Chapter 140 Angelina's Tea Party 9

The moment Lin Xiangjun threw the scone crumbs, the Guest's movements froze abruptly, then, like a wild wolf spotting a meaty bone, it twisted its waist at an incredible angle, spinning halfway around before lunging in the direction the scones were thrown.

They were close enough that Lin Xiangjun could even hear the strained creaking of muscles and bones in its waist as it forcibly changed direction.

It sounded as if it would snap the very next second.

"I smell it... I smell it... Such a fragrant scent! Such a fragrant scent!!! Is it a cookie? Is it a Napoleon? Is it... Ah, it's a scone! It's been so long since I've had a scone, a scone! Where is the scone!!"

The hungry Guest's eyes were bloodshot, looking like a starving, crazed rabbit.

Lin Xiangjun had scattered that handful of scone crumbs with remarkable skill, akin to a fairy scattering flowers; some landed on the floor, some on the wall, and others even fell into the crevices of the mirror.

The hungry Guest seemed to have lost all human reason, lunging onto the floor like a mad dog, desperately using its arms to gather all the crumbs together, then greedily sticking out its tongue to lick them up frantically.

Its expensive silk pajamas were spread out in disarray, its long, tangled hair hanging down. There was no trace of the elegance that originally belonged to a noble; it felt just like a rabid stray dog, crouching on the ground and gnawing on a piece of rotten bone.

Taking advantage of the time the hungry Guest had lost its reason, Lin Xiangjun quickly slipped into the dining room.

The dining room was different from when Lin Xiangjun had left.

The snacks on the table had been cleared away. In the center of the dining table, there remained only a teapot, a jar containing sugar cubes, two empty teacups, and their matching small saucers and spoons.

The table in the tea room was somewhat like the table in "The Last Supper," with two seats at the ends and six on each side, capable of seating fourteen people in total.

At this moment, the table had been tidied up, and at each person's seat was a blank name card and a full set of tableware.

Although she had heard that Westerners placed more importance on dinner than lunch, and had expected their tableware to be a bit cumbersome, when she actually saw this massive pile, Lin Xiangjun still couldn't help but lose her composure.

Dessert knife, dessert fork, dinner fork, dinner knife, salad fork, salad knife, butter knife, soup spoon, teaspoon... there were even four different types of glasses alone: water glass, white wine glass, red wine glass, and teacup! How many mouths did they have to drink all these things?!

Looking at that chaotic pile of knick-knacks and thinking about having to use these things to eat once the ceremony began, Lin Xiangjun felt her head throbbing with pain.

Although she knew the chances were slim, Lin Xiangjun still prayed that she would only need to eat some dessert and immediately begin the ceremony—although the rules didn't explicitly state it, no one could guarantee that she wouldn't be punished if her dining etiquette went wrong.

"...I hope this is a convenient and quick dinner, as fast as instant noodles."

Hopefully.

The tableware was complete, clearly prepared for the start of the tea party, but the teapot was empty; there was no tea inside.

Fortunately, her goal was not the black tea.

Lin Xiangjun picked up the small jar of sugar cubes. The jar was ceramic, part of a set with the teapot and teacups, very much the European tea set that fit her stereotypes: silver-trimmed and painted with brightly colored camellias entwined with vines.

...camellia?

It was indeed a camellia. She leaned in to take a closer look and was certain that this camellia was the same variety as the one in the painting in the living room just now. To be precise, the pattern on the teacup seemed to be a section taken from the painting.

She remembered very clearly that next to the skirt of that woman with the blurred face, there was a very standard rose—a three-pronged branch, the center flower head full and in full bloom, the one on the left budding, and the one on the right still a flower bud.

This design felt familiar, as if it had held her in her childhood.

Because this classic design was simply too classic, the moment she saw it, Lin Xiangjun had memorized it.

Now, this identical rose appeared on the teacup as well.

What did this mean? Was it hinting at something? Or was it just a coincidence intended to interfere with her judgment?

Before Lin Xiangjun could figure it out, the system's notification sound rang out:

"You have obtained an ordinary item: [Ordinary Rose Sugar Cubes]."

This time, the system's notification was different from before.

Previously, the notifications were all for "props," not "ordinary items," and the items only had names without specific functions or hints. Clearly, this ordinary item did not possess any functional role.

But if it really had no use at all, the system wouldn't have gone to the trouble of giving her an extra notification.

Lin Xiangjun guessed that during the "Final Ceremony," her sugar cubes might be tampered with, so she was taking the sugar cubes she would need in advance.

"...It looks like my sugar cubes really will have a problem? Will I need this jar of sugar cubes to help me complete the ceremony?

"So this system notification is telling me that these sugar cubes are a necessity for me to leave the instance... If so, if I get my hands on other necessities, will the system give me a notification too?"

The more Lin Xiangjun organized her thoughts, the brighter her eyes became.

Isn't this just a real-life version of a puzzle-solving game? It's just that in the game, important props can be clicked and put into the equipment slot, whereas this thing can only be carried by hand, and it only gives a notification about whether it's a prop after you pick it up.

Anyway, there were only so many things in this dining room, so she simply grabbed everything by hand, and it turned out she really found a second necessity.

"You have obtained an ordinary item: [Ordinary Silver Dinner Knife]."

There really was one?

The silver dinner knife lived up to its name perfectly—it was ordinary. Aside from being a bit tarnished, it was no different from a three-dollar dinner knife from a supermarket; it had no carvings, was light as a feather, and looked completely unremarkable sitting next to the dinner plate.

The only special thing about it was that this dinner knife was at Angelina's seat.

Angelina's dinner knife.

Was it meant for her to cut something?

The silver dinner knife wasn't very hard, far inferior to the alloy tableware she was used to in modern times; it would deform with even a little bit of force.

Such a soft dinner knife could only cut some soft bread or butter; if it had to deal with a large loaf of rye bread, this knife would give up.

What could such a soft knife be used to cut?

Unable to think of the knife's purpose for the time being, Lin Xiangjun temporarily put it into her pouch along with the sugar cubes.

Props, after all, always have their uses discovered only when reaching specific scenes.

In any case, her pouch had a large capacity, so she wasn't worried about having no place to put them.

After touching everything in the dining room and confirming that no other item could trigger the system notification sound, Lin Xiangjun stood back at the door and pressed her ear against it.

She needed to confirm whether that starving, crazed Guest was still at the door.