Chapter 23: Twenty-third day after quitting the circle, why does it feel colder than his breasts? ...
"What now?"
"What should we do? Why are you panicking? There's no surveillance, so who would know it was you who took it? Then we can just deny it and that'll be fine."
"you're right."
When the familiar voices, with sounds of bewilderment and self-righteousness, sounded in the silent living room, the expressions of everyone present were all identically dazed, and then, pairs of eyes stared straight at Li Erhai and Yan Chunfang.
Yan Chunfang hadn't completely wiped away the tears she shed when she was in a state of acting excitement just a second ago, but her body suddenly froze because of these few words, so that her fingers were placed on the corners of her eyes, her mouth was slightly open, and her expression was stiff. At first glance, it was actually a bit funny.
Not to mention Li Erhai, who was not a courageous person to begin with. He was shaking like a sieve, with his fingers on his knees and his feet twitching as he kept tapping the ground, showing the meaning of "a guilty conscience" to the fullest.
Police: “…”
Just as he was contemplating the difficulty of handling today's missing money case, a clue suddenly appeared. While this recording couldn't be considered legitimate evidence, the insinuation suggested that Li Erhai and his wife had taken the money. It had only been ten hours at most, so the money had definitely not been disposed of. It was likely at home, and if they looked for it, they would definitely find it.
It was hasty. The conclusion was indeed hasty!
The police officer's expression hardened, his brows furrowed, and he lost the friendly demeanor he had shown earlier when asking for information. He glanced at Li Erhai and his wife and asked in a deep voice, "What do you two want to say?"
Anything you want to say?
Li Erhai was so panicked that he couldn't even utter a single word, as if he had lost his voice. Yan Chunfang's mind was filled with the recording in Sang Qiqi's hand. She hated herself for saying a few words to Li Erhai, and hated Sang Qiqi for having just happened to record their conversation!
Seeing the couple's unusual expressions, the police officer reminded them again: "Did you steal? If not, how will you explain the recording? If you did, how did you steal it, when did you steal it, and where is the money now? Please answer clearly. Fifty thousand yuan is not a small amount. If you are convicted of theft, you will be sent to prison for several years."
Imprisoned for several years?
That won’t do!
Yan Chunfang panicked. Her daughter had just told her that she had decided to get married with her current boyfriend. If she and Erhai went to jail at this critical moment, wouldn't her daughter's marriage be ruined?
After realizing this, Yan Chunfang immediately said, "I didn't steal it! I just said that because I was angry about my eldest uncle's family slandering me!"
The police officer was so angry that he laughed.
He slammed the table hard: "Don't you understand what I mean?"
Li Yucheng, who had been watching the excitement for a long time with his arms crossed, burst out laughing and said in a cold tone, "Auntie, the police are saying that if you want to steal, just admit it. If you admit it, you can get a lighter sentence. But if you refuse to admit it and they find the money, there's no way to save you. You'll have to work on the sewing machine every day."
Aunt Wang listened to her son's sarcastic remarks and patted his arm in a nonchalant manner, signaling him to shut up.
Li Yucheng put his hand to his mouth, made a zippering gesture, smiled and said nothing.
Li Yucheng's words made Yan Chunfang and Li Erhai extremely flustered. The couple looked at each other, and Li Erhai finally couldn't stand the pounding heart and the rush of blood. He couldn't help but speak hurriedly: "I took it. I took it. The day before yesterday, when I was with my mother in the ward, I heard her mumbling about money in her sleep. I didn't think much of it at first, but then my wife said it might be because the old lady had some savings."
He thought it was not impossible.
The old lady usually comes to her parents' house for food and accommodation. She hasn't spent much money over the years, so it's normal for her to have some money on her.
He discussed it with Yan Chunfang and decided to test the waters. But the old lady wasn't fully conscious. She couldn't hear or answer his questions, only mumbling nonsense. He could only think of other options, like finding an excuse to go to the old lady's house or her bedroom. However, he usually didn't care about her, and the eldest family had already made sufficient preparations for her hospitalization. He couldn't find an excuse, and he was afraid of arousing their suspicion, so he gave up.
Just at this time the doctor asked them to take the old lady home, and he knew that the opportunity had come.
That night, he specially sent his eldest brother away, and he and Yan Chunfang searched the old lady's room for more than ten minutes. Finally, they found a card and a stack of cash under the pillow and in the cotton quilt.
Li Erhai did not dare to delay, for fear of being seen by the boss's family, so he quickly stuffed all the cards and cash into Yan Chunfang, and let Yan Chunfang find an excuse to go home.
The money is now kept in the closet in his and Yan Chunfang's bedroom.
After hearing him describe the location of the stolen money without hiding anything, the crowd of onlookers immediately erupted in loud and disdainful boos.
They knew Li Erhai was a bad guy, but they didn't expect him to be so rotten. His mother was lying in bed dying, and yet they were still plotting to steal her money.
This doesn't even look like a human being.
"Li Erhai, why are you acting like a beast?"
An angry shout rang in Sang Qiqi's ears, and then a handful of melon seeds flew out without warning and hit Li Erhai's face with incredible precision.
Sang Qiqi turned her head and saw that the person who was cursing and hitting people was the same mother-in-law. She looked about ten years younger than Old Lady Li. Although her face was full of wrinkles, her eyes were bright and she was full of energy. She put her hands on her hips and pointed at Li Erhai and Yan Chunfang and started cursing. The words were so dirty that everyone around her lowered their heads, and even the police couldn't help but cover their faces.
Only Old Lady Li clapped her hands, explaining to Sang Qiqi the meaning of certain dialects as she did so. She added, "When I was young, she was always following me around. I initially found her annoying, but then I learned she was a terrible curser, so I always took her with me when we went out to have a fight. Alas, I never imagined that decades later, now that I'm dead, I'd still need her to help me argue."
Sang Qiqi: "It can be considered a two-way trip."
Yan Chunfang didn't think it was bullshit running in both directions.
Because she was caught stealing money, she lowered her head and didn't dare to say a word. But when she heard the old woman cursing so harshly, she immediately stood up from the stool. She was so angry that she wanted to refute and curse back, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she was splashed with a basin of water.
In an instant, Yan Chunfang stopped.
For a few seconds, he screamed like crazy.
Sang Qiqi, the policeman, and Li Dahai's family, who were almost affected by the water and whose eardrums were almost pierced by the screams, quietly moved to the side.
The police officer flicked the water droplets off his clothes, rubbed his stinging ears, coughed softly, and stopped the neighbors who were about to bring their belongings in. He turned to Li Erhai and Yan Chunfang and said, "Go return the stolen money first, and then take care of the old lady's funeral. We can talk about the theft after you finish your business here. Li Dahai, is that okay with you?"
Li Dahai naturally nodded in agreement. If the second son and his wife had not done such a disgusting thing in stealing money, he would not have asked the police to come to his mother's house on the day she died.
The police waited until Li Erhai returned all the money to the villa before leaving.
As soon as the police left, Li Erhai and Yan Chunfang were too embarrassed to stay and hurried away with their heads down. Seeing their shambolic figures, the neighbors spat and muttered, "Neither of them is a good person."
Nearby, Uncle Li and Aunt Wang came up to Sang Qiqi and thanked her profusely, "Boss Sang, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I think they would have refused to admit they stole the money."
"That's not true." Li Yucheng, who came closer, curled his lips and said, "Even though there is this recording, Yan Chunfang doesn't want to admit it."
Since there were no outsiders around, Aunt Wang was too lazy to pretend. When she heard her son calling her full name in such a disrespectful way, she didn't react at all.
Sang Qiqi waved her hand: "You're welcome, it's my duty."
Having said that, in addition to verbal thanks, the brothers Li Yufeng and Li Yucheng still went to Sang Qiqi to learn more about the paper-made products in her store. They spent a lot of money to buy paper-made products, and planned to burn them all for the old lady on the third day.
As Sang Qiqi was counting the money, the old lady beside her kept groaning, her eyes full of heartache: "This paper figurine is so expensive? The big villa I bought for my old man was very cheap."
Sang Qiqi quickly punched in a number and handed it to the Li Yufeng brothers, collecting the money. After they left, she turned to the old lady and said, "You get what you pay for. I also take care of after-sales service. If you go to the underworld and find any problems with these paper figurines, just go to the First Hall and tell me your name. I'll replace them for you."
She patted her chest and said, "We ghosts don't lie to ghosts!"
Then the topic changed: "You haven't told me what happened to the man and woman in the corner earlier."
The old lady then remembered that the melons in the melon field had not yet been shared. She immediately put aside the paper-made items and pulled Sang Qiqi aside to continue, "This man's surname is Ma, and he's the fourth child in the family. Don't be fooled by Ma Si's appearance, he's worse than an animal. The woman who follows him is his mistress. The two of them were so angry that his ex-wife died. His daughter ran away after taking care of her mother's funeral and settled down somewhere else. But a while ago, he suddenly called his daughter and said he was not feeling well and wanted his daughter to come home and take care of him."
"I think he is in good health and in good spirits." That hand was like a salted pig's hoof, always touching the butt of the lover next to him. If there weren't so many people here and it wasn't a funeral scene, I'm afraid he would lose his mind soon.
The old lady obviously saw the flirting between the two and suddenly felt that her presbyopia was of no use and it would be better for her to be blind.
She looked away in disgust and curled her lips, "Of course he's healthy. His mistress got pregnant twice."
Sang Qiqi: “…”
The old lady snorted and laughed. "Why do you think he called his daughter back? He had arranged to marry his daughter off to a local bachelor, and he'd given him 200,000 yuan as a betrothal gift. The bachelor got drunk and let the news slip, and when the neighbors heard about it, they immediately called the daughter and told her not to come."
"The girl hadn't originally planned to come back to serve the old man, and then she received a call from a neighbor, so she naturally couldn't come back. She even blocked her father's number. But the old man was quite powerful. He actually went to the girl's workplace and made a scene. Fortunately, the girl's colleagues were reasonable people. They worked together to get him out and then called the police."
Ma Si was detained for a few days and returned to the town in a mess. He happened to meet the old bachelor again. The old bachelor was furious when he learned that his wife was gone and he couldn't get his money back. He found a group of people to put Ma Si in a sack and beat him up.
"That old bachelor is in detention right now. You'll see, when he gets out, these two will have another fight."
That's welcome.
Sang Qiqi's gaze slowly fell on the middle-aged man and woman. She blinked and the corners of her mouth slowly raised.
She waved to the old lady and asked mysteriously, "Old lady, it's boring just sitting here. How about we find something to do later?"
The old lady squinted at her, only to be met with a pair of rather innocent almond-shaped eyes.
-
Before night fell, Sang Qiqi went back to the funeral service.
When she arrived, Fu Rui was already standing at the door waiting. Unlike the helplessness and sadness he had shown in the morning, Fu Rui at this moment seemed to have unloaded the heavy burden he had been carrying, and his whole body exuded a sense of relief that came from the heart.
Seeing Sang Qiqi coming over, he smiled and called out softly, "Miss Sang."
Sang Qiqi blinked: "You're back so early?"
Fu Rui nodded slightly and explained, "I took a ride back."
To be precise, it should actually be a downwind machine.
After spending the entire morning in the cemetery with Grandma Wang and her brother, the elderly woman, physically exhausted, was exhausted. Just as Fu Rui was worried about Grandma Wang's fatigue, A-Liu, the child, had already sensibly suggested going home. So, Fu Rui followed Grandma Wang and her brother back to the small Western-style house. Standing in the empty courtyard, he quietly watched through the glass window as Grandma Wang rested on the living room sofa and A-Liu bustled around in the kitchen like an adult.
He smiled silently, afraid that the feeling of reluctance would deepen and affect his rationality, so he did not look at it anymore, but chose to turn around and leave.
Without Sang Qiqi by his side, Fu Rui had no way to enter the underworld, so he found a bus to the airport in the town, picked the nearest flight, and fell at the end of the crowd like a ghost, standing all the way back to Beijing North.
This feeling was quite novel. He floated in the crowd, listening to different people talking and talking about the things they encountered, as if he had experienced a world completely different from the one before.
Sang Qiqi didn't know what he was thinking, but from the expression on his face she could tell that it was a good decision to return home today.
She asked Fu Rui: "Do you want to go out and play together tonight?"
Play?
Fu Rui thought for a moment and asked, "Are there many... ghosts?"
Sang Qiqi: "Not much, but it should be very interesting."
Fu Rui, feeling dazed by the trick, followed Sang Qiqi all the way to Old Lady Li's funeral around 7 o'clock. Gazing at the vast mourning hall and listening to the scriptures, Fu Rui felt a bit lost. He asked uncertainly, "Play? Here?"
Sang Qiqi smiled and did not deny: "Yes."
It was still early, so she introduced Fu Rui to the old lady. She had assumed that the old lady, at her age, didn't know much about celebrities. But as soon as Fu Rui stepped forward, the old lady exclaimed, clapping her hands together in surprise, "You... aren't you that famous star? My little grandson loves watching your movies!"
"That's the old lady's grandson." Sang Qiqi pointed at Li Yucheng, who was sitting by the icy coffin, and suddenly raised an eyebrow. "Are those shoes on his feet endorsed by you?"
Fu Rui stared at the boy's sneakers for a while and hummed softly.
The old lady came over and rambled on, "It's not just shoes. He previously spent a fortune on a box set of your movies, and when he didn't have enough money, he even borrowed it from his brother. I wanted to lend it to him, too, but he didn't want it."
After saying that, he glanced at Fu Rui again and asked in a low voice: "Young man, can you sign an autograph for my grandson?"
Fu Rui looked at his own ghost, a little confused: "Me?"
Sang Qiqi held her chin and said, "I've only seen people on the surface burn autographs for ghosts underground, but I've never seen ghosts underground give autographs to people on the surface."
The old lady heard the hidden meaning in Sang Qiqi's words and said with a little regret: "Is it not possible?"
Sang Qiqi thought for a moment and said, "Unless he possesses a human. However, possessing a living person is not good, as it will cause certain damage to the living person's soul. But if it's a dead person—"
As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of the three ghosts at the scene all drifted towards the old lady's body in the ice coffin.
Sang Qiqi: “…”
old lady:"……"
Fu Rui: "..."
No, this method is too shady.
The old lady coughed pretentiously and waved her hand. "It's not absolutely necessary to have a signature. Or you can ask Boss Sang to burn some paper and a pen, and then you can sign it, Big Star. When my grandson dies, Boss Sang can give it to him."
Fu Rui: "..."
It seems quite hellish.
He reminisced carefully and said to Sang Qiqi, "I had an apartment when I was alive. Inside, I have some signed postcards that I'm going to give to my fans. I'll take you there when the time comes. Miss Sang, please help me deliver them to Mr. Li, and also to that little Miss Xing you mentioned earlier."
Sang Qiqi readily agreed.
Then he pointed to his nose and said, "I want one too."
Fu Rui smiled and nodded: "Okay."
Time ticked by, leaving only a few relatives and close neighbors at the funeral hall. Sang Qiqi glanced around but didn't see Li Erhai and his wife. They'd been humiliated to death today. It wouldn't take more than a day for the whole town to know they'd stolen my mother's money before she died, a kind of backstabbing. Given their fame, they were probably hiding at home, like cowards.
His sights fell on today's target not far away.
Ma Si and his mistress have a really good relationship. They have been sticking together all day and are still clinging to each other now.
Sang Qiqi waved to Fu Rui and the old lady, then raised her chin and gestured in the direction of Ma Si. She then found a table in the corner and pretended to sleep on it, but the ghost had already quietly emerged from her body.
"Hey, they're gone!"
The old lady called out hurriedly, and Sang Qiqi immediately rushed over, urging, "Hurry, hurry, follow me."
Three ghosts immediately floated behind Ma Si and the other man.
Ma Si had always found the wake boring, and after dinner he'd wanted to leave, but someone nearby was dragging him along with some drinks. Plus, the Li family was generous, and the wine they used for funerals was pretty good, so Ma Si had a few more drinks. Now that it was almost time, he finally had a chance to leave, so he didn't hesitate.
only--
He suddenly turned his head and looked behind him.
Behind him lay a long, narrow path, the other end of which was the funeral shed for the old lady of the Li family. Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but Ma Si felt the light leaking from the shed was exceptionally pale. This pale light spread across the path, casting a strange, dark shadow. Then, a breeze began to pick up, and a light, yet chilling, gust of wind brushed against his neck. He shuddered violently, his eyes widening.
"What's wrong?"
The woman next to Ma Si was surprised by his momentary stiffness and glanced at him.
Ma Si swallowed and asked in a low voice, "Do you feel it's eerie here?"
The woman looked around. The road here was narrow and lacked streetlights, but it wasn't eerie, was it? They had walked this road countless times before. It was no exaggeration to say they could walk it with their eyes closed. How could such a familiar road be eerie?
She smiled and said jokingly, "It's Li Erhai who thinks the road is gloomy today, but you think it's gloomy—"
Before she could finish her words, the woman's body froze.
"Honey, someone is blowing air into my neck."
Ma Si: “…”
He was standing next to the woman. How could he not see if someone was blowing air behind her?
Where did this person come from?
Ma Si got goosebumps all over his body at this moment. He took a deep breath and told himself that he must have been overthinking it. Then he grabbed his woman with one hand, raised his legs suddenly, and ran forward.
"Running so fast? I, an old woman, can hardly keep up."
"It's okay, it's okay. I can keep up." Sang Qiqi said as she floated past the old lady, then blocked the way for Ma Si and the other man. Just as they were about to pass Sang Qiqi, a strange gust of wind blew in, knocking the two defenseless men to the ground. They tumbled and rolled, then flipped over the bridge railing with a thud. With a scream, they fell into the river, splashing hugely.
Ma Si and the other man could swim, but every time they tried to climb ashore, the strong wind would come again and force them into the river.
Ma Si: “…”
Is this right? This is not right!
His eyes were red, and there was only one thought in his mind: Damn it!
Sang Qiqi and the old lady tortured the two men half to death. Seeing that they were really out of strength, they decided to end the game and let them climb up from the river bank.
Ma Si was so weak in the moment. The strong fishy smell on his body and the strange wind frightened him so much that he dared not delay for a moment. As soon as he got ashore, he subconsciously waved away the hand of his mistress who was trying to get him to help, and then ran away madly. In the middle of the journey, he ran out of strength but ran fast, and he rolled on the ground. He then used his hands and feet to crawl and get up, and disappeared in a short while.
As for his mistress, she ran away after a moment of shock.
The three ghosts scared the bad old man half to death, and finally returned to the funeral tent with satisfaction. Seeing that it was not too late, Sang Qiqi sent a message to Jingyu.
Ten minutes later, Jingyu came carrying a mahjong table.
Sang Qiqi rubbed her hands together and said, "The night is long, playing mahjong is nice to pass the time."
Jingyu consciously chose a seat facing south and sat down. He asked Sang Qiqi, "How big is the game?"
Sang Qiqi: "A little gambling is good for fun, just one dollar is enough."
After saying that, he added: "Ghost money."
Jingyu: “…” He’s so good at digging himself to death.
Four ghosts sat facing each other. Fu Rui wasn't very good at mahjong, and since there was no new ghost protection period, his skills were terrible. The old lady could play, but without her reading glasses, she could barely see the cards, and she kept making the wrong hand, giving Sang Qiqi money.
Just as Sang Qiqi was about to continue her killing spree, Li Yucheng, who was still keeping vigil, shivered at the blast of the air conditioner and quickly stood up to look for the remote. As he passed the prone Sang Qiqi, he looked up and noticed the air vent was pointed right at her. Concerned for her health, Li Yucheng politely called out, "Boss Sang."
Sang Qiqi didn't say anything.
So Li Yucheng pushed Sang Qiqi's arm while saying, "Boss Sang, let's go to another place to rest. It's too cold here. Be careful not to catch a cold."
However, when his hand touched Sang Qiqi's arm, he was suddenly stunned.
——Oh my god, why does it feel colder than his milk?
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