By the rules of this world, each person only retained their most basic personal information. Whether they possessed a certain skill, how they had arrived here, what environment they had previously lived in, or who they had known — all of it was unknown.

In other words, the moment a person entered, the world’s overseer had placed a barrier over their memories.

Bai Youwei had been unaffected — likely due to her identity as a monarch.

She slowly reasoned it through: Strictly speaking, the overseer of this world and I are at the same level of authority. Since we’re equals, it naturally cannot tamper with my memories.

But Shen Mo was in a far worse position.

Shen Mo was a subject. If he had truly lost his memories, he would not come looking for her. Even if they met face to face, there was a very real chance he wouldn’t recognize her.

Bai Youwei’s brow knit together. A deep sense of unease settled over her.

On the other side of the kitchen, Yi Zichu had already finished preparing the fish and set it to marinate with ginger and scallion. He then moved on to the large prawns in the bag.

Remove the antennae, remove the rostral spine, butterfly the back, devein…

A strange feeling.

His hands were still clumsy and uncertain, yet every step of the process surfaced in his mind with inexplicable clarity.

Yi Zichu paused his movements and murmured to himself: “Maybe… I was a kitchen apprentice at a restaurant before?”

“Who would take on a sixteen-year-old apprentice?” Bai Youwei said with a dismissive snort.

Yi Zichu quickly countered: “Most apprentices start at around fifteen or sixteen. At first you can only do odd jobs — washing and sorting vegetables. Then you start training your knife skills, helping with cutting and prep, learning to make braises, plating cold dishes, seasoning — cold dishes and hot dishes alike, making broths…”

He trailed off as he went, because he realized the workflow of a restaurant kitchen was surfacing in his mind with increasing clarity.

Bai Youwei said: “Couldn’t you think more optimistically? Maybe you’re the successor to some great chef, and you ended up here before you could finish your training.”

“That’s possible too…” Yi Zichu smiled slightly and bent his head back down to continue preparing the prawns.

After a moment, he kept busy while speaking to Bai Youwei: “By the way — when I was outside just now, I ran into the local police. Since I’d filed a report before, they came to ask about the situation… But we don’t know the thugs’ names or addresses, and there are no surveillance cameras here, so even if a case is filed, it’ll most likely amount to nothing.”

Bai Youwei was surprised. “The police here handle things that carelessly?”

“This is the livestream world, after all… Even some police officers have their own channels, and to maintain their viewer numbers, they focus their resources on serious criminal cases.” Yi Zichu gave a quiet sigh — there was something prematurely world-weary about the sound. “Serial killings, dismemberment cases, locked-room murders… pursuing that kind of case stirs up far more audience enthusiasm.”

Bai Youwei nodded.

True enough. Compared to those explosive scenes, who would want to watch the police hauling in a few troublemaking street thugs?

Yi Zichu continued: “In a place like this, the more prosperous and crowded it is, the higher the crime rate. People do all kinds of attention-grabbing things there, so living out here actually has its benefits — remote, but also safer.”

“Safer?” Bai Youwei stated the facts without mercy. “It takes half an hour for the police to arrive after you call, and there’s no help to be found when you’re taken hostage by me.”

Yi Zichu: “…”

He hesitated, then mustered his courage to speak: “You’ve been able to buy so much food, which means you’ve already gathered enough points. Could you… let us go? We can’t pay any ransom, and we don’t have any real capabilities… keeping us hostage doesn’t really benefit you either, does it?”

Bai Youwei: “I feel like it.”

Yi Zichu, once again: “…”

Bai Youwei glanced over at Youyou standing to the side and spoke in a lofty, commanding tone: “It looks like you’re not much use in here anyway. Go clean a room for me. I want a room to myself — a group of little children at night grinding teeth and sleep-talking, I can’t get any rest like that!”

Youyou fidgeted nervously with her hands, bowed her head, gave a quiet “oh,” and quickly slipped out.

—