"Let me first tell you about my situation," Shangguan Jinzhu stretched out her slender finger, pointing at the man in the photo. "Like I said earlier, this guy is my ex. We dated for six months. To begin with, he wouldn’t even dare to hold my hand, often just wandering around the school, about half a meter away from me, swaying. Sometimes, when we got tired of walking, we’d watch a movie. While others were getting physical in the cinema, he would just sneak glances at me."
Yang Kai interjected, "Senior, let me interrupt for a second. Based on my many years of experience in judging people, this kind of guy is either a cross-dresser or GAY."
This time, Shangguan Jinzhu did not counter Yang Kai, but nodded and said, "At first, I thought the same because this guy’s always speaking so timidly and silently calculating everything in his head. But, he was quite meticulous with what he did and took good care of me. It was precisely because of this that I went out with him. But..."
"But he cheated," Wei Shuxian chimed in, pushing up his glasses and smiling.
"No, if he had cheated, I would have had someone chop him into pieces and throw them into the Qiantang River for the fish!"
When talking about chopping people, Shangguan Jinzhu’s expression was casual, as if she were chopping not a person but a fish head.
You looked at Shangguan Jinzhu and asked, "Did you dump him?"
"Exactly," Shangguan Jinzhu nodded. "That guy changed his usual ways; he became careless and clumsy around me, so in a fit of anger, I kicked him to the curb."
"See, I told you these types are nothing but scoundrels in disguise," Yang Kai gloated post-facto.
Shangguan Jinzhu glanced at the three of you and sighed, "Normally, with my personality, once I’ve kicked them to the curb, I definitely wouldn’t bother with them anymore. But for some reason, these past few days, I keep dreaming about that day’s incident, waking up from nightmares in the middle of the night. So I called you guys."
You raised your eyebrows and immediately asked, "What incident from that day are you referring to?"
Shangguan Jinzhu glanced around and lowered her voice slightly, "The things I’m about to say, most people would never believe because I’ve heard you caught ghosts before and battled with zombies, that’s why I’m asking for your help."
"Let’s hear it," you said, also lowering your voice deliberately.
"The day before yesterday was Qingming Festival, and neither of us went back, so we stayed in the school and got bored. So, we went to see a movie. On our way back from the movie, we happened to pass through an old street. There weren’t many people on the street by then. Some elders were burning stuff in front of their houses, and some even set out some rice and food with three joss sticks stuck in the rice," she said, her voice trembling noticeably as if she had gone back to that night.
"Then what? Did you encounter something?"
"Since I had a bad feeling about that street, I wanted to detour to another pedestrian street. So, we turned into an alley. The alley was dark and terrifying, so we were rushing through, and both he and I accidentally knocked over someone’s food and the metal basins for burning paper money. At first, it was nothing, but since the alley was so spooky, I took out my earphones to listen to heavy metal music to lighten the mood. Then guess what happened!"
"A ghostly wail came through the earphones?" Yang Kai asked with a cheeky smile.
"No, it was funeral music! My phone started playing that kind of music you hear when someone passes away, with the gongs, drums, and suona mourning tunes!"
At this point, Shangguan Jinzhu appeared even more frightened, "Since I was young, that sound has been what I fear the most. Hearing even a bit of it makes my skin crawl."
"And what about him?"
"Him?" Shangguan Jinzhu looked disdainful. "I let him listen for a bit, and he said he heard someone calling him to turn around."
Yang Kai: "What happened after that?"
Shangguan Jinzhu rolled her eyes, "He ran away."
"Yeah, like a mouse that sees a cat, he just bolted. There was at least ten meters left to the end of the alley, and he dashed out in the blink of an eye."
"And then? Then I kicked him out, and gave him a good beating on top of that," Shangguan Jinzhu’s face showed an even stronger disdain, "Hey, do you guys have no shame at all?"
Shangguan Jinzhu had launched a Map Gun, blasting all three of you at once.
"That guy, while he was dating me, he didn’t even dare to hold hands, but then he’s in bed with another woman on the afternoon right after we broke up in the morning. Isn’t that a huge difference?" As she spoke, Shangguan Jinzhu picked up a photograph, pointing to the woman in the picture with big curly hair and slightly gaudy makeup, "Tell me, is the gap between me and her really that big?"
You pondered for a moment, then said to Shangguan Jinzhu, "Did you invite us here to deal with your own issues, or your ex?"
Shangguan Jinzhu slammed the table, attracting the attention of everyone around her.
She didn’t care about the various gazes from the people around her, and said gravely, "Let’s address my problem first."
"Alright, then tell us about your current situation."
"After that day, I had nightmares for two consecutive nights. The first one, I kept hearing the kind of mournful music that sends shivers down my spine; the second, I dreamt I was sleeping in a coffin. In the dream, I was pounding on the coffin desperately, and when I managed to open it, I found myself surrounded by corpses, and they were carrying me to the graveyard!"
As she spoke, fear once again flickered in Shangguan Jinzhu’s eyes.
After giving Shangguan Jinzhu a few glances, you said with a smile, "This little problem of yours is not convenient to talk about here with so many people around. Let’s step outside."
Shangguan Jinzhu was decisive and efficient in her actions, much like her dress style—never dragging things out.
Once out of the café and seated in the passenger side of Ye Xiao, Shangguan Jinzhu turned to you and said, "I really didn’t expect you to like driving such a rugged, domineering car."
You, who had just started the car, couldn’t help but ask with a laugh, "What kind of car do you think I should be driving?"
"Something like what those Little White Faces drive, you know, Mercedes or BMW sports cars or something."
"Little White Face..."
Shangguan Jinzhu’s words caused the other two in the back to laugh until they cramped up.
Speaking of which, Shangguan Jinzhu added, "Oh right, I’ve always wanted to ask you, how much does Goddess Wu pay you a month?"
Yang Kai was laughing so hard in the back seat that he was cramping up!
However, hearing such a question didn’t anger you at all, and you grinned, "Three hundred yuan a month."
"Huh?" It was Shangguan Jinzhu’s turn to be surprised, "If you don’t want to tell me, just forget it. Why make up such a pointless lie?"
"Hehe, this really isn’t a lie. It’s our agreement from thirteen years ago." At this point, the car had already pulled out of the parking space and entered the road, heading for No. 72, Baojia Street.