After I Slipped a Payment Code into a Letter to a Has-Been Celebrity

[The main story costs around one yuan. Please support the official release! My next novel, "The Metaphysics Master, the Real Deal", is coming soon. The blurb is at the bottom. Please add it to your favorites 🥺] Xu Suicheng has a favorite hobby: nurturing obscure celebrities. One day, short on cash, she copied a trend she saw online and sent her favorite a payment code. To her surprise, she actually received a huge transfer. Restless with curiosity, Xu Suicheng posted online asking for advice. [Friends, could there be legal trouble over this money? If I don’t return it, could they sue me if I switch sides later...?] Just as netizens were criticizing her as “a con artist who swindles people’s feelings without putting in a penny,” one comment stood out from the rest [Why are you talking about a hypothetical where you switch sides later? Don’t you want to keep following him?] The next second, a message popped up in her WeChat chat window. “Did I do something wrong? I’ll change. Could you please not switch sides?” - Staring at the anonymous contact with no name, no Moments posts, and no idea when she had added him, Xu Suicheng fell deep into thought. At least he was generous, and his personality was gentle and thoughtful. Even after becoming a top-tier star, he still remembered their old bond. When he sent her money, he even noted that it was a voluntary gift and told her not to feel guilty. Xu Suicheng: Thanks, but... I’m not guilty. I’m just completely mortified!!! She may have nurtured countless obscure celebrities, but she only made numbers for them when she happened to think of it. She often visited film sets because she had an annual pass to the studio and not making good use of it felt wasteful. Even her handwritten letters... she had used carbon paper to make more than a dozen copies at once, then handed them out wherever she went. As for the payment code, well, she just closed her eyes and sent it! When he invited her to visit him on set, Xu Suicheng kept her composure. Don’t panic. It’s just one person. Use the process of elimination! This is nothing. Stay calm and collected... But then the night passed. And three more transfers from different accounts suddenly appeared in her bank balance. Xu Suicheng: Running around in a panic, scrambling to escape.jpg Oh no. Who the hell are all these people?! - After asking around, dropping hints, and reminiscing about the past... Xu Suicheng finally identified her target and went to meet him, chin held high. After chatting enthusiastically all afternoon, she watched the young man shyly pull out his phone. “We don’t have each other’s contact information. Want to add me on WeChat?” Xu Suicheng: ??? Just then, her phone vibrated repeatedly. A green chat bubble clung to her like a ghost. [Are you here? I don’t think I can see you. So you really do want to switch sides, right?] [I got the coffee you bought for the crew. It wasn’t for me, but thanks anyway.] [Don’t mix me up with him next time.] [I’m not him.] [I can see you now.] Blurb written on 2025.8.3 Next novel: "The Metaphysics Master, the Real Deal". Beloved by all, feel-good and uplifting Ming Zhao was a mysterious pearl held by a god statue enshrined in a temple. She cultivated into human form by absorbing the spiritual power from offerings. After the Daoist priest passed away, the temple fell into decline, so she decided to go down the mountain and make her own way in the world. She had just boarded a high-speed train when she saw a Daoist priest livestreaming beside her. Ming Zhao pointed at the famous metaphysics master, who had tens of millions of followers online, and said, “Old man, you drew that talisman wrong.” The words made the master turn red with rage. He was just about to unleash a furious scolding. Suddenly, a passenger in the next carriage collapsed and started muttering incoherently, as if possessed. The master’s livestream was still playing automatically on the passenger’s phone. The master was so frightened that he dropped to his knees on the spot. “Kid, take me on as your apprentice!” - From then on, Ming Zhao gained an old, mischievous apprentice and “inherited” his livestream account, which was notorious for its disastrous fails and a comment section full of mockery. On the first day of her livestream, viewers flooded her with abuse. At last, a caller finally connected, though the question seemed designed to trip her up. [Streamer, I just started working at a new company, and my boss asked me, “Why did the company’s money tree die right after you got here?” How should I answer?] Ming Zhao: [Tell them, “Its mission is complete, because the real money tree has arrived.”] [??? This half-baked streamer thinks she can teach someone how to handle people tactfully?] [LMAO, who actually talks like that in real life? They’d get mocked behind their back for a year] [That’s not even long] [Why not say, “I killed the money tree, and I’ll kill you next”?] The caller, cowering in a corner: Holy crap! How did she see my true form at a glance? A few days later, news broke about a heartless capitalist who had worked an employee to death. At the same time, a tip animation flashed across Ming Zhao’s livestream for hours: [Thank you, Master, for saving my tree and my life!] - Ming Zhao connected with a popular top-tier star who was rumored to be perfectly respectable, and the first thing she said was “Your house is collapsing.” The star scoffed. I haven’t gambled, used drugs, visited prostitutes, evaded taxes, cheated on anyone, bought sex, hidden a marriage, had a child out of wedlock, had an affair, or hired a surrogate. How could my career collapse? But three minutes later, the star’s face had gone deathly pale when he connected with her again. “My house really did collapse!” A mansion worth tens of millions collapsed overnight, and the police solved a villa burial case that had gone unsolved for nearly forty years. Along with the police’s letter of thanks came the star’s very public declaration of devotion: [Ming Zhao saved my life. If she ever needs anything, I’ll gladly give her everything I have.] The richest man, nearly buried alive by his own unfilial descendants: Same here! The young form of the villainous spirit: Same here! The red-eyed domineering CEO cursed by a deadly red spirit: ...Yeah, me too. The heroic dog-and-cat squad: Woof woof woof woof! Meow meow meow meow! Ming Zhao: Thanks, but... your lives aren’t worth as much as mine. All you ever give me is worthless stuff :) - Ming Zhao quickly became the fastest streamer on the platform to reach the top tier. Feng shui and good fortune, fortune-telling and warding off evil, the Eight Gates and Six Divisions, and... counseling. [He’s asking for it. Give him what he wants, and you’ll be doing good] [Once you’ve said it out loud, your heart is clear. If you hold back, it stays dirty] [Be bold and ask for what you need. If someone doesn’t say no, that’s on them. It’s their karmic lesson, not yours] [The soul’s desires are the prophets of fate. Whatever you want is something you deserve] Netizens were moved to tears: [I could tell as soon as I heard her! She really is a master! Enough talk, light it up!] * Ming Zhao has a secret: as a mysterious pearl, she has a space capable of holding anything. So when she goes about her business, she doesn’t curry favor with the powerful or chase money. She simply takes one item from each person she meets, following the flow of fate. Of all the things she’s taken, her favorites are the things that belong to Ji Sinan: rare treasures, exquisite delicacies, and countless other things. The best part is that he’s incredibly generous, always smiling as he tells her, “You can take anything in this house.” Until one day, Ming Zhao realizes she’s practically emptied his house. She dusts herself off and prepares to leave. Ji Sinan lets out a soft sigh, his voice helpless yet indulgent. “When are you going to remember to take me with you, too?” * At first, Professor Ji: “Superstition. Absolutely not.” Later, Professor Ji: “Fate is written in the stars. Maybe it’s not impossible.” “Ever since I met you, I’ve started believing in superstition. Every day, I hope to find my destiny written in the lines of your palm.” Theme: Love given returns as love, and blessings sent bring blessings back