Beep, beep, beep.
He picked up his phone and looked.
It was a profile picture that had lain dormant on his phone for three or four years.
A girl came to mind, proud and aloof in front of others, but sometimes gentle and sometimes mischievous around him.
She was the girl who had followed him everywhere since childhood, calling him big brother.
Whether she had gone abroad to study or done something else, he had been unable to reach her for the past few years.
He had sent her messages before, but she had never replied, and he could hardly keep bothering her.
Perhaps the price of growing up was that everyone had their own difficulties, their own duties, and their own lives.
Things could never be the same as when they were children.
Especially since none of them came from ordinary families. Once they grew up, there were bound to be all sorts of things beyond their control.
All he could do was respect her choices and silently wish her well.
Of course, it was more likely that something had held her up. Gu Zhe was not so full of himself that he assumed she was avoiding him.
Her family had a sizable business, and some of her relatives had official connections. With the world changing over the past few years, perhaps she had changed her number, or perhaps she had been secretly hiding from some danger.
Uh, surely she wouldn't hold a grudge just because I made a joke.
Yun Qing was not that kind of person.
Besides, she joked with me first.
She used to insist so earnestly that she wanted me to be her big brother, then suddenly said she liked me after we graduated from high school. Wasn't she deliberately testing whether I had other intentions?
Besides.
Come on, we'd only just graduated from high school. If it had been some other girl, I could've just dated her. As the esteemed young master of the Gu Family, not dating a few more girls would be a waste of my talent for being born into the right family.
But they were childhood friends who had grown up together. Gu Zhe did not dare casually "toy with her feelings."
Ahem, maybe her tone and emotions were different from usual, and it caught me off guard. Or maybe I "knew" she was joking and deliberately trying to make a fool of me.
Who knew? After all, she had only been a girl fresh out of high school back then.
As a creepy old guy who'd lived two lives, I really couldn't bring myself to make a move!
He wondered what Yun Qing had been doing these past few years, and whether she was all right.
Truth be told, he really did miss her. He could never completely forget the girl who had followed him around every day, calling him big brother.
Especially after that two-faced Zhou Linlin had toyed with his "pure" feelings, Gu Zhe missed the innocent girl... girls of the past all the more!
As these thoughts ran through his mind.
A smile unwittingly appeared on Gu Zhe's face.
The fact that she could message him meant she was doing all right!
He opened the messages. There were two in total:
The first:
"I heard about what happened. Please take care. Also, the world is changing. Protect yourself, and stay as far away from strange, uncanny rumors as you can!"
It seemed she really did know something.
That put his mind somewhat at ease.
And that tone was unmistakably hers. She was still as concise and straightforward as ever.
He looked at the next message:
"Also... that woman didn't appreciate you. She isn't worth grieving over... um, if Qian Yao says anything unpleasant, don't take it to heart either. Hehe, you said it yourself: happy-go-lucky kids have all the fun!"
What?!
That was Gu Zhe's first reaction.
Who told her about my embarrassing business?
I'm supposed to be Big Brother Gu. Why does this feel like an older sister looking after me and comforting me?
Qian Yao.
All right!
Now it makes sense.
Gu Zhe naturally recalled the wild little girl who had always tagged along beside her.
A younger schoolmate, still just a kid, and rebellious as could be.
Sometimes, she had even resented how much Yun Qing thought of him. She always felt he was a spoiled slacker just like her, and seemed convinced that he was trying to trick her beloved big sister.
He remembered one occasion when she had even rolled up her sleeves to hit him.
Thinking of all this.
Gu Zhe could not help laughing. That happy-go-lucky kid certainly had personality.
But... why would she say anything unpleasant?
No way, no way... all I did was tease you a little, call you a happy-go-lucky kid, a troubled girl, a little brat, and so on. You're really going to hold a grudge over that?
Going by what this message implies, is she coming to slap me in the face?
Isn't that going too far? Aren't wild little girls supposed to be straightforward, easygoing, and never hold grudges?
Looks like Qian Yao isn't all that rebellious deep down. Was her wild-girl look meant to hide how vulnerable she really was? So she couldn't let go after I "looked down" on her a little?
But you really were a little brat in your first year of high school, okay? Why were you meddling in your big brother and big sister's business?
Gu Zhe was not angry.
After all his fair-weather friends had become terrified of being associated with him, he actually rather missed those old friends!
Gu Zhe considered whether he should offer his left cheek or his right first when she came knocking to slap his face!
After reminiscing about those warm moments from the past.
Gu Zhe picked up his phone to reply. Then, after a moment's thought, he called her directly.
Her phone was switched off. Fine. Yun Qing was getting more and more mysterious.
Still playing the disappearing act with me!
Has she become an agent for some secret department? Or joined an academy of sciences to work on some epoch-making research?
After thinking it over.
He could only send a text.
"Don't worry. Well, ahem, what happened to the Gu Family was a strategic relocation. As for the world changing, your big brother can handle it. Just wait till I've built myself up, and I'll carry you to the top!"
"Mm, you need to stay safe too. Don't get swept up in any grand cause or noble duty. If you run into danger, run. In short, keep your head down when you can't win, and only strike hard when you can. Besides, you've got me!!"
He sent the messages.
Gu Zhe had no idea when Yun Qing would receive them.
Never mind.
The second round of his Underworld business venture was still waiting for him.
He buried himself in making Spirit Houses again.
This time, he planned to try somewhere else and set up something like a haunted grand hotel!
Spirit Houses for the main building and annexes, recreational facilities, flowers and trees, pavilions and towers, fountains and swimming pools, and high perimeter walls were all needed.
Most importantly, there were the paper figures cut from various materials, equipped with every kind of weapon. This was the Netherworld, after all. Without force to keep them in check, those ghosts, whose thinking seemed little different from that of living people, might reveal their vicious side.
However well they maintained their reason, absorbing the energy of the Netherworld always made ghosts a little more ferocious than they had been in life.
With his basic cutting and crafting skills at the proficient level, and another Nether Jujube eaten, he was full of energy.
When he focused on the work, he was quite fast.
Two days later:
Somewhere in the Netherworld, in a basin beside a hill, though he had no idea what region it belonged to.
First, an eerie paper figure appeared there. Then a grand hotel materialized out of thin air.
Its walls towered high and its fountains flowed. The main building and the annexes on either side gleamed with splendor, while squads of eerie paper figures patrolled continuously.
It was not much different from the Apartment's appearance last time.
Naturally, such a change drew curious looks from the ghosts wandering nearby. The hotel's style, straight out of the civilized world, stirred longing in many of them.
They slew mad ghosts and greedy ghosts, striking fear into ghostly hearts.
Then business began... the monopoly opened its doors.
Five days later:
Gu Zhe examined his class panel.
[Name: Gu Zhe] [Class: Mysterious Origami Craftsman] [Rank: Mortal] [Class talent: Ritual Transmutation] [Skills: Basic Paper Effigy Technique (beginner), Basic Paper Figure Technique (proficient), Basic Paper Artifact Technique (beginner), Basic Paper Control Technique (proficient)] [Spirit points: 6.38] [Storage: Wooden Tumor Fruit ×8, nether spirit grass ×3, venomous demon vine ×1, octagonal mystic ice grass ×3, ghost tiger leg bone ×1, extreme cold stone ×2, inferior soul-nourishing black stone ×2, nether iron ore ×3, Low-Grade Talisman Coin ×1]
A smile rested on his face.
"This round really did make more money in the first few days than that little Apartment. But customer traffic has started leveling off, so the later earnings definitely won't match those early returns!"
"After all, they're all poor ghosts. Even the oldest has only been dead for five years, and very few five-year-old ghosts have survived. This Netherworld isn't friendly to ordinary ghosts!"
"Still, this is pretty good. Next up: upgrade, upgrade, upgrade!!"
"Only once I've gained abilities in the real world can I plan my next moves. After all, I live in reality. For now, everything in the Underworld has to serve my life in the real world!"