What fell to the ground was not anything else but the bronze ornament that had been taken from the film crew earlier, the one that had killed someone and on which the female ghost named Lihua had possessed.
Originally, it had been stuffed into Li Mohan's pocket. Due to its size, a tip protruded from his pocket.
But it was not enough for it to fall out.
Ye Huohuo had a bad feeling. She did not immediately pick it up but crouched down to observe it carefully.
"How did it fall out!" Just as Li Mohan reached out to pick it up, Ye Huohuo stopped him.
"Don't move, something's not right with it!"
"What's wrong?"
"The talismans I wrapped around it earlier are broken!" Ye Huohuo pointed a slender finger at a hole in the talisman paper.
"It might have been rubbed in your pocket!" Li Mohan did not realize anything was amiss; this seemed normal to him.
"No, it wasn't rubbed. This hole clearly shows burn marks. The ghost named Lihua must be trying to break out. Do you have any rooms with windows?" Ye Huohuo suddenly looked up at Li Mohan.
Li Mohan found himself unable to meet her dark, staring eyes; his gaze flickered. "Yes, my office has a lounge that doesn't have windows."
"Alright, we'll go there. Also..." Ye Huohuo suddenly became hesitant.
"What? Just say whatever you need to say!" Although she hadn't finished her sentence, Li Mohan's meaning was clear: there was no need for formality between them.
"I need to prepare some things, but they aren't cheap. I..." Ye Huohuo nervously rubbed her hands.
Li Mohan had never seen her like this before and raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what you need, and I'll prepare it for you."
Ye Huohuo looked up, her eyes showing a hint of urgency, but more so, embarrassment. Her small face was flushed from anxiety. "No, the things I need to buy have special requirements and need to be custom-made."
"So?" Li Mohan hated people who stammered and couldn't get to the point, but he found the young girl's current demeanor quite intriguing.
"Well... could you lend me some money first?" Ye Huohuo's eyes darted around, not daring to meet Li Mohan's gaze, feeling incredibly guilty.
"How much?" A smile flickered in Li Mohan's eyes. He had encountered many women who asked him for money, some pleading, some seductive, some threatening... but never one who was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
Ye Huohuo held up two fingers.
"Two hundred thousand?" Li Mohan casually guessed a figure.
Upon hearing this, Ye Huohuo shook her head like a rattle drum. "No, not two hundred thousand, it's two thousand..."
"Twenty million? That's not a lot, but what are you buying that's so expensive?" Li Mohan was genuinely surprised.
Ye Huohuo almost bit her tongue. "No... not twenty million... it's two thousand yuan!"
"How much?" Li Mohan's usually impassive face showed a rare look of astonishment. "You don't even have two thousand yuan?"
Ye Huohuo's face turned even redder, and she quickly explained, "It's not that my fortune-telling and feng shui skills are too poor to earn money, but because I'm affected by evil energy. No matter how wealthy someone is, I can only charge a hundred yuan for fortune-telling and two hundred for feng shui. Otherwise, I'll be affected by the evil energy, and unlucky things will keep happening.
That's why I don't even have two hundred yuan on me right now. If I hadn't stayed at your place last night, I wouldn't have had a place to stay."
Ye Huohuo's voice grew softer and softer, and her head bowed lower and lower.
She had endured her fair share of disdainful looks because she had no money. While she appeared indifferent on the surface, she was still a girl, and no one liked being pointed at, described as looking like a vagrant and sleeping on the streets.
But fate was such, and she couldn't struggle against it. Compared to life and death, honor and disgrace were minor matters.
However, she didn't care what others thought of her. What mattered now was how Li Mohan saw her. She didn't want him to see her in such a pathetic state, to know about her unsavory past.
She... cared!
The smile that had been in Li Mohan's eyes slowly faded, replaced by tenderness.
The young girl before him seemed like a blade of grass, enduring the wind and rain every day, yet she was independent and strong. Her resilience was enough to make one's heart ache.
He was accustomed to pampered young ladies, and even those from humble backgrounds were often career-driving elites. Someone like Ye Huohuo, who struggled even to make ends meet, was truly a rare sight.
The last time he saw someone like this was perhaps by the roadside, where he saw a little girl in tattered clothes begging. His car had stopped right in front of the broken pot the girl was using for alms.
He had asked A Cheng to give the girl several hundred yuan.
After a while, Ye Huohuo did not hear Li Mohan speak. Perhaps... he didn't want to lend her the money?
Or maybe he felt it was embarrassing for her to have to borrow even two thousand yuan from him. Just as she thought, she was being looked down upon, and a wave of bitterness washed over her. She thought about proudly saying, "Fine, if you don't want to lend it, I don't care."
But the situation didn't allow it. She had to borrow money from him; she couldn't borrow from anyone else.
Ye Huohuo bit her lip, gathered her courage, and looked directly into Li Mohan's eyes. "I... although I earn very little each day, I will always save up. I'm borrowing from you, and I will definitely pay you back."
Seeing Ye Huohuo's earnest expression, Li Mohan's heart tightened. He took a deep breath, took out his wallet, and pulled out a card.
"This credit card has a limit of five hundred thousand. Take it and use it. It should be enough for your monthly expenses. I'll pay it back at the end of the month. If it's not enough, just ask me for more!"
After saying this, he handed the card to Ye Huohuo.
Ye Huohuo stared at the card in her hand, dumbfounded. "This is for me? Five hundred thousand? To use as I please?"
"Yes, use it as you please, you don't need to pay it back. After all, you are my wife, Li Mohan's wife. I can't have you being too shabby! How is it? Do you need anything else?" Li Mohan asked, arms crossed.
"No more! I'll have someone prepare it right away!" Ye Huohuo's previously dimmed eyes lit up. She had never had so much money since she was born.
She took out her phone and dialed a number, saying with great confidence, "Xiao Lingzi, send me your best five-piece set! And bring all the other things I ordered last time!
I know I still owe you over a thousand yuan. Don't worry, I'll pay you back in full this time! From now on, this young lady will never have to buy on credit again."
After hanging up the phone, Ye Huohuo looked at Li Mohan with a beaming face, a smile in her eyes and brows. "Mr. Li, it's really worth it to be bound by the thread of fate with you. Now I don't have to debase myself to buy on credit anymore!
From now on, Ye Huohuo can hold her head high when purchasing supplies in the Xuanmen!"
"Are you always this short of money? Don't your masters and others treat you well? Why don't they support you?" Li Mohan asked, confused.
"No, they are outsiders. If I accept money from outsiders, I will suffer the backlash of evil energy and even endanger them. Right now, in this world, you are the closest person to me. Only by spending your money will I not suffer the backlash.
We are bound by the thread of fate, so we are family! That's how we won't be divided!" Ye Huohuo's emotions became a little excited.
Hearing this, Li Mohan felt a warmth in his heart.
Family?
Since that incident, he had never thought he would become a family with a girl again.
The coquettish women who fluttered around him every day, the thought of becoming a family with them gave him a headache.
Yet, when the young girl before him said they were family, he didn't feel uncomfortable at all; instead, he felt a hint of anticipation...
Before they could finish speaking, the bronze ornament on the ground, wrapped in talismans, suddenly emitted smoke.
"Not good, hurry and take me to your lounge!" Ye Huohuo's face changed drastically.