My Family Is Very Odd

The Female Ghost calmly turned on the TV, while the Burly Ghost stared in disbelief.

Ever since they took in Li Xiao Gui, they started to re-experience what it was like to be human. Their memories of being alive were fading, except for the deepest desires that kept them in this world. For the Female Ghost, it was the desire for sleep.

But after impulsively taking in Li Xiao Gui, the Female Ghost gained a new desire: to relive life through Li Xiao Gui. It started experiencing everything again - eating, babbling, taking first steps, going to school, making friends, taking exams, going to university, falling in love, getting married, growing old, and finally, dying.

They were following the human life cycle closely.

And it seemed their little doll was about to reach the "falling in love" stage. The Female Ghost sighed. It seemed it was time to experience the woes of a parent worried about their child's love life.

The Female Ghost was the first to accept that another human might move into the haunted house.

When did it accept this?

Maybe it was when it saw the photo. Maybe it was when it noticed Li Xiao Gui and Shen Chen always coming and going together. Maybe it was from Li Xiao Gui's friend, Chen Yuanyuan. Or maybe it was when Li Xiao Gui started mentioning Shen Chen more and more while sharing stories of her day.

The Female Ghost realized, with annoyance, that their little human had caught the eye of a certain little devil… ahem, exorcist.

The Female Ghost felt a pang of sadness and fear. It started sacrificing sleep to watch TV and learn about human love. It couldn't be caught unprepared!

But the more it watched, the more horrified it became. The bullying, the unrequited love, the obsessive behavior, the love triangles, the cheating, the heartbreak, the breakups, the reunions… The Female Ghost felt a surge of anger. Its little doll shouldn't have to go through any of this! It even considered offering five million in ghost money to make this Shen Chen disappear! But then it remembered a similar scenario from a TV show, and how it only made the protagonist more heartbroken, torn between love and family… It almost came back to life from anger.

So troublesome!

The Female Ghost felt exhausted from watching all this drama. It should have sent Li Xiao Gui to an all-girls school! But then again, even that wouldn't have stopped Shen Chen. That exorcist had been stuck to Li Xiao Gui since she was five years old!

The Female Ghost sighed. But then again, maybe it wasn't so bad if it was Shen Chen. At least he knew they were ghosts. Imagine if Li Xiao Gui fell for an ordinary human who would be scared stiff and force her to move out… Even more troublesome! The Female Ghost was so overwhelmed with these thoughts that its anger made the house temperature plummet, almost causing the house to collapse.

Shen Chen was better. At least he was an exorcist they had watched grow up. He could protect Li Xiao Gui.

He knew their secret, he wasn't afraid of ghosts, and he was handsome.

And that's how the Female Ghost became the first to accept the possibility of Li Xiao Gui falling in love. It even skipped ahead and started diligently researching what might happen after marriage.

As for marriage, Shen Chen would be the one marrying in, of course! It had to learn how to be a good ghost mother-in-law.

The Female Ghost sighed again and yawned. Being a ghost was hard work, especially raising a child. You never stop learning.

The Female Ghost leaned back on the sofa and watched TV, fast-forwarding at double speed. It sped through twenty episodes of "Happy Mother-in-Law Diaries." It wanted to finish watching so it could go to sleep.

As the twenty-first episode started, the Young Ghost appeared in the middle of the living room. It seemed to be a sign. The other ghosts also materialized – some stood in the living room, some sat on the sofa, some paused on the stairs, and some waited by the door. The empty house was suddenly bustling with activity. All eyes were on the closed front door.

"Click."

The doorknob turned, and a head covered in fluffy hair peeked in, followed by a sweet smile.

"I'm home," Li Xiao Gui chirped.

She pushed the door open, revealing Shen Chen's tall figure behind her.

"It was the last day of military training today, so we had a farewell party. It ran a little late… Oh, Xiao Hui!"

The ghost named Hui was hugging a faceless doll that Li Xiao Gui had made for it a year ago. It loved the doll and carried it everywhere.

The Burly Ghost rushed forward, excitedly circling Li Xiao Gui and calling her name.

Hui stood up and walked straight through the Burly Ghost to reach Li Xiao Gui. It no longer had a blank face, though it hadn't molded its features to resemble Li Xiao Gui's anymore. The other ghosts didn't like that.

So, after a period of being faceless, Hui had searched through the memories it had devoured and found the face that had first awakened it.

It molded its features to resemble that face and stretched its body to be even taller than Li Xiao Gui.

Long hair, pale cheeks, a white dress.

Li Xiao Gui felt a flicker of familiarity when she saw the face, but she couldn't place it. It looked a lot like the older sister she had met as a child, but maybe not quite? She was too young back then to remember her sister's face clearly. She couldn't say for sure if it was her or not.

All she remembered was her sister saying goodbye on a rainy day, never to be seen again.

Li Xiao Gui hugged Hui and turned to Shen Chen. "Shen Chen, are you staying over tonight? We can go to school together tomorrow."

Shen Chen thought about the things he had yet to do and shook his head.

As the Burly Ghost took Li Xiao Gui's backpack, a blanket fell from the ceiling and wrapped itself around her.

Summer nights were prone to temperature drops, and with six ghosts in the house, Li Xiao Gui's thin jacket offered little warmth.

Shen Chen reached out to adjust the blanket, but it seemed to come alive, dodging his fingers and sliding down to reveal Li Xiao Gui's head before wrapping itself securely around her.

"…" Shen Chen glanced at the Young Ghost and fell silent, not daring to speak.

Exhausted and cold, Li Xiao Gui sighed contentedly as the blanket enveloped her in warmth. A soft smile bloomed on her face.

Her hair was a little messy from rubbing against the blanket, like a ruffled chick.

Shen Chen's dark eyes flickered. He wanted to smooth her hair.

"…" He snuck another glance at the Young Ghost… and then another. Finally, he reached out and quickly smoothed down Li Xiao Gui's hair.

"I'll be going then," he said. "See you tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," Li Xiao Gui replied.

His task complete, Shen Chen took a step back and left the house, his expression as unreadable as ever.

The Young Ghost was fuming.

The Female Ghost watched them, a glimmer in its eyes. "Oh well," it sighed. They were quite cute.

Silently becoming the head of their fan club, the Female Ghost decided to watch a few more episodes of "Happy Mother-in-Law Diaries."

Author's Note:

Hui's black box: She's gone, but I'm still here.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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