“Pengpeng, do you think she looks like she’s been cursed?!”
Shi Pengpeng: “…ABAT?”
Xu Qiannian clearly had been holding this in for a long time, and now that she had started talking, she couldn’t stop.
She went on about how close she had always been to Zheng Bing, who had been like a sister to her since their first year of college.
They had been inseparable, and now even though Zheng Bing worked as her assistant, she never treated her as a subordinate.
Despite Xu Qiannian making a lot of money as an internet celebrity, Zheng Bing was financially struggling, but they had always gotten along without any issues.
Zheng Bing had arranged all the work for Xu Qiannian, and Xu Qiannian covered almost all of Zheng Bing’s expenses.
They had been happily working together, but everything changed after Zheng Bing got a boyfriend.
Zheng Bing’s boyfriend, he, was someone she met while playing games.
A few months ago, they moved from online to real life, and that’s when things started to change…
She started acting a bit crazy from time to time.
“I really don’t understand how she could fall for that guy,” Xu Qiannian said with obvious disdain.
Xiao He wasn’t from Xilu, originally from a small county town in a neighboring city.
It was said that his parents were both gone, and he was living alone.
Due to his low education, he couldn’t find a good job, and he had been delivering takeout back home.
Xu Qiannian didn’t look down on people who delivered takeout; after all, anyone who could make an honest living was fine.
But Xiao He was clearly not that type.
He and Zheng Bing had been in a long-distance relationship for less than a month, and then he quit his delivery job to come to Xilu to be with her.
At first, Xu Qiannian thought Xiao He had come to be with Zheng Bing because he didn’t want to be in a long-distance relationship, but later, when they had a meal together, Xiao He accidentally let something slip.
It turned out Xiao He found out that Zheng Bing’s best friend and boss was a big internet celebrity and treated Zheng Bing very well.
She didn’t just cover her food and lodging, but even bought Zheng Bing a car.
That’s why Xiao He had come to Xilu, planning to latch onto Zheng Bing and, by extension, to Xu Qiannian.
Shi Pengpeng was stunned and asked, “Didn’t Zheng Bing mind?”
“Heh, she loves it!” Xu Qiannian said, rolling her eyes,
“At first, I even tried to persuade her, but guess what happened?” She looked utterly speechless.
“She didn’t break up with that guy. Instead, she’s afraid I might get along with her boyfriend and now, she’s keeping an eye on me to make sure I don’t meet him.”
Shi Pengpeng hesitated, then asked, “…Is her boyfriend handsome?”
“Handsome my ass!” Xu Qiannian was clearly irritated, and she cursed without thinking.
“That guy is like a river troll, who would want him other than her?!”
She glanced at Shi Pengpeng, “Have you seen that famous meme?”
Shi Pengpeng immediately got it— “Stay away from my boyfriend,”
Her boyfriend—a green river troll.jpg
Seeing Zheng Bing act like this, Xu Qiannian decided to ignore it, thinking “out of sight, out of mind.”
But Zheng Bing, whether she was truly afraid Xu Qiannian might fall for Xiao He or just wanted to prove that she was doing well with him, was very eager to show off their relationship in front of Xu Qiannian.
What had happened earlier was actually normal.
“I really think she’s lost her mind since she got together with that guy. I took her to eat at a five-thousand-per-person restaurant, and she said the pork knuckle rice the guy took her to was better…” Xu Qiannian rolled her eyes dramatically.
“A five-thousand-per-person meal…” Shi Pengpeng nearly shed tears of envy, sighing,
“You’re so nice to her.”
“Because she’s always been good to me,” Xu Qiannian sighed.
“But now it’s not like before. She’s completely focused on that guy, even gave the car I bought for her to him. It makes me so mad. She’s already letting him drain her, and now he’s draining me too!”
“Sigh, I was thinking of transferring some of the studio’s shares to her and making her my partner, but now I’m afraid I’ll end up giving it to that guy…”
Xu Qiannian was worried and couldn’t understand.
“She wasn’t like this before. When guys used to chase me, she’d always remind me to keep my eyes open and not to let men spend my money.”
Shi Pengpeng, who had no experience in these matters, truly had no idea what to do.
After thinking for a moment, she weakly said, “From a metaphysical point of view, maybe it’s a love trial…”
Xu Qiannian: “………………”
Xu Qiannian paused, as if remembering something, and leaned closer to Shi Pengpeng with a mysterious look, lowering her voice, “Speaking of which, I heard someone in our class say that your family used to do rituals to drive away evil spirits. You know a little about that, right?”
Shi Pengpeng: “Really.”
Shi Pengpeng: “I don’t just know a little,”
Shi Pengpeng looked at her, “I’m a professional.”
Xu Qiannian: “………………”
Xu Qiannian was just joking around, but when Shi Pengpeng so readily admitted it, she was taken aback: “Ah, really?”
She had thought Shi Pengpeng was joking, but after seeing her expression, she confirmed she was serious.
“I thought those classmates were just making things up,” Xu Qiannian said, stunned, but then excited.
Earlier, she had just been complaining about Zheng Bing being “cursed,” not really believing in it.
But now that she had a classmate in front of her who was an expert in metaphysics, she was curious to explore further.
“So, can you tell if Zheng Bing has really been bewitched by that river troll?”
Shi Pengpeng smiled wryly and replied, “Not really.”
She was telling the truth.
From the surface, Zheng Bing seemed perfectly fine, and there was no sign of anything abnormal.
As for the curse, that kind of practice originated in the border areas, and wasn’t part of Shi Pengpeng’s expertise, so she didn’t know much about it.
But it didn’t seem likely.
At least Xiao He didn’t seem capable of such things.
If he could, he would have just cursed Xu Qiannian directly, instead of going through the trouble of trying to attach himself to Zheng Bing.
“Ah, she really seems normal?” Xu Qiannian seemed disappointed.
Shi Pengpeng could see that she wasn’t giving up, so she thought for a moment and said, “Well, if you really suspect something, there’s a simple test you could do.”
Although she hadn’t studied cursing, there were students from the southern border regions at the Yi Li Academy, and one of her seniors was from a family of poisoners.
She had once shared some knowledge about poisons with Shi Pengpeng.
Xu Qiannian became interested, “What test?”
Shi Pengpeng succinctly explained, “You could give her some deworming medicine.”
Xu Qiannian: ?
Seeing the puzzled look on Xu Qiannian’s face, Shi Pengpeng explained, “In the southern border, they call it ‘grass ghosts,’ which are actually poison insects that have been prepared.”
Xu Qiannian: “Hmmm”
Shi Pengpeng continued “Since they’re insects, they’re naturally afraid of deworming medicine. Using it is the simplest and most effective way to test it. It won’t necessarily cure the curse, but if Zheng Bing really has been cursed, she might show some reaction, like diarrhea or something.”
“Is it really that scientific?!”
Xu Qiannian finally understood and nodded, “Okay, I’ll try it when I get the chance.”
Shi Pengpeng had told Xu Qiannian this method somewhat jokingly, but seeing how troubled she was, she thought it might bring some peace of mind, and she didn’t take it too seriously.
Not long after dinner, Xu Qiannian suddenly sent a few messages on WeChat.
Xu Qiannian: [Pengpeng, I gave Zheng Bing the deworming medicine like you said.]
Xu Qiannian: [She’s getting weak!!]
Xu Qiannian: [Ahh, she really must have been cursed!!!]
Shi Pengpeng: [?]
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