Chapter 62 Teasing Doudou

Watching her ancestors scatter and bolt away, A-mei looked at Mother Huang with a sense of lingering anxiety.

"Granny, what should we do now?"

"Don't worry. If anything truly happens, they won't just leave us to fend for ourselves. Besides, if all else fails, we can just call the police."

Mother Huang chuckled cheerfully, seemingly unbothered by the terrifying ghost Old Master had mentioned.

Her words, however, left A-mei somewhat astonished.

"Call the police?"

"Of course. With our nation currently flourishing under the mighty torrent of human society, all demons, spirits, and ghosts must give way. Otherwise, why do you think Granny was arrested back in the day? It was simply because we couldn't afford to mess with—"

Hearing Mother Huang say this, A-mei finally felt somewhat at ease.

Yet, the moment Mother Huang turned around, her brows furrowed deeply. Having lived for a lifetime, this was the first time she had ever encountered such a situation.

Could ghosts in this world truly be this powerful, or was there someone else out there possessing a heritage just like hers?

And yet, she knew every single practitioner within the borders of Binhai like the back of her hand.

Unless it was someone from out of town.

For a moment, Mother Huang's mind raced, filled with worry.

In reality, however, their anxieties were completely unfounded, because Shen Siyuan could not get a single straight answer out of Doudou.

First she claimed it was in the east, then in the west, until Shen Siyuan finally gave up questioning her altogether.

At that moment, he suddenly found himself missing Yi Xingyue.

Although that young girl was similarly young, she handled matters with meticulous care and boundless patience, possessing a remarkably mature personality—unlike Doudou, who was entirely unreliable.

Well, to be fair, Doudou was only a three-year-old child after all, so it was somewhat excusable.

He wondered how her visit with her grandmother had gone; she still hadn't returned.

"Go home now, I need to sleep." Shen Siyuan put down his towel and got into bed.

Doudou, however, stood rooted to the spot without moving. Seeing Shen Siyuan look at her, her large eyes rolled around, stubbornly avoiding his gaze as she reached out to scratch her head, putting on an innocent little expression that practically screamed, *I'm fine, I'm really totally fine...*

"Is there still something you need?" Shen Siyuan asked.

"Hehe, I want to watch cartoons. Big Potato Bro is the best..."

At such a tender age, she had already learned how to suck up.

"Don't your mom and dad let you watch?" Shen Siyuan asked, somewhat speechless.

"The TV at home is full of commercials, and none of them show the things I like to watch. Besides, I've been very good, you know—I didn't manifest physically to make Daddy change the channel for me..."

By the end, the little creature was actually fishing for compliments.

"Alright then, what do you want to watch?"

"I want to watch *PAW Patrol*."

"Fine."

Actually, it wasn't Doudou's fault for wanting to watch TV at Shen Siyuan's place; it was mainly because Shen Siyuan used—

"Big Potato Bro, can I keep a little puppy too?" Doudou asked with a pitiful look.

"You'll have to ask your mom and dad about that. I can't keep one here."

"But I want to keep a little ghost puppy." As she spoke, Doudou drooped her little hands and stuck out her tongue.

Shen Siyuan was amused by her antics.

"Sure, on the condition that you can actually find a ghost dog."

An animal's spiritual body was not easy to find because their intelligence was too low and their thoughts too simple. Generally, after death, the vast majority simply dissipated with the wind; even after all this time, Shen Siyuan had rarely seen any.

Hearing this, Doudou abandoned the idea of watching cartoons, whipped up a gust of gloomy wind, and dashed outside in a flurry to hunt for a dog.

Shen Siyuan figured, however, that she was likely embarking on a wild-goose chase. After all, with nether flames blazing all over her body, any ghost dog that caught sight of her would turn and run immediately.

"This little thing..."

Though Shen Siyuan muttered those words, his mood had lightened considerably.

It felt rather like raising a child of his own.

Damn it, why did he not even have a girlfriend yet, but somehow already knew what it felt like to be an aging father?

With a silent internal complaint, Shen Siyuan picked up his phone and noticed a new message notification.

Thinking it might be from Jiang Tingyu, he opened it, only to find it was actually from his friend Hong Wenqing—

The very same "Mario" he played video games with.

Since Shen Siyuan hadn't logged online for several days, Hong Wenqing had messaged him on WeChat to ask why, wondering if he had quit the game entirely.

He also mentioned that he had accidentally won an extra "White Fox" mount during a lucky draw, and would gift it to him the next time he logged on.

Good grief, a mount worth three thousand yuan, just casually given away to someone else. Shen Siyuan found it hard to believe his claim about winning it by accident.

Game companies had gotten wise these days; fashion items that couldn't be used repeatedly were usually removed from the prize pool once won, making it impossible to pull a second one unless using a different account or buying one from someone else who had won it.

While the exact origin of Hong Wenqing's "White Fox" mount remained unclear, the reason behind his gesture was glaringly obvious.

The logic was simple: he didn't want to lose a friend to play games with.

Some might find this reason overly absurd, but the reality was often just that straightforward.

Along the journey of life, finding a "like-minded" companion to play the exact same video game with was no easy feat.

In the beginning, many people would dungeon-crawl together, charge into the arena together, and engage in PvP together, acting much like a couple in the throes of passionate romance, with their minds consumed by these pursuits every single day. Yet, as they walked further along the path, they gradually drifted apart, until eventually, only you remained, standing alone and desolate in the exact same spot...

Shen Siyuan had experienced that exact feeling before. Back in his university days, many people played the game he currently frequented, but one by one, for various reasons, they ultimately chose to leave...

Back then, Shen Siyuan had wanted to make them stay, but he knew he couldn't. After all, a game was merely a game and ultimately had to yield to the reality of life...

This was precisely why companion-for-hire services had emerged as a profession. Playing video games was never just about simple gameplay; it required someone else to provide emotional value as well.

Hong Wenqing was likely experiencing that exact state of mind right now. If Shen Siyuan chose to abandon the game, Hong Wenqing would truly become a solitary figure in the virtual world, and who knew how much longer he could endure on his own? That was why he wanted to keep Shen Siyuan around.

"I've been a bit busy with some things the past few days, so I couldn't log on," Shen Siyuan replied to him.

Hong Wenqing replied almost instantaneously.

"Log on now, then?"

"No, I'm heading to sleep. Let's make it this Saturday—I'll come find you then, and we can grab a meal together."

Shen Siyuan had originally wanted to suggest tomorrow night, but then remembered his promise to Jiang Wen欣 to go on a blind date tomorrow evening.

Recalling how many in-game items Hong Wenqing had gifted him over time, he decided to arrange a meetup on Saturday to hang out and treat him to a meal.

"OJBK."

Hong Wenqing immediately sent an emoji sticker, clearly thrilled that Shen Siyuan had no intention of quitting the game.

After darting outside, Doudou did not return for the entire night. It wasn't until the next day, when Shen Siyuan arrived at the company, that he spotted her skipping along right behind her mother.

As her mother was on the phone, Doudou kept spinning circles around Jiang Wenxin. The moment she caught sight of Shen Siyuan, she scampered right over.

"Well? Did you catch a little dog?" Shen Siyuan asked with an amused smile.

Hearing this, Doudou looked thoroughly indignant. She planted her hands on her hips and demanded, "You knew all along, didn't you?"

"Knew what?"

"Knew that the doggies would just run away the second they saw me," Doudou pouted furiously.

Shen Siyuan spread his hands and chuckled, "Who told you not to work hard on controlling the nether flames on your body?"

With that, he reached out and gave her little head a light pat.

She shook her little head in protest, her tiny hips swaying right along with the movement.

Amused, Shen Siyuan laughed heartily as he walked into the office.

Jiang Wenxin, who was still on the phone, had half a mind to call him back, but ultimately thought better of it and let it go.

Instead, she simply instructed the person on the other end, "Don't forget about tonight."

"Second Sister, I know. You've already said it three times. I definitely won't forget, and I'll be there on time," came the absolute assurance from the other end of the line.

Only then did Jiang Wenxin hang up the phone, letting out a long, pent-up breath.

She then reached out toward the empty space beside her and made a grasping motion, instantly causing a wisp of gloomy wind to coil around her fingertips.