Chapter 043 Jinjiang First Launch

Lame Brother's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked the man to take a seat. He took out his stool and sat down beside him, ready to eat the melon.

"My name is Cai Youming, I'm 32 years old, and I work for a financial company in Beijing," the man began to introduce himself seriously. "Last year, I used my family's savings and my own savings to buy a house in Beijing. My father passed away two years ago, and now only my mother lives alone in Qingshui Town."

"I was afraid she would be lonely, so I wanted to bring her to Beijing to live with me, but my mother refused to move no matter what and insisted on living in the old house on Gucheng Street."

"Gucheng Street?" Cripple Brother was a little confused. "That place is full of old bungalows that are several decades old. Almost all the people who originally lived there have moved away. The street is about to be demolished. Only those who are really poor will continue to live there. Your family is well-off, so why do you have to do this?"

Cai Youming agreed, "That's what I said. Not only is the old house unsafe, but there are also frequent water and power outages. Not to mention that my mother is already over 60 years old. She is simply suffering living there. I have repeatedly advised her to move out, but she is determined to live there and won't tell me why."

Lame Brother guessed, "So that's the case. The old lady must have her own ideas. Could it be that she is reluctant to leave the neighbors there, or the memories of your father?"

Cai Youming shook his head: "Neither of these is possible. First, she and my father didn't have a good relationship. They just lived together. She doesn't miss my father that much. Second, almost everyone on that street has moved away. Now there are only three families left there. In addition to my mother, there are her grandparents across the street and Mr. Luo next door. She has only a casual hello relationship with these two families. It can't be said that she is reluctant to leave."

Lame Brother: "I can't guess, but no matter what, we still have to let the old man move out quickly. It's too dangerous there, it might collapse any day!"

Cai Youming: "Yes, in order to get her to move out, I asked the company for 15 days of annual leave and returned to Qingshui Town to live with my mother. I planned to use this time to persuade her."

"During this time, I encountered a strange thing, a strange thing that was enough to change my world view."

Lame Brother rushed to ask: "Is it about that old man and the paper-stabbing incident? Tell me quickly, I can't wait any longer!"

Cai Youming nodded and glanced at Bai Mian. "Master, I've made it clear that I don't believe in ghosts or gods, but after what I've experienced, I'm a little skeptical."

"After returning to the ancient city street, I first accompanied my mother to visit the market, watched a circus performance, and then visited the neighbors opposite. There lived an old lady and her granddaughter. The old lady was old and hard of hearing, and couldn't hear what I was saying at all. But the little granddaughter was very smart. She said her name was Jiazhen, and her parents went to work in big cities, leaving her and her grandmother to live here."

"The door of Mr. Luo's house next door was locked. I guess he went out to collect junk. I was too lazy to visit him. That night, I had a long talk with my mother and persuaded her to move in with me. She was still stubborn. I could see that she must have something on her mind, but she didn't want to tell me."

"The next morning, I saw Old Man Luo. He looked the same as I remembered. I was very scared of him when I was a kid."

"I don't know his full name. People call him Luo Lao Han. He has a hunched back, always has an unshaven beard, and never washes his face. It seems that no one can see what he looks like. He makes a living by collecting rags. His yard is filled with scraps of paper and plastic bottles that he collects."

"Mr. Luo usually goes out with a big bag, and comes back in the evening with a full bag. No one knows what is in his bag."

"Mr. Luo is a single man in his sixties. When he was young, people introduced him to girls, but the girls left after seeing his appearance. Later, he got older and looked increasingly slovenly, so people who introduced him to girls stopped coming, and he remained single all his life."

"Mr. Luo likes children very much. Whenever he sees a child, his eyes light up. But his 'like' is different from that of normal people. His 'like' makes people feel scared. I remember when I was a child, he always followed me secretly when I came home from school, which made me feel creepy. Later, my mother chased him home with a kitchen knife and scolded him. He never dared to glance at me again."

"At that time, the neighbors were talking about him, saying that if this old man Luo continued to be single, he would definitely do something bad! My mother always told me not to get close to him."

"No way," Cripple couldn't help but complain, "With neighbors like this, why don't you move out as soon as possible? And your mother is a single old lady, what if something happens..."

Cai Youming quickly explained, "No, you don't worry about that. Although my mother is not young, she is very strong in combat. When she was young, she was a famous shrew. When she used the Lion's Roar, the whole street could hear it. She never suffered any loss. On the contrary, that old man Luo was a lonely and cowardly person. In addition, because of the previous conflict, he avoided my mother whenever he saw her."

"That's good." Lame Brother felt relieved and continued to eat melon.

Cai Youming went on to say, "When I came back this time, I saw that he was still the same, living alone and not causing any trouble. But the day after I came back, he actually brought home a paper doll and ostentatiously set off firecrackers at the door and set up a wedding hall. He actually, actually married that paper doll!"

"I couldn't help but be curious, so I went to ask him. He said he bought the paper figurine from a longevity clothing store. The paper figurine was originally a virgin who cleared the way for the dead, but he bought it home and made her his wife."

"He said he knew it was fake, but he just wanted to have hope. He was old and might die someday. He hoped that there would be someone to keep him company in the underworld so he wouldn't be alone."

"I didn't think much of what he said. I thought he was just superstitious. But who knew that after getting this paper doll, Mr. Luo's whole state changed. He has a rosy complexion every day, looks extra moisturized, and becomes cheerful and smiles a lot. It's like marrying a real wife!"

Lame brother waved his hand: "That's it, hey, it's nothing, it's probably a psychological effect, the old man feels that he has someone to accompany him in the afterlife, so he's happy in his heart, so naturally his face is flushed!"

Cai Youming said hurriedly, "Not only that, he also buys two servings of food every day. I can see it clearly because he passes by my house every day when he goes home. He used to buy only one steamed bun and a side dish, but now he buys two steamed buns every day!"

Lame Brother laughed: "You said he was superstitious, so it must be that he put the food in front of the paper man as an offering!"

Cai Youming immediately denied it: "It's impossible. Mr. Luo's family is very poor. He usually spends every penny carefully. He would never waste food like this, unless someone in his family needs to eat it."

Lame brother still didn't take it seriously: "It's just a steamed bun, you think too much, you said the paper man is alive, I thought you saw the paper man wake up with your own eyes!"

Cai Youming looked at the mobile phone that was live streaming nearby and said in a low voice, "There is one more thing. I am afraid that if I tell you, it will affect your live streaming room. Every night, there are sounds of sex and women screaming coming from Luo Laohan's room!"

Lame brother laughed: "Can't he watch movies?"

Cai Youming said seriously: "I am old enough to distinguish between movies and reality. I tell you, that is definitely not the sound in the movie, it comes from people in real life!"

The smile on Lame Brother's face froze. He suddenly had an extremely terrifying guess: "You mean, there is really a woman in his house? Oh my god, he wouldn't kidnap women, would he? This is a big deal, call the police!"

As Lame Brother was about to stand up, Cai Youming hurriedly stopped him: "Wait, don't be impatient, listen to me. I thought the same thing at the time, so one day, when Mr. Luo was not at home, I called the police and told them about the situation. The police rushed to his door, pried open the lock and went in."

"Where is the person? Has he been rescued?" asked Lame Brother anxiously.

Cai Youming slapped his thigh and said, "There is no one there! After the police and I went in, we found no one. There was only that bright red and green paper man lying on his bed with a weird smile on his face. I shuddered when I saw the paper man. It's hard to imagine that Mr. Luo actually put this thing next to his pillow!"

Lame Brother asked: "Didn't you look carefully? The woman might be hidden!"

Cai Youming shook his head helplessly: "The police don't have a search warrant, so they can't just search his house. Besides, there's no need to search. His house is just a small room, and the inside is clear. There's no place to hide someone. I looked under the bed, and it was empty. He doesn't have a closet, and his clothes are scattered everywhere. If someone was hiding there, it would be obvious at a glance."

Lame brother said tentatively: "...I have a terrible guess. When you went in, could the woman be lying inside the paper man? What if she was knocked unconscious and failed to ask you for help? Wouldn't she have missed the chance to be rescued?"

Cai Youming: "No, I checked the paper man. The colored paper on it is intact, there are no holes, and it is very light. I can confirm that there is nothing inside."

Lame Brother heaved a sigh of relief: "Huh, that means there is no girl trapped at all. I told you that you thought too much. Now that we have consulted the police, you are relieved now, right?"

Cai Youming was silent for a moment, then he said, "No woman was found in the house that day, and I thought it was a misunderstanding. I apologized to the police and Mr. Luo, and the matter was over. But the next day Mr. Luo actually bought a sexy women's outfit. This really makes people think about it. Who did he buy it for? He couldn't have worn it himself, right?"

Lame Brother was also confused: "It doesn't make sense. What do you think now?"

Cai Youming said: "All signs indicate that there is indeed a woman in his room, but only he can see this woman, not us."

"There is only one possibility—"

"This woman is a ghost. It's the paper-made man who has come back to life!"