Chapter 144: Liu Shenglong’s Story
“Okay, no more joking around. I have something to tell you,” Yu Fan said with a smile.
But Li Mu frowned. “Who’s joking with you?”
He thought Yu Fan was talking about how he had been ignoring him the past few days.
“It’s something serious. About that ghost,” Yu Fan pointed toward Liu Shenglong, who was standing alone under a tree outside the cafeteria. “Let’s find a quiet restaurant outside school. My treat.”
“You’re crazy.”
Li Mu muttered softly, but still followed Yu Fan, and they brought Liu Shenglong along as they headed out of the school.
Most of the small restaurants outside were already full of people. The two boys and one ghost wandered around for quite a while but couldn’t find a quiet place.
Eventually, they arrived at a more distant area and saw a nearly empty western-style restaurant.
“How about this place?” Yu Fan turned to ask.
Li Mu frowned slightly. He couldn’t help but feel like going to a western restaurant made it seem more like… a date.
Usually, when friends just casually eat together, they don’t come to places like this, right?
He looked at Yu Fan, but only saw his calm and open expression.
“Alright then.”
After walking into the restaurant and sitting down in a quiet corner, Li Mu began looking around. For some reason, the lighting in western restaurants always seemed a bit dim.
The decoration looked decent, but the restaurant was located on the edge of the city, near an area where many workers from outside the city lived. Since students don’t have much money, this place didn’t get many customers.
After sitting down and getting the menus, the waiter stood nearby with a polite smile. That’s when Yu Fan started feeling awkward.
He scratched his head and said, “This place is kind of expensive…”
But they were already here, and leaving right after seeing the menu would feel embarrassing.
Li Mu looked at the menu and said with a blank face, “We’ll split the bill. You don’t have to pay for me.”
That actually matched how he felt. Always letting Yu Fan pay, while he ignored him, felt a bit too much.
After ordering two steaks, both of them turned to look at Liu Shenglong, who was sitting next to Yu Fan.
Liu Shenglong looked unsure. Yu Fan kept winking and making faces at him to encourage him.
Yu Fan had dragged Liu Shenglong over before even hearing the ghost’s sad backstory, so to be honest, he was a little nervous. He was worried Liu Shenglong’s story wouldn’t be enough to move Li Mu.
“Go ahead, tell us. What’s your regret?” Yu Fan asked seriously.
Li Mu didn’t seem that interested. The last time he helped Lin Xi confess her love, it was just because he didn’t want to become more “girly.” He really had no desire to get involved in other people’s problems.
“Um…” Liu Shenglong scratched his head. “I’m still kind of confused.”
He looked at the two of them, then turned to Yu Fan. “Why do I feel like you’re using me to pick up a girl?”
“……”
Yu Fan panicked inside, but tried to stay calm. “He’s a guy.”
“Yeah, I’m a guy,” Li Mu said, already too tired to explain.
Or maybe he just didn’t know how to explain it anymore. Even when he said it himself, it felt a little awkward.
Still, there was nothing wrong with Yu Fan using Liu Shenglong to hit on men.
Li Mu gave Yu Fan a look full of judgment. Yu Fan started to panic and quickly changed the topic. “Just tell us what your regret is.”
“Maybe… I wanted to reach Diamond I?” Liu Shenglong scratched his head.
Even as a ghost, he wasn’t too sure about his regret. So he just picked the thing he was most focused on before he died.
Yep. He died while playing League of Legends, trying to reach Diamond I rank.
He had only one match left in the promotion series, and he thought, “If I win this one, I’ll hit Diamond I, then go to sleep.”
In the end, of course, he lost.
After losing, he won a few games in a row and made it to the final promotion match again... and, as expected, lost again.
Every time he reached the promotion stage, he would always end up with strange or useless teammates, or even people who were purposely throwing the game. Liu Shenglong got really into it and played non-stop, for thirty hours straight.
Then, he suddenly died.
He briefly explained how he died, and at the end, with a sad and angry face, said, “Games ruined my life!”
Yu Fan twitched his mouth. “That can’t be your real regret…”
Even without thinking about how strong a regret must be to turn someone into a ghost, this kind of silly reason probably wouldn’t be enough. And even if it somehow was, Li Mu definitely wouldn’t want to help Liu Shenglong fulfill this wish and help him move on peacefully.
As expected, Li Mu was already eating his steak without much interest.
He noticed Yu Fan looking at him and looked up, saying, “This is so boring.”
As a "man," Li Mu thought for a moment and finally guessed what Yu Fan was really trying to do.
Yu Fan looked awkward and scratched his head. “I really didn’t know he’d say that.”
“And you’ve been ignoring me these past few days…” he lowered his head, sounding like a sad little wife who had been treated unfairly.
Looking at that pitiful expression on Yu Fan’s face, Li Mu suddenly felt a little soft-hearted.
To be honest, it’s rare for a guy to show such a look, especially someone like Yu Fan. It was hard to imagine him looking so weak.
So, Li Mu stopped moving his knife and fork, unsure how to reply.
In the end, he sighed and said helplessly, “You know I’m a guy.”
Yu Fan looked up and saw the complicated expression on Li Mu’s face. Suddenly, he felt a bit happy and quickly replied, “But I don’t mind.”
“……”
Liu Shenglong realized that even after dying, he still had to watch this kind of romantic drama.
And it was the kind that got force-fed to him.
Honestly, he thought, if he had such a beautiful male friend, maybe he’d feel the same way Yu Fan did.
Li Mu didn’t know what to say, so he changed the topic and asked Liu Shenglong, “Think carefully. You must have another, deeper wish.”
The ghost froze again, then slowly lowered his head.
“Didn’t you say your stepmom wasn’t very nice to you?” Yu Fan suddenly remembered something Liu Shenglong had said earlier that afternoon.
Last night, Liu Shenglong had acted all cheerful and relaxed, but now he looked shy like a child. He stayed silent for a long time, then finally said in a low voice, “I want to find my real mom…”
When he was about five years old, his birth mother couldn’t take his dad’s abuse anymore, so she left and never came back. After the divorce, his dad changed for the better and didn’t hit anyone anymore.
When Liu Shenglong was six or seven, his dad found him a stepmom.
At first, the stepmom acted kind on the surface. But after giving birth to a younger brother, she started treating Liu Shenglong differently.
Since his dad had to travel for work often, the stepmom would often scold or hit Liu Shenglong. She would insult him, beat him, and even starve him. He went through all of it.
After that, his personality became more and more withdrawn and depressed. He dropped out of school during middle school and became a street punk. He copied how those punks acted all tough, but deep down he closed off his heart, hiding in his room and getting lost in the online world.
………………………………………
After hearing most of Liu Shenglong’s story, Yu Fan wasn’t sure if it was all true, so he looked toward Li Mu.
Li Mu had already finished his steak. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and said coldly.
“You should just go find a quiet place and stay there. In one week, you’ll finally be free.”