Chapter 9 Why are there ghosts (1)

Lou Sheng stood there, bewildered. His response was completely different from his past, and he couldn't predict where things were headed. He didn't move, simply staring at Ying Zhisheng, whose eyes were red with emotion.

No matter how similar the dream is, it will never become reality. The reality is that the two of them broke up and parted ways. It is an established fact and nothing can be done to change it.

Having experienced so much in the past few years, Lou Sheng wanted to talk, but he didn't know where to start.

He smiled helplessly and opened his arms to hug the man in front of him: "Ying Zhisheng, does this dream reflect your inner heart, or mine?"

Ying Zhisheng hugged Lou Sheng back, greedily tightened his arms, and remained silent.

"Ying Zhisheng, I'm dead. It was quite sudden, you may not have heard the news yet." Lou Sheng calmly stated the facts. He had accepted death and would be isolated from the world from then on.

"Can you burn some paper for me? I'm poor." Young Master Lou had been accustomed to wealth and luxury since childhood, and had never worried about money. Now he was penniless and struggling, and it was embarrassing to talk about it. "Give me some more offerings, apples, bananas, etc. It would be even better if you could have some freshly made cakes, both meat and vegetables."

Thinking of his current predicament, he couldn't leave Ying Zhisheng's house. Lou Sheng had an idea, and with a smile on his face, he added, "Build me a big villa, preferably one with a yard, in the Italian light luxury style, with a spacious terrace. Please build one for me as an old classmate. Thank you!"

Lou Sheng thought that maybe if he had a house, he wouldn't be trapped in Ying Zhisheng's house. What if the underworld refused to accept him because he was too poor, making him an illegal resident? This dream would just solve all the problems at once.

Ying Zhisheng held Lou Sheng in his arms, listened quietly to all his requests, and finally spoke: "Don't you have anything else to say?"

They hadn't seen each other for several years. They had a quarrel before they separated, and their friendship had faded with the passage of time. Lou Sheng felt embarrassed to trouble him too much and quickly said, "No, no."

Silence fell again. The stiffness in the atmosphere pricked Lou Sheng like a dense mass of tiny thorns, making him uncomfortable everywhere. The two good friends who once talked about everything were now speechless. Even though they were hugging, their hearts felt as if they were separated by a great distance.

Lou Sheng wanted to say that if Ying Zhisheng found it troublesome, or was worried about being photographed by paparazzi and causing public opinion to ferment, he could still endure it if it was difficult.

In the silence, someone suddenly said, "Lou Sheng, did it hurt when you jumped to your death?"

The voice was low and hoarse, as if choked with sobs. This sentence was like a thunderclap, stirring up a storm in Lou Sheng's heart. His sharp thoughts were blocked. Although he could not see Ying Zhisheng's face, he could imagine Ying Zhisheng's extremely sad face.

Just as he was about to ask more, the scene around him flashed, and Lou Sheng came out of the dream and returned to reality. He stayed by Ying Zhisheng's bed for a long time, unable to come back to his senses.

Ying Zhisheng woke up. He had trouble falling asleep these days, and even when he did fall asleep, he would often wake up intermittently.

Lou Sheng scratched his head in annoyance, leaning closer to Ying Zhisheng's face. His eyes swept across his slightly furrowed brows and dark circles under his eyes. Did this man even know he was dead?

Lou Sheng's eyes deepened slightly. Since it was a dream, who was responsible for creating this dream? Was it him or Ying Zhisheng?

They say that after death, the past is forgotten. But for Lou Sheng, the afterlife becomes filled with doubts. He must remain vigilant and calmly analyze everything he encounters and sees.

"Ying Zhisheng, do you remember the dream I gave you?"

Lou Sheng felt powerless, tentatively touching Ying Zhisheng's cheek with his fingers, his movements quick and ready to explode. As they were engrossed, Ying Zhisheng, caught off guard, sat up, and the two nearly kissed. Fortunately, Lou Sheng reacted quickly and rolled off the bed, otherwise both the man and the ghost would have been in vain.

Ying Zhisheng went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Lou Sheng sat cross-legged on the ground, complaining unhappily, "What the hell is going on?"

…

Lou Sheng knew that his dream had failed. He observed Ying Zhisheng playing the piano and composing music as usual, communicating with the team about the filming of his new album, and showing no intention of burning paper money or a large villa for him.

Lou Sheng suspected that there was something wrong with his dream.

After disguising himself, Ying Zhisheng put on sunglasses and a black baseball cap and went out in a low-key manner.

There was quiet and harmonious light music playing in the car. Uncle Cheng Zhi was driving, and Ying Zhisheng was sitting in the back seat with a gloomy expression. He closed his eyes and no one knew what he was thinking.

Two months had seen earth-shaking changes. Cheng Zhi couldn't help but ask, "Zhisheng, do you want me to get you some more sleeping pills from my classmates?"

"No, I won't need it anymore."

Cheng Zhi is not a talkative person. When he met Ying Zhisheng, who is also not very talkative, the two of them sat in awkward silence in the car and couldn't find a topic to talk about.

After confirming that no one was following them along the way, when they arrived at the destination, Ying Zhisheng got out of the car and said to Cheng Zhi, "Wait for me in the car." Then he lowered the brim of his hat and walked into the residential area.

It was a run-down residential area, with dust on the stair railings and children's graffiti on the walls. There weren't many residents, and a rental notice had just been posted on the downstairs wall.

At the end of the corridor, he raised his hand slightly to reveal a strange snake bracelet on his wrist. After knocking on the door, Ying Zhisheng's movements of constantly rotating and stroking the snake bracelet showed that he was not at peace.

"Here I come!" The man who opened the door was a middle-aged man with an unshaven beard, wearing a wrinkled short-sleeved shirt and large shorts. His eyes lit up when he saw Ying Zhisheng: "Hey! A big customer!"

Zhang Kaifa hurriedly led people in, closed the door, and then bent down to search the shoe cabinet. After putting on cheap round sunglasses, he became weird.

Ying Zhisheng sat on a low stool at the round table and said without further ado, "He showed up. I'm sure he's right next to me."

Zhang Kaifa wasn't surprised; this was clearly within his expectations. "He'll naturally appear 49 days after death. My price might be a bit high, but for someone with real talent, even a ghost hanging around is a piece of cake."

Ying Zhisheng recalled his dream from last night, and felt a dull pain in his heart. He said with difficulty, "He said he had no money and wanted me to get him some tribute."

"Just burn some paper as a token of your appreciation. He's right next to you anyway, so there's no need for money. He's probably hungry if he's asking you for tribute. You have to starve him for a while before you can move on to the next thing."

Zhang Kaifa sighed, picked up the palm-leaf fan on the table, and fanned himself furiously, sighing, "I remember this man was only 23 years old, and he jumped to his death. Heaven is truly cruel. Love is not meant for fate, and love is not meant for life. What was the name of the person you wanted to leave behind?"

Ying Zhisheng raised his eyes and answered in a resounding voice, "Lou Sheng."