My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

On May 2, Zhang Ying returned home after buying groceries at the market, and Li Ziqing stayed close to him.

She stood very close, almost touching his arm, and petals from the wreath brushed against Zhang Ying's sleeve, leaving a few broken pieces.

Shen Yugang sat on the sofa, watching the two of them being all lovey-dovey, but he didn't feel the melancholy of being a single dog at all.

Because he knew that Zhang Ying's wonderful marriage was something that ordinary people would never be able to enjoy.

He picked up the water glass on the coffee table, took a sip, and then looked at his phone screen, pretending he hadn't seen anything.

Zhang Ying placed the vegetables on the kitchen counter and turned on the tap to wash the rice. The water flowed into the rice cooker's inner pot, the rice grains tumbled in the water, and the water gradually turned white.

He stirred the rice twice with his hands, poured out the rice water, and filled a pot with clean water.

Li Ziqing stood beside him, raised her right hand, and twitched her fingertips slightly. The cleaver floated up from the knife rack, paused in mid-air for a second, and then landed on a piece of tofu, slicing down.

With a few swift strokes, the tofu was cut into evenly sized cubes, neatly arranged on the cutting board. She then moved her finger, and the cleaver floated to the green peppers beside her, slicing them into almost uniform strips with a few quick, sharp cuts.

The two looked like a loving couple, cooking together.

The oil in the pan was hot, and Zhang Ying poured in the chopped vegetables. With a sizzle, smoke rose up, and the range hood hummed.

Li Ziqing's face was beaming with a relaxed and happy smile throughout.

Zhang Ying lit the fire to cook, stirred the food in the pan a few times with a spatula, added salt and soy sauce, and stir-fried it evenly. Just then, a phone rang in his pocket.

He freed one hand, took out his phone, and glanced at the caller ID.

Deputy Director Xie.

He answered the phone while cooking.

"Hello, Deputy Director Xie."

On the other end of the phone, Xie Lichun's tone was urgent with a hint of apology. "Zhang Ying, do you have time tonight?"

Zhang Ying stirred the food in the pot and turned down the heat. "There's time, Director Xie, what's the rush?"

"Tonight we're going to investigate those two potentially restricted areas you mentioned. We're short-handed right now, so we have no choice but to have you, the newly appointed one, join us on this mission."

Zhang Ying paused for a moment. "Does it have to be tonight? Is the Investigation Bureau in such a hurry?"

Xie Lichun's voice turned serious. "These are two forbidden zones for living people, concerning the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the entire Dacang City. The sooner we find out, the better."

Zhang Ying turned off the fire and ladled the food from the pot onto a plate. He was silent for a moment, then carried the plate to the stove.

"Okay, I'll go. Where to?"

"Sanjianghu. A car will come to pick you up then."

"understood."

The call ended. Zhang Ying placed his phone on the table, looked at the stir-fried dishes on the plate, and stood there for two seconds.

Li Ziqing walked to his side, tilted her head to look at him, and the smile on her face faded slightly. "Are you going out?"

Zhang Ying nodded. "I have something to do tonight. Senior, I'll call you again if anything unexpected happens."

Li Ziqing pursed her lips, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just nodded.

Zhang Ying carried the dishes out of the kitchen and placed them on the dining table. Shen Yugang stood up from the sofa, walked to the table, sat down, looked at the dishes on the plate, and then looked at Zhang Ying.

"Whose phone call did you answer in the kitchen just now?"

"From the Investigation Bureau. We're going to Sanjianghu tonight."

Shen Yugang's expression changed, and his chopsticks froze in mid-air. "Sanjianghu? What are we doing there?"

"Investigate." Zhang Ying turned and went back to the kitchen to get the second dish.

Shen Yugang put down his chopsticks and swallowed hard. "Brother Ying, my soul... it can't really be in that lakeside residential area, can it?"

Zhang Ying placed the second dish on the table, sat down, and picked up his chopsticks. "It's pretty much a done deal. This trip will be a good opportunity to check it out."

Shen Yugang didn't ask any more questions. He picked up his chopsticks again, took a piece of tofu, put it in his mouth, and chewed it a couple of times.

……

late at night.

On the street near Phase II of the Lakeview Residential Complex, five young people were following the map navigation towards Building 1 of Phase II.

The streetlights cast a dim, yellowish light, leaving blurry halos on the sidewalk.

The shops along the street had long since closed, their roller shutters pulled all the way down, sprayed with all sorts of little GGs. Occasionally, a dog barked once or twice in the distance, the sound muffled, as if something was pressing down on it.

These five young people are all university students from a local university in Okura, three men and two women.

The student in the lead was named Liu Dadan, and true to his name, he was very bold and physically strong. He was wearing a black, tight-fitting T-shirt, the fabric stretched taut by his chest muscles.

His arm was around the shoulder of a daringly dressed female student named Xiaoqin. She wore heavy makeup, an off-the-shoulder top, and a skirt so short it almost reached her thighs.

Liu Dadan patted his chest, his voice echoing loudly in the empty street. "Don't worry, it's just an apartment building in a residential complex, what's there to be afraid of? If you're a coward, just follow your brother Liu around. Even if there really is a ghost, I'll kick a male ghost, and as for a female ghost—well, we'll have to see what she looks like, hehe."

When he smiled, he revealed a set of fairly even teeth, and his eyes gleamed with a kind of arrogant arrogance.

Wu Sangui, the male student next to him, immediately chimed in, his tone deliberately obsequious. "Brother Liu, you're not being fair. You already have Xiaoqin, and you still want a female ghost? You should at least leave some for the hungry brothers."

Xiaoqin, who was being held by Liu Dadan, snorted irritably and turned her head away. "Go live with your female ghost."

Liu Dadan immediately hugged her tightly, lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "No one really lives with a ghost. If anyone were to live with one, it would be with you. You are the little ghost who has stirred up my heart."

Xiaoqin blushed and punched him in the chest.

The three people in front were chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was relaxed.

The two people behind seemed slightly frightened. They kept a few meters between themselves and the three in front, walking at a moderate pace, as if deliberately maintaining that distance.

Xiao Ping was carrying a video camera, the lens cap removed, but it wasn't turned on yet. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, the hood off, and his hair was slightly disheveled by the night wind. He turned his head and whispered something to the female student next to him.

"Yao Bai, is it really okay if we just follow them like this? I have this feeling that being with these three people makes me feel like cannon fodder in a horror movie."

He spoke in a very low voice, as if afraid of being overheard by the people in front of him.

Yao Bai shook his head, his expression calm. "There's no other way. If we can't come up with any useful news, we won't have money for next month's tuition. You don't want your bedridden sister to be kicked out of the hospital, do you?"

Xiao Ping sighed, rubbing his fingers on the camera body twice. "I just hope that there's nothing really haunted in this supposedly haunted neighborhood that's been all over the news."

Yao Bai's lips twitched slightly. "I do hope there's a real ghost. If we can capture it, the account might go viral."