Seeing it was a call from an unknown number, Shen Siyuan didn't want to answer it at first, but considering the time, it probably wasn't an advertisement or telemarketing, so he decided to pick up.
"Hello, may I ask if this is Mr. Shen Siyuan?"
A gentle female voice came through on the phone.
"Yes, I am. And you are...?"
"Hello, Mr. Shen. I'm Jiang Wenxin, Dou Dou's mother. We just met in the elevator today."
"Oh, do you have any issue?" Shen Siyuan realized who she was.
"Well..."
Jiang Wenxin hastily told Shen Siyuan everything that had happened in the elevator in detail.
Finally, she said, "I saw him wandering outside the door, unwilling to leave. I'm a bit worried..."
"Don't worry, there's no need for concern. As long as you refuse, he can't enter your house. And don't be afraid of him. The more afraid you are, the closer he will get. As for the tumors on his face, it means that he was not as benevolent-looking as when he was alive, because ghosts lack a physical body and cannot restrain their own desires. They tend to manifest externally. Furthermore, some of the wrongdoings from his life will also be reflected on his soul..."
"But you needn't be scared. As long as you are not afraid of him, he will not cause you harm. At worst, you might have some bad luck, but there are no life-threatening worries..."
Shen Siyuan briefly explained, noting that ancient people referred to ghosts as impure entities for a reason. If a person's 'three fires' are not strong, they are easily troubled by ghosts.
Although being haunted by a ghost does not cause actual harm, it will bring misfortune, leading to a downward spiral in luck and a string of difficulties.
"Thank you~, thank you, Mr. Shen. I'll thank you properly tomorrow," Jiang Wenxin thanked him repeatedly.
"Please don't mention it... I'm doing this, well... for Dou Dou's sake. Dou Dou is quite adorable; I really like him," said Shen Siyuan.
After a brief chat, the two ended the call.
Shen Siyuan felt there was nothing more to say, while Jiang Wenxin thought that just thanking over the phone wasn't sufficient and planned to thank him in person the next day.
After hanging up, Shen Siyuan tidied up the takeout containers on his table and then booted up his computer, ready to play a game for a while.
He wasn't playing a competitive game but rather an RPG online game from a pig farm. Shen Siyuan had started playing this game since his college days, having invested quite a bit into it. He had quit for some time but later picked it up again, and this cycle repeated several times. Now, he continued to play out of a sense of nostalgia.
He logged on, cleared his daily tasks, and then saw an online friend with the ID "Mary."
This person was one of the few real-life friends Shen Siyuan had. He had originally intended to name his character "Mario," but unfortunately that name was already taken, so he settled for "Mary." Luckily, he was playing a female character, so this name actually suited his identity.
"Let's go to the arena."
Upon seeing him online, Shen Siyuan immediately called out.
"Can't do. I'm going to run a dungeon with my group, trying to get 'Fire Fox' fragments."
"Fire Fox" was a new mount that had just been released in the game, obtainable through dungeon fragment drops.
Of course, there's also a "White Fox" mount in the shop, but it costs money, and you can get it only through a lottery system. To obtain it, you'd have to spend at least three thousand yuan.
For someone like Shen Siyuan, who earns less than six thousand a month, this was utterly unaffordable.
Thus, Shen Siyuan had absolutely no interest in these mounts or fashions.
"Mary," on the other hand, had a severe collecting hobby, not just paying for the mounts and fashions but also enjoying spending a lot of effort on collecting those available for free.
Of course, to sustain such a hobby, he obviously wasn't short on money. His family was in the clothing business; he was indeed a true second-generation rich kid.
Moreover, his parents were very supportive of his gaming, considering this hobby far better than entrepreneurship, car collecting, watch collecting, or binging, by a long shot.
It's because of him that Shen Siyuan received quite a few rare costumes and mounts as gifts. It's not that he was generous, but these rare items were usually obtained through a lottery, and whenever he got duplicates, he couldn't be bothered to sell them in the shop and simply gave them to Shen Siyuan.
Seeing that [Mario] didn't come to the arena, Shen Siyuan quickly logged off. Frankly speaking, he had long lost interest in this game. Not like the beginning, when he would play all night, full of a desire to explore the game.
But when it actually came to quitting, he couldn't bear to do so, and from time to time, he thought about logging in again. Yet, once he was online, he lost interest in doing anything. It was really pathetic.
After shutting down the computer and seeing that it was still early, Shen Siyuan didn't know what to do next. His life was dull—work, read novels, play games—almost never changing. Maybe he really should consider finding a girlfriend.
In fact, he had already guessed why his mom wanted him back home this week; it was nothing more than to get him on another blind date. This was not the first time.
Shen Siyuan actually didn't look bad, but since he had neither a house nor a car, who would want to be with him? He even despised himself, let alone the girls.
"Forget it, take a bath and sleep." The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became, preparing to take a bath and go to sleep.
"Damn, even if you gain the opportunity to practice immortal cultivation, you still have to worry about money."
Shen Siyuan laughed at himself with self-deprecation, stood up, and headed towards the bathroom. Just then, his phone rang again.
Shen Siyuan had no choice but to turn back, picked up the phone from the desk, and recognized the familiar number. It was a call from Dou Dou's mother.
"Hello, Mr. Shen, are you resting? I am really sorry for disturbing your rest."
As soon as the call connected, the cautious voice of Jiang Wenxin came through.
"Not yet, is there something else?" Shen Siyuan asked with a slight frown.
"Mr. Shen, I am so sorry, my husband came back this evening, I told him about Dou Dou's matter, and he thought I was insane, almost had me sent to the hospital. Besides, Dou Dou also wishes her father could hold her, so we can only come to see you, hoping you could help..."
"Alright, might as well do a good deed thoroughly, just come over, I live at..."
"I know, we are downstairs right now," Jiang Wenxin interrupted him hurriedly.
"Then I'll come down."
After saying this, Shen Siyuan prepared to hang up the phone. He wasn't surprised that Jiang Wenxin knew his address.
Jiang Wenxin hurriedly said, "That... the old man with the last name Lu, he's been following us, and I don't know how to drive him away..."
"It's okay, we can talk about it when I come down."
After finishing, Shen Siyuan hung up the phone directly.
Then he left the apartment, ready to go downstairs.
To be honest, he was somewhat annoyed with Jiang Wenxin's repeated phone calls, but thinking about Dou Dou, and their desperate longing for their daughter, he could understand.
When he got downstairs, he saw a man and a woman standing at the entrance looking awkward. Besides them, there were also two ghosts, one old and one young.
Without having to say, the young ghost must be Dou Dou, and the old ghost must be the Mr. Lu that Jiang Wenxin mentioned.
Looking at his face, full of lumps—if someone with trypophobia saw it, they would be disgusted to death.
"Guo Guo."
Upon seeing Shen Siyuan come out, Dou Dou was the first to run over to him.
"Mr. Shen~"
Seeing this, Jiang Wenxin also hurriedly stepped forward, followed closely by her husband Tao Guangsha, who curiously sized up Shen Siyuan.
Only the old ghost remained standing afar, not approaching.