Office drone Bai Xianxian decided to fight for a sliver of legitimate rights!
She jumped off the bed barefoot, walked to the shrine, took out three sticks of incense, bowed very devoutly, and said, "Ancestral Master, let's make a deal. Could you not come every single week? If you come every other week, I'll even accept having only one day off!"
After speaking, she struck a match to light the incense.
But the incense wouldn't light.
Well then, the Ancestral Master didn't agree.
Bai Xianxian patiently reasoned with them: "You can't just focus on theory and ignore practice, right? I've been learning from you for a week—I need to take on some real work to improve through hands-on experience, don't I? You're just cramming everything into my head at once—there's too much for me to absorb! Even teachers emphasize gradual progression in their teaching. When you all studied the Dao under the Ancestral Celestial Master back in the day, you didn't learn that way either!"
I refuse to believe that bringing up the Ancestral Celestial Master won't convince these six old men!
Sure enough, when Bai Xianxian waited a moment and tried lighting the incense again, it successfully caught fire.
She let out a sigh of relief, bowed, and placed the incense into the burner: "Then we've agreed!" She also threw in a bit of flattery: "As expected of the Ancestral Master—truly wise and mighty!"
Alright then, Bai Xianxian, cherish the next eight days of sleep you have.
The next day at the hospital, the moment Bai Xianxian entered the office, she flopped down like a salted fish: "Chen Lin, Chen Lin, the little blanket—"
Chen Lin, carrying a barrel of drinking water, silently set the barrel on the floor, went out to retrieve the little blanket that was airing outside the window, and covered her with it.
The washed blanket smelled a lot like him—faint and light, like snow melted by sunlight.
Bai Xianxian clutched the little blanket with both hands and curled up into a ball, squinting as she watched him move around the office. After changing the water, he mopped the floor—like a diligent little bee.
Look at that—she was a salted fish, and he was a little bee.
That was the gap between people.
When Chen Lin came back after rinsing the mop, he saw that the sleeping person had kicked the little blanket onto the floor. He tiptoed over, picked it up, dusted it off, squatted by the sofa, and gently covered her with it again.
Bai Xianxian was sleeping soundly when the office landline suddenly rang with a sharp trill.
Looks like more work was coming in.
Since Chen Lin was there anyway, she didn't open her eyes—she just rolled over and kept sleeping. But the phone kept ringing for a long time without stopping, and she heard a flustered commotion behind her.
Bai Xianxian rubbed her eyes and sat up. When she turned around, she saw Chen Lin helplessly pressing the phone against his chest, as if trying to muffle the ringing.
When he saw Bai Xianxian looking over, the peach-blossom eyes beneath his black hair were visibly filled with panic, frozen stiff like a child who had done something wrong.
Bai Xianxian was amused by his expression: "Chen Lin, what are you doing?"
His usually low, cold voice came out dry and stiff: "I… I wanted to turn off the ringtone, but I can't turn it off."
Bai Xianxian yawned and walked over: "Give it to me."
Chen Lin silently handed her the shrilly ringing landline.
Bai Xianxian fiddled with it for a moment, and the ringing stopped. Chen Lin stared at her blankly, and Bai Xianxian asked, "You wanted to turn off the ringtone and switch it to silent?"
He gave a low "Mm."
Bai Xianxian said, "That won't do. This isn't a phone—it can't vibrate. If you turn off the ringtone, you won't know when a call comes in."
His eyes half-lowered as he said quietly, "I'll keep watch."
Bai Xianxian looked at him for a moment, then it dawned on her: "Are you afraid a call will come in and wake me up while I'm sleeping?"
He didn't say anything, only lowered his head further, which counted as an admission.
Bai Xianxian felt her heart melt with emotion, and she even had the urge to stand on her tiptoes and ruffle his soft black hair!
Luckily, she held back.
Suddenly, she felt that even being an office drone in her dreams wasn't so bad—after all, her work environment was amazing! Such a leisurely job, such a considerate coworker—what did a little hardship in a dream matter?
She put the landline back in place: "Don't worry about it. Starting tonight, I can sleep properly, so I definitely won't be tired tomorrow!"
Chen Lin nodded, then frowned at the now-silent phone, as if wondering why the phone that rang uncontrollably in his hands went quiet the moment it reached Bai Xianxian's.
Bai Xianxian noticed his confusion and said modestly, "I studied mechanical engineering, so I know a bit about electronics. If anything in our office—like the water dispenser or the air conditioner—breaks down, I can fix minor issues too!"
Whether Chen Lin picked up on the subtle boast hidden in her modesty, she couldn't tell, but the corners of his perpetually lowered eyes lifted slightly, as if he were smiling. Unfortunately, with the mask on, she couldn't tell if he actually smiled, but his voice wasn't as low as usual: "Got it."
…
While eating lunch in the cafeteria, Bai Xianxian's phone suddenly rang.
It was an unfamiliar number.
She answered while gnawing on a pork rib: "Hello?"
A flustered voice came through the phone: "Hey! Is… is this the professional ghostbuster? You left me a comment in my livestream yesterday! I'm Gouzha! The gaming streamer!"
Bai Xianxian knew something was wrong just from his tone.
She quickly put down the pork ribs: "It's me, what's wrong? What happened?"
The streamer sounded like he was about to cry: "I think my house is really haunted now. Master, when can you come over and take a look for me!"
Bai Xianxian said: "Send me your address, I'll head over right now."
The other end hurriedly sent over a message. Bai Xianxian hung up and was about to leave when she saw Chen Lin looking at her. She gave an awkward laugh and explained: "Got a job. Client's fridge is leaking electricity, asked me to take a look."
Chen Lin nodded, seemingly without suspicion.
Bai Xianxian waved at him and dashed off.
By the time she arrived at the location the streamer had sent, carrying the Six-Spirit Sword, the afternoon sun was blazing. Bai Xianxian took the elevator up per the address, hugging the backpack containing the Six-Spirit Sword to her chest, silently chanting: "Ancestral Masters, this is my first mission. Please keep an eye on me. If I need to invoke the Celestial Master Divine Incantation, please do me the honor!"
Fear was something she couldn't overcome in an instant. Even though she'd shown up, her courage hadn't quite caught up.
Bai Xianxian swallowed nervously as she knocked on the door.
Someone answered quickly—a slightly chubby young man with a haggard, pale face. Seeing a girl in casual clothes holding a backpack at his door, he froze for a moment and said: "Not buying anything!"
Bai Xianxian: "…?"
She blocked the door with her foot as he moved to close it: "You just called me."
The streamer's jaw nearly dropped: "You???" His expression shifted from shock to doubt, then finally settled on disappointment. With a resigned air, he said: "Fine, come in then."
Bai Xianxian took a deep breath and followed him inside.
The moment she stepped in, Bai Xianxian knew something was off.
The Yin Energy in this room was far too heavy.
The streamer hadn't even turned on the air conditioning, yet the indoor temperature was very low.
Bai Xianxian's heart pounded as she instinctively hugged her backpack tighter. Just as she was about to speak, an old Taoist priest in robes walked out of the bedroom, compass in hand, looking utterly serious.
Before Bai Xianxian could react, a middle-aged Taoist emerged from the bathroom, wielding a sword of strung copper coins meant for warding off evil. His face was grim as he said: "This thing is extremely vicious—we'll need to set up an altar and perform a ritual!" He paused, noticing Bai Xianxian standing in the living room, and asked the streamer: "Is this your girlfriend?"
The streamer: "Do I look like someone who could get a girlfriend like that?" He said listlessly: "She's a master I hired."
The middle-aged Taoist was furious: "Hiring two people is one thing, but you went and hired a third?!"
The streamer said: "Well, how am I supposed to know which of you actually has real skill? I have to try everyone, don't I?" He glanced at Bai Xianxian and muttered: "This one doesn't seem reliable anyway…"
The old Taoist raised a hand to stop him: "Before performing the ritual, we should first understand the origin of this thing and why it's clinging to you. Please tell us about any strange experiences you've had recently."
The group sat down on the sofa. Bai Xianxian looked around, then hugged her backpack and quietly took a seat between the two Taoists.
Because of Bai Xiangwang, she naturally felt a kinship with anyone in Taoist robes.
The streamer sat across from them, head down, thinking for a while: "I haven't done anything lately. I've just been home playing games—haven't left the house in two weeks. I even have the delivery guy take out my trash."
The middle-aged Taoist asked again: "Then what exactly happened in the past couple of days? Walk us through it."
The streamer shuddered, his voice stammering: "At first… it was just viewers seeing that painting behind me moving, swaying back and forth. I didn't think much of it—figured they were just messing with me."
He wrapped his arms around himself, growing more frightened as he spoke: "Then at night, after I ended my stream and was about to order takeout, I suddenly heard this very shrill voice by my ear say, 'I don't like eating this, order something else.' I thought I was just having auditory hallucinations from gaming too long, so I didn't pay it any mind. When the food arrived, I went to the bathroom for a moment, and when I came back, the takeout that had been on the table was splattered all over the floor!"
He was on the verge of tears: "And then I heard that shrill voice complaining again, saying 'I told you I don't like this'! I was completely terrified at that point. My first instinct was to run, but the door wouldn't open no matter what, my phone had no signal, and I screamed for help but no one answered. Then I… I think I passed out… When I woke up, it was already noon today. I was just lying in bed, like everything from last night had been a dream…"
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, staring blankly straight ahead.
Both Taoists instantly went on alert, following his gaze—only to see his eyes fixed on Bai Xianxian.
Two seconds later, the streamer spoke.
He said: "Why are you shaking even worse than me?"
Bai Xianxian: "…"
I am NOT!!! I'm trying my absolute best to hold it together here!!