Chapter 243: Dates and Upgrades
Lu Liangting took the matter of the ghost marriage very seriously.
However, when it came to arranging a blind date for Old Yang, he couldn’t pull it off as clearly. All those previous comments were just jokes; where in the world would he find so many female ghosts for Old Yang? You can’t just drag him to a crematorium to pick out some ashes. That would be illegal and immoral!
Bribing with money wouldn’t work either; he couldn’t reconcile his conscience with that.
But it wasn’t a big deal. After all, Old Yang had low standards; his first love wasn’t exactly a goldmine of desirable traits. Any female ghost with better qualifications would surely have her own issues. They could just sort through them like dating profiles. All he needed was a decent spirit to help out, just like hiring a matchmaker.
“Alright, I’m looking for something like this…”
While eating alone, Old Yang sat across from him, listing his criteria and demands. He rambled on about height—preferably around 1.7 meters, body type, and all sorts of serious personality traits. Especially, he excluded the cold and aloof types and definitely didn’t want anyone associated with violent kn*fe-wielding.
By the end of it, Old Yang even mentioned the causes of d*ath for potential matches, like, they couldn’t have died from falling off a building. Too messy. No car accidents either, and definitely no fire or drowning deaths.
On the plus side, he did propose a few suitable ones, like having peacefully passed away, sudden heart attacks, or poison overdoses. All preferred options that didn’t leave behind unpleasant appearances.
Naturally, dying of old age was the best, but Old Yang rejected that right off the bat.
He didn’t fancy old ghosts.
Lu Liangting nodded along, repeatedly agreeing, “Right, right, good point. What you said makes sense.”
In the end, he would be the one to choose anyway.
In a curious twist, he even asked Old Yang whether he wanted to check the birth charts of potential matches. Old Yang’s response was simple: who checks birth charts for regular ghosts? If he didn’t like them, just give them a good smack. Once beaten into submission, any incompatible birth chart wouldn’t matter.
After lunch, Lu Liangting soon arrived at the designated meeting spot.
Before he could catch his breath, someone patted him on the shoulder from behind. A spirited Shen Shuyun, dressed in a JK uniform, jumped out, full of energy.
“Hey! Isn’t that my homeboy Lu the Young Master? How have you been these past few days? Staying busy, huh?”
Today, Shen Shuyun’s youthful and vibrant appearance was eye-catching. Such a cute girl could stand out anywhere, making one marvel at the beauty of youth.
Unlike other female madmen, Shen Shuyun’s style was the most comfortable for Lu Liangting. Others, with their bizarre makeup and fashion, would have been mistaken for lunatics—thankfully, she had the baseline beauty to pull it off.
“I’ve been dealing with some stuff in Pinghai City.”
“Pinghai City? I was just there! It was wild, two big factions were brawling. The scenes weren’t huge but there was plenty of action, especially in the end—a visual feast! Just two words: harvest time.”
Shen Shuyun smiled cheerily before she suddenly waved her hand, “Smell anything?”
“Smell?” Lu Liangting sniffed the air, and in the next moment, a fragrant breeze swept over him as Shen Shuyun stepped closer, nearly pressing against him.
The girl was much shorter, so she tilted her head back slightly, wearing a smile that could melt hearts. “It’s the new shampoo and body wash I used today! How do you like it?”
“I…” Lu Liangting took a half step back, “Uh, it’s, um, nice.”
Not gonna lie, the scent was genuinely pleasant. The aroma of her shampoo and body wash was a far cry from those cheap perfumes—fresh and subtly fragrant, it was refreshingly delightful.
“Don’t be so perfunctory,” Shen Shuyun’s smile vanished as she shot him a playful glare. “If you keep this up, I might just leave.”
“Wait!” Lu Liangting reached out.
“Oh? Backtracking?” Shen Shuyun tilted her head, “Let me give you another chance.”
She extended her hand, “What are you waiting for? Grab my hand!”
“Uh, well…”
This was a bustling commercial street; crowds were everywhere. Shen Shuyun’s pure and adorable look drew people’s attention, and suddenly, even more heads turned to see their little interaction, some whispering and pointing.
Perhaps they were thinking how ungrateful Lu Liangting was for not cherishing such a beautiful girl, or maybe they were just jealous of his luck, muttering curses wishing he would trip and fall on his face.
Under the gaze of so many, Lu Liangting felt that if he didn’t grab the girl’s hand, he might just be publicly executed.
What a torment.
Seeing that delicate little hand painted a soft blue, Lu Liangting gritted his teeth and forced himself to reach out.
Old Yang was practically in his head yelling,
“Come on! Just do it!”
“Seriously, dude, you’re really brainless! A super cute girl is waiting for you to take her hand, and you’re just here staring like a statue! You’re such a loser! I’m telling you, Lu Liangting, you only have so many youthful years; if you don’t seize this opportunity, you’re gonna regret it!”
Trembling, he held onto her soft little hand. The embarrassment was enough to make his toes curl, and his heart raced for reasons he couldn’t quite understand.
Shen Shuyun smiled again, yanking his hand and easily linking her arm through his, leaning in close and whispering, “Today is our chance! All those female madmen are busy fighting over land in Pinghai City. No one’s paying attention to you today.”
“I’ve got some things we’re going to enjoy today! I’m judging your performance, and if you don’t do well, then I won’t give you the goods. Got it?”
“Lu Liangting, you don’t want to fall behind, do you?”
“Relax, nothing excessive will happen. It’s just for fun, that’s all.”
“I have a scorecard that I’ll use to evaluate your actions and choices, scoring out of a hundred. If you get over eighty, I’ll reward you.”
After finishing her spiel, Shen Shuyun pointed down the street and pulled Lu Liangting along, “Let’s go! I want to try that first!”
With the jealous gazes of envious males burning into him, Lu Liangting found himself being led by the girl towards the other side of the street.
He realized just how formidable Shen Shuyun had become lately.
Take the previous incident for example; it wasn’t until she put her hand on his shoulder that he even noticed her presence. In other words, if he were her enemy and she had a kn*fe in hand, he’d probably be in deep trouble.
Only a significant gap in strength could lead to such a situation.
Originally, Shen Shuyun hadn’t been that much stronger than him—how much time had passed?
It was clear that everyone was growing stronger, and Lu Liangting was lagging behind significantly.
There was only one option now: he had to become more powerful.
Throughout the day, Shen Shuyun truly lived up to her words.
She didn’t engage in any over-the-top antics; it was like a normal date—they shopped for clothes, grabbed some snacks, wandered through the mall, hit the arcade to play games, caught a toy, strolled to the cinema, and watched a blockbuster flick. Afterward, they went on a buy-buy-buy spree, indulging in all sorts of milk tea and snacks.
It was mind-boggling how Shen Shuyun managed to munch through the entire afternoon without stopping, maintaining her flat belly throughout.
In the meantime, she often pulled out a small notebook from her pocket and scribbled something with a pencil.
He never attempted to sneak a peek, but Old Yang did, only to get shot down with a single glare, too scared to make a sound.
She was likely using it to grade his performance today.
That made sense; if he wanted a reward, he’d have to put in the effort—nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Still, hanging out with a girl was exhausting—not physically, but man, it was mentally draining.
He truly missed the ease of hanging out with Old Yang—free to say anything without a care in the world. No way Old Yang would get angry; it was refreshingly liberating.
This afternoon? Every word he uttered was scrutinized in his mind, and it was utterly exhausting.
“What’s with you, Young Master Lu? Been staring at my belly this whole time,” Shen Shuyun asked, sitting on a park bench, getting out her tiny notebook to write and draw. Looking up after finishing, she waved her pencil at him.
“It’s post-meal, give me a second to think.” With the pencil resting against her lips, she tilted her head back, gazing at the sky, “By typical couple standards, we should be heading to a hotel now for some scandalous activities.”
Her bright eyes sparkled with mischief.
Lu Liangting leaped from the bench, his voice firm, “No way!”
“Okay, but what if I said if we did that, you’d get a perfect score?”
“Still no!”
“Fine, fine, just joking! If you want it, I might not even want it! I’d be the one losing out,” Shen Shuyun stood up too, packing away her pencil and pulling out the notebook to hand it to him.
“Here you go, Young Master Lu. This is your score for today. Take your time, I’m off now.”
Without another word, she turned to leave, her expression suddenly looking quite despondent.
As she walked away, fireworks lit up across the lake, beautiful and mesmerizing.
Lu Liangting picked up the notebook, scrutinizing the notes carefully.
It started with a big fat hundred, with the two zeros drawn into heart shapes, followed by a little message.
“Congratulations! You got a perfect score.”
“First off, I owe you an apology for making you spend time with me this way. But if I hadn’t done it, you probably wouldn’t have even looked my way.”
“Honestly, along the way, I hinted to you several times that you would score perfectly. I just wanted you to relax a bit and not be so tense.”
“I don’t want you feeling pressured because today is a day filled with significance for me. It’s really important.”
“You don’t believe me at all, huh? That’s okay, I truly don’t care about your thoughts. As long as I’m happy, that’s what matters.”
“Today has been genuinely delightful; thank you for your company.”
“By the way, the goods you wanted are on the last page.”
“I promise I wasn’t lying—what I say goes.”
Under the fireworks, Lu Liangting finished the last word and looked up towards Shen Shuyun.
The girl strolled away, looking particularly fragile and lonely under the night sky.
The last page of the notebook had a small pouch inside, containing a drop of thick, pure black liquid that resembled bl**d.
Old Yang appeared in his mind.
“Lu Liangting, I can feel it; this item is extremely important to me!”
·
·
Please support! So needy~
