Ning Xiaoman, a young woman who runs a street stall in Carp Lane, never imagined in her twenty-three years that she’d end up in such a huge mess.
On the day her broken engagement is livestreamed, the bronze bell her grandmother hid beneath a crock of pickled vegetables suddenly starts cursing. Living inside it is Pei Wujiao, a sharp-tongued ancestor from three hundred years ago who stays alive on extra-sweet milk tea and never misses a chance to call her useless.
As if that weren’t strange enough, spirits and monsters these days have to register for household status, pay social insurance, and make food deliveries. And the destiny mark stripped from her and branded a “death sentence” turns out to be a legendary Fortune-Bearer mark. Her former fiancé publicly breaks off their engagement because she’s poor and shabby, while 120,000 viewers watch her die of embarrassment. The Longevity Society steals the power of belief from everyone in the city to prolong the lives of the rich. Even the “poor neighbor” who gave her a steamed bun when she was eight turns out to be the heir to the Chenhai Group.
While helping spirits and monsters get their papers, she livestreams exposés of fake masters, taking her broadcast from debunking frauds to tearing down the thirty-year web spun by the Longevity Society.
But who left the half-burnt talisman in her grandmother’s old wooden box?
(This story is entirely fictional. Its metaphysical elements are artistic creations and should not be taken as references to real people or events.)
Please give some encouragement to the newcomers 😄