Chapter 081 Marrying a Ghost-1

In the new world, my identity is a kindergarten teacher, my parents are healthy, and I have three or two good friends. Life seems to have returned to normal.

Jiang Yan has become accustomed to "waking up from a dream" or "traveling through time" again, and he quickly integrated into the activities of his world.

One day, Jiang Yan saw a ragged man who was stumbling on his way home from get off work.

The man was hunched over, and his face could not be seen clearly. He just kept walking forward, bumping into other people from time to time. Others turned their heads and saw that it was a beggar, and cursed in a low voice, "What bad luck."

The weather was changing like a face. The sky was full of afterglow one second, and it started to rain heavily the next. Pedestrians on the road quickened their pace at a speed visible to the naked eye, and some people walked slowly with umbrellas.

Jiang Yan opened his umbrella and stood in the rain for a while. He saw the beggar was knocked to the ground by someone. The rain poured all over him, making him look wet and dirty.

Toot--

The sound of a car horn flashed past my ears.

Jiang Yan slowly walked up to the ragged man, leaned forward slightly, and asked in a gentle voice, "Do you need help?"

“…”

The beggar cast an ambiguous glance, because his hair had not been trimmed for a long time and had grown to cover his face. His face was also dirty, as if it had come out of the bushes, with several leaves stuck on it. The only clean part was probably his eyes.

“Hiss…”

A strange sound came out of the beggar's throat. Jiang Yan didn't hear it clearly, so he leaned forward a little and asked, "What did you say?"

The other party continued to make unclear syllables. Jiang Yan gave up asking, opened the umbrella halfway, and said politely: "Do you need me to take you home?"

Although the man looked dirty, Jiang Yan could tell that he was about the same age as himself, or perhaps even younger. So he wondered if he was not a beggar, but a runaway or wandering outside for some other reason.

The other party didn't say anything. Jiang Yan took out his cell phone and said, "Do you remember your family's phone number? Or, how about I go to the police station with you first?"

The other party shook his head several times, obviously rejecting both of Jiang Yan's questions.

Jiang Yan was a little embarrassed about this.

"...I...have no home."

Suddenly, a subtle voice came from his ear, and Jiang Yan was a little surprised, "You said you don't have a home?"

Jiang Yan didn't know how credible this statement was, and there was no way he would bring such a stranger home.

So, in the end, Jiang Yan found a hotel for this person and bought some food along the way.

"Go take a shower, I'll wait for you outside."

After the man entered the bathroom, Jiang Yan sat on the bed in the hotel, lowered his head and swiped the screen of his mobile phone. He was searching for the latest news about missing persons, but after searching around, he couldn't find anyone who matched the age of the man in the bathroom.

With a glance, Jiang Yan saw an ID card hidden in the dirty coat that the man took off.

Turn out the ginger and salt.

Name: Meng Tang

When seeing this name, Jiang Yan was stunned for a moment. Isn't this the name that appeared in his dreams many times before?

It’s strange, I’ve had the same name in my dreams recently.

Is this a coincidence or...

Jiang Yan pinched his thigh and it hurt. He didn't know if the world he was in was real. He couldn't tell the difference and couldn't remember his original world.

Moving his eyes downwards and seeing the date of birth, Jiang Yan's expression had changed from stunned confusion to astonishment.

This is an ID card from fifty or sixty years ago.

The address on the ID card is also the old address, which has now changed from Qingshui Village to Hong'an Community. Jiang Yan knows so much because he is a resident of Hong'an Community and has lived in Hong'an for more than 20 years, so he knows a little bit from his parents.

Mengtang.

The Mengtang in the photo is not much different from the Mengtang in the bathroom.

Jiang Yan pursed his lips. Could this ID card be fake?

"Ring, ring, ring."

The cell phone rang.

"Jiang Yan, where are you? Why is there no one at home?"

This is An Xiu, my good friend from high school and college, and they remained close even after graduating from college.

Jiang Yan looked in the direction of the bathroom and said, "My parents are traveling, I... I'm still outside."

"Oh. Did you forget to bring an umbrella? Do you want me to pick you up?"

"No, I'll be back soon."

“Beep—”

The phone call was disconnected. At the same time, the sound of water running in the bathroom also stopped.

Jiang Yan bought the clothes from the hotel front desk, shorts and long pants. When the man appeared in front of Jiang Yan again, he looked brand new.

His face was ruddy, his hair was softly draped over his forehead, and his clothes looked slim-fitting, outlining his tall figure. He looked extremely handsome, completely different from the disheveled look he had shown in the rain a few minutes ago. It was like a completely different person.

"Your name is Meng Tang?"

The man nodded.

Jiang Yan returned the ID card in his hand to the other party and said, "This ID card of yours must be fake. Forging an ID card is illegal."

The man looked at the certificate stuffed into his palm, his eyes slightly lowered, his expression did not change, he even looked a little dazed.

"You look like a college student, and you don't like to talk much." Jiang Yan said, "Let me make a bold guess. You didn't stay up late every day playing games and then failed the exam. You were afraid of being scolded by your family, so you found an unscrupulous business to open a □□ and ran away?"

The light in the room was dim, falling on the two of them. Jiang Yan turned his head to look out the window. The huge raindrops were hitting the glass, forming a series of rhythmic sounds.

"The future belongs to you, and you must be responsible for the choices you make." Jiang Yan said slowly, "I paid for your room for three days. If you have figured it out, go home early."

After saying that, Jiang Yan took the umbrella and left.

…

"Why are you off work so late today?"

My friend An Xiu was watching TV in the living room. He heard some noise near the door and turned to look.

Jiang Yan changed his shoes, put away the dripping umbrella, and said, "We are waiting for the parents of the children in the kindergarten."

"By the way, why are you here at my house? Aren't you busy with work?"

An Xiu brought the drawing board on the sofa to his chest and said, "I received a large order. After I finish the painting, I don't need to take any orders this year. But I haven't had any inspiration recently."

"So you come to me to find inspiration?" Jiang Yan squatted down and rubbed the kitten that just ran out of the room. The snow-white fur ball rubbed Jiang Yan's ankle affectionately.

An Xiu looked at him tenderly and said without denying, "Yes, I only get inspiration when I'm with you. Maybe it's fate."

Jiang Yan picked up the cat and said, "Okay, my parents are not at home anyway, and it would be boring for me to live alone."

"Please help me feed the cat. I'll go to the refrigerator to see if there's anything to eat."

Jiang Yan was just about to hand the soft white kitten to An Xiu, but as soon as An Xiu touched the cat's fur, the kitten jumped up as if its fur stood up, almost leaping to the ceiling.

"It still doesn't seem to like me." An Xiu smiled awkwardly.

Jiang Yan was a little distressed, "This shouldn't be the case."

An Xiu saw Jiang Yan's embarrassment and comforted her, "Maybe I was born with no affinity for cats. The cats in the community don't get close to me."

"I'll help you watch the refrigerator, you feed the cat first."

Jiang Yan nodded, "That's fine."

Ten minutes later, Jiang Yan came to the kitchen after feeding the cat. An Zheng rolled up his sleeves and prepared to wash the vegetables taken out of the refrigerator.

Jiang Yan tied her apron and walked over, "You go watch TV, I'll take care of this."

An Xiu smiled and said, "It's okay, I'll just wash the vegetables, I know how to do that."

Jiang Yan nodded, "Okay."

Water was running from the faucet. After washing the vegetables, An Xiu handed them to Jiang Yan, then leaned against the door and watched Jiang Yan busying himself.

An Xiu's cooking skills are average, the kind that are edible and will not cause poisoning. Jiang Yan is very versatile and has learned a wide range of life skills, so An Xiu always eats at Jiang Yan's house.

"You are so nice. How happy a girl would be to be liked by you." An Xiu said with a slightly sour tone.

Jiang Yan cut the vegetables skillfully, "That also requires people to like me."

"So do you have a girl you like now?"

Jiang Yan paused for a moment, and somehow several male faces appeared in his mind. They were all people who had appeared in Jiang Yan's "dream", and they had a common name: Mengtang.

"What have you been thinking about for so long?" An Xiu smiled, "Are you really attracted to a girl?"

Jiang Yan shook his head and suddenly said, "Do you think the world we live in is fake?"

"Hmm?" An Xiu was slightly confused, not quite understanding what Jiang Yan was saying.

"I had several dreams, and the worlds in these dreams were so real that I couldn't tell whether they were real dreams or not."

"What's even stranger is that even though they are different dreams, I always dream about the same person. Although their appearance is not exactly the same in each dream, they have many things in common, especially their names, which are exactly the same."

An Xiu listened carefully and asked, "Maybe it's because you like her? The scene in your dream is not important. What's important is that you want to meet her."

"I like him?"

"Why else do you always dream about her?" An Xiu looked at Jiang Yan, "I dream too, and I often dream about the same person, but I know very well that I dream about him because I like him, so I want to be with him in my dreams."

Jiang Yan nodded, temporarily agreeing with An Xiu's opinion.

"It's great that you can dream about that person every day." An Xiu stared at Jiang Yan who was constantly moving, looking at his slender waist, which was perfectly outlined by the apron. The movements of cutting vegetables and putting them into the pot were extremely smooth, which made him look like a good wife and mother. An Xiu didn't know what he thought of, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

Half an hour later.

The TV screen was on, with the news broadcast on it.

"Recently, the relevant media reported that there were several cases of cat abuse in Hong'an Community..."

"Hey, isn't this our neighborhood?" An Xiu suddenly said.

Jiang Yan just stuffed a mouthful of rice ball, looked up at the news media, and said after swallowing the rice ball: "No wonder I keep hearing alarm bells these days."

rustle--

The tree next to the window swayed, and An Xiu tilted his head to look, but there was no wind. He was puzzled and wondered if it was a bird.

They lived on the first floor. There were a few short trees near the window, and there were often birds or wild cats near the trees.

An Xiu walked to the window and looked out, but he didn't see any bird or cat. Instead, he saw a person.

A sneaky person.

Unfortunately, before An Xiu could see the man's face clearly, he disappeared without a trace.

"Someone!" An Xiu shouted.

Jiang Yan put down his chopsticks, "What?"

"There was a person by the window just now." An Xiu said, "He was sneaking around and kept looking into the house."

"Ah?" Jiang Yan stood up, walked to An Xiu, and stood with him by the window looking out.

The vast moonlight fell across the entire city. It was so quiet outside that even the sound of the wind could not be heard.

"Isn't he a thief?"

"I don't know." An Xiu said, "Has this happened before?"

Jiang Yan shook his head, "I haven't noticed it."

"It's a good thing I'm here today." An Xiu said slowly, "If he really broke in, you might not be able to defeat him."

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, "Am I that weak?"

"Just your thin arms and legs." An Xiu said with a smile.

…

That night.

Jiang Yan hadn't slept yet, leaning on the bed with his tablet computer to prepare for class. As time passed, he yawned lazily with a bit of fatigue in his eyes.

Knock knock knock——

"Still asleep?"

An Xiu's voice came from the door.

Jiang Yan rubbed his eyes and tried his best to wake himself up. "Prepare for class. I'll fall asleep in a while."

"Okay, don't torture yourself too much."

Jiang Yan smiled and said, "I should be talking to you."

There was a burst of laughter from outside the door, and then it became quiet.

About ten minutes later, when Jiang Yan was about to go to sleep, he heard a rustling sound near the window. He moved his ears and looked over to see the movement.

"Who's there?" Jiang Yan raised his voice and asked.

No one responded.

Jiang Yan lifted the quilt, put on his slippers and walked over.

Then he saw Meng Tang. Meng Tang was wearing the clothes he gave him, but he was standing barefoot in the bushes, with several cuts on his skin from the tangled branches.

Jiang Yan was confused, "Why are you here?"

The other person's lips moved, making a subtle sound that required careful concentration to hear, "Looking...looking for you."

"Looking for me?" Jiang Yan's confusion became more serious.

"I... don't have anywhere to go."

He spoke haltingly and seemed to be a stutterer, which made him look quite pitiful.

"You..." Jiang Yan hesitated and sighed, "Forget it, come to my house, I'll open the door for you."

Before he finished saying "open the door", Meng Tang had already climbed in through the window and landed steadily next to Jiang Yan.

“Hey.”

Jiang Yan opened his mouth and subconsciously took a step back. As a result, he accidentally stepped on his sleeping cat Tuanzi. The cat's fur stood up, and Jiang Yan was so frightened that he lost his balance and fell backwards.

Just as he was about to come into contact with the cold floor, a pair of hands reached out, grasped Jiang Yan's waist, pulled him back, and scooped him up like catching a fish.

Jiang Yan was brought into Meng Tang's arms by inertia. The sound of his heartbeat rang in his ears one after another. He was stunned for a moment and felt at a loss.

"How are you?"

Meng Tang's tone of voice was a little strange, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time. His accent lacked emotion, like the rotten tune of a long-abandoned tape recorder.

"I'm fine." Jiang Yan suddenly left Meng Tang's arms. Somehow, even his heartbeat started beating faster.

"How do you know my house is here?"

After coming back to his senses, Jiang Yan thought of a very serious question and looked up at Meng Tang vigilantly.

Meng Tang tilted his head cutely, "I, I live here too."

Thinking of the photo of Mengtang that he had seen before, Jiang Yan felt that the other party was not lying, but after thinking about it carefully, there was still something wrong. "The address on your ID card is indeed here, but this place has been renamed for many years."

"So the address on your ID card no longer exists." Jiang Yan said in a joking tone, "Look, the people who seduce you are not serious."

"I live here." Meng Tang seemed to have no idea what Jiang Yan was saying and repeated it mechanically.

"Okay." Jiang Yan didn't want to argue with the kid anymore. He lowered his head to look at his cat, which was licking its tail that had just been stepped on.

Jiang Yan squatted down and smoothed the kitten's fur as an apology. After all, he had been the owner of the kitten for many years, so the kitten quickly made peace with its owner and licked Jiang Yan's palm with his tongue.

Meng Tang stared at Jiang Yan's flat palm, and suddenly felt his throat dry, and swallowed subconsciously. For a moment, he envied the kitten licking Jiang Yan's palm.

"But your family is really something. They haven't come to see you for such a long time." Jiang Yan said, and suddenly raised his head, looking at the young man standing in front of him in the moonlight, and said, "If you don't go home, I can only send you to the police station."

Meng Tang suddenly became nervous and a rare expression appeared on his face. It was at this moment that Jiang Yan felt that the person standing in front of him was a living person.

When I first met Meng Tang, he couldn't speak and had no expression on his face. He looked like a marginal figure in the world.

"No, don't." Meng Tang bit his lip, and his fingers that were pinching the clothes trembled slightly.

He began to get excited, but was speechless because he had no idea what he could say to make Jiang Yan stay with him.

Jiang Yan was not in a hurry and said patiently: "Take your time. Do you have any unspeakable secrets?"

After a long while, Meng Tang finally spoke a little more clearly: "I, my family doesn't like me. They scold me, beat me, and lock me up..."

"Ah?" Jiang Yan didn't expect that the other party would encounter all this.

Is it domestic violence?

Jiang Yan pinched his chin and thought for a moment, then suddenly reached out and lifted Meng Tang's sleeve. What came into view were several hideous scars, some of which were deep and long. Even though the blood had long since dried, Jiang Yan could still imagine Meng Tang's tragic experience.

His heart trembled slightly, and Jiang Yan slowly exhaled, "I know."

"So they were the ones who kicked you out, right?"

Meng Tang hesitated and nodded.

Jiang Yan turned around and took a new quilt from the cabinet, "Then you can stay here with me for a few days."

"How old are you?"

Meng Tang thought for a moment and answered, "19."

Well, three years younger than him.

Finally, Meng Tang slept on the floor next to Jiang Yan's bed. Jiang Yan had her back to him and was facing the window, her beautiful eyes staring at the bright moon outside.

Meng Tang didn't sleep either. He blinked and stared at Jiang Yan's back.

“Meow.”

The kitten Tuanzi rubbed Mengtang, expressing his love with this action.

Jiang Yan turned around after hearing the noise and was surprised by the scene in front of him. "Snowball rarely gets close to people like this. It seems that he likes you very much."

Looking at the little cat Qiu jumping around in his arms, Meng Tang's face was filled with confusion.

Jiang Yan found Mengtang's bewilderment a little cute, and he couldn't help but smile.

Meng Tang was attracted by Jiang Yan's smile and was immersed in it for a long time.

"Okay, Snowball, go to bed." Jiang Yan turned sideways and shouted to the little cat Snowball who was acting coquettishly on Mengtang.

In response to the owner's call, the kitten Qiu obediently got off Mengtang and then returned to his own kitten nest.

"Go to sleep. Good night."

These words were spoken to Mengtang.

Meng Tang whispered, "Good night."

…

The next day, Jiang Yan was woken up by the alarm clock.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, turned off the alarm clock sleepily, and then yawned briefly.

The kitten Tuanzi held the cat bowl in his mouth and rubbed Jiang Yan's fingers that fell on the bed. Jiang Yan's fingers moved, and it took several seconds before he really woke up from his sleep.

Jiang Yan opened his eyes. It was midsummer and the sun was shining brightly outside the window. The rich light made every building in the distance look dazzling.

But...what about Mengtang?

Jiang Yan sat up from the bed. The quilt was still on the ground, but the big man was gone.

Gone?

A gust of wind blew by, and Jiang Yan discovered that there was a crack in the window. He knew without hesitation that Meng Tang must have slipped out of the window again.

What a strange person.

Jiang Yan thought to himself, and then a voice came from the door, "Are you up?"

"I got up."

Jiang Yan cleaned the floor and opened the door. His good friend An Zheng was holding a paintbrush in the yard behind the living room, looking for inspiration. When he saw Jiang Yan coming out, he stopped what he was doing and said with a smile, "Same old, I heated up some milk and bread for you."

"Thanks." Jiang Yan said as he buttoned up his shirt, "I might get off work late today."

"Why?"

"There's an activity at the kindergarten today, and I'll have to clean up after it's over, which will be quite troublesome." Jiang Yan shrugged.

"We're both workers, I understand." An Xiu glanced at his board and smiled helplessly, "The weather forecast says it will rain today, so remember to bring an umbrella."

"Remember. If anything happens at home, call me."

"good."

Ten minutes later, Jiang Yan walked onto the street carrying his bag. His workplace was only twenty minutes away from his home, so he often walked, and occasionally rode a bike when he was in a hurry.

The streets were busy with cars and people coming and going. Jiang Yan was walking among the crowd, his back blending in with them, and against the backdrop of the tall buildings around him, he looked as small as a dot.

In this routine, day-to-day routine, an accident suddenly happened.

Jiang Yan, who was waiting for the traffic light, suddenly had her bag snatched by a man on a motorcycle. There were two people on the motorcycle, and he was a repeat offender. The series of actions happened naturally and caught Jiang Yan off guard.

By the time Jiang Yan came to his senses, the motorcycle had already run very far away.

It was the first time that Jiang Yan had seen a robbery in broad daylight, and also the first time that he had been robbed.

Since this is an old street and there is no police station or patrolman, Jiang Yan scratched his hair in annoyance at the shock of other passers-by.

Fortunately, he had put his cell phone in his trouser pocket, and there were no valuables in his bag, only lesson plans, a water cup, glasses, etc.

The motorcycle kept driving along the blind spot of the surveillance camera, and it was unlikely that Jiang Yan would be able to catch it back. He shook his head, and as it was almost time to go to work, he could only go to the kindergarten empty-handed.

At the same time, in a quiet alley, two sneaky people were standing next to a motorcycle, one of them was holding Jiang Yan's bag.

"What are these?"

Thief No. 1 pulled out a bunch of useless things from his bag and cursed, "I don't have a dime. It's all in vain."

"Tsk, she's well dressed, but there's nothing valuable in her bag." Thief No. 2 smacked his lips, "I'm afraid she's just a kept gigolo."

The two uneducated people threw the lesson plan that Jiang Yan had prepared all night to the ground and stomped on it several times as if to vent their anger.

Just when the two men were furious because they felt they had failed, a cold wind suddenly blew into the alley.

"What's going on? It's sunny now." The two shivered. "Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"

Tick-tick-tick

Like the sound of water dripping on the ground.

But when they looked at the ground, it was very dry.

"Hey, did you hear anything?" Thief No. 1 said to his accomplice.

Thief No. 2 nodded and was about to open his mouth when his face suddenly turned terrified. He raised his finger tremblingly and pointed behind Thief No. 1. His lips were pale and stiff as he said, "You, you, behind you..."

"later?"

Thief No. 1 turned his head slowly with confusion, and then saw a scene that he would never forget in his life.