Qi Jia glanced out the car window.
It was already dark, but Jiang City’s nightlife was only just getting started. The streets were bustling, bright with lights and revelry. What ghosts?
The car returned to Pei Xiuyan’s villa, Jinyuan. After parking, Qi Jia helped Pei Xiuyan back to his room, then went to the living room to settle Miss Song in.
“Miss Song, the dining room is over here, and the garden is out back. The master bedroom and study are on the third floor. You’ll be staying on the second floor, so please don’t go upstairs and disturb the president while he’s resting.
“You’ll stay here for the next few days. We have most of the basic necessities; I’ll get the rest tomorrow… Miss Song? Miss…
“Why have you gone up to the third floor?! What are you doing?”
Xiao Ciyou had just stuck a talisman paper to the door of Pei Xiuyan’s bedroom. “It should at least keep them out tonight.”
Qi Jia had had enough. “The Old Madam and the president took you in out of kindness. Can you stop using that ghost-and-god nonsense to swindle people? Do you think we’re all three years old?
“One minute it’s the Underworld, the next it’s ghost messengers. Even if you really manage to freeload here for seven days, do you have the money to hire extras to play along with your act?
“Get downstairs! Go back to your room and rest!”
Xiao Ciyou was driven back to her room on the second floor. As Qi Jia was closing the door, she put a hand against it, looked him up and down, and said,
“If you step in dog shit tomorrow, bow three times toward the east and shout, ‘Master Xiao, I was wrong!’ three times. Then change your shoes and come back.”
The door slammed shut.
Qi Jia was so angry his mouth nearly twisted. He was Pei Xiuyan’s personal assistant, for heaven’s sake. He spent his days at the most exclusive events in high society. How could he possibly step in dog shit?
And if he had to shout anyone’s name, shouldn’t it be Master Song? Who was Master Xiao?!
When he went to bring Pei Xiuyan his medicine, he couldn’t help complaining again.
“President, I can see why the Song couple are sick of her. Ordinary people can’t put up with an adopted daughter who acts like a spirit medium all day, let alone a wealthy family. They’d be laughed out of the room if word got around.”
Pei Xiuyan looked down at his wrist. It was perfectly clean—there was no red thread. He couldn’t help wondering whether he’d imagined what he’d seen in the car.
“All right. You saw how the Song family treated her tonight. If she weren’t desperate, why would she pretend to be a medium for no reason?
“Let her stay here for now. Once the wound on her head has healed, we’ll give her some money. That way, we’ll have done all we reasonably can for her.”
Qi Jia nodded.
His president was broad-minded. Qi Jia, however, wasn’t nearly so easygoing!
Song Zhien just wouldn’t stop pretending to communicate with ghosts. If he didn’t see any ghost messengers after seven days, he’d scatter her pile of yellow talisman paper and cinnabar to the winds!
…
The next day.
As soon as Pei Xiuyan drew back the curtains, he saw a figure sitting cross-legged among the flowers in the garden.
The gentle morning sun draped her in a thin, golden veil. Her young, pale face, eyes closed, somehow put him at ease.
“Bzzzz—”
Pei Xiuyan answered the phone. “Grandma, what is it so early?”
The Old Madam asked cheerfully, “Is Miss Song up? How did she sleep last night? Is she settling in at Jinyuan? If she isn’t comfortable there, she can stay with me.”
Pei Xiuyan said helplessly, “She’s up. She’s meditating in the garden.”
The Old Madam sighed with admiration. “Miss Song really is extraordinary! Oh, I’ve had someone prepare some things she’ll need. Send Qi Jia over to pick them up. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with them; they might get damaged.”
“All right, I understand.”
Pei Xiuyan went downstairs and passed the errand on to Qi Jia.
Qi Jia had just agreed when he turned and saw Xiao Ciyou walking in. She casually handed him a talisman. “Take this.”
A chill suddenly ran through Qi Jia.
He really did have to go out today. Could he actually end up stepping in dog shit?
For no particular reason, he found himself wanting to take the talisman, but Xiao Ciyou said, “One thousand yuan.”
He snatched his hand back. “You think you can get money out of me? Dream on!”
He didn’t need any talisman paper. He’d keep his eyes wide open and see for himself. How could he possibly step in dog shit on the drive from Jinyuan to Pei Residence?
Xiao Ciyou didn’t press him. She put the talisman away and went into the dining room to eat.
Pei Xiuyan said, “I wasn’t sure what Miss Song likes, so I asked the kitchen to prepare a bit of everything.”
“Anything’s fine. I’m not picky. I just eat a lot. Oh, I don’t use the surname Song anymore. My surname is Xiao—Xiao Ciyou.”
Pei Xiuyan paused. “Is that your birth parents’ surname?”
“Mm. You could say that. Once I’ve dealt with things here, I’ll go find them.”
Pei Xiuyan nodded. That was for the best. It would save Grandma from worrying that Xiao Ciyou might end up on the street.
Half an hour later, watching Xiao Ciyou tackle her eighth bun and third bowl of porridge, Pei Xiuyan finally understood what she meant by “I eat a lot.”
But commenting on a young woman’s appetite wasn’t very polite, so he swallowed the words before they left his mouth.
So what if she ate a lot? It wasn’t as if she’d eat him out of house and home.
…
Qi Jia’s car was halfway there when he saw a “Roadwork Ahead” sign and had to take a detour.
Then he got caught in a rear-end collision. While waiting, he thought he’d get out and stretch his legs.
The moment his foot hit the ground—squelch.
“Damn it. No way…”
Qi Jia looked down at the yellowish-brown semi-solid stuck beneath his leather shoe and gagged.
He tiptoed and hopped to the trunk, took out a spare pair of shoes, kicked the dirty leather shoe to the side of the road, changed, and got back in the car at once.
“It’s just a coincidence. Just a coincidence…”
He was a committed atheist. There was no way he’d bow toward the east just because he’d stepped in dog shit!
The accident ahead was finally cleared, and he started the car.
The engine died.
“???” He’d paid over seven million for this car! Was this a joke?
He grabbed his phone to call someone, only to find it had run out of battery and shut off!
He pushed open the door to get out, and a motorcycle shot past, ripping the car door right off.
Qi Jia sat in the empty driver’s seat. The sunlight fell plainly on him, yet a chill seemed to creep down his collar.
Cautiously, he crawled over to the passenger seat, looked around, and only then got out.
Then he turned east and bowed solemnly three times.
“Master Xiao, I was wrong!”
“Master Xiao, I was wrong!”
“Master Xiao, I was wrong!”
Just then, a phone began to ring.
He followed the sound and found a phone in the passenger-side glove compartment. He hurriedly answered it.
“Assistant Qi, are you all right? Your phone’s switched off.”
Qi Jia stared in shock. “Uncle Li? Where did this phone come from?”
“That Miss Song… Oh, Miss Xiao told me to leave it there. She said you’d have an urgent matter today and need my help. What do you need?”
Qi Jia wiped his runny nose. “Uncle Li, send a car. I need to go pick something up for that girl—Master Xiao.”
…
By the time Qi Jia made it back in Uncle Li’s car after all his misadventures, it was already evening.
Pei Xiuyan sat on the sofa reading documents, while Xiao Ciyou leaned over the coffee table, a cushion beneath her knees as she drew talismans.
The scene was strangely harmonious.
Qi Jia carried a large box inside and set it on the coffee table. “Master Xiao, these are the things the Old Madam asked me to pick up.”
At the title, Pei Xiuyan raised an eyebrow. “You really stepped in it?”
Qi Jia was close to tears. “It was like something out of a ghost story! President, my materialism has been put to the test. I’m switching sides!”
“Isn’t that a bit much… Wait. Are you sure everything in this box was prepared by Grandma?”
Xiao Ciyou took out a stack of exceptionally fine yellow paper and two boxes of top-grade cinnabar.
There were also bells, a horsetail whisk, more than a dozen wooden plaques…
Xiao Ciyou was overjoyed. “Grandma is so good to me! I was just worrying that I had nothing to work with.”
Qi Jia couldn’t hold back any longer. “Master Xiao, did I offend something?”
Xiao Ciyou arranged the things one by one before replying, “It’s not serious, but I don’t have time to deal with you right now.”
“Why not?”
Xiao Ciyou pointed upstairs. “The talisman paper on Pei Xiuyan’s bedroom door has faded. That means the ghost messengers passed by last night, but the talisman blocked their view. It won’t fool them tonight. I’ll deal with that first. Your problem will have to wait.”
Qi Jia swallowed. “You mean… the ghost messengers are really coming tonight?”
Xiao Ciyou was eating fruit. The servant had cut the apple into perfectly sized pieces, and she crunched through them one by one, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
The hamster glanced at him in a rare spare moment. “Do you want to see them?”