My Ghostly Darling Cuddles Me Every Day - Chapter 22.1

Chapter 22.1: Jinjiang Literature City

 

Bo Yu fell into a deep sleep.

 

When she woke up the next morning, her first sensation was pain—a headache, a sore throat, and body aches. It took her a while to realize this wasn’t the discomfort of her rut, but the familiar feeling of catching a cold again.

 

Right, she hadn’t taken her medicine after seeing Xie Yinwan last night.

 

Xie Yinwan.

 

Bo Yu remembered her. She recalled Xie Yinwan saying she wanted to take a bite of her scent gland; she remembered her own frantic anxiety, nearly crying, and then she had lost consciousness until she opened her eyes just now.

 

Did anything happen last night? Bo Yu’s head throbbed. She couldn’t remember anything that occurred after she fainted.

 

She reached out for her phone on the nightstand to check the time, but as her arm extended, she froze. She was wearing pajamas.

 

Bo Yu pulled back the covers. She was wearing a short-sleeved pajama top; the “Xiexie” doll was tucked inside, so she pulled it out and set it aside. She was also wearing pajama shorts. She pulled at the waistband slightly to peek inside—she was wearing underwear, her own white cotton pair from her closet.

 

Bo Yu: “?”

 

Was the encounter with Xie Yinwan just a dream?

 

But the clothes she had worn back from the lake were not these, nor was that the underwear she had been wearing.

 

Bo Yu sat up in confusion. Then she looked up and saw the lounge set Xie Yinwan had torn apart last night. Along with her bra and panties, the clothes lay on the floor like a shredded “corpse.”

 

Bo Yu: “…”

 

So it wasn’t a dream. She really had seen Xie Yinwan last night.

 

Bo Yu collapsed, covering her burning face with both hands. Xie Yinwan had found her gland last night…

 

What happened after she fainted? Did Xie Yinwan bite her?

 

She didn’t know. She could only rely on her physical sensations. Bo Yu stayed perfectly still, focusing on her scent gland. There was no discomfort, no swelling, and no pain.

 

So… she didn’t bite me?

 

Did Xie Yinwan find it boring once she passed out and just leave? That would be for the best.

 

Bo Yu lowered her hands. A second later, she covered her face again.

 

Do I really have to dance for her… without clothes? If I don’t, will I really suffocate to death?

 

Help. This was so humiliating her toes were literally curling.

 

Bo Yu forced herself to stop thinking about that and focus on her rut. Oddly, she hadn’t taken her suppressant yet, but she felt no surges of heat or discomfort—only the feverish ache of having seen a ghost.

 

She stepped out of bed. After a few steps, she saw the items Xie Yinwan had tossed haphazardly at the foot of the bed. Among them was the blister pack of suppressants Xie Yinwan had taken into her sleeve.

 

Bo Yu picked it up. Her brow furrowed; two pills were missing.

 

Had she sleepwalked and taken one last night, and another around 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning?

 

She sat on her haunches amidst the clutter, lost in thought, unconsciously touching her lips. They felt a bit swollen.

 

Strange. Somehow, an image flickered in her mind—Xie Yinwan feeding her medicine mouth-to-mouth.

 

Impossible. Xie Yinwan was always mean to her and threatening to kill her; she wouldn’t go through the trouble of feeding her medicine. Swallowing medicine while unconscious is difficult; Xie Yinwan wouldn’t bother. The only time Xie Yinwan ever showed her a “good face” was when she was smelling her scent.

 

Bo Yu touched her swollen lips—likely bitten by herself—looked at the doll on the bed, and then at the missing pills. This time, she really wanted to install a security camera in her room.

 

Or perhaps not a security camera, but a camcorder on a tripod. A camcorder felt safer—at least the footage wouldn’t end up on the dark web. She could plug it into a power source, lower the resolution, and record for seven or eight hours without an issue.

 

If she really had a frequent sleepwalking habit, she needed to see a doctor soon to prevent herself from doing anything harmful. But it had only been half a month; she wanted to stall a bit longer. If she caught herself sleepwalking on camera, even with her stable personality, it would likely cause some anxiety.

 

She decided to take her time picking a camera. No need to rush; she didn’t want to overthink or exhaust herself. Life is long.

 

Bo Yu absentmindedly poked at her scent-blocker; it was out of battery. She put it on to charge and drank her heated herbal medicine. When she picked up her phone to tell the family group chat she was skipping breakfast, the shattered screen reminded her of Xie Yinwan’s tantrum by the lake.

 

She felt like she was looking after a spoiled young mistress. She smiled helplessly, posted a “Do Not Disturb” sign on her door, and went back to rest.

 

---

 

After the medicine kicked in, Bo Yu felt better. At 10:00 AM, after a late breakfast, she began learning how to make desserts from the family’s cook.

 

Sheng Nanyan had made Peach Blossom Pastries before, and they were delicious—not only did they look like blossoms, but they had a rich floral scent. Since Sheng Nanyan wasn’t back yet, Bo Yu asked Auntie Fan to teach her.

 

“I don’t know which brand of dried flowers the Young Mistress uses, so let’s try these first?”

 

“That works.”

 

“Second Miss, soak them in warm water first,” Auntie Fan instructed.

 

Bo Yu was going to be in the kitchen for a long time. She clipped her hair up, wore a red checkered apron, and put on disposable gloves to soak the flowers.

 

“Auntie Fan, do I discard the water or keep it?”

 

The domestic staff liked Bo Yu just as much as the grandmother did. She was beautiful, gentle, and treated them with respect. Auntie Fan smiled warmly. “Keep it. Filter it and use it to knead the dough.”

 

“And these peach blossoms? Do I crush them later?”

 

“Yes, the petals are mixed with bean paste for the filling.”

 

Bo Yu nodded. “What should I do now?”

 

Since the flowers were still soaking, Auntie Fan said, “You can weigh the ingredients first. It’ll make things easier once we start.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Daylight poured through the side window of the kitchen, illuminating Bo Yu’s pale, soft profile. Following Auntie Fan’s directions, she methodically prepared the pastries for Xie Yinwan. She worked with focused dedication. Three hours later, the pastries were finally done.

 

Xie Yinwan, inside the “Xiexie” doll, sat in a bamboo basket on the counter and watched Bo Yu silently for an hour and a half.

 

Once they had cooled, Bo Yu tasted one. Though not quite as good as Sheng Nanyan’s, they were surprisingly decent. Of course, that was largely thanks to Auntie Fan’s step-by-step guidance.

 

“Thank you so much today, Auntie Fan.” Bo Yu bowed to her while holding the doll.

 

Xie Yinwan, unwilling to bow to a human, was forced to follow along.

 

Auntie Fan was moved; no one in this house usually bowed to the workers. She bowed back. “You’re too kind, Second Miss. I’m just glad you like them.”

 

Bo Yu smiled and waved the doll’s hand at her.

 

Thinking that Xie Yinwan might be angry if she didn’t burn the desserts soon, Bo Yu saved some for the family and packed the rest. She added the two bottles of wine her sister had given her into a large backpack.

 

At 1:30 PM, Bo Yu went out to burn the food and drinks for Xie Yinwan. She also burned a bottle of peach blossom wine, plum wine, and cherry wine to test Xie Yinwan’s palate and see if she liked the other varieties.

 

Xie Yinwan, seeing the bags of desserts and alcohol, licked her lips in anticipation.

 

After finishing, Bo Yu went to get her phone screen repaired. She returned home after dinner and sat on the sofa, looking through a calligraphy copybook from the Wei and Jin dynasties she had bought that afternoon. She used a pen to circle characters and add annotations, marking their modern simplified equivalents and meanings.

 

The grandmother was out playing mahjong with old friends. The living room was occupied only by Bo Yu, a cat, a dog, and a doll.

 

Hanhan the dog slept at her feet, Feifei the fat cat slept on her lap, and Xie Yinwan—intoxicated inside the doll—slept in Bo Yu’s arms.

 

Bo Yu figured that when Xie Yinwan said she didn’t recognize modern characters, it was probably just a casual remark. For instance, the characters in works by Wei and Jin masters like Wang Xizhi or Zhong Yao were fairly similar to modern ones. However, the pronunciation back then was Middle Chinese—completely different from modern Mandarin—and some definitions had shifted. That was likely why Xie Yinwan couldn’t make sense of them.

 

She wanted to teach Xie Yinwan modern characters so she could burn more books for her. If Xie Yinwan didn’t like reading, she could give her a phone or turn on the TV. At least then the ghost would have something to do.

 

Bo Yu wore a single earbud in her left ear. This way, if Xie Yinwan appeared while other people were around, she could pretend to be on a call and talk to her without looking strange.

 

“What is the Second Miss reading?”

 

Bo Yu looked back in surprise. “Nanyan, you’re back.”

 

Sheng Nanyan nodded with a light smile. She wore a slim white dress, her long hair draped over her shoulders. She walked in carrying her things, looking gentle and radiant. “I’m back. I haven’t seen you in two months, and you’re still as fond of books as ever.”

 

Bo Yu smiled and looked behind Sheng Nanyan. An auntie was by the door wiping the wheels of her suitcase, but Bo Qin was nowhere to be seen.

 

“He’s outside on a call,” Sheng Nanyan said softly.

 

Bo Yu nodded. Of course. Bo Qin was very clingy with Sheng Nanyan. During the two months Bo Jingxian was away for summer break, Bo Qin was often out, likely visiting Sheng Nanyan. Now that Jingxian was gone and Nanyan was back, he would be glued to her.

 

Bo Yu had no opinion on their marriage, despite the 24-year age gap. She judged people as individuals, and since Sheng Nanyan was a decent person, she treated her as a friend.

 

Sheng Nanyan leaned over to look at the book, her hair accidentally brushing Bo Yu’s ear. She tucked the strand back and asked, “So, what are you reading?”

 

Bo Yu showed her. “Studying Classical Chinese and practicing calligraphy.”

 

Sheng Nanyan tilted her head and sat beside her. “Why the sudden interest?”

 

The moment she sat down, the cat and dog both woke up, staring alertly at her. Sheng Nanyan felt a bit uncomfortable under their gaze. She looked at the doll in Bo Yu’s arms. It seemed to be getting prettier the longer Bo Yu kept it. Tonight it was dressed in a JK-style suit—a dark red plaid skirt, white shirt, and black jacket, with a high ponytail. It looked cute yet “spicy,” but the way the doll stared at her also made her uneasy.

 

Bo Yu nudged Hanhan to stop him from growling and patted Feifei’s head to quiet his hissing. “It was just a sudden whim. Look, you’ve been away so long they don’t even recognize you.”

 

Sheng Nanyan laughed. “You two ungrateful things, forgotten who fed you freeze-dried treats? A ‘sudden whim,’ huh? I heard today that you did something else on a whim.”

 

Bo Yu smiled. “Made Peach Blossom Pastries. Grandma saved some for you.”

 

Bo Yu was about to call for an auntie—with a cat on her lap, a doll in her arms, and a book in her hand, she couldn’t easily get up.

 

Sheng Nanyan stood. “I’ll get them. I need to wash my hands anyway.”

 

She soon returned with the pastries and sat on the sofa to taste them.

 

Xie Yinwan’s face was frozen in a cold expression. Why are there still pastries in the house? Why didn’t Bo Yu burn them all for me? Why is this person allowed to eat the pastries Bo Yu made??

 

Since it was her first time baking, Bo Yu felt a touch of pride. “The peach flavor isn’t as good as yours, but I think I did alright, didn’t I?”

 

Sheng Nanyan tasted it carefully. After chewing slowly and rinsing her mouth with water, she appraised: “It’s very good. Extremely delicious. Xiao Yu, you truly excel at everything you do.”

 

Bo Yu smiled.

 

Sheng Nanyan leaned forward, elbows on her knees and chin in her hands, looking at Bo Yu tenderly. “If you make these again, I’ll give you my dried peach blossoms. I picked them myself at 9:00 AM every morning this spring. That’s when the fragrance is strongest. They’re much more fragrant than the store-bought ones.”

 

Bo Yu realized the difference in their ingredients but shook her head politely. “You worked so hard to pick them; you should keep them. I’ll just use the store-bought ones.”

 

Sheng Nanyan laughed. “I keep them specifically to cook for you all! Don’t be so formal with me.”

 

Bo Yu: “Maybe next time. I might not make these again soon. Since you’re back, I’ll have to ask for your guidance next time.”

 

Sheng Nanyan sounded expectant. “What kind of guidance? I love doing this stuff. Call me anytime you’re baking; I’ll be your assistant.” Then, her tone shifted slightly. “Xiao Yu, did you make a new friend these past two months? Making pastries, reading calligraphy, adding notes…”

 

Bo Yu remained natural. “No. People’s hobbies are just fluid, I suppose.”

 

Sheng Nanyan looked at her thoughtfully with a smile. For a moment, she wanted to reach out and touch Bo Yu’s pink cheek, but she ultimately didn’t.

 

Throughout the conversation, the cat and dog remained vigilant, never relaxing. The cat was particularly obvious—his tail fur was puffed up thick. Bo Yu didn’t know what was wrong with them today and could only keep stroking them to calm them down.

 

Sheng Nanyan was usually close with the pets, so she felt a bit hurt by their treatment. She reached out to touch Bo Yu’s doll.

 

Xie Yinwan’s brow furrowed deep. If this woman dares touch me, I’ll have the cat and dog bite her at once.

 

Just then, Bo Qin walked over. He was carrying Sheng Nanyan’s suitcase, the wheels now clean. Seeing the two of them chatting happily, he said to Nanyan, “You haven’t seen each other in a long time; chat as much as you like. I’ll take your suitcase up for you.”

 

“Wait.” Sheng Nanyan pulled her hand back, not touching the doll. She picked up a pastry she had bitten a petal off of and held it to Bo Qin’s lips. “Try a bite. Xiao Yu made it.”

 

Bo Qin was much taller than Sheng Nanyan. Normally, her head reached his shoulder when she wore heels; in flat slippers, she looked even shorter. Bo Qin looked over Nanyan’s head at Bo Yu, surprise flashing in his eyes. “You made this?”

 

Bo Yu looked at her book and gave a lukewarm “Mhm.”

 

Bo Qin felt a surge of irritation again. When will my eldest daughter stop treating me like an enemy?!

 

“You two eat. Come up and find me in a bit.” Bo Qin didn’t taste it. He placed a large hand on Sheng Nanyan’s waist and turned toward the elevator.

 

With that, the cat and dog suddenly deflated and went back to sleep.

 

Xie Yinwan let out a wine-induced hiccup: “So she’s the ‘concubine’ little wife. Are you two stupid? Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Hanhan looked up and let out a piteous whine, whispering in a tiny voice, “You didn’t ask us! You just told us to be ready on your command!”

 

Feifei was also aggrieved, wagging his tail and meowing softly.

 

Xie Yinwan scolded: “Useless, both of you.”

 

The useless cat and dog whimpered and meowed sadly. Xie Yinwan glared at them with her big, adorable doll eyes.

 

Sheng Nanyan walked back with the pastry. After a moment of thought, she smiled. “It’s Bo Qin’s loss if he won’t taste it. We won’t give him any more in the future.”

 

Because Sheng Nanyan was close in age to Bo Qin’s daughters, he had told everyone to just call her Nanyan, and told Nanyan to call him by his name in front of his daughters to lessen the awkwardness.

 

Bo Yu smiled faintly but didn’t continue the topic of her father. Sheng Nanyan chatted about some trivial fun stories from her time away.

 

Bo Yu had to work on Monday, so she went to bed early. That night, Xie Yinwan did not appear.

 

Following that, Bo Yu worked for five days straight. She didn’t see Xie Yinwan for the entire five days. She began to wonder if she had burned too much alcohol and if the ghost was still hungover.

 

Soon it was Saturday afternoon. Bo Yu drove to Jin Xuan’s shop as agreed.

 

Jin Xuan had just seen off a client. Seeing Bo Yu arrive—wearing linen casuals and a wide-brimmed hat with sunglasses perched on top—the “Old Money Heiress” vibe was overwhelming.

 

Jin Xuan greeted her with a smile. “Are we eating on a yacht?”

 

Bo Yu laughed. “If you like, we can.”

 

Jin Xuan shook her head and told her staff she was going to lunch. She got into the car. The doll wasn’t in the passenger seat this time; Bo Yu had buckled it into the back seat beforehand.

 

Jin Xuan sat down and looked back at the doll in its pastoral princess dress. “What does your ‘baby’ want to eat today? Is there a kids’ menu?”

 

Bo Yu laughed. “She has a sandwich; I brought it for her.”

 

Jin Xuan ignored the way the doll seemed to be glaring at her and looked at Bo Yu’s bag, which had a little sandwich charm on it. “Cute,” Jin Xuan said.

 

Xie Yinwan rolled her eyes and huffed. I’m Little Fish’s little baby, of course I’m cute. I don’t need a stinky Daoist to say so.

 

The restaurant was a BBQ place chosen by the housekeeper so they could eat and chat leisurely. Bo Yu had eaten with Jin Xuan twice before and knew she didn’t avoid meat or alcohol.

 

Bo Yu had a sensitive stomach and often felt unwell if things were too greasy. The housekeeper had specifically instructed the restaurant to use the best meat and cleanest marinades, and to arrange a clean private restroom in a spare room just in case.

 

With everything arranged, Bo Yu hung the doll on the chair beside her and ate with Jin Xuan. It was a table for four; Bo Yu and the doll were on one side, Jin Xuan opposite them.

 

After a while, Bo Yu got to the point, asking about her curiosity: “Daoist, what does the ‘Hall of the Ten Kings of Hell’ mean?” Technically, Jin Xuan’s master was a Daoist Master (Daozhang) and Jin Xuan was a priest (Daoshi), but people often called them both Daozhang out of respect.

 

Jin Xuan raised an eyebrow. “Why the sudden interest?”

 

“I’ve been curious lately. I looked it up online, but there are so many conflicting stories. I wanted to ask you.”

 

Bo Yu thought eating in a private room might be awkward, so she booked a table on the third floor. There were other diners around, so they both spoke softly.

 

Jin Xuan was happy to talk about the underworld. While grilling meat, she said, “After death, souls go to these halls in order for judgment and punishment. For example, the first seven days are for the First Hall, twenty-one days for the Third, thirty-five for the Fifth. The Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth correspond to the 100th day, the first anniversary, and the third anniversary of the death.”

 

“You know King Yama, right? He’s the head of the Fifth Hall. Folklore says King Yama is Bao Zheng. What did Bao Zheng do? He handled injustices. So when a soul reaches the Fifth Hall, they can voice their grievances, and King Yama can re-sentence them.”

 

“Each hall has a specific duty. The First Hall is ruled by King Qinguang, who manages the Ledger of Life and Death. Newly dead souls go there to await sentencing. Then to the Second Hall; if the soul has no faults, they cross the Bridge of Helplessness. If they have faults, they undergo punishment in the Second Hall’s hell. They move from hall to hall, through different hells, until the Tenth Hall, where the Wheel-Turning King prepares them for reincarnation. However, the Tenth Hall doesn’t necessarily happen at the third anniversary; those with great sins will experience much more in between.”

 

Inside the doll, Xie Yinwan rolled her eyes hard. Nonsense. First of all, the way time is calculated in the underworld is completely different from the living world.

 

Bo Yu sighed internally. What Jin Xuan said was slightly different from the internet, but not by much. Why was life such a grind, only for death to be even more suffering? It was exhausting.

 

“So there is a hierarchy in the underworld,” Bo Yu said, recalling how the other ghosts had knelt to Xie Yinwan. “Are there cases where many ghosts have to kneel to one specific ghost? And they tremble with fear? I’ve seen posts about it—is the one being knelt to a Ghost King?”

 

The internet posts hadn’t mentioned this; she was trying to figure out if Xie Yinwan was a Ghost King.

 

Jin Xuan finished grilling some meat and placed it on Bo Yu’s plate. “There is a hierarchy, but a Ghost King’s rank isn’t actually that high. They are subordinate to the Ghost Messengers, just like the Black and White Impermanence are subordinate to the Soul-Seizing Messengers. They wouldn’t be knelt to by a crowd of ghosts. The ghost being knelt to in those posts might be a very high-ranking official—someone from the Ten Kings’ Halls, or even the Five Ghost Emperors’ Palaces above them.”

 

“An official?”

 

“Yes. There are so many ghosts; the hall masters can’t manage everything alone. There are many official positions.”

 

So Xie Yinwan might be an official?

 

Bo Yu instinctively looked at the doll, meeting its large eyes.

 

Then my luck is incredible. On an ordinary Ghost Festival night, I accidentally befriended a high-ranking official of the Netherworld?

 

No wonder Xie Yinwan said finding her mother was just a matter of a single word.

 

Xie Yinwan: “…”