Chapter 1 — Resurrecting a Millennium of Love

I went to the temple to draw a divination lot, and the master told me my true romantic destiny would appear in two days. I scratched my head, saying, "But two days from now is the Qingming Festival. Could you please check again?" The master only smiled and said nothing.

When the time came to visit the ancestral graves on Qingming, the red string tied around my wrist suddenly grew burning hot. As I spun around, I nearly crashed straight into a strange man. Taking in his waist-length hair and the vibrant crimson traditional robes he wore, I gave him an approving thumbs-up. "My friend, doing cosplay even for grave-sweeping? That is dedication!"

This was all getting a bit too modern for him, surely. Hearing my words, the man froze, staring at me in a daze with an absent gaze. I looked him up and down a few more times. That blazing red outfit was truly too conspicuous, and I could not help asking, "Are you planning to head straight to a comic convention after sweeping the graves? Though, is there even any festival held during Qingming?"

The man shook his head. "I do not know what festival you speak of."

Goodness gracious, he was really committing to the role-play. He even spoke in such archaic, literary prose.

"Ah... well, I will not disturb you any further. Let me just squeeze past." I turned sideways and stepped away, preparing to descend the mountain. Before I had gone more than a few paces, I noticed he was trailing right behind me, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

...Was he lost?

As I was pondering this, a light drizzle began to fall. What a cursed sort of weather; it always had to rain on Qingming. I stopped, opened my umbrella, and looked back to see him standing quite still, refusing to take shelter from the rain even though there was a tree right beside him.

I thought to myself: He does not look terribly bright.

After a brief hesitation, I carried my umbrella closer to him and held it over his head, meeting his bewildered gaze. "Let us go. I can see you do not have an umbrella, so I might as well walk you part of the way."

The narrow path down the mountain was neither wide nor cramped, just spacious enough for two people to walk side by side. I trod with extreme caution, terrified of stepping on the meticulously tailored hem of his robe. Casting a sideways glance, I suddenly noticed that he was also wearing a red string around his wrist, identical to the one on mine.

"Hey, you have been to White Cloud Temple too, haven't you? Your red cord looks exactly like mine!" I raised my other hand and shook it in front of him. "I went to draw a lot two days ago, and the master interpreting it said I would meet my destined love today, and even gave me this string."

"I figured he was spouting nonsense—who could possibly find their true fate right on Qingming Festival? But the string is pretty, so I wore it anyway."

"What about you? Did you get conned just like me?"

The man stared intently at my wrist without blinking. After a long moment, he let out a soft laugh. That smile was almost bright enough to dazzle me. Oh heavens above... why was he so ridiculously handsome? Even better-looking than me.

"I did not take it from a temple. This string has been with me for a long time; it has never left my side."

"Oh... well then, what a coincidence, pure coincidence." I awkwardly pulled my hand back. "Um... where is your home? If it is on the way, I can drop you off at the subway station."

Hearing this, the man lowered his head, his long eyelashes casting low shadows that hinted at an inexplicable loneliness. "I have no home."

Huh? I froze. A moment later, understanding dawned on me! That wig—sleek, glossy, tumbling all the way to his waist, with no trace of a hairline at the forehead—must have been high-end custom work, costing a pretty penny. That cloak, crafted from superior fabric with intricate gold-thread embroidery, showed not a single crease after a trip to the graves—it had to be tailor-made, worth at least tens of thousands. He must have spent a fortune on his cosplay hobby and gotten kicked out of the house by his family. How utterly pitiful.

"So... are you staying at a hotel?"

The man shook his head.

"At a friend's place?"

He shook his head again.

"...Could it be that you have nowhere to stay at all?"

The man lifted his gaze to look at me. My heart felt as though it had been lightly brushed by a feather, tingling and itchy. Ah, I get it. He was silently pleading with me to let him stay over.

"Well... how about you come stay at my place for a night? Wait until your family's anger cools down before you go back."

Ugh... inviting a complete stranger back to my place just like that was a bit much, wasn't it? I was just about to say something more to prove I was not a weirdo when the man let out a soft, breathtaking laugh and decisively nodded in agreement.

"Very well."

The man told me his name was Su Jing. True to form, such a handsome person even had an exquisite name. I led him down into the subway station.

"Over here, Line 8. Just four stops and we are there."

I scanned my phone to pass through the turnstile. Turning back, I saw that Su Jing had also walked through the barrier gate, but he had neither pulled out his phone to scan nor purchased a ticket.

...He was fare-evading.

I held my tongue for two whole stops, but finally could not resist lecturing him. "Su Jing, I know your finances are tight right now, but fare evasion is really not acceptable. If you needed help earlier, you could have just said so; I would have bought a ticket for you."

Su Jing looked as though he were deep in thought, then nodded. "Understood, I shall correct this."

I chuckled. "That is a good boy."

I turned back around to face the front, only to realize that the people standing near me earlier had all drifted away. The space around me was now completely empty, as if enclosed by a barrier, and the passengers in the carriage occasionally cast furtive glances my way.

...What is this about?

I pulled up my collar to sniff myself, then asked Su Jing, "Do I smell strange?"

Su Jing shook his head. "Not at all."

How odd. Then why was everyone keeping such a wide berth? Were they sick? Oh well, never mind.

I brought Su Jing back to the foot of my apartment building. As we stepped into the elevator, we ran into Auntie Liu from the floor below. After exchanging nods and greetings, I suddenly remembered that my apartment was currently as messy as a dog's den, and feeling rather embarrassed, I gave Su Jing a heads-up in advance.

"Um, my place is a bit small. Since I usually live alone, it is a bit messy. Please do not mind it."

"I will tidy up a bit; there is still a place for you to sleep."

Auntie Liu turned back to look at me with a terrified expression, retreating a full half-step until her back was pressed flat against the elevator wall.

Su Jing, however, remained unbothered, merely shaking his head slightly. "It is fine. You have always been thus; you do not care for tidying."

This statement was framed as a certainty, but I somehow heard it as a question.

"Ah, right, I am a guy, as long as it is livable, it is fine."

With a ding, the elevator reached Auntie Liu's floor. She kept her face turned toward me, stepping backward out of the car, trembling all over. Just as the doors were about to close, she pressed the open button again, her expression exceptionally complex.

"Little Qu, I know young people face a lot of pressure these days, but if you truly feel unwell, you ought to see a psychological counselor. Do not trap yourself inside your own mental world, you understand?"

With that, she turned and hurried away.

I puzzled over this for ages without figuring it out. No way, what on earth did she mean by that?

I ushered Su Jing inside and swept all the clothes piled on the sofa straight into the laundry basket.

"Have a seat and rest. I will go find some disposable toiletries for you."

I scurried back and forth, while Su Jing simply stood in the middle of the living room, observing his surroundings. As I clutched a bundle of clothes and hurried past the full-length mirror, a sudden thought flashed through my mind...

...I nearly held my breath, slowly retreating, taking cautious steps until I stood before the mirror.

When I looked into the glass, I drew in a sharp breath, glanced back at Su Jing, and then looked back into the mirror. I repeated this cycle three times over, utterly unable to believe my eyes.

Then my legs turned to jelly, and I sank straight down onto the floor, my calves cramping up.

In the mirror... there was no reflection of Su Jing at all!

What on earth was he?!

"What is the matter with you? Do you feel unwell?" Su Jing stepped closer, and I instinctively scrambled backward across the floor on my hands and seat.

"D-d-d-don't come over here!"

Su Jing immediately halted. I sat sprawled on the floor, staring at him blankly for a long, long time. Finally, I asked in a trembling, stammering voice, "Are you... are you alive?"

A heavy silence hung in the air. Su Jing gave a slight shake of his head. "Not exactly."

My eyes rolled back; I nearly passed out right then and there. Dammit, I had brought a male ghost home with me! I must have truly lost my mind!

Su Jing took small steps forward, squatting down opposite me, the crimson of his cloak filling my entire field of vision.

"Guo Xian, are you afraid of me?"

Reflexively, I nodded, then frantically shook my head hard. "Not scared, not scared, not scared at all."

That was how it always went in the movies—if you admitted to being afraid of a ghost, the next second you would get possessed. I could not say it; absolutely not.

Su Jing's gaze was unfathomably complex, beyond my ability to decipher. After a moment, he suddenly uttered something that seemed to come out of nowhere: "Yet I have waited for so very long; I do not wish to give up now."

"Pardon my transgression."

He reached out, gently cupping my cheek. Leaning in slightly, his ice-cold lips pressed against mine.

My eyes widened in shock, and I blinked blankly. I could only watch as a stream of light radiated outward from the red string on Su Jing's wrist, washing over his entire body.

The sensation against my lips grew increasingly real.

I: ......

Was this a ghost story?

My first kiss... had been stolen by a ghost.

Come to think of it, it was truly bizarre—after Su Jing kissed me, he acquired a physical body. He had a reflection in the mirror and tangible warmth to the touch, no different from an ordinary person. For some reason, I no longer felt afraid.

Even weirder, perhaps because I had been single for far too long... even a ghost looked astonishingly handsome to me.

What was that saying again? Ah right: as long as the male ghost is handsome enough, your courage will follow his facial features.

"I have an outfit here that is still quite new; you can wear it as pajamas for now."

"This is the shampoo; just pump down to dispense."

"This is the water heater—left is hot, right is cold. Take your time showering, and if there is anything you do not know, just call me."

Once I finished instructing Su Jing on how to operate modern bathroom appliances, I swiftly bolted out of the bathroom. I sat on the sofa, giving myself a few light slaps to the cheeks, suddenly realizing that my capacity for acceptance was truly off the charts. My materialistic worldview had collapsed at the speed of light, only to be reconstructed in a profoundly bizarre, fantastical new shape.