Good Night, Mr. Ghost - Chapter 19
Jiang was still feeling dizzy when he went to bed that evening.
“He looks so young, although he’s quite tall, about my height, but he’s almost thirty already.”
Mr. Ghost paused in his movements, changed into the exact same outfit as Jiang, leaned in closely, and whispered, “Can you not think about other men, please?”
A faint hint of jealousy wafted through the air this time.
Jiang Chenyi was taken aback. He looked at his own Mr. Ghost, uncertainly asking, “Loudi, are you jealous?”
Mr. Ghost hugged him tightly, burying his face in his neck and hummed lowly.
It was a rare childish behavior.
Jiang held him, soothingly saying, “Don’t be jealous, I won’t fall for him. I was just surprised, that’s all. Good boy, our Loudi is the most understanding.”
Meng Loudi frowned and bit gently on the young man’s pristine neck, grinding his teeth with a hint of complaint.
“That’s not okay,” Mr. Ghost said.
Jiang startled, his body tensing.
Suddenly, he felt foolish.
Now facing a jealous wife, it seemed there was no other way to comfort him, right?
It shouldn’t be like this, right?
He felt like Meng Loudi was just looking for an excuse to… well.
Cough cough, okay, he could accept that.
Jiang lifted the man’s face and suggested, “Mr. Ghost, let’s turn off the light, shall we?”
Lights out, sleep time.
Jiang and Mr. Ghost spent a few shameless days together.
Luo Hui occasionally dropped by, mainly to freeload a meal.
Sometimes Meng Loudi would zone out, seemingly deep in thought.
The Lantern Festival arrived soon enough.
That day was when Jiang’s parents were coming home.
Jiang and Mr. Ghost cooked together, prepared the meal, and then went to the cemetery to burn some paper money for Jiang’s parents.
The family of four celebrated the festival in their home.
Jiang happily watched the TV programs.
Mr. Ghost occasionally passed on some words from his in-laws.
The family was in joyful harmony.
Mrs. Jiang watched her naïve son and sighed, “Loudi, you don’t know how Chenyi used to spend Lantern Festivals before.”
Prompted by his mother’s words, Jiang paused while eating tangyuan1 and looked at Meng Loudi, saying, “It wasn’t that bad, just tangyuan, nothing else.”
Mr. Ghost gazed at the young man with a look full of tenderness, pinched his increasingly plump cheeks, and said, “It won’t happen again.”
Such things would never happen again.
Because he would always be with him, until the very end.
When it was past eleven, Jiang’s parents had to leave again.
As they were leaving, Jiang asked, “When will you come next time?”
“Dragon Boat Festival, maybe.”
“Alright, it’s a deal then, Dragon Boat Festival.” Jiang was serious.
It was a promise.
Although he still couldn’t see his parents, just knowing they were there was enough for him.
Meng Loudi and Jiang saw the elders off.
Then the two snuggled up on the couch.
Jiang yawned and said, “It’s over, my biological clock has changed, I think I need to go to bed now.”
“Then let’s go to sleep,” said Mr. Ghost, holding the young man as they entered the bedroom.
The two embraced each other in bed, the young man nuzzling his partner and whispering, “Goodnight, my Mr. Ghost.”
“Goodnight, my little mister,” Meng Loudi responded softly.
The light automatically turned off.
Everything was perfect.
Until.
Jiang climbed out of bed with a face full of misery, mumbling, “Why do I have to work? I don’t want to work, I want to sleep.”
It was the day after the Lantern Festival, and they had to start work again.
Thus, Jiang Chenyi had to leave the warmth of home to go to work.
Jiang wore a look of resentment.
Meng Loudi had forgotten his lover still had to work; he frowned, watching the despondently dressing Jiang.
“Chenyi, don’t go,” Mr. Ghost sincerely suggested.
Jiang almost stepped into his pants with one leg, looking at Meng Loudi, “Hey, hey, hey, I’m just joking, how could I not go to work? Of course, I need to work, just complaining as usual!”
“… Then I’ll also look for a job,” Meng Loudi said.
He didn’t want to be a kept man.
This matter, Meng Loudi, the petty Mr. Ghost, always remembered.
Jiang thought for a moment.
Indeed, even though he didn’t work long hours, he still needed to spend some time at work, so during that time, his Mr. Ghost would probably be bored, right?
Moreover, going out to work could also help him broaden his horizons, understand society, and integrate into it, which would be quite beneficial.
“Sure,” Jiang nodded.
Mr. Ghost felt a faint sense of loss; he thought he would be stopped.
After all, he was also Jiang Chenyi’s possession. It would be nice to be monopolized, right?
The young man finished dressing, came over, grabbed the other’s arms, looked up into Mr. Ghost’s eyes, and said seriously, “But, Loudi, I’m telling you, if you dare to flirt with others, making me a cuckold, I will make you one too.”
This was Jiang’s most threatening threat.
You make me a cuckold, for fairness, I will definitely make you one!
Meng Loudi chuckled, pinching the young man’s chin and suddenly becoming mischievously bold. He leaned close to his lover and said, “Impossible, Chenyi is mine, no one else can touch him.”
“Ha ha ha, what the heck? Loudi, I’m telling you, don’t read those weird novels online, they might seem cool, but they’re really silly when you bring them into real life.”
The young man laughed heartily.
Mr. Ghost felt depressed, silently noting in his little book: Chenyi laughed at me, said I’m silly, noted.
After bidding farewell with a kiss, Jiang happily went to work.
Arriving at the tutoring class, Yi-Jie was unusually not waiting in the lobby.
The duty miss looked at the young man with a sweet smile, “Jiang is here, huh?”
“Yes, Qiao-Jie, where’s Yi-Jie today? She’s not here?”
“Well, I’m not sure either, to be honest, I’m a bit surprised too, because Yi-Jie is usually as steady as a rock, always staying in the lobby.” The duty miss shrugged.
Jiang Chenyi frowned and entered his classroom. He called Wang Yi.
After a few rings, a man’s voice answered the call.
“Hello.”
“…Hello, I’m looking for Wang Yi.”
“She’s busy right now, if it’s not urgent, call her back in the afternoon,” the man said.
Jiang: “Okay.”
Jiang hung up the phone, feeling a bit excited.
See, see, could this man be Yi-Jie’s partner?!
His voice was indeed very nice, deep and husky, probably a mature man.
But now knowing Wang Yi was alright, Jiang prepared for his first class of the year with a happy heart.
And this class was for sixth graders moving up to junior high school, mainly math.
Still the same dozen little kids.
Still troublemakers.
Jiang taught all day, feeling that if he wasn’t such a good-natured person, he would have been driven mad by these kids.
But thinking about Meng Loudi waiting for him at home warmed his heart.
His phone blinked with a message.
Opening his phone, he saw a message from his Mr. Ghost.
-I found a job, Chenyi. Working as a part-time worker in the supermarket downstairs.
With a smiling face emoji.
Jiang Chenyi looked at the message, amused yet touched.
Well, what can I say, our Mr. Ghost is really adorable~
He said he’d do it, and he really found a job.
So Jiang rode his bike to the supermarket.
He saw the supermarket unusually crowded; many middle and high school students were there, pretending to be inconspicuous but obviously staring at a certain man.
Jiang felt a bit jealous, but then thinking this man was his, he felt less so.
He watched the man tidy up the shelves, then say something to the boss, who then tapped on his phone.
Meng Loudi happily walked into a cubicle, changed out of his work clothes.
When he came out, he ran into Jiang Chenyi.
The young man’s mouth curved up, smiling brightly at him.
Meng Loudi blushed, somewhat excited.
“Chenyi, I earned money today, fifty yuan,” he said, like a child seeking praise, his eyes sparkling.
“Very impressive,” Jiang gave him due credit. “Then, let’s walk home together now.”
“Okay.”
The two walked forward, Jiang pushing his bike.
Meng Loudi couldn’t help but say, “This is the first time I’ve earned money on my own.”
“Is that so?” the young man looked at him. “What about before?”
Mr. Ghost smiled, “I had my parents’ support before, then entered the civil service, had my own salary, so I never had to work.”
Jiang looked at the spirited Mr. Ghost, “Then, let’s try more new things from now on, things you’ve never done before.”
“Okay.” Mr. Ghost happily agreed, waiting for Jiang to park his bike, then reached out, embraced the young man, and kissed him.
He even brazenly added, “This is a trial here.”
Jiang: “…”
So childish.
No, their Mr. Ghost wasn’t such a shameless and unreasonable man.
Their Mr. Ghost was supposed to be a man of grace and calm!
But why couldn’t he help wanting to laugh?
Jiang tried hard to hold back his laughter.
Mr. Ghost, seeing the smile on his lover’s face, shrugged his shoulders, pulled him upstairs, and seriously said, “I will try hard, we will try many things in the future. If Chenyi wants to do something, just tell me, and I will strive to fulfill your wishes.”
“Okay, my Mr. Ghost.”
Everything was perfect, the two living their sweet life.
It seemed everything was going smoothly.
Until that woman arrived.
It was early summer in May, the weather was already pleasant.
It was when Jiang was coming home from work.
A woman with black hair, dressed in odd attire, her long hair tied up, swaying as she walked directly into the building where Jiang Chenyi lived.
“Full of yin qi, and him…”
There was a frosty look on the woman’s face.
Then Jiang locked his bike and walked upstairs, encountering the woman again at the turn between the fourth and fifth floors.
She stood in front of Luo Hui’s door, her expression dark and gloomy, “Hui, open the door.”
It seemed she knew Luo Hui.
Jiang carefully avoided the woman, reached his own door, then Meng Loudi opened it.
The woman suddenly turned her head towards them, her eyebrows even more furrowed, “A ghost?”
Jiang: “…”
What’s going on?!
Meng Loudi lifted his eyelids, looking indifferently at the woman.
The woman huffed, turned her head, her voice softening somewhat.
“Hui, open the door, let’s talk properly.”
Luo Hui didn’t open the door or make a sound.
Footnote:
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- Tangyuan(汤圆):A traditional Chinese dessert made of glutinous rice flour, typically served as small, round dumplings filled with sweet or savory fillings, and often enjoyed in a hot broth or soup, especially during festivals like the Lantern Festival or Winter Solstice.
