When Shen Niao saw the return address on the envelope, she confirmed it had indeed come from Yacheng.
She immediately reached out.
“I’ll take it.”
The postman gave her a suspicious look.
“Are you Shen Su?”
Shen Niao shook her head.
“No. She’s my older cousin. I’ll give it to her.”
It was perfectly normal these days for family members to accept one another’s mail.
The postman handed over the letter before ringing his bicycle bell and riding off to his next delivery.
Holding the envelope, Shen Niao glanced at the sender’s name.
It was from Wu Qingchuan.
Did Shen Su and Wu Qingchuan correspond before?
Well, they had been engaged since childhood, so exchanging letters wasn’t unusual.
Besides, before her rebirth, Shen Su had actually been quite satisfied with Wu Qingchuan.
It was only after being reborn that she began looking down on him.
So what’s written in this letter?
Surely it isn’t some intimate love letter between the two of them?
Poor man…
He still has no idea that the fiancée promised to him since childhood has run off with his own younger brother.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Niao tucked the letter into her dimensional space.
When the time came, she’d simply throw Shen Su’s written apology in front of Wu Qingchuan so he’d understand.
His former fiancée…
Had run away.
She didn’t want him anymore.
Far away in Yacheng, at the southernmost tip of the country…
Standing aboard a ship while gazing across the distant horizon, Wu Qingchuan suddenly sneezed.
Commander Li, standing beside him, grinned mischievously.
“Heh, someone’s thinking about you.”
“It must be that wife your family arranged for you.”
“It’s just bad timing. Your wedding happened to coincide with this mission, so you couldn’t even make it back.”
Li Jianguo found the whole situation rather strange.
Even if the two brothers were holding a joint wedding, why had they been in such a hurry that they couldn’t wait for Qingchuan to return?
It almost felt…
As though someone had deliberately prevented him from making it home.
The thought flashed through his mind before he quickly dismissed it.
Wiggling his eyebrows, he asked,
“So… is your wife pretty?”
Wu Qingchuan stood straight on the deck, the fierce sea wind whipping around him.
His sharp eyes continued scanning the waters ahead.
Even after hearing Li Jianguo’s teasing, his expression remained as cold and composed as ever.
The marriage had been arranged when they were children.
Since it had been decided by their grandparents, he’d never thought about resisting it.
Sooner or later, everyone got married.
There was nothing wrong with a childhood engagement.
The last time he had visited Beijing was eight years ago.
Back then, Shen Su had still been studying nursing and hadn’t yet begun working as a nurse.
All he remembered from their brief encounter was that she had been quiet and reserved.
As for what she looked like…
He barely remembered.
Nor did he particularly care.
“Looks aren’t important.”
“As long as she doesn’t cause trouble and prefers peace and quiet.”
After asking several questions, that was the answer Li Jianguo finally received.
Looking at Wu Qingchuan’s handsome face—tanned dark by years under the sun yet still strikingly handsome—he simply shook his head.
“If all you want is someone quiet who never causes trouble, you might as well marry yourself.”
As a man who had been married for years, Li Jianguo genuinely couldn’t understand Wu Qingchuan.
The guy was only twenty-six, yet lacked every trace of youthful energy.
He wore the same stern expression every single day.
Even the most unruly soldiers became obedient in front of him.
And when Wu Qingchuan claimed appearances didn’t matter…
Li Jianguo actually believed him.
After all, this fellow had never thought like ordinary people.
Still…
Li Jianguo sincerely hoped his future sister-in-law wouldn’t be anything like Wu Qingchuan.
Otherwise, married life would be unbearably dull.
While thinking about how to drive her uncle’s family out of the villa as quickly as possible, Shen Niao stopped by the neighborhood administrative office to obtain a letter of introduction.
Afterward, she bought some joss paper, incense, and candles.
Earlier, inside the villa, she had clearly sensed the original owner’s lingering consciousness.
For the time being, she still hadn’t come up with a good way to force her uncle’s family out.
Feeling somewhat guilty, she decided to burn offerings to comfort the original owner.
Please don’t blame me.
It’s not that I don’t want to drive them out…
I just haven’t found the right method yet.
Silently apologizing in her heart, Shen Niao found an empty spot beneath a bridge.
As she entered her dimensional space to retrieve a box of matches…
An idea suddenly struck her.
She quickly opened the water-drop icon and searched for Netherworld.
The interface still lagged badly.
After tapping several times, a new window finally appeared.
Ghost Boss
Level 3
When Shen Niao saw that the inventory was filled with every imaginable kind of ghost…
A satisfied smile spread across her face.
If she wanted to drive people out of a house permanently…
What better method was there than making them believe it was haunted?
The only question was…
How could she trade for a ghost?
After thinking for a moment, she placed the incense, candles, and joss paper she’d originally bought for the previous owner onto the trading panel.
Then she selected a headless little ghost girl playing with a ball from the other party’s inventory.
Each ghost came with a thoughtful description.
The one she chose had a Horror Rating: Level 3.
It could only frighten people.
It would never harm them.
Apparently, the other party was also online.
The moment she pressed Confirm, the trade was completed.
The incense and candles disappeared from her inventory.
When Shen Niao left the space again, a transparent glass bottle tied with a tiny bell had appeared in her hand.
Inside drifted a wisp of pale green smoke.
A label was attached to the outside.
She had originally worried about how she would deal with an actual ghost.
Fortunately…
The ghost came neatly sealed inside the bottle.
The instructions on the label read:
Unscrew the cap to release the ghost.
To recall it, leave the cap open while shaking the bell. The ghost will automatically return to the bottle.
The ghost will not wander elsewhere and will remain only where it is released.
Excellent.
A very obedient ghost.
Shen Niao bought another set of incense and joss paper, burned them for the original owner, then carried the bottle back to the villa.
Quietly opening a window, she unscrewed the cap.
The wisp of green smoke immediately floated out and vanished.
Although the smoke had disappeared, Shen Niao still spoke softly into the empty air.
“Hello, little girl who plays with a ball.”
“You only need to scare away the people living here.”
“Thank you.”
For a brief moment…
She thought she heard the faint sound of a ball bouncing.
As if the little ghost had answered her.
Leaving the villa, Shen Niao entered her dimensional space once more.
When she emerged, another transparent bottle had appeared in her hand.
This one contained red smoke.
She boarded a bus and returned to the university staff compound.
By the time she left…
The red smoke inside the bottle had vanished.
Not long after Shen Niao released the green smoke, the Shen family returned home from work.
Uncle Shen, Shen Changhe, brewed himself a cup of tea.
Holding both the teacup and a newspaper, he leisurely sipped while reading.
Whenever he had visited this house in the past, he’d always seen his younger brother wearing glasses, quietly drinking tea while reading the paper.
Every time he saw Shen Changfan looking so refined and scholarly…
He had secretly hated him.
Now that he lived in the house himself…
He had copied every one of his younger brother’s habits perfectly.
Qiao Fengying entered carrying takeout from a state-owned restaurant.
Seeing her husband like that, she rolled her eyes.
“You used to say your younger brother was just putting on airs.”
“You couldn’t stand watching him act like that.”
“So why doesn’t it disgust you when you’re the one pretending?”
“If it disgusts you so much, then don’t live here.”
“When you first stepped into this house, you barely even dared sit down.”
“Now you sleep in the upstairs master bedroom without wanting to leave.”
At the mention of those embarrassing memories, Qiao Fengying’s face stiffened.
Her sister-in-law had been a genuine wealthy young lady.
This house had belonged entirely to her family.
The first time Qiao Fengying visited, she’d seen soft sofas, beautiful cushions, an elegant piano, a grandfather clock…
Even several maids waiting on the household.
At the time, she’d already been married to Shen Changhe for five years.
She had no job.
Her own family had been poor.
Naturally, she’d never witnessed such luxury before.
Who would have imagined…
That one day she’d move into this very house.
And even sleep in that pampered young mistress’s bed.
A deep sense of satisfaction welled up inside her.
Ever since moving into the little villa, that feeling had never faded.
Her sister-in-law had certainly been fortunate.
Too bad her good fortune hadn’t lasted.
Not only had her home been taken over…
Even her precious daughter…
Just thinking about it made Qiao Fengying happy.
Her younger brother and sister-in-law were probably so furious in the afterlife that they’d want to crawl out of their graves.
At that moment, Shen Jia pushed open the door.
Shaking the cold from his clothes, he complained,
“Mom, this house is freezing.”
“It’s even colder than our old place.”
He wasn’t sure whether it was just his imagination.
But it felt colder than it had yesterday.
Qiao Fengying handed him a cup of hot water.
“Just wait. I’ll light the stove.”
“You really don’t know how lucky you are.”
“Living in such a big house…”
“Who knows how many people are jealous of us.”
Ever since everyone at her factory learned she’d moved into this villa, countless female workers crowded into tiny twenty- or thirty-square-meter apartments with seven or eight family members had turned green with envy.
After taking a sip of water, Shen Jia stopped his mother.
“Mom, give me twenty yuan first.”
“I’m treating some friends to dinner tonight, so I won’t be eating at home.”
The moment he finished speaking, Shen Changhe looked up from his newspaper.
“More money?”
“Didn’t I just give you ten yuan a few days ago?”
“What happened to your own salary?”
“We don’t even make you contribute to the household.”
“How can you keep asking us for money every day?”
“My salary isn’t enough.”
“I recently made a new friend.”
“His father is a department chief.”
“I figured it’d be good to build a closer relationship.”
“If our family ever needs help in the future, we can ask him.”
Hearing that, Shen Changhe’s expression relaxed.
He nodded slightly.
“I’ll give you thirty.”
“Order a good bottle of liquor.”
Qiao Fengying nodded approvingly.
“Alright.”
“I’ll go get the money.”
She hurried upstairs.
A moment later—
A shrill scream erupted from above.
Qiao Fengying came rushing downstairs in utter panic, shouting at the top of her lungs,
“Old Shen! Our money…”
“…It’s all been stolen!”