Chapter 8: Which Part Offended You?

Lu Yiyan and Si Lin were still chasing each other around when Ming Yang, the guy with the ear stud, came back sniffling.

He rubbed his eyes, his rims red, walked up to Lu Yiyan, and spoke in a muffled voice: "Puppy Yan, is my grandma really about to die?"

Lu Yiyan stopped and stood still, looking at Ming Yang.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Did your grandma lose her household registration booklet before?"

Ming Yang nodded. "Yeah, just got it reissued."

Grandma had lost that booklet a long time ago and never bothered to replace it.

It was only recently that she kept muttering about needing it, so a week ago, he'd gone with her to the police station to apply for a new one.

Counting the days, today was exactly when the booklet would be ready.

Lu Yiyan didn't mince words. "Your grandma's fate actually ran out a long time ago."

"It's just that because the booklet was lost, it got delayed."

Not listed in the Yang Realm, not found in the Yin Realm—so Black and White Impermanence never came to collect her soul.

Now that the booklet was issued, naturally, she could go.

Ming Yang had always been close to his grandma. Hearing this, he couldn't hold back anymore and burst into sobs.

His crying was relatively restrained at first—he covered his face, looking quite pitiful.

But after his buddies coaxed him a few times, he instantly fell apart, sobbing so hard he was gasping for breath.

Lu Yiyan's head throbbed from the noise. He raised a hand. "Stop crying. Your grandma's a good person; she won't be bullied down there."

"Besides, your family bond hasn't been severed. In the next life, you can be family again."

Ming Yang sniffled and looked up. "Really?"

Lu Yiyan nodded.

He never lied.

Ming Yang hiccupped through his tears, pulled out his phone, and transferred another ten thousand to Lu Yiyan. "My mom—my mom said to have you read mine too. She's afraid I might have an inherited disease."

Lu Yiyan returned eight thousand, keeping only two thousand.

Ming Yang was confused, sniffling as he looked at him. "Why two thousand again?"

Lu Yiyan: "Discount's over. Back to original price."

Discounted rate: ten thousand.

Original price: two thousand.

What kind of messed-up logic was that?

But Ming Yang didn't say anything. To him, a few thousand or tens of thousands were all the same.

With that thought, he casually sent his birth date and time to Lu Yiyan as well.

Lu Yiyan cast the chart, took one look, and was somewhat surprised. "You're dating someone?"

"Didn't expect that..." Lu Yiyan muttered. "Five years already."

Ming Yang looked like a dumb rich kid, but behind closed doors, he was apparently a pure love devotee.

Very loyal.

A bit lovesick.

Just like his old man.

The friends nearby were stunned, looking up at Ming Yang. "You little bastard, you've been hiding a girlfriend from us?"

Ming Yang seemed a bit embarrassed. Before he'd even wiped his tears dry, he smiled. "It's a boyfriend."

"Holy shit! You little—" The friends paused, thinking about it. True enough, Ming Yang never messed around with men or women.

Usually, when they went to KTVs and ordered hostesses or princesses, Ming Yang never did.

So he liked guys...

But Ming Yang had been dating for five years.

How come they'd never heard him mention it?

Lu Yiyan finished interpreting the chart, his expression growing grimmer by the second. He weighed his words before speaking. "Physically, you don't have major issues. It's just..."

"It's just that you have emotional debt."

Emotional debt?

Ming Yang didn't quite understand.

He'd only ever dated one person, never flirted with anyone else. How could he owe emotional debt?

"Ming Yang." Lu Yiyan was silent for a long time, sighed, and finally spoke. "Have you ever considered that the person you're dating isn't alive?"

The words made everyone around them stop breathing.

Goosebumps erupted instantly.

Ming Yang frowned, clearly displeased. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Lu Yiyan shook his head. "I'm not talking nonsense."

"You've been with him five years. Have you ever met in person?"

Ming Yang choked. They hadn't, actually.

But he still retorted defiantly, "So what if we haven't met? Online dating isn't rare these days."

"And we've already agreed—next month, we're meeting each other's parents!"

The others stayed quiet.

They also felt Lu Yiyan was being too mystical.

What did it mean, the person he's dating isn't alive? That he's dead?

But how could a dead person online-date Ming Yang?

Was the Underworld that trendy now? Ghosts doing online dating with the living?

Lu Yiyan lowered his eyes, looking at the BaZi chart. "Your Day Master is under attack with no support. A classic ghost-prone constitution."

"Plus, your chart carries the Hua Gai star."

The Hua Gai star itself belongs to a special destiny pattern. Combined with Yang Ren and Jie Sha in the same pillar, this kind of fate makes one prone to entanglement with unclean things. As a child, you'd be at risk of dying young.

To have grown up safe and sound this long is genuinely rare.

Lu Yiyan tried to explain simply. "The Hua Gai star is one of the spiritual stars in BaZi. The fate it brings is very special—easy to get tangled up with gods and ghosts."

Lu Yiyan's explanation sounded reasonable enough, but dating a ghost was just too bizarre.

Everyone found it hard to believe.

Especially Ming Yang. He felt his lover was being slandered and was even getting angry.

Si Lin, who'd been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke. "Ming Yang."

Ming Yang looked up and met Si Lin's smiling eyes.

The other man asked, "How did you and your boyfriend meet?"

At that, Ming Yang's indignation vanished instantly. He turned stammering and evasive.

A guy close to Ming Yang nudged him. "Brother Lin's asking you a question. Speak up."

Ming Yang rubbed his nose. "Just... just met like that..."

"Like that? Which way?" The guy was getting anxious. "Come on, tell us!"

"What if the one you're dating really is a ghost? Aren't you scared?"

Ming Yang reacted as if he'd been stepped on the tail, immediately refuting, "You're the one dating a ghost! I told you, he's alive!"

After saying that, he glanced at Si Lin, face tense, and spoke. "Just... dreams."

"?????"

"What the hell? Dreams?!" Everyone was dumbfounded.

What kind of mess was this?

"Just... you know," Ming Yang rubbed his nose, mumbling unclearly. "Dreaming. I dreamed of his phone number, so I called it."

Fate, really. That day happened to be Ming Yang's birthday. His parents' flight got delayed and they couldn't make it back, so he had to celebrate alone at home.

Maybe because he was too bored, he nodded off without realizing it.

He dreamed he was climbing a mountain. It was tall, and there were few people around.

On the way down, fog rose out of nowhere, and heavy rain poured, soaking him to the bone.

Just when he felt freezing cold, almost despairing, a man appeared.

The man in the dream was incredibly handsome. Just... super handsome!

Tall, slim, looking scholarly, with narrow eyes, a narrow nose bridge, and glasses.

Exactly Ming Yang's ideal type.

The man held an umbrella over him, gave him his jacket.

He walked him down the mountain, and before parting, they exchanged phone numbers.

Strange thing was, Ming Yang never remembered dreams clearly, but this one stayed vivid in his memory—even the phone number.

When he first woke up, his heart still fluttered, pounding hard.

Ming Yang agonized over it for a few days but ultimately couldn't resist calling the number from the dream. Amazingly, it connected!

They chatted happily and added each other on WeChat.

When he saw the other man's Moments, Ming Yang realized—the man looked exactly like the one in his dream!

"Anyway... anyway, he's really alive!" Ming Yang loved his boyfriend deeply. He didn't want his loved one slandered.

Thinking it over, he pulled out his phone, found his partner's WeChat, and showed everyone. "Look, he went to a family dinner today. He just posted on Moments."

He opened the photo for everyone to see.

The man in the photo was indeed good-looking—clean, scholarly, looking at the camera with gentle, soft eyes.

His parents sat beside him.

It looked like a happy family of three, no problems whatsoever.

The post was from half an hour ago. Impossible to fake.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

So... Lu Yiyan must have misjudged, right?

See, what kind of... dating a ghost business was that?

Just as the atmosphere was easing, the guy next to Ming Yang suddenly shouted, "I remember now...!"

"Isn't this... isn't this Senior Brother Gu Yuan?"

Gu Yuan.

That was exactly Ming Yang's boyfriend's name.

Ming Yang looked at the guy. "You know him?"

"I—I know him!"

The guy's face went pale instantly, his voice trembling. He pointed at the phone like he'd seen a ghost. "But... but Gu Yuan died six years ago!"