Heihei and Qi Ye exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with helplessness.
"Can I top up my electricity bill for three yuan at a time?" After Heihei bought the medicine, Qi Ye only had three yuan left.
"It seems... not possible."
Heihei nodded bitterly: "The heating in the room can probably last for a while, you should get into bed."
Qi Ye was reluctantly pushed into the quilt by Heihei. Heihei sat cross-legged beside him, scratching his head, distressed but also content: "I haven't felt poor for a long time."
Qi Ye didn't want to talk: "..."
He glanced at Heihei, who was talking without any pain in his waist, and complained in his heart, anyway, it's not you who is poor, hungry, or cold.
Qi Ye thought, it's great to be a ghost, you don't have to worry about food and clothing, and you don't have to fear birth, old age, sickness, and death. Heihei
thought, it's great to be a human, you have all the ups and downs, you have to experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.
The man and the ghost sighed, and Qi Ye thought that he should go and get a part-time job with daily wages tomorrow morning, otherwise he would be unable to move with only three yuan.
"Qi Ye, what are you going to do with the 200,000 yuan?" Hei Hei also lay down, sharing a pillow with Qi Ye.
Qi Ye blurted out, "Pay the electricity bill."
Hei Hei: "..."
Qi Ye thought for a moment: "Have a barbecue and a hot pot."
Hei Hei raised an eyebrow: "...Aren't you allergic to chili peppers?"
Qi Ye frowned: "...You know all that?"
Hei Hei smiled but didn't answer. Qi Ye continued: "Give some to Uncle Ning, some to Ah Xiao, and then..."
"Hmm?"
"Pick you a nice mask."
Hei Hei was stunned: "Huh?"
"You can choose it yourself," Qi Ye glanced at the clown face beside him and yawned: "I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep."
Hei Hei smiled and didn't refuse: "Okay, I'll wait for you."
For some reason, it was easy to fall asleep in his own bed. Hei Hei and Qi Ye fell asleep facing each other. When Hei Hei woke up, it was dusk, and Qi Ye was gone.
This guy, most likely went to work again.
Heihei floated around the house, heated up the porridge in the pot, pressed the light in the living room, and it suddenly came on with a few hisses. The electricity bill was paid.
Just after seven o'clock, Qi Ye pushed the door open and entered the house, having packed some food. He also held a string of candied haws in his hand: "
I'll give it back to you." Heihei took it and licked it. As a ghost, he couldn't taste anything. Qi Ye smiled: "I'll eat it for you."
After this night, Qi Ye finally let down his guard and smiled at Heihei.
"Is Uncle Zhang okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm paying you back for the candied haws you stole last night."
"...What are you going to tell Uncle?"
"My naughty cousin came to our house. He's not a clean sitter. He stole something last night."
Heihei: "..."
While Qi Ye was eating, Heihei explained the information he had obtained from the little ghost one by one. The villa at No. 83 Liu'an Road was sold shortly after the dismemberment case. It was sold at 30% off the market price to a jeweler.
There's a folk saying that living in a haunted house boosts business, the more haunted it is, the more money it brings. Houses that have been the site of fires command the highest prices, followed by homicides, then suicides, and those caused by accidents are generally unattainable.
A jeweler who bought the haunted house and consulted a shaman for a ritual, but instead of boosting his business, it caused chaos and nearly destroyed his family. Strange events plagued the family, nearly leaving them devastated. They heard intermittent crying at night, the water from the faucet turned red, pieces of rotting flesh mysteriously appeared in the refrigerator, and little girls' dolls kept having their fingers cut off.
Following the shaman's advice, the jeweler moved out and sold the house to a doctor for 50% off the market price. The doctor, accustomed to the passage of life and death, initially lived peacefully. But then he began to dream of his own fingers being cut off, causing him to tremble uncontrollably whenever he held a scalpel, ultimately losing his job.
The villa had been vacant for several years, but the wealthy businessman surnamed Li, who was now offering the adventurer the chance to live there, had purchased it from a doctor at a 70% discount to the market price. It was a large villa in a prime location, and the price was only four million. It might be a bit dangerous, but wealth comes with risk.
"What murder case was this villa number 83?" Qi Ye was still young at the time and couldn't remember it at all.
"The couple in the villa were professional marriage scammers. The wife cheated on a boy, and it seems that the boy couldn't even attend college and was cut off from his family. The boy, once a good student, couldn't get over this and came to the house to retaliate and kill. The killing was ruthless. Both bodies were cut into thousands of pieces, making it impossible to tell them apart. The boy eventually hanged himself in the house. It's said that he died next to a piano, as he and the scammer met at piano school."
Qi Ye finished his meal slowly, his face calm as he commented, "It wasn't an unjust death."
Heihei nodded. "Both the victim and the murderer are very resentful, which is good for me." The more vicious the ghost, the tastier it is.
"What if you can't outsmart these ghosts?"
Heihei laughed. "Then I'll sacrifice you."
"..."
There was no computer at home, so after Qi Ye finished his meal and washed the dishes, Heihei urged him to go to an internet cafe and change his birth date and horoscope to submit a resume. Boss Li wouldn't accept all applicants; he wanted to select those with the most favorable horoscopes to protect his house.
Qi Ye was reluctant to go to the internet cafe, as it seemed bustling with people and full of positive energy. But only Qi Ye knew that the ghosts there were just as many. Lonely ghosts, with little time to spare, liked to frequent internet cafes and watch people play games. Movie theaters were similar.
Heihei suggested going to the internet cafe, not only to change his birth date and submit a resume, but also because he wanted to watch Qi Ye eat and was hungry, so he needed some ghosts to fill his stomach.
At Heihei's urging, Qi Ye bundled himself up tightly, and he and the ghost left, locking the door. The snow was still falling, blanketing the sky with white, illuminating the earth.
"Hey, Xue Guang, aren't you afraid?"
Qi Ye wanted to say, if you are afraid, you can hide in my windbreaker, but the other party didn't give him the chance at all.
"No, in the past, I wasn't even afraid of the sun."
Heihei didn't lie. Being a ghost to this extent, he was considered a god, but Qi Ye just thought he was bragging, suppressed his laughter and ignored him.
After turning two alleys, the Internet cafe was there. Heihei followed Qi Ye upstairs. As soon as he showed up, all the ghosts in the Internet cafe were scared silly. Those ghosts who were originally watching others playing games, watching movies and writing papers straightened their shoulders and stared at Heihei blankly, trembling all over.
One of the fat ghosts quietly turned himself into a noodle shape, ready to avoid Heihei's sight and float out of the Internet cafe, but he only moved a little, and Heihei stretched out his hand, grabbed his neck, and deftly pulled out the soul line and stuffed it into his stomach.
The whole process took only ten seconds, and the ghosts present were completely silent. Although Qi Ye had seen Hei Hei eating ghosts from the surveillance camera of the haunted house in the mental hospital before, the shock of the scene was too great for him to digest for a while.
This ghost who had been eating and sleeping with him for two days was a real evil ghost.
Seeing Qi Ye's expression, Hei Hei was rarely willing to explain: "It's okay, after drawing the soul thread, these desperate ghosts can also be reincarnated."
Qi Ye was speechless. So, these ghosts you devoured should thank you?
He hadn't finished his rant when the ghosts, once tense as terracotta warriors, suddenly began to whisper. Soon, they all gathered around Heihei, one after another, "Eat me, eat me."
Heihei smiled calmly, "Don't worry, come one by one."
These ghosts were pitiful, all wild ghosts, unable to reincarnate for various reasons. They had lost their three souls and six spirits and wandered the human world, feeling miserable. Hearing that this old fierce man could help them escape, of course they were more than happy to accept.
Qi Ye glanced at Heihei, their eyes meeting. Heihei gave him a cheeky grin, "Don't worry, I won't eat you."
"…" He finally believed that the ghosts in the haunted house might not be a big deal to Heihei.
The two sat down at the computer. Qi Ye, following Heihei's instructions, altered his date of birth on his resume, fabricated a series of experiences in exorcising demons, and added a supernatural photo. He left his contact information and sent it to Boss Li's recruitment email address with a single click.
Meanwhile, the internet cafe's ghosts formed a long line, each one arriving at the door, quietly and obediently waiting for Heihei to eat.
"Done."
"Play for a while longer, I'll finish eating and leave."
"...Okay."
Less than ten minutes later, Qi Ye's phone rang. It was Boss Li's assistant.
"Hello, is this Mr. Qi?"
"Yes."
"Nice to meet you. We've read your resume and are very interested in your birth date, character, and rich experience. Would it be convenient for you to meet with Mr. Li next Tuesday to discuss this project?"
Qi Ye and Heihei's eyes met. Heihei understood what he meant and gave an OK sign.
"No need to discuss in detail. I understand the project and I can take it."
There was a silence on the other end of the phone, as if they were discussing and considering.
"I can move in as quietly as possible. If anything goes wrong, I'll take the responsibility myself and keep it a secret."
"Mr. Qi, hold on. I'll convey your idea to Mr. Li."
"Thank you for your hard work."
After hanging up, Qi Ye asked casually, "Do you think it's possible?"
"One hundred percent, sure."
Less than ten minutes later, the phone rang again. Qi Ye answered. The assistant's sweet voice was still on the other end: "Mr. Qi, Mr. Li thinks you're a perfect fit. Our project offers a bounty of 200,000 yuan for three months. During this period, you'll receive all seven social insurances and one housing fund, and you'll also enjoy all the employee benefits of our Hongfeng Group..."
The assistant rambled on, and Qi Ye said calmly, "Can the seven social insurances and one housing fund be discounted?"
"...Of course." The assistant was a little confused by this request, having never been asked this before. "Anything else you need? We'll do our best to meet it."
Since that was the case, Qi Ye didn't hesitate.
"The villa needs adequate heating, the refrigerator needs to be fully stocked and refilled regularly, and the electricity needs to be fully charged."
"...No problem."
What kind of requests were these? Was this person really going on vacation?
"Anything else you need?"
"No."
"...Then I'll go through the process and email the offer to you."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
After hanging up, Heihei had just finished eating his last ghost. The internet cafe suddenly seemed empty.
Qi Ye suddenly smiled: "Done."
Heihei smiled too: "Have a nice vacation."
Less than five minutes later, Qi Ye's email beeped. The assistant sent the offer, along with a questionnaire. The questions on it were all—
"Mr. Qi, what is your favorite cuisine?"
"Mr. Qi, what snacks and fruits do you eat most often?"
"What food is Mr. Qi allergic to?"
"What games does Mr. Qi like to play?"
"What brands of clothing does Mr. Qi like? What are your requirements for fabrics?"
"What type of women does Mr. Qi like?"
...
What kind of a freak question is this last one?
Qi Ye glanced at the questionnaire, filling out dozens of questions one by one under Heihei's watchful gaze. He suddenly felt... like he was being kept.
At the end of the questionnaire was a shopping list of essential items. Qi Ye wrote a single line:
365 beautiful masks.