CHAPTER 746: CHAPTER 743

"What’s up?"

Seeing Shen Siyuan put down the phone, Taozi couldn’t wait to ask.

"My dad said my cousin is here. He’s worried she might not know anyone, so he asked me to meet her."

"Your cousin? Where is she?" Taozi asked curiously.

Ruan Hongzhuang, however, knew about Shen Siyuan’s family situation and guessed that Shen Siyuan might not be too willing to meet her.

So she advised, "Since your dad called, he definitely wants you to go. Besides, it’s all the previous generation’s issues, don’t blame your cousin."

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Taozi looked around, full of confusion.

Ruan Hongzhuang quietly explained the situation to Taozi.

Taozi then realized and curiously asked, "Is she from your second uncle’s family or your third uncle’s?"

"My third uncle’s daughter," Shen Siyuan replied.

After Shen Siyuan’s grandfather returned to Shanghai and remarried, he had three children, two sons and a daughter. Last time he came back with Shen Siyuan’s grandfather, it was his little aunt.

When Shen Jianjun went to Shanghai to find his grandfather, his little aunt was only five or six years old. Because of this, she had the best relationship with Shen Jianjun, so she accompanied him to Bin Hai this time.

In Shen Siyuan’s generation, the family was quite large, with three male cousins, one female cousin, and one male and one female cousin from his mother’s side.

Last time Shen Guanchao mentioned it when he came back, at the time Shen Siyuan was engrossed in his phone and didn’t respond, so Shen Guanchao thought Shen Siyuan hadn’t heard him and gave up with a sigh.

In fact, Shen Siyuan had heard but didn’t think he’d have any interactions with them in the future, yet unexpectedly, his only cousin had come to Bin Hai alone, saying she wanted to visit the family.

Naturally, this was something his grandfather had communicated to his dad, Shen Jianjun, telling him to take care, as she’s the only girl in the family and was quite cherished.

"What a hassle," Shen Siyuan said, feeling quite helpless.

"If you don’t want to go, I’ll take you to see her. After all, I’m considered her cousin-in-law," Ruan Hongzhuang timely suggested.

Taozi quickly chimed in, "I wanted to say that too, why did you jump in so fast?"

Ruan Hongzhuang gave her a sidelong glance with disdain, while Shen Siyuan placed the last piece of pan-fried tuna onto her plate.

Taozi instinctively picked it up to eat, but suddenly realized.

"Are you calling me a pig, only knowing how to eat?" Taozi put down her chopsticks, staring at the two with big eyes.

Ruan Hongzhuang shrugged, holding back a laugh, "We didn’t say anything."

"But that’s what you were thinking," Taozi retorted.

"Not at all, it’s just you thinking that way," Ruan Hongzhuang said nonchalantly.

Taozi was annoyed but had no retort, so she just glared fiercely at Ruan Hongzhuang.

"Alright, don’t bully Taozi," Shen Siyuan chimed in timely, playing the peacemaker.

"What’s wrong, are you feeling sorry for her?" Ruan Hongzhuang quipped sourly.

Shen Siyuan didn’t mind, as this was a daily banter among the three, a special kind of fun.

He didn’t answer that question, instead saying, "I’ll just go by myself."

This time, Taozi jumped in quickly, "I’ll go with you."

Saying this, she looked proudly at Ruan Hongzhuang.

But Ruan Hongzhuang didn’t take the bait, instead asking, "Where is she now? At the airport?"

"At the hotel. She arrived yesterday and called home this morning to ask for our address, so they contacted my dad."

"My dad was planning to come himself, but there was something at the chicken farm today, so he couldn’t leave and called me instead."

It turned out that Shen Jianjun also knew that Shen Siyuan didn’t like dealing with people from Shanghai, so he planned to come to Bin Hai himself, but something came up at the chicken farm, so he had to call.

"Is the hotel far? Should we call her first? At this time, she might have gone out, and we might make the trip in vain if she’s not there," Ruan Hongzhuang suggested.

Shen Siyuan thought that made sense, so he took out his phone and found the WeChat his dad just sent.

Not only did it have the address of his cousin’s hotel, but also her phone number.

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"Why don’t we take a taxi to Coconut City and then fly back from there?" Liu Xueyi suggested.

It turned out they returned to the hotel to pack their bags to leave, only to find that all flights were sold out, not just for today, but even for the next couple of days.

It’s not surprising, as winter is peak tourist season in Qiong Province, tickets to and from the island are hard to get.

"Are there tickets from Coconut City?" Shen Shiyun asked.

"Let me check." Liu Xueyi quickly grabbed her phone.

"No need to check, I already looked, the nearest available flight is in three days," Shen Siyun said, collapsing onto the bed, feeling drained.

"Even business class tickets are gone."

Liu Xueyi sighed, putting down her phone and collapsed onto the bed as well.

After returning to the hotel, they looked up a lot of ghost information and various solutions online, but the more they searched, the more confused they became, with too much random information.

"Should we call home and ask?" Liu Xueyi pondered.

Shen Shiyun didn’t answer but said, "Do you think there’s a possibility we got it wrong, and it’s not a ghost? All online posts say ghosts can’t appear during the day."

"If it’s not a ghost, what is it, a monster?"

"Maybe."

"What’s the difference? Either way, aren’t we being targeted?" Liu Xueyi said.

"Targeted?"

Shen Shiyun seemed to realize something, sat up, and stared at Liu Xueyi, "Why do you think they’re targeting us?"

"Uh? I..." Liu Xueyi was taken aback.

"So far, it’s just your side of the story. We just happened to encounter it, what does it have to do with us? Yes, just like that..." Shen Shiyun got more excited as she spoke.

Liu Xueyi thought about it and agreed.

But then she wondered, "Don’t you think your luck has been too good lately?"

"Is it wrong to have good luck? It’s the protection of the immortals and the Bodhisattva, what’s that got to do with meeting a ghost?"

"Alright then, what should we do? Should we stay or go back?"

"Of course, go back, but... but we don’t need to be so scared..." Shen Shiyun started packing her things as she spoke.

"Where are you going?"

"I’m planning to go offer incense to Guanyin, it’s still early anyway."