Ruan Bei and Qin Gu squatted on a path in the suburbs, listening to the old woman recount her experiences in tears.
According to the old lady, her maiden name was Sun, and she married a man surnamed Tong. They originally lived in the countryside of another province.
The year after she married her husband, she gave birth to a son, Xiaobao. The family of three lived happily together, but unfortunately, her husband died young, and Xiaobao passed away suddenly at the age of six.
Xiao Bao should be a nickname; the old lady didn't mention her real name.
Fortunately, Xiao Bao's father passed away suddenly, and the family's savings were not depleted due to medical treatment. The family still had some meager savings, so Grandma Sun raised her son on her own.
Grandma Sun felt increasingly hopeful because her son was a good student and always came first in his exams. The villagers all said that as long as she supported her son's education, she would be able to enjoy a comfortable life.
Xiao Bao is also a filial son. When he was in college, he would work part-time during his holidays so as not to burden his family. He also studied hard and found a very good job after graduation.
But Jincheng is a bustling metropolis, and living there is not easy. The rent alone is not cheap every month, and other expenses such as travel and food make it difficult for Tong Xiaobao to support himself.
Grandma Sun talked a lot about how hard her son worked, and it was clear that she really loved her child. She couldn't help but cry whenever she talked about what her son ate.
Ruan Bei saw that she had gone a bit off-topic, so he quickly brought her back and asked her to talk about her daughter-in-law.
Grandma Sun wiped away her tears again. Whether she had tears or not, she had to wipe them away when she cried.
The daughter-in-law, Zhou Linlin, is a local. Her family is of average means, living in an old house owned by her parents. As an only child, she is quite spoiled by her parents. She has a slightly naive personality, but she is not a bad person.
"That's what I thought at first," Grandma Sun said.
After graduating, Tong Xiaobao was too busy with his career to worry about personal matters. It wasn't until he was in his thirties that he got a promotion and a raise, became a middle manager at his company, and made a down payment on a house. His mother was urging him to go on blind dates, so Tong Xiaobao started going on blind dates.
He wasn't bad-looking, nearly 1.8 meters tall, with regular features. He wasn't particularly handsome, but he had a certain air about him when he wore a suit and tie.
Zhou Linlin was introduced to him by a friend. She was inferior to him in terms of education and work ability, but she was young, beautiful, and a local resident. After dating for a few months, the two got their marriage certificate.
Married life is fairly happy, although there are some minor frictions, but overall it is good.
Tong Xiaobao bought a house and mentioned bringing his mother to the city to enjoy a better life. However, Grandma Sun felt that living in the city was too cramped and that no one would talk to her, so she refused to stay for long.
Later, when Zhou Linlin became pregnant, Grandma Sun packed her bags and came without saying a word. She had been longing for a grandson so much that her eyes were red, but her son didn't get married until he was over thirty.
Now that we finally have news, how can we not be excited?
Grandma Sun stayed behind to take care of her pregnant daughter-in-law, preparing a variety of delicious meals for her every day. Her daughter-in-law suffered from morning sickness and couldn't eat, which made Grandma Sun feel even worse than if she herself couldn't eat.
After settling in here, Grandma Sun never left. When her granddaughter was born, she stayed to help take care of the child. The young couple both had jobs, so if Grandma Sun didn't help, they would have to hire a nanny or have Zhou Linlin's mother come to take care of the child.
The old lady was rambling on, and Grandma Sun talked about many details of her life in a lot of detail. It didn't seem to have any particular focus, but you could tell that she got along quite well with her daughter-in-law. Even when they had occasional arguments or quarrels, they weren't too serious.
"Then why would she want to kill you?" Ruan Bei asked curiously. "There must be a reason."
Grandma Sun immediately covered her face and cried, "She hates me, she hates me for losing the child."
Ruan Bei: "..."
“I didn’t mean to! I took Niu Niu out to play, and she wanted ice cream, so I went to buy it for her. When I turned my head, the child was gone. I searched everywhere but couldn’t find her. When I got back, my daughter-in-law scolded me, and my son blamed me too. I’m just an old woman, and I wish I were dead.”
Grandma Sun cried for a long time, and Ruan Bei finally understood that this was the root of the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. It was no wonder that the daughter-in-law was angry because the child was lost.
But no matter how angry you are, killing is still a crime. If you kill your mother-in-law like that, your life will be ruined.
“Little Celestial Master, I’m just an old man, I can die now, but my son is still young. He’s living with a murderer every day. Just thinking about it makes my heart jump out of my chest.”
Grandma Sun cried, "What if my son finds out one day that I was killed by his wife? Wouldn't she kill my son to silence him?"
"Little Celestial Master, I beg you, please call the police for me and have them arrest her so she can never harm anyone again!"
Ruan Bei scratched his head and said helplessly, "Grandma, it's not that I don't want to help you, but look, even if I call the police, they won't believe me, right? They'll ask me how I know, and I can't say that your ghost told me. The police will think I'm crazy."
Grandma Sun was stunned for a moment: "Then, what should we do?"
Ruan Bei thought for a moment and said, "Here's what you'll do. Tell me in detail about the day you died, and I'll try to find out more. Maybe we can find other clues to prove that you didn't die accidentally. Then I'll call the police for you, and they can investigate again and get justice for you."
"Good, good, this is a good idea." Grandma Sun nodded repeatedly, recalling the events of that day in detail, and also gave a general account of the situation of each of her neighbors.
This delay meant it was completely dark by then, and Ruan Bei and Qin Gu should have gone home. He had arranged to meet Grandma Sun next Sunday outside the neighborhood where her son lived. At other times, Ruan Bei had classes and really didn't have time to meddle in other people's business.
After saying goodbye to Grandma Sun and leaving, Ruan Bei nudged Qin Gu with his elbow: "Why didn't you say a word? You were just staring at him the whole time."
Qin Gu sighed, looking lost and dejected: "I just suddenly realized that I really missed seven years of your life."
Xiao Bei would still act spoiled, playful, and angry with him, but the real sixteen-year-old Ruan Bei didn't have this calm and composure when faced with problems. These qualities were all honed by life when he wasn't around in his previous life.
"Hey, I thought it was something serious."
Ruan Bei smiled and said, "What's seven years? We have many, many more seven-year periods to come. So many that you'll get tired of me and start thinking, 'This old man is getting more and more annoying as he gets older,' hahaha..."
As he spoke, he laughed, his eyes shining brightly with hope for the future.
The boy's bright smile was so infectious that Qin Gu couldn't help but smile too: "You're right, we still have a whole future."
This time, I will never lose you again.
No matter how happy they were, it was time to go home. The buses here had already stopped running, so Ruan Bei called a taxi. He originally wanted to discuss Grandma Sun's matter, but with the driver there, there were many things he couldn't say, so he had to wait until he got home to talk about it.
Upon arriving home, Ruan Bei didn't even go inside the house; she told her mother at the door that she was going upstairs.
Mrs. Ruan was already used to her son always running upstairs, so she grabbed him and said, "Wait, call Kunkun in. I made some wontons. You can eat them before you go upstairs."
After having eaten such a hearty bowl of noodles that evening, Ruan Bei was indeed a bit hungry after all the commotion, so he immediately called Qin Gu to come in with him.
Mrs. Ruan went to the kitchen to boil the chicken soup, and then took out the wontons that she had made the night before to freeze. She counted them and cooked twenty.
She had it all figured out: the wontons were small, so they wouldn't be too filling at night; Xiao Bei would eat eight, and Kun Kun, being tall, would eat four more—perfect.
As the chicken soup boiled, its delicious aroma filled the room. Ruan Bei sniffed and swallowed hard, craning his neck to look into the kitchen.
Fortunately, the wonton wrappers were thin and cooked quickly. In no time, they all floated to the surface of the pot, round and plump. With quick eyes and hands, Mrs. Ruan scooped them out with a strainer, poured them into a large bowl with seaweed, dried shrimp, and chopped green onions, then poured chicken broth over them and drizzled a few drops of sesame oil.
"I'll take it! I'll take it!" Ruan Bei and Qin Gu each had a bowl, sat facing each other, and ate without even looking up.
The wontons are small, with thin wrappers and tender meat. They're bite-sized, and each bite bursts with juice. They're not only savory with the meat filling, but also with the savory chicken broth, and the added freshness of seaweed and dried shrimp. It's so delicious that you can't stop eating them.
Ruan Bei finished eating with gusto and saw that Qin Gu still had some left in his bowl. He had just noticed that Kun Kun's bowl had more than his.
He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Mom, why is Sleepyhead more sleepy than me?"
Mrs. Ruan said, "Stand up and compare yourself to him. If you're half a head shorter, you'll eat fewer meals."
Actually, it was because Ruan Bei's appetite was smaller than Qin Gu's, and they were afraid that he would feel uncomfortable if he ate too much, since it was minced meat.
Ruan Bei: "..." Shouldn't you give me more supplements so I can grow taller?
Qin Gu almost dropped his spoon while laughing, but when he saw Ruan Bei glaring at him, he pushed the bowl over and said, "Mine is for you to eat."
It's not that I really want a few wontons, it's just that they're so delicious, I'm craving them!
He curled the corners of his mouth, glanced at the kitchen, and whispered, "I'll only eat one."
He quickly reached into Qin Gu's bowl with a spoon, scooped one up, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Is it delicious?" Qin Gu asked.
"Delicious!" Ruan Bei nodded vigorously, saying it tasted even better than the food in his own bowl.
"Want more?"
"No, you can have it yourself." One is enough for a glutton; what if Sleepy doesn't get enough to eat?
Ruan Bei finished the chicken soup in his bowl, satisfied. After Qin Gu finished eating, they washed the bowl together and then went upstairs.
As usual, they talked late into the night after taking a bath. As for the Five Emperors Coins, Qin Gu washed the copper coins he had bought, intending to deal with them first.
Watching him launder money, Ruan Bei asked curiously, "Isn't this okay? Isn't it supposed to be effective only after passing through the hands of many people? How can it be laundered?"
"No problem, it's just symbolic. See if the energy is still there after you wash it."
Ruan Bei really wanted to see, but then shook his head: "Forget it, it's not worth wasting a talisman."
"It's okay, I drew them all myself, they didn't cost any money, feel free to use them."
Qin Gu gave him a talisman to open his eyes. Ruan Bei squatted down to look at the copper coins in the water. Indeed, only the surface dirt was washed away, and the white light did not change at all.
After washing it clean, hang it up to dry, and then put it in the sun to dry tomorrow.
The two tidied up and sat on the bed, talking about the old lady from earlier that day.
This is indeed a troublesome matter. Ruan Bei even regrets asking the question back then. But if he didn't know, he could let it go. Now that he does know, he can't just ignore it.
If what Grandma Sun said is true, Ruan Bei will feel somewhat guilty if something happens to her son in the future.
"Kunkun, do you think what the old lady said is true?"
Qin Gu said with great interest, "What do you think? I feel like you don't quite trust her."
It's not that I don't believe it.
Ruan Bei struggled to find the right words: "I just feel that I can't just listen to her side of the story. Even judges have to let the defendants explain themselves before making a judgment. I can't just assume that her daughter-in-law is a murderer based on what the old lady says."
"If we don't get to the bottom of things and make a false report, how will that woman face the world after the police come to collect evidence? Even if she is truly innocent, she will inevitably face gossip from her neighbors in the future."
"Of course, if what the old lady said is true, then I should call the police. The old lady is responsible for the child getting lost, but it doesn't warrant killing her directly."
Qin Gu raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't expected Xiao Bei to be so thoughtful. He had thought that his child was soft-hearted and might be moved by the old lady's pitiful appearance.
On second thought, it wasn't surprising. Xiao Bei was indeed soft-hearted, but she would never lower her standards just because she was soft-hearted.
"What about you? What's your opinion?" All the clues Ruan Bei knew were told to him by Grandma Sun, so he wanted to ask Kun Kun, who was listening in, if there were any clues he hadn't noticed.
Qin Gu chuckled, resting his chin on his hand. "I've figured out a little bit, but are you sure you want me to spoil it for you?"
"Spoiler? What do you mean?" Ruan Bei asked, puzzled. "Could it be that Grandma Sun is lying? Wasn't she killed by her daughter-in-law?"
"I'm a Taoist priest, after all, so I can tell how ghosts died." But there are also those who are "blind" and can't tell.
Of course, when he said "how he died," he didn't specify whether it was a car accident or death from illness, but rather things like suicide, dying of old age, or violent death.
Ruan Bei was shocked: "You can even watch this?"
Qin Gu smiled and said, "It's not difficult at all. Once you get the basics down and learn to observe qi, you'll be able to do it too."
Although he was interested in trying his hand at being a real-life teenage detective, he was too curious and didn't have time to waste on this matter. It would be foolish not to use a helper he had.
"Tell me quickly, how did Grandma Sun die?"
"A violent death, certainly not a natural death."
Ruan Bei was a little confused: "Is what she said true or false? Is dying from a fall considered a violent death or a natural death?"
Qin Gu explained, "Dying peacefully in one's bed doesn't mean dying of old age in bed. It means dying when one's lifespan has come to an end. Even if a child falls and dies, if that's the lifespan they were meant to have, it's not considered a violent death."
"So Grandma Sun was really murdered?" Ruan Bei was both shocked and frightened, and couldn't help but feel afraid of the daughter-in-law he had never met.
Sigh, such an innocent child, I don't know what to say next.
Qin Gu sighed: "But that Granny Sun, I'm afraid she's not a good person either?"
Ruan Bei's eyes widened: "Why?"
"She carries the burden of murder, and the murders were even her own blood relatives."
Ruan Bei: "?!"
He instantly thought of the people who might have died at Grandma Sun's hands. Based on the information he had, his wife's family was out of the question—they lived so far away he knew nothing about them. His husband, though a relative, wasn't a blood relative. So the only possible culprit…
It's that "lost" child.
"Why, why?" Ruan Bei was extremely upset. How could there be such a person? Didn't she say that she raised her granddaughter herself?
"I don't know about that."
Seeing Ruan Bei's deeply shaken expression, Qin Gu tenderly touched his face: "Do you still want to investigate?"
Ruan Bei lowered his head, thought for a while, and said firmly, "Yes, I want to help find the little girl. If the child is still alive, I'll see if I can find her through the help of ghosts."
Through the time he burned offerings for Ma Chunhua, Ruan Bei discovered that there were indeed quite a few lonely ghosts in the city who were not worshipped and who usually hid somewhere.
"I'll burn paper money for them and ask them to help me find the person. Do you think that's okay?"
Qin Gu hadn't expected him to be so determined, daring to deal with wandering ghosts and spirits. But he knew he'd have to take this step eventually, so it was good to test his courage first.
So he replied without hesitation, "Sure, I'll keep an eye on the ghosts; there won't be any problems."
"That's settled then," Ruan Bei lay down, but suddenly a new question arose: "Didn't you say that the Celestial Master eliminates evil spirits? Why didn't you do anything about Grandma Sun killing someone?"
"You said it yourself, it's a demon that does evil, not a demon that is a demon that is evil."
Qin Gu said, "We only concern ourselves with matters that the underworld cannot handle. The sins she committed when she was a human will be judged by Yama, and she did not kill anyone after she became a ghost."
“What if there’s a particularly bad person, like a human trafficker!” This is one of the crimes that Ruan Bei finds most intolerable, but he feels the sentencing is a bit too lenient.
"If a human trafficker dies and doesn't do anything bad again, shouldn't we eliminate him?" To be honest, he felt that it wasn't enough to just let the human trafficker die once.
He respects and is willing to abide by the law, but sometimes his temper isn't so easy to calm down.
“Sure, as long as he still dares to stay in the mortal world after the forty-seventh day, you can kill him as you please, even if you beat him to a pulp. I’ll draw a lightning talisman for you, you can throw it anywhere, one bolt of lightning and it’ll be clean, quick and easy.”
Ruan Bei was relieved. "Please be careful. If any human traffickers happen to fall into his hands, don't blame me for being ruthless."
The next day was a school day, and Ruan Bei put all other things out of his mind and focused solely on studying.
Because he had to learn it again, his progress was already faster than that of other students, and he also consolidated his basic knowledge during the process.
Previously, he couldn't solve some difficult problems that were hard to understand, which slowed down his learning progress. But with Wang Bufan, the genius learning machine, Ruan Bei's learning efficiency was like it had been accelerated. He learned happily and enjoyably every day, and felt that he had made more progress than the day before.
He could clearly feel his grasp of knowledge deepening, which made his learning process easier and more enjoyable. He reduced his pile of old textbooks by two or three books a week, which was quite fast.
Wang Bufan received the exam papers that Ruan Bei had burned for him on Sunday night; same-city delivery is always faster.
Ghosts don't need to sleep, so after receiving the test paper, Wang Bufan was immediately excited and prepared to stay up all night to do two sets of questions.
It turned out he didn't have a pen.
This is truly tragic; no one expected this.
He could secretly use the students' pens, but they were still objects of the mortal world, so he could only touch them briefly. Grading papers was fine, but if he wanted to use them to do exercises, he'd probably drop the pen after writing just a couple of words.
So when Ruan Bei came to school, Wang Bufan asked him how his test was. He thanked him profusely, and then stammered that he could burn him a pen.
It's awkward. Ruan Bei didn't have time to help him when he was in school. He could buy paper offerings at the paper shop at noon, but he got out of school so late at night that he couldn't go far to burn paper money for him.
When in doubt, Ruan Bei immediately summoned his all-around childhood friend, who was good at everything except explaining problems, and threw the question at him.
Qin Gu lived up to Ruan Bei's expectations and immediately came up with a solution for him. He took some paper and rolled it into several pens for Wang Bufan—after all, the paper craft shop also rolled paper into cylinders.
Ruan Bei helped him make the pen tip, which was also made of paper and glued together. He also rolled out a finer pen core inside and dipped it in ink.
After sunset in the afternoon, I would find an excuse to go out during evening self-study, take the paper to the corner outside the men's restroom and burn it. There are usually boys smoking there, so leaving a little ash wouldn't matter.
As for drawing circles, it doesn't matter if he doesn't. The school is Wang Bufan's territory, so it's unlikely that a wandering ghost would steal his pen.
Wang Bufan was overjoyed to have pens and test papers. Every day, apart from the routine evening self-study sessions where he would go over questions and tutoring, he spent the rest of his time doing test papers. He had completed a whole set of test papers for three subjects, and by Saturday, there were hardly any left.
When there were only two sets left, Wang Bufan stopped writing in alarm. He had no questions to discuss on the weekend. If he didn't even have any more test papers, wouldn't he be bored to death like before?
No, we need to be more careful with what we do.
Wang Bufan reluctantly put away his last two sets of test papers, planning to do one set in the morning and the other in the afternoon on the weekend.
As for Ruanbei, the school arranged midterm exams this week, which can also be considered monthly exams. However, this time the monthly exams and midterm exams are combined, and the scope of the exams is broader and the standards are stricter than those of the monthly exams.
The school treats the midterm and final exams of each semester as major exams, strictly following the schedule of the college entrance examination. However, morning and evening self-study sessions are still required, but school ends earlier after the exams.
Perhaps to allow teachers time to grade the papers, the midterm exams were scheduled for Friday and Saturday, with school closed on Sunday and results released on Monday.
Saturday is my sister's birthday, and on Sunday I need to check on Grandma Sun's family's affairs. Ruan Bei finished her Chinese exam on Friday morning, and felt that she answered it very smoothly, so she was in a good mood.
Taking advantage of the early dismissal time, Wang Bufan bought all the well-known books on the market, such as "Huang X Secret Papers", "X Thirty-Eight Sets", and "Golden X Papers", at a bookstore near the school, so that he wouldn't run out of books.
I only went to the bookstore before because I was going to buy a gift for my sister, otherwise it would be more convenient to buy it at the school.
However, he didn't have time to burn it for Wang Bufan right now, so he could only take it back to his own home first. To avoid tiring himself and Kunkun out, Ruan Bei pulled a heavy load along—
He bought a big bunch of fried skewers for Dong Yangyang, and then very readily opened his backpack, letting Ruan Bei put whatever he wanted in it, and he carried it all back with him.
Over the two days of exams, Ruan Bei became more and more confident, probably because reviewing the material again solidified his foundation, and with Wang Bufan, the top scorer in the college entrance examination, helping him fill in the gaps in his knowledge and teaching him to grasp the key points and solve the problems.
Ruan Bei felt that he was particularly good at answering questions during the exam. He had encountered difficult questions, but none of them left him completely clueless.
He felt that he could solve the only math problem he hadn't finished, given a little more time.
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