He was idly inhaling incense when, without warning, two plump teardrops spilled from the girl's eyes—one from each side—falling in unison from her eyelids.
She was so thin that her round, almond-shaped eyes seemed disproportionately large on her face. Now the crystalline tears fell like large and small pearls, pattering onto the tabletop, sounding silent and yet thunderous.
As though splashing onto a heart that had long since ceased to exist.
In his direction, she opened her mouth, but said nothing.
Lian Xia naturally couldn't see Gu Xichen, but with all her anger and grief pent up inside with no one to confide in, her emotions could only pour out as helpless tears.
She knew her reputation at the factory was destroyed. No matter how she explained, those people would only revel in the "truth" they wanted to believe.
The strong never explain. The weak can only endure.
That night, she soaked her pillow with tears, over and over again mumbling something.
No idea who she was calling for.
She had terrible sleeping habits. Gu Xichen had to float down from the ceiling twice during the night to pull the covers back over her.
He'd considered showing himself—offering her some positive help. But for a girl who firmly believed in materialism and had lived under the red flag for twenty years, that might not be a blessing.
First, his appearance would overturn her entire worldview, potentially causing such mental disorientation that she might lose her mind.
Second, even if she accepted it, she'd face the awkwardness of cohabiting with a ghost (a handsome, mature, charming male ghost). The impropriety of men and women living together... *cough cough*.
Either way, he didn't want to disrupt her peaceful days.
He'd let her tough it out here, then move on to a better place, leaving this haunted rental behind for good—studying, working, dating, marrying like any other normal girl...
Non-interference. Non-disturbance.
In his view, this was a vengeful ghost's true kindness.
The next day after work, Lian Xia waited for the bus as usual.
She wore a simple white T-shirt and jeans, her hair loose over her shoulders—yet she stood out more than the girls around her in their black and sheer stockings, looking strikingly pure and lovely.
In truth, most men prefered the "good wife" aesthetic—at least, Chen Xi certainly did.
When the bus arrived, the boy broke through a cluster of girls and positioned himself firmly beside her. Though he said nothing, the whispers from all around made her acutely uncomfortable.
"Stop following me. You're going to ruin me."
Chen Xi: ???
The girl kept her head down. "I don't have the energy or the resources to play this game with you... I have more important things to do. So I'm sorry."
The young man gazed at her tenderly. "I'm just looking out for you, keeping you company. Is that not okay either?"
She looked away. "I'm sorry."
In that moment, the two youths stood in silence—a scene that could have been plucked from a teen romance drama.
Chen Xi naturally wasn't about to give up.
He had an innate grasp of the language of love. He'd never faltered with a woman in his life; even older ones could only be swept off their feet by him. Running into such a tough nut to crack only made him more eager to succeed.
"Why apologize? I never said you had to say yes..."
Lian Xia answered earnestly: "Because I can't afford to carry anyone else's life, even for a short while."
The young man was at a loss for words.
Who was talking about responsibilities and obligations?
He just wanted a casual fling, maybe freeload off her for food and fun, then wave goodbye when he got bored. As a man, he had nothing to lose.
Sometimes he even thought he wasn't greedy enough. If he could juggle multiple girlfriends, he could solve food and lodging costs all at once.
After all, that was exactly what he'd done at his last few factories.
Lian Xia's voice was heavy. "Following me like this has already caused me trouble."
She truly didn't know how to reject someone. She tried to make her expression more severe, but the awkward twist of her features only made Chen Xi mistake it for shyness. "How is it trouble? I just like you quietly—I'm not forcing you."
He was smooth—every word that fell from his lips seemed to sparkle, brimming with affection.
Her expression grew even more strained. "I'm sorry, but your liking is a kind of pressure on me. If you truly care, you should keep your distance. That would be what's best for me."
The bus arrived.
Watching the girl flee once more, resentment churned inside Chen Xi, and he blurted out a curse.
"Playing hard to get, you cheap bitch!"
Nearby passengers immediately turned to stare. He clamped his mouth shut, but his clenched fists betrayed his turbulent emotions.
...
...
For Lian Xia, Chen Xi wasn't even the worst part.
There were plenty of bored people at the factory who'd heard about her exploits, and some would even wait for her after her shift to try to catch a glimpse of her supposed sugar daddy. The storm of gossip was intensifying, starting to disrupt her daily life.
In recent days, Gu Xichen frequently saw her staring down at her book only to burst into tears, or clench her teeth, muffling her sobs while pressing a cold, damp towel over and over against her face.
At night she suffered constant insomnia, tossing and turning like a restless ghost.
Even a vengeful ghost as emotionally dense as Gu Xichen could tell that Lian Xia was in serious trouble.
One evening, she locked herself in the bathroom—no food, no water—and didn't come out for hours, even ignoring the pot still boiling on the kitchen stove.
The broth in the pot had boiled dry, the handle growing red-hot. A pungent, sulfurous smell filled the room.
In truth, Gu Xichen had no sense of smell—he simply deduced from the melting pot handle that the kitchen was on the verge of catching fire.
Lian Xia was courting disaster!
If this kept up, the kitchen would go up in flames!
He tried mimicking a gale, rattling the doors and windows. He mimicked the landlord's pounding on the door, the two coworkers' screams, the delivery guy calling her name, the scrap dealer hawking for old phones and appliances...
He pulled out every trick, but there was total silence from inside the bathroom.
One minute later.
Lian Xia jolted awake to a sharp cracking sound. She wiped the water from her face, her heart still pounding.
She'd fallen asleep in the tub and had nearly slid underwater. Now, a chill of danger crept up her spine like a cold, viscous tide. She looked down—the small bathroom window above had shattered, the glass scattered across the floor in pieces.
She stood in the doorway wrapped in a bath towel, murmuring, "Probably the temperature difference between inside and outside."
At least she wasn't completely foolish—once she smelled the acrid burning odor from the living room, she scrambled to turn off the gas.
Nearby, Gu Xichen clutched his chest and let out a long breath, feeling like he'd nearly been scared to death himself.
Utterly unaware she was exposing herself in front of her sublandlord, Lian Xia padded around in a towel, opening every window she could. Gu Xichen had to scramble up and down the apartment, dodging those pale, gleaming legs flashing past, nearly being traumatized all over again!
A close call, but the small crisis was averted.
Lian Xia wiped the fog from the mirror and stared blankly at her reflection—her long hair cascading down, the face that looked back at her.
After a long while, she gave a shy little smile. "Sigh... this is worrying. I really am kind of pretty."
Gu Xichen: ...
After that, she combed her long hair before the mirror for quite some time, as though making a resolution, then dressed and went out.
He thought she was going out for a late-night snack. But when she returned, the girl was transformed so thoroughly it nearly dropped his jaw!
True courage means taking action against all injustice.
At this, the vengeful ghost offered a silent salute—and even questioned his own ghostly existence.