Lin Nianhe smiled and said his goodbyes after a few minutes of warm exchanges with each family, his amiable demeanor reminiscent of a little angel bringing warmth.
Inside the courtyard, the families exchanged knowing looks, all seeing the satisfaction in each other’s eyes.
Just a young girl, they thought. They could easily handle her; she had no choice but to cajole them!
In the car, Wang Shumei and Wen Lan each put an arm around Lin Nianhe’s shoulder, eyebrows furrowed.
"What are you actually planning to do?"
"No worries, really, no worries," Lin Nianhe chuckled and held up three fingers, "Three days, just three days, and I’ll take care of this."
"I really don’t get it, why are you so set on this place?" Wang Shumei, clearly irritated, glared at her, "The house is close to the school, but it’s not like there aren’t other options."
Leaning back on the seat, Lin Nianhe’s expression turned serious and cold: "That bastard hit me with a liquor bottle."
"Just because of that?"
"If Brother Yuncheng hadn’t moved quickly, the shattered bottle would’ve landed right at my feet," Lin Nianhe said, "I estimated, and there was about an 80% chance that the glass shards would’ve cut my face."
"He threw a liquor bottle? No, he wanted to ruin my face!"
"How is that any different from taking my life?"
Lin Nianhe touched her face as if still scared and breathed a sigh of relief, summing up, "A blood feud, and all I’m trying to do is get them out... I really am a kind soul."
"So... what’s your plan?"
When Lin Nianhe said top secret, she meant not a single word would be leaked.
That afternoon, they also purchased three other properties in a different alley, and this time it went smoothly. It seemed reality was reminding them that the world is mostly filled with normal people.
However, Lin Nianhe still hadn’t spent all of the half bag of cash.
After finishing their errands and having dinner, Su Yuncheng dropped them back at school and then went to handle another task Lin Nianhe had entrusted to him.
Later, past eight in the evening, Lin Nianhe left the dorm.
The dorm supervisor asked her, "Xiao Lin, where are you off to so late?"
"Auntie, something came up at home suddenly, I need to make a trip back," Lin Nianhe came closer, smiling affectionately, "I’ll probably return around eleven tonight, could you please keep the door open for me?"
Having previously benefited from Lin Nianhe’s kindness, the supervisor immediately nodded and pointed at the small window in the dormitory office, "Knock on the window when you’re back, and I’ll open the door for you."
"Thank you! I’ll try to come back earlier."
"Don’t rush, young people stay up late," the supervisor said, "Be careful on the road."
"Alrighty, then I’m off."
Lin Nianhe left the school cheerfully on her bicycle.
Outside the wall of her new house, she took out a red dress she had prepared in advance from her space, put on a purposely disheveled wig that was a meter long, whitened her face, and painted her lips bright red.
Lastly, she took out a square piece of red cloth.
She wasn’t sure about her disguise, so she checked her reflection in the mirror by the moonlight...
Lin Nianhe gave herself a scare and patted her chest to calm down.
Assured of her appearance, she quickly put away the mirror, lifted the hem of her dress, climbed the ladder, and peered over the wall to check out the courtyard.
The courtyard was dark now, with faint snoring sounds audible.
She took out a speaker and after turning it on, the sound of a woman’s weeping and sobbing, commonly heard in horror films, slowly poured out.
After placing the first speaker down, she fetched another one. This one played the well-known lullaby for aiding sleep, "Wedding Dress".
Lin Nianhe also deliberately loosened one of the speaker wires, adding a hissing and crackling noise to the music, which sounded particularly spine-chilling.
After setting up the speakers, she took out two battered red lanterns and placed them on the wall, half a meter to her left and right. The lanterns contained light bulbs, operated by remote control.
With everything ready, Lin Nianhe took out several wedding confetti cannons and aimed at the center of the courtyard, twisting them with a pop.
Red paper confetti, aided by the spring breeze, fluttered and danced beneath the cold moonlight.
The sound of the confetti cannons bursting interrupted the snoring.
"What’s that noise? Who’s setting off firecrackers?"
Murmurs of voices faintly carried over.
Lin Nianhe quickly retrieved the spent confetti cannons back into her space, then covered her head with a piece of square red cloth, and stood still on the ladder, peering through the small holes previously made in the cloth to observe the noises outside.
"What is that sound? Who’s crying? It’s so creepy."
"That’s not right, it sounds like someone is talking too..."
The burly man from the western house was the first to come out, cursing and muttering something under his breath.
He intended to tell the weeping woman to shut up, but as he stepped outside and looked up, he saw the red paper flowers scattered about the courtyard and the flickering red lanterns.
Amidst the flashing lights, a ghastly shadow on the wall seemed to flicker in and out of sight; the wind lifted a corner of the head covering, revealing a pale chin and blood-red lips.
With an ’ow’ the burly man fell backwards, trembling and stumbling over the threshold, and landed squarely on his behind.
He looked up in terror at the eerie red glow on the wall, a wet patch spreading beneath him.
"What’s going on? What’s happening?"
People from the eastern house also came out, including the very argumentative Aunt Wang and her son and daughter-in-law.
Catching sight of the red paper confetti and the horrified face of the burly man, Aunt Wang instantly realized what was happening and dragged her son with all her might: "Don’t go out, don’t go out! Come back!"
She pulled her son back and slammed the door shut, locking her daughter-in-law outside.
The daughter-in-law hadn’t reacted yet and was turning around to ask what was happening when she happened to see the red shadow on the wall.
Her shrill screams cut through the night, even more frightening than the music and sobbing from the speakers.
"Wa–wall... there’s som-something..."
"Help! Save me! Ah ah don’t come looking for me!"
The courtyard was particularly lively, with the burly man and the woman competing to hit high notes; the androgynous person came out, saw the spectacular sight above the wall, and simply rolled their eyes back and fainted.
Outside the wall, Lin Nianhe instantly put away the lanterns and speakers the moment the woman screamed, jumped off the ladder, stowed it too, and while taking off her red clothes and rubbing off the marks on the ground, she quickly rode away on her bicycle.
Lights were already on in the other courtyards of the alleyway. Fearing to bump into others, Lin Nianhe did not take the direct route but instead turned into a small nook she had noticed earlier.
There was a woodshed that conveniently hid a person and a bicycle; you wouldn’t find them unless you intentionally walked in to look.
The long night was prime time for enjoying the show.
There were neighbors who poked their heads out to watch the excitement, but hearing that it was the ruckus caused by a few ruffian households, they quickly retracted and locked their courtyard doors tight, not wanting to be involved and unable to shake it off.
Lin Nianhe was far enough away to hear the commotion but couldn’t make out the words.
She wasn’t in a hurry and sat leaning against her bicycle, waiting for the noise outside to completely die down, and for the people in other houses in the alley to go back to sleep. Then she mounted her bicycle and left the nook, heading back to school.
On her way back, she was pondering:
"This little game for promoting harmony and friendliness among neighbors is really not bad... Today was a Chinese horror theme, maybe try a little ghost tomorrow? Just don’t know if a foreign ghost will have the anticipated effect..."