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Zhong Kui's Diary
I was even more certain of my judgment; Zhao Bingbing and Wang Bingbing must have conspired about something. I snorted coldly, "Zhao Bingbing, what are you hiding from me?"
"What do you mean by that, Zheng Nan?" Zhao Bingbing forced a smile.
"Guo Er and Qing Cheng, let's go. A Li, Mengmeng, are you going to continue waiting here for Wang Bingbing to sign, or are you coming with us?" I smiled and pulled Guo Er and Qing Cheng to leave.
"If you're leaving, there's no point in us staying." A Li exchanged glances with Song Xi, looking bored, and followed behind me to leave.
"Hey, hey, how can you be like this?" Zhao Bingbing quickly stood up, spreading her arms to block my way. The string of beads on her right wrist almost swung into my face.
"What’s wrong with me? Am I not allowed to leave?" I feigned surprise.
"You clearly promised to stay and wait for her," Zhao Bingbing insisted anxiously.
"Did I promise?" I turned to Guo Er and the others with a smile, "Did anyone see me nod? Did anyone hear me agree to stay?"
Guo Er and Qing Cheng knew I was doing it on purpose and seriously replied, "No!"
Left with no choice, Zhao Bingbing could only say, "Alright, I'll tell you the truth. After Wang Bingbing came to Star City, she encountered a very troublesome matter but didn’t specify what it was; she only mentioned it was related to a Demon. As soon as I heard it was related to a Demon, I immediately thought of you. I originally intended to introduce you two directly today, but I didn’t expect this misunderstanding to happen. Forget about those messy things. Zheng Nan, let me ask you one thing: she is my good sister; will you help her or not?"
I couldn't refuse. Zhao Bingbing had been dragged into a series of heinous crimes due to a matchmaking incident and nearly fell victim to a Ghost Zombie. Although this matter didn’t directly involve me, there was some connection; frankly speaking, I owed her.
I smiled wryly and nodded. "Since you, the beautiful Zhao, have asked, I certainly won’t refuse. We’re in this together, right?"
Zhao Bingbing happily glanced at me and said, "At least you know what's good for you!"
We waited until the concert ended, and then Wang Bingbing hurried over, inviting us to her hotel. Once inside the room, Wang Bingbing took a wooden box from the staff, instructed them to leave, placed the box in the wardrobe, and personally poured us some water while repeatedly apologizing.
After some small talk, Wang Bingbing was still avoiding the main topic. A Li and Song Xi, being clever individuals, asked both Wang Bingbing and Zhao Bingbing for autographs before taking their leave. After a while, Guo'er and Qingcheng noticed that Wang Bingbing was still sidestepping the issue and also left with smiles.
Only I remained with the two Ice Ice members. Wang Bingbing continued to avoid the main topic, but Zhao Bingbing seemed a bit annoyed: "Ice Ice, when are you planning to tell Zheng Nan? What exactly happened?"
Hearing one Ice Ice call out to the other was quite amusing; didn't they find it strange themselves?
Wang Bingbing let out a bitter laugh: "Ice Ice, it's getting late; why don't you go back and rest?"
"You’re in room 17, I’m in room 160; it’s just one floor apart." Zhao Bingbing said innocently, completely unaware that she was being subtly dismissed. She continued to smile and added, "Sister Sun is right outside; it’s not a problem."
I laughed heartily: "Zhao Bingbing, you should head back first. This matter that Wang Bingbing wants to discuss with me is probably quite terrifying; she’s afraid it might scare you."
As soon as I said this, Wang Bingbing shot me a grateful look; my words had helped her diffuse an awkward situation.
Zhao Bingbing looked at me suspiciously and turned to ask Wang Bingbing, "Is that true?"
Wang Bingbing nodded with a wry smile.
"Alright then." Zhao Bingbing stood up and walked to the door, saying, "Zheng Nan, I’ll leave my sister in your hands."
With that, she walked straight out.
I got up and locked the door, then smiled and said, "Alright, now you can."
Wang Bingbing pondered for a moment, seemingly unsure of where to start. She cleared her throat twice and pulled out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from her handbag, offering me one. I smiled and shook my head, saying, "Sorry, I'm not used to that flavor." Edge took out his own cigarette and lit it.
"In fact, many people are not accustomed to Marlboro because half of the tobacco in it is reconstituted tobacco," Wang Bingbing said as she lit her cigarette, taking a deep drag and exhaling a thick cloud of smoke. Her expression was quite complex amidst the swirling smoke.
"Oh?" I immediately became interested. "This is the first time I've heard about reconstituted tobacco. What's the deal with that?"
"I'm not entirely sure about the specifics either. It's said to be made from some paper scraps combined with a special formula. It tastes similar to tobacco but has significantly lower tar content. Even if I smoke a pack, it won't ruin my voice," Wang Bingbing said as she tapped the cigarette against the ashtray on the coffee table, looking quite practiced.
I was surprised and asked, "You smoke a pack?"
Wang Bingbing nodded with a bitter smile. "In the entertainment industry, there are many times when you're not in control of your own actions. If you're not careful, you can be schemed against and end up ruined, never to recover... Sigh, I'm sure you've heard some stories about this."
I nodded and thought to myself that the industry was indeed chaotic.
"If it were just hype, that would be fine, but what's most frightening is when opponents use underhanded tactics against you—anything from black magic to curses," she continued.
"That kind of thing shouldn't be too likely, right?" I feigned surprise. Inside, I was secretly amused; it seemed Wang Bingbing was getting to the main topic now after taking such a long detour.
Wang Bingbing took a deep drag from her cigarette and extinguished the butt in the ashtray. "There's nothing impossible about it because I've experienced it firsthand."
"You've experienced it firsthand?" I repeated in astonishment, this time genuinely surprised.
Wang Bingbing didn't respond but got up and retrieved a wooden box from the wardrobe, placing it on the coffee table.
"What is this?" Honestly, I was quite intrigued by the wooden box.
Wang Bingbing took a deep breath and slowly opened the box. The moment I saw what was inside, I suddenly stood up, pointing at Wang Bingbing and shouted, "You actually raise ghosts?"
Inside the box were two transparent glass bottles, each containing a wooden statue of a child, submerged in clear oil. There seemed to be nothing unusual on the surface, but I knew that this oil was made from the corpses of children, and this child statue was called Child Ghost Statue. Soaking the Child Ghost Statue in corpse oil was the most despised method of ghost raising in Siam.
"Ghost Brother, please listen to me," Wang Bingbing said as she instinctively grabbed my arm when she saw how agitated I was.
I immediately thought about giving her a beating, but then reconsidered; after all, she was a friend of Zhao Bingbing. It didn't seem right to hit her, so I frowned and said, "Let go of my arm."
Wang Bingbing quickly released my arm and stammered, "Ghost Brother, I initially had no idea this was about raising ghosts."
In my anger, I had crushed the cigarette in my hand into two pieces. I had to light another one and sat down, sneering, "Sit down and take your time."
Wang Bingbing timidly sat across from me. "I used to drift between being a second-rate and third-rate entertainer, the kind that could barely make ends meet. By chance, I met a big brother in the entertainment industry. He asked me if I wanted to be famous. Naturally, I agreed without hesitation. After sleeping with him for three months, he gave me this thing—Millennium Spirit Ginseng—that could ensure my career went smoothly."
Seeing that I remained silent, Wang Bingbing continued, "At that time, I didn't understand such things; I thought this big brother was genuinely looking out for me. I carried the wooden box with me all the time. Strangely enough, after getting this box, my career really took off. I went from being a third-rate singer to suddenly becoming popular; even I found it unbelievable how fast things changed."
"Who is that big brother?" I snorted. If what Wang Bingbing said was true, then I couldn't let this person go. No matter who he was, using children's bodies to make corpse oil was enough reason for him to die a thousand times.
"Long Zhengyang!" Wang Bingbing named someone.
Long Zhengyang? I had never heard of this person before; it must be because I'm not part of that circle. When I get home, I'll ask Guo Er and Qing Cheng; they should know something.
Then a thought struck me, and I sneered, "Since you're doing so well now, even if you later found out this is Siamese ghost-raising technique, you would pretend not to know about it, right?"
Wang Bingbing first blushed, lowered her head, and remained silent for a few seconds. Slowly, she raised her head, her face slightly red, and said hoarsely, "Everyone is working hard for their future. Office workers endure the grind from nine to five for money, while we pay for our youth with money, enduring the same hardships. Do we really have a choice? If my dad were the Governor, or if my dad were Jack Ma or Li Ka-shing, would I need to work this hard? Would I even have to sell my body?" By the end, she was almost shouting.
"That's nonsense! Is that your excuse for using such underhanded methods?" I shouted angrily.
"But I didn't know at first, and I haven't done anything bad with it!" Wang Bingbing protested defiantly.
I glared at her, wanting to punch her, but Wang Bingbing stared back at me fearlessly. We locked eyes for a while before I finally looked away, sighed, and waved my hand with a bitter smile. "Alright, let's not argue about this. I might lose control and hit you. Why did you come to find me?"
Wang Bingbing seemed to realize she had been too emotional. She cleared her throat lightly and said with a wry smile, "I'm already in too deep to back out now. If I could choose again, I'd rather go back to that life where I didn't starve but wasn't well-fed either."
I extinguished my cigarette and smiled. "Get to the point."
Wang Bingbing didn't answer me directly. Instead, she closed the wooden box, picked up the Cigarette Case from the table and placed it next to the box. She stood up and walked to the bedroom door, beckoning me with her hand. "Ghost Brother, come here."
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