Volume One, Chapter Fourteen: Luxury Cars Turned into Carpool Rides

“This will be the last reading for today.”
It was already half past two. She still needed to go to the neighboring city to deal with that stone statue, so it wouldn’t do to spend too much time at home.

“Huh? Why does it feel like today went by so quickly? How many readings have there been? The streamer is getting lazier and lazier.”

“Yeah, seriously! I’ve been waiting in line for days and it’s still not my turn! And now it’s over again? Are all the people in the chat just paid actors? No one can ever get the lucky bag!”

“Don’t be a sore loser just because you didn’t get it. Did you watch the live broadcast from the Lujia Ditch highway last night? Did you see the headlines this morning? A man surnamed Nan from Lujia Ditch was found frozen to death in his house, kneeling as if kowtowing. Isn’t that proof enough that my wife here has real skills?”

“That’s right, Master Dianqiu still has to deal with that bizarre stone statue today. Only doing two readings is understandable.”

“Yeah, I’m at home waiting for the master to visit!”

While the chat argued, the lucky bag was already snatched.

Little Song Doesn’t Eat Sweets sends Eternal True Love.

Qin Yu was just about to send a video invite when Little Song Doesn’t Eat Sweets messaged in the chat, “Streamer, my job is a bit special, so I can’t do video or voice. I’ll chat with you privately later.”

“Private chat is fine, but if you need an in-person consultation, the price will be different.”

Little Song Doesn’t Eat Sweets: “Okay.”

Elsewhere.

The largest film studio in Dijin.

“Yuzhi, are you ready yet? The director is urging!”

Agent Sister Wu was hurrying her nonstop. Song Yuzhi immediately put away her phone, her exquisitely made-up face showing a trace of fatigue.

Sister Wu helped her put on a wig, gently advising, “Yuzhi, you’ve been doing really well lately! You’ve paid off a good chunk of the three million you owe the company. I believe you’ll clear it all soon!”

“What three million? Wasn’t it just one million?”

“That was just last month’s amount. You didn’t repay it on time, so a little interest isn’t unreasonable, right? Besides, all your resources now come from the company. The company gave you the opportunity; you should be grateful! Enough sulking—everyone’s waiting for you!”

——

Because Little Song Doesn’t Eat Sweets didn’t get a reading, Qin Yu sent out another lucky bag.

Idle Fish Slices sends Eternal True Love.

“What do you want to ask?”

“Can I ask about anything?” On screen, the man looked a little unkempt, his chubby face adorned with a pair of beady eyes. When he looked at Qin Yu, his gaze was earnest and expectant.

“In principle, as long as it doesn’t violate the law, morality, or the core values of socialism.”

“I want to ask for a female streamer’s safety.”

“That’s fine.”

“She’s also a streamer on Douya—her name is Bian Yingzi. Three months ago, she said she was taking a break from streaming to travel to Cambodia. Other than the first week when she posted some updates, there’s been no news since.” The man’s voice was full of worry and anxiousness he couldn’t hide.

“Guys, search up Bian Yingzi. You’ll thank me later.”

“Whoa, that body, that face! Top tier! Who wouldn’t be captivated?”

“I’m a woman and even I’m jealous, sob sob. Why can’t there be one more beauty in the world, namely me?”

“Idle Fish Slices, you definitely have good taste.”

Qin Yu searched her up as well.

She was indeed a beauty—strikingly alluring.

However...

“She’s already dead.”

And her death was extremely tragic.

Qin Yu frowned slightly. “Contact the Cambodian police and focus the search on the nearby ditches.”

The man’s eyes darkened with hatred. “Who killed her?”

Sensing the murderous air around him, Qin Yu pressed her lips together. “The dead cannot return. You have my condolences.”

“Condolences? How am I supposed to grieve? I waited in her streaming room every day for her to come back, and now you’re telling me she’s dead? How am I supposed to grieve?!” The man’s emotions erupted, and with a sweep of his arm, he knocked all the bottles and jars from his desk to the ground, clattering noisily.

Qin Yu formed a hand seal with her left hand. A calming incantation was cast, and only then did the man regain his composure.

Qin Yu’s voice was cold. “Instead of wallowing here, you’d be better off contacting the police immediately so her body can be recovered from that filthy ditch as soon as possible!”

The man seemed lost, and Qin Yu had no way of knowing how much of her words he would actually heed. But a drum doesn’t need a heavy blow to sound—she had said all she could.

As for Bian Yingzi’s manner of death...

Qin Yu felt something was strange.

But she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.

She hoped it was just her imagination.

After ending the stream, Qin Yu plugged in her phone to charge and went to the nearby package station to collect her deliveries.

The cinnabar and talisman paper she’d ordered online had arrived, along with some clothes.

When she’d lived at Lingshan Temple before, she wore her Daoist robes every day. The outfit she was wearing now was the only set of casual clothes her master had left her before she came down from the mountain.

Staring at her reflection in the mirror—a girl in a JK skirt, lips red and teeth white, slim-waisted and long-legged—Qin Yu’s eyes curved in a smile. She couldn’t help but sigh, “Girls in the city are so lucky, being able to wear such pretty little dresses.”

Happily spinning in front of the mirror, Qin Yu muttered to herself, “It is pretty, but it’s so short—too easy to have a wardrobe malfunction. For errands, Daoist robes are definitely more practical.”

As she spoke, she changed into another set—a calf-length, improved hanfu. Ink-wash patterns danced on the skirt’s gauzy fabric, and with Qin Yu’s movements, the dark-colored goldfish seemed to come alive, swimming between the layers of gauze, vivid and lifelike.

Qin Yu was very fond of this outfit. She used spiritual energy to cleanse the factory residue from the fabric before putting it on with peace of mind.

Thanks to the nourishment of spiritual energy, the ink painting on the skirt gained an added sense of charm.

Next, Qin Yu checked the talisman paper and cinnabar, only to be disappointed—the paper was too dark and coarse, and the cinnabar felt wrong in her hand, both in weight and quality.

With materials like these, any talisman she drew would be at least half as effective.

Good thing she hadn’t bought more.

Clearly, for cinnabar and talisman paper, only an in-person purchase lets you tell good from bad.

Dressed and equipped, having eaten a quick meal, Qin Yu’s ride-share finally arrived.

She looked at the understated black Bugatti Veyron before her, her doe eyes narrowing slightly.

The driver clearly hadn’t expected it to be her either. He rolled down the window halfway, his magnetic voice tinged with uncertainty. “Ending in 3285?”