Due to the expected failure, Lian Xia withdrew into herself for a while.
She'd lost weight, making her already large eyes seem even bigger, their long lashes casting shadows beneath. Everything she did seemed to lack energy.
Where she couldn't see, Gu Xichen had lost count of how many times he'd turned off her stove for her, pulled blankets over her, or warned her to bring in the laundry when it rained—each time having to disguise it as a natural phenomenon, which was exhausting in its own right.
Before long, it was Qingming Festival and Guyu.
Since the previous evening, Lian Xia had been folding yellow paper, filling an entire pocket with it.
At nightfall, she lit incense, added an extra set of bowl and chopsticks to the table, and placed a battered fire basin in the middle of the living room, feeding paper ingots into it one by one.
He felt a flicker of anticipation.
Was this for him?
Actually, he had some good news to share with her too.
Perhaps thanks to his steady intake of incense, he'd recently become able to maintain a physical form for longer stretches.
It had even given him a bold idea.
That night.
Once again, he concentrated his spirit and stood before the window, absorbing the moonlight.
Then he heard a rustle from the room. Lian Xia was rubbing her eyes and stumbling toward him—probably getting up to use the bathroom.
With something akin to malice, he simply stood in the moonlight and watched her approach with bleary eyes.
Now—faced with a stranger's silhouette at the window, would she be afraid? Would she scream? Would she completely lose her mind, or would she run for her life?
He'd had enough. Let everything be overturned tonight—
He was a vengeful ghost, yet he'd been forced to act like a decent person. Whatever debt of gratitude she'd shown him, he'd already repaid it many times over. Wasn't that right?
Then, under his icy gaze, the girl lowered her hands. Her eyes went wide. Her mouth fell open. She even looked a little silly...
And then—like a weary bird finding its nest—she hurled herself into his arms!
The impact nearly sent him flying backward!
"I missed you so much!"
"Did you come because the ghost gate is open today?"
"Can you visit me every night, even in my dreams?"
"You're so cold—do they not give you blankets over there?"
"Why did you work so hard your whole life, only to keep suffering on the other side?"
As she spoke, she began to cry, like a child starved for affection.
Gu Xichen was deeply moved by this cascade of tender, clinging questions. Just as he cleared his throat with a deep, commanding air, preparing to deliver an imposing self-introduction, the girl lifted her teary, hazy eyes from his chest:
"Are you doing okay over there, Dad?"
Gu Xichen: ????
...
...
She wiped her tears and seemed to want to study his face more closely.
Before he could react, his body had already faithfully answered the call—shifting into the appearance of the older man from the photograph.
Gu Xichen: ...
Today he'd somehow become a lapdog again.
"Dad, I was starting to forget what you looked like."
She clung to him, tears streaming. "Are you doing okay over there?"
He didn't dare speak freely, so he just gave a cough and, imitating what he imagined a ghost might sound like, said in a quavering, eerie voice:
"Very, very ~ good ~ indeed."
"Dad, but... I don't think I can hold on anymore." She sobbed in his arms, her emotions crumbling. "It's so lonely."
"I want to be held, I want to be loved, I want to cry in your arms, even if it's just for one night."
Before him were her teary, unfocused eyes, and he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in the region where his heart should have been.
She was so starved for love that even ghosts didn't frighten her?
So he continued in his quavering ghost voice: "Dad ~~ is here now, isn't he ~~"
She said nothing more, only held him tightly, pressing her face against his chest.
At this moment, Gu Xichen was held fast by the girl, his heart churning with complicated feelings.
A girl—why was she clinging so tightly to her *dad*?
Damn it, it made him a little jealous!
"Xia," he said deeply, stroking her dark hair. "Don't you know that grown daughters should maintain some distance from their fathers?"
But she only smiled and nuzzled closer. "I don't care! I'll come find you—even to the ends of the earth, in heaven or in hell... I'll find you!"
For a vengeful ghost, this was indeed a declaration of eternal, rock-solid romance.
But Gu Xichen felt a bitter pang and didn't know how to respond. "Dad's not human anymore ~~ you should just date someone ~~"
Perhaps thinking of something, her trembling voice was heart-rending: "But I'm scared. I'm scared of the way he looks at me—like he wants to eat me. I can't read him, I don't even know how to protect myself..."
Gu Xichen counseled her patiently: "Don't be afraid ~~~~"
"Dad doesn't oppose you dating ~~ But you must check a person's character ~~~~ Don't let yourself be taken advantage of ~~~ Understand? ~~~~~"
Perhaps craving the warmth of her embrace, he focused on recalling the man's face, maintaining that form. She seemed to sense how rare this reunion was, and clung desperately to "Dad," refusing to let go.
They held each other for warmth, pouring out their hearts (talking past each other) for most of the night. The cost: the next morning, Lian Xia was vomiting and had spiked a raging fever.
Was it really possible for humans and spirits to have such close contact?
After exhaustive experimentation by the two of them, the answer was: absolutely not.
Gu Xichen rummaged through the entire apartment and could only find two expired cold pills.
Seeing her burning with fever and barely conscious, he gritted his teeth and dialed the most frequently contacted number in her call log.
Then he settled the unconscious girl on his lap, pried open her jaw, and tilted a cup of warm water to her lips.
"Good girl, drink some water."
Lian Xia knew she was sick—gravely so. Her head was spinning so badly that she couldn't make out the person before her, seeing only a vague silhouette of a young man.
He was cool to the touch. She leaned against him comfortably as he brought the wet rim of the cup to her lips.
At his gentle urging, she managed a few sips. After that, the man propped her up and repeatedly wiped her forehead, hands, feet, neck, and back with a damp towel.
She didn't know who he was, but the alertness she'd always prided herself on seemed to have abandoned her entirely. Her consciousness floated on a layer of wet sponge, drifting with the hot, muggy air, powerless to rouse herself.
She even caught a familiar scent on him and searched her memory for its source.
Until a crowd of people burst through the door, and that person hastily withdrew.
...
...
When she woke again, she was in a nearby hospital.
Lian Xia had slept for a full day and night. Her eyes were still bleary when a thin-faced girl grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her repeatedly. She finally recognized the girl as a coworker from the neighboring production line—the newly arrived Xiao Tian.
Just then, another woman walked in carrying two takeout containers. Seeing her awake, she exclaimed, "You're up!"
Spotting Sister Huang, Lian Xia quickly propped herself up. "How did I get here?"
"Your boyfriend said he had something urgent, so he asked us to bring you!"
Immediately after, Lian Xia was sprayed with Xiao Tian's spit: "Where did you find this masterpiece of a man?"
"Those legs! That waist! That body!"
"Does he have a brother?"
"Can you just let me have him?!"
Lian Xia: ???
Sister Huang smiled. "Xiao Tian's joking. A couple that well-matched—how could she let you have him?"
She patted Lian Xia's shoulder reassuringly. "I told you, you need to have a boyfriend. When it counts, someone's got your back. No wonder you didn't fall for..."
Didn't fall for *who*?
So the person who'd cared for her so tenderly that day was him?
She hadn't seen Chen Xi in a while and assumed he'd been busy. She never expected him to still be thinking about her—to even come nurse her when she was sick. Maybe, just like her dad had said in the dream, she should accept him and give this relationship a real try.
In the afternoon, a nurse took her temperature, confirmed the fever had broken, and discharged her.
The first thing she did when she got home was call Chen Xi.
She'd had to ask another coworker for his number. Her opening line was earnest: "I wanted to thank you. Thank you for taking care of me."
"Huh?" The boy on the other end paused, realizing she'd misunderstood something, and smoothly replied, "Don't mention it—it was nothing."
After hanging up, he felt a little smug. So she'd gotten the wrong person—what did it matter?
A few days ago, his two other girlfriends had discovered the truth and torn him to shreds. Now he was unemployed and had been crashing at an internet café for days.
But as they say, when one door closes, another opens—Lian Xia had unexpectedly thrown him a lifeline.
Just when he'd been racking his brain for a way to get closer to her, the perfect opportunity had arrived!
"I'll come see you tonight, okay?"
"Huh? My cold isn't better yet..."
"That's fine—I'll come take care of you!"
...
...
Even Gu Xichen, with all his worldly experience, hadn't realized that human malice could be so pervasive, so relentless in finding every crack to seep through.