Chapter 23: Guest
When he woke up the next day, it was already 7 a.m.
Even though he had a bunch of dreams he couldn’t remember, he’d spent a long time in light sleep. That helped him regain some energy, and for the first time in a while, he actually felt refreshed.
Stretching, he walked to the bathroom again.
While brushing his teeth, he glanced at the mirror.
“What’s your name?” he asked the reflection that moved exactly like him.
The ghost, also brushing its teeth, looked up and answered in a pitiful tone,
“I don’t know. I was already here when I woke up.”
Li Mu's body was also becoming more feminine without him noticing, and the ghost in front of him, who looked exactly like him, was displaying a feminine posture...which had touched his most sensitive pain point.
That’s probably why his tone when speaking to the mirror ghost wasn’t very friendly.
“How long have you been living in my house?”
The ghost in the mirror was frightened by his cold tone and shrank his neck and said,
“I don’t have a watch. I can’t tell time.”
Li Mu looked up at the digital clock above the sink. Maybe the ghost could only move within the area that mirrors reflect, and that meant she couldn’t even see the clock.
Suddenly, the ghost straightened up and bared her teeth at him like a little animal trying to act fierce. She quickly flicked the bathroom light switch on and off and shouted,
“This is my house!”
The lights blinked rapidly, and with her cute but fake-angry expression, Li Mu actually felt a bit like laughing.
Her face looked so upset, like she was about to cry, but she still tried to look mean. It was like a tiny kitten pretending to be tough. It almost made you want to tease her more.
Then Li Mu paused and thought carefully.
Wait… is this what I look like when I get mad in front of Yu Fan?
Is that why Yu Fan always likes messing with me?
He looked at the ghost again. Although she looked exactly like him, she was probably a teenage girl at heart, so her movements and expressions had a cute, girlish vibe.
Therefore, even if he made the same expression as the ghost in the mirror, it would probably be fierce rather than 'fierce-cute.'
Understanding that made him feel a little better. He even had the energy to joke:
“How about I call you Jingjing? (Mirror mirror)”
“No… sounds bad,” the ghost replied with a soft, girly voice. Her hands dropped, and the lights stopped flickering.
According to Yu Fan, ghosts like Lin Xi can only exist for about a week, or rather, they can only be considered the lingering thoughts of a person.
But this mirror ghost clearly didn’t know how long she had existed. She might be stronger than Lin Xi. If Li Mu hadn’t suddenly gained the ability to see ghosts after his truck accident, he probably wouldn’t have noticed her for years, or even decades.
No wonder the house always felt oddly cold. And the lightbulbs kept breaking...
Thinking about all the lightbulbs he had thrown out, believing they were broken, made his heart ache a little.
“Then how about... Xiao Jing?” he said quickly, not waiting for her to reject it.
Then he followed up, “Can you come out of the mirror?”
Xiao Jing quietly shook her head.
“Do you have any unfinished wish?”
She shook her head again.
“Are you a boy or a girl?”
This time, she finally answered. Lowering her head, she mumbled shyly.
“I’m a girl... You scared a girl. You’re a bad person.”
Did this ghost just try to play victim here?
“You scared me first.”
“You took over my home. What’s wrong with me scaring you away?” Xiao Jing replied confidently.
Seriously, what kind of situation have I gotten myself into?
Ghosts were supposed to be rare, so how did I end up living with one?
He spat out the toothpaste foam in his mouth and rinsed several times. Only then did he look at the ghost in the mirror like he was looking at someone silly.
"It's getting a bit cold. Turn the temperature up by two degrees."
After washing up, the sleepy feeling from waking up finally went away completely.
As the room slowly got warmer, he thought this ghost in the mirror might be even more useful than those smart home assistants sold nowadays.
Li Mu took out his phone and hesitated for a moment before calling Yu Fan.
But Yu Fan didn’t pick up…
Well, it was a holiday. If a student didn’t stay up past midnight and sleep until noon, that would actually be unusual.
With a sigh, Li Mu turned and walked out of the bathroom. He grabbed some loose change, planning to head out.
"Wait a second!"
"Hmm?" He looked back at the bathroom mirror.
"Can you... can you..." The version of him in the mirror nervously played with her clothes, her eyebrows furrowed, she looked just like a shy girl.
Seeing her act like that made Li Mu feel annoyed. He asked coldly, "Can’t you just change how you look?"
"Then you’d have to change too..."
"What do you want? Hurry up and say it."
"Can you move the TV over here? I’m really bored staying in here alone..."
"???"
"Or you could just put a mirror in front of the TV. That works too."
So… this ghost could move between mirrors?
But there weren’t any other mirrors in the house, so there was no way to meet her request.
Besides, why should a living person go around doing favors for a ghost?
Just then, someone knocked on the door, and a familiar voice called from outside.
"Xiao Mu, are you home?"
"Coming!" Li Mu called back loudly, shooting a warning glare at Xiao Jing in the mirror, worried she might cause trouble with a guest here.
He opened the door and looked up at the person outside.
It was a tall and slim young man, about 25 or 26 years old, Li Mu’s neighbor from across the hall.
"Brother Tianyou." As usual, Li Mu was cold and distant. After a quick greeting, he turned and walked back toward the sofa.
"My mom figured you'd be home for the National Day holiday, so she told me to bring you breakfast." Tianyou walked in with a smile, carrying a bag of food.
"You’re back, but you didn’t even come say hi to her."
His full name was Ren Tianyou, and he worked as a ride-hailing driver. Because of new rules in recent years, people hardly saw private tricycles or illegal taxis anymore in their town, so ride-hailing apps had become really popular.
Back when Li Mu’s parents were still alive, their two families had been close. His parents used to travel a lot for work, often gone for ten days or more, and during those times, Ren Tianyou’s family would take care of Li Mu and his younger sister.
Now that Li Mu lived alone, Ren Tianyou’s family treated him like a younger son.
"It’s not necessary," Li Mu said. He glanced at the couch, grabbed a cloth from the table, gave it a quick wipe, and sat down.
"Need help cleaning the house?" Tianyou set the breakfast on the table and sat next to him with a gentle smile.
"Do you have enough money? If not, I can give you some."
Li Mu still kept a distant attitude. "I don’t need anything."
Ren Tianyou reached out and pinched Li Mu’s cheek. "Smile more, don’t always look so serious. You’ll never get a girlfriend that way."
"You’re not bad-looking, but girls these days don’t like guys with your kind of personality."
The icy look on Li Mu’s face softened a little. With a helpless expression, he brushed Tianyou’s hand away and looked up at his tired face.
"Lately, things haven’t been safe. Don’t work night shifts anymore."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It was on the news."