46: Chapter 46 A Grasshopper on a Rope

She threw the laundry bag on the floor and pulled two clean towels from the linen cart: "Thanks to you, now the entire United States—no, the entire Blue Planet—no one dares to serve us anymore."

"The United Nations chef team collectively ran off yesterday, the cleaning lady submitted her resignation letter this morning, and even the outsourcing company that delivers towels sent an email saying their employees refuse to enter the alien residential area 'based on personal safety concerns.' Do you know what this means?"

Chen Mu looked at her, somewhat bewildered.

"It means we have to fend for ourselves." Maya slapped the towels onto his nightstand, "This is your breakfast for today."

Chen Mu looked down at the bag of bread on the quilt. On the transparent plastic packaging, a label with red text on a yellow background read: "Special Promotion: Buy One, Get One Free."

A sense of unreality washed over him. Just yesterday, his breakfast had consisted of an omelet with black truffles, smoked salmon with capers, freshly baked croissants with French butter, fresh blueberries and raspberries, and freshly squeezed Florida orange juice.

Yet today, his breakfast had turned into a bag of squashed, discounted bread.

It wasn't even as good as when he was a homeless person; at least back then, the church would give him a slice of turkey.

Maya had already started changing the bedsheets. Her movements were swift; one hand grabbed the corner of the sheet, while the other lifted the mattress to tuck it in, smoothing it out, with all four corners folded diagonally at a uniform forty-five-degree angle.

She must have learned how to make a bed at the police academy, and the way she changed the pillowcases was like turning a sock inside out—done in a single, precise motion.

Chen Mu climbed out of bed, standing barefoot on the carpet, clutching the bag of bread in his hand.

"Then why don't you leave?"

Maya's movements paused. She straightened up, still holding a used pillowcase, turned to look at him, and retorted testily: "Where else could I go?"

"My house was burned down by that group of protesters yesterday, and you want me to walk out now? I wouldn't make it three blocks before my face was recognized. The whole world knows I'm the 'female police officer beside the alien ambassador.' I'd probably be beaten to death before noon."

"Before they beat me to death, they'd probably film it and upload it to Twitter, with a title like 'Human Traitor Executed on the Street.' It would get at least ten million views."

She threw the old pillowcase into the laundry bag and brushed the dust off her hands.

"So, we are now grasshoppers on the same rope—we're in this together. You can't escape, and neither can I. Don't ask me why I don't leave; you should be asking yourself if you can eat a little less to save us some rations."

Chen Mu was silent for a moment. Outside the window, the chanting changed round after round.

He placed the bread on the nightstand and pulled up a chair to sit down: "Is your sister alright?"

Maya sighed, pulled a clean sheet from the laundry bag, and shook it out.

The sheet billowed in the air like a white sail before slowly settling down.

"That girl Mary is clever. The night before the incident, she ran off to our precinct captain's house."

"Now she's at his place, with food, drinks, and Wi-Fi, and she can even watch the live streams of her K-pop boy band. She even messaged me last night asking if I could get her an alien autograph."

She tucked the last corner of the sheet under the mattress and patted down the wrinkles: "Anyway, I don't have any other family. Let them burn it if they want! Out with the old, in with the new."

Maya straightened her back and brushed the stray hair from her face behind her ear: "As for friends and colleagues, they were much more proactive than I was—they publicly announced they were distancing themselves from me last night."

"The NYPD even issued an official statement saying I am currently 'suspended pending investigation.' The exact words were: 'The personal actions of Officer Maya Rodriguez do not represent the position of the New York City Police Department.'"

"Heh, I worked in the precinct for three years and cracked over a dozen major cases, and now I'm just 'that officer.'"

Chen Mu looked at her and noticed that although she pretended not to care at all, her fingers trembled slightly as she brushed her hair.

This made Chen Mu feel a bit embarrassed.

"Maya."

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry about everything you mentioned."

She didn't respond, simply bunching up the used bedsheets, stuffing them into the laundry bag, and pulling the drawstring tight.

Chen Mu stood up. He was nearly a head taller than Maya, but his gaze held no hint of condescension.

"Your apartment, your sister, your job, and the cooking, cleaning, and changing sheets you'll be doing for me over the next few days—I owe you for all of it."

Maya dropped the laundry bag on the floor and put her hands on her hips: "At least you have a conscience."

"Alright, your breakfast is there, your change of clothes is on the cart, and you have two sets of towels—one for your face and one for your body. Remember not to mix them up."

"I guess you might not use towels on your planet, but on the Blue Planet, these are the rules. From now on, everything regarding you is in my hands."

She walked to the door, held the doorframe, and turned back.

"By the way, for lunch, I'll make you our hometown's specialty flatbread. It's my mom's recipe. If you're lucky, you might even get one with filling."

Chen Mu nodded: "And what are the conditions for getting one with filling?"

"The condition is that you don't cause me any trouble from now on." Maya finished speaking and her figure disappeared into the hallway.

Chen Mu stood in the center of the room, surrounded by neatly folded towels and fresh bedsheets. He opened the bag of whole wheat bread and tore off a slice.

He looked at the steadily rising fear value and realized, for a moment, that he couldn't go anywhere and could only stay in the room scrolling through his phone.

Although the United States hadn't placed him under house arrest, it was practically the same thing, because he didn't dare to go out at all.

After all, he could be said to have offended all of humanity by now. The fact that these people hadn't stormed in to take his head as a sacrifice was only because the United States government was trying its best to stop them.

As Chen Mu ate the bread, he actually found himself looking forward to the filled flatbread Maya would make at noon.

Over the next few days, Maya kept her word and took care of Chen Mu very comfortably.

Especially her stews and flatbreads, which even made Chen Mu feel a bit overstuffed.

On the afternoon of the sixth day, Chen Mu sat by the window watching the protest crowds in the mist and rain, and asked casually: "You still haven't told me, how are you so capable?"

Maya was putting the folded shirts into the wardrobe: "There's nothing to talk about."

"Curiosity."

She closed the wardrobe door, stood up, and wiped her hands on her apron.

"When I was seventeen, my parents were in a car accident and passed away."

"They only left behind a settlement, not much, just enough for us to rent a small apartment plus two years of living expenses."

"Mary was only ten back then and didn't understand anything. She would hug my mom's clothes to sleep every night and refused to let go."

"I didn't know how to cook, do laundry, pay utility bills, or know which drawer the bills were in. The first week, I poured laundry detergent into the dishwasher, making the whole kitchen fill with bubbles."

She turned around, the corners of her mouth curling slightly: "So I learned. There's actually no trick to it; it's just pure necessity."

"You need to eat, so you learn to cook. You need clean clothes, so you learn to do laundry. You need to make a little girl feel like the world hasn't collapsed yet, so you learn not to cry in front of her."

Chen Mu looked at her figure and said nothing.

The sound of rain outside grew louder, pattering against the glass.

In the distance, the protest crowd's megaphone malfunctioned, the chanting suddenly turned into a shrill screech, and then it went quiet.

"Maya."

"Hmm?"

"Is there any flatbread left for tonight?"

"Yes. Today, I'm adding avocado."

"Good."

Watching Maya's departing back, Chen Mu opened the system shop.

[ Current fear value: 132,000,000. ]

This United Nations General Assembly had provided him with over fifty million in fear value. Tomorrow was the seventh day; it was time to give the Blue Planet a new shock.