Chapter 076

Before nightfall, they made it to the lakeside at the park to watch a grand fireworks display. In the end, Qiao Man fell asleep on the way back.

He lay across Lu Jianxing’s back, head resting on his shoulder, watching the neon lights of the streets until he drifted into unconsciousness. When he woke up again, it was already the next day, and he was in his bed at home.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up, only to find he couldn’t move. Lu Jianxing hadn’t woken up yet; his face was buried in the crook of the boy’s neck, eyes tightly shut, his breath warm and steady. His arms were wrapped around the child like iron bands, holding him fast.

Qiao Man struggled to extend his small hands, trying to pull himself out of the embrace. Sensing the child’s departure, Lu Jianxing tightened his arms in his sleep. Halfway through his escape, Qiao Man went limp and gave up.

The second day of the Lunar New Year was a perfect day for sleeping in.

There was no rooster’s crow, nor was there a workday alarm to wake them. Qiao Man counted the little birds flying past the window, reaching the eighteenth one before Lu Jianxing finally opened his weary eyelids. He saw his little boy staring intently at the shadows flitting beneath the curtains, his small feet swinging happily.

Qiao Man shared his new discovery: “Xingxing, I think there’s a bird’s nest outside our house!”

“A bird’s nest?”

“That’s right! Lots of birds were perched outside this morning.”

“Really?”

Lu Jianxing threw off the covers and got out of bed. He pulled back the curtains just as a dark shadow flashed past. Looking up, he only saw feathers cutting through the azure sky as the bird flapped its wings and flew far away.

Bright sunlight poured through the clear glass. It was a rare, beautiful day.

“Is it there?” A fluffy head popped up beside him. Qiao Man stood on his tiptoes, clutching the windowsill and trying his best to look out. Unfortunately, his height was limited, and his perspective only allowed him to see the tops of some distant high-rises.

Lu Jianxing took a quick sweep of the exterior. The design of the building’s facade was straightforward; if there were anything extra attached to it, he would have noticed immediately.

“There’s nothing there,” he said.

“Really?” Qiao Man wasn’t disappointed. Instead, he said gleefully, “Then the little birds just really like stopping at our house, hehe.”

While Lu Jianxing was frying eggs in the kitchen, the boy leaned against the kitchen door, his little mouth chattering away. “When I lived on the mountain with Master, there were so many birds. They loved coming to our fields to steal food. One time, they ate all the vegetables Master and I had just planted!”

Those birds were very cunning. They would use their sharp beaks to pick the seeds out of the soil, unearthing everything Qiao Man had worked so hard to sow. Every day, he had diligently watered what turned out to be a field of weeds.

Qiao Man clenched his fists in mock anger. “And then… I stole their eggs!”

Lu Jianxing plated the fried eggs and put a few sausages into the pan, casually following along. “The eggs?”

“Mm-hmm!” Qiao Man nodded, a hint of a glisten appearing at the corner of his mouth. “Their eggs were delicious.”

Lu Jianxing glanced back at him, hesitating to speak.

It felt like revenge wasn’t your only motivation.

Lu Jianxing carried the finished breakfast out, and Qiao Man had already pattered ahead to take his seat at the table.

The two enjoyed their late breakfast together and spent the entire New Year holiday in each other’s company. Neither of them had relatives to visit or work to interrupt them, leaving them with vast amounts of time to spend together.

Whether it was Qiao Man or Lu Jianxing, it was the first time either had experienced a New Year like this.

There was no need to run all over the mountains looking for animals to play with, nor was there a need to take on more work to pass the time. Just being together from morning till night, even if it was just walking from one end of the street to the other, made them happy.

When the New Year holiday ended and Maomao returned from his hometown carrying bags of all sizes, Lu Jianxing felt a rare reluctance to return to work.

“Brother Lu, here, these are sausages and cured meats my parents made themselves.” Maomao carried a bag of vacuum-sealed New Year goods. “I know you have to stay in shape and can’t eat these, but my parents said these are for Baby Xiao Man.”

Qiao Man’s eyes and mouth lit up. “Wow!”

Xiao Man can eat them! Xiao Man loves eating!

Maomao continued to dig through his backpack. It was as if the bag had expanded space; out came more cured meats, dried vegetables, homemade salted duck eggs, and even two slaughtered free-range chickens¹.

“Hehe, that massager you sent was really useful, Brother Lu. My parents asked me to thank you.” Maomao scratched his head. “This is just stuff they made themselves. It’s quite tasty, so please don’t mind.”

Lu Jianxing accepted them with a smile. “I like them very much.”

A backpack full of local specialties filled the refrigerator to the brim.

The free-range chickens were turned into a large pot of chicken soup. The flavor was even fresher than the chickens sold at the market, and Qiao Man drank several bowls.

Before their moods could transition from the leisure of the holiday to the post-New Year grind, Sister Yun arrived with a packed itinerary.

“No time for you to rest.” Sister Yun opened his schedule. His work for the next two months was fully booked, with every slot filled. “You have another TV series about to launch, so you need to start the promotional tour.”

The upcoming series was none other than the one directed by Director Yang.

Adapted from a work by the web novel giant Xingqiao Huoshu, the project had garnered immense attention since its inception. The cast was a constellation of stars, and after filming, it had been the subject of intense bidding. After six months, the post-production was successfully completed, and with the official launch approaching, the marketing campaign had begun.

Previous adaptations of Xingqiao Huoshu’s works had all been massive successes, and expectations for this one were even higher. The drama was set for a simultaneous release on streaming platforms and traditional TV stations. Even before airing, the level of discussion was already high. Although Lu Jianxing didn’t play the lead, the popularity of the original work meant people were starting to talk about him as well.

As an actor, he naturally had to cooperate with the production’s promotional efforts.

Thus, after a leisurely New Year, Lu Jianxing became busy once again.

He played a supporting role, but his personal popularity was undeniable. As the new drama’s premiere approached and his fame rose, new offers for advertisements and magazine shoots came knocking. As his manager, Sister Yun helped him screen and select the best options, while Maomao followed him everywhere to handle the logistics.

As for Qiao Man, he had a new TV drama to follow.

Every day, he tuned in to Channel 17 right on time, proudly admiring the work of his Xingxing. Although he had seen the filming process on set, the final production was nothing like the actual shoot. Those scenes, which had been filmed out of order and in fragments, had been transformed through post-production editing into a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. To his eyes, it felt entirely unfamiliar.

Moreover, Xingxing looked even better in this new drama than in the previous idol series!

It wasn’t just Qiao Man who noticed; the entire audience did as well.

After the release date was set, the new drama quickly went online. Viewers across the internet were binge-watching it. The original work was written by a top-tier author and had a massive readership. Once the IP was adapted, readers of the original novel scrutinized the actors’ performances with a magnifying glass. It wasn’t just the leads; every important supporting character was subjected to comparison.

Then, everyone quickly discovered that this time, Lu Jianxing’s acting seemed quite good.

Among the sea of male actors, he actually stood out!

This prominence wasn’t because he had an unusual amount of screen time, nor were other characters’ highlights shifted onto him. In fact, as a supporting actor, his scenes weren’t particularly numerous, but every appearance he made was effective.

In group scenes, he didn’t fade into the crowd. In one-on-one scenes, he not only held his own against veteran actors but also shone brightly among actors of his own generation. The audience didn’t know that Shao Jingqiu had given him private acting lessons; they could only vaguely sense that this actor’s performance was exceptionally good.

Especially when compared to the idol drama that had aired not long ago, his emotions were richer, and his performance had more depth. He brought out all the internal conflicts of the character from the original novel, looking almost like a different person.

Furthermore, the shots featuring him seemed to have become more beautiful. His features were the same, his face was the same, and he was the same person, yet he gave off the impression of being more handsome than before. This was the result of Director Yang’s cinematography.

The Film Queen’s acting guidance, the director’s favoritism through the lens, and Lu Jianxing’s own hard work all played a part. As Qiao Man sat at home with his feet up watching TV, he had no idea that all of this was his reward for helping solve the case.

He only knew that Lu Jianxing was famous!

When he drove his little toy car out for a stroll, the residents of the neighborhood would proactively praise Xingxing to him.

Everyone knew that the currently popular male star belonged to Master Xiao Man’s household!

There was no longer any need to pull strings or try to get close just for a chance at one of the three daily fortune-tellings. This time, it was the grandfathers and grandmothers who were asking Master Xiao Man for signed photos for their daughters and granddaughters.

New scripts flew in like snowflakes, all of them offering leading roles. Among them were big-budget productions and even some film offers, which Lu Jianxing and Sister Yun spent a long time carefully sorting through.

…

The hospital.

In a private ward.

The television was playing the currently popular drama. The middle-aged man on the hospital bed stared coldly at the handsome actor on the screen.

When the man in black came in to visit, he saw a face clouded with hatred and slightly distorted.

Following the man’s gaze to the television, the man in black teased, “Since when did you take an interest in TV dramas?”

Daoist Zhu snorted coldly and reached out to turn off the TV.

“What are you doing here?”

“To visit a patient, of course.” Though he called it a visit, he had come empty-handed.

The man in black pulled over a chair and sat down. As he moved, something black writhed beneath his clothes, accompanied by a rustling sound. Daoist Zhu glanced at him with disgust. “Keep your bugs away from me.”

“My little darlings are very well-behaved.” The man in black raised his hand, and a palm-sized hairy spider waved its legs as it crawled onto the back of his hand. He sneered, “As for you, I thought I’d heard wrong. Beaten into the ICU by a ghost? Spending the entire Lunar New Year in the hospital… it doesn’t look like you’re having a very good time.”

Daoist Zhu’s face darkened. “Aren’t you the same? So full of confidence last time, only to be hit by the backlash of your own Gu insects.”

At the mention of Gu insects², the Gu Master’s expression also turned grim.

“Is it the same one from last time?”

“It’s him,” Daoist Zhu said. “I managed to get information out of the ghosts. He’s that Master Xiao Man.”

The Gu Master said, “That…”

Daoist Zhu squeezed his eyes shut. “Yes, it’s that child.”

The Gu Master gasped. “How is that possible? A child…”

Daoist Zhu replied, “The ghosts said it themselves. The one commanding them was indeed a child.”

Both men fell into a collective silence.

Age was that child’s greatest disguise. In their line of work, experience was certainly important, but talent was far more terrifying. And that child possessed a talent that shocked everyone.

Who would have thought that a five or six-year-old child actually had real ability?

Besides, weren’t people in their profession usually secretive and prone to hiding from the public? Yet the entire internet had heard of Master Xiao Man’s name, and his follower count on social media platforms was higher than that of many celebrities.

Daoist Zhu’s lip twitched as he thought of the photo he had seen recently of the child with the Taoists from Zhengyang Temple, and his expression grew even more sullen.

People like him, who took money to do dirty work, were most at odds with those hypocritical Taoists from Zhengyang Temple.

“We can’t just let this go.” Daoist Zhu gritted his teeth, saying hatefully, “We must make him pay!”

The Gu Master reminded him coolly, “Don’t forget, you can’t beat him either.”

Daoist Zhu: “…”

Daoist Zhu snorted. “Who said I was going to deal with him directly?”

“What do you mean?”

Daoist Zhu looked at the turned-off television. The dark screen reflected his cold, sinister smile.

…

When the Long-braided Ghost returned from his outside work and floated into the house, Qiao Man was busy cutting paper.

Lu Jianxing had bought him a craft kit. Qiao Man was sitting cross-legged in front of the coffee table, using small craft scissors to cut out Little Paper Men.

The limbs of the Little Paper Men he cut were of varying lengths, and their heads were either square or flat. He had cut a whole row of them, but not a single one looked normal.

“Master Xiao Man,” the Long-braided Ghost greeted him. “It seems like someone outside is asking around about you.”

Qiao Man didn’t even look up, his small scissors snip-snapping away. “What’s he asking about me?”

“I only heard it from the other ghosts. There’s a Taoist going around asking about you everywhere. It seems to be the one who hired me before.” After all, since he had helped someone beat up his former employer, the Long-braided Ghost hadn’t dared to go back to see Daoist Zhu.

Qiao Man replied with a nonchalant “Oh.”

He finished cutting the paper, picked up a brush, and sprawled out on the coffee table with his bottom in the air, drawing a Talisman on each of the Little Paper Men.

Seeing that the boy didn’t care, the Long-braided Ghost dropped the subject. He watched curiously. “What are these?”

“Done.”

Qiao Man clapped his hands, and the Little Paper Men all came to life. They sat on the coffee table, looking at one another, twisting their necks and stretching their limbs.

The Long-braided Ghost was shocked. “They can move!?”

Not only could they move, they could do quite a lot.

Qiao Man climbed onto the sofa and lay down. The Little Paper Men scattered; two of them huffed and puffed as they climbed up the sofa and jumped onto his shoulders. One took each side and began kneading his muscles.

The Long-braided Ghost’s eyes widened. “They can do that too?!”

Qiao Man raised a small hand and gestured in the air. Several Little Paper Men scrambled into his snack box, dragging out a bag of potato chips.

Qiao Man frowned. “Not that flavor. I want the original!”

The Little Paper Men: “…”

They climbed back in, dug out a bag of original chips from the bottom of the box, and hoisted it over their heads together. Staggering under the weight, they hauled it over with a synchronized “Heave-ho!”

Once they brought the chips to Qiao Man, they worked together to tear open the packaging and crawled inside. They emerged in a line, each holding a chip nearly as big as themselves. Qiao Man didn’t have to do a thing. His eyes were glued to the TV drama; he only had to open his mouth, and a chip was delivered right in.

Looking elsewhere, the remaining Little Paper Men were helping him tidy up the paper scraps on the floor and carrying scattered toys back into the toy box, working with diligent focus.

The Long-braided Ghost: “…”

The Long-braided Ghost sighed from the bottom of his heart. “Even when I was alive, I never enjoyed a life this good.”

Translator’s Notes