S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 62

The Red Thread of the Moon During Tanabata

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While the SCI team has been busy with the case recently, there are a few people in Bai Jintang's villa who have a lot of time on their hands.

……

Luo Yang jumped his checker forward three squares and muttered, "Today is Tanabata."

Xiao Yi also jumped his checker forward three squares and asked, "What's Tanabata?"

"Oh..." Luo Yang understood that Xiao Yi had been living abroad, and therefore didn't know about Tanabata, so he told him about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, the Magpie Bridge meeting, and the ancient Chinese Valentine’s Day.

"Ah!" Xiao Yi's eyes widened, "Is it Valentine's Day tomorrow? That's a big deal! Yang Yang, did Sister Xin Xin make chocolates for your dad?"

Luo Yang wrinkled his nose and said, "I think, even if she did, I guess it would be made in the shape of a real heart… and the kind that can clearly distinguish the atria, ventricles and aorta."

"Cool~" Xiao Yi sighed in admiration, and sighed again, "I really wish that Daddy would propose to Dr. Yang on Valentine's Day."

Luo Yang's eyes widened, "Yeah… if only Daddy would propose to Sister Xin Xin on Valentine's Day… Let's not talk about proposing, it would be good if we could get Sister Xin Xin to stop being angry."

The two little ones looked at each other… and both let out a long, defeated sigh, "It's not possible… too dumb!"

"What's not possible?”

Old man Chen wandered over with his coffee cup, patted Lisbon on the head and sat down to watch the two little ones.

"Grandpa Chen, do you have any plans for Tanabata?" Xiao Yi asked.

"Haha." Old man Chen chuckled, "Fortunately, I don't have to go out today."

"Why?" Luo Yang was puzzled.

"Because…" Old man Chen lowered his voice and said, “there are too many people waiting to bring me chocolate and I can't eat it, my blood sugar will be high."

"We'll eat it!" Luo Yang and Xiao Yi raised their hands.

"Hmm?" Old man Chen reached out and pinched the cheeks of the two kids, "No way, you two little handsome boys surprisingly don't have anyone to give you chocolates? Boys need to know how to show off their charms properly."

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi giggled as the old man thought for a moment and said, "Did you know that Valentine's Day also has a very important role to play?"

"What?" The two tilted their faces to look at him.

“Yue Lao!" The old man winked at them both, “Yue Lao has red threads, and if you have a lover, you must tie it!” (Angel: Yue Lao, the abbreviated name for Yue Xia Laoren, is the old lunar matchmaker god who is in charge of marriages.)

With that, the old man pulled out a dozen red ropes that Chen Yu used to braid bracelets from his pocket and winked at the two of them, "They all must have forgotten about the Tanabata Festival. Well… shall we give them a hand?"

Xiao Yi and Luo Yang looked at each other and nodded together – En!

SCI ended its busy day and the group was ready to go back to their respective places to rest.

Luo Tian received a call from Luo Yang, saying that Grandpa Chen had personally cooked a big table of delicious food and told everyone to come and eat, and that it was time to relax.

So, all of them went to Bai Jintang's villa together.

As expected, Grandpa Chen was an excellent cook and had cooked a table full of good food, and it was already late after the group had feasted on it.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu let Chen Jiayi and Qi Le take them away.

Chen Yu was also involved in the plan, so she forced Ma Xin to stay with her. Luo Tian wanted to take Luo Yang back, but Xiao Yi clung to Luo Yang and said he wanted to sleep with Luo Yang for the night, so Luo Tian had no choice but to stay with them.

Soon the whole room was quiet, the only thing still functioning was probably the superb surveillance system outside and the rotating staff on duty arranged by Da Ding and Xiao Ding.

It was 9.30 p.m., not very late for the average person, but for the two little ones who had made it a rule that they had to be in bed at 9 p.m. and asleep at 9:30 p.m., it was very late.

Xiao Yi took the red rope and asked Luo Yang, "Who do we deal with first?"

Luo Yang thought about it, "Let's decide as we go!"

The two nodded and, dressed in the same Pooh Bear pyjamas, quietly slipped out of the room and began to survey the terrain.

They first ran next door to Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen's room.

The light was on in the room, because at home, the group basically leaves their doors open apart from when they have to do something very private.

Xiao Yi and Luo Yang peered in through the doorway and saw Bai Chi sitting on the bed with Lisbon resting behind him, reading a book, and Zhao Zhen lying on the side, also reading a book… The more Bai Chi read, the more scared he became and the deeper he burrowed into Zhao Zhen's arms. Zhao Zhen wrapped his arms around him, and asked, "Is that the missing person in the attic?" (Angel: I think that Zhao Zhen may be asking about the author or the story he is ready, but I'm not sure. This question was really confusing.)

"I don't know." Bai Chi flipped to the cover, "This guy writes good detective novels."

Zhao Zhen raised his eyebrows, “Indeed, the suspense aspect of horror novels is pretty good… Who's the killer?"

Zhao Zhen shook his head. The two continued to look down, and Lisbon yawned.

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi retreated to the side.

Xiao Yi: "They have a pretty good atmosphere."

Luo Yang: "Seems to be… but Lisbon is there."

"I have an idea.” Xiao Yi knocked gently on the door.

"Please come in." Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen lifted their heads and saw Xiao Yi at the door.

"Xiao Yi?" Bai Chi waved at him, "What's up?”

"Well…" Xiao Yi pointed to Lisbon.

When Lisbon saw it, he lazily got up and trotted over.

Xiao Yi pinched its ears and glanced at Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen again.

"Anything else?" Bai Chi asked.

"Well…" Xiao Yi looked behind him at Luo Yang, who had a loop of red thread wrapped around his hand, thinking of what method to use to wrap it around them.

"Come here." Seeing that the two seemed to have something to say, Bai Chi put down his book, taking two chocolate pies from a bedside table and waving at the two.

The two boys ran in.

"What's going on? "

"Well, we have something we want to give you as a gift.” Luo Yang and Xiao Yi said.

"Oh?" Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen were both a little surprised, "What do you want to give us?"

"Close your eyes first!" Xiao Yi said.

Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen looked at each other and both closed their eyes; the two boys' plan worked. They hurriedly took out a long red thread and tied it to the two men, saying, "Don't open your eyes…" before running outside and shouting when they got out the door. "It's okay now!"

Then the door slammed shut.

Puzzled, Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen opened their eyes and looked down… and both of them froze, their pinkies were tied together with a red string.

"What is this situation?" Zhao Zhen was a little confused.

Bai Chi squinted his eyes in thought, then picked up a calendar to the side and looked at it, "Oh… these two brats, today is Tanabata."

"Oh…" Zhao Zhen immediately smiled, "Valentine's Day."

Bai Chi reached out to untie the string on his finger, but Zhao Zhen held him down, "Chi Chi, don't you think it's been a long time since we…"

"Hmm?" Bai Chi saw Zhao Zhen come a little closer and raised his eyes to look elsewhere, "But we have a case to investigate tomorrow…"

"There are still ten or so hours until you go to work tomorrow, that should be enough…" Zhao Zhen smiled slightly.

"But…"

"Chi Chi," Zhao Zhen showed him the red thread on his hand, "Yue Lao has spoken, so it's not good to not do as you're told… Look, the door is closed."

"The book…"

"Never mind the book."

"Well…"

"Good boy…"

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi had solved the first pair, and the second pair was next – Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang in the next room.

Glancing inside, a rather bizarre image appeared.

Bai Yutang was sitting next to a piece of exercise equipment, exercising, and was really full of energy. Zhan Zhao was in his pyjamas, leaning on the bed and tapping on his laptop keyboard, seemingly writing a book.

"Aiya," Luo Yang said seriously, “these two have no atmosphere at all."

"Then what should we do?" Xiao Yi asked.

Just then, the door opened and Bai Yutang, wiping his sweat with a towel, stood in the doorway looking at the two, "What are you doing? You're still awake, watch out for a spanking."

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi looked at each other, with Lisbon behind them.

"Well… we have questions to ask Uncle Zhan." Luo Yang usually looks for Zhan Zhao to ask about homework, so he said it in passing this time as well.

"Questions?" Bai Yutang figured it might be homework, so he opened the door and let the two in.

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi ran in and Zhan Zhao put down his laptop, asking, "What's the question?"

Before the two could say anything, they saw Bai Yutang go into the bathroom to take a shower.

"Well…" Luo Yang and Xiao Yi were in a bit of a dilemma; the timing wasn't right… What should they do next?

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly, "What's the conspiracy, you two?"

The two of them were startled and looked at Zhan Zhao with wide eyes.

Zhan Zhao sighed and pinched the two's cheeks, "I am an expert in psychology, I can see what you two brats are thinking right away."

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi made a face.

"What are you hiding behind you?" Zhan Zhao leaned over to take a look, and saw a few red strings.

After thinking about it, he picked up the desk calendar and took a look, "Oh… you want to be Yue Lao."

"En, we've made a successful pair!" Xiao Yi was quite proud.

Zhan Zhao smiled, "You two, ah, you succeeded with Chi Chi and Zhao Zhen, right?"

Both of them nodded.

"The rest are easy, the hardest part is the two pairs that are most difficult for you two to put together!" Zhan Zhao winked at the two.

The two little ones were in low spirits.

"Well," Zhan Zhao sat down cross-legged and scooped up the little lion who was napping, saying, “is there a plan?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"Well…" Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin and said, "do you want me to be your advisor?"

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi narrowed their eyes at Zhan Zhao.

"Wow…" Zhan Zhao poked the two of them in the tummy of their Pooh Bear pyjamas, "you two are actually looking at the expert with such suspicious eyes, huh?"

"Uncle Zhan, you are great at solving cases, but this is…"

“All right, I’ll prove my prowess!" Zhan Zhao took a red string from their hands and said, “I’ll teach you one move to set up the pair of Brother and Gongsun, do you believe it or not?"

The two kids were shocked, "So powerful?"

Zhan Zhao beckoned to the two little brats and whispered a few words in their ears.

……

Bai Jintang was reading through documents.

Since his memory was restored, he had accumulated a lot of official documents. When he looked up, he saw Gongsun leaning on the bed looking at a forensic report, as he was now about to get back into the case.

Bai Jintang was looking at the documents when he saw Luo Yang poking his head in at the door, shushing him and hooking his finger.

Bai Jintang was a bit puzzled, so he walked over to the two little ones, who were smiling up at him.

Bai Jintang asked, "What?"

Luo Yang picked up a red string and gave it to him.

When Bai Jintang was confused, Xiao Yi's mouth moved and he silently said “Tanabata".

Bai Jintang raised an eyebrow… With a look of appreciation, he pulled something out of his pocket and stuffed it into the pockets of the two little ones, taking the red string in the process, and in a blink of an eye… closed the door.

The two emptied their pockets and saw that it was – a generous tip…

Then, some sort of odd sound was heard coming from inside.

Zhan Zhao had just typed a few words when he saw Luo Yang and Xiao Yi rushing back happily, "Amazing!"

"Uncle Zhan, give us some ideas!"

Zhan Zhao put down his laptop and said with a straight face, “En! You two, one for each of you! Just do as I say!"

“En!" The two nodded their heads and listened carefully to Zhan Zhao.

......

A moment later, the two were seen running out of Zhan Zhao's room, each holding a red rope and carefully running away.

Zhan Zhao smiled and shook his head as he prepared to continue working on the book, when he saw the bathroom door open.

Bai Yutang wiped his hair and came out, waving to the traumatised little lion and opening the door for him in the process.

The little lion ran off to sleep with Lisbon on the sofa downstairs.

"Cat." Bai Yutang got into bed and laid down.

Zhan Zhao put down his laptop and was ready to sleep. He turned over and was about to ask Bai Yutang to turn off the light, but he saw him smiling, holding an object in his hand – a red string.

"Uh…" Zhan Zhao froze. Bai Yutang lifted the covers and pulled it upwards…

"I have to work tomorrow!"

"It's okay, you never have any physical labour!"

"Tired!"

"You need to exercise more, Cat, especially your lower back and abdomen, because you sit a lot."

"Ah!"

……

Early the next morning.

Bai Yutang, Zhao Zhen and Bai Jintang came downstairs refreshed, while Zhan Zhao, Bai Chi and Gongsun slept in as usual.

When they reached the door of the kitchen, Bai Yutang found the kitchen locked… Because of its special construction, the kitchen could only be locked from the outside and could not be opened from the inside.

"Is there any breakfast to eat?" Zhao Zhen came over and squeezed his arm around Bai Yutang's shoulders, "So hungry…"

Before the words were finished, all three of them froze, because in the kitchen, Ma Xin and Luo Tian were leaning together. Ma Xin was sleeping on Luo Tian's leg and drooling, while Luo Tian looked helplessly at the crowd and signalled – open the door quickly.

Bai Yutang stifled a laugh and opened the door, and Ma Xin woke up, getting up in a daze.

Zhao Zhen joked with her, "Xin Xin, finally made a move, huh?"

Ma Xin gave him a fierce look and stood up, her face flushed, "No ice cream for Yang Yang today, the little devil!"

Luo Tian also stood up, "I'm going to spank him!"

After saying that, the two of them headed out.

"What's wrong?" Bai Jintang asked.

"Yang Yang said that Luban got stuck under the stove and asked me to help him get out," Ma Xin said.

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow, "You actually believed that that cat got stuck?"

Ma Xin blushed, "Luban is a fat cat…"

"Meow!" Luban, who was lying on Lisbon's head on the sofa, purred mournfully.

"And what about you?" Bai Yutang asked Luo Tian.

Luo Tian sighed, "Yang Yang told me that Xin Xin went into the kitchen and suddenly fainted on the floor. I came in and saw her lying on the floor, so I thought it was real and was about to check on her… and he locked the door."

"Ai, the children have some good intentions." Zhao Zhen persuaded them.

"Impossible, their deception is not working."

"That's right!" Ma Xin agreed, seemingly reconciled.

"Two children would never have such a heart." Bai Yutang prepared to make breakfast and laughed, "They talked to Zhan Zhao for a while last night, so I guess someone gave them ideas."

……

"Then again…" Bai Jintang put down the magazine in his hand and said, "there should be another pair…"

The group froze and all ran to Yang Fan and Qin Ou's room. Opening the door, they saw no one on the bed and the bathroom door locked.

Everyone looked at each other, laughed heartily, and ran over to check, and indeed, it was locked…

Shaking his head, Bai Yutang found the key and opened it… Ha! It was even more exciting here. Yang Fan was lying in Qin Ou's arms, draped in his bathrobe as well as Qin Ou's jacket, while Qin Ou was lying on a pile of bath towels, sighing… Last night, Xiao Yi ran to tell him that Dr. Yang had fainted in the shower, and he rushed in to see.

As soon as he entered the bathroom, he saw Yang Fan bathing naked. Being scolded and beaten, he wanted to leave, but the door was locked… However, all of the facilities in Bai Jintang's villa are exceptionally strong, so it is simply impossible to break through the door, and the door of the room is soundproof, so no one could hear them screaming… so, the night tragically passed.

The group went downstairs. Qin Ou and Luo Tian ran to Luo Yang's room, saying that this time, no matter how fillial they are, they must be spanked, but they pushed open the door to see…

The two little ones probably worked too late last night, and were sleeping soundly, head to head, hugging a big Winnie the Pooh in between. That look…

Looking at them, Qin Ou and Luo Tian drew a cold breath, hurriedly lightened their footsteps, and then gently backed out, quietly closing the door and quietly going downstairs…

"Hmm." Old man Chen, who had come in from walking the birds in the courtyard, had a large bag of something in his hand.

"What is it, Old Man?" Bai Yutang asked, confused.

"Oh." The old man put it down on the table and said, "I just asked a brother to come and drop by, it's chocolate, eat it, there's a lot of it every year… hehe." After saying that, he slunk away.

The group opened it and saw that it was filled with chocolates in the shape of hearts, along with love letters and cute little gifts.

The few people looked at it with their mouths wide open.

"Hmm."  Bai Jintang gently rubbed his chin, "This old man isn't an ordinary person"

"Yeah." Bai Yutang and Zhao Zhen nodded their heads together, "Absolutely hidden away…" (Angel: Hidden away is the direct translation for a word that describes someone who has knowledge and talent but is introverted and does not like to show off his talent in front of others.)

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

I have made lots of progress over the last few days and am a few chapters ahead, so enjoy an extra chapter this week!

Also, Bai Yutang is such a snitch! He didn't need to snitch on Zhan Zhao like that.

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: February 9, 2022