Chapter 257 - Paranoia
"What happened?" Feng Er asked again when she didn't hear their reply. She slowly walked towards them and squatted before them as she poked Si Shui's forehead.
"Er-jie… it's like this… we're so stupid." Si Shui answered in a flat tone and a deadpan face.
"… you just noticed?" Feng Er said when she remembered that Yi Bing and Di San planned to infiltrate Lu Si's faction before and claim they're from District 8 when they looked like young masters that grew up with a golden spoon in their mouth.
Di San felt like he suffered a big blow. "I've got a lead about the Xi family from Huo Ling." He said.
Feng Er, who changed her plans and now plans to infiltrate the Xi family, perked her ears up and she looked excited. Another meat pie falling from the sky! She thought. "The Xi family! Tell me! Tell me!" she said……
"Huo Ling found out what we are doing, and he wanted to help me with Lao San. So, he gave me a hand on proving my identity to Lao San as his friend." Di San said. "Huo Ling told me a secret only he and Lao San share, and that is Lao San's behavior towards the Xi family, particularly to Lin Yuxiu." He explained. "Lao Xie is always watching Lin Yuxiu. After a series of twists and turns, I found out it must have something to do with Xi Zhengdong, Lin Yuxiu's husband and the patriarch of the Xi family. Their common link is they were classmates in college. Si Shui and I found out that Lin Yuxiu seemed to have a grudge towards Lao Xie, and so she targeted him, causing him his fall. She and her husband were actually in an arrange marriage, and she was the active party." He finished.
Feng Er's eyes widened in shock. There was a big smile on her lips. So exciting! She exclaimed in her mind. "Then, what's this got to do with your stupidity?" she asked.
"I wanted to know more about these three's past. What happened thirty years ago…" Di San answered. "The only way to get to Lao Xie is knowing his past. The keys to Lao Xie's past are Xi Zhengdong and Lin Yuxiu. However, Lin Yuxiu is hard to approach to, and Xi Zhengdong is already dead. Then, I remembered the Death Note." He explained.
"You wanted to check Xi Zhengdong's memories through the Death Note?" Feng Er asked.
"Yeah." Di San nodded.
"But, we don't have a current assignment, so we can't access the souls' biographies…" Feng Er said until her voice faded. She noticed Di San's and Si Shui's silence. "… this can't be… you forgot it?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Di San and Si Shui didn't answer and felt more depressed.
Feng Er smiled. "I also have something to tell you." She told them.
"What is it?" Di San asked, looking downcast.
"I went to the Xi family, and guess what I saw?" Feng Er asked.
"What?" Si Shui asked.
"Lin Yuxiu – " Feng Er answered.
Di San and Si Shui froze before they abruptly sat up from the floor and sharply turned to Feng Er.
" – 's daughter." Feng Er continued.
Di San and Si Shui. "…" women really can't be trusted. "What's up with her?" they asked.
Feng Er laughed when she saw their dark face. "Lin Yuran is arguing with her husband, Xi Zhengting." She said.
Lin Yuran is Lin Yuxiu's and Xi Zhengdong's only child. It was truly regrettable it is a daughter instead of a son, and so Lin Yuxiu chose someone from the Xi family's branch family for her daughter to marry.
"What about it? It's just normal for a husband and wife to argue." Si Shui said.
"Lin Yuran fired a housemaid." Feng Er said.
"So? She can fire anyone she wants to fire." Di San said.
"She got jealous to the housemaid." Feng Er said again.
Di San and Si Shui. "… can't you tell it to us directly?" they asked.
Feng Er chuckled. "Lin Yuran got jealous to the housemaid who took her husband's suit jacket and pulled her hair, slapped her and pushed her to the ground. Then, she fired her." She said and narrated to them the whole scene in the front of the Xi Residence.
Di San and Si Shui looked at each other and found a clue. "Jealousy." They both said.
Feng Er smiled. "Based from what you have said, Lin Yuxiu also got jealous of Lao Xie before?" she said before her smile became meaningful.
Di San and Si Shui also understood the hidden implication. "Is it, the Lin family's women are all jealous towards all the women that approaches their husband, no matter who the women are?" they asked.
"I don't think this is simply just a jealousy." Feng Er said instead.
Di San and Si Shui looked at her. "What do you mean?" they asked.
Feng Er stared at them. "You don't understand women at all." She sighed as she stood and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"Then, as a woman, you tell it to us." Di San said.
"A woman feels jealous because she wasn't given enough security by her husband." Feng Er said. "They will turn hostile to those who approach their husband, with or without malintent. You also know a woman's sixth sense, right?" she asked.
"So, you are saying – " Di San said. " – their jealousy is not unfounded?" he asked.
Feng Er's smile became wider and didn't directly answered, but her following words are filled with so much implication. "Lin Yuran was enraged by the maid who took her branded bag. Then, her anger flared up after she saw a woman took her husband's belonging." She said. "Then, she slapped that woman, pushed her to the ground and pulled her hair. Her eyes are blinded because of rage, but anyone who have sharp eyes could see because of the bright lights coming from the residence the red marks hidden in the collar of her uniform after her hair was raised when Lin Yuran pulled her hair." She said.
Di San and Si Shui's eyes widened in realization. They looked at each other before they turned to Feng Er. "So, Xi Zhengting…" they said as they sucked in a cold breath.
"Who knows who touched that maid?" Feng Er declined to comment and just laughed.
Di San and Si Shui fell silent. "Could it be, this is what happened to Xi Zhengdong before? He was also keeping a mistress?" they asked.
"Dunno…" Feng Er said as she drinks her water. "The fact here is that the husband and wife never had a harmonious relationship behind the closed doors, and only in the surface to keep their face." She said.
"Xi Zhengdong and Lin Yuxiu also fought. Now, it's Xi Zhengting and Lin Yuran. Is it because their husband is unfaithful?" Si Shui asked.
"If you have a wife like that, won't you get tired of her?" Feng Er spoke with disdain.
"So, the problem lies in the wife." Both men said. "What's with the Lin family's deal? Why do they have daughters like that?" they frowned.
"Maybe the upper circle knows that?" Feng Er said.
They both turned to her. "How is your task going? What's the progress with Hao Baiyun?" Di San asked.
"Oh. This is why I returned. I have something to tell you." Feng Er said as if she had just remembered something.
"What is it?" Di San asked while Si Shui remained silent.
Feng Er sweetly smiled and both men felt goosebumps on their skin. "I've decided to infiltrate the Xi family instead of getting close to Hao Baiyun!" she answered.
Di San and Si Shui. "…" wait. Wait a minute. I think I've realized something – they thought as they both looked at each other.
Feng Er laughed when she saw they finally realized what just happened. "Yup. I'm fishing some information from you two to prepare myself before I enter the Xi family!" she told them.
Di San and Si Shui. "……" I knew it!
"You see, a housemaid was just fired. And I happen to need to infiltrate the Xi family. Isn't it perfect?" Feng Er asked.
Di San and Si Shui felt speechless as they looked at her.
Feng Er smiled at them. "Then, I'll let you on in something to comfort your heart." She said as she beckoned them with her finger.
The two men couldn't help but get closer to her.
"I know what's wrong with the Lin family's daughters." She whispered.
"What?" they asked.
"The Lin family's daughters are not just jealous, but it is worse than that." She said. "They are too possessive of their husband. What do you think?" she asked.
Di San and Si Shui looked at each other, their gazes talking. "Could it be…?" they said as they slowly turned back to Feng Er.
The corner of Feng Er's lips curled up. "Yes. They are paranoid." She answered.