Rachel took the wooden box from the servant and put down her cup of ginger tea without turning a hair. Then,
she gesticulated several words. I’m going upstairs first.
Sue shot a glance at her and grumbled snappishly, “What are you gesturing about?” She almost hated Rachel to death at this moment. Ever since Rachel married into the Burton Family, Julian’s relationship with Justin and herself had gotten worse. She’s simply a scourge, she thought to herself.
Rachel took a hot bath, during which the wooden box kept floating on the water. The swollen and cracked part of its edges chipped off bit by bit, revealing distinct traces of carving on it. On each of its six faces was a different combination of Arabic numerals. “13, 20, 22, 18…” Rachel mouthed to herself. This wooden box was the only thing left behind by her mother, and she had been keeping it in a safe place before this. She had never found a way to open it, but now, it seemed that this wooden box didn’t need to be opened-what mattered were the numbers on its faces instead. What do these numbers mean, though? she thought to herself. “Achoo!” When she sneezed, Rachel finally realized that the water in the bathtub had cooled somewhat.
The rain stopped the following day, and the sky cleared up. After being exposed to the rain for an entire night, Rachel woke up feeling dizzy. Still, she forced herself to get out of bed. She had to take the wooden box and go to Nancy. Perhaps Grandma knows the secret of this wooden box, she thought to herself.
However, as soon as she came downstairs, she came face-to-face with Justin, who was walking down the
stairs opposite her. Since she was startled by this, she quickly gestured without thinking. Where are you going?
A sullen look instantly took over Justin’s face. “I’m going to my office!” Is she so worried that I’ll give Hans a hard time? he thought to himself. After finishing his sentence, he quickly went downstairs and left by car without having breakfast.
Rachel was deeply perturbed as she heard the roar of the car engine outside. Before leaving the Burton Residence, she made a special effort to send Janice a text message. It read, ‘Tell Hans to leave Riverdale as
soon as possible. The sooner, the better.’ Justin might not lay a hand on Hans today, but she couldn’t guarantee that he might suddenly become irritable one day and strike again.
Janice’s reply came soon afterward. ‘It’s none of your concern.’ Her hostile attitude upset Rachel again for a while.
She then took a taxi to Nancy’s place. Nancy had just come home from grocery shopping, and her face lit up with happiness when she saw Rachel. “Don’t you have to go to work today? Why are you here so early in the morning?”
I want to spend time with you, so I took a day off.
“As it happens, I just bought some groceries, so I’ll make fish soup for you at midday. Look at you-you’ve lost weight,” Nancy said while carrying the groceries she had bought into the kitchen. “I met a young man at the food market today, and he helped me to carry the bags of groceries all the way down here. Young men these days are really nice.”
Rachel helped Nancy put the groceries away before tugging at the latter’s sleeve. Grandma, there’s something I’d like to ask you.
“What is it?”
Do you remember this? Rachel produced the wooden box that had been soaked in water last night from her handbag. Right now, it was not so much a wooden box as a rectangular wooden block; it was just that the block had been carved to look like a wooden box to pull the wool over one’s eyes.
Nancy was stunned for a moment before she recognized the wooden box. “Is this… what your late mother left behind?”
Rachel nodded.
Nancy wiped her hands and carefully took the wooden box from Rachel. “How did it become like this?”
It became like this after being soaked in water. It’s covered in numbers. What do these numbers mean?
Nancy frowned with a stumped expression on her face. “Your mother didn’t tell me anything about these numbers back then. She merely told me to give this wooden box to you once anything happens, and she said that the secret of the prescription is all in here. This…”
The prescription? Rachel was perplexed for a moment. What could these numbers have to do with the prescription? Over the next three days, she clutched the wooden block in her hand and scrutinized it carefully She almost knew all the numbers on its six faces by heart. Still, she couldn’t figure out the connection between these numbers and the prescription.
At noon on the third day, she suddenly received a phone call. “Where are you?” Janice’s voice sounded chilly, hoarse, and somewhat different from usual.
Rachel was startled for a moment as she didn’t know how to answer. Just then, Janice continued, “I forgot that you can’t speak. Come here-i’ll send you the address.”
Is anything wrong? Rachel thought to herself.
“Hans… is dead.” Three words came from the other end of the line as Janice spoke with a choke in her muffled voice.
Rachel’s hand trembled, and her cell phone dropped to the ground with a thud.
How can that be possible? she thought to herself.
When Rachel stumbled to the morgue, Hans’ face had been covered with a piece of white cloth. Meanwhile,
Janice was standing at one side talking to a few police officers. When she saw Rachel, her face instantly clouded over. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
Rachel’s mind was blank. When she lifted the white cloth, Hans’ good-looking face appeared under it, and his lips were completely colorless. Rachel fell to her knees with a loud thud. This can’t be possible! This is impossible! she thought to herself.
“He was murdered. If I hadn’t tracked his location through his cell phone, the police wouldn’t have found him so soon.” Janice’s voice sounded from behind. “He had his throat slit at the western outskirts of Riverdale. Who do you think did it?”
Rachel couldn’t hear Janice’s voice, nor could she cry out loud. Her kindly and serene-looking face looked like that of a robot as she numbly faced everything before her. She couldn’t accept such reality as it was too much like a nightmare.
Janice dragged Rachel to her feet. After a few seconds, she could no longer restrain herself. She thundered, “I’m f*cking talking to you! Do you know that Hans was deliberately murdered?”
Rachel finally came to her senses and turned to look at her in a daze. Why?
“What do you think? Hans had few acquaintances in Riverdale. Apart from old friends like us, he hardly had any enemies. There’s only one suspect I can think of!”
Rachel was stunned. Justin… Turns out he didn’t spare Hans’ life after all, she thought to herself. No one knew where she got the strength, but she suddenly broke free of Janice’s grasp and ran outside like crazy.
Meanwhile, Justin had just finished a meeting at the Burton Group. He took a sip of coffee, looked up, and
saw Gloria sitting on the sofa reading a book.
Just then, a sudden commotion broke out outside. “You can’t go in, Mrs. Burton…” Right after that, the door to the office smashed against the wall with a loud bang.
Rachel stood at the door with bloodshot eyes. Her chest was heaving heavily as if she had run an 800-meter sprint, and her whole body was trembling.
“Miss Rachel!” Gloria stood up from the sofa.
Justin asked, “What brings you here?”
Rachel stepped inside. Feeling that something was wrong with her expression, Gloria immediately told the assistant outside to close the door instead of poking their nose into it.
What happened to Hans was your doing, wasn’t it? Rachel gestured quickly with her hands as she approached the desk step by step.
“What happened?” Justin’s face darkened involuntarily at the thought of Hans’ name. He asked icily, “Are you here to question me if I have broken his other leg in secret?”
Rachel was unmoved by his words, though. She balled her fists so that her nails dug deep into her palms, but her face still wore a serene expression. Do you really think you can escape punishment by law after hiring someone to kill him?
“What are you talking about?”
Hans… is dead.
