In the dead of night, there was a sudden, ear-piercing scream, which woke up not only the Bai family but also several families living in nearby courtyards.
Through the window, I could see the people in the room turning on the lights, or walking through the window or out of the house, heading towards the place where the shouting came from. Several strong men were holding sticks and kitchen knives in their hands to prevent any accidents.
"What's going on?"
Bai Fangqiu was obviously also awakened by the noise. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts with a long-sleeved jacket on the outside, and walked towards the outer courtyard. Jiang Yilu and Jiang Erni, who lived in other rooms, also came out of the house. Sanni was sleeping like a dead pig. She was only woken up for a while in a daze, and now she fell into a deep sleep again.
"I don't know, Grandpa, you go back to your room first, Xiaobao and I will go over and take a look."
Jiang Erni felt extremely annoyed when she thought of the group of people living in the outer courtyard again. She had long disliked those people who took advantage of her and acted like a good kid. She originally wanted to help Uncle Bai drive them away. But she hesitated again when she remembered what her mother said before she left.
What kind of status did she have to manage the affairs of the Bai family's old house? People who didn't know would think that she coveted this yard. Jiang Erni treated Bai Fangqiu with respect and love from beginning to end. Whether Grandpa Bai had money or not would not affect his position in her heart. But when her mother said this, it seemed as if she was being nice to Grandpa Bai just for the money.
Jiang Erni frowned, feeling a little annoyed.
"No need, I'll go with you." Bai Fangqiu waved his hand and walked out of the house.
At this time, many people had gathered in the outer yard, and many of them were holding flashlights, illuminating the yard. In the middle of the crowd, a woman was lying in the empty yard, trembling with a pale face.
"Aunt Yu, what's wrong with you?"
A woman in floral pajamas came forward and tried to help the person up. As soon as she touched Wang Lan's hand, Wang Lan screamed again.
"Why are you making so much noise so late at night? Can't people live in peace?" A rough roar came from the house. Yu Sheng rubbed his aching head and walked out of the room with a grim expression.
"Aren't you going to the toilet? Why are you squatting on the ground?"
As soon as Yu Shengyi came out, the people who had surrounded him consciously made way for him. Only then did he see his wife collapsed on the ground.
"Ghost, there is a ghost."
Wang Lan's voice trembled, her teeth chattered, her legs trembled, she pointed at a blue brick wall, turned her head away and dared not look.
She used to go to the public toilet in the courtyard to relieve herself. There was a spittoon in the room, but the feces were too smelly. If she left them there overnight, the whole room would be stinking. If Yu Sheng was in a bad mood, she would be beaten.
The outhouse in the courtyard was built by everyone together. It was a simple wooden shed with two toilet buckets. Each family in the courtyard took turns carrying the toilet buckets to the manure pit outside. Because of the strong smell, the outhouse was built in the northwest corner of the outer courtyard. It used to be a flower garden, but now it has been cleared to grow vegetables.
When she went there at night, the area was pitch black. Wang Lan was afraid of stepping on other people's seedlings and causing trouble, so she brought a flashlight with her.
Flashlight! Wang Lan came back to her senses a little. She was frightened and fell to the ground. The flashlight seemed to have fallen to the ground. She looked around and saw the flashlight on the ground with the lens shattered. Her heart sank again.
"You're such a loser, you broke the flashlight in the toilet. I think you deserve to be punished. I'll beat you to death."
Yu Sheng naturally also saw the broken flashlight. Without saying a word, he walked up to Wang Lan, grabbed her hair, pulled it hard, and swung his fist to hit her.
"Okay, Yu Sheng, calm down and teach your wife a lesson before you go back. Just now your wife yelled that she saw a ghost. What's going on?"
A tall and strong man blocked Yu Sheng's fist. In his opinion, it was natural for a husband to teach his wife a lesson. He didn't want to stop Yu Sheng, but Wang Lan's scream woke them all up, so it made no sense not to give an explanation.
"Damn it, I think she has lost her mind. Where in the world can ghosts come from?"
Just as he finished speaking, a cold wind blew past and everyone shivered. They looked at the silent surroundings and the cold and pale moonlight and felt a little uneasy.
"No, I really saw a ghost just now."
Wang Lan's teeth were chattering as she shivered, "I was just about to go to the toilet when I felt as if someone was staring at me. I turned around and saw several figures flashing past on the blue brick wall. They were wearing cheongsam and headgear and suddenly appeared in the courtyard opposite."
Wearing a cheongsam and a headdress, that was the attire of the concubines and maids in the Qing Palace. It has been a long time since the Qing Dynasty fell. Unless these are the wronged ghosts from the Forbidden City who have escaped.
Wang Lan's face was pale and she looked a little nervous. She stared at the people around her and her tone was so terrifying that it gave people goose bumps.
"Really? That palace maid turned around and smiled at me. Her tongue stuck out so long and her eyes were red." Wang Lan's voice was sharp and piercing. Thinking of the horrifying scene just now, she couldn't help but hold her head and scream.
"You must be kidding. You must be dazzled."
The people around her saw her serious expression and thought that she was not lying, but it was too absurd to be believed.
In the past few years, when the Four Olds were destroyed, anyone who dared to talk about ghosts and gods would be criticized. The situation is better now, but no one dares to get involved in such troubles.
"Yu Sheng, I think your wife may be ill. I saw it wrongly. Take her back and let her have a good rest."
A woman pulled her coat closer and felt that it was getting colder outside. Thinking about what Wang Lan had just said, she didn't dare to look at the blue brick wall.
"That's right. How could there be ghosts in this day and age? Wang Lan must have seen it wrong."
After the woman spoke, another group of people seconded her opinion. If there really were ghosts, how come they had never seen one in their lives after living here for more than a decade?
"Okay, come back with me and don't embarrass yourself outside anymore."
Yu Sheng still reeked of alcohol. He picked up a flashlight, which he wasn't sure if it was still usable, grabbed Wang Lan's hair, and walked into the house.
After the main characters left, the rest of the people also dispersed. It was the middle of the night and they still had to go to work. However, everyone who left subconsciously avoided the blue brick wall.
Although they said they didn't believe it, they were actually a little shaken in their hearts.
"Really? I'm so surprised. Where in the world can ghosts come from?"
Since she started studying medicine, Jiang Erni no longer believed in these ghost stories. In her opinion, this was definitely a new trick thought up by that fierce woman. Who knew what she was thinking behind the scenes.
"Xiaobao, what do you think?"
Bai Fangqiu was silent for a while, then asked Jiang Yilu.
"My second sister and I are the same. There are no ghosts in this world." Jiang Yilu said to Bai Fangqiu in a normal manner, with clear and honest eyes.
There are indeed no ghosts in this world, but there are people who are afraid of ghosts.
*****
Daxing Hutong is haunted. This is the big news that has spread from the Bai family yard these days. The idle housewives have found a new topic to talk about. Different versions of the story spread, each with details and details, as if they had experienced it themselves.
However, ever since Wang Lan saw a ghost that time, it seemed as if the box that had been locking up the fierce ghost was suddenly opened, and after Wang Lan, several other people had seen ghosts.
I was walking on the street and a ghost patted my shoulder. When I turned around, there was nothing.
When I got home from work in the middle of the night, I heard shrill laughter surrounding my ears, but I couldn't find the source of the laughter no matter how hard I looked. It was as if it appeared out of thin air.
The ghost was not only active in the Bai family's yard, but also frequently visited several nearby houses.
As such incidents became more and more frequent, people living in the yard gradually became restless.
Some of the timid ones secretly consulted a few fortune tellers and masters, and took some talismans and protective amulets to keep close to their bodies. However, the situation did not improve at all, perhaps because the masters' skills were too weak or the ghosts were too powerful.
The people living in those courtyards had more than just one place to live. Some of them had parents to rely on. Those who had children were afraid that their precious children would be killed by wild ghosts, so they gritted their teeth, packed their luggage, and went back to their parents' homes to squeeze in with their brothers and sisters.
Of course, there are still some people who are still in a wait-and-see stage.
After all, wild ghosts are still roaming around, but they haven't harmed anyone yet.
******
"Xiaobao, are you going back to Daxing Hutong today?"
As soon as the get out of class was over, Jiang Yilu was about to walk out of the classroom when he was stopped by Jiang Wencheng who had been waiting outside.
"Yes, there have been ghosts in Daxing Hutong these days, so I have to go back to accompany Grandpa Bai." Jiang Yilu said to Jiang Wencheng, holding several thick professional books in his arms.
"But it won't be long. I'll be back in the dormitory in a few days."
Although they had not been in school for long and had not spent much time together, Jiang Yiliu still liked Jiang Wencheng's personality very much.
"Forget it, forget it. Let's go back to the dormitory and put down our books. Then hurry to the cafeteria to grab a seat. If we go too late, Chef Niu's signature minced pork and eggplant will be gone."
Jiang Wencheng was a little puzzled. Could it be that Xiaobao knew that the ghost would be quiet in a few days? He didn't think about it too much and urged Jiang Yiliu.
The morning classes are supposed to end at 11:30, but today's teachers are very responsible, especially the old teachers, who can't stop when they get excited. It's almost twelve o'clock now, which is when the cafeteria is busiest.
When the two returned to the dormitory, Mao Dashuang was the only one there. When he saw Jiang Yilu and Jiang Wencheng coming in with books, he subconsciously closed the lunch box in front of him.
"They're all out?"
Jiang Wencheng threw his schoolbag onto the bed and asked Mao Dashuang, "Wang Nan's wife is here to see him, but Wang Dongsheng and Xia Ai haven't come back yet."
Although Jiang Yilu had not come back to spend the night these days, he would still go back to the dormitory for a nap every day. Except for the first day when his things were rummaged through, everything was normal in the dormitory afterwards. Jiang Yilu felt relieved and regarded the incident as an accident.
"You should eat the dry food you brought from home. Xiaobao and I will go to the cafeteria and get you some food."
Mao Dashuang hid it very well, but Jiang Wencheng still saw what he ate these days. They were all fist-sized steamed buns, dark yellow in color, with almost no white flour mixed in. Because they had to be stored for a long time, the steamed buns were made very dry and hard like rocks. Mao Dashuang took two or three steamed buns to the uncle in the cafeteria to heat them up for each meal, and then drank a pot of cold boiled water to soak the steamed buns in his stomach. Only when he was really hungry would he go to the cafeteria to get a portion of cabbage, and even sucked up the vegetable juice with the steamed bun. Jiang Wencheng noticed that Mao Dashuang brought a sack of dry food, probably planning to eat for a month or two.
How could the body sustain eating like this for three meals a day? Especially since Mao Dashuang was a very hardworking person. Every day after the lights were turned off, he would borrow everyone's flashlights and hide in the quilt to read. Sometimes Jiang Wencheng would get up at one or two o'clock in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and the light in his room would still be on.
"No."
Mao Dashuang's face didn't look very good, and he pressed his hand on the lunch box even harder.
"I'm so hungry. Let's go eat first." Jiang Yilu interrupted this unhappy topic, winked at Jiang Wencheng, and walked out of the house.
Jiang Wencheng was too stupid to notice Mao Dashuang's displeasure. After hearing Jiang Yilu's words, he patted his rumbling stomach and said, "I don't know if the minced meat eggplant is sold out. If it doesn't work, just buy half a pound of vegetarian noodles and pour the hot sauce your grandma made on them. It tastes so good."
Jiang Wencheng licked his lips, pulled Jiang Yilu and ran to the cafeteria.
The two men went out, and Mao Dashuang, who was alone in the dormitory, opened his lunch box, which contained a half-eaten steamed bun.
He picked up the steamed bun and put it in his mouth. It was dry, astringent, and stuck in his throat, just like he was chewing sand.
For the first time, Mao Dashuang felt that the food he had been accustomed to since childhood, which was even considered pretty good, was so hard to swallow.
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