Chapter 83: Twenty Yuan for Low IQ in Jiaomei City
Lin Zhuyue blew away another handful of incense ash.
There were also traces on the carpet near the floor-to-ceiling window. However, these weren't handprints, but shoe prints. They were scattered between the bed and the window, a messy, dusty mess.
There was also some incense ash on the photo on the bedside table.
This photo is a photo of Gu Qinghan and his girlfriend Li Renzhen. In the photo, Li Renzhen and Gu Qinghan are standing close together. She has a sweet smile, and her delicate eyebrows and eyes show sweetness and happiness.
But the incense ash had left behind messy fingerprints, one after another, stacked up in a chaotic mess, smearing Li Renzhen's face. Gu Qinghan's half of the photo, on the other hand, was spotless, without a single mark.
It was obvious that the thing that left the handprint was aimed at Li Renzhen.
Gu Qinghan witnessed all this with his own eyes and was very scared and panicked.
Even if you don't do anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door.
But think about it carefully, there is an invisible, dead existence around you, spying on and influencing your life, and you are completely unaware of it. How terrifying is that?
After a moment, Gu Qinghan asked cautiously:
"Is 'he' home now?"
His eyes moved. Even though he knew he couldn't see that existence, he still wanted to confirm whether the other party was nearby and secretly spying on them?
"No, don't be afraid."
Shi Can took out a wet towel, grabbed Lin Zhuyue's hand, wiped off the remaining incense ash on her palm, and said,
"This ghost probably follows your girlfriend most of the time. Has she ever had nightmares like you?"
Gu Qinghan shook his head and replied:
"I don't know, but I told her about my dream. She told me seriously not to believe in dreams and not to be influenced by them."
"No matter how I listen to it, I feel like your girlfriend must know something."
Wen Miyan pushed the trash can next to Lin Zhuyue with her foot.
"She'll be back tomorrow, right? How about this? Let's have a frank talk with her tomorrow. If she really refuses to reveal any information, we'll find other ways to investigate and get to the bottom of it. After all, the Spiritual Master's Mansion's logistics are not insurmountable."
Gu Qinghan agreed with the trainee spiritual masters' opinions.
That night, no one stayed at Gu Qinghan's house, but took Gu Qinghan out to stay in a hotel.
The hotel is owned by Gu Qinghan's father.
Gu Qinghan's father was a man of great refinement. From the construction to the renovation of his hotel, a spiritualist was involved throughout. Upon entering the lobby, one can see the Black Tortoise and a landscape filled with koi. The interior design is almost entirely wavy, with not a single straight line to be found. Avoiding sharp edges, the mountains are high and the waters are distant, and wealth is stored in the water—a concept that combines both aesthetics and feng shui.
Shi Chan observed for a moment and asked:
"Is it my mother's handwriting?"
Gu Qinghan said respectfully:
"Yes, my father invited both of your parents over, but due to schedule constraints, your father wasn't able to participate much."
Gu Qinghan asked the hotel to reserve the vice presidential suite for the trainee spiritualists to stay in. He also carefully asked them if they wanted to have a midnight snack. There was a menu in the room. They could call the lobby manager to tell them what they wanted to eat. The lobby manager would arrange for the kitchen to start cooking, prepare the dishes, and deliver them to the guest rooms.
Lin Zhuyue and Wen Miyan lived in the same room.
Both of them had taken a shower after returning to Tiancheng from Qinling Mountains today, so they didn't wash their hair in the evening. They just took a quick shower, changed their clothes, and went out for a walk.
Jiaomei City can barely be considered a big city, but it lacks the orderliness of a steel forest.
Small stalls can be set up freely in most places in the city. From time to time, you can see uncles and aunts selling fruits on the roadside, as well as barbecue stalls. The stall owners wear very domineering and social flowered jackets, and use fans to blow away the smoke coming out of the barbecue stoves, and also blow the fragrance into the noses of passers-by.
Lin Zhuyue and Wen Miyan walked around the street and when they returned to the barbecue stall, they saw Ye Yangjia sitting with his legs crossed waiting for the barbecue.
Lin Zhuyue asked, "Where is Shi Can?"
"He hates the barbecue stall's smell of lamb skewers, so he refuses to eat freshly grilled ones. He goes next door to eat beef pancakes and drink beef soup. Do you want lamb skewers? I'll treat you."
Lin Zhuyue wanted to try the local famous beef-stuffed pancake, so she rejected Ye Yangjia and went to find Shi Can.
Shi Can sat in a small room, drinking beef soup while waiting for freshly baked pancakes. After Lin Zhuyue came over, Shi Can asked the boss to make two more pancakes.
This house is not only a shop, but also the residence of the boss and his wife. The boss was cutting up half of the Qilin melon he had just bought. Since the two of them couldn't finish it, he gave a large piece to Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can respectively.
Shi Can took the melon, thanked him, and asked:
"How many years have you been working here?"
"Twenty-seven years."
The proprietress used a knife to cut into the pancake from the side, split it open, put the chopped beef in it, and said,
"It's going to be demolished in a few years. My husband and I are getting old, so we've agreed to quit after the demolition. But we don't know when it will be demolished, and we don't know if we can still work for 30 years."
Lin Zhuyue ate the sweet melon and asked:
"So you guys are familiar with things around here, right?"
"Yes, why not?"
The boss slammed the table and said,
"I'm quite shy and rarely chat with people. But this old lady is not shy at all. She loves chatting with people all day long, chatting with guests and neighbors. You say she chats with people her own age or older, it's okay, she can even chat with a three-year-old child."
The proprietress put the pancakes into a paper bag, put it in a small basket, and placed it on the table of Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can. After serving the meal, she poked the boss with her elbow, making him scream.
Lin Zhuyue smiled and said jokingly:
"You're not shy at all. You're quite talkative."
"Then you must know a lot, Auntie."
Shi Can lowered his voice and asked,
"Has anything happened in that incredibly expensive, aristocratic neighborhood next door?"
"Oh... let me think..."
The proprietress thought carefully for a moment before saying,
"That stupid dog chewed up the water pipe upstairs and burst it, flooding the downstairs. That's all it is... This residential complex was just built not long ago, so it's nothing serious."
Shi Can had to ask more specifically:
"Has anyone committed suicide?"
"Those who live there are rich people."
The proprietress said as she cleaned up the table.
"You're already so rich, why would you commit suicide?"
"Old woman, you can't be so absolute. Even rich people commit suicide."
The boss threw the watermelon peel into the trash can and said,
"In the neighborhood where my daughter and son-in-law live, isn't there a family whose parents have passed away, and the older sister and younger brother are fighting over the family property? The younger brother couldn't win over his sister, so he jumped from the eighth floor."
"You know what people are like nowadays... they're not satisfied with just giving half of the family fortune, they insist on holding onto it all, leading to the destruction of the family."
The boss and his wife chattered about old times, sometimes blaming the sister, sometimes blaming the brother, and sometimes saying that family harmony was much more important than having money.
Shi Can had no interest in listening to gossip because it was information unrelated to the mission.
Lin Zhuyue was very fascinated by what he heard.
After eating the pancakes, they went back to the hotel together.
Ye Yangjia and Wen Miyan had finished their barbecue and were on their way back to the hotel. However, they seemed to have encountered something and were talking to a young man who looked older than them.
The young man claimed to be a college student from a poor family, selling pen refills to support his studies. He sold pen refills cheaply, three boxes for only ten yuan, and hoped that Ye Yangjia and Wen Miyan would support him.
Ye Yangjia took out twenty yuan from his pocket.
The young man's eyes lit up, and he handed the three boxes of pen refills to Ye Yangjia, and took out some more from his canvas bag.
Ye Yangjia said, "I want three boxes."
The young man advised: "Buy a few more boxes, you won't be able to find such cheap refills in the future."
"Just three boxes, why would I need so many?"
Ye Yangjia put the pen refill back in his hand, grabbed the twenty yuan pen and paper that the young man was still holding, and said,
"Forget it, just give me back my money, I won't buy it."
The young man exerted force and snatched the twenty yuan from Ye Yangjia's hand. He took the money and the pen refill, turned around and got on the bus parked on the side of the road. In Ye Yangjia's stunned expression, he took the twenty yuan, the pen refill and the bus and left.
Ye Yangjia cursed: "Fuck?"
Wen Miyan patted Ye Yangjia's shoulder sympathetically.
Shi Chan stood aside, covering his mouth with his hands and laughing until his stomach ached.
Everyone continued walking on the way back to the hotel. Shi Can laughed non-stop. Ye Yangjia chased and beat him. Wen Miyan said she wanted Yves Saint Laurent's new lipstick, and there was a particularly beautiful color. Lin Zhuyue placed an order and bought one for her.
After returning home, Lin Zhuyue lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
She had a dream.
She dreamed of Li Renzhen, who looked younger than in the photo. There was also a young man who looked somewhat similar to Li Renzhen, but younger, around 22 or 23 years old.
These two people are arguing upstairs.
The young man was very excited. As the argument went on, he opened the window and threatened amid the thunder and heavy rain:
"Do you believe I'm going to jump from here?"
"You can dance if you want."
Li Renzhen's reply was very cold.
She didn't look at the young man, turned around to pick up the light blue Louis Vuitton bag on the sofa, and walked out with the bag.
The young man was extremely angry. He stepped on the window sill and jumped out with all his might. He fell from a height, his body hitting the ground with a "thump". Blood flowed out of his body, mixed with the rain, and dissipated like smoke.
He turned over and lay on the ground.
The security guard downstairs was terrified and immediately called the emergency number.
Li Renzhen also arrived downstairs quickly.
The young man saw her and gave her a smug look. But Li Renzhen seemed not to recognize him and walked past him quickly without even looking at him.
Lin Zhuyue's dream went backwards.
She once again saw the young man arguing with Li Renzhen, then he jumped down from a high place and lay on the ground with a smug expression, but was completely ignored by Li Renzhen.
After the dream repeated itself three times, Lin Zhuyue finally woke up. She got out of bed, went to the bathroom to wash up, and then went out to the cafeteria downstairs without waking Wen Miyan.
Shi Can was cutting a pigeon leg with a knife and fork. There was a hint of green in his eyes, and he yawned before putting the pigeon into his mouth.
Lin Zhuyue asked: "What's wrong with you?"
"I didn't sleep well. A stupid dog jumped off a building in my dream, over and over again."
Shi Can said viciously,
"I really want to get back Ye Yangjia's stupid twenty dollars and smear it on the face of that idiot who jumped off the building."
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