Little Pink Starfish

Little Jiangshi was in a bad mood all morning. Zhang Qiu asked over and over but couldn’t get anything out of him, so he just picked him up, gave him a big kiss, and lifted him high.

“Daddy, I’ve already grown up,” Little Jiangshi said, showing his little tiger teeth and clearly unhappy.

Zhang Qiu kissed him again and grinned, “Your eyes don’t say that.”

Little Jiangshi, embarrassed after being exposed, pouted and then seriously negotiated with a stern face, “Then when I grow up a bit more, you can’t kiss me anymore.”

“Okay, then you can kiss your wife instead.” Zhang Qiu said casually. Boys could only be teased like this while they were little—once puberty hit, the temper would come. Back then, he was such a pain even dogs and cats hated him. His dad chased him around with a shoe every day.

After they were dressed, Zhang Qiu noticed Little Jiangshi kept sneaking glances at Li Shu. He handed him over and smiled, “Hold him for a bit. This kid is getting heavier.”

“I’m not fat!” Little Jiangshi huffed angrily.

Zhang Qiu said nonsense seriously, “Not fat—heavy. It means you’re strong. People with muscles weigh more. You’re way stronger than other kids your age.”

Li Shu looked down at the happy Little Jiangshi in his arms, tiger teeth showing. These two are so easy to please.

On the way downstairs, they saw a figure ahead that looked like Pei Qing, but he had a woman in pink on his arm. She had long chestnut curls, was short and dainty. Pei Qing leaned down to kiss her cheek every now and then.

Zhang Qiu almost exploded with anger. Pei Qing is such a scumbag?! Cheating on Lingdang like this??

“Is that Pei Qing up front?” Zhang Qiu asked Li Shu for confirmation, just in case.

Li Shu nodded and looked at him curiously. “You’re angry?”

“Of course I’m angry! I’m furious! I’m gonna beat him up and find someone better for Lingdang!” Zhang Qiu stormed forward. Pei Qing turned around, smiling, “Oh hey! Let’s get breakfast together.”

Zhang Qiu snapped, “Get lost! Pei Qing, how could you do this to Lingdang?! Cheating behind his back—”

“B-Big bro, why are you yelling at my brother? He didn’t cheat on me!” said the soft, dazed voice of the dainty woman.

Zhang Qiu froze, stunned for several seconds. “L-Lingdang?!”

Pei Qing already guessed Zhang Qiu had misunderstood, but wasn’t angry. Instead, he was happy Lingdang had such a friend.

Zhang Qiu was mortified. He whispered to Li Shu, “Why didn’t you say anything? You knew, didn’t you?” So embarrassing!

“You ran too fast,” Li Shu said calmly, greeting Pei Qing before pulling the frozen Zhang Qiu along with one hand and carrying Little Jiangshi in the other.

Outside the hotel, Zhang Qiu was still dazed. This was too much. “That’s the first time I’ve seen a boy in a dress look that pretty. Totally natural! No wonder I didn’t recognize him. How does Pei Qing have everything ready like that?!”

He recalled Lingdang’s fair skin, pink dress, lollipop look, lipstick and little shoes…

“I wasn’t being impulsive. Lingdang was just too pretty!” Zhang Qiu justified his overreaction.

Li Shu suddenly stopped. Zhang Qiu, still thinking about Lingdang, bumped right into him. “Why’d you stop? We there?”

He looked up and saw Li Shu’s face—momentarily dazed.

“Nothing. Let’s go.” Li Shu was satisfied seeing Zhang Qiu distracted by his face. Strangely enough, hearing him praise another man’s looks made him… angry? He’d felt this way before.

Walking beside Li Shu, Zhang Qiu slowly realized—Was Li Shu angry just now? But it passed so fast… he couldn’t even tell how. But as soon as they arrived at the breakfast shop, Zhang Qiu forgot everything else when he saw his favorite food—so heartless.

Little Jiangshi ordered shrimp soup dumplings. His tiny teeth bit the soft, translucent wrapper, and he sucked up the soup with a happy slurp, almost bubbling with joy.

“Daddy, so yummy!”

Zhang Qiu had a bun in his mouth and half-squinted, nodding in agreement with his son, enjoying himself.

Li Shu chuckled at their identical eating styles. His appetite improved just watching them. He added a bun to Zhang Qiu’s plate and said, “Let’s go see a movie after this. Heard there’s a good animated one.”

“Didn’t expect you to know that.” Zhang Qiu was surprised that Li Shu planned the outing. He knew the movie—it was a domestic animated film that had gone viral online. He’d seen it on Weibo two days ago but hadn’t had time to take Little Jiangshi.

After breakfast, they headed to the nearby cinema. Zhang Qiu went to buy tickets, but Li Shu had already shoved Little Jiangshi into his arms.

Zhang Qiu was happy to enjoy this sugar daddy treatment. He turned to ask Little Jiangshi if he wanted popcorn and sweets, only to find the kid staring at a corner with the superhero movie display. The theater had decorated with giant character statues to attract kids. It was morning, so the place was pretty empty.

“Want to go play there?” Zhang Qiu ruffled his son’s hair. This was the first time they were going to a movie together. He thought they should do more parent-child stuff like this. “Daddy will come with you.”

Little Jiangshi reluctantly looked away, licked his little tiger teeth, and said, “Better not. I’m full anyway…”

“What do you mean you’re full?” Zhang Qiu pinched his face. “If you’re full, no sweets then.”

Little Jiangshi: ……. QAQ

Zhang Qiu wanted to laugh at his son’s shocked look, but held it in to avoid upsetting him. “But Daddy wants sweets.”

After paying, Zhang Qiu looked down and realized his son was gone. Li Shu took the food and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Little Jiangshi—”

“There.” Li Shu looked toward a corner.

Zhang Qiu followed his gaze. Sure enough, it was the display corner Little Jiangshi had been eyeing earlier. He sighed in relief. Says he doesn’t want it, but body’s honest—such a kid.

Jingle jingle.

Zhang Qiu stopped in his tracks. Since returning, the gold bell on Little Jiangshi’s wrist hadn’t made a sound. He’d asked Second Brother about it. The bell only rings when encountering ghosts or when the wearer uses Taoist arts.

He asked Li Shu, “Is there something over there?”

“You mean the crying chubby ghost kid?” Li Shu said calmly.

Zhang Qiu’s eyes widened and looked all around but saw nothing. Yup, definitely playing with a ghost again. He sped up and heard Little Jiangshi say coldly, “…Cry again and I’ll eat you.”

Even though he couldn’t see the ghost, he could feel the tense atmosphere instantly.

When Little Jiangshi saw his dad coming, he put his hands behind his back and stood like a well-behaved child. If Li Shu hadn’t said anything, Zhang Qiu really would’ve thought his son was just excited to play with the display figures and gone to take selfies.

“No bullying other little kids—uh, little ghost friends?!” Zhang Qiu raised an eyebrow. Whatever.

Little Jiangshi pouted and grumbled, “I didn’t even get to bully yet! He kept crying. I didn’t eat him—I’m super good.”

Zhang Qiu couldn’t bear to scold him anymore. His son was different from normal kids, and he was a rookie dad—parenting was trial and error. He patted his son’s face, “Good boy. Movie’s starting. Let’s go in.”

Ghost friend can wait.

The three entered the theater. Little Jiangshi, excited for his first movie, sat obediently in his seat. When the animated film started, he was mesmerized, dimples showing when he smiled, but completely silent.

Halfway through, Zhang Qiu drank too much and needed the bathroom. He tugged Li Shu’s sleeve and whispered, “I’m going to the bathroom. Watch Little Jiangshi.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“What are we, first graders? We don’t need to hold hands for the bathroom.” Zhang Qiu got up quickly. Halfway there, he thought—Maybe we could do something fun after I’m done… what a missed opportunity!

Look at Pei Qing—still kissing 20 minutes before boarding! What was I thinking?!

Zhang Qiu deeply regretted it, but since he was already out, he couldn’t go back and drag Li Shu along. It’s not like I’m scared of the bathroom. It’s not haunted…

After he finished and washed his hands, he wanted to slap himself. What a jinx!

A red dress flashed in the mirror. Black long hair hung wetly. A pale face. Thin, bony fingers slowly reached for his waist in the reflection, a ghostly cheek leaned on his shoulder. Zhang Qiu saw his reflection freeze—he couldn’t pretend not to see it. He turned quickly, the female ghost lunged but missed. Her once-gentle face twisted into something monstrous, her tongue shooting out and eyes bulging.

Zhang Qiu reached into his coat pocket—only a small fruit knife. No idea if this works on ghosts.

“I advise you to stop and reincarnate early,” he said with Second Brother’s charlatan tone, calm and mysterious. “You no longer belong in this world. Why cling to it?”

The ghost lunged.

“Sh*t!” Zhang Qiu cursed, dodging and rushing for the door—but the handle wouldn’t turn. The ghost laughed coldly, “You don’t love me. You don’t love me anymore. Let’s die together. Die together!”

“Miss, you’re beautiful and pale—I’m not worthy of you!” Zhang Qiu blabbered. He yanked the handle too hard, pulled it off, but the door stayed shut. He chucked it at her. The ghost still had human instincts and dodged, then got enraged. Her mouth opened wide, rushing at him.

F**k!

Zhang Qiu really regretted not dragging Li Shu along. But there was no time for that. He ran in circles with the ghost, both getting nothing—just exhausted.

BANG—

The door suddenly opened. Zhang Qiu turned around and saw Li Shu at the door, face cold.

“Uncle! You’re here!” Zhang Qiu cried joyfully.

Li Shu felt a strange tickle in his chest at that title, but kept his expression the same.

Jingle jingle.

The ghost froze at the sound of the bell, trembling in place.

Little Jiangshi entered, unhappy, “You hurt my daddy. I’ll beat you.”

“No no, I won’t! I won’t!” the ghost whimpered.

Zhang Qiu believed there were good and bad people—same with ghosts. This one clearly met her match. Earlier, she didn’t hold back at all. But soul-destroying her was a bit extreme. He asked Little Jiangshi if he could cleanse grudges and obsessions—he hadn’t learned it yet. So they decided to take her to Second Brother.

“Oh right, how did you all find me?”

Little Jiangshi pouted but replied, “The crybaby chubby ghost told us.”

Is it really okay to call him that?! Zhang Qiu rubbed his son’s head. “No giving ghost friends nicknames.”

When they tried to take them out, they discovered neither ghost could leave the mall. The woman had died three days ago over a relationship issue. She’d argued with her boyfriend at the theater and got overwhelmed by a voice in her head urging her to die for revenge. She wore a red dress, and the bathroom was already a Yin-heavy place—now she was turning into a fierce spirit.

The chubby ghost had died ten days earlier—hit by a car on the way to the mall with his mom. He couldn’t leave the cinema.

Now, both ghosts looked pitiful. The woman wanted to reincarnate. The chubby boy wanted to go home—he missed his mom.

Zhang Qiu had a headache. This ain’t my area of expertise! So he called Second Brother. On the phone, Second Brother was in a great mood. After hearing the location, his tone changed, “That place? Alright, I’m on my way. I noticed something off there before—too much death aura.”

Ten minutes later, Zhang Yushui arrived. After helping the female ghost reincarnate, he said, “As expected, the Feng Shui here was tampered with. Too much death energy—it harms prosperity and easily causes deaths. Trapped spirits add more Yin, creating a vicious cycle. The owner might lose everything.”

Zhang Qiu noticed too—just across the street, another mall was packed with people. This one was almost deserted. If not for the breakfast place being nearby, they wouldn’t have chosen it.

“Probably business rivalry,” Zhang Yushui chuckled. “Looks like I’m getting some more baby formula money—if the owner believes me.”

Then he looked down at the chubby ghost and smiled, “Kid, where’s your home? Today we’ll—”

Zhang Qiu saw Second Brother’s face suddenly change. He only heard: “Crap. Something’s happened to Xiao Lin.”