Zheng Yanxia let out a couple of dry, silent chuckles, her smile a bit forced. Just then, her phone rang, and she answered it before stepping out.
Wang Ya glanced at Old Tang again. He was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, resting. Perhaps sensing her gaze, he opened his eyes and looked at her. Wang Ya naturally pursed her lips and said, “Old Tang, what do you think of that Dead Old Lady?”
Old Tang said, “I see that little friend seems to have a way to subdue her. I’d like to hear your esteemed opinion.” As he spoke, he politely cupped his hands toward Wang Ya.
Wang Ya said, “No money, no action.”
Old Tang said, “A’qi said she’ll give you the money tomorrow, and she will.”
Wang Ya said, “It’s hard to say if Zheng Yanxia will even survive the night. If I make a move, it’ll cost extra—you decide.” With that, she stood up to leave.
Old Tang said, “I was quite badly injured today and need several days of rest before I can exert myself. I hope little friend will lend a hand.”
Wang Ya did not respond, pondering in her mind how much to charge.
A few minutes later, the door opened. A tall, thin, scholarly-looking middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked in, with Zheng Yanxia following behind him. The middle-aged man strode straight to Old Tang with great enthusiasm, reaching out both hands to grasp Old Tang’s, who had already stood up. He exclaimed excitedly, “Bro, you’re finally here! You’re finally here! Sorry I couldn’t pick you up myself—I’ve been too busy. Forgive me, forgive me.”
Wang Ya could imagine how busy Boss Huang must be. Apart from everything else, just those dozens of lives lost at the construction site were enough to give him a headache. To prevent it from affecting sales, he had to seal off the news, handle compensations, and find people to deal with that old ghost—not being busy would be strange.
The two exchanged pleasantries, completely ignoring Wang Ya. She picked up her soup bowl, ladled herself another bowl, and sipped it slowly.
Finally, when their excitement died down a bit, Zheng Yanxia interjected, “Dad, this is Wang Ya. Wang Ya, this is my dad.”
Wang Ya looked up and said, “Hello, Boss Huang.”
Boss Huang stood again and extended his hand to Wang Ya. “Hello, Miss Wang. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Wang Ya saw that Boss Huang was polite but not particularly warm, so she shook his hand perfunctorily and stood to take her leave.
Old Tang lightly coughed as if his throat was uncomfortable. Zheng Yanxia immediately stood and said, “Wang Ya, I’ll walk you out. If you don’t mind, stay at my place tonight—it’ll be convenient to go to the bank together in the morning.”
Wang Ya smiled with pursed lips. “I don’t mind making an extra trip.”
Old Tang chuckled. “A’qi, Wang Ya is a straightforward person—no need to beat around the bush. Wang Ya, just name your price.”
Wang Ya grinned and held out her right palm, spreading all five fingers wide.
Zheng Yanxia opened her mouth, and though her expression did not change much, Wang Ya could tell she felt the pinch.
Wang Ya immediately pursed her lips. “Zheng Yanxia, do you think your life isn’t worth fifty thousand?”
Zheng Yanxia opened her mouth again, then turned to rummage in her handbag and pulled out fifty thousand in cash, handing it to Wang Ya. “Here’s fifty thousand.” She let out a big sigh of relief. “I thought you were asking for five hundred thousand just now.”
Wang Ya: “…” She looked at her hand, tempted to slap herself! But on second thought, fifty thousand was really quite a lot. Folks from her village who went out to work—except for those in cement, paint, or renovations who could earn seventy or eighty thousand a year—usually only made thirty or forty thousand. For her to earn in one go what others made in a year was pretty impressive!
Though Wang Ya and Zheng Yanxia had clashed several times, this was the first time she had actually received money from her—and such a large sum at fifty thousand. Her mood instantly brightened. She happily returned to the solid wood round table, sat down, placed the money in front of her, stared at it, and said, “Zheng Yanxia, sit down. Since your dad’s here too, let’s go over the situation at your family’s construction site while we’re at it—that way you’ll have a clear picture. I told you, if you think my one million two hundred thousand is too expensive, you can hire the expert beside you.”
Old Tang cupped his fists toward Wang Ya. “I won’t be able to circulate qi or exert force for the next few days—I’ll have to rely on you.”
Wang Ya flicked her eyes toward Old Tang. “Whether you’re injured or not, I can’t tell. You just got a bit of backlash and spat some blood. After resting all the way here and eating a full meal to recover your strength, you’ve long since recovered.”
Old Tang chuckled and gave Wang Ya a thumbs-up. “Little friend, your eyes are sharp. I’m impressed.”
Wang Ya ignored Old Tang. She could see he was determined to rope her into acting, so he was flattering her hard. She did not mind; she wanted to earn this money. It was a rare big deal. Honestly, it was hard to encounter such a ferocious ghost entity, and even rarer for someone to be willing to pay such a high price to deal with it! With this money, she could build a villa back home and provide for her grandma’s retirement! Others toiled away for ten or twenty years to build a house for retirement; she had been out for half a month and already made a fortune—such face! Most importantly, she had proven herself. So what if she was a daughter? Daughters could outshine sons!
Getting down to business, Wang Ya grew serious. “That’s an Ancient Old Ghost that cultivated by attaching itself to an underground Yin Vein. The construction site’s piling work damaged its coffin and corpse, startling it out. It has bound feet, from which we can deduce its age is at least over a hundred years—its ghost age won’t be low either. Age doesn’t matter much, nor does ghost age—it’s most important that this old ghost cultivated by attaching to an earth vein. Mountain spirits and ghosts that cultivate on mountain veins are called Mountain Gods; those on earth veins can be called Land God or Land Goddess.”
