To put it simply, this is a story about a guy who dumped his girlfriend for money, only to see her become cuter and more successful afterward—and now he suddenly regrets everything.
Too bad for him, Yoko Kinoshita's agent came prepared. She even brought the ex's old "breakup payment agreement" to shut down his excuses before he could even start.
Back when they broke up, Yoko had begged him to stay. That stuck with him. He convinced himself Yoko must still love him, so he wanted to sneak behind the agency's back and get back together in secret.
Unfortunately for him, he barely said a word during their long-awaited "private reunion" before getting knocked out cold by the man currently living in Yoko's house.
Then the agent showed up...
…
Even though the ghost baby was, well, a baby, it still understood what was happening.
Getting smacked in the face by reality left it dizzy and disillusioned.
It was kind of sad… but to Jiangxia Tongzhi, it was a relief.
A ghost baby with shattered dreams was a lot easier to abduct.
Didn't matter if it was wilted—once he got it home, signed the contract, and fed it some ghost mint, it would perk right back up.
With the biggest issue resolved, Jiangxia finally relaxed.
He leaned against the sofa and stretched. Hunger crept in.
Meanwhile, the other three were still acting out some ridiculous drama, and Jiangxia didn't want to interrupt.
He glanced at the coffee table, reached out for a plate of oranges, and figured he'd snack a little to tide himself over.
But before he could grab one, Yoko Kinoshita noticed and rushed over to stop him.
Her eyes were red from crying. She rummaged in the fridge, found a leftover bento, microwaved it, and brought it over to Jiangxia. "Eat this instead. Oranges on an empty stomach are bad for you."
She even handed him chopsticks.
Then, wiping her tears, she asked gruffly, "Want something to drink?"
Jiangxia felt a little awkward about eating now. "No, thank you."
Yoko thought for a moment, then poured him a cup of oolong tea anyway.
Only after doing all that did she go back to her manager and continue dealing with her own mess.
Jiangxia looked at the steaming bento and the warm cup of tea beside it and mentally awarded her another good person card.
…
Stalkers No. 1 and No. 2 didn't need Jiangxia's help—the veteran agent handled them smoothly.
In the end, the ex-boyfriend was dragged away by bodyguards, muffled and struggling.
As chaos erupted, Jiangxia slipped past Yoko Kinoshita and secretly yanked the ghost baby off her wrist. He held it and gave it a couple of rolls in his palm.
Still a bit prickly to the touch.
But unlike last time, it didn't feel so resistant.
Maybe the drama had confused the ghost baby's sense of purpose. Its obsession seemed a lot lighter now.
With his ghost in hand, Jiangxia quietly snuck away with his prize while the agent was still busy.
Sticking around might lead to too many questions.
Yoko Kinoshita was gentle and didn't pry too much—but her manager? Whole different story…
Normally, Jiangxia wouldn't have minded staying longer.
But not today.
Today, he had ghosts to play with.
It felt like waiting days for an online order to finally arrive—and now it was here. He couldn't wait another second.
…
On the way home, the ghost baby struggled constantly but was brutally subdued.
Even though its obsession was shaky, it clearly hadn't let go of the dream of matchmaking its parents.
Jiangxia wasn't worried.
While waiting for the stalkers to appear over the past few days, he'd already prepared Plans A, B, C, and D.
Once home, he carried the ghost baby down to the basement and strapped it in front of the TV.
The ghost baby kicked its legs and stared at the dark screen, a growing sense of dread creeping in.
It got up cautiously… and saw Jiangxia slowly turn to it with a gentle, ominous smile.
Then he clicked the TV on.
News clips started playing—each one handpicked by Jiangxia and related to the entertainment industry.
—Celebrities assassinated by deranged fans after announcing their relationships.
—Average guys who dared to hold hands with idols at meet-and-greets, only to get targeted by jealous fan mobs…
In a world like this, cases like these were easy to find.
Jiangxia hit play, left the ghost baby to absorb the trauma, and walked off with his hands in his pockets.
The next morning, Jiangxia strolled up to the basement door, peeling an orange.
Inside, the ghost baby lay slumped in front of the TV, completely broken.
Nice. Plan A was working.
Jiangxia stepped in and asked calmly, "So… do you want them all to die?"
The ghost baby shook its head furiously, tears in its eyes.
Jiangxia nodded, pleased.
But he didn't stop there. Instead, he swapped out the tape.
This time: pure love dramas.
From beginning to end, the leads were sweet and affectionate. Since they were women's dramas, the male leads were practically gods—ten-in-one perfect boyfriends, utterly devoted.
For the ghost baby, between the two "parents," it was clearly more biased toward Yoko Kinoshita.
So when thinking things through, it mostly took her side.
Days passed with the ghost baby locked in, watching romcoms nonstop.
It got used to the dreamboat male leads… and then remembered its actual father…
…
A few days later.
The ghost baby watched the final episode intently. When the main couple kissed, it clapped its hands with glee—no thought of matchmaking its real parents at all.
Jiangxia turned off the TV, picked the ghost baby up, set it on the table, and casually asked, "So, young ghost, wanna sign a contract with me?"
Honestly, it was more of a formality at this point.
Sign or not, it was signing.
The ghost baby blinked out of its romantic haze and shivered. It definitely felt threatened.
But when it looked up at Jiangxia's sincere expression, it somehow felt like… the threat wasn't him.
It glanced around the basement. Nothing seemed off.
Still, instinct told it the environment was dangerous, and it needed a protector.
And Jiangxia looked like a decent umbrella to hide under.
The ghost baby finally nodded.
Jiangxia patted its head, all smiles.
Many of a psychic's abilities can only be fully unlocked with a contracted ghost.
Jiangxia thought about his bright future, and his back didn't ache anymore. Even his hands felt stronger.
Besides, there was a chance the ghost would awaken unique skills upon signing—
Teleportation, hardening, mind control…
Then again, some awakened abilities were just weird.
According to psychic researchers from Jiangxia's past life, the ghost's powers often tied to its personality or past obsessions.
Jiangxia looked at the ghost baby and thought about its obsession…
He had a bad feeling it wouldn't awaken anything particularly normal.
But hey, he couldn't be picky now.
He'd take what he could get.
Jiangxia locked the basement door, returned to the table, and unbuttoned his shirt.
A strange black symbol slowly emerged over his heart: a complex flower-like "Z" surrounded by swirling decorative lines. Mysterious. Odd.
Every psychic could choose their own signature mark at awakening. Once set, it was permanent.
Back when he was a kid, Jiangxia had drawn three edgy blade-like scars—two horizontal, one diagonal—after watching a movie.
He hadn't expected the real version to turn out like this: a flowery alphabet letter.
Jiangxia sighed at his own dark past, grabbed a needle, and jabbed it into the mark.
A single drop of blood welled up—not dripping, but hanging there like a bead on the needle's tip.
He let it fall onto the ghost baby.
When the blood touched the ghost, it made a sizzling noise like a grill. The drop squirmed like it was alive.
After ten seconds, it settled into the side of the ghost baby's neck, forming a Z-shaped mark identical to Jiangxia's—just with a few extra rings around it.
When it was done, the ghost baby raised a stubby hand, touching its neck in confusion.
No discomfort. But somehow, it just knew: it now had a long-term food sponsor.
Jiangxia tossed the needle aside, buttoned up, and watched expectantly.
After a moment, new information flooded into his mind—about the ghost's newly awakened skill.
Jiangxia read it, face unreadable.
…The good news: the ghost baby did awaken a skill.
The other good (?) news: the skill was exactly what he expected.
—The ghost baby could force someone to confess their feelings to another person nearby.