By the night market river, willow branches hung low, and with a gentle breeze, fine willow catkins drifted lazily through the air.
The phone on the small table in front of Ren Siyi buzzed and vibrated endlessly—
Sd (stingy, but his brother’s rich): “Baby, baby, are you still there?”
Sd (stingy, but his brother’s rich): “Baby, send me your location.”
Sd (stingy, but his brother’s rich): “I’ll have my brother come pick you up. Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
…
Ren Siyi didn’t even glance at the phone. She was sitting by a stall at the riverside night market, getting her tarot cards read.
The tarot reader was a very young man, wearing a loose black short-sleeved shirt. He was probably only a few years older than her, sporting a pair of sunglasses, and annoyingly handsome.
The man idly flipped through cards, listening to her phone’s incessant buzzing. He glanced at the girl’s delicate, pleasing features and asked lazily, “Reading for love?”
“No, I’m looking for someone. Help me figure out where he is.”
Ren Siyi actually had some faith in tarot. She’d played around with apps before, and the vague answers they gave had always been surprisingly accurate.
“Briefly describe the relationship—what he does, why you’re looking for him.”
“My dad. He’s a construction worker,” Ren Siyi said. “He went missing five years ago. Even the police couldn’t find him. I just want to know if he’s alive or dead.”
The man didn’t ask more questions. Asking too much would seem unprofessional.
He casually drew a card from the spread and flipped it over.
The Death card, reversed.
On the card, a skeleton in armor rode a white horse, its banner hanging upside down in the wind, while a pope knelt at its feet, begging for mercy.
“Upright means endings, transformation, rebirth. But reversed…” He pondered for a moment, then said, “Stop looking. He’s no longer in this world.”
Ren Siyi’s heart tightened, and she bit her lip slightly.
This outcome had been within her expectations. Officer Xiao Liu, who had been helping her search for her father all along, had also hinted that her father might no longer be among the living.
But if alive, she wanted to see him; if dead, she wanted to see the body.
Now he’d simply vanished into thin air. How was she supposed to accept that?
Through his sunglasses, the man watched her doe-like eyes, on the verge of tears. He sighed, reached out, and pushed the cards aside, scattering the spread. “Forget it. This is all just parlor tricks anyway—I’m just fooling people to make a living. Don’t take it to heart.”
“You’re surprisingly kind-hearted.” Ren Siyi suppressed the ache in her chest and looked at him.
“I can’t stand to see women cry. Especially pretty ones.”
Pretty people have known they’re pretty since childhood, because the world constantly feeds that back to them.
In elementary school, little boys would get into fights over Ren Siyi, competing for the right to do homework with her. By middle school, confessions came in an endless stream. In high school, she moved to the city, and the moment she joined her new class, she became the class beauty.
“How about we do a love reading instead?” The man leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “That’s my specialty.”
“I’m not some lovesick fool. I don’t want to waste money on that.”
As she said this, she slapped her calf with a sharp smack, looked down, frowned, and grabbed a tissue from the table to wipe away the dot of blood left by a mosquito bite on her ankle, along with the dead mosquito.
Just then, the man’s nose twitched keenly.
Ren Siyi was about to get up and leave when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
The man took the hand she’d just used to swat the mosquito, guided it to just beneath his nose—about a centimeter away—closed his eyes, and sniffed.
Ren Siyi: ?
What the hell is wrong with this guy!
Just as she was about to struggle free, he let go, leaned back in his chair, and curled a smile at the corner of his mouth—
“Free reading for you: you need to be careful.”
“Careful of what?” Ren Siyi grew wary, no longer trusting this guy.
“A bloody disaster.”
The familiar routine arrived right on schedule. She said in exasperation, “I don’t have money to pay you to ward off misfortune.”
She’d gotten into a fight with her cousin, been kicked out of the house by her aunt, and now she didn’t even know where her next meal or her next place to sleep would come from. Her stomach was growling with hunger. She must have been out of her mind to spend the last ten yuan in her account on a tarot reading…
Being scammed by a charlatan was bad enough, but this charlatan even had a multi-step scam routine. She was genuinely starting to get angry.
“I’m not charging you. Just a friendly warning—you should watch out for…”
Ren Siyi waited about five seconds before she heard the man slowly drawl out two words: “Mosquitoes.”
“Mosquitoes?”
“Your blood is exceptionally sweet.” The man’s smile deepened, looking rather mischievous. “It’ll drive countless mosquitoes wild.”
Ren Siyi thought about how she was type O blood and had been a mosquito magnet since childhood. She was basically a walking blood bag—as long as she was around, no one else within several meters had to worry about getting bitten.
“So that’s my ‘bloody disaster,’ huh.”
The man gave a sweet smile: “Yep.”
Ren Siyi pulled out her phone and dialed 12315: “Hello, is this the market supervision bureau? There’s someone at the moat night market running a fortune-telling stall, engaging in feudal superstition and fraud…”
“Hey, hey, hey, hey.” The man grabbed her hand, and in his flustered motion, his sunglasses fell off, dangling from one ear, revealing a pair of long, narrow, strikingly handsome phoenix eyes.
“Let’s talk this out, shall we?”
“Refund ten times the price for a fake—give me back 100.” Ren Siyi’s tone was calm.
“You, you, you… you’re too ruthless! At most, I’ll refund the original price.”
Ren Siyi haggled: “30.”
The man rolled his eyes and resignedly said, “Add me on WeChat, I’ll refund, refund, refund… Fine, I was just trying to warn you out of kindness, and you’re reporting me.”
Ren Siyi lowered her head and scanned the code.
With a ding, thirty yuan arrived in her account.
Ren Siyi gave a light snort, wadded up the tissue stained with blood spots and mosquito remains into a ball, tossed it into the trash can at the corner of the table, and turned to leave.
The man took off his sunglasses, picked the blood-stained paper ball out of the trash can, and brought it to his nose to sniff again.
It had been a long time since he’d encountered blood of such premium quality.
…
Having angrily earned 30 yuan from the street hustler, Ren Siyi ordered a plate of stir-fried rice noodles at the night market street and filled her stomach.
With only twenty yuan left, she couldn’t afford a hotel either. Where should she go?
She looked at the bustling, brightly lit night market street, feeling lost.
Two years ago, her grandparents, who had raised her, had her aunt take her in to attend high school in Nanshi and prepare for college, not wanting her to waste her potential hanging around with a bunch of delinquent girls in town.
Ren Siyi had a sharp mind and good grades, but she was a bit stubborn.
She’d endured two years of living under someone else’s roof at her aunt’s house, swallowing her pride. This year, she scored 631 on the college entrance exam and was admitted to Nanshi University.
During the summer break, her cousin falsely accused her of using her cosmetics. Normally, she would have endured it, thinking of how hard her grandparents worked to support her and how they had to beg her aunt, afraid she’d be sent back.
But now that she’d graduated, things were different. With two months until college started, Ren Siyi had no intention of putting up with that nonsense anymore.
The two had a huge fight, and she left without even packing her luggage.
As she ate her fried noodles, she searched for nearby internet cafes, planning to rough it there for the night and figure out a summer job to earn some living expenses tomorrow.
Sd (Stingy, but his brother’s rich): “Baby, baby, talk to me.”
Sd (Stingy, but his brother’s rich): “[Red packet]”
Ren Siyi tapped the red packet, and a string of numbers popped up on the screen: “0.88 yuan.”
Ren Siyi: …
She’d never met such a stingy suitor.
Back in her senior year of high school, she’d gone to check out the campus of Nanshi University, which was local, on a weekend. On the way, this college student had proactively struck up a conversation and added her on WeChat.
After adding her, his first message was: “My brother’s super rich. [Hehe]”
So, Ren Siyi had added that to his note as well.
Sd (Stingy, but his brother’s rich): “Send me your location, I’ll come find you.”
No way!!
Ren Siyi had no intention of meeting him in person—too dangerous!
Cute and Neurotic: “Baby, I’m fine now, don’t worry! I’m planning to spend the night at an internet cafe. I’m just craving some milk tea right now. Can baby treat me to some milk tea? [Sparkly eyes]”
He decisively sent another red packet, and Ren Siyi eagerly tapped it open—
2 yuan.
Sd (Stingy, but his brother’s rich): “Treating baby to Mixue Ice City. [Hehe]”
Ren Siyi: …
Who has 2-yuan milk tea at Mixue Ice City!
She deleted the note “his brother’s rich” and changed it directly to: Cheapskate.
Cute and Neurotic: “Thanks baby! Love you love you love you! [Kiss]”
After sending that, she ignored him. She didn’t want to waste her precious time on that stingy guy.
Following the map location for “Flying Internet Cafe,” she turned into a pitch-black alley.
The streetlight in the alley was probably broken, with only a faint sliver of moonlight.
It was too dark. Ren Siyi stepped on something, tripped, and her knee slammed hard into the ground.
“Hiss!”
She fell, and her knee was scraped raw, bleeding.
So it really was a blood disaster!
She’d wronged that charlatan.
It was just a surface wound, nothing serious. As a kid, she’d been one of the most mischievous children in the village, and getting hurt was a daily occurrence.
Ren Siyi gritted her teeth and stood up, brushed the dust off her pants, and was about to keep walking.
Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.
She turned around. Deep in the alley, in the shadows where the moonlight couldn’t reach, a dark silhouette stood there.
She couldn’t make out the face, couldn’t see the clothes—only a human shape.
Ren Siyi’s heart jolted, and she quickened her pace forward.
That ghostly shadow quickened its pace too, following her.
But if it really were a ghost, Ren Siyi wouldn’t be afraid. Delinquent girls are natural ghost-repellers—even a ghost would have to cough up some cash before leaving.
It was most likely a thug!!
There was no one around. If a thug took advantage of her, she’d be done for.
She broke into a run, the wound on her knee tearing with pain, but she couldn’t afford to care.
And the other person really seemed to be chasing her—she could hear the rapid footsteps behind her.
“Help!” she shouted desperately, but just then…
“Caw!”
A crow’s cry pierced the silence of the night. A black crow perched on the streetlight pole ahead.
Then, a cold, eerie breeze swept past, making Ren Siyi shiver, her hair standing on end.
Like the wind that occasionally blew from the old well in her grandmother’s courtyard when she was a child—no matter the season, that wind was always icy cold.
Ren Siyi turned around. The dark figure seemed to have stopped. Not only stopped—it was backing away, faster and faster, until it was practically fleeing in panic, vanishing without a trace within moments.
Ren Siyi: ?
Seeing a ghost?
She stood frozen in place, heart pounding wildly, gasping for breath.
Just then, a black Maybach glided silently to a stop beneath the streetlamp at the mouth of the alley ahead.
Ren Siyi didn’t know much about cars, but she recognized this one—because the same brand of car was often parked outside her school gates, picking up classmates who lived in the villa district east of the city.
Though those cars… none of them looked quite as impressive as this one.
The driver’s door opened.
A chauffeur in a suit stepped out. Wearing gloves, he walked around to the rear door and respectfully, politely pulled it open.
A long, slender leg emerged, a black leather shoe stepping onto the damp ground.
The streetlamp at the alley entrance flickered a few times.
The man who stepped out was tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His features were deep-set and sharp, his skin so pale it seemed molded from moonlight.
And he was dressed entirely in black—black suit, black shirt, the collar buttoned up to the throat in a way that was almost maddeningly restrained.
He leaned on a black cane, walking with elegant composure until he stood before Ren Siyi.
Ren Siyi felt a chill wash over her, as if he were a ghost that had crawled out of her grandmother’s old well.
“I’m Shen Shen,” the man said, his voice unexpectedly pleasant to the ear. “My brother wants to see you.”
“Your brother?” Ren Siyi didn’t think she knew this handsome stranger’s brother.
Hmm… and this man wasn’t just ordinarily handsome—he was top-tier gorgeous.
Ren Siyi considered herself to have excellent taste, her favorite pastime being those online videos rating handsome men.
“Handsome guy, who’s your brother?”
“Shen Du.”
Ren Siyi searched her limited memory. Didn’t seem to ring a bell.
She shook her head. “Don’t know him.”
Shen Shen added, “SD. His WeChat name.”
“Oh! Him!” Ren Siyi furrowed her brow, silently complaining to herself—so this “old man” actually came looking for her.
Uh… and also, his brother was really loaded?
Just looking at that car, it wasn’t your average luxury vehicle.
“Sorry, but I’m not really keen on meeting your brother in person. We’re just casual online friends.”
“His leg is broken,” Shen Shen said. “He needs a wheelchair. We’ve hired many caretakers, but none of them could put up with his foul temper. If no one takes care of him, he might end up trapped in his own filth.”
The man made a disgusted face. “And before he turns the house into a cesspit, I’ll kill him myself. So… I need to hire a caretaker he actually likes, to look after him for two months.”
Ren Siyi’s focus was, as usual, rather odd: “How could no one take care of him? Aren’t you a person?”
Shen Shen: “Apologies. I’m not.”
Ren Siyi: ……
Ren Siyi simply decided to interpret it as him not knowing how to care for people. If even his own brother refused to look after him, the guy must be a real handful.
“Professional caretakers can’t handle him, so I don’t think I can either.” She was a bit reluctant to go—after all, following a strange man home late at night, nominally as a caretaker, but who knew what was actually waiting for her.
“That’s fine.” Shen Shen said calmly. “Pay is daily. Survive as many days as you can.”
“What’s the daily rate?” Ren Siyi asked casually.
“2k. Per day.”
The next second, a gust of wind brushed past Shen Shen. He turned around—the girl had already made herself at home in the Maybach, flashing him a sweet smile—
“Boss, let’s go! Hee hee.”
(End)