Chapter 97: The Ritual—Summoning a Spirit
Lu Renjia nudged Jiang Yueyue with her elbow and whispered, “Look—the stuff for summoning a spirit is all ready.”
Jiang Yueyue frowned in disgust. What kind of nonsense was this?
Even if you really could summon a spirit, would a spirit be able to answer her questions?
But since she was already here, it would be awkward to leave halfway.
Bao Chen, who was leading them, set the old bowl filled with white rice on the table, then poured fresh rooster blood into the rice until it reached level with the surface.
“Alright. Now we form a circle, walk around the table, and chant the incantation I just taught you.”
The table with the rice was left standing alone. The six of them circled it as they walked, and under Bao Chen’s lead, they chanted in unison:
“Spirits of the past, come eat this grain;
if you eat my grain, then solve my pain.”
After four rounds, nothing unusual happened.
Jiang Yueyue couldn’t help letting out a scornful snort.
Yet just as they finished the fifth round, the chicken blood in the bowl suddenly changed—it actually overflowed and spilled out!
Jiang Yueyue’s eyes widened, and the others—Bao Chen included—were equally stunned.
“Bao Chen, I think we actually summoned it!”
Bao Chen swallowed hard. No way… did we really summon it?
His hands trembling, he quickly spread a sheet of white paper on the desk. “Quick—everyone turn your backs!”
All six of them turned around.
They had already agreed: one person would ask the questions, and there could be no more than three—otherwise the spirit would get angry if there were too many.
The reason Jiang Yueyue agreed to play this “game” was because she wanted to ask the question in her heart, so she volunteered to be the one asking.
At this moment, her tongue trembled as she asked in a low voice, “Hello, spirit. I want to ask: can Bao Chen get a spot to study abroad next year? Can Lu Renjia place in the top three in this year’s campus dance competition?”
The first two were for other people. Jiang Yueyue paused, then asked her own question: “May I ask—are Jiang Fangfei from Class One and Senior Xu Hao really dating?”
Not long after, they heard the sound of the rice bowl cracking. Jiang Yueyue swallowed again and slowly turned her head to look.
On the paper that had been blank, several lines of blood-red words had appeared. Jiang Yueyue’s eyes instantly went wide…
—
Huang Yueshan’s car had been parked at the school gate for a long time.
When Qin Xing learned that Su Keke was going to Huang Yueshan’s home, she was a little surprised. But the circle was only so big—she had already heard about Huang Yueshan and her eldest cousin.
At first, she didn’t know who the “woman” Fourth Uncle had taken there referred to. After thinking it through, she understood, and then she cursed out everyone who had badmouthed Su Keke.
“Keke, I’ll go with you,” Qin Xing said.
“Is that okay?”
“What’s not okay? For my eldest cousin’s sake, Huang Yueshan has sucked up to me plenty and tried to get information out of me. She won’t mind me tagging along.”
Qin Xing sent a text to her mom and left with Su Keke on the spot.
When Huang Yueshan saw her, she was a bit surprised, but her attitude was absolutely welcoming.
“Xingxing, why are you here?”
Qin Xing didn’t like being called Xingxing—it sounded like “gorilla.” Still, she wouldn’t dislike Huang Yueshan just for that, but she truly couldn’t bring herself to like this woman either.
How to put it? Huang Yueshan lived as if her whole world only had Qin Junchi left in it—it felt narrow to Qin Xing.
Was it really necessary? Was her eldest cousin that great?
And Qin Xing felt Huang Yueshan didn’t even like Qin Junchi that much. It was more like an obsession born from wanting something she couldn’t get.
That kind of obsession had sunk deep roots—pretty frightening.
“I heard you invited Keke over, so I shamelessly came along too. Sister Yueshan, you’re not going to say you don’t welcome me, right?” Qin Xing hooked an arm around Su Keke’s shoulder and asked with a playful face.
“How could I? Of course you’re welcome. But—you and Miss Su are actually classmates?” Huang Yueshan looked astonished.
Qin Xing curled her lip slightly. She probably had already dug out whatever she wanted to know long ago. Qin Xing didn’t believe Huang Yueshan had only just found out.
When Huang Yueshan’s parents saw Qin Xing, they also showed clear fondness. The three of them were so busy talking to Qin Xing that they ended up leaving Su Keke—the real guest—off to the side.
It wasn’t until they sat down at the dining table, and Qin Xing finally found a gap to talk to Su Keke, that Father Huang and Mother Huang shifted their attention from Qin Xing to Su Keke.
In their eyes, Su Keke was nothing more than a woman currently favored by Fourth Master Qin. The man was in the heat of novelty, so she could ride his indulgence and throw her weight around. But once the man got past that “fresh” stage, this girl would be nothing at all.
Naturally, this “favored concubine” couldn’t compare to the Qin family’s little princess.
“Miss Su, does the food suit your taste?” Mother Huang asked with a smile.
Su Keke glanced at her and answered honestly, “It’s okay—just a bit worse than what we have at my uncle’s place.”
The smile on Mother Huang’s face nearly cracked.
Father Huang picked up the conversation. “Of course it can’t compare to Fourth Master’s chef. We can only ask Miss Su to bear with it tonight.”
Su Keke lowered her head and ate. “It’s pretty tasty. I’m not suffering.”
“About what happened last time—our Yueshan lost her composure and did something rude to Miss Su,” Father Huang said. “Inviting Miss Su here today is to offer an apology.”
Mother Huang smiled. “That day, Yueshan’s father and I gave her a severe scolding. She knows she was wrong. We hope Miss Su won’t take it to heart—going forward, we can still be friends.”
Hearing those words, Qin Xing rolled her eyes inwardly. Who knows whether your so-called ‘lesson’ was a real lesson?
Su Keke had just about finished eating. She dabbed her mouth with a napkin—having stayed around her uncle for so long, even the way she wiped her lips looked quite elegant.
“Oh, sure. Then apologize,” Su Keke said.
The moment she said that, the three Huangs all froze.
“What did Miss Su just say?” Mother Huang almost couldn’t keep the smile on her face.
Su Keke looked puzzled. “Didn’t you say you invited me here to apologize? So I’m waiting for Miss Huang to apologize to me.”
Treating her to a meal counted as making amends, but she had waited and waited and still hadn’t heard the apology.
The Huang family of three: …
Qin Xing was about to laugh herself to death. Her Keke was way too adorable!
After Huang Yueshan’s expression stiffened for a moment, she smiled. “Miss Su is joking. This dinner is the apology.”
Su Keke frowned slightly. “But you’ve never apologized to my face. These days, are apologies done differently? You don’t even have to say ‘I’m sorry’ anymore?”
People who knew Su Keke understood she was genuinely asking out of confusion, but the Huang family of three thought she was putting on airs.
Huang Yueshan laughed in anger.
What is this supposed to be—does she really think she’s Fourth Master Qin’s woman now?
Father Huang and Mother Huang also looked awful. As elders, they had already lowered themselves to curry favor with her, yet this girl was still so ungrateful and didn’t know what was good for her!
