Cheng Yin stood smiling by their side and introduced him enthusiastically. “Auntie, little sister, this is the Hai Bugou I told you about. He’s a gaming streamer. He’s incredibly popular, gets great traffic, and makes a very good income. He's young and quite successful.”
Hai Bugou took the cue and added, his tone laced with a hint of boasting, “I do alright. I just do what I love. Making tens of thousands of yuan a month is no problem, which is more than enough to support myself. I’ll definitely be able to take good care of Miss Bai in the future.”
Hearing this, a look of satisfaction appeared on Mother Bai's face.
Although being a gaming streamer wasn't considered a stable job in the traditional sense, his high income made up for it. Besides, Hai Bugou looked energetic and spoke with confidence. Compared to the previous ones, he was certainly much easier on the eyes.
She covertly tugged at Bai Ci's sleeve, signaling her to behave well.
The moment Bai Ci sat down, she opened her Rain's Message panel. When she saw the details on it, she nearly burst out laughing.
When a person reached a certain level of speechlessness, they really couldn't help but laugh.
She had still underestimated the Yuanxin Matchmaking Agency. It was bad enough that every single person they introduced was a scumbag, but these scumbags actually came in all different varieties.
It must have been quite a feat for the agency to collect every single one of them.
Temporary Rain's Message NPC: Hai Bugou
Appearance: Average
Identity: Gaming streamer. Addicted to gambling, has run up massive debts with no way to pay them back. His real purpose in going on blind dates is to find a partner to share his debts, and he even plans to swindle his future spouse out of her assets after marriage to clear his debts.
Personality: Selfish and self-centered, adept at sweet-talking, completely devoid of any sense of responsibility.
Relationship to Player: Blind date partner
Skill Levels: Physicality 4, Spirit 3, Agility 4
Special Skills: None
Life Status: Curse [What is Love] in effect
Hai Bugou had come purely to swindle money. Once he learned that Bai Ci was a freelancer and her family didn't have much in savings, his enthusiasm plummeted by half.
Looking at Bai Ci's completely unresponsive attitude, he realized he stood absolutely no chance of succeeding. Naturally, he lost the patience to keep up his act.
In the end, this blind date wrapped up in sheer awkwardness.
Hai Bugou was the first to stand up. Coldly muttering, “I have things to do, I'll be off,” he walked out of the cafe without looking back, not even bothering with any polite pleasantries.
Watching Hai Bugou's retreating figure, the smile on Mother Bai's face collapsed instantly. She was filled with helplessness and anxiety, yet she couldn't bring herself to take her anger out on Bai Ci.
Cheng Yin also frowned. She took Bai Ci's hand, urging her with a hint of urgency in her voice.
“Little sister, I know you have high standards and want to find someone who perfectly matches your heart, but who in this world is truly perfect?” Cheng Yin said, her tone heavy with earnest advice.
“Many people's merits can only be discovered slowly after you spend time with them. If you always keep such a cold face, even the good ones will be scared away by you.”
She paused, then added, “Look at Mr. Hai. He's young and successful, makes a high income, and isn't a bad person. Even if he has some minor flaws, you can always work through them after spending enough time together.”
Bai Ci pulled her hand back. “I feel like our vibes don't match. There's no need to force it.”
Her tone was far too firm, leaving absolutely no room for discussion. Cheng Yin stared at her, opened her mouth, but ultimately found nothing left to say, only letting out a helpless sigh.
“Alright, little sister. I respect your thoughts. If there are any other suitable candidates in the future, I'll contact you again.”
On the way back, the electric scooter moved much slower than usual.
Mother Bai sat in front, her brow furrowed the entire way. She sighed from time to time, wanting to urge Bai Ci to just settle several times, but the words died in her throat.
She knew her daughter's temperament all too well. Once Bai Ci made up her mind, no amount of persuasion would change it.
But at the thought of the Bai family's curse and how Bai Ci had less than a year left, she couldn't help but panic. She tossed and turned at night, unable to sleep, her mind filled with nothing but Bai Ci's marriage prospects, worrying to the point that her hair was falling out in clumps.
Perhaps due to extreme anxiety, Mother Bai actually forgot to close the balcony window before going to bed that night.
And as fate would have it, a heavy downpour accompanied by strong winds struck in the middle of the night.
The howling wind swept the rainwater right through the open balcony window and into the apartment.
The next morning, Mother Bai got up only to find the balcony completely flooded.
The side and bottom of the wooden cabinet near the balcony were thoroughly soaked. Some of the miscellaneous items and books placed on top of it were also drenched, sticking limply to the surface in a soggy, chaotic mess.
“Oh dear, how could I forget to close the window!” Mother Bai cried out in frustration. She quickly grabbed a mop and some rags, hurrying to clean up the mess.
Hearing the commotion, Bai Ci also walked out of her bedroom.
Seeing the state of the balcony, she picked up another rag, walked over to the cabinet, and proactively began helping to organize the soaked items.
The items on the cabinet were quite miscellaneous: old photos, a few unused books, and some stray knickknacks, most of which had been drenched by the rain.
Bai Ci carefully took these items down, using a dry rag to pat away the surface moisture one by one before laying them out to dry in a dry spot nearby.
Just as she was wiping down an old box on the top shelf of the cabinet, a business card, slightly wrinkled from being soaked by the rainwater, slipped out.
Bai Ci looked down and froze.
Printed on it were the words “Bai Ci, Detective of the Starlight Detective Agency,” along with a phone number and the agency's address.
Wasn't this the identity she had used during her second instance?
She quickly realized that she shouldn't look frozen. Letting her expression gradually shift into one of nostalgia and reminiscence, her mind raced as she analyzed the current situation.
Why would this business card appear here?
“What's wrong, Xiao Ci? Why did you stop?” Mother Bai couldn't help but ask when she saw her freeze.
She stepped closer and spotted the business card in Bai Ci's hand. Her confusion turned into understanding. “Are you thinking about the past?”
A look of reminiscence also appeared on Mother Bai's face. “Back when you just graduated, you joined this Starlight Detective Agency and became a detective.”
“Back then, I worried about you day in and day out.”
“When things were slow, I worried you'd have no cases and end up unemployed at home.”
“When you were busy, you'd be running around outside all day. Sometimes I wouldn't see you for days and couldn't even reach you on your phone. I was so worried something had happened to you.”
“Later, for some reason, that detective agency couldn't keep going and disbanded. You stayed at home idle for a while before you started working as a freelance writer, which you've been doing until now.”
Mother Bai said, her tone filled with deep affection. “When you first lost your job, you were so downcast. It broke my heart to watch. Fortunately, you later found this writing gig, which finally gave you some stability.”
Could this instance share the same worldview as the second instance she had gone through?
If so, then the Bureau of Investigation existed in this world, and it was a Bureau of Investigation that possessed a certain level of ability to handle anomalies.
At this thought, an idea suddenly flashed through Bai Ci's mind.
In that case, regarding the Bai family's curse... could she seek help from the Bureau of Investigation?
Rate on N.U.
