"Lin junior, please don't be angry," Zhang Lili explained to Lin Yan. "Jiayi's family doesn't have much money."
Although she felt her friend's actions were not entirely right, she could understand Jiayi's situation.
Furthermore, it was because of her that Jiayi had suffered this undeserved misfortune, so she couldn't be angry with Jiayi.
"I don't mind," Lin Yan shook her head.
Zhang's mother brought the washed fruit over and offered it to Lin Yan first. When her own daughter introduced this classmate as surnamed Lin, she knew this was the student who had saved her daughter.
"Student Lin, I'll be entrusting Lili to you," Zhang's mother fidgeted with her hands. "As long as you can save Lili, we will definitely satisfy you with the price."
"Mom!" Zhang Lili tried to stop her mother.
But Zhang's mother ignored her daughter. "I roughly know your rules of practice. You definitely won't let Student Lin work for nothing."
Her daughter hadn't mentioned any price, and although debts of gratitude are hard to repay, this was a life-saving favor.
It was already very gracious of this Student Lin to help so generously. They couldn't take advantage of her daughter's friendship with her and treat her poorly.
There were some things her daughter found difficult to say, and Lin Yan might also find it awkward to mention, but she had to ask about it.
"Auntie, please don't say that. I'm already very grateful that you trust me regardless of my age. Since I'm already here, I've accepted this task.
I've already reported this to the Special Events Bureau, and it comes with points. So you don't need to worry about the money," Lin Yan didn't plan to ask for money from Zhang Lili's family.
Of course, if Zhang Lili's personality didn't appeal to her, she would definitely have charged more.
"But you can't let her work for free!" Zhang's mother actually wanted to use this opportunity to build a good relationship with Lin Yan. Ordinary people like them usually didn't have the chance to interact with such mysterious practitioners.
But now that they had encountered one, she definitely wanted to befriend Lin Yan. This way, if they encountered any situation again, no, they definitely wouldn't encounter such a situation again.
But being able to associate with people from the mysterious arts would be beneficial to their family.
"Then Auntie, just pay me 20 yuan per talisman, as we discussed," Lin Yan could see Zhang's mother's intentions, but she also needed to establish herself in this city. Being able to meet more people would allow her to take on more tasks.
"How can that be?" Zhang Lili also felt that Lin Yan was being shortchanged.
"It's enough," drawing talismans was very easy for Lin Yan. Twenty yuan per talisman, but the cost was less than five yuan.
Of course, this didn't include Lin Yan's labor. If her labor were included, it would be more expensive, but Zhang Lili was her classmate, and she didn't want to charge too much.
Time slowly passed, and the daylight outside gradually dimmed.
The hospital room was very quiet. Zhang Lili, having been too excited during the day, was now yawning continuously, but she dared not sleep.
Especially with Lin Yan keeping vigil by her bedside, she felt too embarrassed to fall asleep.
Lin Yan, seeing her sleepy state, told her to sleep first, but Zhang Lili refused, so she forced herself to stay awake and keep Lin Yan company.
Lin Yan sat to the side, flipping through an ancient book. It was a "Dao Jing," filled with obscure ancient texts.
Zhang Lili had glanced at it curiously earlier and found that she didn't recognize many of the characters, so she stopped disturbing Lin Yan's reading. At the same time, she admired her fellow student, Lin Yan, even more.
Although Zhang's mother wanted to stay and keep them company, Lin Yan refused. Although this ghost wasn't as formidable as Wei Wanru, she feared causing accidental harm to others and thus didn't let Zhang's mother stay.
As night enveloped the land and the streetlights outside slowly lit up, the temperature in the hospital room suddenly dropped by several degrees.
Although Zhang Lili couldn't make big movements in her hospital bed, she wrapped herself tighter in her blanket.
She hadn't yet realized that something was wrong and thought perhaps the window hadn't been closed properly. She even asked Lin Yan with concern, "It seems a bit cold tonight. Lin junior, would you like to wear a thicker coat? There are my clothes in the closet. If you don't mind, you can take them.
There's also a thick blanket in the closet. If you don't want to wear my clothes, you can wrap yourself in the blanket."
"No need, I should be going home soon," Lin Yan carefully put away the ancient book in her hands and stood up.
Zhang Lili took a moment to react before understanding Lin Yan's meaning. "You, you mean he's already here?"
Zhang Lili immediately shrunk into her blanket and clutched the protective amulet Lin Yan had given her.
But the next moment, she felt that this was rather disloyal. How could she let Lin Yan face the ghost alone? So she poked her head out from under the blanket again.
"Hide well!" Lin Yan threw a talisman towards the hospital bed, and it stuck directly to the headboard.
"Okay, okay," Zhang Lili watched this miraculous scene and felt that her fellow student Lin Yan was truly cool.
She obediently hid herself in the blanket, but her ears were pricked high, wanting to hear what was happening outside.
The temperature in the hospital room grew colder and colder. The old ghost in the burial shroud, sensing no trace of Wei Wanru, swaggered in through the window.
"Huh?" He saw the somewhat unfamiliar girl in the hospital room, looked around, and tried to find Zhang Lili's whereabouts.
But Lin Yan's aura-concealing talisman was attached to the headboard, completely hiding Zhang Lili's presence, so the old ghost couldn't find her at all.
"I see you're not a vengeful spirit. Why are you bothering a student?" Lin Yan stared at the old ghost, a talisman held between her fingers.
"Oh, little child, you can see me? With a talisman, you're a celestial master?" The old ghost looked at Lin Yan's youthful face and didn't take her seriously at all.
"If you stop now, I can still spare your life. If you insist on going down the wrong path, I won't be polite."
"Little child, how will you be impolite?" the old ghost said arrogantly. "That little ghost promised me something. A promise made to a ghost cannot be broken!"
"What did she promise you?"
"She promised to stay with me forever!" the old ghost said with ill intent.
"Impossible!"
"I didn't!"
Two different voices spoke at the same time. Zhang Lili poked her head out from under the blanket and said indignantly.
"So that's where you are." The old ghost turned his head towards the hospital bed, his gaze greedily fixed on Zhang Lili's face.
"This request is impossible, so you'd best give up this idea," Lin Yan raised her hand, pointing the talisman in her grasp at the old ghost.
"Little child, a promise made to a ghost cannot be broken," the old ghost's voice had a dangerous edge to it.