Chapter 1: On the first day of my retirement, I gave a ghost money to the assistant of the movie star. ...
Fuping District in northern Beijing at 9pm.
Inside the Huazhou Group's six-star hotel, people swayed slightly, clinking glasses and toasting each other. A hundred meters away, the iconic towers along the river reached the sky, the Twin Towers reflecting a rainbow of lights. A giant screen constantly displayed different photos of the same person. Overhead, drones formed the words "Happy Birthday, Qiao Tianyi" amid the exclamations and screams of fans.
Wang Hao walked over to his artist, glass in hand, and followed his gaze out the French window. He happened to see the signs flashing on both sides of the cruise ship on the river: "Congratulations to Qiao Tianyi for winning the Golden Crane Award for Best Actor." He grinned, patted Qiao Tianyi's shoulder, and asked, "How does it feel to have your wish come true on your birthday?"
Qiao Tianyi clinked glasses with him and said nonchalantly, "Very good, but it would be better if there weren't people who don't have eyes."
Wang Hao raised his eyebrows.
He knew who the 'blind person' that Qiao Tianyi was talking about was. After all, the other person had been asked to leave the hotel by security personnel half an hour ago.
"Tianhe artists love to play the game of swindling and riding on the hype. But don't worry, we've stopped the paparazzi Sang Qiqi hired and taken their cameras. Photos of you and Sang Qiqi won't be trending on Weibo tomorrow."
"That would be great."
"Let's go, Director Li is here, let's go say hello to him, he's still short of a male lead for his new drama."
The backs of the two disappeared into the crowd, and a hundred meters away at the riverside, a thin figure dragging a wet dress slowly climbed out of the water.
Sang Qiqi held onto the stone and looked up at the tall building not far away.
The blue cheering lights shone on her, and water droplets fell from the ends of her hair. As they dripped into the river, the blurred memories in her mind became extremely clear.
Two days ago, Sang Qiqi's assistant logged onto her Weibo account and liked a video clip featuring popular actor Qiao Tianyi and Sang Qiqi. This video went viral across Q Station. There are numerous videos pairing Qiao Tianyi with other actresses, but most of those actresses are film queens or rising stars. An 18th-tier actress like Sang Qiqi is barely enough to play the role of a vicious cannon fodder in those videos.
But now, she and the movie emperor have become a couple, and the movie emperor’s rumored girlfriend Yan Yi has become a dead green tea.
This anti-Tiangang scene made Qiao Tianyi's fans, Qiao Tianyi and Yan Yi's CP fans, and Yan Yi's fans completely explode. They caught Sang Qiqi's latest Weibo and posted millions of comments, setting a new record in the entertainment industry.
Sang Qiqi was scolded so much that she didn't even dare to go out to throw away the garbage. When her friends in the circle learned about this, they specifically found out that Qiao Tianyi would be holding a celebration banquet at Huazhou Hotel tonight, and suggested bringing her to apologize to Qiao Tianyi.
The matter of liking the post actually had nothing to do with Sang Qiqi, but she felt it necessary to explain it clearly to Qiao Tianyi, so she agreed.
As soon as she entered the hotel and saw Qiao Tianyi, she seemed to be pushed by someone and fell into his arms. Qiao Tianyi's face turned black on the spot. His assistant Zhong Jie reacted quickly and called the security guard to carry her out of the hotel lobby.
Along with the sound of her falling to the ground, there was also the sound of the camera clicking.
Sang Qiqi, who realized too late that she had messed up again, squatted by the river in frustration, but unfortunately she slipped and fell into the river and drowned.
Then, she came.
Her name is also Sang Qiqi, and she is an employee of the King of Hell in the First Hall of the Underworld.
It's hard to get any job these days, especially for someone like Sang Qiqi, whose performance is subpar every month. Her boss said that if she still ranks last among the ten palaces during this year's year-end evaluation, she will be assigned to work at Jinji Mountain.
Jinji Mountain is inhabited by giant roosters known for their ruthless, unrecognizable roosters. Sang Qiqi was once chased and pecked for three miles by the roosters of Jinji Mountain, only to escape danger thanks to a kind and handsome man. After this incident, she felt a pang of discomfort whenever she heard the words "Jinji Mountain."
It would be better to let her die again than to let her go to work in Jinji Mountain.
So this time she took the initiative to accept the business trip to the human world, possessing the body of an 18th-tier celebrity who died accidentally, ready to show her talents, make some achievements, and return home in glory.
She looked up again at the huge words "Happy Birthday Qiao Tianyi" on the advertising screen and snorted.
Scanning the river, Sang Qiqi quickly found a low spot where she could climb ashore. As she reached the shore, she grabbed a water ghost that was peeking out and tossed it ashore. Sang Qiqi stepped barefoot on the soft mud by the river, wringing out her damp dress while observing the ghost.
This water ghost looked young, about twenty years old. He had a wig made of algae on his head. His eyes were big, and there was a bit of clear stupidity in them.
Looks like a college student.
"How did he die?" Sang Qiqi asked curiously.
The water ghost had never seen anyone who could see him and talk to him, so he was a little nervous for a moment. His long nails unconsciously scratched the stone at hand, making a harsh sound.
He swallowed and whispered, "I was out for a walk at night and saw a child splashing in the river. I jumped in to save him on impulse."
Then he drowned himself.
Sang Qiqi had heard many stories of heroes who bravely rescued others but drowned themselves. However, she was curious about how these heroes usually returned to the underworld under the guidance of a ghost messenger, drank Meng Po soup first, and entered the cycle of reincarnation. Unlike the person before her, their souls remained in the Yu River after death, becoming wandering water ghosts and facing a miserable end.
There must be something fishy going on.
She continued to ask, "Weren't you rescued? Didn't you encounter the soul-binding ghost?"
The water ghost's expression was as clear as ever. He shook his head and said he didn't know.
Sang Qiqi glanced at him twice more, her mind turning over in a thousand thoughts. Finally, she said, "Then I'll send you back to the underworld. You should reincarnate as soon as possible. When the time comes, remember to give me a five-star rating. By the way, my name is Sang Qiqi, and please don't give a five-star rating to the wrong person."
Water ghost: “?”
Half an hour later.
Sang Qiqi sat cross-legged on the sofa in the apartment, flipping through a copy of the Book of Life and Death. The water ghost was in the fish tank, still in his signature outfit with algae on his head. He climbed on the edge of the glass with both hands, staring at Sang Qiqi without saying a word.
Sang Qiqi didn't say anything, and her expression was unusually serious.
She initially assumed the ghost, named Qu Shen, hadn't been fished out because of the difficulty of recovering bodies from the Yu River. However, after a trip to the underworld, she was told that Qu Shen's earthly ties hadn't yet been resolved, preventing him from reincarnating. When she questioned Qu Shen, he explained that when he was eight years old, his hometown was devastated by a flood, leaving him alone with his parents and grandfather.
In other words, he has no one in this world that he cares about.
How can the earthly ties not yet be resolved?
Sang Qiqi asked him, "Do you have any wishes?"
The water ghost shook his head: "No."
Sang Qiqi asked again: "Then is there anything that has been particularly troubling you?"
The water ghost was silent for a moment before asking, "Does it count if I want to know if the little boy survived?"
Sang Qiqi: "Didn't you meet him in Yujiang?"
The water ghost shook his head: "No."
So that's it.
That's probably alive.
However, Sang Qiqi didn't say this directly, she just said, "I'll help you investigate it."
She then inquired in detail about the time and location of Qu Shen's rescue, wrote it down, and waved him off to rest. As she stood up and headed toward the bedroom, she reminded him, "Your only available places are the bathtub and the kitchen sink."
The water ghost nodded vigorously.
After returning to her bedroom, Sang Qiqi took a bath to wash off the fishy smell, changed into pajamas, and placed her long-used laptop on her lap. The cold, hard shell left a noticeable mark on her soft, delicate skin. She opened the Weibo webpage and, unsurprisingly, saw her name at the top of the trending search list.
And the topic was #Sang Qiqi was driven away by security guard#.
The next few hot searches are also related to her——
#Sang Qiqi came uninvited#
#How shameless is Sang Qiqi#
#桑柒柒pure green tea#
The popularity and frequency of hot searches are so high that every unknown star would cry after watching it.
But it doesn’t matter, in a couple of days it will be someone else’s turn to enjoy the popularity.
After turning off the computer, Sang Qiqi hooked her finger in the air and conjured up a ghost money from Tiandi Bank out of thin air.
She found a pink envelope from the drawer, stuffed the ghost money into it, sealed it with rice grains, and wrote on the front of the envelope:
Zhong Jie (received)
Sang Qiqi (Sent)
Holding the envelope in her hand, Sang Qiqi glanced at it with satisfaction. Then, she blew a silent whistle, and a pure black crow suddenly appeared at the window, tapping on it with its sharp beak. Sang Qiqi raised her hand to open the window, handed the envelope to the crow, and fed it a handful of rice. The crow rubbed its head against Sang Qiqi's slender white fingers, then spread its wings and flew away.
…
Huazhou Riverside Hotel, in the top floor suite.
Qiao Tianyi rubbed his brow, which was swollen and aching from his hangover. His assistant Zhong Jie carefully handed him some freshly brewed sobering tea. His agent, Wang Hao, sat on the sofa across from him, iPad in hand. He glanced at the trending searches on Weibo and smiled. "Although Sang Qiqi is a bit annoying, her outburst has brought us some attention. Plus, your fan base has become more cohesive, which is a good thing."
Qiao Tianyi felt annoyed when he heard Sang Qiqi's name, but when he heard that she had bullied her fans again, a smile appeared on his face.
"I had a pleasant chat with Director Li last night. He said he'll arrange for someone to contact you in the next two days." Qiao Tianyi remembered the important events of last night and reminded his agent, "Brother Wang, please help me when the time comes."
"What's so hard about this? I wish a great director like Director Li would come to me every day."
After all, Qiao Tianyi's popularity is related to his bonus and income.
The three of them exchanged a few words, and after Qiao Tianyi finished his hangover tea, they got up to catch their flight, realizing it was almost time. Qiao Tianyi's status had risen, and he had won the Golden Crane Award for Best Actor. He was being approached by more S-level scripts and high-end advertising, and they had to seize the opportunity.
The door to the suite opened.
Wang Hao, who was walking in front, just raised his foot and saw a pink envelope spread on the street stall.
His expression suddenly changed: "Why is there an envelope? Could it be your illegitimate child?"
Qiao Tianyi also frowned.
The privacy of hotels under the Huazhou Group has always been very good. There won’t be any illegitimate children, but there might be some who take advantage of the employees’ identities to take advantage of loopholes.
Qiao Tianyi had no intention of picking up the envelope. He only instructed Wang Hao: "Go to the hotel and check the surveillance footage later."
"Okay." He agreed as he bent down to pick up the envelope. He turned it over and saw the conspicuous "Zhong Jie (Receive)" on it. He was stunned for a moment. He looked at Zhong Jie who was carrying the bag and said, "This is for you."
"Mine?" Zhong Jie squeezed forward, pointed his free finger at his nose, and after getting a positive answer, he reached out to take the envelope and opened it.
Click.
A light, ordinary banknote-sized paper money slowly fell to the ground before his eyes.
Zhong Jie's eyes fell on it. When he saw the big words "Tian Di Bank" and "Yi Bai", he was like a cat with its neck pinched, and suddenly lost his voice.
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