DF Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Then you might be hallucinating from the medicine.

Oslo International Airport was just the first stop on their itinerary. They stayed overnight in a hotel near the airport, which belonged to the Julia family. The next day, a hotel car took them back to the airport, this time heading to Tromsø’s Langnes Airport.

This is the largest port in northern Norway and one of the northernmost cities in the world, located 350 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle and known as the “Gateway to the Arctic.”

Looking down from above, the city is a lush green expanse, but as soon as you land, cold air rushes in. Even in summer, Tromsø’s daily temperature is only 6-12 degrees Celsius. Flight attendants reminded passengers to change into warmer clothing. After putting on prepared coats, they walked out of the cabin.

This was Sheng Jia’s first time in Northern Europe, but probably not for Song Ji’an. Before the truth about the swapped daughters was revealed, she had been here many times, mostly for research trips or accompanying Song Ningqiu to meet important partners. Her most vivid memory of Tromsø was probably when she was five or six years old. Song Ningqiu was too busy, so during kindergarten’s special winter break, she took her to Northern Europe to discuss business. During that time, she stayed in the hotel waiting for her to return.

But at the end of the winter break, Song Ningqiu didn’t take her straight home after finishing her business. They flew here, to this year-round ice-free port. Then they boarded a whale-watching boat and, in the polar night, chased the surging figures of whales with the aurora.

It was the first time Song Ji’an truly realized how wonderful this world was. Every scene in her eyes seemed to come out of a fairy tale. At that time, Song Ningqiu said to her, “Ji’an, there are countless beautiful and amazing things in this world waiting for you to explore. Don’t stop your steps.”

She remembered this sentence for eighteen years, and later deliberately sealed it in the depths of her mind. Now, revisiting the old place, she was slightly stunned. Those memories she had deliberately forgotten unexpectedly broke ground without warning.

“Sheng Jia, long time no see.”

Her trance was broken by a sentence of perfect Mandarin.

A car was parked in front of the airport, and a woman was leaning against it. She had natural waves in her hair, some freckles on her face, wearing a turtleneck sweater and a light brown leather jacket. The shiny Martin boots on her feet gleamed under the sun.

Like the female lead in 80% of Northern European independent travel movies, but Song Ji’an knew her—Hilda, the most likely heir of the Opter family.

She didn’t bring anyone else with her. When she approached the two, she reached out to shake Sheng Jia’s hand.

Sheng Jia looked up at her and replied, “We just met last month.”

“Isn’t that the kind of courtesy you Chinese people like?” Hilda laughed, “I thought you would give me a step down or be polite to me too.”

“If I also said ‘long time no see’—” Sheng Jia said, “then it would seem a bit fake.”

“Okay, okay, I really hate your mouth,” Hilda muttered, turning her gaze to Song Ji’an, raising her eyebrows. She clearly knew who the guests were this time, reached out to her and said, “Miss Song Ji’an, hello. I’m Hilda. You seem much easier to get along with than Sheng Jia.”

“If I didn’t know you were flattering me, I would think you were trying to sow discord between Sheng Jia and me, making our already fragile relationship even more fractured.” Song Ji’an took her hand and said slowly, “But precisely because I know you’re flattering me, I want to say, I think you’re right.”

A smile appeared on her lips, and there was a bit more sharpness in her gaze as she met Hilda’s.

Hilda was clearly surprised. She looked at Sheng Jia and found that there was no displeasure in Sheng Jia’s eyes—or maybe there was, but she couldn’t tell, after all, Sheng Jia was always good at hiding her emotions—but either way, Sheng Jia’s not refuting or interrupting Song Ji’an’s words meant that she didn’t think it was offensive to herself.

Hilda clearly remembered that when she was discussing cooperation with Sheng Jia, she would be directly pointed out if she went slightly overboard, even though that was also her testing Sheng Jia’s bottom line.

Sheng Jia’s attitude wasn’t this tolerant back then.

Hilda put away some of the contempt in her attitude. As someone who fully understood what happened five years ago and even directly participated in it, she originally didn’t think Sheng Jia would get along well with Song Ji’an. Therefore, even knowing that Song Ji’an was traveling with Sheng Jia this time, she didn’t take it seriously.

But now it seemed that the situation was not like that.

Obviously, Sheng Jia valued her attitude towards Song Ji’an much more than she imagined.

She withdrew her hand, and her tone towards Song Ji’an became more teasing, “Maybe I really want to sow discord between you and Sheng Jia? After all, that way there would be one less general in the negotiations between the Song family and the Opter family.”

After saying that, she opened the back door of the car, “Please get in, both of you, we’re going to our next destination.”

A business car arrived. The three of them sat face to face in the back, and the driver quickly started the car.

“The destination this time is the coastal port,” Hilda took the initiative to say, “Meng Yeran and Dong Zhen won’t arrive in Norway for another two days. They will fly directly to the destination on our family’s private plane. I was thinking that we might as well go on board and have some fun for these two days while waiting for them to arrive.”

Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an exchanged a glance. Neither of them expressed any opinions, and they all silently agreed to her arrangement.

Hilda’s personal welcome was obviously to meet with Sheng Jia, the main force of this trip, as early as possible. Just as Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an had planned to win over Hilda, Hilda probably also needed the three of them to have some private space to ensure that her own ideas could be implemented.

Just right, that was also their intention.

There weren’t many ships in Tromsø port today. Only a few cargo ships and a medium-sized cruise ship were docked at the port. The Opter family crest was printed on the cruise ship, which was their target ship.

Of course, this didn’t mean that there were only four of them on this cruise ship. This was a cruise ship that was used for medium and long-distance trips, mostly lasting four to seven days. It would stop at many ports along the way. The ticket price was slightly expensive, and the number of people wasn’t large, only a few hundred, far lower than the cruise ship’s carrying capacity. When they boarded, there were many tourists traveling with them.

As the young owner, Hilda naturally reserved the best rooms on the ship, and the three rooms were adjacent or opposite each other, making it easier to talk.

The enormous ship quickly set sail. The captain’s broadcast sounded, a gentle and powerful female voice, guiding them slowly away from the shore.

It was still early. Hilda had shown them the schedule in the car. In two hours, they would arrive at the edge of Skjervøy, which was the largest seafood fishing base in Norway. They could experience sea fishing and even catch king crabs, which was very popular. In fact, this was also the best place to watch whales, but unfortunately, the best time to watch whales every year was from November to January of the following year. Now the whales had already left following the herring.

The end point of this journey was Kirkenes, with an estimated time of two days and one night. After this one-way ticket, they would take a private cruise ship to several of the Anil Islands they had bought.

After Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an had packed up in their respective rooms, they didn’t see Hilda again.

Song Ji’an was unpacking her luggage. As she was taking out her down jacket, she heard a knock on the door. She got up and opened the door, and Sheng Jia walked in.

Located on the middle floor of the cruise ship, far away from the noisy areas both above and below, the large suite offered an extremely wide view from the balcony. Fortunately, it was sunny today, and the sea was sparkling, giving people an excellent visual enjoyment.

“Aren’t you going to rest?” Song Ji’an asked in surprise.

“I don’t have seasickness,” Sheng Jia replied.

Five years ago, when they went to Ansdert Island, Sheng Jia only took a half-hour yacht ride and got so seasick that she almost fainted, her face pale. Song Ji’an lowered her eyes slightly and didn’t ask her how the symptoms of seasickness were relieved, or perhaps because the cruise ship was different from the yacht and didn’t sway as much, Sheng Jia could bear it.

“Because before the cruise ship started, I had already taken the seasickness medicine that Ms. Serena has newly developed in recent years,” Sheng Jia squatted down and actively explained, “Seasickness will cause my brain to stop working or make wrong judgments, so I will try to avoid this possibility. I will probably have to rely on taking medicine for these two days.”

Song Ji’an was watched by her gaze, and for some reason, her ears were a little hot, but Sheng Jia’s explanation obviously gave her a little pleasant emotion.

“Won’t it cause damage to the body?” Song Ji’an asked.

“A little bit, very little,” Sheng Jia said, “If you have any doubts, you can ask me directly. I think we need to have absolute trust in each other.”

Song Ji’an pursed her lips, she avoided looking at her, “Okay.”

Sheng Jia changed from squatting to sitting. She sat on the sofa in the suite, and Song Ji’an got up and took a bottle of brandy from the wine cabinet. She said slowly, “You have seasickness, so I won’t pour you any.”

Sheng Jia nodded. She glanced at her phone and then said, “After boarding the ship, Hilda went to the fifteenth floor alone. There should be a dance floor and a casino there.”

“How do you know?” Song Ji’an asked in surprise, “Did you install a locator on her phone?”

“Because before coming to find you, I heard footsteps next door, so I went to take a look at the VIP elevator that their Opter family reserved for their own people, and it stopped on the fifteenth floor. After she went up, she immediately had people press the floor back to our eleventh floor,” Sheng Jia explained, “Since Hilda came to see us alone, it is impossible to let other people from the Opter family get involved. But the person who can make her abandon us and go to the fifteenth floor, the gold-selling cave, must be someone who makes her feel very urgent, even more urgent than us.”

Song Ji’an paused slightly and immediately understood what she meant, “So you’re saying that her sister Valma might also be on this ship?”

No one from the Opter family would make Hilda feel this sense of crisis, only Valma, who used to be her competitor, could make her deal with it so hastily.

It was actually very simple to prove whether their guess was true or false.

There were only twelve suites on this cruise ship, the five best located ones, three on their floor and two on the twelfth floor.

Song Ji’an rang the service bell at the head of the bed, and soon a butler knocked on the door outside.

“Ladies, is there anything we can help you with?” She had fluent English and an extremely humble attitude, obviously having been instructed to serve the two people in the room well.

“I think the orientation of this room is not very good, are there any other rooms to choose from?” Song Ji’an asked.

Hearing this, the butler’s face showed a trace of embarrassment, “There are actually many suites, but there may not be rooms with better views and more stability than your room.”

Because Song Ji’an and Sheng Jia’s rooms were, in a sense, the most optimal choice recognized on their entire ship, but the butler still said very sincerely, “But if you want to take a look, we can go and visit now.”

The two of them got up and followed her upstairs. Sure enough, her first choice was to lead them to the suite on the left side of the twelfth floor.

In fact, the layout was no different from Song Ji’an’s room except for the orientation. Only the stability was slightly worse. Song Ji’an and Sheng Jia looked around, and Sheng Jia then said, “There should be another room next door, right? Can we go and take a look too?”

The butler was slightly stunned and then said, “Sorry, the room opposite has already been booked. How about we go and look at the rooms upstairs?”

“But the rooms upstairs may not be as good as here,” the butler said truthfully, “Some may be too noisy, some may be too shaky, and the view may not be as wide further down. If you are dissatisfied with the orientation of your room, perhaps you can try a flowing room change?”

What she meant was to let Song Ji’an flow between the room below and this one. The orientation of both sides might be able to meet her requirements at the same time. Now it was polar day in the Arctic Circle, and the sun didn’t set at all. Either side could be called the sunny side. Anyway, Hilda had given her the highest authority, and the only requirement was to satisfy the two distinguished guests. It might be a little troublesome, but Song Ji’an only needed to take the elevator up, and they could solve everything else.

“Then let me think about it,” Song Ji’an said with a smile, “Flowing room changes are still a bit troublesome. I’ll stay here for a while to see if I get seasick, okay?”

The butler’s eyes were full of apology. She still wanted to say something, but in the end she still said with a smile, “Okay, if you need anything else, you can contact me at any time.”

“You can go and get busy first,” Song Ji’an said, “Can we sit by the window?”

The butler nodded quickly.

After the butler left, Sheng Jia observed her surroundings and pulled Song Ji’an to sit by the floor-to-ceiling window, then lowered her voice and said, “It really is her.”

Based on the butler’s attitude, she could even propose such a troublesome thing as letting Song Ji’an flow through the rooms. If they wanted another room, even if there was a guest inside, she wouldn’t be able to refuse so directly.

Most of the people who could live in the cruise ship’s suites were either rich or noble, but the butler’s boss was Hilda. She would definitely carry out Hilda’s orders. Even if they were distinguished guests, she might think for a second or two about whether the other party could change rooms, but in the second that the two of them made the request, she refused without hesitation.

This only meant that the room was occupied by someone she knew and absolutely couldn’t afford to offend.

On the Opter family’s ships, the only person who could make the head butler so afraid was probably Valma.

But what did she come on board to do?

Sheng Jia could figure out what most people were thinking, but Valma didn’t think much before doing things. It was really difficult to immediately guess her purpose.

But they might be able to use Valma’s appearance to intensify Hilda’s sense of urgency, and then take the opportunity to scavenge more benefits.

Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an looked at each other and saw a smile in each other’s eyes that could probably be called taking advantage of the fire.

The reason why the butler was able to leave so quickly was probably to inform Hilda and tell her their idea of wanting to change rooms. In half an hour, it would be their agreed-upon sea fishing time. If Hilda wanted to hide Valma from being discovered by them, and also take care of Valma’s emotions so as not to force her too hard and go crazy, then whether she wanted to use benefits to persuade Valma or use other means to make Valma submit, her possible choice was to temporarily lock Valma in a room to control her, and then quickly go upstairs to find them, so that the three of them would be staggered, and then find a chance to completely clean up Valma.

Valma had never suffered any crime from childhood to adulthood. She ate, wore, lived and traveled in the best. Even if she was no longer allowed to leave Europe because she had offended the Song family, she was still well cared for. Strictly speaking, Valma even owned half of this cruise ship.

Valma was able to bypass Hilda and appear on this ship, obviously having come prepared, so she probably still had to make a fuss. Hilda might have a way to deal with her, but unfortunately, now she only had half an hour, and there was absolutely no way to solve this trouble immediately.

The two sat in the room waiting for Hilda to come up and find them, but not long after, Song Ji’an’s phone rang.

It was the wireless miniature recorder they had specially brought, which Sheng Jia had placed on Song Ji’an’s doorknob before they left the room. As long as there was sound, it would quickly record it and then send it to Song Ji’an’s phone.

This was what they had installed to ensure safety just in case. The main function was to ensure residential safety. Anyway, normal people couldn’t say anything secret in the corridor. If the person standing at the door was harboring evil intentions and made a sound, the people in the room would immediately know.

But the first audio it fed back was obviously contrary to the two people’s expectations of it.

This audio was a full minute long, but there were only ten seconds of real human voice at the beginning, but after listening to it, both Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an fell into a deathly silence.

After a long time, Song Ji’an said in a trance, “Did I get hallucinations from drinking alcohol?”

Sheng Jia was silent, “I heard it too.”

Song Ji’an turned to look at her and said seriously, “Then you might be hallucinating from the medicine.”

Sheng Jia: “I took seasickness medicine…”

The two looked at each other, as if they had been scalded, and immediately moved their eyes away. The recording, which had been quiet for so long that people forgot to turn it off, was playing again and again—

“Hilda, you can’t treat me like this! I’m your sister!” Valma’s voice was a little panicked and choked up.

“If you were more obedient, I wouldn’t have to take such measures,” Hilda said slowly, “What is your purpose for getting on the ship? Do you want to contact Sheng Jia privately? Have you forgotten how much Sheng Jia hates you and wants you to be trapped in Northern Europe for the rest of your life?”

“Or do you actually want to beg Sheng Jia, because you found that you have been eliminated, and once I solve this matter, you will have no chance, so you are willing to put down your pride and dignity?” Saying that, Hilda paused slightly, “Just like when the Song family attacked you in the first place, you put down your pride and dignity to ask me for help?”

“I never asked you for help!” Valma said angrily, “That was maliciously forced out by you! And you didn’t help me solve anything at all. In the end, it was my grandmother who helped me smooth things over!”

“Yes,” Hilda laughed maliciously, “But the sister who has been stepping on me since she was a child has lost all her dignity that night. Do you need me to help you recall it?”

“So you take that night so seriously? It’s ridiculous, if you didn’t mention it, I would have almost forgotten! You call that a loss of dignity? You’ve been constantly—”

Valma’s voice was stern, and soon it could no longer be heard with a loud door slam.

The recording played again, and this time Song Ji’an hurriedly pressed stop. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Sheng Jia, what she saw was her slightly red earlobes hidden under her hair.

“Do you think it might be our hearts, so we misunderstood?” Song Ji’an looked at the endless sea in the distance and asked in a low voice.

Sheng Jia: “…”

“You want to say that this is actually a very normal quarrel between the two sisters?” Sheng Jia also stared at the sea outside the window, but before that, she first saw the two figures sitting together in the window reflection, but they didn’t even dare to make eye contact. She suddenly smiled helplessly, “It’s also possible, after all, for Valma, putting down her pride and dignity may be crying out loud and begging Hilda to let her go. This might also be more uncomfortable for her than killing her.”

Song Ji’an and Sheng Jia had encountered many strange things in their short twenty-five years, and they had also encountered many things that could not be accepted by normal people, and they had developed a strong heart. But what they encountered today was definitely beyond the syllabus for them.

How to deal with this recording, whether to pretend not to know or keep it as a bargaining chip, their brains, which were currently a bit crashed, probably couldn’t think of a plan for the time being.

After all, they didn’t expect that Hilda would brazenly bring Valma directly to her room. From whatever angle you looked at it, this was too dangerous.

——Unless she was doing it on purpose.