Chapter 22: Leading by Example-A verdadeira filha excêntrica treina cachorros, enquanto o falso cão leal abana o rabo loucamente(Quinto dia do Ano Novo.)

"What is he here for?" Nanxian poked his head out from the kitchen.

Seeing Xu Si still rinsing her mouth, he hurriedly said, "I'll go open the door."

"Oh!" Xu Si nodded. "Just make sure you don't scare him."

"Don't worry, I've got this."

Watching Xu Si return to her meticulous routine, Nanxian let out a disdainful snort. He strode forward, placed the heart-shaped rice ball neatly on the table, picked up a serving spoon, and drifted toward the door.

*Click.* The door swung open.

Li Xu, sporting dark circles under his eyes, stared at the door that had opened on its own. He bravely forced a smile. "Ha, haha, Ms. Xu, your door is quite... smart!"

"What?" Xu Si quickly wiped her face. "That thing is expensive; how could I possibly afford it?"

Before she could finish, Li Xu’s voice sounded again, awkward yet polite. "H-humble, aren't you? This serving spoon is also very smart!"

"Uh..." Xu Si looked at Nanxian, who was holding the spoon, and quickly stepped forward to snatch it away. "It is indeed quite smart."

"But Officer Li, you're here so early today. Don't tell me someone called the police again?"

"Congratulations, you guessed right, but there's no prize."

Li Xu maintained his stiff smile, pretending not to see Xu Si glaring at thin air. Suddenly, memories of a past case involving a 'Kuman Thong' flashed through his mind.

"N-no, that can't be it." He shook his head to dismiss the thought, cleared his throat, and looked down to pull out the video on his phone. "But this report didn't come to me; it was filed at your Sixth Ring District station. Here, look at the video yourself."

"Alright." Xu Si put down the spoon and took the phone.

The video showed billowing smoke; one could almost smell the delicious aroma of barbecue. But that wasn't the point.

The point was... the skewers were flying in the air all by themselves. They were grilled to a perfect, smoky char. Well, Nanxian’s culinary skills were indeed impressive.

"Actually, I didn't come here for any other reason. It's just that there were quite a few witnesses this time. I wanted to negotiate with you—could you ask your... companion to tone it down a bit?"

"Sure!" Xu Si nodded with a promise.

Seeing Li Xu’s skeptical expression, she felt a flare of annoyance. As a former interstellar leader, when had she ever been questioned like this?

Xu Si narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze lazy yet sharp. Li Xu, feeling the weight of her stare, was startled, yet his attention was uncontrollably drawn to the movement at the dining table. "Ms. Xu, I want to believe you, but..."

Xu Si followed his gaze, looking puzzled, then slumped like a deflated balloon, biting her lip in frustration.

"Nanxian!"

"Present," Nanxian chimed in on purpose.

The sound of the young man’s voice echoed in the room. His worldview shattered, Li Xu’s brain must have short-circuited.

"Ms. Xu," he blurted out, "is your Kuman Thong a bit... old?"

"Kuman Thong?" Nanxian was so angry he nearly laughed. He slammed down the spoon he had been using to drizzle sauce over Xu Si's meat.

Hands on his hips, he declared haughtily, "I am a deity! What you're talking about are evil trinkets. Those things would crumble into nothingness the moment they laid eyes on me. Do you understand?"

"I... I understand now," Li Xu said, his throat tight.

He stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do with his hands or feet.

Xu Si frowned at the sight, reached out to Nanxian’s waist, and gave him a sharp pinch.

"Ah!" Nanxian winced in pain.

Li Xu finally snapped out of his shock and offered a strained smile. "The... the deity is quite lively, isn't he?"

"Yes, a bit too much," Xu Si agreed with a nod.

"W-well, I won't disturb you any further. Just... please be more careful from now on."

After giving his warning, Li Xu turned to flee.

However, Nanxian frowned, leaned over to Xu Si's ear, and whispered, "How strange. Yesterday, this man’s fortune was perfectly smooth, but looking at him today, how did he suddenly acquire a death hex?"

"What?" Xu Si raised her voice.

Li Xu jumped in fright. "Ms. Xu, is... is there something else?"

"Wait," Xu Si said, grabbing Nanxian by the collar. "Take a closer look."

"Mm-hmm." Nanxian nodded.

He drifted around Li Xu, scanning him thoroughly from all angles, then nodded. "I wasn't wrong. He’s covered in excessive yin energy; he’s been affected."

"Excessive yin energy?" Xu Si looked at the clearly exhausted Li Xu. "Did you see a dead body yesterday?"

"How did you know?" Li Xu asked, then immediately clamped his mouth shut. "Sorry, I can't talk about that."

"Oh." Xu Si didn't press him, but kindly reminded him, "Nanxian says you have a death hex looming over you recently. Be careful."

"A death hex?" Li Xu felt numb. He turned back to close the door, his face full of misery as he demanded after-sales service. "Wait, didn't we just calculate yesterday that I was going to get a promotion and a raise by the end of the month? How can there be a death hex?"

"I don't care! Online shopping has after-sales guarantees, and you should too! Otherwise... otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?"

"Otherwise, you're running an illegal business without a license... you'll have to pay damages!"

"Huh?" Nanxian looked at Li Xu critically. "Is he for real?"

"Hold on, let me check!" Xu Si glared at Li Xu and pulled out her phone to search.

Question: Is running a fortune-telling stall for profit without a business license considered illegal earnings?

*Ding-dong!*

The notification sound rang out, and both the human and the deity looked up at Li Xu simultaneously.

"Ahem, it's a side job! A side job!"

Li Xu rubbed his nose, looked at the question on the screen, and waved his hand to type: "Yes!"

After answering, he looked at Xu Si with a hint of smugness, acting like a complete rogue. "Well? What now?"

"He's cheating!" Nanxian gritted his teeth in anger.

Xu Si reached out to smooth Nanxian’s ruffled hair, pondered for a moment, and gave Li Xu a faint, cryptic smile.

"To dispel a death hex, it’s going to cost you!"

"Whoa, profiteer! How much?"

"My school tuition is seventeen thousand, so let’s call it twenty thousand." Xu Si was nonchalant. She had just decided: if Li Xu didn't pay, she’d just become a deadbeat.

Li Xu knew he couldn't stall for long, so he nodded immediately. "Deal!"

"Good."

With her mind at ease, Xu Si picked up the spoon Nanxian had prepared and began eating her rice and meat.

Nanxian watched as the heart shape he had meticulously crafted fell apart, and he couldn't help but lean in, unwilling to give up.

"Little ghost, didn't you notice anything different about the food today?"

"Hmm? Did you poison it?" Xu Si changed the way she held her spoon.

Nanxian’s upturned lips fell instantly. "..."

"Wait, poison?" Li Xu grabbed onto the keyword.

Xu Si looked up, confused. "Why haven't you left yet?"

"Me?" Li Xu was horrified. "Ms. Xu, you just promised to save my life! How can you go back on your word so quickly?"

"I didn't." Xu Si denied it flatly.

Li Xu was indignant. "But you didn't give me a talisman, you didn't draw any spells on me with cinnabar, and you haven't performed any rituals to remove my death hex!"

Xu Si: "..."

Swallowing her food, Xu Si gave Li Xu a look that defied description. "I told you not to be superstitious, not to be superstitious. Where did it all go in one ear and out the other?"

"Nonsense! That's not superstition; that's the wisdom passed down by our ancestors." Li Xu acted like a hooligan, though his eyes held complex worry. "So, there really is no talisman? Then how on earth do you dispel a death hex?"