Chapter 102
Chapter 102
Old Ghost held the dragon-headed cane high above his head and stood motionless in the center of the lobby, as if he had completed some kind of mission.
Qiao Yu didn’t want to provoke him any further, so he picked up the remote and changed the channel.
The music channel was playing a piano piece. With nothing else to do, he propped his chin on one hand, narrowed his eyes, and gently swayed along, enjoying this brief moment of peace.
Just then, a cold, eerie wind swept in through the open front doors.
Blind Ghost came stumbling in, following the sound. She felt her way to the counter, pricked up her ears, and began enjoying the music with Qiao Yu.
“Why are you here?” Qiao Yu opened his eyes and asked curiously.
Blind Ghost instinctively leaned her ear closer to Qiao Yu and smiled. “To listen to the piano.”
While listening to the music, Qiao Yu chatted idly, “You like it too?”
“I do.” Blind Ghost’s smile was serene.
“Then can you recommend a couple of pieces to me?”
“Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, ‘Moonlight.’ It’s my favorite.”
During that time, the piano piece on TV ended, and the channel cut to a commercial.
Fake Xu Xian flashed a mouthful of big white teeth on the screen, his expression screaming forced enthusiasm.
“Hot, cold, sour, or sweet-eat whatever you want.”
Qiao Yu couldn’t bear to look. He was faintly starting to slide toward becoming an anti-fan.
After Blind Ghost finished speaking, she seemed to sink into memory, her voice soft. “Every time I listen to that piece, I feel like I’m on Lake Lucerne. A boat, a pot of tea, and all around me, the clear, chilly glow of moonlight…”
Qiao Yu drew his gaze back. It took him a good while to process what Blind Ghost had just said. Then… as if possessed, he reached his hand over Blind Ghost’s head and measured her height.
“Your name.”
“What?” Blind Ghost, whose words had been interrupted, was still a little dazed. She pricked up her ears and leaned toward Qiao Yu.
Qiao Yu didn’t back away. For once, he patiently repeated himself. “Your name.”
Blind Ghost was the same as the other ghosts. Even if Qiao Yu tormented them a thousand times over, they still treated him like their first love.
Even after being interrupted, Blind Ghost showed no displeasure. Instead, she curved her lips into a ghostly, sinister smile. “My name is Lu Shanshan. What about you?”
“I…” Qiao Yu paused, barely forcing the words “am your daddy” back down his throat. “I’m Qiao Yu.”
“Qiao Yu… That’s a lovely name. Your voice is lovely too… You must be quite good-looking, right? It’s a shame I don’t even have hands, or I could feel your face.”
Qiao Yu shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m just an ordinary, unremarkably handsome guy. Not seeing me won’t kill you.”
Blind Ghost: “…”
Thanks. Thanks to that running mouth of yours, even if you let me see you for free now, I wouldn’t want to.
Just as Blind Ghost’s enthusiasm was thoroughly dampened, Qiao Yu’s voice sounded in her ear again. “You’re twenty-five? A piano teacher?”
Why was he acting so strange today?
And he seemed to know quite a lot about her.
Thinking that, she asked exactly that. “How do you know?”
Qiao Yu narrowed his eyes. “I also know your father was a researcher, and your mother was a strong businesswoman. Your maternal grandmother was a famous diplomat, and your paternal grandfather was an honorary professor at B University before he retired…”
Blind Ghost’s mouth fell open in shock, repeating herself like a broken record. “How do you know?!”
But Qiao Yu didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned closer to that pale face not far away and stared straight at the two huge bloody holes on Blind Ghost’s face, his voice very soft. “It must have hurt when your eyes were gouged out, right?”
The instant he finished speaking, the lobby abruptly fell silent.
The smile at the corner of Blind Ghost’s mouth froze. Bad memories had been dredged up, and at the same time, she was shrouded in a deep, overwhelming sorrow.
At that moment, the chilly wind outside blew in, lifting the hem of Blind Ghost’s white dress. Even though she was a ghost, there was still a fragile, shattered quality about her, like illness had worn her down to the bone. It made anyone who looked at her feel a pang of sadness…
**
Qiao Yu suddenly stopped slacking off.
Shang Yan sat in the hospital room, bored out of his mind, tugging at the little elastic band around his wrist. Once, twice. Three, four times…
The hair tie snapped back hard enough to leave faint red marks on the inside of his wrist. Meanwhile, Qiao Yu-the person responsible for that resentful-wife expression of his in the Live Stream Room-was using a Small Wire to pick the lock on the finance office door.
And standing beside him, keeping watch, was… the Pen Spirit.
What was this?
Had he given up on honest work and decided to return to his old trade by looting the hospital clean??
Over there, after Qiao Yu quietly opened the finance office door, the Pen Spirit squeezed inside after him with practiced ease, then used Qiao Yu’s old-person phone to light the way.
As Qiao Yu booted up the computer, he thought with relief:
A familiar ghost really was the most convenient kind to use.
The computer started up quickly. A blue screen flashed by, and a password prompt popped up at the bottom.
Qiao Yu clicked login directly and discovered that this computer really did have a password set.
“What do we do?” The Pen Spirit held the phone high with one hand, then reached over and typed on the numeric keypad: 8888.
Incorrect password!
Fine. A familiar ghost wasn’t that great after all.
Because their thought processes were exactly the same-even the password they guessed was the same.
“No choice. We’ll have to bring in outside help.”
“Outside help?” The Pen Spirit looked up in confusion.
Qiao Yu pulled a key out of his pocket and stuck it into the keyhole.
Pen Spirit: ??
No, seriously, what was wrong with this guy? He had a key and still used a wire to pick the door!
The next second, the door opened to reveal No. 59, who had clearly been waiting outside for a while.
The boy seemed prepared. He didn’t come in. Expressionless, he raised a hand and pointed at the computer.
Click-the password was correct. Logging in.
Pen Spirit: (◐ˍ◑)
Who would’ve thought? This kid was talented.
After doing that, No. 59 didn’t even say goodbye before raising his hand to close the door.
Qiao Yu was not pleased. “Hey? You see someone you know and don’t even say hello?”
No. 59 shrank back shyly, then explained in a small voice, “My mom won’t let me talk to you. She’s afraid you’ll be a bad influence on me.”
Qiao Yu: “…….”
What was wrong with Li Xiaoqin?
It wasn’t like he was going to bully them. Why was she guarding him so tightly!
Seeing No. 59 looking so torn he was about to cry, Qiao Yu gave an awkward little cough and silently withdrew the hand blocking the door.
Then the door slammed shut with a bang.
The Pen Spirit was laughing so hard she was losing it. Sitting in the chair, she clutched the edge of the desk, her sharp nails scraping against it with a grating skrrt-skrrt sound.
Qiao Yu turned around and hit her right where it hurt, expressionless. “Damaging public property means you have to pay for it.”
Sure enough, the Pen Spirit stopped laughing.
Only then did Qiao Yu walk over to the computer in a thoroughly refreshed mood, his pale, slender fingers tapping idly on the left mouse button a few times.
Suddenly, the crisp clicking stopped, and an Excel spreadsheet appeared on the screen.
(VIP Ward, 6th Floor: Revenue Details for Terminal and Severe Patients)
Name: Lu Shanshan
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Cause of illness: Congenital heart disease.
Surgery fee: 3,000,000
Banquet: 2,000,000
Corneas: 1,000,000
Heart: – (failed)
Director Zhou: -200,000
Material costs: -4,589￥
Post-discharge value assessment: 300 million+.
Total: 5,795,411￥
What did “post-discharge value assessment” mean? And banquet… what was that?
Suddenly, a cry of shock rang out beside his ear. “Holy shit, how much money is that? How many tens of thousands is two commas?”
Qiao Yu dragged the Pen Spirit, who was practically plastered to the computer screen, back by force. His face was utterly emotionless. “5.79 million.”
The Pen Spirit tilted her head up, and three strange words seemed to surface in her eyes: Does. Not. Compute. “You’ve changed. You’re not even excited.”
Qiao Yu smiled. “It’s just a string of numbers. Besides, even if that money were placed right in front of me, I’d find it too filthy to spare a glance.”
Pen Spirit: ??
You think it’s filthy, but I don’t! Give it to me, give it all to me!!!