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| Author: Why Does It Cost Money To Change Your Name |
Original Source: SFACG |
| Translator: Ainsel |
English Source: Re:Library |
The corridor was dim and eerily quiet. Although it was daytime, it gave her the same sense of darkness and cold she felt last night when she was alone in the bathroom, as if a chill was slowly climbing up from her ankles.
The apartment building she was in was very old, without even an elevator. The hallway was filled with a strong, pungent smell of disinfectant, as if it was trying to cover up some other odor. She looked around and saw that even the stair handrails were covered with a layer of black grime, the result of years of accumulated dust forming a “patina.”
However, the walls around her had been freshly painted, and it was clear that the white putty had been applied only in the past few months.
Zhao Mingyue knew that only her floor and the one above had been repainted; the other floors still had yellowing walls.
“Why is it like this?”
Zhao Mingyue slung her backpack over her shoulders, remembering something someone in her hometown had said: if you encounter a ghost hitting the wall, you can break the spell by either having a living person barge in halfway or by closing your eyes, walking backward a hundred steps, and cursing at the ghost to let it know you’re not to be trifled with.
Taking a deep breath, with no way out, she decided to close her eyes and walk backwards up the stairs. She didn’t curse out loud but instead frantically called out Bai Yu’s name in her mind.
She believed it wasn’t Bai Yu’s doing; she didn’t seem like that kind of ghost.
“Don’t panic, keep backing up, that thing is upstairs.” Bai Yu’s ethereal voice came to her ears, and Zhao Mingyue was so moved she almost cried. For the first time in her life, the voice of a fierce ghost felt so safe.
“Okay!”
Zhao Mingyue mentally responded and carefully stepped back up the stairs. Normally, she wouldn’t want to touch the handrails because she found them dirty, but this time she had no choice but to put her hand on them. Just as she reached the turn between the fourth and fifth floors, she suddenly found the handrail sticky and slimy, extremely disgusting, as if it had been smeared with fresh blood.
“Don’t let go.”
Just as she thought to release her grip, she heard Bai Yu’s voice again, and she had to continue backing up with gritted teeth.
There was no significant sensation during the process, just a bit of cold, bone-chilling cold, and the feeling that someone was staring at her from behind.
Not daring to stop, she took one step after another. In her memory, there were twelve steps in total. When she reached the twelfth step, she thought she would either be on the fifth floor or still on the fourth, but then her heel touched another step.
“How did an extra step appear?”
“Stop!”
The voice in her heart came, and Zhao Mingyue’s descending foot hadn’t yet landed firmly, stopping mid-air.
“That’s enough, don’t go up anymore, open your eyes, you can go to work now.”
With Bai Yu’s guidance, Zhao Mingyue opened her eyes. The first thing she did was look at the handrail, relieved to see no blood or anything else disgusting, and the sticky, slimy feeling had completely disappeared.
The second thing she did was look back, but there was nothing behind her, just the overly white and quiet corridor.
Finally, it wasn’t the fourth floor anymore, but before Zhao Mingyue could take a deep breath of relief, she took out her phone and saw it was exactly seven o’clock, her heart suddenly cooling.
“Damn, I’m late!”
Temporarily forgetting about the ghost, Zhao Mingyue rushed down the five floors, unlocked her bicycle outside the apartment building, and hurriedly rode to the convenience store where she worked.
What she didn’t notice was that as she descended, a swollen, blue-green face with bulging veins silently watched her from the fifth-floor staircase.
It wasn’t until she was almost at the convenience store that Zhao Mingyue remembered the incident.
“Bai Yu, what was that just now? Did I encounter a ghost wall?”
“Yes.”
“A real ghost? On the fifth floor? Didn’t you eat that ghost?”
“There are more.”
“More… more!?”
She continued to call out to Bai Yu, wanting to ask about the ghost, but Bai Yu stopped responding to her.
Resigned, she parked her bicycle at the entrance of the convenience store and walked in. As she entered, she heard the wind chime hanging by the door gently sway, producing a clear, water-like bell sound.
She remembered the store manager saying that if the wind chime rang at night without any wind, no matter what she saw, she should remain calm and call him.
Was there no wind just now?
She glanced at the wind chime and then a deep, thick male voice sounded.
“Mingyue.”
“Ah, manager, I’m sorry I’m late today.” Zhao Mingyue snapped back to reality, looking pitifully at the man in the convenience store uniform behind the counter.
The worst thing today was undoubtedly being late for work.
And even worse, being caught red-handed by the boss for being late.
“It’s okay, I’ll let it slide this time. I know your situation; you have to go to school and work part-time, it’s tiring for one person. It’s just ten minutes, no big deal, don’t blame yourself.” The manager spoke with a warm smile, his voice comforting.
He took off the apron-like uniform he wore outside, revealing a crisp suit underneath, his hair meticulously styled, his build strong and tall. Because of the constant friendly smile on his face, he seemed very approachable.
“Manager, why are you on duty today?” Zhao Mingyue took his place behind the counter, blinking and asking softly.
“That’s because Xiao Lu quit last night, said his family wouldn’t let him continue working.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. His family is so rich, and they definitely wouldn’t agree with him working part-time. If it was just to experience life, a month is enough.”
In Zhao Mingyue’s memory, Lu Liangting’s family was not just rich, they were extremely rich, with assets beyond her wildest imagination. Yet, this rich second-generation guy still came to work as an employee.
It’s worth mentioning that Lu Liangting was also her classmate.
Shaking her head without much concern, “I don’t understand why he came in the first place.”
“Why come to work part-time?” The manager looked at Zhao Mingyue meaningfully but didn’t say much. “Mingyue, until I hire a new night shift employee, you might have to manage the store alone at night.”
“Alone? I’m fine, boss.”
“Okay, then I’ll give you an extra three hundred at the end of the month.”
Hearing about money, Zhao Mingyue’s eyes lit up instantly, her attitude changing rapidly.
“Thank you, boss!”
“Alright, I have some things to take care of, I’ll leave first.”
“Take care, boss!”
She watched the man leave, and as he opened the door, Zhao Mingyue made sure to check that no wind came in that could move the wind chime hanging in front.
“Could it be because of her?” she muttered, looking down at herself.
She suspected the wind chime had a special purpose, as she had never seen it move before, but today it rang just as she pushed the door open. So the question was, what was different about her today compared to usual?
Taking Miss Rabbit out of her backpack and placing it on the counter, Zhao Mingyue sat down, cupping her face in her hands, “Bai Yu, Sister Bai, can this wind chime detect ghosts coming in? Why would the boss put such a wind chime here?”
“Could it be that ghosts will come in here?”
After waiting for a while without a response from Bai Yu, another person arrived instead.
Near noon, the convenience store’s door was pushed open, the bell on the doorframe jingled, but the wind chime remained still.
Seeing the person who came in, Zhao Mingyue was surprised.
“Lu Liangting, why are you here?”
The darkness under the counter stirred, and the bunny doll on the table quietly turned around. Bai Yu had possessed it; she wanted to see this manhua male lead. 1
In the information she had, the male lead of this world was named Lu Liangting.
She hadn’t gone looking for him yet, but unexpectedly, the guy came to her.
