DSMC Chapter 26.2

Just then, Lao Fang came out from the kitchen with freshly cooked salmon.

Yan Jiyun deliberately wriggled in Jiang Yan’s arms, eager to eat.

Lao Fang set the salmon on the ground. “I even asked the kitchen to cool it down specially.”

The interruption bought Jiang Yan a moment to breathe.

Yan Jiyun jumped down and began devouring the fish. To him, it all tasted the same once in his mouth, though he longed for the spread of rich dishes on the dining table. If not for this being a game and for Zhao Renfu’s ruthless presence, he’d have jumped up to nibble at them.

Lin Xie had fed him earlier in the afternoon, but after running around with temporary teammates, his hunger came fast. Salmon was one of his favorite foods, so he should eat it whenever he can! 

And he’d just thought of an excellent idea.

A cat that only ate wouldn’t draw attention. Once he’d eaten his fill, he could slip around Zhao Renfu’s residence, snoop while no one noticed.

What cat in the world had no curiosity?

Yan Jiyun ate quietly, making as little sound as possible, avoiding notice. When the salmon was finished, he squatted under the table, pretended to groom himself, even making exaggerated licking noises. Then he began to wander the room.

Jiang Yan and Zhao Renfu were still sparring in words, father and son locked in a play of deep affection.

Yan Jiyun sniffed here and there on purpose, though his true target was the half-open study.

Zhao Renfu must have a guilty conscience. Otherwise, why keep a Buddha statue? Why keep so many books, pretending to be in the culture industry?

So Yan Jiyun strolled in, tail held high.

Lao Fang spotted him and followed, but Yan Jiyun played as a very convincing cat. He used his behavior to confuse him. First, he sniffed the sofa, then sprawled down, casting a glance at the man who was watching him. Once Lao Fang relaxed, Yan Jiyun hopped onto the desk, paced back and forth without rifling anything, then slipped behind the desktop computer. With his black fur, he vanished between the tower and a storage rack.

Lao Fang: “…” Fine. It looked like it just wanted a cozy spot to curl up.

Yan Jiyun once again successfully misled Lao Fang. When the man wasn’t paying attention, he used the corner of his eye to glance at the documents on the desk, and quietly stretched out a paw to nudge apart the stacked pages.

Written on top: “Red Field Poppy[mfn]虞美人 Yu Meiren or Beauty Yu. This is more likely referring to the Papaver rhoeas (corn/field poppy) rather than the Papaver somniferum (the opium one). Although technically it can refer to red poppies in general. I’ll give more detailed notes on the footnotes.[/mfn]” Formula Sheet.

Wait. The sheets above and below looked almost the same, except the data columns at the end were different!

Could this be the secret behind the formula incident?

What exactly was this “Red Field Poppy”? Was it some additive mixed into food, causing different effects for each person who ate it, like poisonous mushrooms inducing hallucinations?

Perhaps this whole “formula” matter was just Zhao Renfu’s test of Lin Xie and Kevin Yang.

Zhao Renfu was old now, clearly seeking a successor. From his current position, Jiang Yan was in charge of security. He’s loud, straightforward, with no subtlety, unfit for leadership. That meant he would have to choose between Lin Xie and Kevin Yang to inherit his place.

The leak couldn’t have been Lin Xie’s doing. More likely Kevin Yang leaked it, then framed Lin Xie for it. He even killed He Xiaobi, insisting to Zhao Renfu it was Lin Xie’s crime. Yet behind it all, the true manipulator of the leak was none other than Zhao Renfu.

No wonder Lin Xie refused to leave solitary confinement. He must have known from the start that this was a tightly woven scheme. Until the truth came to light, he wouldn’t risk alerting the snake, nor act recklessly.

Lin Xie knew Zhao Renfu’s plan.

As expected of a main storyline character, he’s clever.

Though it looked like Lin Xie had lost this round, he was in fact the real winner. Kevin Yang had fallen right into Zhao Renfu and Lin Xie’s trap.

Yan Jiyun couldn’t speak, so he had no way to tell anyone else what he’d discovered. He simply ran through his deductions again in his mind.

A ding rang out. The system gave its result.

[Congratulations, Player Yan Jiyun, for completing Main Mission (2). Point rewards will be distributed after the instance ends.]

[Congratulations, Player Yan Jiyun, for entering Main Mission (3): Locate the production site of “Red Field Poppy.” Reward: 2000 points.]

Meanwhile, upstairs, Zhou Ying’s team had torn through Kevin Yang’s quarters, finally uncovering a formula sheet in his safe.

The system’s alert chimed again.

[Congratulations, Player Zhou Ying—]

[Congratulations, Player Cheng Li—]

[Congratulations, Player Wen Nanxing—]

Their Main Mission (2) was also complete!

Wen Nanxing gave a kick, shoving the unconscious, drunken Kevin Yang (force-fed by Zhou Ying) under the bed. “Mission cleared? Did you find any critical clue?”

Cheng Li shook her head. “Ying-jie found a formula sheet in the safe.”

Wen Nanxing had only seen the cabinet stuffed with bizarre, overly flashy adult toys. With his heavy makeup still smeared on, he tossed aside a thong with disgust. “Finally, mission cleared. This Kevin Yang really has nothing but filth in his brain.”

Zhou Ying said, “No wonder nobody stopped us when we dragged him back in. Clearly he’s known for this kind of behavior. So damn disgusting.”

Since Main Mission (2) was complete, they hurried to leave. Any doubts could wait until they found somewhere safe.

At their safehouse, Zhou Ying finally spoke. “I think Kevin Yang is the real leaker. Lin Xie was just pushed out as a scapegoat. The formula being in his possession proves it.”

Cheng Li added a thought, “Remember how the little black cat led us to Lin Xie’s confinement room? At that moment we got a favorability notification. Could it be that Yan Jiyun used an invisibility cloak to pick the lock and get inside? That way he earned Lin Xie’s trust early. Since we were working on Main Mission (2) as well, the system might have counted us as one team and settled the quest together. We didn’t even reconstruct the incident ourselves.”

Wen Nanxing blinked. “That complicated? Isn’t it just because we found the formula sheet?”

Zhou Ying: “Of course not. We have to deduce the story’s progression. Otherwise, the system wouldn’t count it. We’d just found the sheet, but the system already flagged it.”

Wen Nanxing suddenly understood. “You mean Yan Jiyun might’ve bought an invisibility cloak and was doing the mission with us in secret?”

Zhou Ying slapped her thigh. “Right! I remember that the longest-lasting cloak costs 1000 points. If he bought two or three, it makes sense. He must’ve worn it from the very start. We were thinking like ordinary players, but he played boldly. He’s a high-level player.”

Wen Nanxing frowned. “But he never shows his face. That’s too weird. Is he hiding from someone?”

Cheng Li shrugged. “Strong players don’t need to show their face. That’s normal. Anyway, should we go help Lin Xie retrieve his cat now?”

Zhou Ying: “Yes. Jiang Yan suddenly showed up with it. We’ll go find him.”

Just as the three were planning to help Lin Xie recover his black cat, Yan Jiyun — still in Zhao Renfu’s office — squatted quietly for a while, completing Main Mission (2).

Zhao Renfu was clearly the key figure tying the three foster sons together. He’s the true leader of this organization, without doubt.

His office looked ordinary on the surface, but every piece of furniture was actually an antique worth untold sums. Yan Jiyun had no interest in that. What caught his attention was a framed photograph on Zhao Renfu’s desk.

A younger Zhao Renfu had his arm around two children about twelve or thirteen, with a boy of fifteen or sixteen standing at the side. One kid was making faces, pant leg rolled up to his knee. The other wore a white shirt, dress pants, and glasses — clearly the studious, obedient type. It was easy to tell who was who: the playful one was Jiang Yan, the studious child was Lin Xie, and the older boy was Kevin Yang.

The three children in the photo looked truly innocent, untouched by the darkness to come.

Yan Jiyun reached out a paw to tap the photo frame, but Lao Fang stopped him. Under the man’s gaze, he withdrew, not daring to rummage further. He leapt down from the chair and scampered out.

Just in time to hear Zhao Renfu say to Lao Fang: “Go bring Lin Xie out.”

With Main Mission (2) cleared, Lin Xie was released.

Two men in black carried him out. His face was pale, breath ragged, legs weak.

Zhao Renfu put down the wet towel he’d been using on his hands and said, “Lin Xie, don’t blame Father. I was forced too, I have too many underlings to consider.”

Lin Xie lifted his eyes to meet Zhao Renfu’s gaze, repeating firmly: “Father, I didn’t do anything.”

Zhao Renfu seemed convinced. “I believe you. What’s yours is still yours. Nothing changes.”

As soon as he finished, Lin Xie exhaled in relief and collapsed unconscious.

Yan Jiyun darted around him anxiously. Zhao Renfu glanced at Jiang Yan and said, “This cat is good. It knows its master.”

Of course, it was obvious. Everyone knew the Old Master meant Lin Xie, not the cat.

With Lin Xie out, Jiang Yan also grew restless. Claiming he’d eaten enough, he followed others out.

Lin Xie’s actual quarters weren’t in Building A, but in Building B. His room was simply furnished, very tidy.

He hadn’t been lying down long before he woke.

Clearly, Zhao Renfu had tortured him, though perhaps with electricity or psychological methods rather than brute force.

When Lin Xie awoke, he lay still, staring at the ceiling. Yan Jiyun thought he’d died. He hopped onto the bed, stretching out a paw to test his nose.

Still breathing, he’s not dead.

Just as Yan Jiyun lowered his paw, Lin Xie suddenly sat up, his spirit seemingly intact.

He reached into the bedside drawer and retrieved a badge. He held it open in his palm for Yan Jiyun to see, and in a very low voice said, “Blake, do you know? My real father was a good man. A truly good man. He was an undercover officer. But Zhao Renfu killed him.”

He let out a bitter laugh. “And now here I am, recognizing a thief as father.”

Yan Jiyun pressed his paw against the badge, its edges worn smooth by years of touch. Then the system prompt chimed in his ears.

[Found 2/3 of Lin Xie’s secret.]

[Secret details: Lin Xie’s biological father was an undercover police officer. This badge was a First-Class Merit medal awarded by the state before his death, and it is the only keepsake left to Lin Xie. He treasures it dearly. The fact he shows it to you proves his deep trust.]

[Note: Only you know this. Do not tell anyone else. Otherwise, Lin Xie will die.]

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T/L:

虞美人 characters breakdown: 虞 = it’s commonly a surname, but in literary sense, it can mean to be apprehensive/concerned or to deceive. 美人 = beautiful person (woman). It’s the more euphemistic name for poppy plants, including field poppy and the opium poppy, but mostly the former. It came from 虞姬 (Yu Ji), the beloved consort of Xiang Yu (a famous warlord of the Chu–Han Contention, 3rd century BCE), who committed suicide after his defeat at Gaixia. It is said that where her blood fell, red flowers (poppies) bloomed. I chose to translate it as “Red Field Poppy” so you know the connotation behind the name.

As for the opium poppy, it’s Chinese name is 罂粟 yīngsù. While it is used in formal, medical, or legal context, it does carry a negative connotation. 

Also, both flowers looked very similar. Left is red field poppy, right is opium poppy (cherry glow variety).