instinctively pulled back a little.

Luo Ren didn’t speak for a second or two, then said: “Don’t move. Otherwise, the needle won’t be steady.”

Mu Dai felt awkward, and this awkwardness continued until Luo Ren left.

Mu Dai waited in the room for a long time with nothing to do, eventually tidying up the entire room: folding the blanket, wiping the sink counter, putting every crooked thing back in its place.

She felt there was still something she hadn’t done, and finally remembered she was supposed to wash Luo Ren’s clothes—but that piece of clothing, he seemed to have worn it out again.

In the late afternoon, there was movement at the door. It seemed that Luo Ren had returned and was using his key to open the door.

Mu Dai got up to look. The door opened slightly, but the person outside didn’t rush in, just poked a head in first, looking left and right.

Suddenly seeing Mu Dai, the person said, “Oh!”

It was Yan Hongsha.

Meeting Mu Dai’s surprised gaze, she rushed in with quick steps, the heavy backpack on her back pattering with her small run.

Running up to her, she gave Mu Dai a huge hug.

Mu Dai hadn’t yet recovered her senses: “How did you get here?”

Yan Hongsha looked up, using both hands to pinch her cheeks: “Oh, Mu Dai, you poor little thing. I’ve heard everything. How unlucky you are! Look at you, there’s no flesh left on your face.”

Mu Dai looked at her, still stunned, and glanced toward the door again. Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan had also come in, both carrying luggage bags. Luo Ren walked in last, closing the door.

As if in a dream, she asked again: “How did you all get here?”

It was Luo Ren who answered: “There are many things to investigate. I can’t manage it all alone.”

This wasn’t entirely true. The fact was, on Huo Zihong’s side, Luo Ren had concealed some details, only saying that the person had been found and nothing serious had happened, telling her not to worry.

The detailed situation was told to Yan Hongsha and the others.

Since Mu Dai’s car accident, Yan Hongsha hadn’t seen her. Upon hearing that she had been found, Yan couldn’t wait to come and see her. Cao Yanhua was shocked and lost color: “How could she have killed someone? Someone must be framing my little sister, Master. This won’t do! This is a big deal. I must go!”

In his heart, this matter was much more important than the murder script or anything else.

Yi Wansan, on the other hand, completely sat on the fence.

—With Luo Ren there, we don’t need to go, right? What? You both want to go? Then I’ll go too.

He was partly following the crowd and partly curious: He had heard she now had three personalities and wondered what she looked like now.

Yan Hongsha excitedly took things out of her backpack: “I brought luggage for you—clothes, face-washing and tooth-brushing things, and also…”

She handed the phone to Mu Dai, speaking with an air of worldly wisdom: “Whatever happens, we should discuss it together. Don’t always learn from novels about running away from home. It makes people so worried.”

Yi Wansan said, “Rich lady, you talk too much.”

Yan Hongsha said, “I’m just happy.”

As she spoke, her eyes reddened.

Mu Dai handed her a tissue: “Why are you crying?”

Luo Ren looked at Mu Dai: “Don’t use this phone yet, and don’t turn it on. The police have been checking over the past couple of days. Avoid the trouble.”

Mu Dai made a sound of acknowledgment and stuffed the phone back. When she turned her head, she saw Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan looking at her.

Mu Dai asked: “What are you looking at?”

Yi Wansan didn’t speak. Cao Yanhua hemmed and hawed for a while, then said: “You seem a bit different, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

He held back the second half of the sentence in his throat. What he wanted to ask was: Now, which… personality are you?

But he was afraid that asking would make him seem uncultured, or worse, break some taboo.

So he hurriedly tried to change the subject: “Anyway, I don’t believe you killed anyone. None of us believe it, right, Brother San?”

Cao Yanhua elbowed Yi Wansan, signaling him to say a word or two to boost morale and lift spirits.

Yi Wansan had no choice under his urging: “Little lady boss, although I’ve never really appreciated you…”

Damn, what kind of talk is this? Cao Yanhua wanted to smack him on the head.

Yi Wansan continued coolly: “But I believe you would never kill. Especially someone who has absolutely no connection to you.”

Since fighting the old clam and facing the wild man, Cao Yanhua had become quite inflated, considering himself quite special. Looking around, he felt everyone else was just ordinary, while he stood out from the crowd.

He echoed Yi Wansan: “Exactly! Someone must be setting you up. That person is in trouble now—he doesn’t know who he’s messing with!”

That night, Yan Hongsha and Mu Dai shared a room, Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua shared another, and Luo Ren had his own.

After Yan Hongsha’s initial excitement passed, she also began to scrutinize Mu Dai from all angles. But being straightforward, she just said what was on her mind.

“Mu Dai, have you recovered? Is this the real you now?”

The question had no logic to it. Mu Dai said, “What do you think?”

Yan Hongsha frowned: “I just feel there’s something a bit…”

At a loss for words, unable to express it, she got more confused the more she thought about it, and finally made a sweeping statement: “Anyway, as long as you’re still good as a person and don’t make big policy mistakes, I think it doesn’t matter. We’re still friends.”

Mu Dai’s heart stirred slightly.

She recalled Dr. He Ruihua’s words.

—In terms of re-acceptance, generally speaking, family > friends > lovers.

Yes, that’s why family is always family.

That’s why one can make many, many friends in a lifetime.

That’s why…

She sighed softly in her heart, reached out to turn off the light, and said: “Let’s sleep.”

When lying down, something was uncomfortable between her head and the pillow—she hadn’t untied her hair. Mu Dai reached in the dark to remove the elastic band, smoothing out her hair strand by strand.

Yan Hongsha suddenly remembered something: “Mu Dai, did you know Lian Shu was caught? What happened with your car accident?”

She propped herself up: “We all suspect that whatever she did, she must have been influenced by the murder script. It’s not her fault. But Luo Ren…”

Speaking of Luo Ren, she lay back down: “Luo Ren is ruthless. He said he wouldn’t pursue Lian Shu anymore, but he also wouldn’t say a word for her… But the matter of the murder script is indeed not something easy to tell others about. Even if told, others might not believe it.”

Car accident?

Mu Dai had almost forgotten about this incident.

She recalled the situation at that time. Lian Shu must have drugged her. When she woke up, it was already dark, on the outskirts, by the roadside. The car had already been sent away by Lian Shu.

“She probably wanted to strangle me, but didn’t have the strength. The rope was around my neck, and she was dragging me to the side, perhaps looking for a convenient place to finish the job, and then…”

Mu Dai took a breath. She remembered at that time, the pendant hanging from Lian Shu’s neck had dangled down.

It was also a piece of rouge amber.

“Lian Shu had a piece of rouge amber, very similar to the wild man’s piece…”

Yan Hongsha made a sound of acknowledgment: “We all know that. Then what happened… Did you wake up, so Lian Shu couldn’t succeed?”

“I woke up, watched for an opportunity, and used all my strength to hit her, then crawled out. At that time, the drug effect hadn’t worn off. My mind was foggy, and I couldn’t muster any strength. As I crawled, I collapsed. Later, hearing the sound of a car, I realized I might have crawled onto the road.”

After that, she couldn’t remember clearly. It seemed there was always a voice telling her: Get up! Get up! Otherwise, you’ll die!

Mu Dai shook her head gently, wanting to cast away all these unpleasant memories: “Lately, it seems like a year of bad luck, one thing after another, without a single thing going smoothly.”

Yan Hongsha hesitated for a moment, then asked softly: “So… how are things between you and Luo Ren?”

Mu Dai’s heart sank.

She bit her lip, not answering, then closed her eyes, pretending to be already asleep.

Yan Hongsha didn’t ask anymore.

Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan’s task tomorrow was to find Ma Chao.

Not as harmonious as Mu Dai and Yan Hongsha, the two refused to sleep in the same bed. After a game of rock-paper-scissors, the loser slept on the sofa.

Late into the night, Cao Yanhua was still tossing and turning on the sofa. It wasn’t that the sofa was uncomfortable; he was simply too indignant to fall asleep.

“Brother San, I know these little brats very well. When they’re bad, they’re extremely bad—full of lies and schemes. Ordinary people can’t handle them!”

Yi Wansan lay comfortably on the bed. Having been notified by Luo Ren and rushed all the way here, he could finally rest his muscles and bones, truly one of life’s great pleasures.

He halfheartedly responded to Cao Yanhua: “So, what do you plan to do?”

Cao Yanhua said, “I’ve already thought of a strategy. Anyway, cooperate with me tomorrow.”

In the darkness, a murderous aura spread around him: “I’ll show this stinking kid what it means to mess with Cao from Liberation Monument!”