Chapter 190: Control
Lu Jinzhao walked into this guesthouse, where there was a faint smell of sandalwood in the air. She saw the incense placed in the corner, a very common and ordinary scent.
There were very few personal belongings placed in the room. As a tenant, Tian Lei had left little personal mark here.
“Hello, I’m Lu Jinzhao. You should know that already?” Lu Jinzhao did not take the initiative to shake hands. She thought Tian Lei probably did not want to do that.
“Hello, my name is.”
She had not finished speaking when Lu Jinzhao deliberately interrupted her: “No need to repeat it, Tian Lei. I know.”
After saying that, Lu Jinzhao’s gaze fell straight on the girl, carefully observing her reaction to this “rudeness.”
She was not angry, just a bit embarrassed, but accompanying it was also a strange reaction somewhat like a sigh of relief.
Clearly interrupted during her self-introduction, with the other party’s attitude somewhat sharp, but this girl named Tian Lei reacted completely unlike an ordinary person.
And after being interrupted, she fell completely silent, neither saying anything to ease the atmosphere nor feeling dissatisfied enough to retort. She just looked at the ground, quietly waiting.
Lu Jinzhao judged that she was waiting for her to speak first.
She had completely yielded the initiative in this conversation, this meeting, and even seemed relieved because of it.
This seemed a bit “spineless,” but it was probably part of her way of survival?
Lu Jinzhao’s silence always had a purpose, but Tian Lei’s silence did not seem so. It was more like a behavior approaching instinct.
Lu Jinzhao felt that the aura of a small animal on her was very obvious.
“Then shall we start from that information you sent me?” Lu Jinzhao tried to soften her tone to see what result a milder, more consultative attitude would bring.
As soon as her suggestion was voiced, Tian Lei immediately blurted out: “Okay!”
And then there was nothing more.
She did not suggest starting from any particular part of the information. She was still waiting for Lu Jinzhao to make the decision first.
But this was not right.
The information was what she had sent to Lu Jinzhao, which meant that after learning about the preview information for this death platform, Tian Lei herself already had some blurry “plans” for this platform, so she had found that information.
She had her own thoughts in her heart.
But at this moment, she expressed none of them.
“A bit troublesome.”
“…What?” Tian Lei’s tone was somewhat confused.
Lu Jinzhao did not hide it at all: “You. I mean you’re a bit troublesome.”
Tian Lei’s already somewhat tense face instantly turned pale. Clearly, being evaluated as “troublesome” shook her mentally.
This was something she was very afraid of.
“…Sorry.” She apologized again.
Even more troublesome.
But it was not without a method to solve it.
“You actually have a lot of thoughts about this platform in your heart, right.” Lu Jinzhao did not use a question, but an affirmative statement. After saying it, she did not give Tian Lei time to explain, continuing:
“Your information is clearly organized very well, very useful, and you have more experience than me, but why do you act so unconfident?”
Lu Jinzhao leaned closer to her and saw Tian Lei’s eyes constantly trembling.
But her complexion had eased quite a bit.
Lu Jinzhao knew this was because of her “compliments,” especially that phrase “very useful.”
“…I’m not unconfident.” Tian Lei said softly.
“I know.” Lu Jinzhao’s tone softened again: “It’s because you’re sick, right?”
“You can’t control your random thoughts, and you can’t take the initiative to voice your ideas, right?” She said it in a very understanding voice.
A hint of surprise appeared in Tian Lei’s eyes: “Yes, yes.”
“It’s okay, I know, I understand.” Lu Jinzhao repeatedly emphasized “I know” to deliberately deepen this impression in Tian Lei.
“I won’t think you’re a burden, but your personality is indeed a bit troublesome. I need to know your real thoughts. After all, we’re about to become teammates, aren’t we?”
As her words fell, a trace of difficulty appeared on Tian Lei’s face.
This was because she could not trust Lu Jinzhao’s words, could not believe she really would not see her as a burden, and also felt there was no need to understand each other that much.
Even as teammates, something unexpected might happen not long after entering the platform?
Lu Jinzhao realized that just this mild attitude was not enough. Her dark pupils stared straight at Tian Lei, a not-so-pleasant emotion flashing by. Then, Lu Jinzhao’s tone became stern.
“If you keep acting like this, even if I know it’s because you’re sick, I’ll still find you troublesome. So I need to take some measures. Is that okay?”
“Huh?” Tian Lei looked up in confusion: “What… measures?”
As Lu Jinzhao expected, her first reaction was not “refusal,” but a question, as if anything not too excessive could be agreed to.
“Before entering the death platform, we’ll meet frequently, right? Now, tell me what direction you think our discussion this time should start from?” Lu Jinzhao said, looking at her.
As soon as the words fell, realizing what Lu Jinzhao had said, Tian Lei’s breathing quickened, her brain somewhat chaotic. She said nothing, her throat as if glued shut.
She clearly wanted to refuse, but she was also very afraid of “refusing others” itself, so she was briefly stuck here.
The phrase “meet frequently” exceeded Tian Lei’s expectations. If Lu Jinzhao had just asked her to start talking about her plans, she could do it. After all, for anything not life-or-death, she really was not good at refusing and would do it even if forcing herself.
But frequently meeting with a stranger went beyond the scope of ordinary self-forcing. She felt troubled by it, very, very troubled.
Lu Jinzhao waited about ten seconds, feeling the pressure was about right, then stepped closer, lifted her hand to grasp Tian Lei’s wrist, and softened her tone slightly: “Don’t worry, everything can be discussed, right? Now, I just want to know your thoughts on this platform.”
The phrase “everything can be discussed” made Tian Lei sigh in relief, so she immediately said softly: “…Start from the phrase ‘no one can escape unscathed.'”
After saying it, feeling Lu Jinzhao’s grip on her hand relax, she immediately withdrew her wrist.
“Great.” Lu Jinzhao said with a smile in her tone: “Isn’t this a very insightful key point?”
“You’re smart. If it were me, I might start from heredity or bloodline, but thinking about it, ‘no one unscathed’ is indeed very key information.”
[You’re deceiving her.]
The parchment coldly exposed Lu Jinzhao’s facade.
No ghost would believe Lu Jinzhao’s words.
Unfortunately, this girl with psychological and mental issues in front of her believed it. Her face even showed a bit of embarrassment, and her mood clearly improved.
Although somewhat uneasy about the skipped topic of “meeting frequently,” being affirmed by someone who had always seemed very dominant and called her troublesome shifted Tian Lei’s attention completely to the current topic.
[Why are you doing so much to this ordinary person with such a small amount of courage?]
[Going around in such a big circle, just to get her to communicate more with you, trust you a bit more?]
[She might not be able to help you with anything.]
Ordinary?
Lu Jinzhao looked at the seemingly harmless girl in front of her. If she were just as shy, socially anxious, and slightly neurotic as she appeared, she would not have left such a reputation in the passenger group, making people so wary.
But she had not been “cleared” by Yuncheng’s first-class, meaning her danger was controllable. And the death platform—Lu Jinzhao would not arrogantly think she could clear it alone.
The girl in front of her was dangerous, but had merits.
What she needed to do now was try to turn this uncontrollable dangerous factor into something somewhat controllable, at least something she could control.
Lu Jinzhao smiled at the girl in front of her, encouraging: “Continue. We’ll start from the ‘no one unscathed’ point, and then?”
Her hand gripped Tian Lei’s wrist again, which had just been pulled away not long ago.
Little Lu, the great guiding type.
Here she quietly used some techniques again.
