Chapter 160: Jinjiang First Launch

The third primogenitor was a timid young man. He wore a plaid shirt, had a short crew cut, and wore thick glasses. He was the kind of person who would be hard to find if thrown into a crowd.

When he came to the table, he seemed a little nervous. He lowered his head and did not dare to look into Bai Mian's eyes. Bai Mian did not rush him, but waited quietly. After a few minutes, he finally prepared himself mentally and bent down to sit on the chair.

Bai Mian asked him gently, "What do you want to ask?"

The short-haired guy pushed up his glasses and said with a stammer, "Master, do you think there are people with red skin in this world?"

"Red skin?" Bai Mian thought for a moment, "It depends on what kind of red you mean."

"It's bright red, as red as blood," said the guy with the flat head.

Bai Mian shook his head. Although there were people of different skin colors in this world, none of them were like what he described.

The crew-haired guy said anxiously, "Sure enough, then, then I must have seen a ghost."

Xia Mang reminded him: "Hey, stop playing dumb and speak clearly. Why are you asking this question?"

The short-haired man glanced at Xia Mang and immediately blushed. He coughed lightly and said to everyone, "Sorry, everyone, I have misogyny. I get nervous when I see women, especially beautiful women. When I get nervous, I start to stutter and stammer when I speak."

Xia Mang said disdainfully: "What are you afraid of? I won't eat you!"

The crew-haired guy wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Haha, there's nothing I can do. This is my physiological reaction. I can't control it. Ahem, let's get back to the point. I'll start my story from the beginning."

"My name is Kong Qingsheng. I am a very unfortunate person. I was born in the countryside and lived with my grandparents since I was a child. My mother ran away when I was young. My father worked away from home all year round and I am not very familiar with him. I said that my misfortune is not because of my background, but because - I have been haunted by ghosts since I was a child."

Hearing this, everyone was very curious. Kong Qingsheng continued, "I have no memory before the age of five. This is because I was frightened. On my fifth birthday, I encountered a ghost and forgot everything that happened before. As for the details of the ghost, I can't remember it clearly. I only remember a woman with red skin and a birthday candle in the shape of a lotus flower."

"Lotus birthday candle? Is it like this--" Xia Mang stretched out her hand to gesture, "It was originally a gathered bud with an ignition point in the center. As long as the center is ignited, the lotus will bloom. Each petal carries a short candle. It's pretty nice. We played with it when we were kids!"

Kong Qingsheng nodded: "Yes, the Happy Birthday song will play while the lotus blossoms, and it can play for a long, long time, all night long."

Xia Mang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, that's it. It doesn't even have an on/off switch. It's so annoying! When we first turned it on as kids, the whole family didn't know how to stop the music. In the end, it was my dad who completely disassembled the Lotus and pulled the wires inside to solve the problem!"

Xia Mang was very excited when he spoke, but Kong Qingsheng looked sullen: "This kind of lotus birthday candle is the thing I fear most in my life."

Bai Mian frowned slightly and asked, "Why?"

Kong Qingsheng looked around and seemed a little afraid to say, "Because - because it was after I lit this candle on my fifth birthday that I saw a female ghost."

Xia Mang was very curious: "Female ghost, what does she look like?"

Kong Qingsheng bit his lip and said, "She looks exactly like in the movie, with long black hair and a pair of sad eyes staring at me. The scariest thing is that her whole body is bright red!"

"A female ghost in red?" Xia Mang suddenly began to doubt the truthfulness of Kong Qingsheng's words. Are female ghosts in real life really the same as those in the movies?

"It's not her clothes, it's her skin—" Kong Qingsheng corrected her, "I saw it clearly, her skin was all red."

Seeing Kong Qingsheng was so sure, Xia Mang didn't dare to say anything more. After all, she didn't know anything about ghosts. Everyone looked at Bai Mian.

Bai Mian asked: "Tell me the details clearly. How did you encounter a ghost on your birthday?"

Kong Qingsheng said awkwardly: "It's not that I don't want to explain it clearly, but my memory is originally very confused. I can only try my best to describe it. First of all, it was a night. My grandparents and I were in the countryside. My father also came back that day. He brought me a very beautiful birthday cake and the lotus candle. Our family had dinner in a small courtyard in the countryside, enjoying the evening breeze. Everyone was very comfortable."

"After dinner, it was completely dark. We took out the cake, cut it into several pieces, and ate one piece each. After we finished the cake, my dad remembered that he forgot to light a birthday candle for me. He took the lotus candle out of his pocket, placed it in front of me, and then lit the candle with a lighter. The lotus blossomed, and a warm and bright candlelight shone on our faces. I heard the humming Happy Birthday song in my ears - it came from the candle."

"Then, I put my hands together, closed my eyes, and prepared to make a wish. My family gathered around me and sang Happy Birthday to me. Halfway through the song, the song suddenly stopped. I don't know what happened. Screams filled the air. It wasn't just one person's voice, but several screams - everyone in the family was screaming."

"I opened my eyes to see what was going on, but everything was dark in front of me. I seemed to be temporarily blind. I heard my family yelling, tearing, and running. I became more and more anxious and burst into tears. I don't know how long I cried. My family members all calmed down, and I was finally able to see. I opened my eyes and looked forward. That's when I saw the female ghost."

"She was hanging in front of me like a painting, looking at me with a sad and sorrowful expression, as if she had no intention of hurting me at all. As for her appearance, I have already described it just now: long hair, big eyes, red skin. There seemed to be something connecting her arms and body. From a distance, she looked like a human-shaped bat."

"I passed out after just one look at her. When I came to, I didn't remember anything. Apart from these few impressive images, I didn't remember anything that happened before I was five years old. Later, my father took me to the city to go to school, and I quickly forgot about the things that happened in the countryside. The only thing I couldn't forget was the female ghost and the lotus candle."

"For so many years, whenever I see something shaped like a lotus or hear the Happy Birthday song, the shadow will reappear in my mind. I always have nightmares. In my dreams, I will see that female ghost. She never speaks, but just hangs quietly on the wall in front of me like she did when I was five years old, scaring me with her weird body. I always wake up screaming."

After saying this, Kong Qingsheng wiped his sweat again. He broke out in a cold sweat when he was speaking just now: "Because of my strange behavior, everyone thinks I am a weirdo. My classmates and colleagues all stay away from me, but I am really wronged. I am not a weirdo. I am just haunted by a female ghost! It is also because of this female ghost that I dare not talk to girls. As long as I see a woman, I will be afraid. My life has been completely delayed."

Xia Mang muttered, "I originally thought it was lupus erythematosus or something, but now it seems it's not. From your description, it looks more like a deformed person. Are there any deformed people in your village?"

Kong Qingsheng immediately denied it: "It's impossible. The village is not big and everyone knows each other. If there was a deformed person in someone's family, I would have known about it long ago and I wouldn't have been afraid for so many years."

Lu Xue said, "Why don't you just ask your family what happened? They are all adults, they must remember it better than you."

Kong Qingsheng sighed, "Oh, don't mention it. I've been asking them all the time, but they all said that nothing happened that year. We ate the cake and went to sleep. Everything was just my hallucination. So I suspected that I had a mental problem and went to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor said that I was fine and would not have hallucinations."

Lu Xue frowned, "That means your family is lying. They may have seen the female ghost with you back then, but now they are all silent about it. There must be something wrong."

Kong Qingsheng nodded: "I think so too, what happened back then must have happened! But so many years have passed, my grandparents have all passed away, and only my dad is left. My dad can't get anything out of me. Every time I mention this matter, he gets furious, so now I don't even dare to ask, I've been keeping this matter in my heart, it's really killing me!"

"I have also looked for several metaphysical masters, but they are all sellers. They sold me some talisman water, bracelets, Buddha amulets and other things, which have no effect at all! Fortunately, I saw Master Bai's live broadcast. I think Master Bai can solve my problem. I not only want to drive away this female ghost, but also want to find out what happened in the past and why this female ghost came to me."

Xia Mang muttered to himself, "That makes sense. If a female ghost wants to haunt someone, she should haunt the person who hurt her. Why would she haunt a child like you? It can't be that you hurt her. You were only five years old at the time. What could you have done?"

Kong Qingsheng: "I think so too, so, Master Bai, please help me diagnose and solve my doubts."

Bai Mian stretched out two fingers to hold Kong Qingsheng's pulse and saw his past. After a moment, Bai Mian let go and sighed heavily. Kong Qingsheng hurriedly asked: "Master, how is it?"

Bai Mian waved his hands: "Call your father and ask him in person."

Kong Qingsheng was puzzled: "What? I came to find you, but you asked me to find my dad?"

"Yes, because this will affect your later decision." Bai Mian said.

Kong Qingsheng was confused, but he still obediently called his father. The phone rang for a long time without being answered. Kong Qingsheng was a little worried: "Is my dad taking a nap?"

As he was talking, the phone was connected, and the rough voice of Kong's father rang from the other end: "Hello, son, what's the matter with you? Dad drank too much at noon, and just slept at home, so he didn't hear the phone ring."

Kong Qingsheng said cautiously, "Dad, I asked a master to tell my fortune today."

Kong's father laughed out loud: "Let's see, let's see when you can get a promotion, a raise, and marry a beautiful wife. Then my mission in this life will be accomplished."

Kong Qingsheng blushed: "Dad, you are wrong, I am not calculating these, I want to calculate...what happened on my birthday that year."

Upon hearing this, Kong's father's tone immediately changed. He sternly scolded, "Are you so full that you want to do this? I've told you eight hundred times that nothing happened that year. We just celebrated your birthday. Why do you insist on making a fuss? What on earth do you want to do?"

Kong Qingsheng summoned up his courage and said, "Dad, you always say that, but I remember it clearly. I saw a ghost that year. It was not an illusion. After so many years, this matter has always been a knot in my heart. Please tell me. If you don't tell me, I will never be able to concentrate on my work!"

Father Kong snorted a few times. Perhaps after hearing his son's last words, he wavered a little and changed his attitude. He said with a grievance, "Alas, son, it's not that Dad doesn't want to tell you, but it's just that I'm too embarrassed to speak up. This concerns the dignity of a man!"

"What exactly happened?" Kong Qingsheng asked.

Kong's father said in frustration: "Your mother - cheated on you!"

Hearing this, Kong Qingsheng also felt embarrassed. He lowered the volume and asked in a low voice: "Dad, what's going on? Please explain it clearly."

Father Kong started to talk: "You were still young at that time, and you don't remember many things. In fact, your mother was a very promiscuous woman. I knew she was this kind of person, but for you, I always tolerated her. I always went to the city to work, leaving her in the village to enjoy a good life. There have always been gossips in the village that she was involved with some questionable men, but I didn't expect that she would do such an excessive thing."

"That day was your fifth birthday. I went back to the village in the afternoon. Your grandparents were cooking for you in the kitchen, and I was sleeping in the bedroom. I didn't know where your mother went out and was not at home. I was too lazy to care about her. As long as I could save face, it was fine. But that day, she didn't come back until we finished dinner. I started to worry that she had an accident, so I went out to tell the villagers to help me find her."

"Not long after, just when I lit your birthday candles, the villagers came to my house to complain. They said they saw your mother run to the home of an old bachelor in the village. When the villagers found her, she was lying naked in bed with the old bachelor!"

"I got furious and rushed out with a machete. I went to the old bachelor's house and brought your mother back. Of course, I am a law-abiding person. I didn't really do anything. I just scared them. When I caught your mother, she was naked. I couldn't just take her home like that, so I tore off a piece of bed sheet and wrapped her up. The sheet was red."

"When we got home, you were crying loudly at home. It was at that moment that your mother came into your sight. She was covered in a red bed sheet, and her arms were shaking like a big bat. I guess that scene scared you, and you fainted on the spot."

"After that night, I packed your mother's luggage and drove her out of the house, telling her never to return to the village or see you again. After that, I raised you for so many years, but your mother never came back, and I don't know where she went. Now, this is the truth of the matter. Are you satisfied?"

"Ah..." Kong Qingsheng was still in shock and couldn't speak.

Father Kong said, "Look, what good is there in telling such a thing? First, I feel ashamed, and second, it is also a kind of hurt to you, so I have been unwilling to tell you, intending to take the matter to the grave, but I didn't expect you to be so persistent and keep asking, so I just told you, and I also took advantage of the drunkenness to say it out, son, you have to think more open-mindedly, look forward to everything, why do you have to figure out the past?"

Kong Qingsheng was ashamed and moved, and almost cried: "Dad, you are so great. You have endured so much silently. No wonder grandpa and grandma refused to tell me anything. This is really shameful. My mom is such a shameless woman! From now on, I will treat her as dead. You are my only family. Dad, I will definitely be filial to you!"

There was a satisfied laugh from the other end of the phone, and Bai Mian said, "I don't think he's drunk, but he's quite sober."

"What?" Kong Qingsheng asked in surprise after hanging up the phone.

Bai Mian pointed to Kong Qingsheng's phone:

"I mean—he's lying. The truth is exactly the opposite of what he says."