Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 6

When he received the strange text message, Zhu Xiao was in the supermarket selecting fruit.

“Great News! Congratulations on being selected as an internal tester for the ‘Yin-Yang Communication’ app! If you happily accept, please reply with ‘Y’, and we will automatically download the ‘Yin-Yang Communication’ APP for you. If you cruelly refuse, please reply with ‘Xian Cu La Yu’. If there is no reply, it will be considered as acceptance by default. This APP does not charge any fees, so please use it with confidence. No need to be polite; it’s all thanks to your good karma!”

Zhu Xiao thought it was a spam message and ignored it.

However, the message turned out to be true. A minute later, Zhu Xiao’s phone began to automatically download the so-called “Yin-Yang Communication” APP.

Zhu Xiao long-pressed the icon of the “Yin-Yang Communication” APP, intending to uninstall it, but found there was no uninstall button.

He tried several more times, but still failed to uninstall it.

Frowning, Zhu Xiao replied with “Xian Cu La Yu”.

“Sorry, but you have already accepted the download of the Yin-Yang Communication APP by default. Our APP has just been launched and is short-staffed, so we do not currently offer a regret service. Please understand. p.s. The Yin-Yang Communication APP, once you use it, you’ll know it’s great. No need to be polite; it’s all thanks to your good karma!”

“……”

It must be a virus.

Zhu Xiao was left speechless by this rogue software and decided to change his phone in a few days. There wasn’t much important information on his phone, and most of it was backed up, so he wasn’t in a hurry.

He was busy picking fruit now and would go to visit Wu Jiu’s grave later.

He put his phone away and then saw a familiar figure.

It was the only student under Wu Jiu.

“Hello, teacher!” Zhang YueXiu obviously saw Zhu Xiao as well and quickly came over to greet him.

“Hello,” Zhu Xiao nodded in acknowledgment.

Zhang YueXiu hadn’t finished the first draft of his thesis and was afraid of being asked by Zhu Xiao, so he wanted to leave after greeting him.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Xiao called him back and asked, “What does your former mentor like?”

“Uh?” He didn’t expect that question.

“You mean Teacher Wu?” Zhang YueXiu thought for a moment, “Apples, oranges, bananas, and so on…?”

Zhang YueXiu wasn’t very familiar with Wu Jiu’s preferences, but he had seen these fruits on Wu Jiu’s desk every time he went to his office, so he thought this answer should be correct.

Zhu Xiao happened to be picking oranges and paused for a moment upon hearing this, “That’s convenient; they’re all offerings.”

He picked a smooth, orange-yellow orange and put it into the bag. The oranges today looked good; they would definitely be sweet and juicy when eaten.

Zhang YueXiu didn’t understand the meaning of his words, but he had heard that the relationship between the two teachers wasn’t good… Was it mockery?

Zhang YueXiu was puzzled, but Zhu Xiao had no intention of explaining. He changed the subject and asked about his studies, but didn’t mention his thesis, only asking some ordinary questions.

In the time it took to chat a few sentences, Zhu Xiao had already filled a whole bag.

In addition to oranges, Zhu Xiao also bought some apples and bananas. When he left after paying, he casually gave some to Zhang YueXiu and reminded him to submit his first draft as soon as possible.

Zhang YueXiu numbly responded with a “Okay,” and only realized after Zhu Xiao had walked away, “I thought he had forgotten…”

“But why did he ask about Teacher Wu just now?”

Zhang YueXiu thought for a while, but felt his brain cells were insufficient to deal with such a profound question, so he put it aside and happily returned to the dormitory with the fruit he had just received from Zhu Xiao.

After a series of operations by the R&D director, two days later, a name “Zhu Xiao” appeared in Wu Jiu’s contact list.

Wu Jiu had been staring at the contact interface for a full five minutes and still hadn’t thought of what to say first.

There had to be a reason for doing things; he needed a pretext.

For example, he was looking for Zhu Xiao for some reason.

… But he still had to think about what the specific matter was.

While thinking, his gaze shifted and fell on the painting he had drawn.

The painting had rugged lines and was quite distinctive.

At first glance, others might not know what he had drawn, but Wu Jiu was very clear; he had drawn Zhu Xiao.

Of course, he didn’t draw Zhu Xiao out of any romantic thoughts.

It was just that life in the underworld was a bit boring, so he started drawing Zhu Xiao to entertain himself.

After all, Zhu Xiao was the person he remembered most vividly from the human world; he couldn’t remember other people’s faces.

He had been drawing this painting since the day he held the funeral, and after more than ten days, it was still this abstract, unrecognizable form.

Wu Jiu didn’t blame his painting skills; instead, he felt that his reference was not good enough.

Of course, it was hard to draw well based on imagination alone; it would be better if he had a photo.

Wu Jiu finally found a “real matter” to contact Zhu Xiao and immediately opened the chat box with Zhu Xiao.

He carefully chose his words and wrote in the input box: “I’m Wu Jiu. Could you burn a photo of yourself for me?”

As soon as he wrote this sentence, he deleted it. In his opinion, this sentence was not strong enough; it seemed like he was asking Zhu Xiao for a favor.

Wu Jiu changed it to a declarative sentence: “I’m Wu Jiu. Please burn a photo of yourself for me.”

He still wasn’t satisfied; the word “please” made him seem humble, and Zhu Xiao had never said “please” to him. So he deleted it again.

Wu Jiu was about to come up with a more assertive sentence when a message from Butler Bai Yu suddenly popped up.

Bai Yu: “Young master, Mr. Zhu is visiting your grave.”

Bai Yu: “Mr. Zhu brought a lot of offerings this time.”

Thanks to the Yin-Yang Communication APP, even if Bai Yu went to the human world to handle affairs, he could report to Wu Jiu in real time.

Wu Jiu raised his eyebrows. Why had Zhu Xiao changed? He actually brought something.

He opened the chat box with Bai Yu and hovered his index finger over Zhu Xiao’s name for a few seconds before pulling it back.

“Forget it,” Wu Jiu sat up straight and muttered to himself, “I’ll see what he brought first.”

Zhu Xiao had been there two days ago and saw that the letter he had placed in front of the tombstone had disappeared, which further confirmed his guess.

He still thought Wu Jiu wasn’t dead.

Although he didn’t know what kind of boring game Wu Jiu was playing, based on his understanding of Wu Jiu, he knew that Wu Jiu wasn’t good at being patient and would reveal himself sooner or later.

Zhu Xiao always had a hunch that Wu Jiu would come out by himself soon.

While thinking this, Zhu Xiao inserted three sticks of incense in front of Wu Jiu’s grave.

The butler stood by and was almost moved to tears by Zhu Xiao’s proper grave-visiting behavior. He didn’t dig up the grave, didn’t ask about death, and even brought offerings… It was rare to see such a mild and non-stimulating Mr. Zhu.

However, the butler hadn’t been moved for a minute when he saw Zhu Xiao get up and go to the nearby restroom to wash his hands.

When he came back, Zhu Xiao opened the fruit bag he had brought and took out an orange.

The butler thought he was going to offer it, so he quickly pushed the plate for offerings towards him.

But Zhu Xiao didn’t put the orange on the plate; instead, he slowly peeled it.

The sense of thrill on the cliff edge came again, and the butler cautiously asked, “Mr. Zhu, aren’t the fruits you brought for offerings?”

“Are you supposed to offer them to Mr. Wu?”

“Do we need to offer them?”

Zhu Xiao looked puzzled, “There doesn’t seem to be such a rule in the agreement.”

“……”

This seemed to be the case… but when making the agreement, no one had thought that Zhu Xiao could eat without any burden at the grave.

“Mr. Bai, you’ve worked hard. Have some,” Zhu Xiao handed half of the peeled orange to the butler, “I picked them one by one; they’re very sweet.”

The butler took it, feeling anxious inside, thinking that he might as well offer the half he had in his hand to give an account to their King of Yanluo.

On this side, Wu Jiu maintained his upright posture and waited for a long time without getting anything. He couldn’t help but frown.

Had Zhu Xiao not known how to offer sacrifices? Or had something happened?

In an instant, Wu Jiu’s mind flashed with some news about sacrifices causing fires and people being buried in them.

If something happened to Zhu Xiao at his grave, he wouldn’t be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

Thinking this way, he made up his mind and sent a message to the butler: “What happened?”

On the other side, Zhu Xiao had already finished half an orange and started to peel the apple.

The butler ate the other half of the orange in one gulp and replied to Wu Jiu: “Young master, what Mr. Zhu brought doesn’t seem to be for offerings…”

Bai Yu: “He said visiting the grave is a bit boring, so he’s eating something to pass the time.”

Boring.

What?！

Wu Jiu was so angry that he could hardly breathe smoothly and had to take a deep breath to calm down.

Wu Jiu had never seen anyone like Zhu Xiao. It was one thing to think visiting the grave was boring, but to actually eat at the grave…

Although eating at the grave wasn’t really a big deal… the key was that it was his grave!

On the other side, the butler was very happy eating. It was a good job to get food while working. Moreover, the food in the underworld was very tasteless; everything tasted like incense ash, which couldn’t compare with the food in the human world.

But he didn’t forget his mission and reported to Wu Jiu in real time while eating: “Mr. Zhu is peeling an apple now.”

Then came another message: “Mr. Zhu gave me half.”

Zhu Xiao’s affairs were always reported in detail by the butler, even telling Wu Jiu that Zhu Xiao had shared half of everything with him.

After a while, he said: “Mr. Zhu is peeling a banana now.”

The next message was: “Ah, it’s for me.”

The butler exclaimed: “Mr. Zhu is really kind.”

“……” Was he having a party at his grave, eating so happily?

As soon as this thought came to mind, the butler sent another message: “Young master, Mr. Zhu said it feels a bit monotonous and asked if he could play some music at your grave.”

Wu Jiu’s veins on his forehead bulged, and he replied with a message so forcefully it seemed like he was going to break his phone: “No way!”

What happened to respecting the dead?

Wu Jiu was really fed up with Zhu Xiao.

He couldn’t bear it any longer and opened the chat box with Zhu Xiao, sending the first message.

Zhu Xiao took out a wet tissue to wipe his hands, thinking that today’s grave-visiting ceremony could be considered over. He tidied up, got up, and said goodbye to the butler for next time.

He walked to the entrance of the cemetery and took out his phone to call a taxi.

When he opened the ride-hailing app, he suddenly saw a new message in the notification bar.

The message came from… that rogue software, the Yin-Yang Communication APP.

This rogue software didn’t introduce its functions when it sent the message. It was only after opening it that Zhu Xiao realized it was a communication and social app.

It was quite rudimentary, exuding an old-fashioned vibe, like an ancient chat software on an old-style button phone.

The message was from an anonymous contact.

“You’re really something, eating like a pig at my grave.”

Zhu Xiao: “?”

A message without any context.

Zhu Xiao didn’t want to pay attention, but he remembered the previous rogue behavior of this software. If he didn’t reply, it might start acting up again.

Zhu Xiao sent a question mark and replied: “Who are you?”

Then he asked again: “Is there something?”

“Wu Jiu.”

After deleting and editing for a while, he awkwardly got to the point after a long time: “Burn a photo of yourself for me.”

Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 6

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Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

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