Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Qiao Yu straightened up and quickly stepped aside. “Nothing. I was just sweeping. After you. I won’t get in the way of your work.”

The ward-round nurse pulled her nursing cart over, her gaze still icy. “You’d better not. I’m warning you, don’t look at what you shouldn’t look at, don’t listen to what you shouldn’t listen to. Just sweep your floor like you’re supposed to, understand?”

Qiao Yu ignored that stare completely and pressed on, “Then what counts as something I shouldn’t listen to or look at?”

The ward-round nurse suddenly leaned right into his face. Patches of livor mortis began surfacing across her skin. “Stay away from anything to do with the patients!”

Qiao Yu nodded without a care in the world. While silently counting the spots on the nurse’s face, he said, “Can I ask you one more question?”

The ward-round nurse didn’t answer, but she also didn’t push her cart away.

Qiao Yu took that as agreement. “How much do you nurses make a month?”

The ward-round nurse stared at him for a long while before saying coldly on her way out, “Eighty thousand.”

Qiao Yu: ??

What!

Eighty thousand yuan!!!

He stared at the door as it gently closed in front of him, and suddenly the broom in his hand didn’t feel so appealing anymore…

Why did janitors have to work so hard for only sixty thousand?

No. He couldn’t be this unambitious. He had to go find the director. He wanted a promotion and a raise. He wanted to buy a house and a car!

Qiao Yu tossed the broom aside and strode toward the elevator.

Coincidentally, the elevator happened to be stopped on this floor. He walked in and pressed the button for the seventh floor, but strangely, the elevator didn’t react.

Qiao Yu pressed it again. Still nothing.

Impatient, he kicked the elevator.

Elevator Ghost: …

“This has nothing to do with me!”

A sharp roar rang out from above. Qiao Yu caught sight of a dark shadow flashing past overhead and frowned to himself.

Then what was stopping him from going up?

It seemed that in the dream, it was right when he reached the seventh floor that his consciousness had suddenly snapped back…

Qiao Yu thought for a moment, then took out his phone and dialed that familiar number.

The call connected in the blink of an eye.

Qiao Yu was as polite as ever. “Busy?”

Phone Ghost said, “What do you want?”

“I need the phone number for the director of the inpatient department at Ningping County First People’s Hospital.”

Phone Ghost ventured cautiously, “…Maybe you should eat some preserved plums and calm down?”

Qiao Yu shrugged. “No money. You buying?”

Phone Ghost: ??

Soon, a hoarse voice recited a number from the receiver, and then the call was cut off at lightning speed.

As he dialed, Qiao Yu clicked his tongue. “This Phone Ghost sure has a busy line of work.”

No sooner had he spoken than the call was answered.

“Hello, this is the inpatient department of Ningping County First People’s Hospital.”

“Hello, Director. This is Qiao the Janitor.”

Director Ghost: !!!

“Hello?” Qiao Yu listened to the dead silence on the other end and thought the signal was bad, so he hurried out of the elevator and called out persistently, “Hello? Can you hear me? Director?”

“What are you doing?”

The director’s voice sounded full of exhaustion and… strain.

Qiao Yu didn’t pay it any mind and expressed his request succinctly. “I don’t want to be a janitor anymore. I want to apply to be a nurse.”

The moment he finished speaking, the call was hung up with a snap.

Qiao Yu brought the phone in front of his eyes, confusion in his gaze. “So was that a yes or a no?”

Just then, he suddenly felt a chill around his thighs. He looked down and discovered that at some point, he had changed into a nurse’s dress. The name badge read-First-Floor Lobby Receptionist: Nurse Qiao.

Qiao Yu stared at his two bare legs, his expression complicated.

Only after a long while did he frown and curse, “Son of a bitch! This director is way too stingy. He couldn’t even give me a pair of long johns?”

Qiao Yu tugged at the ill-fitting nurse’s dress, but it still couldn’t cover his knees. When he walked, it even rode up faintly, revealing his pale, cold thighs…

Sure, there was nothing shameful about making money, but… he just felt awkward. There was a little mental hurdle he couldn’t quite get over.

-Holy shit! Those legs are so straight, so long, and so pretty. Slurp~
-Wait, the streamer is that stacked? What the hell was blinding me before?

-Allow me to explain, upstairs. It’s because the streamer has a mouth.

-I get why that person would like the streamer now. If it were me, I’d like him too. (lecherous grin.jpg)

-+1. Those are the legendary legs for days!

-I’m a guy and even my heart skipped a beat. Let me make this clear in advance: I’m straight. Focus on this part! Straight!!!

-Look at you getting all worked up. It’s not like we said we didn’t believe you. Or are you feeling guilty??

-Get lost~

The pitch-black lobby was lit only by the faint glow of the small desk lamp on the duty counter. The moment Qiao Yu sat down, the window behind the desk was suddenly blown open by a gust of cold wind. The plain white curtains billowed, forming an eerie silhouette.

The cold wind howled as it rushed inside, making the curtains snap and flutter. The sound echoed through the empty lobby like the dying cries of a patient clinging to his last breath.

Qiao Yu propped his chin up with one hand as if he hadn’t heard a thing, lowering his head to browse the dazzling array of products on the duty counter.

Toothbrush (68 yuan), towel (99 yuan), mouthwash (144 yuan)…

Mm. These prices were very Ningping County First People’s Hospital.

Just then, the black shadow hidden behind the curtain slowly moved. Looking at the person flipping through the goods at the counter, it split its mouth into a grin.

“Play with me… play with me… play with me…”

Qiao Yu lazily lifted his eyes and saw a small, skinny, bluish hand reaching in through the open window. The tender little arm looked like it belonged to a young child.

“Play with me…”

Qiao Yu shook his head. “No can do. My mom doesn’t let me play with strange children.”

Infant Ghost: ??

Wait, wasn’t that the kind of line I was supposed to be saying?

The Infant Ghost fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly shot out and grabbed the hem of Qiao Yu’s clothes. Its upturned face was as bluish-white as its arm, and its tone was forceful. “No. I want you to play with me.”

Qiao Yu looked down. “And who do you think you are? No.”

After saying that, Qiao Yu stretched out a pale, slender finger and deliberately jabbed the Infant Ghost hard in the forehead. He nearly poked the little ghost into a somersault; it wobbled back and forth like a roly-poly toy, looking terribly pitiful.

Qiao Yu burst out laughing.

He felt no shame at all about bullying a child.

The Infant Ghost couldn’t take the blow and burst into tears with a loud wail.

Qiao Yu: 0.0

Seeing the Infant Ghost cry louder and louder, Qiao Yu quickly grabbed something from the counter and stuffed it into the Infant Ghost’s mouth.

The next second, the crying stopped.

The Infant Ghost was left with a pacifier in its mouth, its expression dazed.

Qiao Yu narrowed his eyes. “Fine, I’ll play with you. How about mahjong?”

The Infant Ghost blinked, took out the pacifier, and said pitifully, “But I’m still a child. I don’t know how to play mahjong.”

“It’s very simple.” Qiao Yu snatched the pacifier back and stuffed it into the Infant Ghost’s mouth again. “From now on, your name is Mahjong. All you have to do is stand there and not move.”

Infant Ghost: …

Really. In all the time since it had been born, it had never met someone this hardcore.

Seeing that the little ghost seemed about to cry again, Qiao Yu had no choice but to grab it by the arm and pick it up. “All right, I won’t tease you anymore. Seriously, which floor and ward do you live in?”

The Infant Ghost sucked on the pacifier, its voice turning soft and childish again. “Second floor, Ward 210.”

“It’s the middle of the night. Hurry back, or your mom will worry.”

Qiao Yu sent the Infant Ghost into the elevator, pressed the button for the second floor for it, then turned and walked back.

A ding soon came from the elevator behind him. Qiao Yu looked back and confirmed that the elevator had stopped on the second floor before he felt at ease.

Just then, something icy silently wrapped around his waist. Before Qiao Yu could react, a silver chain instantly yanked him into the dark stairwell alcove…

The newcomer lightly rested long, warm fingers on his shoulder. His low voice rang beside Qiao Yu’s ear like the rich notes of a cello. “Qiao Yu, dressed like this… who are you trying to seduce?”