Chapter One: The Biggest Spender in the Universe

A video platform was hosting a midnight outdoor premiere. Hundreds of people sat behind barriers, wearing wireless headphones. Security guarded the entrance. "We found the people," she said. "Where do we get the sneezes?" Next door stood a bankrupt wedding company. Its window displayed industrial bubble machines and blowers. The part of Gu Ye's brain devoted to terrible entertainment ideas sprang awake. Twelve minutes later he spent his last 4.7 yuan on pepper. Mixing it into bubble fluid failed. It sank, clumped, and made Gu Ye sneeze seven times. "When science fails, superstition gets a turn." The film was an old horror movie. Because everyone wore headphones, screams and laughter came in private pockets.