Chapter 782 The house I bought was really nice during the day. The layout was square, the beams and pillars were sturdy, and the price was unbeatable.

Ma Hongxia and Liu Dong were torn between the practical benefits and the chilly rumors circulating by the well, so much so that they couldn't even eat their dinner properly.

Seeing his future in-laws' dilemma, Zhao Rui exchanged a glance with Liu Xiaohua.

Xiao Hua understood and quietly tugged at Gou Dan.

As night fell and the streets became less crowded, the three of them quietly slipped away to the black-lacquered gate of Mianhua Hutong.

The moon was veiled by thin clouds, casting a hazy light and shadow in the alley. The wind rustled through the old locust tree.

The courtyard, which looked dilapidated during the day, was now eerily quiet, the half-open black lacquered door resembling the gaping mouth of a silent behemoth.

Gou Dan mustered his courage and tightly gripped Zhao Rui's clothes with his little hands.

Liu Xiaohua was practically pressed against Zhao Rui's other arm, barely daring to breathe.

They tiptoed around to the backyard wall and listened intently through it.

At first, there was only the sound of wind inside, but after a while, a faint, soft rustling sound drifted out.

Liu Xiaohua's scalp tingled: "...Rui, Brother Rui, listen...is there...crying?"

Dog Egg froze, his calves starting to cramp.

The sound was intermittent, sometimes loud and sometimes soft, and it was indeed particularly eerie in the quiet night.

Zhao Rui also felt a chill run down his spine, but he calmed himself down, gently patted Xiao Hua's hand, and whispered, "Don't scare yourself, let me see."

He gestured for the two to squat down, while he found a small gap in the wall where some bricks had fallen off, and Xiao Na carefully shone the beam of his flashlight into it.

The beam of light pierced the thick darkness of the backyard, first sweeping across the overgrown weeds, and finally settling steadily beside the ancient well weighed down by a stone slab.

Half a furry little head peeked out from the crack in the stone slab along the well, its two bright green eyes shining like two little lanterns in the flashlight beam.

A wild cat, entirely black, was scratching at the cracks in the stone slabs with its paws, its body stuck there, unable to move forward or backward. The mournful whimpers coming from it were its own.

It seemed that the bright light was too dazzling, so it let out a disgruntled cry that carried far through the night.

Liu Xiaohua, who was about to pull Zhao Rui away, was stunned.

Dog Egg, who was tense all over, was dumbfounded.

Zhao Rui put away the flashlight, suppressing a laugh: "It's the cat throwing a tantrum."

Dog Egg patted his chest and muttered softly, "That scared me to death..."

Liu Xiaohua's face turned bright red with embarrassment, but fortunately the darkness concealed her burning cheeks.

She lightly punched Zhao Rui, partly out of amusement and partly out of fear.

Under the moonlight, the group strolled around the empty courtyard.

Apart from the rustling of the wind through the weeds and the noise made by the stray cat that finally broke free from the well and scurried away over the wall, nothing else seemed unusual.

Zhao Rui stood by the well, shining his flashlight on the compacted stone slab, and the last bit of doubt in his mind dissipated.

He turned to Liu Xiaohua, who was still a little nervous, and Gou Dan, who was curiously looking around, and said, "I think since this well has been abandoned for a long time, it's still a nuisance. Once the house is settled, we can find an opportunity to fill it in completely, lay bricks on top, or plant some flowers and grass. That will solve the problem and keep it from being a nuisance."

As soon as the three of them returned and entered the room, they saw Ma Hongxia and Liu Dong still looking worried under the lamp. Zhao Rui then smiled and described the results of his investigation that evening.

Zhao Rui concluded, "Aside from being a bit old, that courtyard has no other problems. The well issue is also easy to resolve; just fill it in. At this price and in this location, you really won't find another like it."

As Ma Hongxia listened, the worry on her face gradually disappeared, and she couldn't help but slap her thigh and laugh: "Oh my goodness, after all that fuss, it was just a cat causing trouble! It scared me to death!"

"So that's how it is. Now that things are clear, let's go and make a reservation."

...

When Director Wang of the neighborhood office heard that they had come to ask about the courtyard in Mianhua Hutong, he immediately greeted them warmly, as if they were seeing relatives.

As he flipped through the thick register, he sighed, "Oh dear, that courtyard has finally found its owner. This has solved a long-standing problem for our neighborhood. It's a perfectly good courtyard, but all that gossip has ruined it."

When the paperwork was taken to the housing management office, the officer in charge, holding a teacup, said slowly and deliberately, "The house itself has a good structure and a good location. This price... already takes into account the actual situation and is very favorable."

Liu Dong rubbed his hands together, a simple smile plastered on his face, but his words were honest: "Comrade, you see, we've looked into this house. It's old, the well needs to be filled in, and the backyard wall is peeling badly. It needs to be repaired inside and out. That's quite an expense. We don't earn money easily. How about we... try to lower the price a bit?"

Ma Hongxia added a few words of advice about the difficulties of cleaning the house.

Looking at the simple yet somewhat stubborn couple, the staff at the housing management office finally relented and rounded down the already discounted price by a small amount.

On the day the contract was signed, Zhao Rui took a day off to come over.

Ma Hongxia and Liu Dong sat side by side, watching nervously as Zhao Rui read out the contract that would determine their future, word by word.

When Liu Dong encountered a word he didn't understand, he would ask it quietly, and Zhao Rui would patiently explain it to him.

When it was time to put her fingerprints on, Ma Hongxia subconsciously wiped her fingers on her apron before solemnly dipping them in red ink.

Gou Dan was also very excited, which meant that his family finally had a house in the capital.

What followed was a series of cleaning tasks; making the house habitable was also a complex project.

During their break, the two went to the yard to clear away the weeds.

It took half a month to clean it up.

Lu Qingyang had some free time recently and only then did he learn that they had bought a house. When he asked, he found out that it was a notorious haunted house.

However, he has never been afraid of ghosts, as long as the price is right, everything is negotiable.

Seeing that the couple had emptied their savings to buy a house, Lu Qingyang decided to help them out.

"The renovation materials and such can be paid for on my tab."

The two wives waved their hands repeatedly: "No, no, Qingyang, you've already helped us so much, we really don't want to trouble you with these things anymore."

"Don't mention it. You've helped the shop a lot. I'm often not here, so everything depends on you. It's perfect timing. I'm planning to open another Xinweiju restaurant in Beijing, and I'll be doing the renovations there too. I'll buy the renovation materials together, and I'll have to trouble you again."

The two were extremely grateful; meeting Lu Qingyang was truly a turning point for their family.

The well filling was scheduled for a weekend, and the workers and tools were all in place.

Lu Qingyang happened to have some free time, so he wandered over to take a look, ostensibly to supervise the construction.

He put his hands behind his back, circled the old well twice, and watched as the workers started to pry open the last few loose stones along the well's edge. Suddenly, he exclaimed "Eh!" and raised his hand to stop them.

"Wait, don't rush."

He crouched down, ran his fingers along several barely noticeable wear marks on the inside of the well rim, and peered into the dark depths of the well opening.

"Qingyang, what's wrong? Is there any other custom?" Liu Dong asked, leaning closer.