After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the next important holiday was the Spring Festival.

Fatty, who had just finished making mooncakes, had already started researching dumplings.

"The Spring Festival is coming up! I need to quickly figure out what kind of fillings to use for the dumplings," Fatty said, sitting on the couch with his head propped in his hands, looking very troubled.

Gu Mian was wiping his beloved saw with a towel. "There are still four months until the Spring Festival, you know."

"With four months left, Doctor, you should have plenty of time to prepare my lucky money. Last Spring Festival, you gave me a red envelope with fifty cents! Fifty cents! That's a full ten times less than Brother Chu's. This year, you have to treat us equally. Don't shortchange your Fatty," Fatty said, theatrically wiping a tear from his eye.

Gu Mian retorted, "You're the one who picked that red envelope."

Xiao Hong, who was nearby, seemed to know that red envelopes were a good thing. She had been dozing off, but upon hearing the words "red envelope," she instantly perked up. She scrambled over to Gu Mian, patting him down everywhere in an attempt to find one.

Seeing this, Fatty quickly stepped forward and pulled Xiao Hong away. "Don't be lewd with the Doctor!"

Not finding what she wanted, Xiao Hong got bored and went back to dozing.

Xiao Qiao, who was in the kitchen stealing food, saw Xiao Hong's actions. Shouting, "Share the good fortune!" she rushed over, grabbed Gu Mian, and started patting him down frantically. This infuriated Gu Mian, who kicked her out of the room.

After kicking Xiao Qiao out, Gu Mian cradled his saw and contemplated how to deal with ghosts in instances. I can't use the saw for interrogations anymore; it'll scare them.

"Ah," he sighed. "This damned labor protection contract."

"Brother Chu mentioned that in the last instance, after a ghost pulled out a protection contract, the instance kicked you all out," Fatty began.

"Yeah," Gu Mian said, stroking the saw in his hand. "I hadn't even taken out my saw. I just touched the ghost's neck, and the instance kicked me out."

What a crappy labor protection contract, specified by some stupid insurance company! It'd be great if that company went bankrupt.

Gu Mian cursed inwardly for a while before starting to formulate his next plan.

"Since I can't use force for interrogation, I'll have to adopt a gentler approach. But what kind of gentle approach would be suitable…" Gu Mian mused, becoming troubled.

"I have an idea!" Fatty raised his hand. "Doctor, I think the ghosts and NPCs in the instances all really want to beat you up. Why not make a deal with them? For every question they answer, they get to give you a beating. I'm sure a lot of them would be happy to take that deal."

Thanks a lot. You're a real pal, Fatty.

"How about this," Gu Mian countered, turning the tables, "I'll bring you into an instance to make a deal with them. For every question they answer for me, they get to beat you up. As the saying goes, 'a blow to the child is a pain in the father's heart.' I'm sure they'd be delighted to see my heartache, wouldn't they?"

Fatty's eyes widened. Clutching his backside, he fled in terror.

After Fatty left, Chu Changge appeared.

He emerged from his room holding a sheet of A4 paper. "I don't think all ghosts have signed the 'Instance Ghost Labor Contract.' Just like real-world insurance, signing it costs money. Some don't have the money, so they don't buy insurance; others think they're lucky and won't have accidents, so they don't buy it either."

He's right.

With so many instances, I'm bound to find a couple of ghosts who haven't bought insurance. When that time comes, I'll fleece them for all they're worth.

Chu Changge continued, "Moreover, this is a ghost contract, so it's invalid for NPCs. Next time you enter an instance, try targeting NPCs specifically, like Mr. Green or Coach Che."

Gu Mian nodded.

However, some instances don't have NPCs, which is a bit troublesome.

But that's not a huge problem. As long as I enter enough instances, I'll eventually run into an NPC.

"I'm worried that the game developers might also launch NPC insurance services in the future, so you should take advantage of the current situation and clear a few more instances," Chu Changge suggested.

Gu Mian thought so too.

He decided to clear a few more instances in the coming days.

「As for the next couple of days...」

He was a bit tired from the last instance and decided to take it easy and enjoy a leisurely life first.

Over the next few days, Gu Mian went grocery shopping at the supermarket, fished in the park, and occasionally ate Fatty's small desserts. Life was quite comfortable.

That was until he ran into Mr. Green begging by the roadside.

Gu Mian didn't recognize him at first glance because Mr. Green's trademark green hat and clothes were gone. Dressed in rags, he was squatting by the supermarket entrance; one might have mistaken him for a beggar.

Before Gu Mian had entered the Death Filming instance, Mr. Green had "run away from home," leaving them only a small farewell note.

Who would have thought that just a few days after his departure, he'd ended up in such a state?

"Well, if it isn't Host Green," Gu Mian said, walking up and poking his hatless head. "What happened? Haven't seen you for a few days, and you've gotten so pathetic?"

Mr. Green had been robbed.

The poor Mr. Green, on the very second day after running away from home, had run into a group of extremely vicious players. They robbed him of everything he had. After looting him, they even complained that his clothes were too small for even a woman to wear.

He had wanted to resist, but he didn't dare.

Looking at this group of extremely vicious players, he even started to miss the kind Doctor Gu Mian.

Fortunately, this group left after robbing him and didn't entertain the idea of cooking and eating him.

Wrapping himself in a curtain, Mr. Green went out to the main street. He wanted to ask the supermarket salesclerks for help, but he felt it was too embarrassing, so he just squatted by the supermarket entrance, hesitating.

He never expected to run into Gu Mian passing by.

Seeing how pitiful Mr. Green looked, Gu Mian, in a burst of magnanimity, picked him up, took him home, and tossed him to Xiao Hong as a plaything.

Xiao Hong, not being the sharpest tool in the shed, had long forgotten that Mr. Green was her former boss. Upon getting her hands on Mr. Green, she immediately hung him from the ornate chandelier in the living room and started playing 'swing' with him.

Mr. Green's eyes welled with tears, but he didn't dare resist. Even being hung from the ceiling and swung like a pendulum was better than being homeless on the streets.

Fatty, standing under the chandelier, clapped his hands and exclaimed in admiration, "What an inspiring story! My former superior, who used to make things difficult for me in every way, has now become my plaything. If this were on a web novel site, it could be stretched into a million words!"