第七章 洗衣机大战

On the weekend, after Akai washed his clothes, he took out his white T-shirt from the washing machine—and froze.

The T-shirt had turned pink.

"My T-shirt!" Akai held up the pink T-shirt, his voice changing. "Who? Who put something red in the washing machine?!"

In the living room, three people all came over to look.

"What's going on?" asked Xiaomei.

"I'd like to know too!" said Akai. "This is my live-streaming battle robe!"

"Don't you usually wear black?" asked Zhouzhou.

"White! White gives a better camera presence!" said Akai. "Now it's turned pink!"

Xiaomei looked at the washing machine, then at the note on the wall—the "Washing Machine Usage Rules" she had posted.

"Rule No. 37," Xiaomei read out, "dark and light colors should be washed separately."

"No. 37?!" Akai shouted. "You have 37 rules?!"

"Have you remembered rules No. 1 through No. 36?" asked Xiaomei.

Akai: "…I didn't even remember Rule No. 1."

"Then the case is solved." Xiaomei said. "Who washed something red last week?"

Zhouzhou spoke first: "I was writing my thesis, so I didn't wash clothes."

"What about that red sweater you wore last week?" Xiaomei asked.

"Red sweater?" Zhouzhou said. "That was… decoration."

"I washed it," Zhouzhou said, "but that was last month."

Akai said: "I was live-streaming, I had even less time to do laundry."

"Didn't you post a video last week saying 'doing laundry today'?" Zhouzhou said.

"That was just for the video! After filming, I went to live-stream, so the laundry was…" Akai thought for a moment. "It seems the washing machine washed it by itself."

"The washing machine can't wash by itself," said Miya.

Xiaomei said: "I washed according to the rules, only whites and grays. What about you, Miya?"

"I hand-wash," Miya said, "with aromatherapy and gloves."

"Then whose red thing was it?" The four people looked at each other.

Miya thought for a moment and said: "Akai, besides the white T-shirt, what else did you wash?"

"I also washed…" Akai thought. "Socks?"

"What color?"

"Black?" Akai was not sure. "Or… red?"

"You don't even remember the color of your own socks?" asked Zhouzhou.

"During that live stream, a fan gave me a pair of red socks!" Akai suddenly remembered. "I think… I put them in together."

The living room was quiet for three seconds.

"So, it was you yourself," Xiaomei said. "Your red socks dyed your white T-shirt pink."

"…I… solved the case?" said Akai.

"Case solved," Zhouzhou said. "The culprit is you."

"Wait!" Zhouzhou suddenly said. "If the red socks are yours, then what about my missing sock?"

"Did you lose a sock too?" asked Miya.

"It disappeared last month," Zhouzhou said. "I looked for it for a long time."

Xiaomei opened the washing machine, looked inside, and reached in to feel around.

"Found it," she said.

She pulled out a gray sock—wrinkled and beyond recognition.

"Is this yours?" Xiaomei asked Zhouzhou.

Zhouzhou looked at the sock and said: "It's… mine. How did it get in the washing machine?"

"It's been there for a month," Xiaomei said. "Last time after washing, you didn't take it out."

......

"The washing machine is the culprit?" said Zhouzhou.

"It ate one sock," Miya said. "In France, we call it 'the washing machine's stomach.'"

Zhouzhou: "…"

"Alright, now let's talk about my T-shirt," Akai said. "What should I do?"

"Try using bleach," Xiaomei said.

"Why not just buy a new one?" Zhouzhou said.

"This is my live-streaming battle robe!" Akai said. "I've grown attached to it!"

Miya thought for a moment and said: "We French believe this is a new color sent to you from heaven. You can wear pink."

"…You French people really know how to comfort others," Akai said.

"Besides," Miya said, "pink is very popular in France."

Akai looked at the pink T-shirt, then at himself, and hesitated for a moment.

The next day, he wore the pink T-shirt for his live stream.

"Hey family! Look at my new T-shirt!" Akai spun around in front of the camera. "This is Room 302's lucky color!"

The bullet comments: "Looks great!" "Akai in pink, I'm dying of laughter" "This T-shirt has a story."

Akai watched the comments and laughed: "A story? Of course! Yesterday we solved a big case in Room 302!"

In the evening, Akai's live stream "Room 302 Washing Machine Case Solved" became popular again.

Miya passed by his room and heard him say: "Family, if you want to hear the full version of 'Room 302 Washing Machine Case Solved' and get ten thousand likes, I'll show you the red socks!"

"Family! Tomorrow I'll wear the pink T-shirt out and live-stream the whole time!"

Miya looked at the aromatherapy gloves in her hand and said softly:

"Good thing I hand-wash."