Shen Mo’s expression was cold. He looked at her silently, then stood up and walked away.

Bai Youwei froze, watching him go to the back door. She couldn’t help pursing her lips, feeling very uninterested.

Pan Xiaoxin, who had been crouching in the corner warming himself by the fire, looked at both of them and said quietly, “Sister Weiwei, if you talk to Brother Mo like that, he’ll get angry.”

Bai Youwei rolled her eyes disdainfully. “What’s there to be angry about? I just asked if he would cry—that’s all.”

Pan Xiaoxin thought about it…

Although he felt Bai Youwei’s question was inappropriate, he couldn’t articulate specifically why it was inappropriate.

“Maybe… it’s inauspicious,” Pan Xiaoxin said uncertainly.

“If it’s inauspicious, it’s inauspicious for me—I didn’t say he would turn into a doll~” Bai Youwei snorted coldly. “What’s wrong with asking? Hmph, petty!”

Pan Xiaoxin didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth, then closed it, continuing to warm himself by the fire silently.

—Sigh, adults’ matters—he was just a kid, better not get involved.

“Hey, Xiaoxin,” Bai Youwei called him.

Pan Xiaoxin was startled and looked at her.

Bai Youwei said irritably, “Go get my loquats.”

Pan Xiaoxin: “Ah?… Get… get the loquats?”

“What’s wrong?” Bai Youwei frowned. “Didn’t you and Tan Xiao pick a lot? I remember they’re in your backpack.”

“Loquats?” Teacher Cheng heard the voice from the kitchen and leaned out halfway. “Does Weiwei want to eat loquats?”

He brought out a large glass bowl with about twenty loquats remaining inside.

Bai Youwei’s face immediately turned cold: “Only this much left?”

Su Man and Zhu Shu were still sitting in the dining area. Hearing this, they both felt a bit embarrassed, as if they’d secretly eaten someone else’s snacks. It was quite awkward.

Teacher Cheng quickly placated her: “We didn’t bring any food with us, and we still don’t know how long we’ll be trapped here, so we used your loquats first to fill our stomachs. Don’t worry, Weiwei—when we get out, we’ll pick more for you.”

Bai Youwei pressed her lips together. Although she was a bit unhappy, she understood the greater good was most important, so she pouted and said nothing.

Teacher Cheng, worried the others might misunderstand Bai Youwei, explained to Su Man and Zhu Shu: “Weiwei has never eaten loquats before. The loquats in Xiaoxin’s backpack were picked for Weiwei by them. She treasured them very much.”

“Who treasured them?” Bai Youwei said unhappily. “I just never ate freshly picked loquats before. I don’t care about them at all!”

She turned her face away, staring at the fire, not looking at anyone.

Everyone in the house could feel her sulky, unhappy mood.

Su Man had always been averse to this kind of inexplicable little-girl temper. She silently glanced at Zhu Shu beside her, suddenly feeling that compared to Bai Youwei, Zhu Shu was actually much more likable.

Over there, Shen Mo came back again, carrying another armful of firewood.

He crouched down beside Bai Youwei and repeated his technique, arranging the firewood piece by piece.

Bai Youwei thought with the loquats gone, he would comfort her.

Instead, this guy didn’t say a word, didn’t even glance at her. He stood up, walked to the stairs, and started talking with Yan Qingwen who had just come downstairs.

“I checked everything—the floorboards and wall panels have all been examined. No hidden compartments were found. I had Li Li draw a floor plan upstairs to see if we can discover any problems.”

“There’s firewood and an axe by the back door. The axe is already rusted. Other than that, nothing special was discovered.”

“Let’s arrange for some people to keep watch tonight.”

“Mm, we need two people downstairs, one each at the front and back doors, and one more in the second-floor hallway.”

“That’s three people. We have ten people total. Not counting the kid, we have just enough people for three shifts.”

“…Count me in.” Pan Xiaoxin looked hesitantly at Bai Youwei. “Sister Weiwei’s fever hasn’t broken yet. I’ll take her place.”

Shen Mo looked at Pan Xiaoxin, then at Bai Youwei who kept her back turned to everyone. After thinking, he nodded: “Then you’ll take her place.”