Chapter Sixty-Nine: Mingyue’s Past
For lunch, Zhao Mingyue was once again chowing down on instant noodles at the convenience store.
Sure, there were restaurants nearby, but she was stuck since she was the only employee during the day. Besides taking the cash, she had to arrange the store’s inventory. Lu Liangting, who used to help with that, had up and left.
“Yumei, can you smell anything?”
As she slurped her noodles, Zhao Mingyue placed her rabbit plush toy on the table, her cheeks puffed out so much that her words barely made it out clearly.
“Yep!”
“Does it smell bad?”
“Kind of. I wouldn’t recommend eating this junk food every day.”
“Uh-huh! It’s only tasty at first. If you eat it every day, it turns into cardboard!” Zhao Mingyue set down her fork and cradled her rabbit plush toy.
Just as she finished that thought, she added, “Yumei, if your real self popped out, wouldn’t you just be like a normal person? Aside from skin problems, sunbathing, and picking stuff up, you wouldn’t be too different, right?”
At this, Bai Yu straightforwardly replied, unaware of the underlying implications, “Besides skin issues, there are differences, but they’re not huge. If I wanted to, I could overlook them. As for the sun, as long as it’s not too strong, I can handle short exposures.”
Her body was different from normal ghosts—denser, less ethereal.
The reason? The number of bl**d threads in her system.
Most ghosts are made of angry vaporized thoughts, and bl**d threads only appear after gaining a bit of power.
If typical ghosts had a “value” of ten bl**d threads, she had over one hundred and twenty.
That’s why when she materialized, she wasn’t like everyday specters.
But there was a downside: she had plenty of bl**d threads but lacked that anger.
Anger is what makes a ghost, and she was a bit short on that.
If she had an equal amount of angry thoughts to match her bl**d threads, her power would triple at least.
Bai Yu was ready to explain this to Zhao Mingyue when she suddenly blurted out, “Ah, so that’s why you can help me work and why that guy was staring at you earlier!”
“Um, Yumei, can you cook?”
“Cook?”
“Ahem, I meant when you were alive.”
Bai Yu knew exactly what Zhao Mingyue meant; the implication was all over her face like a billboard.
“So, you want me to make you food and deliver it at lunchtime, don’t you?” The rabbit plush toy lifted its head, red eyes gleaming ominously, as if it were glaring at Zhao Mingyue in a very ‘I’m-disappointed-in-you’ kind of way.
“Hehe, you caught me!” Zhao Mingyue felt a bit bashful.
But let’s be real: at that moment, she was indeed thinking about it.
After a long, hungry morning of work, wouldn’t it be delightful to have a scary ghost cute girl cook for her and deliver a lovingly prepared “lunch of love”?
“I can cook, but your safety is more important.”
“Ah~” Zhao Mingyue pouted, “Alright, I guess I’ll stick to instant noodles then.”
“……”
Moments later, after finishing her noodles, tidying up the store, and cleaning the floor, Zhao Mingyue yawned and returned to her seat.
Without customers or tasks, she rested her chin on the table and cradled her face in her hands.
Having hardly slept the night before, she was indeed worn out, but somehow, she still appeared fresh and bright—a miracle! No dark circles—max, she just looked a little less vibrant.
This gave her a softer look, almost like a literary beauty.
Although her grades at school were genuinely great.
“Yumei, I’ll get my paycheck tomorrow. If all goes well, I’ll have a day off—how about we go shopping together?”
“Sure.” Bai Yu didn’t refuse; it’s quite normal for girls to love shopping.
“I mean, you with me,” Zhao Mingyue grinned, her previous concerns over Bai Yu not cooking her lunch just vanished as new mischief brewed in her mind.
“Are you suggesting that I go out as my real self?”
“Yup, yup!” Zhao Mingyue nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling. “It’s supposed to be cloudy tomorrow—can we? Can we?!”
“Very dangerous.”
“I know it’s dangerous! I can doll you up so people won’t recognize you! I understand you’re scared of being exposed, but think about it: if you’re with me in broad daylight, no one will suspect a thing!”
“Mingyue… those people are very dangerous,” Bai Yu had trouble articulating her concern; she really didn’t want her to be so careless.
“Just this once!”
“No way… but I can accompany you with the plushie.”
“I…” Zhao Mingyue’s eyes dimmed for a second, revealing a hint of disappointment. This little mood shift wasn’t easy to catch, but she quickly masked it with a bright smile. “Well, the plushie works too.”
Eyes may not convey words like an LED screen, but with enough observation, one could notice shifts in feelings.
Bai Yu excelled at reading emotions through eyes, especially when it came to naïve Zhao Mingyue, who only had a pinch of cleverness.
Noticing Zhao Mingyue’s disappointment, Bai Yu decided to keep quiet.
She wouldn’t let her get into danger because of her stubbornness.
For the entire afternoon, Zhao Mingyue barely spoke.
Not due to anger; she’d spent most of the time gazing at her necklace.
Clearly an old piece, hard, shaped like a lotus, it seemed to hold something inside.
This must have been a keepsake from her parents.
Suddenly, Bai Yu recalled that Zhao Mingyue didn’t know about her own past, and she, in turn, had no clue about Zhao Mingyue’s history either—just that her parents had passed away and her only caretaker sister was gone too, leaving Zhao Mingyue all alone. What had happened during that time remained a mystery.
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