The Hand of Confession – Chapter 55
by Little PandaVolume 3: Days of Working at the Manor
He Yongchang
Look at this maid outfit, it’s both white and black
The note had “gardener” written on it.
Shen Maomao closed her palm, crumpling the note in her hand, unsure if this identity was good or bad.
Next to her, Lou Jingmo unhurriedly unfolded her note layer by layer, making Shen Maomao anxious for her: “Sister Lou, what’s your identity?! Stop keeping us in suspense!”
She looked down for a moment, then closed the note again, saying leisurely: “Chef.”
Shen Maomao frowned, realizing things weren’t so simple: neither of them had drawn the maid role!
โThis meant that at least one male player would be wholeheartedly cosplaying as a “niang pao” (a term for a man dressing as a woman).
Shen Maomao looked around, eyeing the burly men, already imagining what a beautiful picture that would make.
Golden Retriever also saw his job. He carefully held his note and approached Lou Jingmo and Shen Maomao, asking: “Sister Xiaolou, Sister Rabbit, I got guard, is this a good job?”
Lou Jingmo didn’t give him a definitive answer, instead saying neutrally: “Without considering other factors, four people are a bigger target, more likely to be attacked, with a 4/11 chance of encountering ghosts and monsters. If you encounter ghosts and monsters, your death probability is 1/4; in a situation with only one person, there’s more freedom, a 1/11 chance of encountering ghosts and monsters, but a 100% death rate. I have no right to make the choice for you.”
Golden Retriever gritted his teeth: “Will you swap with me?”
Lou Jingmo: “No.”
Suddenly, as if given a shot of adrenaline, Shen Maomao followed suit: “Then I won’t swap either.”
Golden Retriever held his “guard” note, caught in a dilemma.
Just then, the others who had finished drawing opened their notes. The male newcomer almost cried out: “I don’t know how to drive a horse-drawn carriage! Where is this place? Can I go home?! Why did I have to listen to that person?!”
It seemed he had drawn the coachman role.
Golden Retriever, quick as lightning, darted over and snatched the note from his hand: “I can do it! I’ll swap with you!” Without giving anyone else a chance to speak, he directly gave his note to the newcomer.
Shen Maomao asked curiously: “You know how to drive a horse-drawn carriage?”
Golden retriever: “I don’t, but my family has a horse farm. I usually go horse riding, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Shen Maomao: “โฆ” Money is really good.
The newcomer clutched the “guard” note tightly, trying to persuade the other players: “Why aren’t any of you resisting? There are so many of us, we can definitely find a way to leave this placeโฆ”
The drawing continued, and no one paid attention to him.
He spoke again: “Are you all crazy? Is this a mental hospital? Or is this my dream?”
Shen Maomao felt sorry for him and called him over: “Let me explain the game to you againโฆ”
Seeing that someone was finally paying attention to him, the newcomer calmed down a bit. He picked up a guard uniform from the bed and came over to Shen Maomao to listen to her explain the game rules.
Lou Jingmo glanced at him, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, the drawing had ended, and everyone held their labels with varying expressions.
The person who initiated the drawing opened his note and immediately cursed. Then, facing everyone’s gaze, he walked over to the three women: “I drew the maid. Does anyone want to swap?”
The three showed the notes they had already exchanged.
The initiator then approached Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo: “Will you swap?”
Both shook their heads.
The initiator grew anxious and tried to snatch the note from Lou Jingmo’s hand: “You two women, why be anything but a maid? Gardener? Chef? Gardening requires strength, do you have that kind of energy?!”
Shen Maomao pulled Lou Jingmo behind her, spreading her arms to shield her completely, like a mother hen protecting her chick, not at all intimidated by the man taller than her: “What we do is none of your business. Didn’t you say exchanges should be voluntary? Are you trying to rob us now?”
The man, unable to save face, changed the subject: “This isn’t fair! You should have waited for me to draw before swapping notes!”
Those who had already exchanged were displeased. A somewhat thin young man with a small patch of freckles on his nose said: “Didn’t you also not mention this beforehand?”
The man gritted his teeth, not wanting to make himself a target, and turned his attention to the newcomer.
The poor little newcomer was still digesting the knowledge he had gained from Shen Maomao when the man grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up: “What did you swap for?”
The newcomer trembled: “You can’t do this to meโฆ If I die because of changing clothes, I’ll haunt you even as a ghostโฆ”
The man raised his fist: “Did she tell you that ghosts and monsters in the game are invincible? Actually, she’s wrong. We can get many items in the game to fight against ghosts and monsters. You’re threatening me by saying you won’t let me go even if you become a ghost? Do you think I’d be afraid of you if you became a ghost?!”
After threatening him, he offered the newcomer a sweetener: “Will you swap or not? Either I beat you up now until you can’t take care of yourself, or you swap jobs directly. If I can leave, I’ll try my best to take you with me.”
In the end, under the man’s threats and inducements, the newcomer tremblingly offered up the guard uniform he had just received with both hands, then began to cry softly with reddened eyes.
The man put the hat on his head and spat at him: “Niang pao” (derogatory term for an effeminate man).
“I cโ” Shen Maomao rolled up her sleeves, just about to go and reason with the man using her fists, when Lou Jingmo pulled her back, “We’re already a large group and a target. Don’t cause trouble and expose our strength too early.”
She expressed her anger by breathing loudly through her nose.
Lou Jingmo said with disgust: “If you spray snot on me, I’ll kill you directly.”
Shen Maomao: “โฆ”
She pouted heavily and walked over to the newcomer, patting his shoulder: “Hey!”
The newcomer looked up at her, his eyes as red as a little rabbit’s.
Shen Maomao: “I’ll swap with youโ”
Lou Jingmo sighed helplessly, grabbed her hand and turned her back, then asked the newcomer: “Can you cook?”
The newcomer’s eyes seemed to overflow with light. He wiped his face with his sleeve and nodded repeatedly: “I can, I can.”
“Then you go be the chef.”
The newcomer, overwhelmed with gratitude, repeated: “Thank youโฆ thank youโฆ”
Shen Maomao’s eyes lit up: “Sister Lou, are you going to wear the maid outfit?!”
“What are you thinking?” Lou Jingmo smiled, grabbing her wrist with one hand and opening her palm with the other, taking out the crumpled “gardener” note, and said, “Of course you’re wearing the maid outfit, and I’m going to be the gardener. Weren’t you the one who wanted to swap with him?”
Golden Retriever added fuel to the fire: “Sister Rabbit, look at this maid outfit, it’s both white and black~”
Shen Maomao gave him a long look: “If you like it so much, why don’t you wear it?”
Golden Retriever covered his mouth.
Not far away, the man who had put on the guard uniform looked coldly at their location, seemingly very dissatisfied with their behavior of treating people differently based on their usefulness.
After allocating the clothes came the room assignments. The three originally unacquainted women banded together in such an environment, choosing one of the rooms and refusing to live with the men.
The remaining four guards also planned to live together, excluding the newcomer.
The newcomer stood helplessly in the last room belonging to Shen Maomao and the others, unsure whether to leave or not.
Shen Maomao looked left at Lou Jingmo, then right at Golden Retriever. Lou Jingmo was carrying a long dress, starting to search the room for clues, while Golden Retriever said: “Don’t look at me, Sister Rabbit, you know that among us three, it’s always Sister Xiaolou above you, and you above me.”
It seemed he was very aware of his own status.
So she took the initiative to ask Lou Jingmo: “Sister Lou, are you there? Sister Lou? Are you there? Can we take in the newcomer?”
Lou Jingmo said indifferently: “If you want to take him in, then do it.”
Shen Maomao was so happy she gave her a bear hug: “Sister Lou, you’re really beautiful and kind-hearted!”
This sentence made the other two laugh. Lou Jingmo thought: I’m kind-hearted my ass; Golden Retriever thought: Sister Rabbit really goes to any lengths to curry favor!
Shen Maomao said to the little newcomer: “What’s your name? You can stay with us for this game.”
The newcomer immediately changed his tone: “Thank you Sister Rabbit, Sister Xiaolou, and this big brother for taking me in! My name is He Yongchang.”
Golden retriever: “Why am I just ‘this big brother’ when it comes to me?”
He Yongchang apologized nervously: “I’m sorry, may I ask what your name isโ”
“No, no, no, you don’t need to be so respectful, I’m getting goosebumps.” Golden Retriever rubbed his arms, not knowing why his casual complaint made the little newcomer act as if he had done something to bully him, “Just call me Golden Retriever.”
โLou Jingmo had already educated him about the survival rule of staying anonymous when surfing the internet, making his “Golden Retriever” name even more deeply ingrained.
He Yongchang said: “Okay, Brother Golden Retriever.”
Golden Retriever: “โฆ”
“From these three words, I can already see the scene of you with a noble-style ‘sha ma te’ (a Chinese subculture similar to emo or scene) hairstyle, waiting for your little brothers to light your cigarette at the school’s snack shop entrance,” Shen Maomao concluded.
Golden Retriever covered his face, Lou Jingmo’s lips curled up, and He Yongchang also laughed along. The atmosphere in the room was unusually harmonious.
The floor of the room was wooden, with no furniture other than the table where they found paper and pen. Four beds were placed haphazardly on the ground, pushed against the four corners of the room, in a very messy arrangement.
The four divided into male and female groups to change clothes in the room.
When it was the two girls’ turn, Shen Maomao faced the wall submissively, refusing to be frank and open with Lou Jingmo.
Lou Jingmo finished changing first and sat on the bed, watching her back with great interest.
As she watched, she suddenly remembered something: “Your body should be your own, right?”
The game clothes seemed to adjust automatically in size. Shen Maomao stuck out her bottom as she stepped into the perfectly fitting high heels, answering: “Yes, how did you notice?”
Lou Jingmo said casually: “Just by eyeballing it.”
Shen Maomao didn’t think much of it. She walked around in the high heels for a while to get used to them, surprisingly finding that she walked quite smoothly. Is wearing high heels a woman’s natural talent?
Lou Jingmo complimented her: “It suits you well, I mean your face. Your bestie’s looks are too eye-catching.”
Shen Maomao laughed shamelessly with a duck-like sound: “I also think I look very good, ga ga ga ga.”
Before she could get more accustomed, they heard someone knocking on the door outside, and Golden Retriever’s voice rang out: “Sister Xiaolou? Sister Rabbit? The NPC is asking us to gather at the manor entrance!”
Shen Maomao responded, and the two walked out of the room, leaving the secluded servants’ quarters and entering the bright and spacious courtyard.
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