Sules and Claire exchanged a quick glance.
Claire’s face was full of panic as he whispered, “It sounds like someone’s come back, Sules, what should we do?!”
Sules was a little flustered too, but she tried her best to stay calm: “Don’t panic, first push the cabinet back.”
After the two of them quickly restored the study to its original state, she pointed at the open window nearby: “In a moment, I’ll jump out the window and run to the front door to knock. While they’re distracted, you sneak out. Got it?”
Claire nodded. “What about you?”
Sules nimbly jumped out the window, then took a seaweed bag out of her satchel, with a black loaf of bread inside.
She carried the bag and jogged to the front door, knocking.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Inside, Ryan had been wondering about the loud sound of the door opening—why hadn’t Sules come out?
Just as he was about to go check, he heard a knock at the door.
He gestured to his parents that he would answer it, then walked over and opened the door.
“Captain! What are you doing outside?”
Ryan looked genuinely surprised, not expecting to see Sules at the door.
No wonder she hadn’t come out earlier.
As soon as he spoke, the entire Bu Lusi Family gathered around.
Sules spoke slowly, “I went out to look for an inn to stay at, and bought some bread while I was at it.”
As she spoke, she calmly lifted the bag in her hand to show them.
Since she said that, the Bu Lusi Family naturally didn’t suspect a thing and made way for Sules to come inside.
While she was talking, Sules caught a glimpse of Claire quietly slipping out of the study, and finally let out a sigh of relief as she entered the room.
As soon as she walked in, she immediately turned to Claire, “Claire, I left you to watch the house. No one came by just now, right?” After thinking for a moment, she added, “Judging by your look, you just went to the restroom, didn’t you?”
Claire had never been good at lying, and was worrying about how to follow up Sules’s words.
Seeing her give him an excuse, he immediately nodded, his face a little red, and said, “Yes, I was just in the restroom, so I couldn’t come out in time.”
His face was red from lying, but to everyone else, it looked like embarrassment from just coming out of the bathroom.
It made perfect sense and dispelled any suspicions.
The slightly tense atmosphere from earlier immediately eased up.
Leide saw that Sules and Claire hadn’t messed anything up, and also relaxed, smiling as he said, “Mom, hurry and make lunch! It’s already noon, I’m starving.”
Bruce’s Wife exchanged a look with Ryan and Leide, then went to make lunch.
Ryan got the hint and said to Leide and Sules, “Captain, we bought some new daily necessities. Come to the bedroom and see if there’s anything you need. Leide, you come too.”
Leide muttered complaints, not understanding why he was being dragged along, but still nodded and followed.
Sules’s eyes flashed as she heard this, instantly understanding their intention.
She first whispered something to Claire, then, under his worried gaze, played along and followed them into the room.
Sure enough, as soon as Ryan found an excuse to go look for something, he turned around and locked the door behind him.
Sules faintly heard the sound of the lock, but didn’t go over to test it.
Instead, she kept an eye on Leide, to keep him from noticing the door was locked.
No matter what, one thing was true: in a confined space, people’s desires tend to get amplified.
Although she was sure Ryan had no interest in her, if being shut in together made him develop any improper ideas, that would be bad.
So what she needed to do now was to keep Leide’s attention, making sure he didn’t realize the door was locked.
Laikai would come back to unlock the door sooner or later, so there was no need to rush.
After helping tidy up for a while, Leide was already getting impatient.
Seeing that Ryan still hadn’t returned, he got up to leave.
Of course, Sules couldn’t let him go, and called out, “Leide, don’t go yet. While there’s still no one here, tell me again about when your life was switched.”
Leide was stunned for a moment, then nodded and sat back down beside her. “I…”
“Keep your voice down,” Sules reminded.
“Don’t let your family hear.”
Leide immediately lowered his voice and began telling the story again.
That experience was obviously the most astonishing thing in his life, but he had always been strictly forbidden to tell outsiders.
Leide had been holding it in for a long time, and telling it once hadn’t satisfied his urge to talk about it.
Now that Sules was willing to hear it a second time, he was more than happy to oblige.
After he finished telling the story, Leide was about to get up again.
Sules quickly brought up another topic, “By the way, do you really dislike your brother that much? I honestly think he treats you pretty well.”
Leide knew that Ryan treated him well, but in his mind, that was only natural and nothing to be grateful for.
In fact, because of Ryan’s behavior, everyone thought Leide was being unreasonable, which made him very angry.
As soon as Sules said that, he exploded, sitting back down and starting to argue, complaining about how annoying Ryder Laide was, and how miserable he was himself.
Sules, who knew the whole truth, let him pour out all his grievances without worry.
She listened to his complaints with a smile, playing the role of a perfect trash can.
Sometimes she would deliberately steer the conversation further, letting him say even more.
Indulged by her, Leide ended up chatting for half the day and never remembered to leave.
While they were talking, Ryan outside was getting anxious.
He’d been waiting outside, sure that Sules and Leide would soon discover the door was locked and make a fuss.
But after a long time, not only was there no commotion, there wasn’t even a sound from inside.
He began to suspect the two inside had fallen asleep.
At that moment, Claire came over.
“Why isn’t Sules out yet? They’ve been in there way too long.”
Ryan’s expression didn’t look good, but he forced a smile and reassured her, “Packing things takes time. Let’s not disturb them. Claire, why don’t you go help my mom cook?”
Claire frowned, but remembering Sules’s instructions, she still nodded and quickly went to the kitchen.
Ryan was left alone in the living room, anxiously waiting, hoping to hear something from inside.
But no matter how long he waited, there was no sound at all.
Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore and opened the door himself.
“What are you two doing in here?”
Sules looked up at him innocently.
“Just chatting. We’ve been talking for ages.”
In a closed space, a man and a woman just sat there chatting?
Ryan’s expression darkened, his forced smile barely holding up.
“What were you talking about? You two sure have a lot in common.”
Sules nodded.
“Family gossip, neighborhood rumors. If you hadn’t come in, I was about to start discussing cosmetics with him.”
Leide thought Sules’s lie was a bit much, but since they were on the same side, he couldn’t say anything and just let it slide.
Seeing that Leide didn’t refute it, Ryan’s face grew even gloomier, and his smile nearly slipped off his face.
How was this anything like a conversation between a man and a woman?
It was more like a couple of girlfriends chatting.
He’d wanted the two of them to develop feelings for each other, but now he was worried they’d end up as sworn brothers instead.
Clearly, just doing this wouldn’t bring them together, Ryan thought to himself, making up his mind.
He nodded at Sules and quickly walked out.
He went to the kitchen and saw Claire still inside, so he said, “The captain’s already out, Claire. Why don’t you go keep her company for a bit?”
Claire remembered Sules’s instructions, shook her head, and refused firmly: “No, I’ll stay here and help Auntie cook. She has to make food for the whole family by herself, that’s way too much work.”
Seeing she wouldn’t budge, Ryan could only be direct: “I want to talk to my mom about something, so could you leave for a bit?”
Only then did Claire leave to find Sules.
“Sules, just like you said, they tried to get me out of the kitchen. I suspect they’re up to something, aren’t they?”
Sules sneered, “No need to suspect, they’re definitely up to something. The important thing isn’t you—just don’t eat the meal later. As for me, the fisherman has his own tricks. Listen to me…”
She leaned in and whispered something in Claire’s ear.
Claire asked worriedly, “Will this really work?”
Sules nodded, “Just do as I say.”
Soon, all the dishes were brought out.
It was just simple home cooking: stir-fried seaweed and boiled fish, plus a small bowl of fish soup for each person.
Bruce’s Wife handed everyone a piece of bread and said kindly, “I made this bread myself, try it and see how it tastes.”
Claire stood up.
“Auntie, I’ll go help you tidy up the kitchen. Even if we don’t cook, we should at least help clean up. It would be rude not to do anything.”
Seeing how determined she was, and wanting to save herself some work, Bruce’s Wife nodded in agreement.
Once Claire left, she turned to Sules and urged, “Captain, hurry and taste my bread!”
A cold light flashed in Sules’s eyes—she was almost certain the bread was drugged.
She calmly delayed, “Auntie, I’ll go wash my hands first. I’ll be right back.”
Since they didn’t know Sules had already seen through their plan, the Bu Lusi Family was sure she’d fall for it, and didn’t rush her.
But Sules took a bit longer than expected.
Just as Bruce’s Wife was starting to get anxious and thinking of going to check, Claire’s sudden shout rang out.
“Ah! Somebody, come quickly!”
No host wants something to happen in their own home.
Hearing Claire’s cry, the Bu Lusi Family immediately got up and rushed to the kitchen.
Sules took the chance to slip out and quickly swapped her own bread with Bruce’s Wife’s.
After a moment’s hesitation, she also switched the fish soup with the other’s, and then, “kindly,” swapped Leide’s bread and soup with Ryder Laide’s as well.
Who knew if this family would go so far as to drug Leide too, just to prevent any mishaps?
After finishing all this, she quickly ran back.
When the Bu Lusi Family returned to the living room, she came out too, pretending to be puzzled, “What happened just now? I think I heard Claire shouting while I was in the restroom.”
As she spoke, she gave Claire a small nod, signaling that the matter was settled.
Only then did Claire relax and, a little embarrassed, say, “I saw a bug just now and got startled. Sorry to trouble you all.”
Bruce’s Wife was still focused on the bread, smiling, “It’s fine, you’re just a young girl after all. Captain Sulia, hurry and try my bread!”
Sules looked at her with a smile.
“You eat too, let’s eat together.”
The two of them watched each other take a big bite of bread, both showing satisfied expressions at the same time.