Chapter 699: Uncle Wan’s Brilliant Idea
I thought everything would be just like before, but it seemed a bit different somehow.
Although Uncle Wan still remembered me, his smell was still just as unpleasant. Sister Siwei didn’t remember me, but her scent was still as clean as ever.
I was even more adept than last time, and I volunteered to go down into the well. But unlike before, Uncle Wan personally tied the rope around my waist and told me to make sure nothing happened to me.
His smell was still awful, but his attitude toward me seemed different from last time.
And just like before, we walked out of that house together. Sister Siwei still praised me as a true "hero."
I asked her countless times, "Do you remember me?" But each time she just smiled and shook her head. So I could only tell her that I wasn’t a "hero," but "He Xiong"—with the fourth tone.
Even though I was a little sad, the thought of being able to stay with her for ten days made it not so unbearable. Even if she didn’t remember me, I still remembered her.
When we walked out of that magical corridor and onto the street, Brother Guyu was already there waiting for us.
He clearly wasn’t interested in Uncle Wan still remembering him. Like me, he went straight to Sister Siwei first. But Sister Siwei didn’t remember anyone.
"Let me introduce everyone," Uncle Wan said to the other aunties. "This is Guyu, Little Gu. From now on, he’s part of our big family too. We need to love and support each other and create a future together."
Brother Guyu didn’t object. He simply stood beside Sister Siwei and gave her a general explanation of the situation.
He told her that we had been here before—this was our second visit—and that he still had the memories from last time. Having an adult around really helped; I could never explain these things clearly.
After he finished, he looked at me. I nodded in agreement. "Brother Guyu, I remember you too."
Hearing that, he patted my head with relief. "That’s great."
He theorized to Sister Siwei that only those who had a "fresh scent" could retain their memories—people like me, like him, like Uncle Wan.
While he was saying all this, Uncle Wan was standing nearby, listening quietly. His scent kept shifting—really hard to read.
In the days that followed, Brother Guyu truly joined us. To find a safe place for more than a dozen people to settle down, Uncle Wan led us wandering around the city. He seemed to have a new goal in mind.
We found a supermarket that looked quite big. In the basement level two, there was a storage room. Uncle Wan and the others worked hard to smash the door open. Inside were quite a few cans.
We had food. Uncle Wan said these supplies could last us several months.
But what no one expected was that he only gave food to me, Sister Siwei, and Brother Guyu. He didn’t distribute any to the others.
"Everyone, I need to establish some rules for our family now," Uncle Wan said as he closed the warehouse door, his expression very serious. "This isn’t the first time we’ve gathered here. This is the second time, actually. And since a few of us still have our memories, I feel that escaping from this place won’t be something we can accomplish in just ten days. Instead, it will be a very long process."
The aunties looked at each other, not understanding what he was getting at.
"You might find this hard to grasp, but we really are trapped here," Uncle Wan continued. "From now on, I need you all to recruit people."
"Recruit people…?" one auntie asked, puzzled. "Recruit who?"
"Although we are a 'big family' and we are all each other’s loved ones, we still need to set up some 'family rules.' Otherwise, it will be difficult to manage later on." Uncle Wan reached behind the group, pulled me forward, and brought me close to his side. "I need you to recruit new 'participants' into our 'big family.' For every person you bring in, you must bring them to this child. As long as this child thinks the person has a 'fresh scent,' then both the recruit and their 'upper line' can receive food."
"Upper line…?" Several aunties seemed to be trying to process what Uncle Wan had said.
"That’s right. And one more thing to note…" Uncle Wan picked up a stone and drew a shape like a pyramid on the wall. He pointed at the base of the pyramid. "The 'lower lines' you recruit can also go on to recruit their own 'lower lines.' As long as they bring in a 'fragrant one,' all the 'upper lines' will still get food. If you’re strong enough, the whole team will become very wealthy."
Several aunties nodded in agreement, but Brother Guyu and Sister Siwei had very serious expressions, and their scents didn’t smell good either.
"In addition, for every three ordinary people or one 'fragrant one' recruited, you can get an extra ten 'jades' from me. Whether you recruit them yourself or your 'lower lines' do, the team leader will receive 'jades.'"
Uncle Wan threw away the stone and said earnestly to the crowd, "Don’t blame me for being too strict. As I said, we’ve all been here once before. But because we weren’t united enough in the end, we all died here… If we can’t find a way to make everyone work together, the outcome won’t be any different from last time."
I could smell hesitation in the aunties' scents.
"Everyone, go out and recruit people today," Uncle Wan said. "Tomorrow night, we’ll meet here again. I’ll explain our future development plan in detail. Consider it our first 'mobilization meeting.' For our beautiful goal, you’ll each need to put in a tremendous effort. Do you have confidence?"
"Yes…" one auntie whispered.
"Do! You! Have! Confidence?!" Uncle Wan suddenly shouted.
"Yes!" they replied.
"We will definitely escape from here, right?!"
"Right!" they said.
Just as everyone was getting excited, one auntie’s scent changed. She looked a little older than my mom but dressed much nicer.
She stepped forward and said to Uncle Wan, "Mr. Wan… this doesn’t seem right… Even if we manage to gather all the people one day… how can we be sure that will get us out?"
Hearing her words, Uncle Wan’s scent suddenly turned terrifying, but he still kept a smile on his face. "Anyone who doesn’t believe can leave as they please. What we need is 'unity,' not 'infighting.' So, I won’t force anyone here."
"I…" The auntie lowered her head awkwardly. If she left this group and wandered the streets alone, who knew what kind of danger she might face?
"I’m not forcing you, but I need to make one thing clear in advance." Uncle Wan raised his voice. "Anyone who goes off on their own here will only die. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try."