As the saying goes, a mighty dragon is no match for a local snake [1]an outsider, however powerful, struggles against those who hold the home turf jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2931962_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2931962_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. These out-of-town ghosts had already been wary of the local ones, and now, not understanding what was going on, they instinctively put their guard up.
It wasn’t only Jian Yi who, after seeing Ji Yi, had guessed there was something unfathomable about him. The out-of-town ghosts read even more into it. They understood better than anyone that the living and the dead walk separate paths, so they couldn’t help privately puzzling over how a living man could show up so openly, so at ease.
Being open and unafraid isn’t a bad thing in itself. But in the wrong setting, at the wrong moment, it became exactly the thing that made the ghosts quietly suspicious.
Egged on by the little ghosts beside him, the ghost director grew uneasy too. He stared at the approaching Ji Yi and demanded, “What are you all here for?” As he spoke, he shot the little ghosts a meaningful look, signaling them to find a way to fetch a local underworld constable.
“We came to discuss the matter of compensation,” Ji Yi said politely. “That camera my friends here accidentally smashed the other day, I’m willing to help pay for it.”
Neither the ghost director nor the ghost whose camera had been wrecked had expected Ji Yi to come over about this, and hearing it, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
The cameraman ghost murmured from the side, “Paying’s fine, but it’s got to be a Tiandi brand, the model is…”
Old Man Li said, “There’s nowhere for us to buy that model. It’d all have to be custom-made, wouldn’t it?”
The cameraman ghost said, half regretful and half smug, “This is a rare piece. If it’s out of print, then custom-made is the only way.” Then he changed tack. “Since you can’t buy it, how are you going to pay me back? Try to fob me off with some other brand and I won’t accept it.”
Only, his words came out sounding rather ugly. The several old local ghosts were now facing prison over this very incident, so the looks they shot the cameraman ghost were far from friendly. His voice grew smaller and smaller, until at last he ducked behind the ghost director, looking every bit like he was afraid of getting jumped.
Ji Yi pulled out his phone. On the screen were a few paper-effigy cameras he’d added to his shopping cart. “Will this do? Looks about the same to me.”
“About the same isn’t good enough—” The cameraman ghost, seeing Ji Yi still seemed friendly, leaned in for a careful look. The first half of his sentence was still full of complaint, the second half caught in his throat. Then his eyes widened, just slightly, in spite of himself.
After these two subtle shifts of expression, the cameraman ghost said, “Actually, it’s fine if I take a bit of a loss. Who told me to be so unlucky? Ah, this kind heart of mine, it belongs in the history books.”
Clutching the heart in his chest that had long since stopped beating, he stretched his neck out even farther toward Ji Yi’s phone. Seeing the screen go dark, he urged Ji Yi on, “Turn it back on, let me get a good close look.”
The new Tiandi-brand camera the cameraman ghost had owned was something his living relatives had burned for him. They called it a new model, but really it was only a touch better than the surplus stock Ji Yi had seen at the funeral-goods shop in town. Those paper-cut templates were mass-produced, and of course had to be used up before anything else. Not much care went into making them either, just whatever pictures could be found online. “New model” mainly meant that the world of the living was a step ahead of the netherworld, so most of what got sent over here counted as new.
The styles Ji Yi had added to his cart were another matter entirely. Not only were their designs exquisite, they came with specific model numbers, genuinely the look of the top-tier machines in the human world right now. One glance and the cameraman ghost’s eyes glazed over.
The cameraman ghost’s neck really had stretched a good deal longer with his movements, showing off his distinctly inhuman nature all the more. Jian Yi, who had been about to rush over and beg Ji Yi for help, took two steps back instead, his handsome face going pale, his psychological scars deepening considerably. At the same time he grew even more impressed with Ji Yi, who stood among the crowd of ghosts without changing color, and could even haggle over prices.
Ji Yi hadn’t missed the shift in the cameraman ghost’s expression. He knew plenty of these ghosts were slippery, and he understood perfectly well that what he was offering was something this ghost was thoroughly pleased with. Seeing him still playing coy, there was no way Ji Yi would let him get off so cheap.
So Ji Yi deliberately withdrew the phone. “That won’t do. I said I’d compensate you, so I’ll compensate you. If this one isn’t as good as your original, then I’d better pay you back with your original instead. Give me the exact model and specs, and I’ll go talk it over with them. I’ll get you one that’s ninety-nine percent identical, guaranteed you won’t lose out.”
He even made as if to delete the items from his cart.
The cameraman ghost’s mouth was already watering over the styles Ji Yi had put in the cart. Hearing this, he panicked, afraid that his own stubborn tongue would let the half-cooked duck fly away [2]let the prize slip through his fingers jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2931962_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2931962_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. He hurriedly grabbed Ji Yi’s arm. “This one, this one! I won’t lose out!”
Ji Yi said, “I know your heart’s good. You must be pretending it’s no loss to you. I really should—”
Seeing Ji Yi being so dense, apparently boring himself into a dead end, and afraid his chance to upgrade his gear would vanish, the cameraman ghost cut in at once and said loudly, “No loss, no loss! I’m the one coming out ahead. Just buy me this exact one.”
The ghost director wore a look like he couldn’t bear to watch. Whether the cameraman ghost had a kind heart he wouldn’t judge, but Ji Yi certainly didn’t look like the simple, kindhearted sort.
Ji Yi said, “So it’s you who’s coming out ahead. All right, then.” He turned to Old Man Li and the other out-of-town ghosts. “Everyone here, bear witness. Today I’ve agreed to pay him back for the machine, so the matter of them smashing the camera earlier won’t be pursued any further, agreed?”
The local ghosts had come feeling rather anxious, but seeing Ji Yi handle the whole thing with such composure, all that was left was heartfelt admiration.
“Won’t pursue it, won’t pursue it.” The cameraman ghost, cradling Ji Yi’s phone and gazing at the pictures, had already gone hazy and indistinct, long since lost in his own reverie.
Right in front of the cameraman ghost, Ji Yi placed the order for that paper-effigy camera, promising to burn it as soon as the delivery arrived. With express shipping, the whole thing could be wrapped up within two days. On the cameraman ghost’s end, meanwhile, he’d need to notify the underworld constables that the matter was settled, so they wouldn’t come to make any arrests.
Seeing that they really weren’t here to cause trouble, and that the compensation had been settled, the ghost director left them to it and set about preparing the shoot on his own. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Jian Yi peeking longingly at Ji Yi from the sidelines, and got angry all over again.
“Still standing there in a daze? Why haven’t you gone to memorize your lines and run them for me?” The ghost director reached over and flicked Jian Yi on the forehead.
Jian Yi clutched his head. Seeing that Ji Yi and the others seemed about to leave now that their business was done, the pain drove him to blurt out desperately toward Ji Yi, “Brother, I’m not a ghost, I’m a living person! Can you save me? Get me out of here and I’ll pay you, I’ve got tons of money!”
Ji Yi had originally been looking for the right opening to bring up Jian Yi’s situation. Now he heard Jian Yi’s crude cry for help, and recalled the forehead-flick the ghost director had just delivered, without the slightest mercy, onto the skull of a top-tier star with an annual income over a hundred million.
The picture this presented was far too complicated, far too twisting, and far too full of story. A darling of capital in the living world, a top idol in the industry, a little prince of good looks, down in the netherworld, he was nothing at all.
Bad acting really could get you dragged off by ghosts for brutal training, and if you didn’t improve, you got a beating.
Ji Yi did find Jian Yi pitiful, but he also found the sheer contrast enough to make him want to laugh. For the moment he still held back the urge to laugh out loud, otherwise, with Jian Yi’s tragic expression, it would have seemed too heartless.
Hearing Jian Yi’s words, the ghost director practically flew into the air to strike him. “You still dare to make trouble?”
He really did leap up, the stick in his hand visibly about to come down on Jian Yi. Jian Yi dodged awkwardly to the side, hunching his neck, about to take a hard whack. But in the end it fell just short, Ji Yi struck, steady and sure and ruthless, and in one motion caught the ghost director’s wrist. The ghost director felt his hand fixed in place, unable to move, yet from his vantage neither Ji Yi’s expression nor his movements seemed to have taken much effort at all.
So when it was guessed earlier that he was unfathomable, he really did have something unfathomable about him!
“Director, look, the living and the dead walk separate paths, and besides, his acting is bad. How about you let him off and swap in someone else?”
Ji Yi released his grip, his words plenty courteous.
Jian Yi scurried behind Ji Yi in a flash, then pointed at him and even chimed in, “Cheng Chuang’s acting is really good. Why don’t you go find him?”
Cheng Chuang was another male star in the industry around Jian Yi’s age, but he’d started as a child actor, his acting was beyond reproach, and he’d already won Best Actor in his teens. Ji Yi had, as it happened, heard rumors that Cheng Chuang and Jian Yi didn’t get along. Now, hearing Jian Yi dig a pit for Cheng Chuang even at a time like this, he couldn’t help thinking those rumors of bad blood might carry a few grains of truth.
The ghost director pressed the wrist that had been gripped, knowing he probably couldn’t beat Ji Yi, and softened his tone a little. Still, he didn’t agree to Ji Yi’s suggestion. “How could that work? I’ve already done all the netherworld promotion. If I swap out the lead halfway through, how am I supposed to explain it to the audience?”
The ghost director’s face was written all over with principle.
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