Everyone in the room was focused on the bride and groom, but he was thinking about someone else.
Cheng Yungui, Cheng Yungui.
He bit his lip. Just then, someone saw him sitting alone and invited him over. Someone else asked him where Cheng Yungui had gone.
"He went out because of something."
"Oh." The young man who greeted him nodded with some regret, while Lu Mingran noticed that he was holding a printed QR code in his hand.
Lu Mingran called out to him, "What are you holding in your hand?"
It took the young man a moment to realize what Lu Mingran was asking, and he looked at the QR code in his hand: "I'll need it when I change my address later."
Lu Mingran was stunned: "Changing your address... weren't you supposed to give out red envelopes?"
“Yes,” the young man blinked, pointed to the QR code and laughed, “We’ll use this to send it later.”
"We've already discussed it. When the bride addresses her parents-in-law as 'the bride' later, she'll stand there holding a QR code, and the parents-in-law can scan it to transfer money. Hehe. Later, we'll bring this back to you to ask for red envelopes."
Lu Mingran: ...You guys really are keeping up with the times.
The young man was about to leave when Lu Mingran suddenly remembered something and grabbed him: "QR code... can I borrow it for a moment?"
"Huh?" As soon as the young man let go, Lu Mingran grabbed the things and rushed out.
Ten minutes, only ten minutes. We need to make a copy of the QR code and burn it before the altercation begins.
The system told him that there was a print shop next to the small shop on the first floor, which was the only one in the vicinity. Therefore, Lu Mingran rushed there.
Thankfully, there really were small shops, including a print shop, with the word "Copy" written in red on the glass door. Lu Mingran pushed open the glass door and saw the owner sitting alone in front of a computer, operating something, with a long braid trailing behind her head.
"Boss..." Lu Mingran had just uttered the word "boss" when she suddenly stopped speaking.
Because he saw a computer that was on on the left.
No one was sitting there, but the laptop on the computer desktop opened automatically, with a flashing cursor. Then, a lot of words began to appear on the laptop screen at lightning speed.
Death, joy, joy, death...
Lu Mingran dared not speak and quietly looked at the boss.
After watching for a while, Lu Mingran kept an eye on the boss's movements, grabbed a stack of A4 papers and a pen from the table, and ran out the door.
The boss tried to move at the table.
At this point, the world system began its calculations and pushed the boss back down: "The target object did not request a copy!"
...
Lu Mingran's running was so loud that it startled Jack. Jack was standing at the top of the stairs when he saw Lu Mingran running frantically with an A4 sheet of paper in her arms.
"You robbed a print shop?"
"Don't talk about that yet, hurry up!"
Lu Mingran sat down, closed her eyes, and looked as if she was concentrating on something.
In her last lucid dream, Lu Mingran controlled the dream, allowing herself to draw the tiles she wanted while playing mahjong.
Now Lu Mingran is going to control dreams to do things again.
Jack sensed this and asked him in a low voice, "What are you going to do?"
A minute later, Lu Mingran opened her eyes and said firmly:
"I need to... quickly draw a QR code that looks exactly like it!"
"..." Jack's mouth dropped open.
Then Jack turned around, frantically rummaged through the pile of A4 papers, took out a ballpoint pen, and handed it to Lu Mingran with both hands.
Jack was saying with his eyes:
"Wow, you're amazing! Here, take the pen!"
Author's Note: Boss: I didn't make any money today, and I even lost A4 paper and pens. I'm going to write a huge "miserable" character on my phone QAQ
Chapter 63 Want to be the King of Staying Up All Night? No Way (15)
It was called drawing a QR code, but in reality, the QR code appeared after only one or two strokes. Lu Mingran thought for a moment, then threw the original QR code in to burn and kept the copy in her hand.
Once the flames were lit, Jack asked him, "What happened to you down there?"
"It's a ghost."
After uttering those three words briefly, Lu Mingran used a small twig to poke at the paper in the basin.
If he hadn't run away quickly, what would have been copied wouldn't have been a QR code, but rather a series of ghost faces—in office ghost stories, the photocopier and computer late at night often bring unexpected things.
Oh right, that "boss" also had a long braid at the back of his head... Lu Mingran suddenly remembered the woman Jack had mentioned he had seen.
In other words, there's a ghost on their side. Then... what about Cheng Yungui's side? Or did this ghost split itself in two?
The flames in the basin had died out, and the paper had turned to ashes.
At that moment, Lu Mingran and Jack saw something new: a box of matches had appeared in the basin.
Lu Mingran looked at Jack and asked him thoughtfully:
"Are we running out of fire? Could you get a box of matches to replenish our supplies?"
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The child brought a piece of silver and a letter.
Cheng Yun didn't have time to read the letter before he returned, because all the other guests had stood up and were watching the offering table as if it were a spectacle. If he remained seated, it would be too conspicuous.
Meanwhile, the old man tried lighting incense several more times, even carefully protecting it with his hands. But the smoke trembled precariously, swaying like the tassels on a bride's headdress. After several flickers, the fire and the smoke quietly went out in the stillness of the wind.
The guests who had been watching the spectacle felt their hearts sink, and the old man broke out in a cold sweat under everyone's gaze.
This is terrible, terrible. If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have come.
He sighed in despair in his heart, but he couldn't bring himself to do it in front of so many people. Especially Fang's parents, who weren't afraid, but were just anxious and confused, urging him on with their eyes.
Forget it, girl. Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. If you really don't want to, go back to the underworld and take your anger out on your husband.
The old man silently prayed to himself and, steeling himself, lit the incense again.
This time, it wasn't wiped out.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled as he asked everyone to sit down.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. The bride was just throwing a tantrum."
So the guests sat down again, and Cheng Yungui took the opportunity to unfold the letter and glance at it.
The person who wrote the letter seemed to be a highly accomplished sage.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, it was time for the bride to return to her parents' home. A daughter from the Fang family was returning with her husband, but their car broke down on the way. Coupled with the trivial matters that had happened in the previous two days, they were full of resentment and started arguing on the road.
Just then, an old man in a cloth shirt passed by. He didn't want to interfere, but the young couple's arguing blocked his way, so he had no choice but to stop. After carefully circling the car, he finally interjected, saying:
"Try turning the car around and driving back the way you came, and the car will be fine."
Seeing the young couple looking at him like he was a monster, the old man put his hands behind his back and continued, "Girl, your family has recently been haunted by evil spirits. This is your ancestors protecting you and preventing you from going home."
The young couple stopped arguing and united against the outsider. Everyone said the man was crazy, and after discussing it, they decided to take their belongings and head back to the wife's parents' house first—after all, it wasn't far from home.
Once they returned to the wife's parents' home, the two of them, in high spirits, had long forgotten about the old man. It wasn't until they entered the house that they saw a black coffin placed in the courtyard.
The matchmaker misled them, saying that although the girl's identity was unclear, their Fang family was a very wealthy and prosperous family with excellent fortune, and they could keep her in check. Moreover, they said that this marriage would bring good fortune to their family in the future.
Ordinary people wouldn't listen to such nonsense, but the Fang family was a proud and arrogant family, and they actually accepted the coffin, completely unaware of the bitter smile on the other party's lips, a smile that carried a sense of relief.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the new bride was carried into the house. That evening, the family went to the ancestral hall to worship and inform the ancestors about the upcoming marriage. Strangely enough, that night, during dinner, bowls kept falling to the ground, and chopsticks kept dropping.
Fang's mother muttered, "The things in my hands are falling to the ground. This means our ancestors are asking for money. We'll just burn some more paper money later."
The next day, when the girl and her husband returned and learned about what had happened, they were so frightened that their faces turned pale.
When they got back, they found the car could start. The wife looked at her husband and suddenly said, "Why don't you try driving in this direction again?"
The two looked at each other, and in the end, neither dared to try.
Before getting into the car, they found a letter left by the old Taoist priest next to the wheels.
He repeatedly instructed the Fang family that if they insisted on using the female corpse, they should remember not to open the coffin again, but to carry it directly to the burial ceremony.
What Cheng Yungui didn't know was that the Fang family couldn't swallow the humiliation they had suffered at the hands of the Cheng family. In an attempt to intimidate the Cheng family, the Fang family actually hired two half-baked Taoist priests to open the coffin and tamper with it, resulting in the tragic deaths of both priests.
But it doesn't matter. Having read this far, Cheng Yungui knew that according to the tropes of horror movies, they must have already opened the coffin.
Something bad is bound to happen tonight.
However, the others in the courtyard were completely unaware.
The mournful sound of the suona horn rose again, and the two coffins, draped in the same red silk, were lifted and lowered steadily at the same time. Someone brought in a black plate containing two cups of wine, the nuptial wine. Look at the person in the high hall, their face glowing, as if they truly saw a perfect couple standing before them.
Cheng Yungui heard many faint sounds that were drowned out by the joyful music.
"I bow to heaven and earth." He heard the wild cat scream and knew it had fled in panic.
"Bowing to the parents twice." He heard someone's hand tapping on the wooden board, filled with reluctance.
"Husband and wife bow to each other—"
After that long, drawn-out sound, Cheng Yungui heard a woman's mocking laughter. And there was more than one sound; it sounded like two women laughing and cursing, their voices blending together, like a sigh or a chant.
At this moment, the old man turned around and said, "It's time to give the new bride a change of address fee."
With a creak, the courtyard gate suddenly closed.
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"Hey, say it again!"
The emcee teased the blushing bride, who then called out even louder, "Mom—"
Offstage, Lu Mingran rested her elbow on the table, propping her chin up as she stared at the matchbox in her hand, her mind completely absorbed in it.
Jack said this wasn't something he created, so it seems the world gave it to him. But what should he burn this time?
He looked up and noticed that the wedding ceremony was nearing its end. Children were already eagerly eating, and the bride was about to change into her toasting dress.