Little Qing opened its gaping maw and gulped down the meat bun, then coiled its tail around the plastic bag, trying to hand it to Little Bai.
Little Bai, lying flat on the windowsill and basking in the sun, shook its head to show it wasn't hungry yet. Lazily flicking its tongue, it watched the little mice outside with a contented expression and said, "Master, this batch of reserve rations brought news. They say there's something good to the west and that you should go treasure hunting."
Hearing those two words, "treasure hunting," the already-traumatized Qiao An couldn't bring herself to trust these unreliable informants again.
But looking at the bare walls of her home and the two giant pythons waiting to be fed, she could only grit her teeth and say, "I'll dig! If I don't, we don't eat..."
「On a dark and windy night」
Qiao An set out again, a shovel on her back and her phone in her hand.
"Fam, I'm back!"
The moment she went live, countless unfamiliar IDs flooded into the stream. Qiao An stared, dumbfounded, at the rapidly climbing viewer count.
"What's going on? Why are there so many people today?"
Watching the clueless Qiao An shouldering a shovel, a flood of comments frantically scrolled across the screen.
[Girl, you don't know yet? The story about you digging up human remains last time went viral. Tons of people want to see the jinx for themselves.]
'A jinx?'
Qiao An sighed softly. 'I have been pretty unlucky lately.'
'Although my stream was suspended because of the last treasure hunt, it was a blessing in disguise. I got two square meals at the police station. I'm quite content with that.'
[Hahaha, don't sigh, streamer. Just do your thing! You're criminally good at this!]
[Hurry up and dig, streamer! I can't wait to see what treasure you find today. Maybe there'll be another surprise...]
[Netizens are so gullible these days. All these streams are fake. The human remains last time were probably just part of a pre-arranged script.]
[To the poster above, don't be a know-it-all. I was the one who called the cops that day. I even got the confirmation receipt. How could it be fake?]
The comments were scrolling by too fast, making Qiao An's head spin. She continued, "Everyone, you have to trust my skills. According to my survey, there's definitely a big haul here!"
Unwilling to watch the comments any longer, Qiao An turned, hoisted her pickaxe, and started digging. As she was hard at work, she startled an owl perched in a large tree.
It muttered under its breath, "Boring humans, digging here every day, disturbing an old-timer's sleep."
Qiao An looked up strangely at the owl. The two of them stared at each other, wide-eyed.
"Sorry, old-timer, but I'll be digging here for a while. You should probably go sleep somewhere else."
The owl seemed startled. It flapped its wings frantically, nearly falling off the branch before seeming to remember it could fly and steadying itself.
"Strange human, you can actually understand me. You're amazing..."
Spreading its wings again, the large owl swooped down from the branch and landed squarely on Qiao An's shoulder.
[Whoa, whoa, whoa, what a huge owl! Our girl is so popular with animals.]
[The ecosystem in D City must be pretty good. They even have owls.]
The added weight on her shoulder made it difficult for Qiao An to keep digging, so she tried to shoo it away in annoyance.
The owl, swaying back and forth, refused to leave. It struggled to spread its wings to keep its balance and continued to chatter, "Don't move, don't move! I know there's something good in there. I'll tell you where..."
Hearing this, Qiao An's eyes instantly lit up, and she silently accepted the weight on her shoulder.
Just as she followed the owl's directions and dug deeper, there was a loud metallic CLANG.
"Fam, we've hit the jackpot! This time it's definitely something good!"
A delighted Qiao An aimed her phone into the large pit. She carefully scraped away the dirt with her foot, and the object buried beneath was gradually revealed.
[Huh, I've got a bad feeling about this...]
[Holy shit! Those things are covered in dried, dark brown stains. It couldn't be...]
[Excellent. Everyone can call the police now!]
[Hahaha, our girl's luck is unbeatable! A second trip to the station!]
[Who else can compete! I told you our girl is the number one treasure hunter online. She's dug up crime scene evidence again.]
Holding her phone, Qiao An stared at the assortment of knives, blades, and clubs at her feet, and a little piece of her broke inside.
She could only force a smile that looked worse than tears for the camera, wave her hand, and say, "To all you folks in the stream, I've got to call the police now. Goodbye."
The moment she cut the stream, Qiao An spun around and grabbed the owl by the neck.
"You feathered menace! Why did you make me dig this stuff up? Did you do it on purpose!"
The owl, struggling for its life, flapped its wings and squawked indignantly.
"You're the menace! Your whole family are menaces! Someone just came and buried that stuff here yesterday. I thought it was treasure..."
'Buried just yesterday?'
'And I dug it up today?'
'SOB... Those damn rats! I'm going home to put out poison and kill them all.'
After being reborn on Blue Star, Qiao An had discovered that the original owner of her body had no family or friends. The only contacts she had were the old director of her former orphanage and, more recently, the captain of the criminal investigation unit she'd just met, Mu Zimo.
She dialed his number, and soon, a man's low, hoarse voice came through.
"Qiao An?"
Mu Zimo had been working around the clock for the past few days. He was still working overtime and had just managed to snatch a quick nap at his desk when his phone woke him. Seeing the recently saved number, he answered with a slight frown.
"Officer, sorry to bother you so late, but I think I've found something new..."
"What did you find? Where are you? Are you safe?"
"Uh, I'm perfectly safe. I'm at the foot of a barren hill in the Western Suburb. You should bring some people over. I was just livestreaming and... I think I dug up some crime scene evidence."
Hearing the words "crime scene evidence," Mu Zimo was stunned.
"You didn't go livestreaming a treasure hunt again, did you?"
Having been found out, Qiao An could only give an awkward, silly laugh. 'It's not that I want to livestream treasure hunts. It's just that I can't sing or dance, and I don't have the figure for risqué content. All I can do is manual labor to earn some donations and barely make ends meet.'
"I have no choice. If I eat my fill today and don't stream, I'll go hungry tomorrow. I just have to do my best to earn a little more."
'*Sigh.* I might have scrounged two full meals at the police station, but poor Little Bai and Little Qing are still out there foraging. If I had money in my pocket, I might even be able to buy a couple of chickens for a proper meat-filled meal at home.'
Even though Qiao An worked so hard, she was still this unlucky, digging up crime scene evidence yet again.
Soon, the flashing red and blue lights of a police car appeared once more in the Western Suburb. Mu Zimo, sitting in the passenger seat, saw Qiao An in the distance, squatting on a small hill with a non-stop chattering owl perched on her head.
Qiao An, who considered them old friends by their second meeting, stood up and waved her arms to guide them over.
Sitting behind Mu Zimo, Xie Shan couldn't help but chuckle. "She sure is friendly. Just a bit of a jinx..."
Mu Zimo rubbed his temples. 'She's always smiling, so unguarded with everyone. She's just too open and kind.'