(Matchmaker Sister Wang)
(Grade B Mental Infection Entity)
(Eerie Power: 900)
(Loves to play matchmaker, setting people up and earning kickbacks and matchmaker’s fees in the process.)
(Extremely concerned about face; if embarrassed in public, she might turn you into her winter rations.)
(Hint: Losing face is minor—violating etiquette is major. Suppress her with formalities.)
...
(Meng Ge’s Uncle)
(Grade A Mental Infection Entity)
(Eerie Power: 1300)
(A rash, opinionated old-fashioned man who lacks initiative but loves to meddle in family affairs, often making things worse.)
(Has a bad temper and is easily agitated. If you make him lose patience, he might just kill you.)
(Hint: Make him feel like he's getting things done and the crisis can be averted. If you're strong enough, this rule can be ignored.)
…
Li Ran’s gaze swept over the matchmaker and Meng Ge’s uncle—tips appeared on both of them.
From this, he understood how to deal with them.
Even if he couldn’t, with his current Eerie Power, he had no fear of the two.
He spread a red scroll open on the table and placed an inkstone and brush atop it to hold it down.
The moment the matchmaker and Meng Ge’s uncle saw the red paper, their faces darkened.
“What’s this?” Meng Ge looked at the red scroll, completely confused—she had no idea what it was.
Li Ran crossed his arms, assuming the demeanor of an elder in the household, and said to Meng Ge, “There’s an old saying—you want to take, you must first give. I’m sure you all understand that.”
As he spoke, he deliberately glanced toward the door and raised his voice so that the neighbors outside could hear.
“Since our Zhaohui is marrying into your family, shouldn’t we talk about the betrothal gifts?”
A stir erupted among the neighbors outside.
“They’re negotiating the dowry on the wedding day? What the hell?”
“Yeah, I’ve never heard of such a thing—just doing it on the spot?”
“What do they think this is, playing house?”
The matchmaker and uncle’s faces turned liver-colored, especially the matchmaker—her face stiffened with embarrassment. She immediately gestured to the uncle and whispered into his ear, “Hurry up and call home!”
“Call for what?” the uncle asked in confusion.
“Money!” The matchmaker glared at him. He finally got it and rushed to the back to make a call.
Li Ran didn’t care. If they were truly sincere, they wouldn’t have forgotten the dowry.
“As for the dowry,” Li Ran continued, “where I come from, the numbers three and nine are considered auspicious—they signify longevity and completeness. So let’s not beat around the bush. We’re just asking for a lucky number.”
As he spoke, he dipped his brush in ink and wrote boldly on the red paper: 399999!
“Three hundred ninety-nine thousand?!”
The matchmaker and Meng Ge shouted in unison.
From the doorway came a chorus of gasps.
The matchmaker hurriedly pulled a handkerchief from her bag to wipe her forehead, visibly distressed. “Dear in-law,” she said, “you see the wedding party’s already here—we’re working on a tight schedule. Can we take the bride back first and then discuss the dowry in detail later?”
Saying this, the matchmaker began directing the wedding party to storm the bride’s room.
The grand procession began marching toward the inner room.
Su Bingyao stepped in to block the way, her face icy as she barked, “This is a wedding. Where is your sense of decorum?!”
Her sharp rebuke instantly stopped the procession in its tracks.
“That’s right. Snatching the groom from his family home in broad daylight—what kind of decency is that?”
“No rules, no order—and this is a marriage, not a business transaction.”
“Even if you’re desperate for a live-in son-in-law, you’ve got to talk things through.”
Gotta say, the neighbors really came through as backup.
Without their help, Li Ran was genuinely concerned that the matchmaker and uncle would turn into monsters right there.
Not that he was worried about himself—he just didn’t want his wife and child to get hurt.
Now that decorum and formalities had been invoked, the matchmaker clearly didn’t dare act too wildly.
If this blew up, her reputation as a matchmaker would be in ruins. Who’d trust her to set up a marriage again?
“The dowry must be discussed, of course,” the matchmaker said, trying to smooth things over. “But opening with almost four hundred grand—come on, that’s blatant price gouging. These two kids love each other; don’t make them suffer. Just a symbolic amount would do.”
Clearly, she didn’t want things to escalate and tried appealing to sentiment.
But Li Ran wasn’t buying it. He kept writing on the red scroll.
Engagement ring, wedding bands, the traditional gold sets, wedding wine, celebratory cigarettes, wedding clothes—item after item, he wrote out a complete list.
“You’re the matchmaker. Ask your conscience—are the items I wrote unreasonable? Are they complicated?” Li Ran looked her in the eye.
“Well… you’ve got a point, but that dowry amount is still a bit too much…” The matchmaker began to lose her confidence.
“That’s why I said from the beginning—sit down and discuss it. You’re the ones who chose to resort to force,” said Li Ran.
“Yes, yes, we didn’t prepare thoroughly enough,” the matchmaker said quickly, bowing her head. She called off the wedding procession and noticed a few neighbors outside had already started filming with their phones. If this went viral, her career would be over.
But she’d already promised Meng Ge’s mom that she’d bring back the son-in-law. Now she was stuck—offending both sides. If she’d known the groom’s family was involved, she would never have gotten herself tangled in this.
“Even I know you need a dowry to get married! Don’t you? Shame on you!”
At that moment, Li Ziyang darted forward and made a funny face at the matchmaker.
Her face turned an even deeper shade—she wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it.
“Sister Wang, maybe we should just drop this for today,” said Meng Ge, also realizing she was in the wrong. She’d never wanted Lu Zhaohui to become a live-in husband—it had been her mother and Sister Wang’s idea to pull this stunt at dawn. Now, she just felt humiliated.
“But I promised your mom. You know what she’s like,” the matchmaker replied.
Just then, Meng Ge’s uncle returned with the phone in hand and whispered something into the matchmaker’s ear.
Her gloomy face suddenly turned vicious.
(They’re going to use force!)
A new hint popped up before Li Ran’s eyes.
The matchmaker stood, now exuding an aggressive aura. “In-law, we reject your terms. That boy agreed yesterday—today, like it or not, he’s coming with us!”
Meng Ge’s uncle led the wedding team toward the inner room. Su Bingyao remained blocking the way, and just as he was about to push her aside—
A ghostly demonic hand shot out, grabbing Meng Ge’s uncle and clenching him in its grip.
The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.
A cold gleam flashed in Li Ran’s eyes as he slowly clenched his right hand, increasing the crushing force of the spectral hand.
“Crack crack crack!!”
Everyone heard the sound of bones on the verge of snapping.
“You think you can stop me—” Meng Ge’s uncle roared, eyes glowing red as stone-like armor began forming on his skin.
“Pfft!”
Suddenly, just as he began his transformation, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the wall—there, the uncle’s shadow had been pinned by a pair of ghost hands. A massive six-tailed fox had appeared out of nowhere, its lightning-infused claws tearing into the shadow.
The fox’s claws danced wildly, and in the blink of an eye, arcs of electricity slashed across the wall, leaving behind jagged claw marks both on the surface and the shadow itself.
“Aaaaaaaaah!!!”
A blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the entire room.
(End of Chapter)