Gu Zhe felt nothing in particular about the stillness around him.
He had taken too many mental and emotional blows today.
One moment, motivational platitudes gave him a flash of clarity; the next, he sank back into despair.
One moment, he lamented how materialistic women were; the next, he felt people weren't what they used to be.
He had reached the point of thinking, I'm tired. Let it all burn.
What was a quiet street compared to that?
It suited his desire to escape right now perfectly.
I'm not even fucking afraid of being poor anymore. Why would I be afraid of ghosts?
He found number 49, checked the messages his parents had sent again, and located the key in a gap between some bricks.
He lifted the old rolling shutter.
Not bad.
It was better than he had imagined.
None of the musty smells or dust he had expected rushed into his face.
The air wasn't fresh, but it wasn't particularly foul either.
Apparently, his parents had regularly arranged for someone to clean the place.
He felt around for the light switch, turned it on, then lowered the shutter.
He carefully surveyed the little shop.
It really wasn't large, though it wasn't the dozen or so square meters his parents had mentioned. It had to be at least twenty-odd.
Looking around more closely, he found that a second level had been partitioned off inside, with space upstairs to eat and sleep.
For a moment, Gu Zhe was rather pleased.
"Nice, nice. A private bathroom and two little floors all to myself. At least I've got a solid roof over my head!"
If Gu Zhe had been nothing more than a spoiled rich kid, he would certainly have struggled to adjust.
But he had lived two lives. After graduating in his previous life, he had even stayed in cramped shared rentals.
Now he at least had a twenty-odd-square-meter shop. That was already pretty good.
To the rich and powerful, the Gu Family's boy had fallen completely into the dust, reduced to surviving in such a filthy, cramped place.
But some working people might well have said that even a starving camel was bigger than a horse.
Having lived two lives, he was still highly adaptable.
After the initial shock, Gu Zhe quickly calmed down.
He would just treat his former life of wealth and indulgence as a dream.
As for the future!
Gu Zhe looked around the little shop.
"Getting a job is out of the question. I'll just run a little business to scrape by, then find myself a beautiful tofu seller..."
"Tsk, tsk. That actually sounds pretty good."
After indulging in a little self-brainwashing about his future, he got to work.
Gu Zhe found a bucket and towel, fetched clean water from the bathroom, and started cleaning.
He wiped the tables, the counter, the wooden shelves, the floor...
An hour later.
Drenched in sweat, he looked at the almost brand-new space. The "joy" of labor had made him forget his troubles.
He picked up his phone.
Apart from texts from his parents telling him to stay strong, he hadn't received a single call.
His grandfather had brothers, but his father had been an only child. With only one child in each of the last two generations, the Gu Family had no close relatives to turn to.
He sent his parents a reassuring message, along with a photo of himself cleaning.
Once he had finished resting.
Only then did Gu Zhe begin inspecting the things inside the shop.
The old counter had clearly been around for quite some time.
On one side of the shelves behind it were paper, incense, candles, burial clothes, burial quilts, brass gongs, and other funeral supplies, all visibly showing their age.
On the other side stood a wooden spirit tablet.
He opened the little storage compartment beneath the counter.
Inside were more tools-a paper-cutting knife, a bamboo-splitting knife, brushes, pigments, wire, and paste that had long since hardened and dried out...
Although Gu Zhe was a rich kid, his parents and grandfather had still taught him by word and example when he was young.
One look at those tools told him what they were.
This was a Paper Effigy Maker's toolkit.
His grandfather had raised his father with these very things.
He gave a bitter smile.
Am I going to become a Paper Effigy Maker too?
Fewer and fewer people bought these things now. With urbanization, people mostly wanted something quick, simple, and cheap. Buying a little printed currency from the Bank of Heaven and Earth was usually enough to make a token gesture.
Deep down, everyone knew these things were only a way to comfort themselves.
With technological progress, many people knew there was no hell or underworld, and no one had ever seen any actual ghosts or monsters... Approaching Science had already proved that while such things weren't necessarily scientific, they were definitely funny...
Gu Zhe also believed that another skill meant another way to make a living.
Young Master Gu could pick up the tab for everyone, but he could also settle down and survive in a little shop.
Thinking about it, it wasn't such a big deal. Hadn't his domineering CEO parents accepted their change in fortune just as calmly?
Once he had worked that out.
Since he didn't feel like looking at his phone for now anyway.
He began searching the little storeroom in the back for materials.
Slightly rotten bamboo, discolored paper, glutinous rice that had dried into powder...
He laid the tools on the counter and put the aging materials on the floor.
Gu Zhe was about to search online for some tutorials.
Then he thought for a moment.
And called his parents.
"Dad, what are you up to? Do you still remember how to make those paper things...?"
"What else would I be doing? Your mom and I are figuring out whether to grow fruit or vegetables when we go back to our hometown. We'll head back once we've laid low at our friend's place here until things blow over. You don't want people gathering around to laugh at your old folks, do you?"
"Come on, Dad. Have you really given up? I think there's still hope for you two."
"Hahaha! You think I don't know what you're after? Other people's children work hard to surpass their parents. But you? You've been feeding us motivational speeches since you were little, telling us to work harder. Looks like you're adjusting pretty well now, though. You've even started cleaning."
"Dad, seriously, seriously. Is there really not even the tiniest chance you could start over?"
Gu Zhe still wanted to salvage his parents' prospects.
"Working hard is out of the question now. This isn't so bad. Your mom and I have seen a few things lately, and we've lost interest in the limelight. Ordinary people should just settle down and wait for the world to change."
Gu Zhe was utterly baffled.
His father had always liked joking around.
Gu Zhe played along:
"Hahaha, Dad, what's going on? A world war? The apocalypse? Racial persecution? Or a spiritual energy revival?"
There was a brief silence on the other end.
"Don't go saying things carelessly anymore, kid. There might really be souls and things in this world. Or rather, some sort of change began a few years ago!"
"Dad, you're not joking, are you? Look, I know the company's bankruptcy has been hard on you, but you can't let it affect your mental health. Stay strong. If you don't want to keep striving, then don't. Being healthy matters more than anything..."
"What are you talking about, kid!"
Gu An clearly didn't want to continue that subject either.
"Anyway, there are books on those paper-making techniques in the storeroom. Just follow them. If that doesn't work, search online. It's not some incredible secret manual..."
"Mm, you still need to observe the ritual. Pay your respects to the founding master. All right, get on with things. I've got something to do here..."
As the call ended, Gu Zhe seemed to hear his father mutter, "Better to believe than not. Paying your respects to any gods you come across can't hurt..."
Since his father had said so.
Gu Zhe wasn't contrary by nature.
He would pay his respects to the founding master, announce his entry into the trade, and follow the older generation's traditional ritual.
The founding master's tablet in the shop belonged to Lu Ban.
In fact, Gu Zhe had heard his grandfather tell the stories behind this when he was little.
The paper-effigy trade had several founding masters. The generally recognized ones were Lu Ban, Master Zhigong, Yang Jiao'ai, and Zuo Botao.
Paper craftsmen in different regions each had their own figures to worship.
The Gu Family had always worshipped Lu Ban.
Of course, the proper ceremony required arranging large lamps, gauze lanterns, and other things before the tablet.
Offerings such as a pig's head, steamed buns, rice, wine, and tea also had to be laid out.
Then came three bows and nine kowtows, followed by reading the ceremonial prayer while prostrate.
Only then would the ritual be complete.
Gu Zhe, after all, was a young man of the modern age.
Alone and without anyone to help, he had no inclination to go to all that trouble.
He merely found three old sticks of incense.
And placed them in the incense burner.
He bowed three times toward the tablet of the founding master, Lu Ban.
"Founding master, I, Gu Zhe, might be relying on this paper craft to keep myself fed from now on. If your spirit is watching from heaven, please look out for me."
"Well, since you're staying silent, I'll take that as a yes!"
With that, he bowed respectfully once more.
Then he turned to get on with other things.
As a young man who had once been a fairly seasoned rich kid, this was already the greatest degree of ceremony and respect he could muster.
Except.
The next moment.
Gu Zhe froze halfway through turning.
Wild delight spread across his face.
"You finally came..."
Don't get the wrong idea.
It wasn't the founding master's arrival, but... the appearance of the cheat that came standard with transmigrators.
Ding! Host detected confirming a career. Career System activated. Assuming career: Paper Effigy Maker... Ding! Host's transmigrator-associated chaotic spacetime attribute detected. Paper Effigy Maker mutated into Esoteric Spacetime Paper Effigy Maker...