Chapter Sixty

  The dream ended abruptly here.

  This is an absurd, bizarre, stream-of-consciousness and incomprehensible dream.

  He slowly opened his eyes, feeling a mix of disappointment and unexpected relief to find that everything around him had "returned to normal" - the human objects around him were once again enormous in his mouse-sized perspective. His keen senses of smell and hearing, unique to the world of mice, also returned to him. At this moment, the scent of Jiang Chuan's body enveloped him, causing him to let out a long sigh of relief... Besides the soft snores of the man beside him, he could still hear the distant sounds of laughter and playful shouts from the crew members of "Republic of China Strange Records" by the swimming pool outside the villa, even with the thick curtains drawn.

  Shut up!

  Annoyed.

  The hamster lifted its paws, touched the hair on its forehead, stood up and slowly moved around on the soft pillow, listening to the pleasant rustling sound under its feet. It fumbled to take a look at the electronic clock placed on the headboard - only to be surprised to find that it had been less than half an hour since they fell asleep.

  Although he had just experienced such a long dream, the real world had only passed for less than twenty minutes.

  The hamster wiped the cold sweat that was crazily spraying out of its forehead, thinking about the last scene in the dream where it was standing behind Jiang Chuan with an umbrella, and had to admit that it was too deeply poisoned by "Republic of China Strange Record" - this damn thing hasn't even started broadcasting yet and it's already become a brain-dead rice bucket...

  It was as if anyone would be in a low mood after having a nightmare, and the content of the previous dream made the hamster somewhat anxious to hug its arms on the pillow and take a few laps. When it started to wander around its fifth lap, it turned its head and found that Jiang Chuan, who had been sleeping soundly, was now slightly disturbed by the "rustling" sound of the hamster rubbing against the pillow, although he hadn't woken up, his eyebrows were still slightly furrowed.

  The hamster's hind legs were still suspended in mid-air before it had a chance to land.

  A few seconds later, it rolled over with a fish-like movement, then did a somersault and landed on the bed with a thud. It got up, shook its head, looked around - and made a decision that would make him regret it so much that his intestines would turn fluorescent green: while Jiang Chuan was still asleep, he could sneak out and take a stroll.

  After making up its mind, the hamster moved its short legs skillfully and slid down the bed sheet to the ground. The thick round buttocks fell to the ground with a "plop". The hamster sat still for three seconds before getting up from the carpet and rubbing its sore buttocks. Then it opened its four limbs and moved towards the gap under the door.

  Yu Jianyan actually wanted to see if he could find Xue Qianqian's computer. If he was lucky, he thought he might be able to find something on Xue Qianqian's computer that she used to blackmail Jiang Luocheng - assuming Jiang Luocheng's IQ was above average, then this unknown thing about "Yu Jianyan and Jiang Luocheng having an affair" should exist.

  The mouse closed the door of the guest room, so the only way out was through the gap under the door. The mouse tried to squeeze out from the narrow gap, but no matter how hard he tried, his eyes were squeezed into a slit and his face was pressed flat like a pancake. As he struggled, he silently vowed to lose weight in the future. Just then, his ear, which was tightly pressed against the floor, suddenly heard the "thud, thud" sound of human footsteps.

  The hamster stopped paddling and, with its butt still stuck in the room and its head outside, struggled to lift its head. At this moment, it saw Ronnie hopping down from the stairs leading to the second floor - just as he wondered why Ronnie was running upstairs, Xu Qianqian came in from outside and saw Ronnie walking down the stairs. The woman's expression changed slightly, but she quickly composed herself and forced a smile, asking: "Ronnie, what were you doing running upstairs?"

  Loni heard this and was initially startled, but when she saw that it was Xu Qianqian, she playfully stuck out her tongue: "Sorry about that, Sister Qianqian. I just really had to pee and all the bathrooms on the first floor were occupied - the nanny told me I could use the one in the study on the second floor, so I went there... Ah, it's no big deal, right? Because I knew the second floor was your private space, I didn't go snooping around or anything, I just used the bathroom and that's all..."

  "It's okay, look at how tense you are, I was just casually asking. Xu Qianqian's smile didn't change on her face as she sat down on the sofa and started applying sunscreen to herself, "You can even roll around on my bed and I won't scold you, honestly, what private space, there's no secret that can't be seen."

  Loni scratched her head and chuckled, thinking for a moment before asking: "Qianqian sister, have you seen Jiang Chuan? That guy just asked me where the guest room was, I thought he came in to change clothes..."

  Xu Qianqian heard this and was just about to respond when she suddenly paused, as if remembering something, and abruptly lifted her head to stare at Luoni.

  His heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself, "I'm in trouble."

  "But I wasn't very clear about the specific location of the room, so I just pointed vaguely." Ronnie's eyes widened and she leaned forward slightly, looking at Xu Qianqian sitting on the sofa. "Did he find it later?"

  Xu Qianqian's facial muscles relaxed slightly, and she continued in a light tone: "Oh, found him, huh? Later he came to ask me - at this time he should be resting in the guest room. I heard Brother Fang Yu say that these two days he hasn't been idle at home either, seemingly dealing with some private files and didn't sleep well, so he's making up for it."

  Loni looked disappointed and let out a disheartened "oh".

  Xu Qianqian thought for a moment, raised her head and smiled slyly: "Hey, you just came for Jiang Chuan? Today I've also invited several brothers who are more experienced than Jiang Chuan to play, but your eyes are fixed on Jiang Chuan, how can those brothers be at ease?"

  Loni's face turned bright red in an instant, and she rushed over to Xu Qianqian, the two of them rolling around on the ground together. The air around them was filled with a terrifying pink girl aura. The hamster, who had been stuck in the door crack, looked quite displeased and began to squirm its body, squeezing its buttocks. Then, all that could be heard was a "pfft" sound, after which it successfully pulled its buttocks out of the door crack - fortunately, the hamster's body was small, so when it farted, no one could hear it.

  The hamster shook its almost deformed butt without shame or hurry, at this time, Ronnie had already said goodbye to Xu Qianqian and returned to the yard - only Xu Qianqian was left in the central hall again. She glanced at her cautiously and saw that the smile on the face of this woman who changed her expression faster than flipping a book quickly disappeared, scowling at the direction where Ronnie left. After staring for a while, she threw the sunscreen she had applied halfway onto the sofa, stood up abruptly, and walked quickly upstairs.

  This inexplicable behavior made Jian Ran somewhat concerned.

  He stopped his footsteps, which were about to turn into another room, and chose to squat there tightly waiting, because he had a strong premonition that Xu Qianqian might come back - as expected, not long after, the sound of the woman's quick footsteps came from upstairs. After waiting patiently for a while, I saw Xu Qianqian leaning out of the second floor with half her body, looking down at the first floor in a sneaky manner. Only when she found that there was still no one in the living room did she reveal an expression of relief and walked out quickly to go downstairs.

  At the same time, she was also carrying a black Chanel bag... This bag was recognized by Jian Ran, it was the one that had been in the trial dressing room of "Republic of China Strange Record" crew, the limited edition goods that Xiao Jiang's assistant touched and Xu Qianqian got nervous saying not to dirty it.

  Xu Qianqian tightly grasped the bag, her expression somewhat tense. When Jin Yan's curiosity arose and he wondered what was inside the bag, he saw Xu Qianqian hastily walking towards him... The hamster slightly froze, subconsciously dodging into the shadow cast by the door frame, staring at Xu Qianqian as she quickly walked past in her slippers to the largest room at the end of the corridor, which Jin Yan assumed was a guest room. She stopped in front of the locked door, took out a key from her pocket and unlocked it, then entered the room.

  Three minutes later, the door handle was turned and Xu Qianqian walked out of the door, closed it, and carefully locked it.

  That Chanel handbag is gone.

  After locking the door, she lowered her head and stared at the doorknob for a while, then turned around and left.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Xu Qianqian thought she was being stealthy and secretive, but it turned out that her actions were perfectly captured by a certain hamster who shouldn't have seen any of this. The tragic result was that just as she had barely hidden what might be an unknown secret, thinking no one knew, she had just left when a hamster came scurrying after her, its little legs moving quickly, its tongue hanging out like a dog that's caught wind of something, and rushed straight to the room where she had buried her secret.

  ……

  When he squeezed in a head from the door gap of that large room and saw the layout inside, Jian Ran was stunned.

  A sea of white - white ceiling, white tiles, white picture frames, white plaster, white easels, and even a white stool, white sofa, and white curtains - everywhere was the same color. When the hamster was stimulated by that white to the point where he felt his eyes were going blind, he vaguely realized: this was actually an art studio.

  She slipped in quietly, and after looking around the studio, her eyes were drawn to the only splash of color in a sea of white - a massive easel standing in the center of the room, with a half-finished oil painting on it. The painting depicted a boy and girl in high school uniforms standing under a purple flower tree, smiling at each other, basking in the warm sunlight, exuding a strong sense of youthfulness.

  Will Xu Qianqian still paint?

  Unexpectedly.

  To be fair, this woman is not only vicious and petty but also... quite talented?

  The hamster walked up to the oil painting and took a closer look, where on the upper right corner of the easel, a postcard caught his attention. The postcard was one of the set of drama photos sent by each staff member and actor after the filming of "Sound of Years Burning" ended.

  Jian Ran: "Hiss?"

  At first, Yuan Jinran ridiculed Jiang Luocheng's taste, saying that whoever received this postcard with a large photo of himself would not be happy. Then he turned around and didn't know where to throw it away - he never thought that someone would carefully collect it and even create an oil painting based on it... Hmm, to be precise, it wasn't a copy. The hamster's face turned black when he discovered that the postcard showed "Yuan Jinran" and "Xu Qianqian" standing under a Bauhinia tree, wearing school uniforms and holding bicycles, smiling at each other. But in the oil painting, Xu Qianqian was still the same, only Yuan Jinran's face had been ruthlessly replaced with Jiang Luocheng's.

  The hamster's eyes almost rolled back into its head.

  Jiang Luocheng's face, which is over 30 years old, can't be made to look young again and still wear a middle school uniform, what's with this sudden wave of juvenile delinquent campus theme feeling?

  With great difficulty, he pulled his attention back from the oil painting, and at this time, he saw a canvas in the corner that was even larger and more astonishing than the one in front of him. However, it was unclear whether the painting was finished or not started, as it was covered with a thick layer of white window curtain fabric. From the outside, it was impossible to see what was painted on it. Driven by curiosity, the mouse scurried over and used all its strength to lift the heavy white cloth by an inch, poking its head in to take a look, and discovered that it was a completed painting.

  But what is painted is completely unclear.

  From the small corner he lifted, only a small piece of something that was probably a mottled wall could be seen.

  It looked at it for a while without understanding, just then someone outside the window shouted "Qianqian Jie" in an extremely happy voice. The hamster's paws shook and the white cloth that had been lifted fell on its head. It struggled to get out of the canvas with great effort, finally managing to escape after much struggle. The hamster silently urinated at the corner of the canvas to express its anger.

  After taking a piss, he was just about to whistle to express his joyful mood when he suddenly froze up because he discovered an extremely annoying fact.

  Ever since he became a hamster, he seems to have become more and more sloppy.

  Just farted in public and didn't blush at all.

  It's just in time for the toilet rush hour.

  Oh my god, when he wakes up and turns back into "Yuan Jinran", won't he change from the former weak but high-quality entertainment circle male god to a miserly old man?

  The hamster was startled by itself and quietly touched its fluffy belly to try to calm down, when suddenly someone outside the window shouted "Jiang Jiang Jie" again. The hamster was already in a bad mood, so it turned its head and saw the black Chanel bag on the white chair next to it.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Oh.

  It wasn't until then that he remembered what he had come for and carefully put down the hand that was resting on his big belly, moved a bit, turned around and started climbing onto the chair, puffing and panting as he climbed up, fumbling to open the buckle of the bag. He stuck his head into the bag again - apart from almost being knocked out by the strong scent of perfume, everything was pitch black and nothing could be seen.

  He pulled his head out of the bag, calmed down for a moment, thought carefully, and suddenly stretched out one leg to kick the bag.

  The thread does not move.

  But it doesn't matter.

  The hamster turned around, propped its front paws against the armrest of the chair, and stretched its buttocks backward with force, bumping, bumping, and bumping again - staring wide-eyed as the woman's bag was slowly pushed to the edge of the chair. Only then did the hamster stop twisting its hips and turned around to return to the "limited edition Chanel" beside it, stretching out a leg to kick the bag once more.

  This time, the bag fell to the ground smoothly - and the things inside also fell to the ground with a crash: a lipstick for women's makeup, a rice cracker, and a hand cream each, a mirror, a notebook, a pen, a pack of cotton pads, a pack of sanitary napkins, a wallet, a card holder, a car key, a hair clip, a cow tendon, a pack of tissues, a box of sugar snacks, a bag of slimming tea...

  Crouching on the chair, looking down at these messy things, I couldn't help but feel that women's handbags are ridiculously awesome, like a portable space. Jumping off the chair, I said of course, and used the "top-to-bottom" method to flip open the laptop, with both paws on the cover, stretching my neckless head to look inside, only to find that the notebook was blank... Flipping through it again, at most the first few pages had some notes about the day's schedule.

  With a hint of disappointment, it let go of the notebook and was about to jump down from it. At this moment, something underneath the notebook slid under the weight of the hamster, causing it to tumble onto the cold ceramic tile with a thud - its teeth almost chattering from the intense pain. As it struggled to get up, its eyes rolled back in a comical expression, and with one swift motion, it knocked open the notebook again. But upon seeing what was underneath, it froze in astonishment.

  That is a metal part.

  The part is not small - even from a human perspective, this thing looks like it was unloaded from some large device, as for what kind of large device, that's unknown.

  Wait a minute.

  He cautiously stretched out his claws, flipped over the metal part, and then, in the corner of this metal part, he found a mark that made him stand up with goosebumps, which was simply four letter steel stamps: htjc.

  HTBM

  For a moment, many scenes flashed through Jianran's mind.

  That day, he watched with his eyes wide open as the falling billboard showed Xu Qianqian's radiant smiling face.

  At the press conference of IM company, Luo Cheng solemnly announced that they would sue Hua Tong Company, which was responsible for the renovation of IM company building, to court. Netizens and mainstream media overwhelmingly supported IM company, seriously damaging the reputation of Hua Tong Company, causing its stock price to plummet in a short period...

  At the press conference of China Communications Construction Company, the person in charge of China Communications Construction Company stated that the safety management measures for the construction site have always been the top priority. The company believes that the accident at the construction site is not due to management negligence and expressed its sincerest apologies to IM Company and Yuan Jinyan while promising to investigate the matter until the truth comes out.

  At the press conference, he showed a copy of the police investigation which found that the billboard fell off because one fixing component was not installed during installation. To rule out the possibility that the component came loose due to natural factors, they searched carefully around but did not find the existence of that component...

  It was just such a mysterious lost part that became the weakness of Hua Tong Company, which could not be refuted.

  But now it has appeared in Xu Qianqian's bag and is being carefully hidden by her.