When I returned to the courier station, everyone else had gone home after get off work, except for Lin Xiaoxue who hadn't gone home yet.
"Sister Lin, are you still not done?" I walked over, swiped my card, and asked.
"Almost done, we'll be going back soon." Lin Xiaoxue looked up at me and smiled.
"Okay, I'm going back to rest now, bye-bye." I said goodbye to Lin Xiaoxue and walked outside.
"Zuo Changming," Lin Xiaoxue suddenly called out to me.
I turned to look at Lin Xiaoxue and asked, "Sister Lin, is something the matter?"
"Um... Zuo Changming, could you draw me a talisman?" Lin Xiaoxue hesitated for a moment before asking.
"Um, it's possible, but I don't know if it will work." I felt that Lin Xiaoxue seemed to have something on her mind, but she didn't say anything, and I was too embarrassed to ask.
"It's okay, it's nothing really. I've just been having nightmares lately, and I wanted a talisman to put my mind at ease," Lin Xiaoxue said softly with a somewhat forced smile.
"Okay, I'll draw it for you right away."
Anyway, drawing a talisman doesn't take much time. I found a piece of paper at the courier station and drew it from memory in no time.
I handed the talisman to Lin Xiaoxue and said, "I don't know if it will work."
"It's alright, thank you, Zuo Changming." Lin Xiaoxue took the talisman and carefully put it into her bag.
"You're welcome. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now." I wondered if Lin Xiaoxue had also encountered something evil, or perhaps her son. But since she didn't say anything, I felt awkward asking, lest I offend someone.
"It's alright, you can go back and rest." After saying that, Lin Xiaoxue started packing her things to leave work.
After saying goodbye to Lin Xiaoxue, I returned to my little house, took my clothes and went to take a shower. When I came back, I saw two missed calls from Tong Liu on my phone.
I quickly dialed the number, and Tongliu answered very soon.
When Tong Liu arrived at the courier station, he found no one there and had no idea where the house he lived in was.
I hung up the phone and rushed over to pick him up.
With a few bottles of beer in his left hand and a bag of peanuts in his right, Tong Liu walked into my little hut, looked around, and said, "Damn, I didn't expect there to be a brothel in the courier station."
My face immediately darkened. "What the hell are you talking about? I've never even had a girlfriend."
"Hehe, just kidding. It's been years since we slept together. Let's have a few drinks and chat tonight," Tong Liu said with a grin, shaking his beer.
"Okay." Actually, it's been a long time since I've had a drink with Tong Liu.
After graduating, I started looking for a job. I changed jobs several times before finally getting a job at a courier station. I've been doing this for two or three years now. Being a courier isn't actually that tiring, but during peak online shopping seasons, it gets so tiring that you want to curse.
Tong Liu bit open a bottle of beer and handed it to me, then picked up another bottle and bit open it himself.
I took the bottle, clinked it with his, and then tilted my head back and took a big gulp. Actually, I'm not a big drinker. When I go drinking with Xu Dalong and the others, I can only handle one glass of strong liquor, but I can drink two or three bottles of this kind of beer without getting drunk.
"It's a pity Bao Si went to work in another city, otherwise the three of us could have a proper get-together." Tong Liu peeled a peanut and threw it into his mouth, saying with some emotion.
"Yes, he only comes back once a year, and he's very busy most of the time." I nodded in agreement.
"He's coming back for Chinese New Year this year, so the three of us can have a good get-together."
Tong Liu picked up his bottle and clinked it against mine before gulping it down. Of the three of us, Tong Liu was the biggest drinker, capable of downing two and a half jin of baijiu and drinking beer as much as he wanted.
"We'll see." I thought about my own situation. My birthday, which falls in a little over two months, is in my birth year. I don't know if I'll be able to get through it, so I didn't dare to make any promises to Tong Liu. Besides, I've never mentioned this to them before.
"Changming, do you think ghosts really exist in this world?" Tong Liu had finished his beer, put down the bottle, and asked me.
"Yes," I answered, nodding earnestly.
"You've seen it?" Tong Liu asked back.
"Yes, I have." I answered seriously again.
"Where?" Tong Liu asked after taking another sip of beer from a bottle he had just opened.
I told him about Ma Jiajie's whole story from beginning to end.
"You hired Hu Tudao to catch ghosts? Isn't that guy a thief? He came to our neighborhood to steal things a few years ago. Luckily, I didn't catch him, or I would have gotten a beating. Did he fool you?" Tong Liu looked at me with disdain as he spoke of Hu Tudao.
“Hu Tudao has learned his skills now. He and his father often go out to perform rituals. He is quite capable, and I don’t know how many red envelopes he has received.” I told Tong Liu about Hu Tudao.
"Heh, I really didn't expect that kid to change his ways." Tong Liu sneered. He truly looked down on Hu Tudao.
Tong Liu and I chatted and soon finished four or five bottles of beer. My head was spinning a bit, but with Tong Liu by my side and the alcohol in my mouth, I wasn't scared at all tonight, and soon I fell into a deep sleep.
...
In a daze, I heard someone calling me, and then I felt a burning pain on my face. I opened my eyes and saw Tong Liu staring straight at me.
"Why did you hit me if I wasn't going to sleep?" I rubbed my eyes and said, annoyed.
"Get up and see for yourself, how did you end up here?" Tong Liu said irritably.
I glanced around and then jumped up. The scene in front of me was so familiar. Wasn't this the dance studio on the second floor?
"I was sleeping soundly, how did I end up here?" I asked, my face pale, the drunkenness instantly dissipating.
“You’re asking me? I’d like to ask you the same thing. You went to bed at 10 p.m. after drinking, and I went to bed too. I got up to go to the bathroom at midnight and found you were gone, and you didn’t take your phone either. So I looked for you everywhere and saw the light on on the second floor, so I came up to check. I didn’t expect you to be sleeping on the floor here.” Tong Liu glared at me and said irritably.
I thought about it for a moment, and then my whole body started to go numb. I grabbed Tong Liu and rushed downstairs back to my little room. I closed the door and said softly, "I just had a dream. I dreamt that a little girl came to find me. That little girl was Xu Huihui, who died in the dance studio a month ago."
"What nonsense, little girl. I bet you're sleepwalking. Are you thinking of going up to peek at those dance teachers?" Tong Liu looked completely unconvinced.
I didn't know how to explain it, so I sighed, checked the door again, and went back to bed.
When Tong Liu saw that I wasn't talking, he thought I had run out of things to say, so he ignored me, lay down on the bed, and soon started snoring.
I heard Tong Liu snoring, and for some reason, I felt less scared. After a while, I also fell asleep.
But when I woke up the next day, I was terrified again.
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