Marry the NPC with Money, Wife Comes Knocking - Chapter 73

Chapter 73

After living here for two weeks, the only change was that fewer and fewer people in the village were practicing the suona.

Take today, for instance; not a single note from a suona had been heard all day.

It seemed everyone’s passion for the instrument had been short-lived. Once they realized they couldn’t play it well, they lost interest.

Now that they weren’t occupied with instruments, the villagers finally started coming outside again. Some kind-hearted villagers even brought over fresh, delicious fruit they had picked on the mountain to give to her.

Hua Suihe’s livestreams were attracting more and more viewers. After half a month, her viewer count had stabilized at a hundred thousand. Although few people were joining her fan club, the number of people sending gifts had increased significantly.

Furthermore, it seemed the netizens had given her a nickname: the Wishing Flower.

Every person who sent her a gift did so with the mindset of offering a tribute.

It was dinner time again.

Lately, Ye Susheng had been getting off work very early. She said things weren’t very busy during the day because many players had already been eliminated.

Hua Suihe didn’t know what those players’ missions were, nor did she particularly care. She simply asked in passing, “Are the eliminated players still in the village?”

Ye Susheng shook her head. “No, they aren’t.”

They were soaking in the Corpse River now, so they didn’t count as staying in the village.

Ye Susheng washed her hands and the vegetables to start cooking, while Hua Suihe stood beside her to help.

Life like this was leisurely and peaceful-a quiet, beautiful existence.

Ye Susheng asked her, “Hua Hua, do you feel bored?”

“Hmm? It’s alright. Even though there isn’t much to do every day, I actually quite enjoy this kind of life.” Hua Suihe was used to working hard on her own, so such a comfortable life was a rare luxury.

Back when she was a streamer, many people envied her high earnings, but she had practically worked year-round without a single day off. From the day she started streaming until the day she died, she had rarely rested. She didn’t even spend much of the money she earned; her biggest expense had been topping up her account in the game.

She had been very frugal with her own living expenses. The first time she had spent such a large sum of money was to buy the game’s copyrights, but before she could even hire people to maintain it and reopen the servers, she had been pulled into the game world.

However, compared to the real world where she worked herself to death to save money, living a penniless but relaxed and enjoyable life in the game world seemed to offer her much better value.

“This village is very backward, and life is very monotonous.” Ye Susheng felt guilty that she couldn’t take Hua Hua out shopping for milk tea or clothes. “I’m sorry, Hua Hua. My job isn’t good, and I’ve made you suffer along with me.”

“Ye Zi.” Hua Suihe pulled out a tissue and wiped a stray drop of water off Ye Susheng’s face. With a serious expression, she said, “You have nothing to be sorry for. Stop saying ‘sorry’ so much; I don’t like hearing it.”

“It makes it feel like Ye Zi isn’t close enough to me.”

Ye Susheng tilted her head, rubbing her cheek against the back of Hua Suihe’s hand. She said coquettishly, “I’m closest to Hua Hua. If Hua Hua doesn’t like hearing it, I won’t say it anymore.”

Hua Suihe withdrew her hand and tossed the tissue into the trash can. “Right. You’re not allowed to say it again.”

Ye Susheng lifted her chin, a smile spreading across her lips, her tone carrying a hidden sense of anticipation. “Hua Hua is so good to me. Aren’t you afraid I’ll push my luck?”

Hua Suihe huffed. “As if you haven’t pushed your luck enough already?”

Over the past half month, Hua Suihe had finally learned why ‘half an hour’ always lasted so long. She should have realized sooner that it was all because of Ye Susheng’s insatiable appetite.

Ye Susheng had always known she was born wicked. Greed and endless taking were her nature. Hua Hua always indulged her, and under that doting care, Ye Susheng would never be satisfied.

She would only keep begging for Hua Hua’s love, wanting Hua Hua to love her a little more every day.

Lately, Hua Hua had been particularly indulgent. In the bathroom, in the bedroom, in the hot spring-it was a routine they checked off almost every single day.

Hua Hua loved her so much that she had even started using the black towel Ye Susheng had given her.

“I will earn money for Hua Hua, I will cook for Hua Hua every day, and I will take Hua Hua shopping. Hua Hua can do whatever she wants, as long as she stays with me forever.”
Ye Susheng happily pushed Hua Suihe into a chair and set the prepared dishes on the table. She served two bowls of rice, and they began to eat together.

Hua Suihe was never stingy with her praise for Ye Susheng. “You cook every day, and your skills are getting better and better.”

“Is there a reward today too?”

Hua Suihe stuffed her mouth with rice, too lazy to even respond.

The courtyard Yi Shuang lived in was No. 116. A few days ago, she had found the name of her ghost marriage partner in the genealogy chart and had accurately fished him out of the Corpse River to place him in a coffin.

There had been no signs of the corpse reanimating over the past few days, and her symbiotic doll had stopped changing, proving her hypothesis correct.

Recently, many residents in the village had turned from players into Anomalies. This was because many had brought Anomalies home, thinking they had found their ghost marriage partners, only to be killed instead.

Yi Shuang had shared her theory with Fang Ge: perhaps the ghost marriage wasn’t for them, and the symbiotic doll didn’t represent them either. Instead, it represented someone else in the house, and the so-called ghost marriage was about bringing back that person’s husband or wife.

As for where to find them, Yi Shuang had followed Hua Suihe to the riverbank outside the village. She admired Hua Suihe’s simple-mindedness-the girl could chat away with so many Anomalies-but she had also benefited from Hua Suihe’s presence, allowing her to observe the anomalies of the Corpse River up close.

She had spent some time and used various means to find the corpse corresponding to the name, putting in quite a bit of effort to haul it back.

As it turned out, her theory was indeed correct.

However, on Fang Ge’s side, she had searched every inch of No. 118 Courtyard but couldn’t find the corresponding genealogy chart. Without it, she had no way of knowing which role her symbiotic doll was playing, and without a name, she couldn’t retrieve her partner from the Corpse River.

Half a month had passed. Even with a Preservation Card, the stench of a corpse was already emanating from Fang Ge’s body.

Fang Ge didn’t have such a strong mindset; she could sense the changes in her body, and as time ticked away, she grew anxious and terrified. While bathing, she wanted nothing more than to scrub a layer of skin off her body. No matter how much body wash she used, she couldn’t mask the foul odor.

Death didn’t arrive in an instant; instead, the blade hung over her neck, reminding her that her time was running out. This despairing fear of waiting for death weighed heavily on her heart, and today, she finally couldn’t help but burst into tears.

Only while the shower was running in the bathroom did she dare to wail out loud. These days were too hard to endure. She often asked herself if there was any point in persisting; if the end was to die so disgracefully, perhaps she should just give up now.

She never dared to show this pessimism to Yi Shuang, only daring to release it when she was alone, quietly processing it.

A figure stood silently outside the bathroom door, offering wordless companionship.

When Fang Ge finally composed herself, dressed, and opened the bathroom door, she immediately saw the figure standing before her.

Fang Ge hurriedly suppressed her emotions, praying the darkness of the night would hide the redness and swelling of her eyes from Yi Shuang.

“Sister Shuang…” To her dismay, the heavy nasal tone of her voice immediately betrayed how hard she had just been crying.

She couldn’t bring herself to say any more polite pleasantries.

Yi Shuang exposed her: “You were crying.”

Fang Ge covered her face, unwilling to face her. “I’m sorry, I’m just under a lot of pressure.”

“Thank you for helping me all these days.”

“There’s still half a month left.” Yi Shuang didn’t know how to comfort people. “Don’t be afraid yet.”