Chapter 17

After the night shift, Ling Chen was, as usual, given a day off to rest.

Of course, he intended to make the best use of this precious break. He was determined to spend the entire day on his phone, leaving the bedroom only for meals and bathroom breaks.

Unfortunately, he forgot that there was an annoying “roommate” in the house.

— He Jinchao treated the bedroom door as if it didn’t exist, walking straight through the wall, and asked if Ling Chen wanted to go to the town.

Ling Chen, sprawled on the bed, half-dead, asked, “What are we going to the town for? To find the Great Witch?”

“We could also look for Little Shiba and Chaiwan,” He Jinchao replied, “And bring He Daimei with us. They might become good mouse friends.”

Ling Chen was puzzled, “…Who’s He Daimei?”

He Jinchao helped him remember, “It’s the tortoiseshell cat that jumped onto your lap the other day. It can see me, which means it’s fated with me. I decided to give it a name. ‘Tortoiseshell’ sounds like ‘Daimei,’ and with my surname, it’s called He Daimei.”

“Wait!” Ling Chen interrupted him, “Did you even listen to what I said last time? You can’t even keep it, what’s the point of naming it?”

“Fine, if you’re so against it, I’ll make a compromise,” He Jinchao sighed, as if giving up a great privilege, and said, “Let it have your surname, call it Ling Daimei.”

“…” Ling Chen was once again troubled.

When will the great movie star change this annoying habit of speaking as if everything was his decision?

Never mind the issue of adopting a cat—why did He Jinchao think a wild cat could become friends with a hamster? That’s practically a food chain!

Ling Chen turned over on the bed, deliberately facing the other way, and said, “If you like cats so much, you take care of it. If you want to go look for Hu Yizhi, then go ahead. I’m on my day off and will not leave my bed.”

He knew very well that He Jinchao couldn’t leave him within five hundred meters, so he said it on purpose: “Last time, you got angry and learned how to control electronic devices. Why don’t you try a little harder and see if you can learn how to move physical objects? He Jinchao, if you have the ability, try moving my mattress.”

It’s no big deal—he’ll probably end up on the news tomorrow, with the headline “Ala Chen and His Flying Mattress.”

Looking at it this way, he was kind of like Aladdin—Aladdin had a magic lamp, and he had a weirdo beside him.

He Jinchao: “…”

He couldn’t even pick up his phone right now, let alone move the mattress beneath Ling Chen.

Anyway, Ling Chen spent his valuable day off in bed.

The next day, it was back to work.

Ling Chen dragged himself out of bed in the morning, more disgruntled than even He Jinchao.

While brushing his teeth in front of the mirror, He Jinchao flew over to his side, observing his gloomy reflection.

“Xiao Ling, I thought you liked working,” He Jinchao said. “Every time a colleague asks to switch night shifts with you, you seem so happy.”

“Are you kidding? Who likes working? I’m not a masochist,” Ling Chen spat out the foam in his mouth. “I only like getting paid.”

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a job that only pays you without requiring you to work.

Ling Chen finished brushing his teeth, then went downstairs, hopping onto his electric bike and heading to the office. As usual, He Jinchao floated behind him on the bike, wrapping his arms around his waist.

When He Jinchao first put his arms around Ling Chen’s waist, Ling Chen was very uncomfortable with the position. Even though he couldn’t feel He Jinchao’s touch, he felt tense all over. But after some time, Ling Chen had grown used to He Jinchao’s presence and would even ask him, “Are you holding on? I’m about to go.”

He Jinchao chuckled softly, and his laughter filled Ling Chen’s ears.

Ling Chen turned his head slightly, sensitive to the warmth on his earlobe. “What are you laughing at?”

He Jinchao: “Nothing.”

Ling Chen: “Weirdo.”

With that, he turned the throttle and shouted, “Go!”

The small electric bike zipped forward, carrying the two of them toward the office building. Since Ling Chen was running late, he didn’t have time for breakfast and needed to punch in at the office quickly.

Just then, he saw someone waving at him from the roadside. “Ling Chen, Ling Chen!”

Ling Chen quickly hit the brakes and stopped in front of the person. “Director Song?”

He thought Director Song was calling him for something important, but to his surprise, Director Song didn’t say a word and simply grabbed the back of the bike to sit down on the rear seat!

Ling Chen: “???”

He Jinchao, who was already on the rear seat: “!!!”

Ling Chen instinctively twisted the throttle, and the bike surged forward by a meter, narrowly avoiding Director Song’s large bottom.

Ling Chen: “Director Song, what are you…?”

Director Song, in a hurry, said, “Ling Chen, give me a lift. Quickly, take me to the main gate.”

Ling Chen: “…Huh?”

He Jinchao raised his voice, feeling wronged, “He just hopped on like that? He almost sat on my lap! My pure and clean body is about to be tainted!”

Ling Chen, annoyed by He Jinchao’s complaints, had to act like he didn’t hear anything. After all, in front of the director, he couldn’t let anything slip.

From Director Song’s perspective, he couldn’t see the “ghost” on the rear seat. He just saw his subordinate riding the electric bike, so asking for a lift was perfectly normal.

Now, Ling Chen found himself in a dilemma: one person was his boss who paid his salary, and the other was the one who bothered him every day—but there was only one spot on the back of the bike…

He wanted to let He Jinchao give up the back seat for Director Song, but where could He Jinchao sit?

He couldn’t exactly ask He Jinchao to sit in front—he wasn’t an acrobat.

It was like that song: in a movie with three people, one is destined to have no name.

Ling Chen didn’t need to look back to know that the movie star was probably sulking again. He sighed deeply and made a quick decision to get off the bike.

“Director,” Ling Chen said, “I can’t carry anyone on the bike. If you’re in a hurry, just take the bike yourself.”

Director Song was surprised: “What about you?”

Ling Chen: “It’s almost to the office, I can just run the last bit. I won’t be late.”

Director Song: “But…”

“Please don’t stand on ceremony with me,” Ling Chen swore he’d never “suck up” to a boss like this before, “Are you picking someone up at the main gate? Don’t waste your time.”

The office complex was huge, and it would take at least ten minutes to walk to the main gate. Director Song couldn’t afford to waste time, so he praised Ling Chen and then rode off on his electric bike.

Today, Director Song was dressed unusually formally, with his finest suit and a perfectly tied tie, making his neck appear shorter and his head larger. As he rode Ling Chen’s small bike, the seat sank a little under his weight, making him look like a nimble hippo riding the bike away.

He Jinchao quickly jumped off the bike to avoid being stolen by Director Song.

He sighed, “Good thing I reacted quickly.”

Ling Chen: “It was me who reacted quickly. If I hadn’t made the bike move, you’d be sitting in the basket.”

He Jinchao: “Or I could ride, and you could sit on my lap.”

Ling Chen: “…”

He imagined that scene and was shocked to the core. “Stop, I don’t want that.”

Ling Chen thought He Jinchao was really full of nonsense. Earlier, when Director Song almost sat on his lap, he felt violated, but now He Jinchao was suggesting that Ling Chen sit on his lap—how double standard can this person be?

Ling Chen arrived at the office just in time, while his colleagues had arrived earlier. When they saw him almost being late, they teased him a bit.

He had a lot of work orders today, so he focused on organizing his makeup bag and checked what he was missing, planning to restock what was needed.

He Jinchao floated near Ling Chen and said sharply, “There’s something off about the office today.”

Ling Chen didn’t look up, asking in a low voice, “What’s going on?”

He Jinchao responded, “Usually, everyone is quiet, no chatting or joking around. Why are they all so excited today?”

Excited?

Ling Chen raised his head in confusion and began observing his colleagues in the office.

He had been at the unit for three years, seeing his colleagues daily but not getting close. As a man, the other women in the office would occasionally gather and chat about family matters, but he couldn’t join in, preferring to keep to himself.

Ling Chen observed his colleagues carefully and, as He Jinchao said, the office atmosphere did seem strange today. It felt like there was a sense of excitement in the air.

What was going on?

One of the female colleagues happened to look up and made eye contact with Ling Chen.

“Ling Chen,” she said, “Do you have any lipstick, something natural that can brighten the complexion?”

Ling Chen casually took out a tube from his makeup bag, “Yang Jie, I think this one’s good for clients, it covers pale lips well.”

Unexpectedly, Yang Jie chuckled and waved her hand, saying, “My lips aren’t that pale, are they?”

“Ah?” Ling Chen realized she wanted makeup for herself, not for “clients.”

Another female colleague spoke up, “Yang Jie, you’re being silly. Ling Chen’s a guy, how would he use makeup other than for work? I have a soft color one, you can use mine.”

“Thanks, Daling.” Yang Jie quickly took the lipstick and grabbed a disposable lip brush from her drawer, quickly applying it. “We wear masks every day, and I haven’t done my makeup in so long. When I looked in the drawer earlier, I realized all my makeup was expired.”

Upon hearing this, Ling Chen realized the female colleagues in the office were busy applying makeup.

They had worked together for years, but except for group photos during team-building events, he had never seen them with makeup.

Ling Chen asked in confusion, “Why are you all putting on makeup today?”

“Oh, right, you took time off yesterday, I forgot to tell you.” Daling answered. “Some people from the TV station are coming today. They’re filming a variety show here.”

A TV station, a variety show?

How could such a thing be related to their funeral home?

However, Ling Chen remembered seeing Director Song in formal attire, rushing to meet someone at the gate earlier. It must have been for the TV station crew.

“Ling Chen, you don’t watch variety shows? It’s that super popular show, ‘Unstoppable Workers!’ Every episode features a celebrity experiencing a niche job, and they do a special report on it. It’s meant to let the audience understand and respect different workers.”

Before Ling Chen could respond, He Jinchao’s voice reached his ears.

“Oh, so it’s that show. It’s a joint production between the internet and TV stations, and it’s very popular. Even though it’s only halfway through the year, it’s already set to top the national satellite TV variety show rankings.” He Jinchao spoke with a tone of regret. “They asked me to join too, to try out being a fisherman, but my agent said I’m not suited for reality shows, so they turned it down.”

Ling Chen glanced at him, thinking to himself that He Jinchao’s agent clearly understood him well. With his personality, participating in a reality show would surely lose him a lot of fans, and no number of Best Actor trophies could compensate for that.

Ling Chen asked his colleague, “How long will the filming be here?”

“About a week, I think,” Yang Jie said. “Director Song is overjoyed. Haven’t we been fighting with other funeral homes for that ‘Exemplary Service Unit’ award? If we make it on TV, I bet we’ll win it this year.”

Ling Chen had never been interested in awards. Even if the unit won, it wouldn’t mean extra bonuses for the employees. The idea of more lively, noisy people in the funeral home only made him feel more bothered.

Before meeting He Jinchao, his life had never intersected with the entertainment industry, and now, a variety show filming was happening right in his workplace.

The other colleagues were all excited about the upcoming TV crew, chatting and applying makeup, while Ling Chen focused on packing up his work equipment, planning to head to the morgue to avoid the TV people for the day.

He had searched for the show online earlier and saw it was extremely popular. The two most famous episodes were “Idols Experience Panda Caretakers” and “Singers Try Being Youth Center Teachers,” both of which had dominated trending searches with tens of thousands of discussion posts.

Suddenly, several colleagues’ phones went off simultaneously, the sound suggesting it was a WeChat group.

“Ah, the TV people have arrived! Xiao Wang from the admin department just spotted their cars,” Yang Jie said as she picked up her phone.

Ling Chen knew that colleagues who were close often created small private groups to gossip about leaders and family members, but Ling Chen, who kept to himself, had no such group. The only one he had was the work group.

Yang Jie zoomed in on a photo and said, “Wow, their admin office is really nice, right by the front gate, and the shots are so clear… Three cars arrived. These must be the directors and camera crew; they’re really tan. Oh, it’s a female celebrity? She’s pretty, I think I’ve seen her somewhere before.”

Daling leaned in and said, “She does look familiar. Isn’t she some minor actress? I think I saw her play a supporting role in something, but I can’t remember her name.”

Yang Jie handed her phone to Ling Chen and said, “Ling Chen, do you recognize this celebrity?”

Ling Chen didn’t look up, casually responding, “I don’t follow celebrities or variety shows, so I don’t recognize anyone.”

Before he could finish his sentence, He Jinchao’s voice sounded again, “Little Ling, take a good look. You definitely know this person.”

Ling Chen was caught off guard. He reflexively looked up and saw the woman on the screen.

She was Zheng Linlin, the 18th-tier actress who was famous for her role as a character with a little ghost riding on her shoulder.