chapter 16

Looking toward the three chairs, Cheng Miao felt the vague beginnings of an idea. “Did you notice anything different about those chairs?”

By all rights, Qi Jiajia hated Cheng Miao more than anyone here. Yet whenever Cheng Miao spoke to her, that impartial gaze, free of personal judgment, somehow extinguished the hostility burning inside her.

Hmm… Maybe this woman isn’t that hateful after all.

“Nothing.” Qi Jiajia lowered her head and tugged at her Western-style dress. “The three chairs are identical. There’s no visible difference in height or material. Maybe we’d have to sit in them to find one?”

The thought irritated her. “But Zhao Liang is so annoying. He keeps circling me, and the chairs are huge. If I climb onto one, I’d probably need him to pull me down.”

Tong Qian nodded in understanding. “We can look together later. I’ll sit down, and you can pull me back up.”

“As if I’d need your help,” Qi Jiajia replied darkly, rejecting the offer. Tong Qian gave a good-natured smile and did not take offense.

Cheng Miao warned them pointedly, “For now, stay away from those three chairs. The same goes for the bowls in the kitchen. Don’t touch them unless we have no choice.”

Bai Jiang’s head snapped up, his eyes bright. “You figured something out?”

Cheng Miao nodded without concealing it. “I have a theory, but it needs confirmation.” She looked at Tong Qian. “What about you? Did you find anything?”

Tong Qian shifted awkwardly. “Not really. I saw a basket of yarn on the table and thought it might relate to the line about Mama Bear knitting clothes. But I searched everywhere and couldn’t find a needle. Maybe I was wrong…”

“No.” Cheng Miao’s gaze sharpened. “Your reasoning was sound. I think the needle will only appear after a particular plot event.”

Too many clues had yet to surface. Blind speculation would only waste time. Once Zhao Liang wandered over, Cheng Miao opened the notebook.

It was a daily schedule for the three bears.

They loved sleeping and began resting at noon. Unless they had something essential to do, they slept without waking.

Today, however, the schedule clearly listed several tasks.

After its nap, Baby Bear had to do its homework. Mama Bear had to wash the dishes in the kitchen. As head of the household, Papa Bear only had to wake up and drink his porridge.

Cheng Miao passed the notebook around. “If the three bears wake, they’ll threaten us. No one knows whether they’ll notice us. The Game probably expects us to complete the listed tasks for them.”

“The first two make sense, but how are we supposed to help Papa Bear eat?” Tong Qian had grown a little braver and now asked questions proactively.

Cheng Miao was not entirely certain. She described the kitchen in detail. “There are three bowls. My guess is that we identify Papa Bear’s bowl and hide the other two.”

The basket of fish drew everyone’s attention. Zhao Liang volunteered to wash the dishes. Cheng Miao did not trust the greasy-looking man alone, so she sent Tong Qian with him.

Disappointed, Zhao Liang specifically asked whether Qi Jiajia wanted to come.

She answered with an eye roll. Rubbing his palms together, Zhao Liang slunk away.

Tong Qian did not follow immediately. She watched him leave, her delicate brows furrowing. She seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

“Relax.” Qi Jiajia’s mood inexplicably improved enough for her to respond. She waved impatiently. “I know he’s up to no good.”

Tong Qian relaxed. Slightly embarrassed, she gave Qi Jiajia an ingratiating smile and jogged after Zhao Liang toward the kitchen.

Bai Jiang had climbed onto the desk and found the only blank workbook among the jumble. He beckoned Cheng Miao and Qi Jiajia up.

Cheng Miao wasted no time on false delicacy. She let Qi Jiajia step on her shoulders to reach the desk, then caught Bai Jiang’s hand and climbed up with practiced ease.

The three gathered around the workbook. It was brand-new, with Baby Bear’s name neatly written across its clean cover. The exercises seemed appropriate for elementary school, and the first page contained only six problems.

1 + 8 =

2 x 4 =

15 / 3 =

4 + 7 =

6 x 6 =

20 / 4 =

The problems were absurdly simple. The three looked at one another, unable to determine what they were supposed to mean.

“Maybe we just fill in the correct answers. It took ages to find the workbook. We would have missed it without a thorough search.” Sweat covered Bai Jiang’s forehead. It had only been a search for a notebook, but in this oversized instance, the effort rivaled hard physical labor.

Qi Jiajia applied the finely honed reading-comprehension skills of a modern student. Even after considering every trick question she could imagine, she saw no alternative answers.

Bai Jiang’s suggestion seemed reasonable. She laboriously hoisted the pencil and prepared to write.

“Wait.” Cheng Miao reached out to stop her. Something this easy felt like a trap.

The painstaking analysis only made Qi Jiajia more irritable and gloomy. “Maybe it’s an ordinary math worksheet. This is just one minor task, like washing dishes. It doesn’t have to be hard.”

That was a valid point. Bai Jiang, frowning beside her, began to wonder whether he had overcomplicated a simple problem.

Cheng Miao pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek. She still did not believe an instance would hand them free points.

To be safe, she told Qi Jiajia not to write yet and turned toward the towering piles of books.

Sure enough, after searching for a while, Cheng Miao found what she wanted.

Bai Jiang and Qi Jiajia watched her drag out two more workbooks. Judging by their dates, they had already been completed.

Cheng Miao flipped through them at a glance, then turned the pages so the others could see.

“Look. Baby Bear is terrible at math. Not one problem in either workbook is correct. If we complete its homework without making mistakes, someone will notice.”

Cold sweat slowly trickled down Qi Jiajia’s forehead.

So close. Without Cheng Miao, she would have hastily written the correct answers. Who knew what that might have triggered?

She was still too impulsive. She needed to change.

Convinced of her conclusion, Cheng Miao let Qi Jiajia write several completely unrelated answers.

Bai Jiang looked at the schedule. The line reading “Baby Bear must do its homework” blurred like ink spreading through water and slowly vanished.

Tong Qian reached the kitchen one step behind Zhao Liang. She wrinkled her nose. The room smelled like the seaside, only many times fishier.

Zhao Liang crouched beside the basket of strange blue fish. When Tong Qian followed him in, he understood that Cheng Miao and the others did not trust him to handle the task alone.

After cursing them silently, he pointed toward the dishes piled in the sink without showing any intention of approaching them. “Why are you standing there? Hurry up and wash those dishes.”

This was Tong Qian’s first task. Uncertain, she asked, “Do I just wash them normally?”

Zhao Liang was prodding the fish with a piece of firewood. He answered carelessly, “Then inspect them yourself. Do I have to teach you everything? Am I your father?”