It was a Friday evening before she went to sleep when Zhan Rong finally thought of taking a look at the pet ghost "rewarded" to her more than a week ago. It was a sudden curiosity that allowed the idea to spring up, a decision made without any instigation from the system or the ghost. She did a lot of mental preparation and repeatedly encouraged herself that no matter what kind of pet ghost the system threw her way, it would still be just one ghost. Hadn"t she encountered more than a hundred of them?
After freshening up and drying her hair, she changed into a s.h.i.+rt and hot pants and then double-checked if she had left the door to her hotel room unlocked. If worse comes to worst, she wanted to at least be able to run away.
When everything was set, she closed her eyes for a while before saying softly.
"System, show me the exclusive ghost pet."
At the same time that she finished speaking, her eyes opened just in time to see the familiar blue panel appearing.
[As you wish, Host… Establis.h.i.+ng a connection with the Pet Ghost Jiang Li… Please patiently wait... 30... 29... 10... 2...1]
[Congratulations! Pet Ghost successfully summoned!]
Zhan Rong unconsciously gulped, her eyes slowly scanning the place. When she found n.o.body in front of her, her body became tense and she immediately turned around then jumped back. If the spirit was not in front, wouldn"t it be behind her?
Her bare feet made sound noise against the cold tile as she moved.
After a dozen seconds spent on inspecting the other side of the room, her face became wreathed in confusion and she blurted out, "... n.o.body?"
How come?
Zhan Rong realized from the beginning, she felt no gloomy and oppressive aura enveloping her body which she would usually experience whenever a spirit was around. Normally, she would feel coldness wrapping around her too, as if she was suddenly dragged into the water. It would always be a situation where she would feel gooseb.u.mps, her mouth drying up.
But none of these happened to her tonight.
Did she receive an invisible ghost? The kind unseen to people like her? Although it sounded stupid… but how kind of the system.
"As if!"
The large hand of the wall clock struck twelve, with the small hand pointing at 10. An awkward chuckle came from her when she reflected how foolish she looked just now.
It happened then… when her eyes moved down and then her body froze.
The screen floating in front of her showed some changes.
In reality, Zhan Rong felt none of the aforementioned signs since Jiang Li was not a hostile spirit. He was actually about to appear, with a bad intent to plaster his handsome face before her eyes at a very close distance.
However, he backed out at the last minute, finding something on his astral body problematic. Naturally, Zhan Rong saw no one.
"Won"t it make a bad impression to be dressed like a country b.u.mpkin from several decades ago? What I"m currently wearing is so ugly."
Men were less meticulous than women? That was a lie.
Although they take less time fiddling with their appearance, the concern about their appearance was at the same degree, especially if they really wanted to appear their best before someone, for example, their wife, family, or important friends and business partners.
This won"t do, he told himself with a frown.
Because the ghost refused to show up, Zhan Rong"s system suddenly issued a task. It was this that made her dumbfounded. In fact, after a minute of speechlessness, she questioned herself if the system and her were speaking the same language.
"... It says the ghost is naked? So it"s shy and wants a gorgeous set of clothes to be sacrificed."
"What the effing m.u.f.fin is this?"
The girl plopped down on the sofa and held her forehead. Was this the first step in raising a ghost? She had to say, her brain felt quite insulted.
Tomorrow morning, she woke up earlier than usual, around 8 am and dressed up. She drove towards the nearest mall, which opened at 9 am. The coffee she bought had already been finished by the time the boutique employee flipped their "closed" signboard.
"Good morning, Ma"am. Welcome." The shop she entered had mellow cla.s.sical music playing on.
Zhan Rong"s looks and the way she carried herself hinted to the people within the clothing store that she was a rich miss so the manager personally herself stepped forward and greeted her with a warm smile.
The girl nodded and gave a polite smile, her hands reaching for her shoulder bag to fetch a small card.
"h.e.l.lo. I"m quite busy so just give me everything that fits these requirements."
Without elaborating much, Zhan Rong took a seat on the sofa and even crossed her beautiful legs that were not fully concealed by her red gauze maxi long skirt.
The professionally dressed manager wordlessly skimmed the long list of sizes and brands in the card. Seeing that her guess was correct, the girl was a big customer, a smile floated from her face and she called two ladies to help her. While waiting for them to pick up the clothes and accessories, she smilingly pushed a brochure in front of Zhan Rong which contained their latest products.
"Thanks for coming to our shop, Miss. It would take some time to fetch everything so we prepare some magazines and brochures for you. Is the young miss picking a gift for her boyfriend?"
Zhan Rong expressionlessly glanced at her. Without batting an eyelid, she answered, "They"re all for my dad. It will be his birthday in three days. Or are you thinking all girls my age who buy male clothes and accessories always give them to their boyfriends?"
The lady manager seemed not too surprised which meant she had heard of the same reason before. Still, her face froze a bit, especially when he remembered the styles of the upper garments and the watches were for younger males. Also, why was this young lady buying from s.h.i.+rts to underclothes? To layout everything on a long table then choose the best-looking one to gift?
Only her professionalism allowed her to come back to her senses early. Zhan Rong managed to capture the thoughts that briefly showed on the manager"s face though.
"This is really testing my limit." The girl hid her frown.
Like what the lady manager said it took about three minutes for the two helpers to get everything listed on the card. The manager tried to recommend other items in the store, but Zhan Rong stuck to the ones demanded by the system. She strutted off the moment her order was handed over to her, settling her payment through her own card.
Unfortunately, when she thought she could finally go home, the panel suddenly popped up and made her go to the grocery to buy a toothbrush and cup, shaving cream, towels and all daily stuff for men. There was no mention of the reason behind this. At this point, Zhan Rong, who guessed it was the whimsical pet"s fault, wondered if she was being trained into a slave of this demanding ghost.
She was quite in a downcast mood when she got back to the hotel and accessed the rooftop to burn the "outfit of the day". Yep, another weird mission.
"... I should not have let my curiosity get the better of me," Zhan Rong muttered in a depressed manner, feeling a bit of heartache for the clothes she bought with her own money.
The fire burned the expensive fabric of the underwear, which the girl refused to watch. The pants followed, then the black long-sleeved s.h.i.+rt. In just thirty minutes everything turned into ashes. These were unused brand new branded articles of clothing. So she felt like what she just turned into ashes was actually paper bills!
Which d.a.m.n ancestor said that to offer something to a ghost, that item should be burned?
Zhan Rong"s eyes were a bit cold when she checked the system announcement. She had no idea the culprit who drove her to burn money literally was feeling pretty embarra.s.sed for leeching off of her. But hey, he was just a ghost and one without any remaining family members at that. Where would he get the money? Hack or rob a bank?
[Ding! Congratulations! You finished the task perfectly. Your exclusive pet ghost is extremely pleased… although he will be extremely shy to admit it!]
[Summon Jiang Li, yes or no?]
"Now that I am at this point, and the sun is s.h.i.+ning above to weaken all spirit ent.i.ties, why wouldn"t I?" she said with gritted teeth.
One hand tugged the silver chain of the necklace hidden under her cream-colored s.h.i.+rt to reveal her amulet while the other pressed the yes b.u.t.ton after a minute of careful deliberation.
Jiang Li, who was no longer wearing the wacky grandpa farmer get up, but the ones Zhan Rong just burned, grinned.
Even with the sunlight pouring so fiercely on the rooftop, he did not dismiss the plan of surprising the girl using his face. A face that was already at the level of a popular celebrity even when he was in a corny s.h.i.+rt and trousers, one the heaven was so jealous of that it made him a mentally handicapped person. Wouldn"t it be a shame for him not to put it into use?
Jiang Li slowly revealed himself to her and did a normal bow. It was around 10 am. While the lighting made his skin appear more translucent, he spoke unhurriedly in a mellow voice, "For being the first person to pray and burn a sacrifice for me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Miss. My name is Jiang Li. I will be teaching you some skills I"ve mastered when I was still alive as my token of grat.i.tude. Please take care of me."
Not long after, Zhan Rong could be seen staring blankly at the innocent and harmless-looking spirit with her lips slightly parted. She was quite dumbstruck.
Neglected or not, as a girl from a rich family, she could not even remember when it had become a norm for her to treat handsome guys as cabbages that could easily be seen on the street. They were commonplace in her circle. With money in hands, it was easy for second-generation rich kids to maintain their skin, avail the service of professionals, or get injectables to enhance their looks. Celebrities too, were easy to meet up close if they wanted.
However... right now, it was hard for her to find a word to say.
A ghost could be this impossibly handsome? Was this guy aware that if he walked out there, instead of scaring anyone, he would only enchant people to chase after him? The bigger problem was he was standing so close to her.
Jiang Li saw her expression and felt content within but outwardly showed her a confused expression as if he was distressed for not getting a response. "Can you hear me, Miss?"
Zhan Rong took note of the pleasant voice and thought that the handsome ghost must really be a good singer. The panel trying to provide her with speech-to-text service was thoroughly ignored.
"It"s quite unbelievable... So is this ghost who could put all idols to shame with his appearance alone seriously… my exclusive ghost pet? The real reward from all the sufferings I went through weeks ago?"
The girl held her breath and put a hand on top of her chest.
She was not easily impressed by looks, but whenever she was, like when she was viewing a breathtaking scenery, her heart would race at a very fast speed and her IQ would plummet down a bit. Her mind became more of a jumbled mess the moment she realized she had an inexplicable connection to this maliciously good-looking spirit.
Before Zhan Rong knew it, her eyes were s.h.i.+ning as she looked at him. Who knew where she got the courage to hold a ghost"s hand. She even blurted out domineeringly, "You are mine!"