Jiang Yimian has been riding high recently. When he sold the rights to “Haunted Soul” for a low price, many netizens mocked him for being crazy. But in just over half a month, the website changed hands and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Many popular rights were left unsold, not knowing their future direction. This highlighted how wise it was for him to listen to his great-grandfather’s advice.
However, some brainless netizens are still stubborn, saying things like, “It was Grandmaster Xuan who made the prediction first; your great-grandfather is just following the trend to gain popularity,” to prove their correctness.
These remarks made Jiang Yimian ponder. Isn’t Grandmaster Xuan and his great-grandfather the same person? Forget it. Since his great-grandfather didn’t clarify, there must be another arrangement. He decided not to stir up more trouble.
So while the internet was in an uproar, Jiang Yimian, under the ID 【Jiang Jinbao】, was happily roaming in the game, making his teammates doubt their lives while he felt good about himself.
As the night passed and the morning sunlight came in, Jiang Jinbao finally got tired. He yawned and got up to the kitchen to find some breakfast before going back to sleep. When he came out, he saw his uncle sitting in the dining room, supporting his forehead with one hand, his side profile tense, and his expression cold and serious, as if thinking about major issues concerning the family’s rise and fall.
Jiang Yimian was startled and cautiously walked over to observe his expression, asking with concern, “Uncle, what’s wrong? Is it serious? Do you need me to do something?”
Jiang Qiao frowned, came back to his senses, put down his hand, and after a moment of contemplation, slowly said, “I think I dreamed of your grandfather last night.”
Jiang Yimian couldn’t help but laugh, “…Huh? Is that so? I often dream of my grandma, too! Or is there something special about your dream, uncle?”
“I don’t know.”
Jiang Qiao shook his head, looking confused. “I can’t remember what happened in the dream. I just remember your grandfather kept pointing at me and talking, vaguely mentioning something about a high priest…antique…member?”
What high priest? Which high priest? The Su Clan’s high priest or some high priest from Miaojiang? But none of them seem to have anything to do with the word ‘member’, right?
Jiang Yimian thought for a moment and advised, “It might just be a dream, not necessarily some special revelation. Think about it: your father, my grandfather, has been gone for so long and has never appeared in a dream, probably already reincarnated. With all the lousy little student players I meet in the game, isn’t it possible that one of them is my grandpa?”
Such filial piety, what a great grandson.
Jiang Qiao glanced at his unorthodox nephew and shook his head helplessly. However, this diversion also dispelled his doubts; it was probably just an ordinary dream.
Jiang Yimian felt quite accomplished for solving his uncle’s problem and went to sleep happily.
He quickly fell into a deep sleep. But in the dream, an old man suddenly appeared, hitting his face with a slipper.
“Pia—” The sound of the slipper hitting his face.
Followed by the old man’s angry roar, “How many times have I told you to burn some antiques! If you don’t, I’ll climb up and find you!”
Jiang Yimian woke up with a start from his bed.
“Whoa—” He touched his face in shock. It wasn’t swollen, but the feeling of being hit in the face with a slipper by his grandfather was still vivid.
Thinking of this, he immediately got up to find his uncle.
The uncle and nephew exchanged information, looking at each other in disbelief, as if their father/grandfather really appeared in their dreams asking for money.
Jiang Qiao was puzzled, “No paper money, wants antiques? Burn them directly? Do they have such a concept in the afterlife?”
Jiang Yimian had already picked up his phone and opened Su Weisheng’s profile picture, speaking without looking up: “I’ll ask great-grandfather. He knows everything and can definitely solve this problem!”
“Hmph—” Jiang Qiao, displeased with his nephew’s blind worship, sneered and poured cold water on him. “You don’t need to be so superstitious about him; he’s not omniscient.”
Su Weisheng could actually solve this problem.
Around noon, he was sitting in his study writing his autobiography. The content, of course, was about some interesting collectibles he had recently acquired. Although there weren’t many and he had to pay taxes to the underworld, the high priest with a serious hoarding addiction was still very satisfied.
It was at this moment that Jiang Yimian called.
Listening to Jiang Yimian’s account on the phone, Su Weisheng casually explained, “There are a few sources of income for ghosts in the underworld. One is working in the underworld to earn a salary, and the other is the burial goods brought during burial. These burial goods need to be explicitly placed in the coffin and have aged for a certain number of years to be converted into the ghost’s income in the underworld.”
Su Weisheng glanced at the underworld’s barrage and accurately captured the most critical one: [Old Jiang: It’s all because of these stingy unfilial descendants who put too few burial goods back then. Damn it, I can’t even afford a membership. Now, all the surrounding ghosts have memberships, but I don’t. How unlucky!]
Jiang Yimian was troubled. “So if we dig up my grandfather’s grave now and put some more burial goods in, is it too late?”
Su Weisheng: “What does your grandfather need money for?”
Jiang Yimian hesitated, “…According to my uncle, it seems to be some kind of membership fee? Does the underworld also have multi-level marketing?”
The multi-level marketing leader himself was on the scene, calmly steering the conversation back on track: “There is a third method, which is to burn valuable antiques such as gold, silver, jewelry, and porcelain for the underworld. However, this requires someone with sufficiently high cultivation to connect with the underworld and send the antiques down for the ghosts.”
“If you want to burn burial goods for your ancestors, you can send them to me.”
Jiang Yimian was particularly moved upon hearing this: “Thank you, great-grandfather, for your help! I thank you on behalf of my grandfather in the underworld. Please wait; I’ll send them over right away!”
Su Weisheng responded sincerely, “You’re welcome, it’s my duty.”
Jiang Yimian didn’t understand. “Huh?”
In no time, the wealthy Jiang family delegated Jiang Yimian to deliver several rare treasures. Jiang Qiao didn’t come, as he didn’t want to see the divine messenger. But for the sake of courtesy, he still carefully selected a gem as a token of gratitude and had Jiang Yimian bring it along.
After all, the messenger had officially been promoted while he was still an intern. Although he couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous of Su Weisheng, Jiang Qiao was still very considerate in terms of etiquette.
After completing all this, Jiang Qiao didn’t forget to pray to the Star Lord for the Nth time.
Su Weisheng happily accepted the gifts and muted the chatty follower, who was too noisy and didn’t want to listen.
To avoid disturbing Su Weisheng’s ritual, Jiang Yimian placed the items in the study and tactfully went to find Su Ran.
Su Weisheng closed the door, leisurely picked up a few antique porcelain pieces, and put them into the cabinet. He didn’t perform any rituals or burn the items for Old Jiang. Instead, he directly opened a membership for Old Jiang in the backend and even generously activated an annual premium membership.
[Old Jiang: !!! I am finally a member too!]
[Old Jiang: But why didn’t the high priest burn them down? Directly opened a membership?]
Su Weisheng nonchalantly replied, “To avoid middlemen profiting from the price difference.”
The underworld’s barrage was stunned by the high priest’s financial acumen.
[???]
[Good gracious, good gracious! To avoid paying taxes to the underworld… High Priest, you’ve really gone to great lengths!]
[Awesome! Directly avoided the exchange rate issue and added an extra six months of membership for Old Jiang. This is a win-win!]
Old Jiang was very satisfied, and so was the High Priest. Only the paper figure stepped out, adjusted his glasses, and quietly accused, “Tax evasion… Your actions are against the laws of the underworld.”
Trying to snatch money from the High Priest is even harder than snatching food from a tiger’s mouth.
Su Weisheng glanced at him calmly and said, “Then let the thunder strike me down, don’t hold back.”
Bug: “……”
Su Weisheng: “Moreover, your app never said backend recharge was forbidden; it’s a bug, not illegal.”
The bug itself: “……”
The paper figure silently took out a notebook and fiercely added a rule: If the app does not receive the recharge payment, even the High Priest himself cannot randomly activate membership for users!
Damn it, who on earth named the app ‘bug’? I said this name was unlucky, and sure enough, I encountered a bug on the first day of duty! After fixing the bug, the paper figure stood on the table with arms akimbo, angrily glaring at the High Priest, his white suit full of black resentment.
Su Weisheng pretended not to see, cheerfully humming a tune, and glanced out the window, seeing his great-grandson and Xie Wei diligently practicing swordsmanship in the garden. At the same time, Jiang Yimian filmed with an incredulous expression. Not bad, full of vigor and vitality.
He contentedly withdrew his gaze.
Jiang Qiao was muted by the Star Lord for 72 hours.
Due to extreme boredom, he did nothing for these three days and simply stared blankly at the Star Lord’s statue.
He thought about many things, like why the divine messenger gained the favor of the Star Lord. Was it beauty? Few words? Could it be that his path to promotion was so difficult just because he talked too much?
No, it definitely wouldn’t be that simple.
Filled with ambition, Jiang Qiao pondered deeply and suddenly remembered the divine messenger helping him burn burial goods for his father. There were no records of this in the Jiang family’s history of metaphysical traditions. Yet, the divine messenger, who appeared to be in his early twenties, was so proficient in this. Could it be that his family’s classics were less comprehensive than the Su family’s?
Speaking of the Su family, Jiang Qiao’s doubts grew deeper.
He had heard of Su Ran, the top star, but as far as he knew, the Su family in Beijing, which claimed to be descendants of the high priest, had never publicly acknowledged Su Ran as a descendant. In fact, the younger generation of the Su family had once scolded Su Ran as a fake online. However, the strength of Su Weisheng, the great-grandfather, was evident. His identity as a divine messenger made him seem more like the high priest’s descendant than the self-important elders of the Beijing Su family.
Right, didn’t his father mention the words “high priest…membership…antique” when he appeared in the dream? Once again, it’s the high priest. It seems like every fragmented clue is related to the high priest, yet there’s no clear connection.
Jiang Qiao rubbed his temples, feeling like he had overlooked something. He could not piece together the myriad clues to find the perfect truth.
Thinking of this, he decided to open the live stream of «Another Side of Family Life». Although he didn’t want to boost his opponent’s popularity, as an excellent competitor, he needed to expend 200% of his patience to observe, learn from, and find flaws in his opponent to have a chance to replace them and become the Star Lord’s most valued new divine messenger!
Jiang Qiao opened the live stream.
A prompt popped up: 【The countdown to the end of the first 30-day live broadcast period. Starting today, this program enters the member-exclusive preview stage. Non-members, please watch the recorded broadcast 24 hours later. Thank you for your support.】
Jiang Qiao: ???
Membership! Membership! Why is it always about membership!
Jiang Qiao’s face darkened.
Having been puzzled for several days by the mention of membership in his father’s dream, Jiang Qiao never expected that watching a live stream would prompt him to get a membership again. Why does everything require membership? Will it ever end?
The topic of “#AnotherSideOfFamilyLifeForcedMembership#” had already surged to the top of the trending list.
With only one week left in the 30-day co-living segment for the guests, the viewers’ most anticipated closing segment arrived. Every day, they eagerly awaited the live stream, but today, when they opened it, they were dumbfounded.
Why did they suddenly start the membership mode!
Previously, viewers could watch for free, but special personal cut compilations and daily behind-the-scenes materials required a membership. Everyone thought this mode would continue.
But then the show’s team pulled a fast one.
【Is the production team desperate for money?】
【I heard it was Director You’s sudden brainwave for a new feature…】
【Seeing complaints from staff’s small accounts, it’s said Director You suddenly called a meeting at night and issued the new membership feature, forcing viewers to get memberships… saying something about ‘the joy of sharing is better than enjoying alone’…】
【What kind of stimulus did he experience?】
【Well, according to an insider, he complained to the assistant director that he dreamed of being stuck by a bug while sleeping and felt very unhappy upon waking up but thought the bug was fun, so he decided to share it with the viewers.】
【??? Can Director You act like a human being!】
Amid countless protests, a new topic, #ResistAnotherSideOfFamilyLifeMembershipScam, also surged to the top of the trending list. Numerous netizens stated they would never let the vile production team succeed. They would rather not watch the live stream than get a membership, opting instead to watch the recorded broadcast 24 hours later!
Due to the strong wave of resistance, even the guests who were live streaming heard the news.
In the live stream, tea party room.
Song Qing absentmindedly followed the host’s program flow while sneaking a glance at the trending topic on his phone when the camera wasn’t on him. He quickly sent the gossip page to Su Weisheng, as he had to share the excitement with his great-grandfather!
Xie Wei glanced at his wife’s phone screen and saw Su Weisheng’s WeChat page. Although he didn’t see the content, his heart skipped a beat. He grabbed Song Qing’s hand and forcibly confiscated the phone, writing a secret message on a note:
——Qingqing, be good, don’t provoke great-grandfather!
Song Qing blinked, knowing her husband misunderstood.
But being professional, he had to maintain his antagonistic stance with his great-grandfather since he was paid for it. How could he easily break character? So, he seriously replied on the note:
——No way, he took all your attention. You haven’t played games with me for a long time. I hate him!
Xie Wei felt both happy and conflicted. He was happy that his wife was finally jealous for him again, but he was conflicted that he was so stubborn! He thought with anguish, ‘Why did I stop Qingqing from playing with great-grandfather back then?’ Now, he finally understood the little drama queen’s frustration.
Best Actor Xie, in pain and joy, quickly transferred 10,000 yuan to his wife for in-game purchases, comforting the little drama queen’s loneliness during this time.
The little drama queen looked at his husband’s affectionate expression, then looked down at the WeChat transfer, feeling a tiny pang of guilt.
So, he took the money and transferred 5,000 to Su Weisheng.
Great, the guilt wasn’t as bad now.
Su Weisheng was openly munching on chocolate beans and glancing at the lit-up screen. It showed the 5,000 yuan in-game purchase fee that little drama queen Song had tricked from his husband to honor him, and above it was a piece of gossip news.
Wow, it turns out the entire internet was resisting the unscrupulous director You Sui. Such good news? He clicked on it with interest and started to enjoy the gossip.
At that moment, the host suddenly asked, “Great-grandfather, what are you looking at?”
Su Weisheng casually replied, “I’m watching netizens resist the membership scam. It seems our show might be canceled before even finishing one episode.”
Production team: ???
Director You, who rarely came to the live stream to watch the excitement, said gloomily, “… Can’t you be a little less obvious about your schadenfreude?”
Moonlit: Could You Sui be the new Lord of the Underworld, or was it just a coincidence?
I’m now intrigued about their relationship, does Su Weishen really not care about Yuan Le? What is their current relationship now? Is it love-hate, lingering love formed by obsession and resentment caused by abandonment? I guess in this setting Su Weishen doesn’t really care if his relatives are dead since he can communicate with ghosts. But isn’t the idea of a raffle deciding who gets to reincarnate too unreliable? Different souls and their time waiting fir reincarnation should be judged by their sins in life, otherwise new ghosts could continue being lucky and reincarnate while old ghosts could potentially stay there forever.
Weisheng shows he is indifferent but is hand trembled when he saw Yuan Le’s remnant soul, me thinks deep down he does care a lot
Don’t think You Sui is the new lord of the underworld but connected to it perhaps, yes. He is clearly that “bug” persona of the livestream system that suddenly bound with the Mc.
It mentioned that he tore his blood and bones and emblede his soul in bracelet. Bracelet now on MCs hand , through blood and flesh YOU family made a body that’s you sui. And MC confirm this in one paragraph that the moment he saw him , he had doubts. Then remains MLs bones that jing uncle told that in some mouslem tomb but don’t know where is is, but I think that remnant of soul is underworld lord who has his memories and linked to bracelet soul remnants. Only you sui soul doesn’t remember much just dreams.