Chapter 11

Xia Zhiming seemed to quite like pulling off these sudden attacks, Qi Xu thought in her mind.

Unlike the first time, Qi Xu watched with wide-open eyes as Xia Zhiming’s somewhat thin lips pressed against her own. Xia Zhiming’s lips looked thin, but they actually felt soft to the touch. They also carried a bit of coolness, which made Qi Xu unable to help but think: So kissing really was such a comfortable thing.

Because she paid such close attention this time, she could truly feel a wisp of energy coming from Xia Zhiming, seeping into her limbs and bones, making her feel as if even her soul had been soothed—extremely comfortable.

She really was a female ghost with deep yin energy, after all; being soothed by such energy felt especially nice.

And because she hadn’t closed her eyes, she saw Xia Zhiming’s eyes. Staring at each other like this was quite embarrassing, but it also let her see Xia Zhiming’s crow-feather-like eyelashes and pitch-black eyes. Looking down a bit further, she could even see that alluring little mole of hers.

The kiss didn’t last long. When Xia Zhiming suddenly released Qi Xu, Qi Xu felt a bit reluctant to part.

Unfortunately, before she could savor that feeling for too long, she heard Xia Zhiming say disdainfully over there, “From now on, you should close your eyes! No rolling your eyes at me!”

“I…” Qi Xu wanted to explain that she hadn’t been rolling her eyes, but she quickly remembered that she had just been looking at her little mole. Upon closer thought, that action did look a lot like rolling her eyes. Qi Xu had nothing to say and could only obediently take the scolding.

After the two separated, Xia Zhiming took out her phone to play with it. Only then did Qi Xu remember, “Can I borrow a charger? My phone’s dead. I haven’t replied to messages all day; everyone must be worried sick looking for me.” Qi Xu was quite popular, so by now, plenty of people had probably messaged her or even called.

Xia Zhiming said nothing. She stood up, pulled an unopened charging cable from the TV cabinet, and tossed it to Qi Xu. Qi Xu thanked her, then scooted over to the TV, plugged in the cable. Since the charging port under the TV was low, Qi Xu thought for a moment and figured the floor looked clean enough. She simply sat down right there to charge while pressing the power button to turn on her phone.

Once the phone turned on, the chat app immediately popped up messages, and the phone icon in the bottom left showed several missed calls.

Qi Xu started replying to the messages one by one. At that moment, Xia Zhiming passed by from behind her. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Okay.”

Qi Xu first checked her counselor’s messages. The counselor clearly knew about her concussion hospitalization and was telling her all sorts of things about taking care of herself—how could she get a concussion just from going to a temple fair? If not for the diagnosis report, the counselor wouldn’t have quite believed it.

There was nothing Qi Xu could do; she couldn’t exactly tell her counselor that she’d seen a ghost. She could only acknowledge the advice while thanking her for the concern.

When she looked at the messages from the friends she’d gone to the temple fair with, however, Qi Xu sensed something off. Their implication was clearly that everyone had just accidentally taken a tumble, resulting in this. The friend who had tackled her to the ground even said: 【Qi Xu, I tried to pull you back but ended up tripping myself. Sigh, if only I’d been a bit stronger; I still couldn’t hold you. Rest well.】

“?” Confusion appeared on Qi Xu’s face. Wasn’t that how it happened? Your strength was pretty great—you pinned me straight to the ground, and I could barely struggle.

Realizing something was wrong, Qi Xu set down her phone and immediately stood up, wanting to find Xia Zhiming.

These one-bedroom loft apartments all had similar layouts: an open bedroom upstairs, stairs leading down to the living room below, with an open kitchen near the door on one side and a bathroom on the other. Xia Zhiming’s apartment was fairly spacious, with a high ceiling; even from the entrance, one could tell the bathroom and kitchen had plenty of room.

Qi Xu hurried to the bathroom door. Water was already running inside with a splash. She hesitated, knowing she shouldn’t disturb Xia Zhiming right now, but she was truly puzzled.

The sound of water in the bathroom abruptly stopped. Xia Zhiming turned off the faucet, and her voice soon followed. “What are you doing out there? Speak up.”

—She was really impressive; she even knew she was outside.

Qi Xu didn’t hesitate and asked directly. After hearing her out, Xia Zhiming laughed. “That must be because I replaced their memories, obviously. Otherwise, if everyone who experienced the supernatural event remembered it, wouldn’t the whole world know ghosts exist?”

“You can even do something like that?!”

“If there’s nothing else, get out of the way. Don’t disturb my shower.”

Qi Xu said “oh, oh” and returned to the living room by the TV, sitting on the floor to pick up her phone and continue replying to messages. Once all the messages were answered, Qi Xu heard the sound of Xia Zhiming blow-drying her hair upstairs. She relaxed her mind and dazedly thought: Should she take a shower later too? She had no change of clothes—what to do?

If she didn’t shower, Qi Xu wouldn’t be able to get past her own mental hurdle. She hadn’t showered at the temple fair yesterday, and if she skipped today too, that would be two days. Waiting until tomorrow would make it three. Normally she could endure it, but yesterday she’d fallen to the ground several times, and today she’d come back from the hospital… No, she really couldn’t hold out.

Maybe she could go to a nearby supermarket and buy some disposable stuff while Xia Zhiming was still showering? Underwear was out of the question; Qi Xu wouldn’t use anything that hadn’t been washed first.

Who didn’t wash underwear before wearing it, especially stuff bought online? Who knew the conditions in the factory where it was made. If it was a returned item, that would be even worse. So Qi Xu was insistent: any clothes she bought had to be scalded with hot water first.

Then what about wearing these clothes after washing? Qi Xu grew even more conflicted.

No, that wouldn’t do at all.

While Qi Xu agonized over there, Xia Zhiming came out. Hearing the sound, Qi Xu looked toward her. Xia Zhiming wasn’t dressed scantily, but not heavily either—just ordinary cartoon-patterned pajamas. Truth be told, back in the dorm, all the boarding students, Qi Xu included, dressed like that.

Seeing her dormmates like that gave Qi Xu no particular feeling, but seeing Xia Zhiming like this made her cheeks heat up a bit.

Probably because the two of them had that kissing relationship now, so seeing her like this made her feel… well, her heart wasn’t calm.

Xia Zhiming paid it no mind. Dressed in her pink pajamas, she went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, took a few sips, and then said, “I’ll grab some clothes for you from upstairs. Hurry and change. These clothes are so dirty, and you’re still wandering around my place in them—take them off quick!”

“Okay.”

Qi Xu didn’t find Xia Zhiming’s words hurtful at all. Instead, she thought: Great, I have clothes to change into!

When Xia Zhiming came down from upstairs, Qi Xu had a set of pajamas and fresh underwear.

“These are all new. You should wear M size too.”

Qi Xu nodded, took the clothes, and headed into the bathroom. After showering, she stuffed her clothes into the washing machine. When she came out, she didn’t see Xia Zhiming in the living room, so she called upstairs, “Xia Zhiming, where should I hang the clothes to dry later?”

“Doesn’t the bathroom have a dryer? Just dry them there—what’s with the hanging?” Xia Zhiming gripped the upstairs railing, leaned out, and pointed at the double sofa after she was done. “That’s a sofa bed. Pull it out and sleep there tonight.” With that, she shrank back inside.

While Qi Xu wondered how she’d sleep without bedding and pillows, a quilt and pillow came flying down from above. Qi Xu instinctively reached out to catch them, hugging them to her chest. “Don’t bother me anymore! Just stay put!”

“Okay…”

Qi Xu pulled out the double sofa, which felt a bit short. She eyed the single sofa nearby, pushed it together with the double one, and it made about the size of a single bed. She laid out the pillow and quilt, brought over her phone.

Once the clothes finished washing, Qi Xu tidied them and set them on the TV cabinet beside her, then lay down on the sofa bed to sleep. But Qi Xu couldn’t fall asleep, because Xia Zhiming upstairs was playing on her phone, watching videos. The sound wasn’t too loud, but Qi Xu could hear it clearly. With that noise, she simply couldn’t sleep.

Qi Xu wanted to tell her to stop using the speaker—no sense of public decency. Back in the dorm, she always used earphones for videos. But on second thought, this was Xia Zhiming’s own place, and she probably did this all the time, so Qi Xu didn’t say anything.

She tossed and turned on the sofa bed, thinking about her ghostly appearance. She couldn’t accept her current half-human half-ghost identity, but not accepting it didn’t seem to change anything. She could only pin her hopes on Xia Zhiming actually finding a way to turn her back into a human.

Qi Xu thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but after a while, she unknowingly drifted off.

She slept very well. The next morning, she was woken by the bright sunlight. She mumbled a couple times and, just as she opened her eyes, was shocked fully awake by the sight before her.

On the second-floor platform, a head poked out, hair dangling messily upside down. Hearing Qi Xu’s voice, the head moved, then stared at her with an expressionless face. Qi Xu realized in that instant it was Xia Zhiming’s face, but she still couldn’t help letting out a piercing shriek:

“Ghost!”

The cry was deafening, making Xia Zhiming upstairs retract her head. Only then did Qi Xu realize Xia Zhiming had just been peeking down at her.

“What’s with the racket? You were snoring half the night and I didn’t say a word, but I just glance at you and you scream like that. Don’t go making the neighbors complain to the property management.”

Whether they’d complain or not was another matter, but given the situation, Qi Xu felt that before she found a way to become human again, Xia Zhiming would scare her to death first.