Upon hearing this, the old man opposite him visibly panicked, but he still tried to remain calm as he spoke.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I've never acted in any plays. You're just slandering me!"

He seemed to be extremely angry and saddened, and he reached out his hand, which trembled as he pointed in the air.

"This old man can't afford a master like you. You... you should leave!"

As he spoke, the old man turned to go into his room, seemingly on the verge of collapse from Lin Xi's words.

Lin Xi watched his retreating figure and spoke without reservation what she had discerned from his appearance.

"If you weren't acting, if you weren't lying, then why is what I see in your face different from what you're saying?"

"And besides this female ghost, you seem to be entangled in several other karmic entanglements, all involving women?"

As soon as Lin Xi entered the room, she subconsciously glanced at the old man's face.

Based on Meng Yuxin's account, she initially seemed to be a polite and grateful old woman who was innocently implicated.

But upon closer inspection, it became clear that the old man in front of them, aside from being "old, poor, and miserable," bore almost no resemblance to what Meng Yuxin had described.

He was not only not a good person, but also a habitual liar and a wicked man.

Given his character, even if Lin Xi didn't know what had happened between him and the female ghost, she knew that he couldn't possibly be as innocent as he claimed in this incident.

Furthermore, one can tell from his facial features that he carries a heavy burden of karma, and not just one.

Therefore, it is clear that he deserves his current predicament.

Upon hearing these words, the old man finally lost control of his expression.

He gripped his palm tightly, retorting frantically.

"I...I didn't, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm dizzy, I'm going to go to sleep. You should leave, you should leave..."

But the more he acted this way, the more guilty he seemed.

Meng Yuxin, who was standing to the side, finally heard Lin Xi say these words. Looking at the old man's guilty conscience that he could no longer hide, she could finally confirm that her previous guess was correct.

The old man she had always felt sorry for was actually lying to her!

Thinking about how she had been standing up for him from yesterday to today, and even specially invited Lin Xi to help him, it turned out that all of it was fake and wrong!

She was made a fool of!

Meng Yuxin had never been deceived like this before, and she was furious.

"You've gone too far! I felt sorry for you and wanted to help you, but you turned out to be a complete liar! A habitual liar like you would even lie about ghosts, so could it be that your house and your life are all lies?"

"I don't see any need to give you these things. We do charity to help good people, not to help a liar like you!"

As she spoke, Meng Yuxin seemed to be planning to take back all the supplies she had given to the old man.

Upon hearing this, the old man became anxious again.

"No! You've already given me all these things, how can I take them back!"

"You're going back, what am I going to do? I'll really just starve and freeze to death!"

"Please, please, don't take these things away. I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong..."

Perhaps realizing that he could no longer hide it, the old man's crying this time was much more genuine, and he finally cried openly in front of Meng Yuxin.

"I truly know I was wrong, I've already suffered the consequences, please, please don't take away my hope of living..."

He said that as if he couldn't survive without the things Meng Yuxin and the others gave him.

But the truth is, wasn't he perfectly fine before they sent supplies up here?

The so-called "unable to survive" now is just that they are unwilling to give up what they have been given.

It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

However, when Meng Yuxin thought about how the old man in front of her had lied to her about the "ghost," and even the possibility that the "ghost" had been haunting him, she felt a pang of resentment.

This was something she simply couldn't swallow.

Meng Yuxin glared at him angrily and asked, "So what exactly is going on between you and that ghost?"

Seeing that she was still willing to talk to him, the old man thought there was still room for negotiation and hurriedly spoke up.

"I'll tell you everything!"

Then he told the whole truth about the matter.

Actually, some of the stories he told Meng Yuxin about him and the "female ghost" were true.

That means he really did go on a blind date with that female ghost.

However, it was done in the form of deception.

The old man's surname was Chen, and his given name was Chen Zhiyi. When he was young, he was indeed handsome and had a very refined appearance.

Because of his good looks, he was very popular with the opposite sex.

However, people were generally reserved in those days. Even if a girl liked him, she would hide in the shadows and secretly watch him with a blush on her face. No one dared to openly come up to him and confess their feelings.

In an era when men and women would be reported for having illicit relationships if they took just two steps closer, eligible men and women could only have the opportunity to be together openly and honestly through blind dates.

Chen Zhiyi was well aware of his good looks, so when relatives or neighbors offered to introduce him to potential partners, he was picky and even looked down on some of them.

After all, in his opinion, with such a handsome face, what kind of partner couldn't he find?

His relatives and neighbors were in similar circumstances to him; they were all from the countryside. He had lived there for nearly twenty years and was already tired of the poor and miserable life there.

If possible, he only wants to find a partner from the city, preferably someone who can arrange a job for him after marriage, so that he can live in the city and become a city resident.

Few people in this world are handsome without realizing it, or beautiful without realizing it.

Most people are aware of their physical appearance.

Chen Zhiyi was well aware of this and even wanted to make good use of it.

Unfortunately, although he was good-looking, his family was not well-off.

Among people of similar financial means, he has plenty of choices.

But when he met people from wealthier families, his status as a "country bumpkin" was immediately exposed.

After all, the gap between urban and rural status was huge back then. No matter how good-looking he was, without an urban household registration, he had no grain rations, couldn't get any grain supplies, and had no job. He was destined to be supported by the girl's family.

Even if a city girl were attracted to his looks, her family would never agree to it.

In times of scarcity, no one wanted to add such a "decorative" burden to their household.

Moreover, Chen Zhiyi's family didn't have the means for him to go on blind dates with city girls.

As a result, he looked down on rural girls and couldn't reach city girls, so he had absolutely no expectations for marriage.

Chen Zhiyi, who only wanted to "monetize" his looks, thought that in a few years he would be unable to refuse blind dates and would have no choice but to marry a girl from the countryside with a similar family background, arranged by his parents, and spend his life in the countryside.