novelraw Chapter 15
Chapter 15
After returning home, Lu Li sank into a long silence...
Yesterday, she had found the relevant contact information on a forum called the "Foggy Ford City Folk Culture Research Society." Although the name sounded like something a retired old man's bird-walking club would come up with, there wasn't really any better option.
Right now, she was sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, hunched over that old tablet, typing out an email one character at a time...
“Hello, I found your contact information on Tieba. I've encountered a Calamity and want to learn more. Would it be convenient to meet?”
Delete.
Too blunt—what if it was a phishing scheme?
“Hello, could I ask about the Night Wanderer Society…”
Delete.
Too stupid.
“I....”
......
Forget it.
Lu Li took a deep breath, retyped the first version she'd just deleted, then closed her eyes as if silently mourning for herself, and clicked send.
So be it.
Then came the waiting.
****
A day without a phone felt like an eternity...
Refresh... refresh...
DING.
『You have a new email.』
A crisp notification tone rang out across the living room.
Lu Li's spirits lifted; she practically threw herself at the tablet. The screen flickered twice, then a new email popped up.
The contents were simple—just a time, an address, and a postscript.
Sender: L
『Tomorrow at 3 PM. New District·Foggy Ford Arts Center, Ground Floor, Yuebai Café.』
Lu Li glanced at the battery indicator blinking red in the top-right corner of the tablet, quickly jotted down the address, then opened the map to search.
The next second, she sucked in a sharp breath.
"Average spend... 380?"
Lu Li stared at that glaring number, then looked at the handful of loose change in her pocket—less than 50 yuan in total.
This wasn't a job interview—this was a heist.
Lu Li silently closed the page. Then opened it again. Then closed it.
No. She was going there to talk about work, not to spend money. What was there to be afraid of?
Just talking about work, not spending money. All she had to do was keep smiling, drink tap water, and hold out until the other party paid the bill.
Probably.
****
The following afternoon.
Lu Li stood beneath a bus stop sign... clutching a fistful of coins in her palm. This was the one inconvenience of not having a phone. As she fed coins into the machine, someone behind her muttered something under their breath.
She didn't need to catch the words—the tone alone said plenty.
—Who still uses cash these days?
She hunched her shoulders and found a corner seat.
The bus swayed and rumbled through the city. Outside the window, the scenery gradually shifted from worn-down residential blocks to gleaming high-rises, their glass facades scattering blinding light in the afternoon sun.
The New District.
It didn't feel like the same city as where she lived at all.
This body's stamina was appallingly poor—after nothing more than a short jog, she was forced to stop and catch her breath against a lamppost.
Lu Li looked at the polished, well-dressed office workers along the street, then glanced at her own reflection in the glass curtain wall—her jacket hanging loose off her frame, her silver-white hair tied back with a 2-yuan hair tie, her face flushed a sickly red from oxygen debt, her eyes darting and evasive...
Like a runaway girl at rock bottom. Sickly and frail.
"What a sorry state."
Lu Li steadied her breathing, then walked into the Foggy Ford Arts Center. It was considerably grander than she had imagined.
The massive abstract sculpture alone at the entrance looked like it could cover a full year's rent for her apartment... perhaps more than a full year. Yuebai Café was tucked at the far end of the ground floor.
She took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
****
Cool air washed over her, carrying with it the scent of expensive coffee beans. The interior décor was even more excessive than it looked from outside.
Warm amber lighting, leather sofas, a small cluster of fresh flowers on every table. The air was threaded with the smell of coffee and some fragrance Lu Li couldn't name.
"Excuse me, are you Miss Lu?"
The server seemed to have been expecting her and led her directly to a corner table by the window.
A woman was seated there.
The moment Lu Li laid eyes on Lin Lu, only 1 word surfaced in her mind—
‘Rich lady.’
The woman wore a floral-print dress that looked expensive just at a glance, layered over a precisely tailored knit cardigan. Her hair fell loosely over her shoulders, her makeup refined yet understated—the kind that looked effortless but was exactly right in every detail.
A set of professional art supplies sat on the table beside a beautifully colored drink.
She was sketching something with a charcoal pencil, and only looked up when she heard footsteps.
Then Lu Li watched her eyes light up.
"...Come, sit."
The woman set down her charcoal pencil and beckoned to her with a wave of her hand, her manner as natural as if she were calling over her own little sister.
"I'm Lin Lu." Lin Lu introduced herself, her gaze sweeping shamelessly across Lu Li's face.
"Let me get a look at you..."
"In person, you're even more... hmm. Even more fragile than I imagined."
"Fragile?" Lu Li didn't understand the description. Was that a compliment or an insult?
"Like a patchwork porcelain doll—one small bump and you'd shatter." Lin Lu rested her chin in her hand, her voice carrying a strange note of pity. "How old are you? Are you of age?"
"...I am." Lu Li kept a straight face and lied, even though this body definitely didn't look it.
"Too thin."
"..."
"Your complexion is bad too. Haven't been sleeping well lately?"
"..."
"Your hair is lovely though. Natural wave?"
"..."
Lu Li felt like a kitten being picked up and inspected.
"Um..."
"Order." Lin Lu cut her off directly, waving over the server. "1 of every new item this season."
"Huh?!"
"Also," Lin Lu turned back, smiling brightly, "you said you'd encountered a Calamity. Tell me more?"
And so, over a table full of exquisite pastries whose names Lu Li couldn't even identify, she haltingly recounted what had happened that rainy night—omitting the gender-swap, only saying her body had developed problems after the attack.
"Attacked but survived... and instead gained something like a regenerative ability..." Lin Lu mused to herself. "That's not common, but as long as you survived, that's what matters."
"...Mm."
Lin Lu speared a cube of tiramisu with a small fork. "Surviving is what matters. Don't overthink it."
"Here, open up."
"...Huh?"
"You've swallowed 3 times staring at this."
Lu Li's brain hadn't caught up yet, but her body had already obediently opened its mouth.
The dense cream melted on the tip of her tongue, and the sweetness instantly washed away an entire day's worth of anxiety and bitterness.
Delicious.
Genuinely delicious.
"There we go." Lin Lu watched her cheeks puff out like a hamster's and narrowed her eyes in satisfaction. "About your questions—the Night Wanderer Society isn't some righteous organization, and it isn't a charity either. Plainly put, it's a group of people with special abilities who gather to take on jobs and earn money."
She gestured toward the bustling street outside the window.
"Wealthy people fear death. And there are some dirty jobs the authorities can't be seen handling themselves—that's where we come in. This meal, for instance, was paid for by a certain boss as thanks for me handling a small matter for his daughter."
"Earning money?"
"Earning money." Lin Lu nodded. "As long as you can resolve a problem, you get paid. It's fair, and it's real."
Lu Li suddenly felt a weight lift off her chest.
If the other party had started talking about ideals and saving the world, she would have felt uneasy. But if it was just about money...
She desperately needed it.
"What? Disappointed?"
"No," Lu Li shook her head and swallowed the last of her cake. "If anything... I feel a little relieved."
"Good." Lin Lu pulled out a tissue, gracefully dabbed the corner of her mouth, then drew a black card from her bag and slid it across to Lu Li, reaching over to ruffle her hair.
"You're quite an interesting kid."
That hand was warm, its touch light and gentle—like stroking a cat.
"...Huh?" Lu Li froze, looking at the card, then at Lin Lu, momentarily too stunned to reach for it.
"That's... all it takes?"
"What else did you expect?"
"Isn't there... some kind of assessment?" Lu Li couldn't stop herself from voicing the question in her head. "Or checking my ID? A background check? Political vetting? You'd trust me just like that? What if I'm a bad person?"
Hold on—organizations didn't recruit like this. They were supposed to conduct a thorough investigation first, then run a full ability assessment, assign a trial mission, and finally, after narrowly surviving the whole ordeal, she'd barely scrape her way in. How was she just being accepted this easily?!
At that, Lin Lu paused—then burst out laughing.
She leaned back against the sofa, arms crossed over her chest, and that languid air of hers shifted into something just slightly domineering.
"Xiao Li, do you have some kind of misconception about the Night Wanderer Society?"
Lin Lu extended a finger and waved it in the air.
"First—we're a private organization, not those stiff bureaucrats in the government. Here, I'm the head of the Foggy Ford branch. If I say you're in, you're in."
"Second..."
"I have a bad habit, you see."
"I tend to judge by first impression. Especially when I see a stray little cat or dog—homeless, soaked to the skin, looking utterly pitiful—I always can't help but want to take them home."
"..."
Lu Li opened her mouth and found herself completely speechless.
"Alright then," Lin Lu withdrew her hand and surveyed the remaining pastries on the table. "You can't finish all of this, can you?"
"Server—box everything up on this table. And bring 2 of the signature cakes to go as well."
"Huh? That's too much—"
"It's a welcome gift. Besides, someone else is covering this meal—might as well eat our fill." Lin Lu winked at her and picked up her art supply bag.
"Oh, one more thing—there happens to be a job tonight."
"Don't worry, just observation." Lin Lu seemed to read her anxiety and kept her voice soft. "You don't need to do anything. Just watch how we work. Think of it as... orientation?"
Lu Li looked up and met Lin Lu's smiling eyes.
There really was no other choice.
She needed money. She needed an identity. She needed to understand what exactly she had become.
"...Alright."
She gave a small nod.
Lin Lu's smile deepened.
"Welcome aboard, Xiao Li."
Lu Li looked at the heavy bag of pastries in her hands and had the sudden feeling that she'd been snared by something.
But whatever it was—this was a good thing.
An organization. An income. Someone watching her back.
Everything was moving in a better direction.
****
Was it, though?
She glanced down at her own hands.
Along the edges of her fingernails—they seemed just a little redder than they had been that morning.