“I’m willing to wait, even for a thousand or ten thousand years.”

“…… Should we give your ashes a beauty spa treatment then?”

Jingjing: “……”

“Don’t be silly! I’m exaggerating. But if it could attract a handsome male ghost, that wouldn’t be so bad, haha.”

“……” You’re something else.

Ning Qiuxiu quickly drew a lot of beauty talismans and moved them to Zhan Qingyue’s room.

Zhan Qingyue was on the phone, so Ning Qiuxiu waited like a good student until he finished.

Then she flattered him, saying, “Qingyue, dear~”

“……” Whenever Qiuxiu gets this… affectionate, she must want something.

“Hmm? What’s up?” Even knowing it might be a trap, he still jumped in willingly.

“There are quite a few this time, so… I need to trouble you a bit.”

Ning Qiuxiu showed him the box of talismans, which was half full.

“……” She’s getting more and more demanding!

Zhan Qingyue was grateful he had done well in his philosophy class, or else dealing with so many talismans related to evil spirits might have given him a psychological trauma, making him question if he was living with invisible things.

“Sure,” Zhan Qingyue said, picking up one of the talismans and examining it.

The characters were strange and unrecognizable. He put the talisman back and said, “But, you know, there’s no free lunch. I’ll need some interest.”

— From Zhan Qingyue’s observation, Ning Qiuxiu was very poor at the moment, so poor that last time when he asked her to buy something worth several thousand in City A, they had to settle accounts like a married couple.

So…

It would be a shame not to make use of this opportunity to get some unfair terms, in keeping with his capitalist nature.

“Interest? No problem,” Ning Qiuxiu said generously, placing the box down. “Once this job is done, I’ll be rich.”

Zhan Qingyue: “???”

“Rich?” Zhan Qingyue repeated the words, curious, “What business venture has Ms. Ning found? Let me in on it.”

He remembered that Ning Qiuxiu’s talismans had been sold online for 10 yuan each and hadn’t sold even after a month.

“Keep it a secret for now,” Ning Qiuxiu said with a mysterious smile and patted Zhan Qingyue on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, if I become rich, I won’t forget you. In the future, for every talisman I make, whether it’s a success or not, I’ll give you 100 yuan. How about that?”

“Wow, you’re really generous,” Zhan Qingyue said with a twitch at the corner of his mouth. “Thank you in advance, Miss Ning.”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”

Seeing Ning Qiuxiu’s smug expression, Zhan Qingyue couldn’t help but smile and said, “Then shall we settle the old scores now?”

“… Mr. Zhan, doesn’t your conscience hurt when you say that?” Ning Qiuxiu thought about how she had made so many talismans in the past, most of which were wasted on him. How could he still say that!

“Huh?” Zhan Qingyue was puzzled. “Didn’t you say yesterday that I had no conscience?”

Ning Qiuxiu: “…”

Making talismans takes time, during which Ning Qiuxiu continued to travel everywhere, making money and supporting her family.

Qu Hua arranged a game endorsement for Ning Qiuxiu.

The game had just been released and was clearly a niche competitive game. It was one of those fast-food types of games that use celebrities and hype to attract attention quickly, make money fast, then release various strategies targeting wealthy players.

Such games make money faster and more effectively than some large online games.

So… the endorsement fee was high.

The reason they approached Ning Qiuxiu was because of her… strong persona.

After making their initial profit, they released a new expansion with a highly anticipated new class—the dazzling Golden Warrior, wielding two huge hammers, capable of crushing anything in its path.

Typically, such games like to have beautiful female stars as spokespeople to attract attention.

However, this Golden Warrior was too fierce for most female stars to handle, so they invited the powerful Autumn Grandpa instead.

Autumn Grandpa was internally reluctant, but the endorsement fee had too many zeros, indicating that the client was naive and wealthy.

Although Ning Qiuxiu would make a substantial amount of money from this, who would refuse such a large sum?

So she reluctantly agreed.

The wardrobe and styling provided for her were designed to match the Golden Warrior appearance.

However, since a female star, not a third-tier model, was hired, they avoided the tacky approach of some games that rely on revealing outfits.

There were no plunging necklines or exaggerated curves.

The armor was quite proper, covering everything except her long legs and part of her arms.

After getting dressed, Ning Qiuxiu stood in front of the mirror, her mouth twitching.

The armor looked very metallic, with parts resembling a Golden Warrior, including armored sleeves on her upper arms and metal decorations on her lower arms that looked like crab claws.

The thought crossed her mind: “One punch from me, and you might die…”

Ning Qiuxiu suddenly regretted it.

While other female stars were in elegant, fairy-like outfits for fantasy games, her look was so different!

Perhaps her distressed expression showed too clearly.

The stylist asked, “Ms. Ning, is there something you’re not happy with? Or is the armor uncomfortable?”

“No, it’s fine.” Ning Qiuxiu, despite her regrets, tearfully said she liked it.

However, looking at her fully covered upper body and the exposed lower body, she asked, “Didn’t you consider that in a real battle, enemies would first attack your legs?”

“… Ahahaha,” the stylist awkwardly laughed, “It’s just a game. In games, murder and arson aren’t illegal, right?”

“…” Ning Qiuxiu couldn’t argue with that logic.

The director, seeing her outfit, was very pleased.

He had a pair of large hammers brought in and said, “Qiuxiu, try these out and see if they’re too heavy. I arranged for these realistic hammers, which weigh about 30 pounds.”

Ning Qiuxiu took the hammers, which were larger than her head, and since she was using strength-enhancing talismans, she didn’t find them heavy and said, “It’s okay.”

“Great,” the director clapped his hands, “First, take some photos for the advertisement, and then we’ll move to the set for the shooting.”

Ning Qiuxiu followed the director’s instructions, took a few promotional pictures, and then moved to the set.

The main content of the advertisement involved her swinging the large hammers and performing the monster-fighting skills of the Golden Warrior, attacking several actors dressed as monsters.

The director said, “Our first skill is called ‘One Hammer to Set the World.’ Take a look at how the warrior uses this skill in the game, and then learn from the props master.”

The “One Hammer to Set the World” move involves the Golden Warrior swinging a big hammer, spinning 360 degrees on the spot, then smashing down while shouting, “One Hammer to Set the World!”

Ning Qiuxiu: “…”

The move wasn’t very difficult.

Since Ning Qiuxiu was an actress and had fought beasts in the cultivation world, she got it right after a few takes.

After filming, Ning Qiuxiu went to the monitor to review the footage and found that her hammer strike and roar made her look incredibly fierce, not like a woman at all.

“Can I request a re-shoot?” Ning Qiuxiu asked weakly, feeling she had overdone it.

“No need, it’s great,” the director said. “We can move on to the next shot.”

“…” Ning Qiuxiu didn’t see any beauty in this warrior character and asked the director, “Aren’t most of your players older, single guys? Won’t this image be too rough and not ‘soft and cute’ enough?”

“You’re mistaken,” the director said with a professional tone. “Players nowadays like this kind of tough and cool look. We outperform those flashy, scantily clad ads easily.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “…”

Being a woman is so hard now, you have to look good and also be strong and tough.

After a grueling shoot for the game advertisement, Ning Qiuxiu vowed never to take such ads again.

She had initially thought that game companies preferred female stars over action heroes like Jackie Chan for their ads to attract attention with cute and flashy performances.

It turned out she was too naïve—women were being used like men!

However, Ning Qiuxiu quickly faced a setback.

The game company felt that just having an advertisement wasn’t enough and invited Ning Qiuxiu to do a two-hour livestream of playing the game.

They used the gimmick of “competing with a female star in the same city” to attract attention.

The appearance fee… was still generously high.

Having been tricked by Zhan Qingyue before, Ning Qiuxiu was cautious.

She confirmed that, although she needed to be on camera, she didn’t have to wear a special costume—normal attire would do.

The company wouldn’t throw a bunch of top players at her to humiliate her, but would have some designated players for her to beat up.

She just needed to familiarize herself with the Golden Warrior’s controls and skills.

So, Ning Qiuxiu shamefully bent her knee for money once more.

The livestream was scheduled for a week later, and the game company only asked her to get comfortable with the basic operations.

When she had some free time, Ning Qiuxiu downloaded the game.

Since Xiaochi had played various online games and mobile games, Ning Qiuxiu asked her to play alongside.

The game company provided them with what were supposedly top-tier equipment accounts.

Ning Qiuxiu, trying out the game, found it quite enjoyable.

— Mainly because defeating monsters was incredibly satisfying.

One hit, one kill, with red numbers like -99999, -88888 flashing on the screen, she felt like a king ruling the world, completely satisfied both physically and mentally.

No wonder so many people are willing to invest money in games; where else can you buy such a feeling of superiority?

However, while fighting monsters was great, fighting other players wasn’t as enjoyable.

She and Xiaochi had a PvP match, and since Xiaochi was experienced, she dominated Ning Qiuxiu, who was a novice.

After Xiaochi beat her, she patiently explained the game mechanics and skills. Ning Qiuxiu, with her high learning ability, spent an afternoon and could barely hold her own against Xiaochi.

“See how awesome I am!” After once again depleting Xiaochi’s health bar, Ning Qiuxiu called Zhan Qingyue, who had come to watch her game.

They spent the afternoon in the study, one engrossed in work, the other in gaming, happily coexisting without interfering with each other.

“… I’m not looking,” Zhan Qingyue said.

Ning Qiuxiu: “???”

“Get lost!” Ning Qiuxiu, realizing his teasing, turned and hit him.

Ah, this old hand, so annoying.

It was all Xiaochi’s fault.

Xiaochi taught her that in the game, saying someone was “awesome” was a compliment, so she used the same term.

Zhan Qingyue grabbed her hand, holding her wrist with one hand and using his thumb to touch her well-manicured nails with the other.

He chuckled, “With nails this long, no wonder you’re having a hard time.”

Ning Qiuxiu had been focusing on the touch of his thumb against hers, which felt somewhat intimate.

Hearing his comment, she became furious: “Come on, I’ll make you call me ‘daddy’!”

Zhan Qingyue raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure?”

“Come on, come on, who’s afraid of who? You’re just a little dog!”

Ning Qiuxiu couldn’t believe that Zhan Qingyue, who never played games and whose finger agility wasn’t back to normal, could beat her after she had been playing all afternoon.