What happened next was completely beyond my comprehension.
After 3 PM, the shop received wave after wave of customers, even reaching over seventy numbers, surrounding the entrance with dense crowds that were arguably even more impressive than the morning scene.
At first, I thought Bai Liu had used her money power again to comfort me, or perhaps the people who hadn’t managed to get freebies in the morning were unwilling to let this sheep go. But after asking several customers, I discovered they had actually come because of the news.
It turned out that after the four of us were taken to the police station this morning, someone had posted the news “Haunted House Renovated into Internet Celebrity Shop, Boss Taken Away on Opening Day During Ritual” on Weibo. It quickly got over ten thousand retweets, and by that afternoon, well-meaning people came specifically to witness the miserable situation of me, the big sucker boss.
In just an hour or two, nearly eighty meal sets had been sold.
The police report had somehow confirmed the news that Huangliang Yimeng was indeed a haunted house. I hadn’t trained anyone in this aspect, but that kid He Jian really knew his stuff. When occasionally pulled aside by young girls asking about the house’s situation, he would mysteriously point upstairs. This emotional intelligence of playing hard to get really made me curious why this kid was still a virgin.
But soon I didn’t have time to worry about what was happening in the front of house.
After selling all the prepared inventory, the kitchen immediately entered hell mode. I shuttled between the oven and stand mixer without even a moment to catch my breath. Thanks to Song Nanshi’s quick hands—I don’t know how she practiced this at the funeral home—her dishwashing speed was truly comparable to a dishwasher, and her stamina far exceeded mine. She could steadily wash dishes for forty minutes and still come help me pour cake batter and plate dishes, eventually even going to the front to serve food.
At 7:30 PM, as the last customer left the shop, I was completely paralyzed. I had He Jian dismiss several stubborn couples at the entrance who wanted to keep queuing, and I collapsed on the sofa for five minutes before recovering. Just then, Han Sha calmly finished calculating the accounts and reported the total revenue to me.
“Three thousand two hundred.”
Twenty-yuan giveaway sets, a full one hundred sixty portions sold, continuing until all the chocolate peachwood swords were exhausted before closing.
I lay paralyzed on the sofa, too tired to move even a pinky finger, but thinking no wonder so many young people don’t want to work hard anymore. It’s all service industry—serving a rich lady only requires serving one person a day, but look at me, serving one hundred sixty people a day at bargain prices.
While the three of them cleaned up, I quickly went online to check. In just one afternoon, Huangliang Yimeng was no longer a shop that couldn’t be found.
“Sisters, I absolutely won’t allow you to miss this new internet celebrity. The kind of fame from the boss getting arrested is a bit scary since people died here, but the atmosphere is absolutely amazing. After eating this yellow talisman cake, I’ll definitely find a boyfriend in the second half of the year. You’ll really regret not checking in here (personally experienced, OP is temporarily safe, will update later, follow for more)”
“The cashier uncle is really a Daoist! I missed the handsome uncle performing the ritual this morning, sob sob. Sharing this treasure shop with the whole world without keeping secrets. Although it’s a haunted house, all the staff are handsome guys and beautiful girls. Heard the boss is also handsome but was always making cakes so didn’t see him”
“Yu Jiang’s First Haunted House Internet Celebrity Dessert Shop Visit Guide. Key point: the shop’s decor is rather old, suitable for vintage style. Wearing white makes instant blockbuster photos (heard the incidents all happened on the second floor, first floor tested safe haha, sisters can rush)”
“Hidden Treasure Dessert in Guan Yinli. Oh my god sisters, I love this shop’s flavors so much! Three flavors of yellow talisman cake, the whole slice is so bouncy and dense when cut, can’t stop eating. Also tried the San Qing Ling cake, crispy outside and soft inside. The chocolate pocky on top is the finishing touch. Paired with the shop’s special peachwood sword mocha, sweetness just right, highly recommended”
No wonder they say you can always trust modern people’s shop-visiting speed. After flipping through several pages, I felt my heart surge with excitement. Just then, Bai Liu called me.
The woman got straight to the point: “Congratulations Yang Zi, blessing in disguise. I’ve seen all the online reviews. Looks like this time there’s really potential.”
Until I heard Bai Liu’s voice, I still had an unreal feeling like I was dreaming. I couldn’t help asking: “Sister… those people this afternoon weren’t really hired by you to save my face, were they? They ordered like money was no object.”
Bai Liu snorted with laughter: “I spent the whole afternoon helping you find that bastard who reported you. Where would I have time to find people to save your face… But looking at it now, there’s no need to find him. That asshole actually helped you out. This trip to the police station was worth it.”
Too many things had happened today. I wearily pinched my nose bridge: “So did you find out? Logically speaking, my place is in the middle of nowhere with not even people around, only dogs. Can’t figure out which neighbor thought I was disrupting public order.”
Hearing this, Bai Liu was silent for a moment, then said in a heavy voice: “Yang Zi, the most troublesome thing about doing business is dealing with people. I’m not afraid of anything else about opening a shop, just afraid you’ll suffer losses in this regard… Remember, if you encounter anything suspicious, tell me immediately. Don’t think about handling it alone. Some things might be much more complicated than you think.”
I don’t know if it was PTSD from my previous bizarre business failures, but Bai Liu’s heart-to-heart came very suddenly.
Come to think of it, all my previous “fatal blows” were related to meeting the wrong people. Even after the cat café closed, I carefully pondered whether it was because I hadn’t maintained a good relationship with the landlord that he ruthlessly raised my rent by twenty thousand yuan… If only I had regularly sent him cakes as a bootlicker, maybe none of this would have happened.
After all, Mom had said: “There’s nothing a piece of cake can’t solve. If there is, then eat two pieces.”
After hanging up, I sighed inwardly, then heard Song Nanshi exclaim from the kitchen: “Boss, you still have cake left in the fridge that you forgot to sell! Can this still be eaten tomorrow?”
I couldn’t help laughing: “On the first day of opening, you’re already making me pass off old goods as new… These three pieces are for you all. You worked hard on the first day of business. It’s not too late, so if you want to go home, you can take the cake to your families.”
“Really? Thank you, boss! I knew following you was the right choice!”
He Jian looked delighted. Youth is great—after a whole day of work, compared to me with my kidney overdraft, this kid still looked radiant.
By then Han Sha had also finished handling the accounts. I estimated his past business could do group buying, like “Ghost Removal Flash Sale 85” or “Ritual Two-Person Group Buy 140.” In any case, Han Sha’s proficiency in operating Meituan and Dianping voucher verification was astounding. On the first day of opening, he not only made no mistakes but even found time to take photos with many young girls who recognized him as the Daoist from the news.
Seeing I was too tired to stand up, Han Sha said flatly: “Weak bodies are more susceptible to evil influences. Don’t rush to give us time off yet. What do you plan to do about that thing upstairs?”
As he spoke, he looked toward the deepest part of the second floor ceiling.
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over me.
I shuddered and suddenly perked up. Yes, after a busy afternoon, I had almost forgotten that the deadly bathroom door on the second floor was still tightly shut!
Fortune leans on misfortune; misfortune hides in fortune. In other words, fortune and misfortune are like nesting dolls. Now was hardly the time to happily eat cake and peacefully count money.
I asked nervously: “Old Han, can you calculate whether that thing on the second floor… is still there?”
This time Han Sha didn’t even make hand gestures, saying straightforwardly: “It never left. This kind of thing with great resentment from life parasitizes in this house. The more living people come during the day, the more active it becomes. I haven’t found a way to completely dispel it yet. I tried this morning, and you saw the result… Exorcism in reality is a lengthy process, not something I can solve directly by going up with a peachwood sword for a 1v1.”
I recalled the scene where he almost got stabbed to death by his own peachwood sword, and felt a chill down my back: “So when it called me upstairs…”
“You’re the current owner of this house, so naturally it resents you most.”
Han Sha paused: “Don’t you understand yet? Both times it appeared directly, it was trying to lure you to the second floor. If I wasn’t here, your situation could be dangerous. After all, every previous owner of this house died here, didn’t they?”
Suddenly, I felt like falling into an ice cave. Now thinking about it, Bai Liu was wrong about one thing—the troublesome aspects of doing business aren’t limited to people.
After moving bricks all day, still having to face a haunted house—this could be called the ultimate purgatory for wage slaves.
We all fell into silence. After a while, He Jian carefully spoke up: “Um… didn’t we say last time that my constitution might be somewhat useful?”
Who would have thought that being a virgin in modern society could one day help the boss ward off disasters? Even the most clueless HR wouldn’t dare write such requirements on Boss Zhipin. I didn’t know what expression to make facing He Jian, so I could only look at Han Sha, hoping he would say that as long as He Jian was around, I wouldn’t die anytime soon.
After another silence, Han Sha nodded reluctantly: “I don’t know how long this method will work, but we can only try.”
He had us follow him upstairs, with He Jian leading to untie the red rope at the bathroom door, then repeating the previous process.
Several of us watched eagerly as He Jian entered the toilet.
In this situation, standing outside the door, I felt embarrassed for He Jian. I originally thought it wasn’t appropriate for Song Nanshi, being a girl, to get involved in this mess, but she had no such awareness herself. After He Jian went in, she kept staring intently at that door in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking about.
Fortunately, He Jian was quite capable and came out quickly. Han Sha immediately followed with the San Qing Ling and plunged in, circling the small space. The Daoist chanted incantations, shaking the bell after completing each verse.
Unlike the previous nights when Han Sha would casually shake it twice and come out, this time his process lasted a full ten minutes. Plus, the San Qing Ling had strong penetrating power, echoing in the cramped bathroom and making my head buzz. I thought no wonder this thing was so powerful—the pain wasn’t unlike listening to an old man continuously scroll through TikTok for three hours on a high-speed train.
After completing all this, Han Sha was sweating profusely. When he emerged from the bathroom, even his steps were unsteady. He panted slightly: “Don’t know how long this will last. Try not to stay in there too long, especially you, boss. You absolutely cannot let yourself bleed in there.”
Seeing Han Sha was exhausted, and considering that both times this thing had troubled me, it nearly killed him in the end, I felt very guilty and smiled bitterly: “As long as nobody dies, it’s fine. While there’s still time, don’t you want to take cake home to see your daughter?”
Han Sha seemed surprised I still remembered he had someone at home. He paused, then shook his head: “My daughter’s health isn’t good. She can only eat bland things. Thank you for your kind offer, boss.”
Regardless, having resolved the second-floor situation, this day’s business was finally completely over. I dragged my weary feet to go downstairs and freeze tomorrow’s chocolate peachwood swords, but just then, Song Nanshi suddenly grabbed me: “It didn’t disappear, boss.”
“What?” I didn’t understand yet.
Song Nanshi pointed above the bathroom door: “Didn’t you notice? Brother Han finished ringing the bell, but that thing… it didn’t disappear.”