Chapter 49.4: The Starving Ghost

The boy returned to the rattan chair he was most familiar with. Ah Li was already waiting there. He reached out his hand, and Ah Li placed hers in it.

The two began playing chess in the air.

Because both were used to playing fast games, to outsiders, it looked like two children holding hands and pointing randomly into the air.

Back downstairs, Tan Wenbin frowned. “What are they doing? It’s not even dark out. Are they counting stars already?”

Runsheng glanced up and said, “Playing chess, probably.”

Tan Wenbin snorted. “You think I’m that easy to fool?”

Runsheng couldn’t be bothered to explain.

“Brother Yuan said you have to teach me how to use those things.”

“Mm, alright.”

“So, when will you teach me?”

“After we finish this batch of paper effigies. The client’s in a hurry.”

“Why do we have to make so many all of a sudden?”

“All three Niu families ordered some.”

“One family doing three memorial rites?”

“No, all three families had deaths—three siblings.”

“If you go, you go together. Now that’s sibling devotion.”

Runsheng chuckled softly at that.

Tan Wenbin quickly caught the change in tone. “Wait, did I miss something again?”

“Let’s get the work done first. I’ll explain when we go over the tools tonight.”

“Alright!”

To welcome back the grandfather and grandson, Aunt Liu had prepared a lavish dinner.

Once Li Zhuiyuan sat down, Tan Wenbin scooted over. “Little Yuan, let me get you some food—hey hey hey!”

Ah Li shot him a cold glance.

Terrified, Tan Wenbin shrank back to his seat. He’d always thought the girl was hard to approach. Even after seeing a Dead Sinker and supposedly growing braver, she still scared him even more now.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his chopsticks. During their trip for medical treatment, he’d learned to eat blind. As long as he mapped out the dishes and their placements ahead of time, his sharpened senses guided his chopsticks accurately.

But when he reached for his bowl, he noticed food had already been placed on top.

After a couple of bites, more food appeared in his bowl—the girl was serving him.

“Hehehe, hehehe…”

Li Sanjiang took a sip of wine and watched the scene unfold with a goofy grin.

When his gaze drifted to Liu Yumei at the small table nearby, he even bowed his head slightly, wearing an uncharacteristically deferential expression.

He used to walk tall with land and property in hand. But now, with a blind grandson and no certainty of recovery, he had to humble himself before the calculating old woman.

No matter how good the conditions, nothing outweighed a disability—especially blindness. In their village, someone with poor eyesight would likely marry someone equally impaired.

Ah, this girl—odd temper, doesn't talk—but at least her eyes work.

And she really is beautiful. Pity Little Yuan can’t see her.

Li Zhuiyuan focused on eating, unaware that his great-grandfather was already fretting over his marriage prospects.

Not just that, Li Sanjiang was planning to bring some egg cake, cloud pastries, and candies to visit Liu Jinxia after dinner—laying the groundwork for his great-grandson’s future career.

After the meal, Li Zhuiyuan set down his chopsticks. The girl gently wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

This time, before he could suggest she go sleep, she pulled him upstairs. Only once he entered his room did she leave.

Li Sanjiang packed the sweets and prepared to head to Blind Liu’s house. Just before leaving, he glanced at Liu Yumei still chewing her food and politely asked,

“Oh, good appetite tonight? That’s good, means you’re in good health.”

With that, he left.

As Aunt Liu ladled soup for Liu Yumei, she muttered, “What’s gotten into Uncle Sanjiang? He’s acting kind of odd.”

Liu Yumei snorted, spat out a fishbone, and cursed,

“That old geezer’s worried his great-grandson won’t be able to find a wife.”

“Hehehe.” Aunt Liu couldn’t help but laugh, covering her mouth.

Liu Yumei kept a stony face at first but eventually smiled too.

“You have to admit, Uncle Sanjiang really is something.”

At that moment, Ah Li came down from upstairs and quietly slipped into the east room.

Liu Yumei took a sip of huangjiu and sighed contentedly. “Our Ah Li is truly growing better and better.”

…

Night had fallen. Li Zhuiyuan sat at his desk and switched on the lamp.

Then he turned it off.

Opening a notebook and picking up a pen, he reminded himself—he had promised to teach Tan Wenbin, and he would.

Though blind, writing wasn’t a problem.

He’d studied Sister Ying’s high school textbooks and gone through Wenbin’s past exams. Drawing from those topics and key points, he filled a notebook with math problems.

After finishing, he stretched and massaged his sore shoulders.

That notebook would go to Tan Wenbin tomorrow.

He wasn’t trying to make things hard—he knew from his own training as a Corpse Retriever that math was foundational.

Understanding tools required physics.

Crafting materials required chemistry.

Even just reading the books he’d read would need solid Chinese comprehension.

Runsheng was a rare genius—not something to envy.

He and Wenbin could only take the slow route of struggling students.

Still, if Tan Wenbin could manage it, it would help solve his college entrance exam problems too—and fulfill the promise made to Tan Yunlong.

“Meow… meow… meow…”

A cat’s cry drifted in from outside.

It was faint, not yet in the courtyard, but since losing his sight, Li Zhuiyuan’s hearing had sharpened.

He recognized the caller immediately. He habitually reached for his pen to tap the cup beside him, then stopped.

Rising from the desk, he slowly made his way downstairs. Runsheng and Tan Wenbin were both asleep at the round tables on the first floor.

Li Zhuiyuan stepped into the courtyard and walked to the edge of the fields. He crouched and held out his hand.

Soon, something soft and furry brushed his palm. The black cat, rubbing its head affectionately.

He sat down. The black cat leapt into his lap, one hand supporting it while the other stroked its fur.

This time, the cat felt warm. Unlike their previous meetings.

“All gone, huh?”

“Meow…”

“That’s good. You’re finally free.”

“Meow…”

The black cat gently pawed his face.

“My eyes are having some trouble. It'll take time to heal. I can’t walk the shade right now, so let’s say goodbye like this.”

“Meow…”

“If you're a cat again next life, find a good owner.”

“Meow?”

“Oh—sorry. You already had the best owner in the world.”

The black cat began to dissolve. With the hatred gone, what dispersed was not black mist but shimmering fragments.

Under the moonlight,

a boy sat on the field’s edge,

holding a bundle of stars in his arms.

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