Chapter 19: Astonishment (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

The night passed without a word.

The ghost that had followed behind Dou Dou last night was very cautious and did not appear again.

Although Dou Dou had watched cartoons all night, her spirits were still full.

The moment Shen Siyuan got out of bed, she came crowding around him.

"Sweet Potato Guoguo~, can I see Mommy today?"

Her face was full of anticipation.

"Yes, you'll see her today." Shen Siyuan gave her an affirmative answer.

The little fellow immediately let out a cheer, bouncing and jumping around the room.

The flame atop her head swayed nonstop with her movements, looking very cute.

After washing up, Shen Siyuan took his electric scooter keys and headed out the door, with Dou Dou hurrying to follow behind him.

At first, she sat on the back of Shen Siyuan's scooter, hugging his waist.

Later she discovered that she could transform into a yin wind and fly through the air, which was faster and more carefree.

So she flew around Shen Siyuan from side to side, stirring up gusts of yin wind.

"Pretty cool, actually. When it gets hot in the future, I'll just call you out to fan me." Shen Siyuan teased with a smile.

But Dou Dou took it seriously, patting her little chest to show how super amazing she was.

Along the way they ran into quite a few wandering roadside ghosts; upon seeing Dou Dou, they all hid far off to one side, not daring to approach.

People say ghosts fear sunlight, but actually that isn't true. Whether in the Great Wasteland or the modern world, ghosts don't actually fear sunlight—it just makes them slightly uncomfortable, with no major effect.

Because if ghosts exist, it means they are within the rules of the world; just like people, they can't possibly fear the moon.

Moreover, if ghosts feared the sun, then in the Great Wasteland the strength of the Nine Hells Demon Lord would probably be cut by more than half, and he could only appear at night.

Yet these ghosts, who don't fear sunlight, do fear Dou Dou—because the flame on her body makes them uncomfortable from a great distance; it's a fear that comes from the instinct of the soul.

"Wow, there's a big monster over there."

Dou Dou, floating in the air, cried out in surprise, dropped down from the sky, and hid behind Shen Siyuan.

Shen Siyuan looked over and saw a humanoid creature like a toad, hiding in the shade of a tree, peeking at them from afar.

Shen Siyuan wasn't surprised by the sight, because this was a ghost that had difficulty maintaining a human form.

Ever since he had been able to see ghosts, he had seen countless bizarre shapes.

There were long-tongued ghosts with tongues hanging down to their chests, faceless ghosts with no face, many-eyed ghosts covered in eyes all over their bodies, and even giant roots that looked like a certain appendage…

"You don't need to be afraid. They should be the ones afraid of you."

Shen Siyuan was quite helpless; luckily he didn't need to send the little fellow into battle.

"Why would they be afraid of me?" Dou Dou was a little puzzled.

"I'm this cute, I'm not a bad kid."

"I think you're a silly kid. Haven't you noticed that all the way here, these ghosts have been hiding from you?"

Dou Dou shook her head in confusion, and floated back up into midair.

"Because you're different from them." Shen Siyuan said seriously.

Dou Dou blinked her big eyes, looked down at her little hands, and then her little hands suddenly burst into flame—blue fire rose up, licking the air, and a bone-chilling cold rose all around.

"Am I very amazing now?" Dou Dou looked up at Shen Siyuan.

"Yes, you're very amazing now, so they're all afraid of you."

"But I'm a good kid, I don't fight." Dou Dou said earnestly.

Shen Siyuan: …

It seemed this little fellow could only serve as a mascot—she was utterly useless.

"Shen Siyuan."

Just then, a greeting cut off Shen Siyuan and Dou Dou's exchange.

It was Zhou Zheng, riding an electric scooter, catching up from behind.

"Morning." Shen Siyuan greeted him.

"How's it going? Have you finished your planning proposal?" Zhou Zheng pressed the moment he arrived.

Ever since that day when Ding Youguang had chatted with Shen Siyuan about the great enterprise of making money, Shen Siyuan hadn't delayed and had gone straight to talk it over with Zhou Zheng.

He hadn't expected Zhou Zheng to be even more enthusiastic and excited than Shen Siyuan, feeling that this thing could be done, and that the odds of success were very high.

In his own words, working step by step by the book every day was boring; now that there was something that could make money to do, he wasn't going to miss it.

"I can finish it today, but have you talked it over with Li Qunfang?"

Shen Siyuan hadn't gone to find Li Qunfang—not that he wouldn't go, but Zhou Zheng had taken it upon himself to intercept the matter.

His relationship with Li Qunfang was even better than Shen Siyuan's.

Shen Siyuan only dealt with Li Qunfang during holiday events, whereas Zhou Zheng, because of project development, was in frequent communication with her, so naturally his relationship with her was better.

Besides, in Li Qunfang's mind, Zhou Zheng's weight certainly carried more than Shen Siyuan's.

Companies have their own chain of contempt too—programmers sit at the very top, while the operations staff in charge of revenue sit at the very bottom; even the channel side outranks operations.

So if he went to persuade Li Qunfang, the success rate would certainly be higher than Shen Siyuan's.

"When I step in, naturally no problem—she's already agreed to do this with us."

"That's good. Without her this thing of ours can't succeed. Today you pull together a group chat, and we'll all talk it over." Shen Siyuan, hearing this, also let out a long breath of relief.

"Sure. Once we're at the company I'll set up a group chat. You pull Ding Youguang in too—this thing was pushed by him, and I haven't even had a chance to chat with him about it."

Zhou Zheng's meaning in saying this was to express his trust in Shen Siyuan.

"Mm, we still need to meet up and chat—make him treat us to a meal."

"How about tonight?"

"Not tonight, I have something to do tonight."

"Then let's make it next week. The three of us men shouldn't invite a girl like Li Qunfang out on our day off, and besides, I'm resting at home these two days, so I can finish the fishing demo..."

"But you'd better give me the planning proposal this morning. I'll check the logic and other things in the afternoon for any issues; otherwise, I might have to trouble you on our day off..."

"Alright, no problem."

Zhou Zheng is very meticulous in his work and considers issues comprehensively. Even if he weren't a programmer, he would still be an excellent leader; his coordination is superb, and he rarely makes mistakes.

While the two were talking, Watching Dou Dou had already descended from the air, sat behind Shen Siyuan in the car, hugged his waist, and curiously sized up Zhou Zheng beside them.

The two arrived at the company building, parked the car, and hadn't even reached the company entrance when they met Ding Youguang.

"President Shen, President Zhou, good morning." From far away, he waved familiarly.

He knew Zhou Zheng, though not as well as Shen Siyuan.

Zhou Zheng smiled, nodded, and said good morning.

Shen Siyuan smiled and teased, "Why call me 'President'? You're not even willing to call me 'brother'."

"If things work out, don't say 'brother', you can even call me 'Dad'."

Ding Youguang had no shame; his gaze circled the two of them, then he cast an inquiring look at Shen Siyuan.

Shen Siyuan nodded and said, "Zhou Zheng agreed to join us; he'll also handle the art for us."

"Really? That's absolutely wonderful. Brother Zhou, you've been a huge help. With you joining, this will surely succeed. Have you had breakfast? I have a breakfast portion here..."

Ding Youguang immediately clung to Zhou Zheng, his enthusiasm making Zhou Zheng feel a bit overwhelmed.

"Why don't you ask me?"

"Go away, don't disturb me from bonding with my brother..."

The three joked and laughed all the way to the elevator entrance. The elevator doors opened, and they saw Jiang Wenxin standing inside; she had driven here and came up from the garage.

Seeing Shen Siyuan, her eyes lit up, and she immediately asked, "Siyuan, have you had breakfast? I have extra."

Ding Youguang and Zhou Zheng both turned their heads to look at Shen Siyuan, their eyes wide open.

PS: Chapter 8 has been slightly modified. There are four gold bricks; the protagonist took one, which makes it more reasonable.