Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 22

“No one goes on a blind date at eight in the morning.”

Zhu Xiao opened the door for Wu Jiu and said this.

Wu Jiu said with conviction, “I’m not human.”

“……But I am.”

Zhu Xiao calmly told him a harsh reality: “I have to go to work.”

Wu Jiu’s eyes went from shock to heartbreak, and even the smoke coming from his head split in half on cue.

He had only wanted to see Zhu Xiao quickly, so he timed his arrival to match Zhu Xiao’s usual wake-up time. However, he forgot that Zhu Xiao was still a living person with a full-time job, and he had to go to work before their blind date.

With his plan foiled, Wu Jiu had no choice but to stick to Zhu Xiao like a persistent spirit, following him to work.

Before leaving, Zhu Xiao specifically brought an umbrella—a habit he didn’t have before. He was the type who didn’t tan easily, and he didn’t care much about such things.

But today, Wu Jiu was with him. Wu Jiu was now a ghost, and it was unclear whether being out in the daytime would turn him into a “ghost jerky” and cause him to vanish into thin air.

Zhu Xiao remembered the horror movies he had recently watched, where ghosts were nocturnal and couldn’t withstand sunlight.

Today happened to be a bright, sunny day, and as soon as they stepped outside, they were met with brilliant sunshine.

The route to school had few trees for shade, so Zhu Xiao pulled Wu Jiu close to him and opened the umbrella.

The umbrella was tilted at a severe angle, with almost the entire canopy shading Wu Jiu, trying to keep him out of the sunlight as much as possible.

After walking a few meters, Wu Jiu reached out, grabbed the umbrella handle, and adjusted it to a position between the two of them.

Zhu Xiao glanced at Wu Jiu’s shoulder, which was exposed to the sunlight, and tilted the umbrella back towards him.

A few seconds later, Wu Jiu pushed the umbrella back to the middle again.

After a few back-and-forths, Zhu Xiao’s face turned cold, “What are you doing?”

“Zhu Xiao, I’m a ghost, not a vampire. I won’t die if I’m exposed to sunlight.” It was Zhu Xiao who had delicate skin and seemed much less tolerant of the sun.

“Actually, you—forget it, your umbrella-holding skills are just too poor!”

Annoyed, Zhu Xiao thrust the umbrella handle into Wu Jiu’s hands, “You hold it.”

Wu Jiu naturally took it over, looked up to calculate the position of the light source, and then found a perfect angle to create a small patch of shade for Zhu Xiao.

He held the umbrella steadily, ensuring that Zhu Xiao wasn’t exposed to the sun and that the umbrella didn’t sway and hit Zhu Xiao.

As a result, Zhu Xiao’s journey to work was quite comfortable. Not a single ray of ultraviolet light touched him. Wu Jiu held the umbrella, and no matter which direction Zhu Xiao walked, a shadow always covered him.

Throughout the journey, Wu Jiu was vigilant, as if he were escorting an important person. He walked on the side closer to the traffic, opened doors for Zhu Xiao in advance, blocked Zhu Xiao from dogs to prevent them from getting too close, and even kicked away small stones on the road before Zhu Xiao stepped on them.

People on the street, cars, dogs, small stones on the road, and the ultraviolet rays above—all were kept away from Zhu Xiao.

As they approached their destination, Wu Jiu suddenly realized what he had been doing and started to feel discontented: Was he Zhu Xiao’s free bodyguard now?

Just as he was about to complain, Zhu Xiao suddenly said, “Why are you working so hard?”

“I’m not,” Wu Jiu denied, “I’m just polite.”

Zhu Xiao didn’t comment, “Alright.”

“What?” Wu Jiu said, “Don’t think I’m your bodyguard.”

“No, I was going to say—”

“Although I’ve already married you eight hundred times,” Zhu Xiao smiled, “I really did feel like marrying you just now.”

Wu Jiu’s discontent vanished in an instant. His head started to emit smoke again, and he felt dizzy.

In a daze, he said after a while, “……Zhu Xiao, you say that again!”

Regaining his senses, Zhu Xiao had already walked a few steps ahead. He quickened his pace to catch up and asked, “Is it true?”

Zhu Xiao: “It’s not.”

Wu Jiu didn’t believe him, “That’s the lie.”

While he continued to clear the way for Zhu Xiao with a willing heart, he wagged his invisible little tail, “Admit it, Zhu Xiao. You were just charmed by my charm. Give me a hundred points.”

……

Zhu Xiao had two classes to teach today. He went straight to the classroom, and Wu Jiu followed and sat in the middle of the last row.

Wu Jiu was a ghost, well-versed in the art of invisibility. With a little trick, he could make people around him unable to see him.

However, his invisibility didn’t work on Zhu Xiao. Zhu Xiao could look up and see Wu Jiu staring at him intently from the back.

Among all the people in the classroom, no one’s gaze was as intense as Wu Jiu’s. His presence was just too strong to ignore.

Every time Zhu Xiao accidentally glanced over, the smoke above Wu Jiu’s head would form different shapes.

Zhu Xiao paused for a moment but forced himself to look away.

Wu Jiu didn’t mean to disrupt the class. He also wanted to be quiet and lower his presence, but he couldn’t control the smoke above his head.

Moreover, every time Zhu Xiao looked at him, he got excited. It was already good that he didn’t emit pink smoke.

During the ninety-minute class, Zhu Xiao relied on his strong willpower to stay focused and not get distracted too many times.

When the class ended, Zhu Xiao walked to the middle of the last row.

The students around were a bit anxious, “What’s wrong, teacher?”

“Nothing.”

Then Zhu Xiao precisely grabbed the back of Wu Jiu’s collar and dragged him out of the classroom with a poker face.

The students in the back row whispered to each other, “Why did I just feel a chill down my spine as if a ghost had passed by?”

Before the next class began, Zhu Xiao pushed him back into his office and forcefully pressed him into his workstation.

“You wait here for me to come back.”

The exiled Wu Jiu complained, “This is so boring, Zhu Xiao.”

Zhu Xiao turned on the computer and opened the built-in Minesweeper game for him, “Play the computer.”

Wu Jiu perked up a bit, “Can I use your computer?”

“Yes.” There was nothing on his computer that couldn’t be touched. And he knew Wu Jiu had a sense of boundaries and wouldn’t mess with his important files.

“Can I look at everything?”

“Yes.”

Wu Jiu’s eyes lit up, “Then can I look at your WeChat?”

“……Do as you please.”

With permission, Wu Jiu clicked on WeChat on the computer right in front of Zhu Xiao.

His goal was very clear. He scrolled down, skipped over anything related to “Zhang Yue,” and went straight to the old man’s name, wanting to see what Zhu Xiao had talked about with him.

His actions were just like those of a jealous spouse checking up on her partner. Zhu Xiao wanted to remind him that, according to Wu Jiu’s own philosophy, he was still just a blind date prospect.

However, there was nothing in his WeChat that he couldn’t show Wu Jiu.

Who knew that as soon as he looked, Wu Jiu shouted like a loudspeaker, “Why did you transfer 888 to the old man, Zhu Xiao!”

Last time Zhu Xiao went to the grave with Wu Jiahe, he transferred 888 as a red envelope.

“At this point, you had just gone on a blind date once. Someone who asks for money on the first blind date is very materialistic,” Wu Jiu seized the opportunity to belittle the old man, “The old man really isn’t good. Zhu Xiao, you’ve been deceived by him.”

Zhu Xiao anticipated what he was about to say, “Stop.”

Sure enough, the next second Wu Jiu started to promote himself, “I’m different. All my money is yours.”

Zhu Xiao knew there would be this second half of the sentence. He had heard it so many times these past few days that he was sick of it.

“Mm-hmm.”

“I have to go now,” Zhu Xiao checked the time and asked him, “Can you manage on your own?”

“Of course I can. You go,” Wu Jiu reassured him, “I’ll wait for you here.”

Wu Jiu said he could, but in reality, he was extremely bored after Zhu Xiao left. Staying in Zhu Xiao’s classroom, he could at least watch Zhu Xiao to pass the time, but in Zhu Xiao’s office, there was nothing to do.

He opened Minesweeper and played for two minutes, always stepping on mines and dying. He was so frustrated that he almost threw the mouse—but since it was Zhu Xiao’s mouse, he only thought about it and didn’t actually throw it.

There was nothing interesting in Zhu Xiao’s WeChat. Most of it was work-related, and even the conversations with the old man only included the first two sentences and a transfer message.

The files on Zhu Xiao’s computer were even more boring. He had seen them all before.

Wu Jiu felt like time was dragging on. He had gone through everything on Zhu Xiao’s computer, and when he checked the time, only five minutes had passed.

After class, Zhang Yue followed Zhu Xiao to his office to ask questions.

Zhu Xiao had already told Wu Jiu on the Yin-Yang Messenger to find a cool place outside and not to suddenly appear and scare the students.

Wu Jiu wanted to protest, but upon hearing it was Zhang Yue, he decided to let it go. After all, Zhang Yue was the mess he had left for Zhu Xiao, and it wasn’t easy to tutor this unlucky student who couldn’t even make a decent PPT.

While listening to Zhang Yue’s questions, Zhu Xiao sat in front of the computer, intending to open the thesis Zhang Yue had sent him last time and refer to it while explaining.

The computer was locked, and Zhu Xiao moved the mouse to unlock the screen.

Then six big characters suddenly caught his eye.

——Basic Principles of Blind Dating.

Zhu Xiao had been wondering how Wu Jiu could stay so quietly in his office for so long.

Now he knew what Wu Jiu had been silently doing in his office.

——This guy made a PPT.

He accidentally clicked the mouse, and the PPT jumped to the next page.

Wu Jiu seemed to be really preparing to publish a book and even made a table of contents.

Introduction: The Definition of a Blind Date Partner—What kind of person is the perfect blind date partner?

Chapter 1: Wu Jiu’s Appearance

Chapter 2: Wu Jiu’s Figure

Chapter 3: Wu Jiu’s Strength

……

Zhu Xiao: “……”

Zhu Xiao quickly closed the PPT interface.

This time, the computer desktop was revealed again—Wu Jiu must have been very bored in his office, even arranging the files on the desktop into a heart shape.

Zhu Xiao wanted to click on the one-click layout restoration, but he changed his mind after right-clicking and didn’t restore it after all.

He quickly opened Zhang Yue’s thesis and nonchalantly asked, “What did you just say?”

Zhang Yue was close by and had good eyesight. He saw everything clearly.

The previous moment had caused a huge storm in his heart. Why did the teacher make a PPT related to Wu Jiu?

What did “perfect blind date partner” mean?

Even with Zhang Yue’s strong sense of dullness, he vaguely felt that he had discovered a shocking secret.

He was dazed for a moment.

No wonder Zhu Xiao had accepted him so readily after Wu Jiu left, no wonder he had never scolded him despite his repeated mistakes, no wonder Zhu Xiao had asked him about Wu Jiu’s preferences in the supermarket last time, no wonder Zhu Xiao had talked to him about so many life topics when he mentioned Wu Jiu……

Zhu Xiao tapped the table with his finger.

Zhang Yue came back to his senses and asked the question again.

After sending Zhang Yue away, Zhu Xiao opened the PPT he had accidentally clicked on just now.

It was obvious that Wu Jiu hadn’t done anything productive in his office. He had spent all his time making this PPT.

Zhu Xiao began to review the PPT as if he were checking a student’s learning outcome.

First was the introduction, what kind of person is the perfect blind date partner.

Unlike Wu Jiu’s usual maximalism, his answer to this question was quite concise, with just a few positive words, and an arrow pointing directly to “Wu Jiu.”

Then came Chapter 2, Wu Jiu’s appearance.

This guy had found a photo of himself online and dedicated an entire PPT slide to it, only starting to elaborate on the topic on the next slide.

Wu Jiu meticulously analyzed his appearance. Upon closer inspection, his absurd viewpoint actually had theoretical support, with everything from the Six Divinations, Ziwei Dou Shu, and Tarot astrology thrown in.

Wu Jiu’s PPT only got as far as his appearance; the rest wasn’t finished, probably because ninety minutes wasn’t enough for him to elaborate.

Zhu Xiao rubbed his temples and closed the abstract PPT.

After a while, Wu Jiu asked on the Yin-Yang Messenger: [Has Zhang Yue left?]

Zhu Xiao replied: [He’s gone. You can come back now.]

Wu Jiu: [Okay.]

Wu Jiu: [By the way, could you transfer ten yuan to Butler Bai for me?]

He had given all his money to Zhu Xiao and didn’t have a cent in the human world. The ten yuan he had just spent was borrowed from Butler Bai.

Zhu Xiao agreed: [Sure.]

He transferred the money to Butler Bai and then asked, [What did you use it for?]

Wu Jiu: [To buy a membership.]

Speaking of this, Wu Jiu was overjoyed: [I just calculated. The fortune teller said I have a very auspicious face and am bound to bring luck to my husband.]

Wu Jiu: [Oh, right. The fortune-telling website requires a phone number for registration, and I used yours.]

There was no other way; the phone number he used in life had been disconnected, and he only remembered Zhu Xiao’s number.

Zhu Xiao frowned, feeling that this fortune-telling website Wu Jiu mentioned didn’t seem very reliable.

According to his life experience, it was probably just a scam website that tricked people into buying memberships, with VIP, SVIP, and SSVIP levels.

Moreover, Wu Jiu was already a ghost. What could be calculated for him?

Immediately afterward, Zhu Xiao’s phone received several text messages in a row.

Each one was from the fortune-telling website.

[Dear VIP member, here are the results of your facial analysis on the “Destiny Found” website. Please check… Congratulations! You have an extremely rare fortune-bringing face, with a fortune-bringing index as high as 99.99%. Whoever marries you will have great luck!]

Zhu Xiao’s guess was correct. The following messages began to prompt him to upgrade to a higher membership.

**[Dear VIP member, here are the results of your marriage fortune on the “Destiny Found” website. Please check… Congratulations! Your future marriage will be very happy, with a happiness index of %. To know the exact number and more analysis, you can upgrade to SVIP!]

**[Dear VIP member, here are the results of your spouse compatibility on the “Destiny Found” website. Please check… Congratulations, your compatibility with your spouse has reached an astonishing %. To know the exact number and more analysis, you can upgrade to SVIP!]

……

Zhu Xiao: “……”

It seemed that in the two hours he was gone, Wu Jiu had quite an adventure.

If he had come back later, Wu Jiu might have ended up on a TV show like “1818 Gold Eye.”

At this moment, Wu Jiu also floated back from outside, excitedly saying, “Zhu Xiao, quickly give me another thirty. I want to upgrade my membership.”

Unbeknownst to Wu Jiu, the unreliable website had sent messages to Zhu Xiao’s phone. He mysteriously told Zhu Xiao, “I’ve checked. You’re going to have good luck this year.”

“……”

Zhu Xiao had never realized that ghosts were easier to deceive than humans.

Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 22

Comments for "Chapter 22"

Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

Announcement