Chapter 7

Without further delay, Director Song instructed Ling Chen to go to the administration department to pick up the gift and then take the bus to visit the young “shaman” in town.

Ling Chen tried to refuse: “Director, I’ve never been on a field assignment, and I don’t know how to speak.”

Director Song replied nonchalantly, “You’re not mute, and I think you speak quite fluently.”

In any case, whatever task the leader assigns, even if Ling Chen doesn’t want to do it, he has no choice but to carry it out.

Beside him, He Jinchao, who had been restless for days, could no longer hold back. He had been stuck in this boring, remote mountain valley for two days, with a monotonous and dull life. The only person who could see him, Ling Chen, always pretended not to hear him on purpose. He Jinchao was eager to meet others in town.

—-

In the town, not only could one “drink” coffee, but also meet the young “shaman”—He Jinchao had a strong feeling that this young shaman might have a way to help him get out of his current state.

Ling Chen reluctantly left Director Song’s office. Just before pushing open the door, he suddenly had a thought, turned around, and looked at the middle-aged man with thinning hair on the sofa: “Director, I thought you called me here today for something else.”

Director Song, holding a cup of freshly brewed coffee, blew on it gently. The hot steam fogged up his reading glasses, turning them cloudy.

He casually asked, “What ‘something else’?”

Ling Chen: “You know, the day I was on duty Monday, you called me in the middle of the night to do my makeup…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Director Song suddenly laughed.

The middle-aged man took off his reading glasses and wiped them slowly with the hem of his clothes. His movements were deliberate and focused, as if cleaning the glasses was the most important thing in the world, and if he didn’t do it right, the world would collapse.

“Did you remember wrong?” Director Song didn’t look up but said slowly, “On the night of your duty, you slept through the night until dawn. How could I have called you in the middle of the night to do makeup?”

Ling Chen: “…”

Ah, is this happening?

If it weren’t for, He Jinchao’s soul standing in front of Director Song’s coffee machine, commenting on the quality of the beans, Ling Chen would’ve really thought he had been muddled that night.

—-

There was nothing to be done. Ling Chen reluctantly went to the logistics department to pick up two holiday gifts and boarded the bus to town.

With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, Ling Chen was holding two gift boxes, one with zongzi and one with eight-treasure rice. Both items were heavy and left deep impressions on his hands after just a few minutes.

The funeral home was located in a remote area, with only one bus traveling between the mountains and the town. This bus ran once every two hours, and the passengers were all people coming to visit the graves.

Though it was a weekday, the bus was not empty. After Ling Chen swiped his card, he walked to the back seats, where the only two remaining seats together were.

The translucent figure following him immediately floated to the window seat, citing the reason: “I get motion sickness.”

The famous star gets motion sickness, so he has to sit by the window; the small office worker doesn’t get motion sick, so he had to take the aisle seat.

The bus jolted on the mountain road, swaying back and forth. The famous star, supporting his chin with one hand, gazed at the trees outside the window and sighed, “Finally leaving.”

The last time he sat in the front passenger seat of a hearse, wanting to leave, but before he could get out of the funeral home, “the line” pulled him back to Ling Chen’s side.

Ling Chen was about to say something, but suddenly the bus’s wheels hit a large pothole, and the entire vehicle jolted with a loud “bang,” causing all the passengers to momentarily lift off their seats.

There had been heavy rains in the past few days, and a landslide had damaged the road. The road was only cleared yesterday and wasn’t fully repaired. All the way, there were large and small potholes, causing Ling Chen to rise and fall in his seat, interrupting his speech.

“Big star (bump bump bump), how does it feel to take the bus (bump bump bump) for the first time?”

He Jinchao answered in a restrained manner, “It’s okay, just glad I’m a soul now, otherwise, the nice buttocks I built at the gym would have been jolted into pieces.”

Ling Chen: “…” He really regretted bringing it up.

He Jinchao: “Also, let me correct a misunderstanding, I used to take the bus frequently.”

Ling Chen: “When filming (bump bump bump), taking the bus (bump bump bump) doesn’t count.”

He Jinchao was a little dissatisfied: “Are you really my fan? How come you haven’t studied my rise to fame? Before I started filming my first movie, I was just an ordinary student who took the bus to and from school every day.”

Ling Chen vaguely remembered reading about this during his online browsing:

Fifteen years ago, the famous director Guan was preparing his final work but couldn’t find the right male lead. He went to various art schools for auditions, but none were suitable.

One evening, while driving through a bustling area, he happened to see a tall, distinguished-looking boy at a bus stop after high school. The boy wore a typical sports-style school uniform, with the zipper loosely hanging open, and his backpack hung over one shoulder. Surrounded by many classmates, he smiled and listened to them, as if used to being admired.

He was the epitome of youth at its brightest.

At the time, Guan’s car was on a one-way street, and he had to circle back just to find out the boy’s name. But when he returned, the boy had already boarded a bus, and the bus stop quickly filled with more high school students.

Since all the school uniforms were the same, Guan couldn’t identify the boy’s school. He and his assistant waited at that bus stop for half a month and finally found the boy again.

The rest is history. The boy shone in the movie, walked the international red carpet at fifteen, and won the Best Actor award that year—yes, that boy was He Jinchao.

Ling Chen turned his head to glance at the translucent figure beside him, trying to find that youthful, innocent boy from the past in the now familiar face.

But He Jinchao shattered Ling Chen’s beautiful fantasy with one sentence.

“Little Ling, aren’t you so happy to take the bus with your idol?”

Ling Chen: “…I’ve always had a question.”

He Jinchao: “What question?”

Ling Chen: “Do you have a ‘narcissistic KPI’ every day? If you don’t do three narcissistic things in a day, do you get itchy all over?”

It’s often said that fans should be close to the works of their idols but far from their lives. Now, Ling Chen just wanted to be as far away from He Jinchao as possible.

He couldn’t wait to send this guy away. Not because of inheriting He Jinchao’s vast fortune, but because he was afraid, he wouldn’t be able to resist scattering He Jinchao’s ashes if he stayed any longer.

—-

At 1 p.m., a slow-moving bus stopped outside the east gate of the Happy Li community in XX town. Ling Chen, holding two holiday gifts and accompanied by an annoying ghost, couldn’t wait to get off the bus.

Though their unit was only a few kilometers from the town, the bus ride took over an hour. After the bumpy journey, Ling Chen suspected his tailbone might be fractured. He wasn’t sure if he could claim work injury.

Although this place was administratively a “town,” it was a very impressive one. Two subway lines connected directly to the city center, and the high-speed rail station was not far away. In short, this small town was quite lively, with top-tier hospitals, shopping malls, and schools, making it feel like a completely different world from the deep mountain forest where Ling Chen and his colleagues lived.

The Xingfuli community is a newly built development from a few years ago, with a great environment, birds chirping, flowers blooming, and separated areas for pedestrians and vehicles. Ling Chen instantly fell in love with the place. As he passed by a real estate agency at the entrance of the community, he couldn’t resist slowing down to take a good look at the prices of second-hand houses. The property prices here aren’t expensive compared to first-tier cities, but they are not cheap for a small town.

He Jinchao asked with interest, “Do you want to buy a house?”

Ling Chen muttered, “Who doesn’t want to buy a house?”

He longed to have a house, a place completely his own. Not a dorm room in a boarding school, not a small compartment left by his parents or younger brother out of charity, not a single apartment assigned by his work unit… but a place with his name on it, completely his own space.

That’s why Ling Chen was so focused on saving every penny of his salary, all for his property fund.

He Jinchao, hearing this, offered, “If you want a house, I have several under my name. Do you prefer a villa or an apartment? Anyway, I’m dead, and the house is of no use to me. You can live in it.”

Ling Chen shook his head. “That’s your house. I can take your money, but I won’t take your house.”

He Jinchao didn’t understand, but Ling Chen didn’t plan to explain. What he wanted was never a luxurious house, but a place that could shield him from the wind and rain, a home.

Ling Chen picked up the gift again and walked into the community.

It was noon, and the community was quiet, even the birds in the trees were resting in their nests.

He Jinchao reminded him, “You’re going to find the ‘Great Witch’ at this time, maybe he’s taking a nap. Don’t disturb him.”

Ling Chen actually chose this time on purpose. He hoped the other person would be sleeping, and then he could leave the gift at the door and quickly head back to the mountain after an hour-long bumpy ride, telling Director Song that he was turned away and didn’t even meet the ‘Great Witch.’

He hated socializing, and the ‘Great Witch’ hated it too.

How to avoid unnecessary socializing? Just don’t socialize at all.

Following Director Song’s address, Ling Chen quickly found the ‘Great Witch’s’ place.

The young, reclusive ‘Great Witch’ lived alone on the thirteenth floor, with old spring couplets stuck to the door, several opened delivery boxes and leftover takeout bags by the side, some of them dated to have been there for at least a week.

As expected, a true homebody.

Ling Chen took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the situation, and finally rang the doorbell.

But the doorbell didn’t ring.

It was probably out of battery.

Ling Chen switched to knocking, knocking three times with a half-minute interval, but no one answered.

This was… just perfect!

Ling Chen quietly sighed in relief. “Looks like the Great Witch doesn’t like to be disturbed. I’ll leave the gift here. He’ll definitely see it when he picks up his delivery tomorrow.”

“He’s not home,” He Jinchao suddenly stuck his head out from the security door. “I just went inside and looked around, no one’s home.”

Ling Chen was startled, almost scared out of his wits. He covered his wildly beating heart and whispered, “He Jinchao, when did you go in? No, wait, how could you just barge into someone’s house?”

He Jinchao didn’t care at all. “I went in when you were hesitating whether to ring the doorbell. Little Ling, you’re really strange. Ringing the doorbell won’t kill you, what are you afraid of?”

“I’m afraid of trouble,” Ling Chen said grumpily. “And how could you be so reckless? He’s the ‘Great Witch,’ a ‘Great Witch’ who even went to college. You just casually entered his house, aren’t you afraid of encountering some magic tools or powers, and upsetting the Great Witch, who might just take you in?”

“I think his ‘Great Witch’ title is just for show,” He Jinchao calmly replied. “I went in and saw, there is indeed a Buddhist altar in his house, but it’s not dedicated to Guanyin.”

Ling Chen, rarely curious, asked, “Then what’s it for?”

He Jinchao replied, “—It’s Hatsune Miku.”

Ling Chen: “Wow~!”