Who says vengeful ghosts can't go on blind dates?

When Ren Zhizhe discovered that Jiang Xiaowei was not in the private room and hadn't brought her key, his heart skipped a beat.

Thinking about what the cinema manager said about the fire in the corridor... I hope my blind date won't be in any danger.

Subsequent investigations at the cinema revealed it was an accidental fire, not arson. However, despite this, Ren Zhizhe remained worried about Jiang Xiaowei's disappearance.

Thankfully, the call went through.

It seems the person is still alive and unharmed, which is great.

However, after asking a few simple questions, he keenly sensed that something was wrong.

Or rather, just based on Jiang Xiaowei's stammering attitude, even a ghost could sense that something was wrong!

"You went back?"

His voice was very soft, and you could not tell whether he was happy or angry.

Just four short words.

But those four words caused the two parties in the communication to fall silent for nearly ten seconds.

"Yes, yes." Jiang Xiaowei dared not lie and could only say that.

After receiving a reply from the other end of the phone, Ren Zhizhe remained silent for a long time.

Amid Jiang Xiaowei's anxiety, he finally seemed to accept the fact that his blind date had left without a word.

"Okay, I understand."

Ren Zhizhe found himself surprisingly calm.

He didn't seem to have much emotional fluctuation.

I was neither angry nor disappointed.

He didn't hang up the phone; he just sat quietly on the sofa, holding the terrified seashell beetle that dared not make a sound.

Jiang Xiaowei didn't hang up the phone. For a moment, neither people spoke, nor did any ghosts.

"Knock knock".

The knock on the door broke the deadlock.

Ren Zhizhe paused for a second. Then, he hung up the phone, put down the seashell insect in his hand, turned around and walked over to open the door to the private room.

"Dear guest, VIP tickets entitle you to a souvenir after the movie..."

In an effort to attract some vengeful spirits, customers with VIP tickets can receive a vengeful spirit item after the movie ends.

These vengeful ghost items are all unlucky, weak vengeful ghosts who were dealt with by the film's murder rules.

Because the vengeful ghost "egg" escaped from the film and died, the movie was forced to end prematurely.

In other words, the cinema didn't make much money. Of course, even so, thirteen vengeful ghosts still fell victim to their evil deeds and were turned into their possessions.

"souvenir?"

"Yes." It was a movie theater employee who knocked on the door.

The waiter stood respectfully, head bowed, seemingly unable to meet Ren Zhizhe's gaze.

"Yes. Distinguished guest, each guest can choose one of thirteen souvenirs with their VIP ticket... The souvenirs are waiting in the lobby. Would you like me to show you the way now?"

"I see." Ren Zhizhe glanced at the seashell worm in his hand, and the seashell worm looked at him with a pleading look.

"Forget it, I don't need any souvenirs." Even though it was free, he wasn't in the mood for it.

He handed the VIP ticket back to the waiter.

Souvenirs are redeemable with a ticket. Since he doesn't need a souvenir, not giving out the VIP ticket might cause some unnecessary misunderstandings later.

"Ah? Sir, but this..." The waiter trembled, clearly hesitant to take the VIP ticket.

The rules of a movie theater are absolute.

So, if he accepts this VIP ticket, he can take away a souvenir with the ticket.

If the other "colleagues" found out, I'm afraid...

"fine."

Seeing Ren Zhizhe's insistence, he had no choice but to accept the VIP tickets.

"Yes, sir." The waiter breathed a sigh of relief, secretly pleased, and became even more respectful towards Ren Zhizhe.

In their view, not taking souvenirs meant not taking a share of the cinema's revenue. The big ghost truly didn't care about such trivial things, which was indeed something to be thankful for.

However, all vengeful ghosts are selfish.

Most vengeful ghosts, even powerful ones, will not allow other ghosts to obtain them, even if they don't need them themselves.

In the waiter's mind, if Ren Zhizhe really didn't want it, he should have torn the VIP ticket to shreds right in front of him.

To casually hand it to a brat like that? It's enough to terrify even a ghost!

The waiter leaned forward slightly and tentatively said, "Well then, shall I go now?"

"Um."

Ren Zhizhe nodded in acknowledgment. After doing all this, he closed the door and found a chair nearby to sit down.

Should I call the agent?

Let's talk about it when we get back. If we have time tonight, he'll call and ask for the location; he wants to go see that shady real estate agent himself.

Ah, my first blind date failed.

That was to be expected.

Indeed, one shouldn't have too high expectations for the first time.

But this movie... strictly speaking, wasn't entirely without merit.

As a blind date, he felt that the movie was a failure in every aspect.

While watching the movie, he truly felt like he was just watching a movie. Ren Zhizhe felt like he had been scammed.

I'd rather go home and watch cassette tapes and DVDs. Next time I go on a blind date, I'd rather take a walk in the park than go to the movie theater.

However, he did learn something.

If the other person doesn't give him positive feedback on his next blind date, he'll end the date right in the first scene and never let it progress to this point.

But from a career perspective, he felt that today was a truly fulfilling day!

Today he invested in another company that is still struggling to make a profit.

To be honest, Ren Zhizhe was extremely surprised to learn that the films shown in the cinemas were all self-produced.

He thought this was just a movie theater. He never imagined it was actually a film company!

A film company is short for a film production company, which is mainly responsible for the production and investment of films, including screenwriting, casting, filming, post-production and other aspects.

Cinemas are the main venues for film screenings, primarily responsible for providing film screening services to audiences.

If the film operation system is well-established, cinemas usually need to cooperate with film companies, distributors, and other organizations to ensure they have the screening rights to popular films and attract audiences to watch them.

Ren Zhizhe asked the cinema manager. He discovered that the film industry in this world seemed to be undervalued.

After all, it's still a film made from film. And, according to the person in charge, the production cost of film is not high.

Ren Zhizhe was not very familiar with this.

His understanding was limited to modern films. As for early film reels, he could only accept whatever the person in charge said.

Therefore, based on his life experience from his previous life, Ren Zhizhe sensed a business opportunity.

"Regarding the blind date... never mind, I'll call the agency later to discuss the situation."

We don't need to wait a few days to discuss investment. Let's go directly to the cinema manager and have them explain their film production methods.

And that projector.

He remembered that the old-fashioned projectors before he traveled through time didn't look like that at all. So, Ren Zhizhe was still quite interested in this strange-looking thing.

……

The real world.

"Beep beep..."

Jiang Xiaowei listened blankly to the busy tone of the phone in her hand.

"Ring ring!"

The phone suddenly rang again.

Jiang Xiaowei shuddered violently and nearly dropped her phone.

Fortunately, she managed to hold back in the end.

The person who called her was Sun Yueyue, her roommate, who came from a very wealthy family.

She got this job with the help of the other party, who was an acquaintance of the boss.

Therefore, it's not surprising that Sun Yueyue knew she had entered the bizarre game and also knew she had come out of it.

Jiang Xiaowei answered the phone only after she saw the caller's name.

"Huh? Finally got through. Why did you change your ringtone... Oh right, did you get into the weird game? Are you still alive? You...?"

The moment the call connected, a barrage of questions came from the other end of the line.

Jiang Xiaowei didn't actually want to answer.

No, even if she wanted to answer, she probably wouldn't know where to begin.

Sun Yueyue's enthusiasm remained undiminished, and she cheerfully asked:

"...How are you doing in the supernatural world?"

"I almost died."

"It would be good if you were dead... oh no. I mean, uh, where are you now?"

Jiang Xiaowei glanced around: "I'm in a small alley near the restaurant."

"and you……"

Seeing that Sun Yueyue was about to start chattering again, Jiang Xiaowei quickly interrupted her:

"Alright, Miss. You've asked so many questions in a row, I can't possibly answer them all."

"So you just don't want to talk about it? Sigh, it's only been a few days, and our feelings have already faded. Waaah, our whole dorm is going to be so sad."

"Come on...did you even tell them?"

"What did you say?"

"It's a weird game..."

"No. They all live in the library, and they've all vanished without a trace. I can't even see them anymore."

"That's good……"

"By the way! Shall I come find you now? You must be feeling lonely all by yourself, right? Do you need a hug? I noticed you changed your ringtone, did you break up with your boyfriend?"

"Stop fooling around, Miss. The ringtone is because..." Jiang Xiaowei stopped mid-sentence.

She didn't know what to say, or whether she should say it at all.

So she ultimately remained silent.

"Are you still near that restaurant? I'll be there soon. Oh, I've got a lot of new cosmetics and clothes lately, you can try them on."

"Young Miss, you..."

"Beep beep..."

The only response she received was a busy signal.

Jiang Xiaowei remained silent for a while, then sighed.

She didn't want to be the other person's dress-up doll.

But given the current situation, perhaps Sun Yueyue can really help me?

Jiang Xiaowei is currently facing quite a few troubles.

My mother is still in the hospital.

The family still has a lot of debt.

Ren Zhizhe didn't know what to do.

The old radio is still waiting for her to pay the price.

A package from a bizarre world is still on its way.

The debt and the mother's illness might be resolved or alleviated if the ghost coins could be sold.

Sun Yueyue might not be able to do anything, but the other party's family is wealthy and might have a way to convert the ghost coins into cash.

"Sigh, let's solve one problem at a time."

……

A bizarre world.

Sunset Cinema.

Thirteen black velvet trays were neatly arranged on the long table in the center of the hall.

On each tray was a "thing".

Some were cold, bluish-gray fragments of bone, with half a blackened hair still wrapped around them; some were old pocket watches stopped at 3:14, with dried blood seeping from the cracks in the watch cover; and some were half a faded children's handkerchief, the edges burned and curled, with a blurry, mournful face printed in the middle.

"Are you sure that guest won't ask us for a souvenir?"

A gaunt, vengeful ghost was questioning the waiter.

The waiter seemed quite afraid of him, always answering cautiously: "Yes. At least... that's what the customer said."

The emaciated, vengeful ghost seemed extremely dissatisfied with the waiter's answer, and unleashed its resentment without restraint.

"Where's the ticket? You believe a ghost? Did you see the customer tear up the ticket with your own eyes? I'm asking you, where's the ticket!"

The waiter stammered and couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Just as he was about to reprimand his subordinates for their incompetence, footsteps echoed down a corridor leading directly to the hall.

In an instant, all the vengeful spirits in the hall focused their attention on that corridor.

It is Ren Zhizhe.

Ren Zhizhe walked out of that corridor.

In an instant, the waiter was stared at by several clearly malicious gazes.

The waiter was trembling.

To make amends for his mistake, he braced himself and went up to talk to Ren Zhizhe:

"Guest, you..."

"Ah. I've been thinking, since I'm going to be waiting anyway, I might as well come and see what the souvenirs look like."

"Then you..." The other ghosts in the hall gathered around, clearly wanting to ask Ren Zhizhe if he still wanted to take the souvenirs with him.

Ren Zhizhe seemed to have anticipated this. Looking at the expressions on the faces of the vengeful spirits, he promptly explained:

"I just came to take a look."

He really was just there to take a look. Although he didn't need them, the souvenirs looked pretty nice.

He had seen many kinds of business gifts when he was investing. Compared to those, Ren Zhizhe actually thought these souvenirs had a rather unique style.

To put it bluntly, isn't this just movie merchandise?

Ren Zhizhe nodded to himself.

No wonder this movie theater is still profitable.

Watching a movie even comes with free merchandise. For people around the world, this is incredibly ahead of its time!

Ren Zhizhe increasingly felt that investing in Sunset Cinema was an extremely wise choice.

But he didn't leave afterward; instead, he continued to linger around the souvenirs, looking at them with great interest.

In fact, Ren Zhizhe values ​​the value that these souvenirs bring more than the souvenirs themselves.

For example, these souvenirs can be developed into peripheral gifts to attract customers and help the cinema thrive.

I just don't know if Sunset Cinema is interested... Maybe we should ask them properly after we meet with the person in charge?

"Guest, the manager says your order has been prepared." The emaciated ghost stepped forward, smiling obsequiously.

"Who are you……?"

"Ah, I'm the manager here."

manager?

Ren Zhizhe couldn't help but take a few more glances.

This is not the previous manager.

But considering that the movie theater might have more than one manager, he naturally didn't think too much about it.

"Sir, the person in charge is already waiting."

The emaciated manager seemed to be an impatient person, and immediately fawned over Ren Zhizhe before he could reply.

He changed his form of address and his expression became much more respectful. It seemed he wanted to gain something from this suddenly appearing investor.