Chapter 90: The Child Raised by a Vicious Ghost
Gu Qiqi’s childhood experience was indeed very much like what the system described, a relatively classic protagonist template.
Around the age of six, her parents unfortunately passed away; so much time had passed that their appearances in her memory had completely transformed into two vague outlines with only their titles left.
She couldn’t remember how they had died; afterward, she lived with her uncle, who said they had encountered fugitives being pursued by the police and panicked, taking a wrong turn.
Her uncle was in the futures business and their home was quite nice. When she first moved in, they even lived in a two-story small villa. Her room was arranged on the second floor where she could see the small rooftop garden.
Her uncle and father had a good relationship, and he treated Gu Qiqi well, with her brother being very gentle too. They protected her very well as a family.
Growing up in such an environment helped Gu Qiqi mitigate the shadows in her heart.
Looking back, the years spent in her uncle’s home were the happiest times she could remember.
However, the good times didn’t last. One day before her fifteenth birthday, her uncle’s family disappeared.
On that day, she was eagerly anticipating the various preparations her family would make for her birthday the next day, tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep.
Perhaps it was due to her excitement, she didn’t notice how eerily quiet the whole house was that night, and she played on her phone until late before finally falling asleep.
When she woke up the next day, it was nearly noon. As she opened her room’s door, a cloud of choking dust rushed at her, revealing a scene of decay and desolation.
The wooden floor on the second floor seemed to have been damp for a long time, bulging with large and small bumps everywhere. The few remaining pieces of furniture were covered with thick dust, cobwebs hung in the corners, and the walls were soaked with water stains, covered in mold, with large patches clustered together, resembling distorted, struggling human figures.
The whole house appeared to have been abandoned for a long time.
At first, Gu Qiqi held onto a glimmer of hope, believing that everything in front of her was just a birthday surprise prepared by her family, even though she didn’t like it very much.
However, when she went downstairs and searched around, she could only find a broken pale paper figure and a stack of unburned paper money.
Her uncle’s family had truly disappeared, completely vanished, as if they had never existed at all.
The phone number was a non-working number, no one in the neighborhood had seen them, and even the police station had no records of their household registration.
As she walked out of the police station, Gu Qiqi felt as if her soul had left her body while she walked home.
At that time, she thought, as long as the house was still there, she would stay, and one day they would return.
Then.
When she got home, she found that her home was also gone. No matter how many times she took the elevator, she couldn’t reach that floor, the floor where she had lived for many years.
Thus, overnight, she became an orphan, a homeless girl without relatives.
She struggled to survive, taking on various odd jobs, sleeping in parks, living under bridges, and because she was pretty, she almost got tricked into being sold to the famous GHS city of Pattaya in Asia.
If she hadn’t been too poor to buy a bus ticket and fainted from hunger in the park the night before her departure, she would probably have really gone.
After experiencing significant changes, one’s personality often veers towards two extremes: gloomy and twisted, or goofy and silly.
Gu Qiqi was clearly the latter.
Of course, the reason Gu Qiqi had turned out this way was also closely related to her later encounter with the system.
As long as the system didn’t disappear, she might remain this pure…
…
In Huacheng, at the Xuefu Road Police Station, in a certain office.
Hearing that her family had come to pick her up, some uncomfortable memories flashed through Gu Qiqi’s mind, and she subconsciously felt her eyes moisten.
Noticing Gu Qiqi’s odd behavior, the police officer quickly reassured her, “Little girl, don’t be afraid. We have explained everything to your family. The responsibility for this incident isn’t yours; they shouldn’t blame you.”
“Um, um…” Gu Qiqi mumbled in response but showed no intention of walking out of the office.
She stood there in a daze, silently calling out in her mind.
“System? Are you there?”
“……”
After a brief silence, the system’s response echoed in her mind.
“Gu Qiqi, I suggest you better not meet those so-called family members. We both know the situation at home; we don’t even know what kind of bizarre scenario it is now!” the system said.
Maybe it’s the calamity at work!
It quietly added in its mind.
“But…” Gu Qiqi hesitated.
At that moment, a knock on the door sounded.
“Tap tap tap——tap tap tap——!”
“Who is it?”
“We’re Gu Qiqi’s family,” came the response from outside. Gu Qiqi’s heart leaped into her throat, and she instinctively clenched her small fist, her lost expression looking like a lost kitten.
“Oh, oh, come in.”
After receiving permission from the police officer in the office, the door was pushed open, revealing an elderly man who appeared spirited, leading a beautifully carved girl who looked around fourteen or even younger, in front of the office door.
Seeing the two suddenly appear at the office door, Gu Qiqi froze in place.
They… are my family?
The girl was Luxianbei, whom she naturally recognized, but who was the old man next to her?
…
Professor Ma had no idea what sin he had committed to get tangled up with someone like Luxianbei, getting himself into her mess.
He actually had to deceive the police back-to-back twice in one day!
It was really too difficult!
The positive image he had taken decades to build between students and teachers would soon be completely ruined by Luxianbei, he thought.
When he received Luxianbei’s phone call, he was almost ready to curse over the phone.
However, upon hearing that soft and cute voice and listening to Luxianbei explain the situation, he silently pulled out a coin.
One side was to help her lie, the other was to turn a blind eye.
When he saw the coin clink onto the table with a “ding!” sound, revealing its face, Professor Ma let out a silent sigh in his heart.
Since the choice was given to the coin, he could only accept this result.
Go, go, even if it’s not to help Luxianbei, it could also be to help that student I’ve never met.
If worse comes to worst, let this secret rot in my guts forever; as long as everyone doesn’t know I’ve done something to ruin my reputation, my reputation won’t be ruined!
Luckily, I know some people in law enforcement; I should think of a way to successfully cover this up, Professor Ma thought, looking at the coin.
Although it’s somewhat inconvenient to say, this society is ultimately a society of personal connections.
Otherwise, what other way is there?
Luxianbei’s situation didn’t even have real household registration information; if it were to be investigated, it would definitely cause huge problems.
…
Luxianbei was originally thinking that her car stealing technique guided by a certain Zhou from Guangxi was pretty cool. If it weren’t for her current ghostly appearance, Gu Qiqi would probably have been mesmerized.
However, she didn’t expect that the broken car would run so slowly, so she ended up following Gu Qiqi down Zhou’s old path.
After being taken to the police station, the first person she thought of was Professor Ma.
After all, so far, the people who knew her secret could be counted on one hand, and yes, Professor Ma was the only one.
If not him, who else could she turn to? Should she resist and spend the whole night in the police station, waiting for dawn when the Siye Society would come to bail her out?
By then, the best-case scenario would probably be that the exit of the police station would lead to Yun Kang Psychiatric Hospital.
So, she might as well contact Professor Ma? Worst comes to worst, she could just write a couple more papers!
Thus, after a brief conversation with Professor Ma, Luxianbei reached an agreement to take on the task of organizing the literature.
But that’s fine; he’s a man! It’s only right for him to bear a little more.
…
“System, what should I do now?”
Staring at the two by the door, Gu Qiqi anxiously asked in her mind.
System, “……”
“System?”
System, “……”
“Sy…”
After a long silence, the system finally responded in a very tiny voice, “Go with them. If you fight here, it will definitely attract the attention of the Siye Society.”
Just as Luxianbei didn’t want to be targeted by the Siye Society, for certain reasons, the system also didn’t want Gu Qiqi to be watched by the Siye Society.
An ordinary girl raised by a vicious ghost hadn’t shown any twisted character; the system thought the Siye Society’s interest in her wouldn’t be any less than in Luxianbei.
In fact, one reason the system had chosen Gu Qiqi as a host was partially due to this.
After receiving the system’s response, Gu Qiqi opened her mouth, just about to step forward to “recognize” Luxianbei and Professor Ma, when Luxianbei stepped forward first and gave her a bear hug.
“Sister, you scared me to d*ath! Are you okay?”
“Eh?!”
The sudden embrace startled Gu Qiqi, and just then, Luxianbei whispered in her ear.
“Professor Ma is our school’s teacher. Don’t be afraid; he will help us handle this matter.”
As she spoke, Luxianbei took a step back, deliberately scrutinizing Gu Qiqi carefully, and earnestly said, “Sister, grandpa has come to pick us up; let’s hurry and go!”
This time, even the system was stunned, quickly regaining its senses and internally rolling its eyes.
See?
This is the true face of calamity—a brutal, bloodthirsty temperament, cold-blooded yet excellent at acting, lying without a hint of guilt—a terrifying urban legend.
Lying in front of the police without even blinking! the system thought.
“Grandpa…” Gu Qiqi paused, puzzled, and prepared to look towards Professor Ma, but Luxianbei hurried to hold her tightly again before she could give any clues to the police.
The Professor, who was filling out forms nearby, suddenly heard the two girls calling out “grandpa” in succession and couldn’t help but feel a warm flow rise in his heart as his long-held wish was fulfilled.
Hmm~! This feeling is great! This help is truly worth it! Professor Ma thought.
…
After filling out the forms, the police officer, upon realizing he was the professor of his own superior, didn’t investigate the authenticity of the information too deeply. He casually collected the form and cheerfully sent them off from the police station.
“Hehe, two young ladies, hurry back home with your grandpa! Next time something similar happens, don’t lie. How could you say you live under a bridge?”
As they walked to the door of the police station, the officer casually mentioned this while waving goodbye to the three and turned to re-enter the station.
After hearing the officer’s words, Luxianbei and Professor Ma simultaneously looked at Gu Qiqi, who was still out of the loop.
“……”
Her family really might live under a bridge.
How pitiful.
