Chapter 33: Sister-in-Law Is Taking You Ghost Hunting

“Who the hell are you calling sister-in-law? You son of a—” Xie Jingting was about to slam the table and explode when someone kicked him under the table—not too hard, but not light either.

He looked up at Tu Shanjiu.

She was still calmly eating her meal.

Xie Jingzhou caught on to her intention and chimed in, “It’s autumn now, so naturally, there are more flies. We should probably suggest the school clean up more often.”

Xie Jingting smirked and added, “Exactly. Flies don’t bite, but they’re so annoying. If I had a fly swatter, I’d swat one dead for sure!”

The brothers’ back-and-forth, thinly veiled insults made it obvious they were calling Chen Younan the annoying fly.

Everyone thought Chen Younan would explode. People at the nearby tables had already picked up their food and moved to avoid getting caught in a possible fight.

But to everyone’s surprise, Chen Younan didn’t get angry. Instead, he smiled at Tu Shanjiu and said:

“Sister-in-law, you probably don’t have many friends here in Southern City, right? Want me to introduce you to some? It must be boring hanging out with just these two guys. I’m throwing a party at my place tonight—how about I introduce you to some people from our circle?”

As soon as he finished, Tu Shanjiu looked up at him. “Sure. What time?”

For some reason, Chen Younan felt like he saw the words “can’t wait” written in her eyes.

Didn’t she realize this was a trap?

Guess that’s what you get with someone from the mountains. So what if she knew a little about divination? Still totally clueless.

In upper-class circles like this, she’d be nothing more than someone to be toyed with.

But that was exactly what he wanted.

His goal was to humiliate her.

If she lost face, the Xie family would lose face. Xie Jingting would be embarrassed.

Sure, the Xie family was the richest around—but the Chen family’s foundation wasn’t weak either. He wasn’t looking to start a feud, but he wasn’t afraid of them either.

Besides, he and Xie Jingting had been at odds since childhood. Everything they did was a competition.

The more polite and respectful he acted toward Tu Shanjiu, the more he wanted to sabotage her. Especially since she’d made him a laughingstock last time—he had to get her back for that!

Thinking this, Chen Younan smiled.
“Then I’ll be expecting you, sister-in-law. Eight-thirty, Nanshan Villa. Don’t be late.”

Then he turned to Xie Jingting and Xie Jingzhou.
“You guys coming too?”

Xie Jingting didn’t even acknowledge him—just ignored him entirely.

Chen Younan had already achieved his goal, so he didn’t care about the attitude. He walked off with his group in tow.

After they left, people still kept sneaking glances at Tu Shanjiu—until Xie Jingting shot them a glare, and they immediately shrank back.

Seeing Tu Shanjiu still eating calmly, Xie Jingting couldn’t help but ask, “Sister-in-law, why’d you agree to that? I’m telling you, that bastard Chen Younan, he’s a—”

“No swearing,” Tu Shanjiu cut him off, glancing up.

She set down her chopsticks and took a sip of lemon water that Xie Jingzhou had placed next to her. Then she answered his question.

“I came to see you today not just for lunch—there’s something important. I need you to take me to Chen Younan.”

Xie Jingzhou wasn’t surprised. He had guessed there was more to her visit than just a meal.

But he was curious—why did Tu Shanjiu want to see Chen Younan?

Xie Jingting was even more curious. He couldn’t hold back. “You don’t even know him that well. Why do you want to see him?”

Tu Shanjiu set down her drink and picked up her chopsticks again. She hesitated for a moment, her gaze complicated.
“You sure you want to know?”

At first, Xie Jingting didn’t get it. But Xie Jingzhou picked up on her implication.

Just as Xie Jingting was about to nod, Xie Jingzhou nudged him and whispered, “Probably something… from that realm.”

“What rea—” Xie Jingting stopped mid-sentence. His hand holding the chopsticks froze.

Tu Shanjiu glanced sideways at him. “So, you get it now?”

Xie Jingting nodded stiffly, clearly unnerved.

You could see the goosebumps rise on his exposed arms at a visible speed.

Xie Jingzhou shook his head helplessly. His brother definitely got his fear tolerance from their mom.

He himself wasn’t that scared—especially after having seen a ghost with his own eyes last time. If anything, he’d grown more curious about such beings.

“Sister-in-law, why are there so many ghosts lately?” Xie Jingzhou asked.

Xie Jingting wanted to know too, so while rubbing his arms, he looked at Tu Shanjiu, waiting for her to explain.

“Because you didn’t know me before,” Tu Shanjiu replied plainly.

The brothers exchanged glances. “…”

That… made a surprising amount of sense. They had nothing to say.

Tu Shanjiu finished eating, took a napkin from her bag to wipe her mouth, and gave a more complete explanation:

“Ghosts are people who’ve died. So the number of ghosts generally corresponds to the number of people.”

“However, the underworld has its own rules. Most souls are collected by the underworld agents as soon as they leave their bodies. But some linger for various reasons.”

“And the reason I mentioned earlier is actually the root of it. Normal people usually don’t encounter these things. It’s like how you don’t know anything about a niche industry until you meet someone in it—otherwise you’d never know such an industry existed.”

Xie Jingzhou nodded. “Got it. So the root cause is that we met you too late. If you’d come down the mountain earlier, we’d have seen ghosts long ago.”

Hearing the word ghost, Xie Jingting shivered again.

Tu Shanjiu quickly changed the subject.
“Let’s go return the trays. That braised pork with potatoes here is really good. I’ll definitely come back again if I get the chance.”

As she reached for the tray, Xie Jingting quickly grabbed it.
“Sister-in-law, just sit. We’ll do it. If big bro finds out we made you do anything, we’re dead meat.”

Tu Shanjiu was happy to skip the chores, so she let them handle it.

Once the trays were returned, the three of them left the cafeteria.

At the school gate, Tu Shanjiu stepped toward the roadside to hail a cab.
“You two can head back. I’m going home for a nap. About that party tonight—if you’re scared, don’t come. I can go alone.”

Xie Jingzhou shook his head.
“Big bro’s company just picked up a new project. He’ll probably be working late again. I’m not afraid of ghosts. I’ll go with you.”

Who knew what kind of tricks Chen Younan might pull. She’d be completely alone—there was no way they’d let her go by herself.

Of course, Xie Jingting was thinking the same thing.

He braced himself and raised his hand.
“I’m not that scared either. I’m going too. I’m not letting you go to a trap alone!”

Tu Shanjiu looked at the determined Xie Jingzhou, then at the trembling Xie Jingting. The corners of her mouth lifted into a grin.

“Alright. Tonight, the three of us—sister-in-law is taking you ghost hunting!”