Chapter 3

“Xiao Ling, come over and lend a hand, the hearse is here.” The director suddenly appeared from nowhere, waking Ling Chen, who seemed to be daydreaming. “What’s wrong with you today? Why do you keep staring at the sky?”

Ling Chen hurriedly responded.

According to the usual procedure, after the funeral ceremony at the funeral home, the body would be transported to the cremation area behind the compound. However, since the situation with Actor He was special, his family requested that the coffin be taken back to his hometown, so the agency specifically rented a hearse for the journey back to his ancestral home.

There are different classes of hearses, and the agency naturally selected the most expensive one for He Jin Chao, which was a B-brand luxury car converted into a hearse. The entire back compartment was open, with the coffin placed in the center, surrounded by flowers.

The coffin weighed over half a ton, and several bodyguards used considerable strength to load it onto the vehicle. Once the coffin was settled, Ling Chen also jumped onto the car, with a semi-transparent spirit following him.

Due to the earlier movement, the body inside the coffin had shifted slightly, and its hair was messy. Ling Chen needed to quickly fix his appearance for the last time.

Ling Chen had done this kind of work countless times, and he had even encountered family members watching. However, this time, he was doing makeup for a “client” in front of a “client.”

And this “client” had many demands—

“Xiao Ling, brush the stray hairs on my forehead to the side. My forehead is very full; it doesn’t need to be covered.”

“The shadow on my cheekbones is too heavy. My face shape is already smooth enough, don’t overdo it.”

“The collar is messed up, tie the tie again.”

There were problems here and there, and Ling Chen was being directed in circles inside the cramped vehicle, his head buzzing.

He Jin Chao didn’t look like he was lying in a coffin—he looked like he was about to walk the red carpet!

Ling Chen suppressed his anger and told himself: Look at the red envelope of ten thousand yuan, look at him being your idol, look at the fact that he’s already a ghost…

“Mr. He, you’re in luck.” Ling Chen said dryly while working, “Your eyes are closed.”

He Jinchao was confused: “What do you mean?”

Ling Chen: “Just the literal meaning. Although the phrase ‘dying with eyes open’ sounds unlucky, in reality, some people’s eyes won’t close after they pass due to lack of moisture. In such cases, I have to glue them shut.”

He Jinchao: “…Thanks, I learned something useful.”

Great, He Jinchao finally quieted down.

—-

As others had said, He Jinchao in the coffin truly looked as though he was asleep. His eyes were closed, his brow relaxed, his lips and skin, now restored to a natural red by makeup, no longer looked pale. The pajamas he was wearing had also been replaced by Ling Chen with a suit.

Ling Chen gazed at the person in the coffin, gently brushing his lips with a lip brush, then smoothing his disheveled hair, and finally positioning his hands, which had been hanging at his sides, neatly in front of him… The final step, Ling Chen tried to do slowly because this was not just him saying goodbye to the “He Jin Chao” in the coffin.

“It’s done.” Ling Chen gathered his makeup tools and spoke softly, “Mr. He, I’m about to close the coffin.”

“…” The semi-transparent spirit floated beside the coffin. After a long pause, it barely audibly murmured, “Mmm.”

From beginning to end, Ling Chen had not looked up to see He Jinchao’s expression, but he could imagine it.

After all, He Jinchao (for whatever reason) had not been able to rest after death, and instead had to watch someone give him a send-off. How could he be in a good mood?

The heavy ice coffin closed, and the car once again fell into silence, an emotion mingling sadness and awkwardness spreading throughout.

“Um…”

“I think…”

They both spoke at the same time.

Ling Chen took a step back: “You go first.”

He Jinchao asked: “This request might be a little presumptuous—can you take off your mask?”

“What?” Ling Chen was surprised.

The man’s deep phoenix eyes looked at Ling Chen, his handsome face showing a serious expression: “I want to know what the person who accompanies me to the end looks like.”

Because of work, Ling Chen almost always wore a mask and never took it off when he was with “clients.”

But…

Ling Chen thought, after all, He Jinchao wasn’t an ordinary “client.”

As a fan, it was an honor to be remembered by the idol one liked.

Thinking of this, Ling Chen did not hesitate and readily took off his mask.

Although He Jinchao had been prepared, he was still stunned by Ling Chen’s appearance.

Before, Ling Chen always wore a mask, only revealing his mischievous and lively eyes. He Jinchao had seen many handsome men and women in the entertainment industry, so he knew at a glance that this young man must be good-looking just from his eyes.

But He Jinchao did not expect Ling Chen to be even more handsome than he imagined.

Not in that artificial, finely sculpted way, but in a pure, natural kind of beauty.

Because he had long been out of the sun, Ling Chen’s skin was very pale, and his slightly long bangs were held back with a small clip. He removed the clip and messily brushed through his hair with his hand. Unfortunately, the red marks left by the mask on his cheeks could not be removed for now, but this only made him look more “real.”

He Jinchao smiled and said: “Xiao Ling, has anyone ever told you that you’re very handsome?”

“Probably,” Ling Chen thought for a moment, “When I was in school, the girls in my class teased me, saying I should join a boy band, but I can’t sing in tune, and my dancing is offbeat.”

He Jinchao smirked: “You should see the boy bands now, they not only sing out of tune and dance offbeat, but they’re also ugly.”

“Forget it!” Ling Chen shook his head vigorously, “Other boy bands, when they debut, they’re afraid of their dark history being exposed. If I debuted in a boy band, they’d dig out my ‘ghost history’!”

These were, of course, jokes. If He Jinchao were still alive, he might actually have recommended Ling Chen to their company… but He Jinchao was already dead. If it weren’t for his death, Ling Chen would never have met a mortician.

However, this endless joke lightened the somber atmosphere in the hearse.

Ling Chen put his mask back on: “Well… should I leave?”

He Jinchao muttered: “Thank you for accompanying me on this last journey.”

With that, his soul drifted to the front passenger seat.

Ling Chen quickly called out to him: “Wait, Mr. He, why are you going to the front?”

He Jinchao: “I get car sick easily, and this back compartment has no windows. If I stay with the coffin, I’ll throw up.”

Ling Chen: “…Leaving aside whether ghosts get car sick, even if you did, what could you throw up? You’re a ghost, sitting in the front passenger seat, have you considered the driver’s feelings?!”

He Jinchao laughed. He was already handsome, with his thick brows and bright eyes, but his words were completely the opposite of his charming appearance.

“The driver can’t see me, why should I care about the driver’s thoughts?”

Ling Chen was speechless.

Who exactly was the guy in front of him? Self-centered, selfish, and arrogant, how was this the “perfect actor” described in news articles?

Helpless, Ling Chen could only watch as He Jinchao floated to the front passenger seat.

The hearse driver stood by the car, with a red envelope from He Jinchao’s assistant in his left pocket and a pack of soft cigarettes in his right pocket, patting his chest to guarantee safe driving and mission completion.

—-

In the passenger seat, He Jinchao, the renowned actor, furrowed his brows and made a suggestion to Ling Chen: “I don’t like the smell of smoke. Tell the driver not to smoke.”

Ling Chen responded, “The driver can’t see you, so he doesn’t have to consider your thoughts. If you can’t stand the smoke, you can go back to the rear compartment and stay with your coffin.”

He Jinchao: “…”

You little brat.

Ling Chen grabbed his toolbox and got out of the car. The director, who had been waiting nearby, quickly closed the trunk.

The director quietly asked, “Why did you mess around in the car for so long?”

Ling Chen honestly replied, “The guest is too hard to please. He keeps making demands—his hair’s messy, his cuffs aren’t neat, he complains the lipstick’s too red, then says he doesn’t like the lilies by the coffin.”

The director took it as a joke and responded, “Well, he’s the best actor. He had high standards when he was alive, so of course, he has strict demands now. Even if he’s being a diva, it’s his last journey. You have to bear with it.”

Ling Chen listened while looking at the figure in the passenger seat. The driver, who smelled of cigarettes, had already gotten back in the car, and He Jinchao covered his mouth and nose, turning away.

“True,” Ling Chen murmured, feeling moved. “It is his last journey.”

With that thought, Ling Chen went around to the driver’s side and knocked on the window.

The driver rolled down the window and asked, “Xiao Ling, what’s up?”

Ling Chen said, “Brother Zhao, while I was touching up his makeup, I noticed that the ventilation system of the ice coffin is a little off. Don’t smoke on the road. I’m worried the smoke might get into the coffin. If you really need to smoke to stay awake, pull over first. It’s a long journey, and if the coffin smells like smoke when we get there, the family might have a problem with it.”

“Really? Thanks for reminding me,” the driver quickly replied.

Ling Chen nodded.

In the passenger seat, He Jinchao raised an eyebrow at him with a hint of smugness in his gaze.

Ling Chen ignored him.

This time, when sending the coffin back to its hometown, the agency had sent two other cars to accompany them. Just like with wedding ceremonies, funeral processions also follow auspicious timings. When the time came, the car had to leave.

The mourners stood in two loose rows outside the funeral viewing room. Several actors Ling Chen recognized were already crying uncontrollably, though he couldn’t tell how much of it was genuine emotion and how much was acting.

Even the agency’s General Manager Wang had reddened eyes, and his assistant quickly handed him a tissue.

It was an extraordinarily secretive funeral—the most famous actor in the entertainment industry, He Jinchao, had left on this rainy morning.

The funeral was simple.

The cause of death remained a mystery.

Ling Chen didn’t ask, and He Jinchao didn’t say.

Ling Chen stood at the back of the crowd. While everyone else had tearful eyes fixed on the hearse, his gaze was directed at the figure in the passenger seat.

Through the car window, a translucent figure smiled at him, then spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: “—Xiao Ling, thank you.”

Ling Chen hesitated for a few seconds before finally raising his hand and silently waving, whispering, “—Goodbye, Mr. He.”

The hearse started up and drove off with the two accompanying cars.

The funeral home was located amidst mountains and waters, with only a single road leading out toward the mountains. Ling Chen watched as the vehicles grew more distant, his heart swirling with complex emotions.

The first time he saw a ghost, Ling Chen wasn’t scared, just surprised and melancholic. After all, which fan would want to see their idol at their own funeral? To change their clothes, touch up their makeup, and then personally send them off…

As he recalled the events of the past few hours, Ling Chen realized his fingers, which had been holding the makeup brush, felt tight.

His little finger seemed stiff. Was it the cold weather, or had his fingers frozen from working next to the ice coffin for so long?

Ling Chen stuffed his right hand into his pants pocket, trying to warm it up, but the feeling of his pinky becoming stiffer and tighter wouldn’t go away.

He quickly looked down at his hand and was shocked to see that his pinky had turned pale, without any color, a stark contrast to his other fingers!

It was as if an invisible thread was wrapped around his pinky, cutting off the blood flow.

Not only that, it felt as though the thread was pulling him, tightening more and more.

Even though Ling Chen was usually bold, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

His finger… would it be pulled off by this “thread”?

In his fear, Ling Chen instinctively bent his pinky to fight against the force.

As he moved, a flash of white light suddenly appeared before his eyes.

In the next moment, He Jinchao, who had been sitting in the hearse, was pulled out of the car like a fish on a hook! His translucent body passed through the car door, the artificial mountain, trees, garbage truck, and the certificate of excellence on the wall… until he landed in front of Ling Chen.

Ling Chen: “…?”

Huh?

Why did moving his finger pull He Jinchao out of the car?