Ch108 - Misunderstanding

If he had not seen it with his own two eyes, Ji Xiunian would have found it difficult to imagine such a young and talented student killing himself over debt.

8,000 to 100,000 was quite a large sum, but was it really worth it to give up one’s life over 100,000 dollars?

His thoughts were a mess and going a mile a minute. When he glanced at Lu Xu, he looked as calm and composed as ever. Even after listening to Guo Lian’s story, there was not much change in his expression. He just wanted to confirm the information before moving forward.

“If I die, will they receive retribution?” Since supernatural things such as grim reapers existed, surely a cause and effect must exist. Guo Lian was unwilling to die, and could not help but ask Lu Xu many questions. “And my parents, they won’t be harassed after I die, right? They’re down to earth and honest, I can’t not be worried…”

Initially Lu Xu did not want to talk to Guo Lian too much, but since this was Ji Xiunian’s first client, he thought that he should give him some face.

“Retribution is a mysterious thing, and a lot of the time it won’t happen in this lifetime. Why else do you think those bad people can retain their fame and fortune?” Lu Xu raised a brow, not really offering much comfort. “Don’t care so much about your life when you’re already dead. It’s time for you to go, and you should go.”

He finished speaking, and without paying any mind to Guo Lian’s reaction, politely sent him on his way.

Ji Xiunian witnessed the entire thing. The only thing he could think about was that he was truly out of his depth.

Before this, he had never given much thought to what would happen after he died. After all, dying was like the lights going out at the end of the night, leaving nothing but darkness behind.

But seeing Lu Xu carrying out such a comprehensive and professional package of sending people on their way, Ji Xiunian felt like he had a new understanding of his own thoughts about death. As to what it was exactly, he could not quite say yet.

After sending Guo Lian off, Lu Xu sent a message and wrapped up the order.

“Nian ge, you saw the entire process, right? You can ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand.” As a mentor to this newbie, Lu Xu’s work attitude was quite passionate and considerate.

Not even in his dreams had Ji Xiunian thought that he would receive such special treatment because of ‘work’.

Lu Xu never forgot to explain things to Ji Xiunian, so he had quite a good understanding of the process.

Although Guo Lian was a spirit, in Ji Xiunian’s perspective, he also used to be a living person. For a life to just fade away like that in front of him, it was quite regretful.

It was as if Lu Xu could read his mind. “We’re grim reapers, we don’t worry about unnecessary things. There are millions of causes of death. Anything other than the death itself has nothing to do with us.”

Whether it was an accident or suicide, in the end it was death.

Because there were countless numbers of people who had died because of debt, everyone had their own choices and experiences, no one could influence that in any way.

Lu Xu spoke in a relaxed tone, he didn’t think death was such a big deal.

He was not sure if he was being affected by it, but Ji Xiunian also suddenly felt that death was not such a big deal either.

At the same time, the production team employees were following the trainees and filming at the same time, wanting to record their thoughts about the second elimination stage.

The trainees had spent such a long time here that they were no longer simply ‘colleagues’. Similarly, they had also formed strong bonds with the instructors.

The four instructors that the show had invited on were all trending and famous artists in the industry. If it were not for the opportunity that this competition offered, many of the trainees would most likely not have had the chance to meet them.

Everyone gathered up their courage to knock on the instructors’ door, wanting to have one last memory with them.

As the trainee who ranked 55th, Yao Yulong joked that the possibility of him being eliminated was very high. In order to not leave any regrets behind, he had decided to go and look for Ji Xiunian so that he could get an autograph and a picture.

“I’ve always really liked Nian ge’s movies, but never had the chance to talk to him properly, nor formally greet him either. I don’t know why I’m being such a wuss right now, but I also don’t know if I’ll even be here tomorrow, so why not gather up my courage and try it one time?” As Yao Yulong spoke, he sounded a little shy, but he still held onto all of the courage he could muster.

He pursed his lips and stood in front of Ji Xiunian’s door. He first looked into the camera and stuck his tongue out, then raised his hand to knock on the door. “Nian ge, can I speak with you for a moment?”

Yao Yulong was nervous as he waited for an answer, practising again and again the words he wanted to say.

“Knock knock knock…”

“Nian ge?”

Yao Yulong waited for a good while and was uneasy. He did not know why there was no response at all.

Ji Xiunian was definitely in at the moment. After all, he had given Lu Xu that call not too long ago.

The knocking had been so loud, yet there was no sound coming from inside. Yao Yulong couldn’t help but glance back at the cameraman, and hesitantly asked, “Maybe Nian ge is sleeping?”

It was neither afternoon nor night. It did not seem to be the right time for taking a nap at all.

Tang Yanqing also thought that it was strange when he saw the footage streaming from the corridor.

Even if he really was taking a nap, Ji Xiunian was a light sleeper, and the sound of the knocks would have woken him up.

And if he heard a knock on the door, he would almost certainly open it.

No one knew the reason why, but Tang Yanqing, looking through the monitor, saw it all clearly-

Not long before Yao Yulong came, Lu Xu had knocked on Ji Xiunian’s door and gone in, and had not come out.

Which meant that Ji Xiunian was not alone in his room. Lu Xu was there, too.

If that was the case, even if one of them had not heard the knocks, the other person would have opened the door.

Tang Yanqing frowned for a moment, and wanted to tell the cameraman to just film later, but who would have expected Ji Xiunian to suddenly open the door at that moment.

“Apologies, I didn’t hear you just now.” Ji Xiunian was wrapped in a bathrobe, his hair was still dripping and he looked like he had just taken a shower.

If he was in the shower, then not hearing anything was normal.

“It’s okay, Nian ge, I’m the one disturbing you.” The kinder Ji Xiunian was, the more Yao Yulong felt a bit embarrassed.

He had initially just wanted to ask for a picture and an autograph, but he caught a glimpse of the room behind Ji Xiunian which seemed a bit untidy, so he smiled at Ji Xiunian and said, “Nian ge, you can tidy up first. Can I come back later for a picture and an autograph?”

Yao Yulong was standing in the doorway, so people outside could not see what the inside of the room looked like.

He was afraid the cameraman would film something he was not supposed to, and even shifted a bit so that his back was blocking the camera.

Although Ji Xiunian had wrapped the bathrobe firmly around himself, it had loosened and was falling down a bit, exposing his beautiful collarbones and pectorals. The image of this male god was captivating, but when taking into consideration the nature of the show, the camera crew had not even thought of filming anything like that.

A line of people giggled as they came to Ji Xiunian’s door, talking about their interests before leaving.

Yao Yulong stopped being so silent and specifically turned around to talk to the people beside him.

In the moment where he had glanced down, he could not help but think about the scene he had seen just now-

Looking into Ji Xiunian’s room, he saw a mirror which showed a reflection of the bed, and he had seen someone very familiar.

He had always known that Lu Xu and Ji Xiunian had a good relationship, but Ji Xiunian had clearly been taking a shower. Lu Xu was then sitting on Ji Xiunian’s bed. It made people think.

Actually, it was quite simple. Lu Xu could have wanted to come over to thank the instructor as well.

But if that was the case, there was no need for Ji Xiunian to take a shower. Lu Xu also did not need to be inside, staying silent and pretending that he was not there…

“No, don’t overthink it…”

He noticed that the more he thought about it, the less it made sense, so Yao Yulong quickly told his brain to stop. But the facts were laid out in front of him, and the activity between the two of them seemed quite suspicious.

It was at this moment that the employees beside him brought up the fact that Ji Xiunian was a germaphobe, and said that anything was fine, but he drew the line at letting other people in his bed.

How was that possible!

Yao Yulong wanted to argue back. If he could not accept letting other people in his bed, then what was Lu Xu doing there?

But when he thought about it, he realised that he had discovered something quite incredible.

No one could get in his bed, only Lu Xu…

This was quite suspicious indeed!

“Are they gone?” Lu Xu pulled Ba Mei up onto the bed, and casually asked Ji Xiunian.

“They’ve left.” When Ji Xiunian spoke, he still seemed a bit nervous. He felt as if he had just told a lie.

When he and Lu Xu had returned, Yao Yulong had been knocking on his door for who knows how long. In order to offer a logical explanation for not opening the door, Ji Xiunian took off his clothes and jumped into the shower without a second thought, in order to make it seem like he had been in the shower.

Lu Xu also went inside the room. After all, they would not be coming in, so it did not matter.

Seeing Ji Xiunian letting out a long sigh of relief, Lu Xu laughed. “Nian ge, do you think it would have looked like we were caught cheating and I was being taken advantage of?”

Cheating…

Taken advantage of…

Those words seemed to flip a switch, and Ji Xiunian felt his face go hot, and he replied, “Nonsense.”

“It’s true.” Lu Xu seemed to want to tease him more and chuckled as he asked, “Hey, Nian ge, were you nervous just now?”

The situation just now had been quite exciting, and Ji Xiunian really did feel quite nervous and guilty for some reason. Faced with Lu Xu’s question, he did not lie, he just nodded his head, unsure whether to laugh or cry. “Yeah, I don’t know why I felt nervous and guilty either.”

“That’s amazing.” Lu Xu could not help but laugh. He felt that Ji Xiunian pulling that off earlier was like a stealth operation, and it was quite cute.

Lu Xu stood up from the bed to stand in front of Ji Xiunian, the corner of his mouth curving upwards, as though comforting him. “Nian ge, this is nothing. You’ll get used to it in time. When you experience it more, you won’t feel nervous anymore…”

Lu Xu was definitely talking about carrying out orders and hiding one’s identity, but Ji Xiunian felt his face getting even hotter.

He did not want to think too much about it, he just nodded and asked Lu Xu, “Are there more orders today? When is the next order coming?”

“There will be.” Lu Xu told Ji Xiunian about the average number of deaths in the eastern disctrict, then said, “You’ve already practiced with one order. I can do the rest on my own.”

Ji Xiunian did not want to slack off, so he asked, “I don’t feel tired. Can I go with you?”

The faster he became familiar with the process, the faster he could start work, meaning he could help with splitting the burden earlier.

For a new colleague to have such thoughts, Lu Xu was naturally happy about it.

He smiled at Ji Xiunian, and appreciatively accepted the offer.

Just as Lu Xu was getting ready to leave, there was a knock on the door.

Lu Xu glanced outside, then looked at Ji Xiunian. “It’s the new director. What do we do?”