Good Night, Mr. Ghost - Chapter 2

The Jiang Family always had some peculiar little legends. Perhaps they were meant to comfort or scare the children. Like the tales of monsters under the bed that would drag away kids who didn’t sleep early, or the vegetable ghosts that would capture those who refused to eat their greens. And then there was the idea that everyone had their own guardian spirit, forever watching over them.

The young man sighed, “You always told me those stories to trick me, like the one about the guardian spirit.” His lips curled into a smile, “You must be happy down there. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of myself-eat well, drink well, sleep well. Alright, enough talking, time to play some games.”

He rose from the floor, dusted off his knees, and took out the jade ring, pondering for a moment before slipping it onto his wrist. Quietly, he turned off the lights, closed the door, and headed to his bedroom.

The young man didn’t notice the subtle changes occurring with the jade ring on his wrist. The vivid red seemed to move as if it were alive.

Jiang Chenyi’s room was a bit messy, with a double bed for him to roll around on, a desk cluttered with two bottles of cola-one already opened-and several packs of snacks. Clothes were draped over the computer chair, and he picked up a black long-sleeve shirt with Tom Cat printed on it, sniffing it to check for any odor. “No need to wash, still clean,” he muttered, placing his phone on the desk and plopping down onto the computer chair, booting up his PC.

Taking a big gulp of cola, Jiang Chenyi displayed a satisfied expression, “Great, tonight, let me dominate the battlefield!” He had splurged on a high-end computer setup, costing nearly twenty thousand yuan. Though he was frugal in general, Jiang Chenyi was generous when it came to things he loved. After all, he still had the inheritance and compensation left by his parents. After graduating from college, he chose not to pursue further studies but returned to his hometown to settle down and work.

He didn’t plan to touch what his parents left behind for now; his earnings were sufficient. He didn’t want to stray too far from here. It would be too painful. Just like when his parents had their accident, he rushed back only to find their cold bodies.

Jiang Chenyi’s eyes stung as he pinched the bridge of his nose, smiling, “I know, I know, I’ll take care of myself. Of course, being with you is important too.”

He had thought there would be a long time together. But unexpectedly, their time was so brief. They hadn’t even had the chance to truly cherish each other.

The young man took a deep breath, “Alright, watch me dominate the battlefield! Music!” With the explosive music playing, he clicked on a game icon on his desktop, put on his headphones, and prepared for battle.

Matchmaking began. Preparation phase. His fingers flew across the keyboard.

Lonely Fairytale: You guys pick first, I’ll fill in.

Yes, that’s how confident he was!

Teammates chose their favorite positions. Jiang Chenyi looked at the remaining support role and showed a resigned smile. Well, he knew it would be like this~

Playing support, he was the best at it. He picked the healer and waited for the game to start.

Then, with headphones on and mic open, Jiang Chenyi roared, “I’m protecting you! I’m protecting you, idiots! Damn, damn, damn, can you stop being reckless, let me take the damage!”

“Bro, I’m begging you! Come back, we can’t beat three people!”

“Jungler, I’m begging you, don’t be reckless! Damn, died again! Ahhh!”

His teammates didn’t have their mics on and didn’t plan to. And in this match, thanks to his teammates’ relentless efforts, Jiang Chenyi watched the defeat on the screen and quickly took a sip of cola to calm his nerves.

It was just too awful, wasn’t it? Could it get any worse? It definitely wasn’t his fault; he played the healer so well! He took all the damage, and in the end, it was him who died, trying so hard to protect his team. Definitely not his fault!

The young man started another battle, round after round, watching defeat after defeat. Jiang Chenyi showed an awkward yet polite smile.

“What round is it now? Seven or eight? What time is it? It’s past eight, ah, today’s horoscope says it’s not a good day for this, switch, switch! Bye-bye, next one will be better~”

Finally giving up the struggle, the young man closed the heartbreaking game and switched to another one. This time it was a shooting game. Jiang Chenyi hadn’t played this for long, but it was addictive, truly addictive.

He looked at the modes, muttering, “Solo, I might get first place. Duo, if the other person is a newbie, it’ll be a disaster. Squad, fifty-fifty chance.”

Caught in a dilemma, Jiang Chenyi had to admit, this was a matter of luck. He opened his friend list; the pros were all playing, it seemed fate was against him.

With a heavy sigh, he closed the list and clicked on squad mode. Pray, no noob teammates. Speaking of which, should he get a voice changer and pretend to be a cute girl or something? The dog men in this game were particularly lenient with cute girls. Of course, Jiang Chenyi was too.

Jiang Chenyi refused to use the mic, controlling his character to run around, accidentally catching sight of the jade ring on his hand. Jiang Chenyi suddenly fell silent. His gaze grew increasingly strange.

“No wonder, it must be you.” The young man raised his hand, looking at the jade ring dangling from his left wrist, declaring firmly, “It must be you affecting my performance!”

He quickly took off the jade ring and tossed it onto the bed. The ring bounced once, landing in the blanket, motionless. Having solved a major hindrance, Jiang Chenyi confidently plunged into the battle.

“Stay low, stay low until the end before being reckless,” the young man advised himself. Then, three teammates recklessly died. Leaving Jiang Chenyi alone, trembling in the grass.

These guys kept shouting in the game. “Bro, don’t move, there’s a fight over there!” “Come on, we believe in you, you can do it!” “Slowly, slowly, we need to stay steady, crawl into the safe zone bit by bit.”

Jiang Chenyi stared with dead fish eyes, “Scoff.” They all died before telling him to take it slow. Though he was furious with the noob teammates, Jiang Chenyi still managed to sneak into the top five before getting shot in the head by an opponent with an eight-time scope.

Once again, Jiang Chenyi felt the misfortune of the day, the twists of fate. But was he a man who easily surrendered?! Of course not! Jiang Chenyi coldly closed the interface in front of him, looking at the remaining two game icons on his desktop, showing a wicked smile.

“I refuse to believe this!” Then, Jiang Chenyi was once again rubbed against the ground by the enemy. The young man propped his chin with both hands, sighed, and sighed again.

Last time, he swore. With trembling hands, he clicked on the cute game icon. Jiang Chenyi glanced at the time, it was almost eleven. Come on, the time to prove fate had arrived.

The young man started idling, browsing anime on his phone. Jiang Chenyi was a believer in the mystical, after all. Then, tears filled the young man’s eyes as he pitifully turned off the lights and climbed into bed.

“I’ll never spend money on this again!” To hell with the mystical not saving the unlucky, spending not changing fate. Why treat him like this?! A hundred vouchers, he even bought the 648 yuan big package, and got nothing!

“Trash!” Tearful Jiang Chenyi climbed into bed, hugging his blanket, feeling he would never be happy again. Yes, he was just an unhappy single dog¹! Thinking he would be too angry to sleep, Jiang Chenyi fell asleep within minutes.

He slept peacefully, breathing lightly, without moving around. His lips parted slightly, revealing porcelain white teeth and a bright red tongue. In the darkness, the red on the jade ring emitted a mysterious glow, spinning repeatedly.

A thin shadow flowed out from the jade ring, slowly forming into a human figure. The shadow stood by the bed, swaying its body, seemingly curious, moving back and forth without making a sound.

Finally, the shadow looked at the young man lying in bed. The pajamas were lifted, revealing a lean waist, the body slightly thin, wrists and ankles seemingly easy to grasp firmly. The shadow gazed at him, staring for a long time.

The sleeping young man twitched his fingers, letting out a few uneasy murmurs. The shadow tilted its head, leaned closer, and seemed to whisper something in the young man’s ear. But words from another world couldn’t be conveyed here.

The night was deep, but the shadow’s eyes seemed to glow crimson. When Jiang Chenyi woke up, he felt a bit groggy. He glanced at his phone; it was just after seven, his alarm was set for seven-thirty.

Yawning, he rubbed his messy hair, puzzled, “Feels like I had a nightmare last night, someone clinging to me, tsk-so scary, maybe it’s the aftereffects of staying up late drawing cards?” Remembering his tragic results from last night.

The young man was devastated, “Trash game, ruining my youth!” Slipping on his slippers, he washed up, made a simple breakfast, ate, tidied up, and grabbed his phone and keys to head to work.

As for the jade ring forgotten on the bed, it lay alone in the blanket. In the world Jiang Chenyi couldn’t see, a slender shadow stood in the corner, only relaxing once all sounds faded.

The shadow was invisible to him. If discovered, it would surely scare someone to death, right? This situation was unprecedented. The shadow looked at its hand, unsure why it had become like this…

Jiang Chenyi worked at a tutoring class, with hours from eight-thirty to eleven-thirty in the morning, and twelve-thirty to two-thirty in the afternoon. Sometimes he had to work overtime. Sometimes he didn’t have to go to class.

His salary was paid by the hour, thirty yuan per hour, and in a good month, he could earn six to seven thousand, sometimes only two to three thousand. Fortunately, this was an eighteenth-tier small city, with low expenses. Jiang Chenyi had a fixed residence, paying for utilities and his meals, daily necessities, and such.

If it was elementary students, he could teach anything. If it was middle school students, he could only teach math and science subjects. For high school students, he could only teach physics, chemistry, and biology.

Having casually obtained a Teacher Qualification Certificate during college, and graduating from a prestigious university, the tutoring class boss valued Jiang Chenyi highly. Monday to Friday, if there were no students, Jiang Chenyi had to upload teaching videos to their tutoring class website, some paid, some free. Of course, this wasn’t included in Jiang Chenyi’s salary.

Jiang Chenyi wasn’t picky; he was quite satisfied with his current life.

Footnote:

1. 1. Single Dog(单身狗):A humorous Chinese internet slang term referring to someone who is single, often used in a self-deprecating way.