Chapter 405 - Mo Chou (43) <2-in-1>

Several messages floated before Zhan Rong, gradually filling in the empty spaces on the system window.

It was the first time the girl saw many windows popped up in front of her to the point that she could not even see anything beyond it. 

Zhan Rong lowered her head, her expression calm, but her heart was feeling strange. Although she appreciated the suggestions and wanted to use some to chase away the other fellow, the confusion in her mind became strong. 

Why was her pet ghost too creative today? And wasn't he acting too strange?

In her mind, Jiang Li was a gentleman. He spoke and behaved politely yet was humorous enough to not bore anyone. And his face... His face alone was more than enough to capture and retain one's attention on him all day long. 

Zhan Rong was a bit overwhelmed by the sudden change. 

After the failed blind date ended formally with the male partner walking out looking grossed out and offended, Zhan Rong heard all the bad things that happened to her father's businesses. There was some damage to the foundation, that was not really enough to bring him down. But, it had been a pleasure to read about his misfortunes…

The only problem was, it was hard not to wonder if everything was a series of coincidences. 

'... Well, it's still good this way.'

Mr. Zhan heard about the failed blind date and proceeded to pair her up with another partner's son. Zhan Rong played along. The result was the same as the previous one. The maddened old man arranged another blind date and it also ended in failure. On the fourth day of the cycle, a laughable rumor spread about Zhan Rong. 'Shameless butcher', they called her that. 

Of course, the rumors were only used as laugh material by slow-minded people who did not know Zhan Rong personally. Not everyone was an idiot. 

The older ladies from the same circle who similarly had no plan to get their future spouses through blind dates and arranged meetings instantly got the gist of what she was doing. Their eyes lit up at the screen where they read about Zhan Rong's recent deeds. On the following days, there had been several reports of girls turning up at blind dates only to disgust their partners with excessive demands and ridiculous stories. 

'I want my future spouse to buy me private planes every month.'

'I intend to create a team of people researching time machines.'

'If we marry, can you promise to support me financially and mentally? It's been my lifelong dream to recreate the One Piece universe in a real-life setting.'

'I have a hundred cats and dogs at home, all fetched from the roadside since I found them too pitiful. My future husband should be a very understanding guy who shares the same passion for cute animals as I do and could accept sharing a living space with them.'

'Can you do this and that for me?'

Since she learned how to hack and dive into the deep web, Zhan Rong was always updated so the news naturally reached her. There was an odd feeling in her heart. Her goal of shooing away insincere bastards was accomplished, and the process had been very enjoyable. But now, a greater guilty pleasure was consuming her upon realizing that she had started a weird trend.

"Jiang Li, I did the right thing, didn't I?" Red-faced from slight embarrassment yet with a grin plastered on her lips, she turned to the ghost. 

"If you are genuinely happy, I assure you, you did." The ghost laughed. 

On the sixth day, which was the last one she agreed to before she returned to the dorms, Zhan Rong met with a young man called Gu Yijun at a coffee house. Like with the previous guys, there was no whatsoever romantic atmosphere that blossomed. In fact, it was already a miracle that the other party was not throwing her odd stares or sharp glares. 

As the guy was quite behaved compared to his predecessors, Zhan Rong deemed it would not be bad to treat him a tiny bit better and made an effort to start a conversation. 

"Mr. Gu. You're a senior college student. And your university is not in this city. How come you are here?" 

The guy was thrifty in words and simply said, "Escorted a relative. And I have some business transactions to complete."

"Oh. Okay." That was it. Her attempt ended with that. 

Zhan Rong was not interested in the person so she only nodded and then minded her own business. Around this time, her reputation was already quite resounding and there was no more need to explain much to the other party. Moreover, Gu Yijun seemed not interested in her too. The guy was typing on his netbook while waiting for their drinks. Perhaps it was a company report, or a reply to a more interesting chatmate. 

Zhan Rong pulled up her phone and then opened Taobao. Joke. Jiang Li's outfits were always from branded clothing stores and she picked an online site belonging to one. Time passed by just like that. The two perfectly played the parts of strangers who only had no choice but to share a table. 

Standing behind her, Jiang Li who was bored, began to stare at the person sitting across them. The last name Gu was quite common, but how could he not recognize that this Gu Yijun was Gu Mochou's cousin?

Since this guy was here, it only meant that villainess was back. 

He cast invisibility on Zhan Rong's phone and fiddled with it to check some relevant news. 

As expected, a report about a healthy middle-aged man almost dying from an energy drink was trending online. It should be that criminal mentioned in one of the files in the safe. Another six from different regions were also covered by the news. The product was from a large company owned by the family of the male lead. 

'What's next?' Jiang Li wondered. 'Will Gu Mochou stage her caring admirer drama after? Taking advantage of this time when Fan Zheng worries about his family business?'

He rolled his eyeballs after confirming this part happened in the previous life. Except Gu Mochou seemed to be intending to destroy the business of Fan Zheng's family altogether as she ordered some professionals to exaggerate the news and made it stay at the top of hot searches to let more people know about it. 

Who knew what other shady things did she do behind everyone's back? In one of Jiang Li's previous lives, a madman managed to force an enemy entrepreneur to take a great debt and commit suicide when everything he did to save his business failed. 

The villainess moved only to force Fan Zheng into a corner. If she was really taking the same route, then it would lead to a situation where the male lead would be pressured to break up with Zhao Ai and accept a rich girl as a girlfriend and fiancee. What if she went insane and thought the pain to be inflicted on the village girl would be greater if Fan Zheng's family became dirt-poor, or if Fan Zheng died, which both translate to Zhao Ai potentially losing her lifetime meal ticket?

'Dear villainess, you should apply your elaborate schemes and methods to the other guy approaching the female lead. That Zhang boy and his backer are the other evil forces in this world apart from the villagers. On the other hand, Fan Zheng's only fault is being stupid, and perhaps, exorcising ghosts without thoroughly investigating their pasts.'

Jiang Li suddenly felt tired and wanted an easy way out by using magical means to kill Gu Mochou while under something like ecstasy drugs. Didn't it work on the bad girl of the second world? On that female lead who made him die quite early because of an unspeakable illness.

Of course, while the idea lingered, Jiang Li was not truly thinking of doing that. It was just a normal episode of an angered person wishing someone's death. Surely, in one's life, nice or not, saintly or sinful, there was an instant when he or she carelessly wished for this.

'Forget it. I'm a ghost, so I will leave the economical, financial, and emotional issues to the living,' he told himself after he had decided that Gu Mochou would undergo the usual cycle later as a punishment. Whether the villainess learned her lesson or not after that, it was not something he could control. 

And speaking of that person, they unexpectedly bumped into her when they were leaving the coffee house. Zhan Rong's eyes turned dark as she watched the famous transferee exchanged greetings with Gu Yijun. 

" I didn't know I'd meet Senior here. Good day."

Gu Mochou smiled like a flower at Zhan Rong. The villainess knew the latter since Zhan Rong was also quite famous, a person that most rich and smart heirs and heiresses did not dare gossip about even though she was one of those with the juiciest stories. It was not a secret that she was favored in her house because of the former Madam Zhan who eloped with a no-named guy. Zhan Rong was also Fan Zheng's acquaintance who had gone to that village. How could Gu Mochou not know her? 

Zhan Rong nodded at the other girl. Because the unnerving feeling was rising in her chest, she did not hesitate to leave for the exit. 

The villainess innocently batted her curled eyelashes, not moving her gaze away from Zhang Rong's back. For a moment, confusion flickered in her expression, followed by disappointment, as there was something she was trying to sense on the other girl but didn't manage to.

"Senior, see you tomorrow on campus." 

Zhan Rong paused and glanced over her shoulder. Her expression was unreadable. 

As for Jiang Li, he was long inside the necklace looking at Gu Mochou with a cold pair of eyes. 

There was something bothering him. 

Why were the spiritual aura of the three deceased cultivators no longer on the villainess?

Before the pair of cousins who started to exchange joyful greetings with each other disappear from his sight, Jiang Li suddenly felt another pair of eyes looking at his direction. It was not Gu Mochou nor any living person. The villainess seemed to be not aware of it. No normal ghosts also dare to do this to him, blatantly showing interests that was also mixed with malice.

Only one thing came to his mind. 

Another ghost king.