Li Li quickly put this incident behind her. After all, the internet moves fast. Netizens would find new entertainment tomorrow, and she would be swept away in the digital torrent like a drop of water in the ocean.
With this comforting thought, Li Li made herself a simple dinner, folded some gold ingots, fashioned two new paper dresses for Xiao Mei using *Vogue* magazine as a reference, and went to bed.
Midnight.
*Bzzzt. Bzzzt.*
Li Li was woken by her fitness tracker vibrating violently. Squinting, she turned on her desk lamp and checked the screen—it was a WeChat call from Liu Hailin.
Groping for her charging phone on the bedside table, she answered, groggy. "Hello?"
"Li Li! Wake up! Check Douyin—**you've gone viral!**" Hailin’s excited scream nearly blew out the speaker.
Li Li blinked, her brain still buffering. "What?"
"The rain dance! You did it in class, right? Someone posted it, a blogger reposted it back home, and now you're trending in China!"
Li Li: "..."
*Why is it so hard to just be an ordinary, invisible international student?*
"Hello? Li Li? You there?" Hailin asked.
"Mhm, I'm listening," Li Li mumbled, sitting up. "Let me switch my network. Hold on."
Li Li logged into the Chinese version of TikTok (Douyin). Sure enough, the top search result was **#ChineseGirlClassroomRainSummoning**.
She tapped in.
The video's first half showed her performing the ritual; the second half featured translations of the shocked foreign classmates' reactions.
Li Li opened the comments section. It was chaos.
**[User1]:** *Thanks for the invite. Immersion is 10/10. I feel like I'm already being prepped as a human sacrifice.*
**[User2]:** *Bro is secretly cultivating Immortality without us?*
**[User3]:** *The government tells us to believe in science, meanwhile they're out here summoning storms.*
**[User4]:** *Ten years later, when her foreign classmates catch a cold, they'll be like: "I knew it was that girl's curse!"*
**[User5]:** *Wait, did the Spiritual Qi Revival start? Why didn't I get a notification?*
**[User6]:** *Guys, relax. I asked friends in that city. The forecast predicted rain anyway.*
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
**[User7]:** *Is it just me, or does this dance actually have a creepy, artistic vibe?*
**[User8]:** *Someone check if the "God of Rain" (Singer Xiao) is holding a concert nearby. That man never misses.*
Then, a comment appeared with an IP address matching Li Li's current location. The replies flooded in instantly:
**[Reply]:** *Come home, baby.*
**[Reply]:** *Come home, baby. The village has 5G now.*
**[Reply]:** *Forget the rain! We have paved roads! Come back!*
**[Reply]:** *Rich international student spotted. **Venmo me $50.***
Another comment caught Li Li's eye:
**[EagleEye]:** *Eh? She looks familiar. Isn't this the little Taoist from the temple on Hanling Mountain? I think I saw her this summer. [Image]*
The image was a blurry tourist photo of the large incense burner at her home temple. Li Li was in the background sweeping the floor, holding a bamboo broom taller than herself.
**[Reply]:** *Did you take this with a potato?*
**[Reply]:** *Wait, it really looks like her.*
**[Reply]:** *No way. A real Taoist Master? Studying abroad?*
**[Reply]:** *Sister, is your temple effective? I've been having bad luck. I need a cleanse. ??*
"Li Li, did you see it?" Hailin asked.
"Yeah, I saw it," Li Li replied, unenthusiastic. "Internet fame is fleeting. People will forget in two days."
"You should strike while the iron's hot!" Hailin was already strategizing. "This is your chance! You could film 'Study Abroad Vlogs'—but with a Taoist twist! You could achieve **financial freedom**!"
If Li Li were just a normal student, she might have considered it. But she was here to investigate a **Dark Immortal Ascension** plot. High-profile influencers tend to die first in horror movies. Better to stay low.
"No, no. I have too much homework. I don't have time," Li Li rubbed her forehead, making excuses. "I don't like attention. Plus, my monthly allowance is enough..."
*Bzzzt.*
Her phone vibrated again. A text message.
Li Li pulled it down. It was a bank alert.
**[Bank System]:** *Transaction Declined. Insufficient funds in your current billing cycle.*
Li Li: "..."
*Okay. Maybe the allowance wasn't enough.*
Her father, Li Chengxian, kept her on a tight leash to prevent "capitalist corruption." The allowance covered rent and basic food, with a small buffer. He had given her triple for the first month to buy furniture, but he hadn't anticipated her needing to buy bulk industrial quantities of incense, gold foil, and expensive reptile equipment for Xiao Xie immediately upon arrival.
She was broke. And it wasn't even the end of the month.
"Well," Li Li said.
"Li Li?" Hailin asked. "You still there? Look, take care of yourself. Don't starve."
"Hailin," Li Li cut her off seriously.
"What?"
"Let's revisit that conversation about **how to become an influencer**."
*Screw subtlety.* Without money, she couldn't eat. Without food, she couldn't fight evil.
**Bankruptcy was way scarier than ghosts.**
"..." Hailin paused. "Your face-changing speed is faster than flipping a book."
They spent the next hour brainstorming content strategies until Li Li passed out from exhaustion.
"Oh! The time difference!" Hailin realized. "Go to sleep! We'll talk later!"
"Mhm..." Li Li hung up and died.
---
The next morning, Li Li woke up with a heavy sigh.
Knowing her pockets were empty made gravity feel stronger. She looked at the mountain of paper gold ingots in the corner. *If only I could spend these at the grocery store.*
She offered Xiao Mei two sticks of incense.
"Why only two today?" Xiao Mei complained immediately. "The service is degrading."
"Times are tough," Li Li said solemnly. "**Even the landlords are broke in this economy.**"
*What economy? You have a whole bag of incense right there!*
Xiao Mei started protesting, but it was daytime. Her voice was a mosquito whine that Li Li easily ignored.
Li Li got ready, shouldered her backpack, and walked to school. Upon entering the building, she headed straight for the water fountain to fill her bottle for free.
Just as she bent down, a shadow blocked her light.
Li Li looked up. It was the two Goth girls from the **Paranormal Investigation Society** she'd met at the club fair.
"Need something?" Li Li asked, capping her bottle.
The two girls exchanged a desperate look.
"You're the girl from the video," one said. "Please. **You have to save Jack!**"
**Cultural Context:**
2. **"God of Rain":** Refers to singer **Jam Hsiao**. Legend has it that wherever he holds a concert, it rains. It's not a superstition anymore; it's practically meteorology.
3. **"Come home, baby":** Originally a slogan for a missing children's charity, now used by netizens to troll people whose IP addresses show they are abroad (i.e., "Come back to the village!").
---
