Old Mrs. Wu turned her head and glared at them, and only then did the two of them quiet down.

She could tell at a glance what kind of trouble the two brothers were up to.

He just disliked Gou Cuifen, the village party secretary's wife, for talking too much and being a nag.

They spoke quickly, and soon arrived at Old Man Han's courtyard.

"This courtyard is impressive, and it's even made of red bricks." Huang Xiaofu blurted out. There were very few houses made of red bricks along the way, and even those that were there weren't very big.

Gou Cuifen looked at the peeling red paint on the gate with a regretful expression. "That's right. When Old Man Han was young, he made a lot of money, so he was able to build such a big courtyard."

Grandma Wu craned her neck and looked around. The area was rather desolate; there wasn't a single house to live in.

It really does seem to be haunted, otherwise there wouldn't be no neighbors around here.

Seeing that Old Lady Wu was looking around, Gou Cuifen's lips inexplicably stiffened. "There really isn't anyone else living here. Just your family..."

Grandma Wu sighed, "It's alright, let's go in and take a look."

Gou Cuifen took out her key from her waist, unlocked the door, and stood still. Old Mrs. Wu glanced at her, understood, and pushed the door open directly.

Accompanied by the creaking, noisy sound of the door being pushed open, fine dust fell down in a flurry.

'Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey...'

Huang Xiaoqiang didn't notice and ate a mouthful.

"There's so much dust?"

Grandma Wu carefully stepped aside and entered the gate. Gou Cuifen stammered, "Well, you can see for yourselves. It's getting late, and the cafeteria is still busy, so I'll be going now. If you need anything, just come and find me."

After he finished speaking, he disappeared.

Huang Xiaoqiang, clutching the lock in his arms, swallowed hard. "Mom... could it really be a ghost?"

The village secretary's wife's reaction was rather frightening.

Grandma Wu frowned, looked around, but didn't find anything strange.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, some as tall as a person, which blocked the door to the main house.

The scorching sunlight was completely blocked by wild grass, and despite the sweltering July heat, it felt surprisingly cool inside.

"It's a good way to escape the summer heat," the thought suddenly popped into Grandma Wu's mind.

"Alright, let's go in and take a look. In broad daylight, what ghosts could there be? Maybe some stray cats or dogs are hiding in these bushes, starving and howling, which is why the villagers think it's haunted by ghosts."

Old Mrs. Wu made up a few excuses to fool the people behind her who didn't even dare to enter the door.

"real?"

"But it was so hot outside, and now it's so cool inside..."

Old Mrs. Wu swept away the tall weeds, turned around, and looked at the brothers with a dark face. "Isn't there grass here? Don't you feel cold under the shade of the trees? Don't you feel cold where there's a lot of grass?"

The two exchanged a glance. Yes.

Gu Qing stepped across the threshold and stood next to Old Lady Wu, her eyes resolute. "That's right, there are no ghosts or monsters in this world. We are all people educated in materialism."

"Look at you, you're not even as good as that young girl." Old Mrs. Wu pulled Gu Qing and walked inside. "If you two aren't coming in, then you can stand outside."

"Come in, come in, Mom, wait for me."

Huang Xiaofu watched helplessly as Huang Xiaoqiang pushed aside the weeds and followed him inside, kicking his weak legs hard, "Me too, wait for me."

Grandma Wu pushed aside the bushes in front of her and climbed the steps. Huang Xiaoqiang followed closely behind, standing stiffly beside her. "Mom, it's okay, I'll protect you."

Grandma Wu turned her head and glanced at his taut lips, thinking to herself that she should take better care of herself.

Just as he was about to look away, he noticed that Gu Qing's eyes were shining as she stared intently at Huang Xiaoqiang.

Okay, there's one more serious one.

Grandma Wu nodded and pushed open the two red-lacquered doors in front of her.

One touch, and your hand is covered in dry, cracked foam.

That's been too long; they've all aged.

No one has lived here for over a decade? It looks like it's been more than a decade.

The room was very large, or perhaps it only seemed large because there was nothing there.

There was another door on the opposite wall. When Grandma Wu looked back and forth, she realized that it was a door that ran from front to back.

You can see right through the room; apart from a lot of dust, there's nothing else there.

Grandma Wu reached out and pushed open the back door, but all she could see were tall grasses, and nothing else.

You can vaguely see houses on both sides.

"Oh dear, Mom, why are you walking so fast?"

Grandma Wu glanced speechlessly at Huang Xiaofu, who seemed to have covered a distance of over two hundred meters by walking two kilometers.

"You're quite good too."

Huang Xiaofu thought he was being praised, and immediately smiled and said, "Of course, I'm not afraid anymore."

Grandma Wu didn't even want to talk to him. "Alright, the front and back yards are full of weeds now. Let's clear the weeds first before we clean up."

"good!"

Grandma Wu, her two sons, and Gu Qing—four people in total—began their massive weeding operation.

Gou Cuifen, worried about Old Lady Wu, realized she had just run away and blushed a little. She packed a basket full of odds and ends and hurriedly went back to find Old Lady Wu.

This girl from Mingxia was exactly to her liking; she was completely different from those rough, vulgar old women in the village.

I can't help with anything else, but I can send some cleaning and wiping tools.

The group of people who were standing at the gate a moment ago are now all alone. He glanced longingly inside but still didn't dare to go in.

"Next summer! Next summer!"

While Wu was busy cleaning the dust in the house, she suddenly heard Gou Cuifen's voice.

"Mingxia!"

There was another sound, and I wasn't mistaken. Old Mrs. Wu put down the broom and walked towards the door.

“Here I come!”

Gou Cuifen called out several times, but no one answered. Her heart sank. Could something have happened?

My heart was pounding with anxiety when suddenly a person with their head and face completely covered appeared in my sight. I was startled and took a step back involuntarily.

As people slowly approached, they could see that it was Old Lady Wu.

Why are you dressed like that?

Old Mrs. Wu pulled off the cloth covering her face, took a breath, and then replied, "There's a lot of dust inside, it's really thick, and it's very choking to clean it."

Gou Cuihua glanced at the tall weeds, put down the basket on her back, and said, "There are sickles and hoes in here. See what you need and use it."

Grandma Wu's eyes lit up. Just moments ago, her two silly sons had been complaining that their hands hurt from pulling weeds, so she grabbed a kitchen knife.

Now things are much better; having a sickle and a hoe makes things much easier.

"Thank you so much, Sister Cuifen. You've been a great help to me."

"I'm glad I could help. I'm glad I could help."

Gou Cuifen said a few words, but looked somewhat uneasy and wanted to leave. Old Mrs. Wu didn't try to stop her from chatting, and besides, there were still many things to do today.

Grandma Wu placed the basket in front of Huang Xiaofu and his brother, saying, "There are hoes and sickles inside. Try your best to clear all the weeds in the front and back yards by the end of the morning."