Soon, a woman walked over, appearing to be Ke Yiqing’s assistant. She had been sitting in the corner, with ordinary looks and a low presence, so Shu Nian hadn’t noticed her.

The assistant glared at Ke Yiqing as if signaling her to shut up immediately.

Then, the assistant reached out and pulled Ke Yiqing up, smiling at Shu Nian and saying: “I’m sorry, please don’t take it too seriously. Yiqing just likes to joke around, but she doesn’t know when to stop.”

Shu Nian said: “It’s fine.”

The assistant thought for a moment and diplomatically added: “I hope you won’t take those silly words from earlier seriously.”

Shu Nian understood her meaning: “I know.”

After speaking, the assistant’s expression still didn’t look good as she led Ke Yiqing out of the studio. Ke Yiqing struggled for a few seconds, only stopping to seriously add one more sentence: “I have never chased anyone, absolutely never.”

“…” The assistant held back her anger and simply dragged her away.

Shu Nian stared blankly as she was pulled away.

Thinking back on what Ke Yiqing had just said, Shu Nian could barely identify three inconsistencies.

The first was that A’He had called yesterday asking her to spend his birthday with him, which sounded fake because Xie Ruhe’s birthday had passed more than half a month ago.

The second was saying Xie Ruhe was ugly. Even considering differences in aesthetic preferences, she didn’t think he could be categorized as ugly.

And the third, a bit of a stretch, was that Ke Yiqing said Xu Zeyuan had only a good-looking face but sang poorly. Shu Nian thought it should be the other way around.

Shu Nian didn’t think she was being prejudiced, but in the entertainment industry, Xu Zeyuan’s appearance couldn’t be called handsome, only somewhat delicate, but his singing was indeed quite good.

Shu Nian didn’t understand why Ke Yiqing would say these things to her for no reason.

What a strange person, she thought.

It was another day of working until very late.

Shu Nian said goodbye to the others and left the recording studio. Tomorrow she would start recording, so she planned to do more homework, go back and watch some previous performances by the actress playing the second female lead, and listen to the actress’s voice.

At this hour, the subway had already stopped running.

There was a bus stop nearby, and Shu Nian could take a bus that ran until 1 AM. She wasn’t in a hurry and walked slowly towards it.

Because of her job, she often walked on the streets this late.

At first, Shu Nian was especially afraid; as soon as anyone approached her, she would immediately take out the anti-wolf spray from her bag, constantly thinking about calling the police. Being sensitive, she would always feel like someone was following her.

Under these circumstances, Shu Nian had encountered He You several times.

When he first heard about this, He You took this issue quite seriously, but as time went on, he no longer paid much attention to it.

Shu Nian contemplated whether to buy a car. She had gotten her driver’s license during her freshman year of college but hadn’t driven much since then. Besides, she didn’t have much money on hand right now.

This contemplation only lasted a few seconds before she dismissed it.

At this time, there was no one at the bus stop except her.

Shu Nian always felt uneasy and didn’t dare to look at her phone continuously. She would look down for one second, then up at her surroundings for five seconds, afraid that someone might suddenly jump out from somewhere.

Shu Nian looked down to check the real-time bus schedule.

From her peripheral vision, she noticed a black car stopped in front of her and instinctively looked up.

The rear window rolled down, revealing a familiar face.

Due to having many things to do lately, Shu Nian hadn’t gone to see him since Xie Ruhe’s birthday. She was used to living alone and didn’t think of finding him to chat.

Having not seen him for some time, Xie Ruhe had cut his hair short, revealing a smooth forehead, making him look a bit brighter. He turned his head to look at her, his eyebrows slightly lowered, his eyelashes covering them like crow feathers, quietly gazing at her.

Shu Nian was a bit surprised: “What are you doing here?”

Xie Ruhe glanced at the driver’s seat and said something softly, which Shu Nian couldn’t hear clearly. Then, Fang Wencheng got out of the car and opened the door on the other side for Shu Nian: “Shu Nian, get in the car first, it’s very late.”

Shu Nian didn’t dawdle and walked over to get in the car.

Fang Wencheng started the car.

Usually, when Shu Nian sat in this position, the gap between the back seat and the front seat would be filled with the dismantled parts of Xie Ruhe’s wheelchair. Now she didn’t see them; the space was empty.

Shu Nian looked at him again: “Why are you out so late?”

Xie Ruhe said calmly: “Just happened to have business nearby.”

Shu Nian didn’t pursue the topic further and asked: “How’s your rehabilitation going?”

Xie Ruhe was silent for a few seconds, his lips moved, but he didn’t say anything.

Seeing his listless expression, looking as if he was a bit tired, Shu Nian didn’t bother him further. She lowered her head to find previous dramas the second female lead had acted in and casually clicked on a movie.

Shu Nian skipped the opening credits and went to a position about one-third of the way through. Before watching, she hadn’t noticed what type of movie it was, and her mind and body were in a very relaxed state.

After it loaded, Shu Nian seriously watched the segment she had clicked on.

A woman was combing her hair in front of a mirror in a dim room. Suddenly, the background music stopped abruptly, and an eerie music box sound began playing. It was the kind of music commonly found in ghost movies, warning you that a scary scene was coming up.

The next second, the camera zoomed in on the mirror, and the screen was filled with a female ghost’s face, staring directly at her with hollow, bloody eyes, accompanied by a hysterical scream.

Shu Nian’s breath caught, her heart seeming to stop from fright. She let go of her phone, which fell with a clatter.

She froze in place as if in extreme shock, completely unable to recover.

Noticing her reaction, Xie Ruhe’s eyelids moved slightly, and he looked over.

“What’s wrong?”

Shu Nian looked at him dully, then quickly lowered her eyes, covering her heart to calm her breathing.

“It’s nothing, I was watching a movie, and didn’t realize it was a horror film.”

“…” Xie Ruhe leaned over, picked up her phone for her, and turned off the movie. He looked up at Shu Nian’s pale face, his voice containing a hint of comfort: “Don’t be afraid, it’s all fake.”

Shu Nian’s emotions hadn’t settled yet; she made a low sound of acknowledgment and didn’t speak further.

Xie Ruhe seemed at a loss, not knowing how to comfort her, so he simply started chatting with her, bringing up a topic: “Have you ever dubbed horror movies?”

Shu Nian nodded: “Yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“I usually dub supporting roles, characters who are scared in the story.” Mentioning this topic, Shu Nian noticeably perked up a bit. She thought for a moment and continued, “I’ve also dubbed a vengeful ghost, and it sounded something like this—”

As she said this, Shu Nian adjusted her vocal state. Her soft, sweet voice suddenly became sharp, hoarse, and hysterical, like metal being scraped, particularly unpleasant to hear: “Give me back my life—!”

“…” If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Xie Ruhe wouldn’t have believed that voice came from Shu Nian.

Fang Wencheng probably hadn’t been listening to their conversation and was startled by Shu Nian’s sudden ghostly cry, slamming on the brakes: “What the hell?!”

Realizing she had frightened him, Shu Nian felt a bit apologetic: “I’m sorry, I…”

“It’s fine.” Fang Wencheng interrupted her, smiling to comfort her. “It sounded authentic.”

He started the car again.

Xie Ruhe asked: “Are you still afraid of ghosts now?”

“When I’m dubbing, I put myself in the character’s mindset, feeling like I am the ghost, so I’m not afraid. But afterward, when I think about it again, I feel that the ghost I voiced was really scary.”

“…”

Shu Nian honestly told him: “And during that period, when I was alone, I wouldn’t dare to speak.”

Xie Ruhe looked at her: “Why?”

Shu Nian’s expression was timid as she lowered her voice: “I was afraid that if I spoke, it would be in that vengeful ghost’s voice.”

“…”

Fang Wencheng drove the car into Shu Nian’s residential area, taking her to the entrance of her building.

Due to his physical condition, Xie Ruhe didn’t get out of the car, remaining seated inside. Shu Nian said goodbye to both of them, got out of the car, and walked towards the entrance.

At the same time, Xie Ruhe rolled down the window: “Shu Nian.”

The cold wind blew fiercely, causing a few withered leaves to fall from the nearby trees.

Shu Nian turned back: “Hmm?”

“If you’re still scared when you get home,” Xie Ruhe paused, seeming unsure how to continue, and after several seconds, he said, “you can do like before.”

Shu Nian didn’t understand his meaning: “Like before?”

Xie Ruhe didn’t explain further. His eyes caught fragments of light from the streetlamp as he gave her a slight smile.

“Go on in.”

When she was with Xie Ruhe in the car, Shu Nian felt less afraid. But the fear returned just like before, with a buffering and lingering effect.

Shu Nian was constantly on edge, her mind filled with the scene she had just witnessed. She didn’t dare look in the mirror while showering and felt as if there was something strange beside her when she closed her eyes.

During the brief moment when she pulled her clothes over her head after showering, thousands of terrifying images flashed through her mind.

Shu Nian kept telling herself not to scare herself, but it had no effect. She took the script back to her room, this time not daring to look for previous films the second female lead had acted in, but instead searched for interviews to listen to.

Shu Nian listened to her voice while carefully taking notes on the script. After some time, she grew drowsy and put the script on her bedside table.

Looking back, she saw the mirror on her desk, went over and covered it.

Then she buried herself under the blanket and drifted off to sleep.

…

When she was little, Shu Nian didn’t understand many things; her knowledge came in bits and pieces. She first learned about ghosts from a Hong Kong movie called “Happy Ghost.”

Adults often liked to use this to tease children, saying things like, “If you don’t go to sleep, the Happy Ghost will come to get you tonight.”

Other children didn’t take this seriously, but for some reason, Shu Nian began to fear ghosts because of it.

Later, when zombie films started showing on TV, Shu Nian lived in constant fear. When sleeping, she would always pull the blanket up above her neck, terrified that she might suddenly lose her life in the middle of the night.

Everyone who knew her was aware that Shu Nian was extremely afraid of ghosts.

Apart from ghosts, Shu Nian wasn’t afraid of anything. Not darkness, not walking home alone, not reasoning with fierce and intimidating people, not mice, not insects—only supernatural things scared her.

Last time, after encountering that pervert, Shu Nian had been frightened for a few days but quickly put it behind her. She had mentioned to Xie Ruhe that he didn’t need to send her home anymore, but he pretended not to hear.

After graduating from ninth grade, when Shu Gaolin returned from the city, he gave Shu Nian a mobile phone as a graduation gift.

Although Shu Nian was happy, it didn’t have much use for her.

Because Xie Ruhe didn’t have a phone.

And she didn’t have many people to contact.

Shiyan Town was small; the elementary and middle schools were connected, and there was only one high school. Although there were still high school entrance exams, they weren’t very significant. Regardless of how well they did, all students in town would automatically advance to Shiyan High School.

Families with means would take their children to study in the city for better university prospects later on.

Both Shu Nian and Xie Ruhe went to Shiyan High School, and based on their middle school exam scores, they were placed in the same class. Many of her middle school classmates were also in the same class.

Chen Hanzheng was among them.

After starting high school, many classmates began using mobile phones.

At that time, WeChat wasn’t yet popular, and most students used QQ for social networking. Although Shu Nian didn’t have a phone before, her family had a computer, and she had added most of her classmates to QQ.

One weekend.

Deng Qingyu went to the city to meet a friend and told Shu Nian to have dinner at her aunt’s house.

After returning home from dinner, Shu Nian did homework for a while, then lay on her bed and used her phone to watch an anime. Shortly after, Chen Hanzheng suddenly contacted her on QQ and sent her a link.

Chen Hanzheng: [Hahaha, check this out, it’s hilarious.]

Shu Nian didn’t think much of it and clicked the link without any caution.

Without warning, her phone emitted an extremely sharp ghostly scream, accompanied by a pale ghost face.

Shu Nian was startled and threw her phone away with a dramatic motion. The phone fell to the floor, with the screams and wails continuing to echo around her.

After sitting still for a moment, Shu Nian, with her palms sweating, went over and turned off the phone, her hands trembling with fear. She stood up and turned on the lights, feeling that the empty house was particularly terrifying, as if something covered in blood might appear at any moment.

She was extremely scared, hiding under the blanket for a few minutes before she couldn’t stand it anymore.

The first person she thought of was Xie Ruhe, and she ran straight to his house.

It wasn’t even nine o’clock at night, but there were already a few people on the streets.

Xie Ruhe’s home wasn’t in this residential area but at the end of another small road. It would take about twenty minutes to walk there. Shu Nian, gripping her phone, feeling both aggrieved and frightened, ran while crying.

Afraid of waking his family, Shu Nian didn’t knock on Xie Ruhe’s door but went around to the back and nervously knocked on his bedroom window.

Before long, Xie Ruhe pulled back the curtains of his room, clearly unhappy and frowning. When he saw it was her, his expression softened, but he was startled when he noticed her condition.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Ruhe opened the window.

Shu Nian handed him her phone, choking on her words, saying incoherently: “There’s a ghost…”

“…” Xie Ruhe took it, not understanding her meaning. “What?”

Shu Nian, still shaken: “There’s a ghost inside…”

Xie Ruhe looked at the phone and asked: “There’s a ghost here?”

Shu Nian was scared to death, just crying without speaking anymore.

Xie Ruhe turned on her phone, lowered his voice, and asked patiently: “Where is it?”

Shu Nian didn’t dare look at the screen and told him while wiping her tears.

Xie Ruhe instantly understood what had happened. His expression turned cold, but he didn’t open the link Chen Hanzheng had sent. He closed his eyes briefly, concealing the anger in them: “Don’t be afraid, it’s all fake.”

“How can it be fake…” Shu Nian pointed at the phone, thinking he didn’t believe her, crying and getting angry. “Open it yourself and see, there is a ghost screaming!”

“…”

Shu Nian couldn’t quite remember how she got through that night.

She only remembered that Xie Ruhe took her home and stayed with her, talking to her until she fell asleep.

Then, when she returned to school on Monday.

Shu Nian noticed that Xie Ruhe’s hand seemed to be injured.

Chen Hanzheng’s face was even more injured, mostly bruised. He said he had fallen, but everyone thought it looked more like he had been beaten up.

…

…

Shu Nian opened her eyes and emerged from under the blanket. She picked up her phone to check the time; the night was only half over, just three in the morning. Not knowing why she had suddenly woken up, she felt a bit depressed.

The room before her remained as it was when she went to sleep, with no changes.

The night is when it’s easiest to indulge in wild thoughts.

Shu Nian inexplicably recalled the ghost face from the movie again, feeling as if something in this cramped room was watching her—something invisible and intangible.

Yet terrifying.

Shu Nian looked at her phone, remembered something, her heart pounding rapidly, and suddenly felt an impulse.

She had no other friends.

And he had just said she could do it like before…

Shu Nian forcefully found reasons for herself and then dialed Xie Ruhe’s number.

One ring, two rings.

Before the third ring, the other side picked up.

Xie Ruhe’s voice came through the electrical current, sounding as if he had just woken up. His voice was slightly hoarse, with added magnetism and sensuality: “Shu Nian?”

Shu Nian swallowed, feeling that she had woken him up, somewhat regretting her impulsive action, and not knowing what to say.

Not hearing her voice, Xie Ruhe continued: “What’s wrong?”

“Just, just that, you know.” Shu Nian didn’t maintain her silence anymore, nor was she good at lying, so she could only carefully, haltingly change the subject. “Um, today… today the stars look pretty nice.”

“…”