She Can See Ghosts

He Qing's parents had died shortly after her birth, and her grandmother, battling illness, had somehow managed to raise her. Only when He Qing finished her college entrance exams and learned that her scores could secure her a spot at the nationally renowned Ming University did her grandmother finally breathe a sigh of relief, content and reassured, before she passed away. The family had little savings, and even the funeral expenses had been collectively provided by the community. After deducting the costs of the funeral, just a thousand yuan was left over.

After all, He Qing's parents had been gone for so long, most personal connections had faded. Her grandmother was old and immobile, long estranged from the villagers. Thus, only a few people attended the old woman's funeral.

He Qing didn't find the thousand yuan too meager.

She stayed with her grandmother through the first seven days of mourning before buying a train ticket to the Imperial Capital. With two months left before the start of school, she found summer work for that period. Combined with financial assistance for impoverished students and an educational loan, she managed to afford her university education.

Once away from her hometown and in the Imperial Capital, whether it was due to the influence of the Coiled Dragon Pillar, spiraling above the Forbidden City, with its bright, golden luster, or perhaps because she was growing up, He Qing's abilities surged.

Consequently, she gradually cultivated a bit of courage. Although she still couldn't remain unperturbed in the face of sudden changes, she had learned, at the very least, to suppress her voice and remain silent.

Back home, she could only vaguely discern things that were different, or occasionally have flashes of spiritual light: Like when she would realize what to do in certain situations... But that was all.

However, after living in the Imperial Capital for a year, it was as if her seal had been broken. She often saw all kinds of ghosts and spirits, and sometimes, during funerals, she could see faint shadows. Unfortunately, these visions didn't end with mere sight; they plagued her every night. Over time, this made her exceedingly cautious about what she saw, fearing the stress of constantly scaring herself.

The rain outside had finally ceased, and the sky gradually darkened.

He Qing had just bought a big bag of food supplies, and together with Yu Dandan, the two decided to take it easy and just have a simple meal that evening.

While eating, He Qing couldn't help but think about the female ghost she had seen that day. Her face turned pale, but after more than a year of acclimatizing, she had improved significantly. At least now, her complexion might turn pale, but nothing more troublesome ensued.

That female ghost had such intense resentful energy...

Though the rain increased the yin energy, thunder was an element of yang at its extreme. It was clear, given how the ghost dared to cling to the couple's umbrella, that the resentment was deep.

When she considered it, the red blood that only she could see dripping down from the black surface of the umbrella... Honestly, He Qing sometimes admired herself for managing to survive without being scared to death. Now, despite some discomfort, she had mostly grown accustomed to these sights...

But Zhang Lingyan and Ling Ze were famous figures in the school. Both handsome and beautiful, they were always the focus of the gossiping students' attention. Moreover, with Ling Ze being from a poor background but exceptionally talented and ambitious, and Zhang Lingyan being wealthy, beautiful, and well-composed, both had traits that drew the gaze of others.

How could two individuals, favored by the heavens as they were, become entangled with a female ghost bearing such heavy resentment?

And, caught off guard during the day, He Qing's expression had been noticed by the female ghost. From past experience, it was only a matter of time before the ghost would come for her...

Yikes—He Qing shivered. Best to finish dinner and then worry about that.

Sure enough, in the middle of the night, when everyone in the dormitory was asleep, He Qing, lying in bed, inexplicably opened her eyes: The female ghost from the day was sitting on the edge of her bed.

This was an ordinary-looking woman, with short, dry, and frizzy hair that clearly had not been well-maintained. Her delicate features bore a hint of weariness, not likely to attract a second glance in a crowd. Her hands were stiff and rough, covered with big and small wounds and calluses, signs of someone who had done hard labor.

She sat on the edge of the bed, blood silently oozing from her joints, dripping down in a steady stream and slowly spreading across He Qing's entire bed.

He Qing couldn't stand it and frowned.

Even though she knew it was just an illusion and no blood had actually dripped onto the bed, her intermittent obsession with cleanliness couldn't be suppressed, and she decided she would take them off and wash them again tomorrow!

When the female ghost saw her open her eyes, she said excitedly and urgently, "You can see me, right? Help me! Please help me!"

As a newly formed ghost, sustained only by resentful energy, once she couldn't control her emotions and became too excited, she started to lose the ability to maintain her form, threatening to revert to the way she looked at death. He Qing certainly didn't want to see that and quickly waved her hand, setting up a small soundproof barrier—of course, this was something she was naturally able to do, and she still hadn't figured out where she had learned it from.

"Quiet, quiet!"

She winced in pain, covering her eyes. Always sleeping poorly like this would definitely age her if it continued for long...

But at least she had calmed down, and seeing that the ghost opposite her hadn't deformed, she said listlessly, "Hurry up, get to the point, and tell me everything all at once."

Seeing that Zheng Mingcui was about to burst forth with momentum, she no longer indulged in her own hatred but quickly got to the point.

It was a clichéd story, but every time He Qing heard similar tales, she couldn't help feeling a burst of frustration: Damn it, one day I'll annihilate these disgusting men!

"My name is Zheng Mingcui, I'm from the same village as Ling Ze. His family only has their treasured only son, whereas I am an orphan whose parents are both dead."

The female ghost touched her dry hair and smiled bitterly, "Do you think I'm not very pretty? Actually, when I was dating Ling Ze, I was only fifteen. Back then, my family was still around, I ate well, and I was considered one of the prettiest in our area."

"But later, my family died in an accident. Since both parties were at fault, they only compensated a hundred thousand yuan. That amount of money was very substantial at the time. I had planned to use that money to study, but Ling Ze said his family could no longer afford his education."

"I was so foolish at that time," the female ghost, Zheng Mingcui, let out tears tinged with blood.

"I was already in my second year of high school when I dropped out for him. Then I paid his college tuition fees first—it was so expensive, almost twenty thousand, and there were living expenses since Ling Ze said he had too much coursework in college to work part-time, so I gave him a monthly allowance as well."

"One hundred thousand yuan, with only expenses and no income, couldn't last long, so I rented a house and started working."

"A year later, when Ling Ze became a sophomore, he started stock trading and drained all my savings—the money I earned from my job and the remaining compensation, totaling more than eighty thousand yuan."

Stock trading?

He Qing remembered that Ling Ze indeed had been a prominent figure in the finance department last year and was said to have earned several tens of thousands from stocks, which was quite impressive for a student. After all, the stories in novels about turning small amounts into tens of millions in the stock market were just not possible.

This had once been a sensational topic. He Qing even wanted to try stock trading, but after a lot of fuss, she couldn't figure it out and simply gave up.

So there was a backstory, huh?