Chapter 4

The furniture city at the east end of the county town is not hard to find. It took me more than twenty minutes to get there on my 28-inch bicycle.

Ning Haoyu's shop is also easy to find. Just go straight in and the one at the very back, next to the toilet, is his.

I pushed my 28-inch bicycle in, and no one greeted me or asked what furniture I wanted to buy. Clearly, they didn't think I could afford their goods.

When I reached Ning Haoyu's shop, I saw a middle-aged man haggling with him.

Next to them was a pure black writing desk. The middle-aged man would occasionally tap on the desk and then chatter to Ning Haoyu, essentially saying that the desk wasn't worth the price Ning Haoyu was asking.

Although Ning Haoyu looked like a scholar, he had a bad temper. Hearing the man's words, he said, "If you don't think it's worth the price, go around the area. If you find a lower price, buy from them. If not, come back. The price is still the same, not a cent less."

The middle-aged man, who also had a short temper, shouted a few words about poor business skills at Ning Haoyu and then turned and left.

As the middle-aged man left, Ning Haoyu saw me and greeted me with a smile, "Li Chuyi, it's been a long time. How is your grandfather?"

I stopped my bike and said, "My grandfather is gone."

Ning Haoyu was taken aback and said, "Is that so? I'm sorry for your loss."

I pushed his shoulder and said, "Sorry for my loss, my ass. My grandfather didn't die; he just left, and I don't know where he went. By the way, do you have any new old furniture? I need a couple of pieces."

Ning Haoyu asked what I needed them for, and I said, "I'm planning to close the funeral parlor and open a fortune-telling shop. I'll make a living by fortune-telling from now on."

Hearing this, Ning Haoyu laughed and said, "You, can you really do it?"

I looked at Ning Haoyu and said, "You have too much bad luck in your Wealth Palace today. If I'm not mistaken, you haven't made a sale since you opened today."

Ning Haoyu touched his nose and said, "You guessed right. Well, take a look. All the new items are here. The warehouse is empty now, and I'm planning to change my business in a few days."

As I looked at the furniture in his shop, I asked why he was changing his business. Wasn't the shop doing well?

Ning Haoyu said, "My uncle opened a bigger store in the city and asked me to help. I'll be a shareholder there. The antique furniture business is tough in our county; there are too few rich people. In the city, there are more rich people, and my uncle has more connections, so it's easier."

He then asked if I had chosen anything. After looking around, I only liked the pure black writing desk at the entrance. I pointed and said, "That one, how much?"

Ning Haoyu looked and said, "That thing? If you want it, I'll deliver it for free on my electric tricycle. But as a friend, I have to warn you. That thing is a bit eerie. It makes a 'pop pop' sound at night, like someone is tapping a wooden block on it. It's quite creepy."

"Ah?" Hearing this, I started to find it unbelievable and thought he was just scaring me. After all, my grandfather and I had been in the funeral business for years and had never seen any ghosts.

Seeing my skeptical look, Ning Haoyu continued, "I'm serious!"

I countered, "If it's real, why didn't you sell it to that guy earlier?" Ning Haoyu smiled bitterly and said, "As a businessman, who doesn't want to make more money? I saw he liked it, so I tried to raise the price. That's a common business tactic. You don't understand."

I laughed at him, "I don't understand your business tactics, but you drove away the customer."

Ning Haoyu told me to stop talking nonsense and asked if I really wanted it. If I did, he would deliver it for free. If not, I could choose something else, but I would have to pay.

I have a principle about money: save a penny where you can. Since Ning Haoyu was giving me the desk for free and delivering it for free, why wouldn't I take it?

So I slapped my thigh and said, "I'll take it!"

Then I bought a chair and an old bookcase from Ning Haoyu, spending over 400 yuan.

Ning Haoyu delivered everything on his electric tricycle and helped me set up my shop.

As for Ning Haoyu's shop, he closed it directly since he was planning to change his business and didn't intend to run it for the next few days.

After setting up my shop, Ning Haoyu and I went to a nearby barbecue stall to eat skewers and drink beer.

I can't hold my liquor well, and after seven or eight bottles, I started to feel dizzy. Ning Haoyu was a bit better and could still support me, but his speech also became slurred.

He told me that the writing desk he gave me was from a family where an elderly person had died. It was said that the desk was the deceased's favorite place for writing and painting, so after the person died, the desk made sounds every night. The family couldn't bear it and decided to get rid of the desk.

Ning Haoyu saw that the desk was made of ancient pine wood and of good quality, so he bought it without asking for details. Later, he discovered the strange situation and found out more, but it was too late to back out.

Since he bought the desk, Ning Haoyu's business had gotten worse. Sometimes he wouldn't have any customers for several days. He thought about throwing the desk away but couldn't bear to, as he had paid for it.

I asked Ning Haoyu if the desk made sounds every night, and he said, "Not always. Sometimes it makes sounds for several days in a row, and sometimes it doesn't make a sound for half a month."

We arrived at my house, and Ning Haoyu was staying the night. My grandfather was gone, so he would sleep in my grandfather's room.

However, he was reluctant and said he didn't like the elderly person's room. He wanted to sleep in my room and let me sleep in my grandfather's room. Since Ning Haoyu was a guest, he had given me the desk for free, and helped me a lot, I agreed to his request.

We both fell asleep quickly, drunk.

Around two or three in the early morning, I heard a vague sound from the yard, like a door opening or someone moving a table.

"Creak!"

I turned over and continued to sleep, thinking it might be one of the tenants on the second floor returning. Besides the fat network manager, there was a night owl tenant, a woman in her late twenties, who was average in appearance but had a good figure. She worked at a KTV and often tried to pay the rent with her body, but I always refused.

I didn't want to lose my virginity so casually.

However, after a short while, another "creak" sound came, louder and more piercing, making my skin crawl.

I was sound asleep and shouted to the yard, "Can't you be a bit quieter in the middle of the night? Don't you know everyone is sleeping?"

After I shouted, there was no sound for a while, but just as I was about to fall asleep, another series of "creak" sounds came, clearly the sound of someone dragging a table across the floor.

I sat up from the bed with a start. I remembered the writing desk in the shop. Could it really be haunted as Ning Haoyu said?

I looked out the window, but the yard was empty, and there was no one on the stairs. It was pitch black outside, and I could barely make out the shapes of objects.

As I was looking, a black shadow flashed past me, and I was startled, stepping back a few steps and shouting, "Who's there?"

No one answered. The black shadow seemed to have gone towards my shop.

I turned on the yard light and slowly walked out with a flashlight, thinking it might be a thief.

Ning Haoyu also came out of the house and asked me in a low voice, "Did you hear that?"

I said, "I also saw a black shadow go into my shop. I think it might be a thief."

Hearing this, Ning Haoyu whispered, "A thief, let's go catch him."

I covered the flashlight with my hand, letting out a bit of light to see the way, and walked with Ning Haoyu to the back door of the shop.

The door was a solid piece of wood with no windows, so we couldn't see inside. I checked the lock, which was intact with no signs of being tampered with.

Ning Haoyu said, "Chuyi, are you mistaken? The lock is fine."

I was puzzled. Could I have been mistaken, or did the thief go upstairs?

Just as I was thinking, my shop made a "pop" sound, clearly someone tapping on the new writing desk.

Ning Haoyu looked terrified and whispered, "That's the sound, creepy, isn't it?"

I nodded and started to take out the key. Ning Haoyu grabbed my hand and asked what I was doing. I said, "How can we tell if it's a ghost just by listening? I want to see it with my own eyes."

Ning Haoyu held my hand and whispered, "Are you crazy? What if there really is a ghost?"

I thought for a moment, then bit my finger and drew a vertical line on my forehead, and did the same for Ning Haoyu.

He asked what I was doing, and I said, "The forehead is the gateway for evil spirits. If someone is haunted, their forehead turns black. I'm using my positive blood to seal the forehead, so the ghost can't harm us."

I paused and continued, "But these are things my grandfather taught me. I've never seen a ghost before, so I don't know if it works."

Ning Haoyu thought for a moment and said, "I've never seen a ghost either. Let's go and see. If it gets too scary, we'll run. There are so many people living in this yard, so we don't need to be too afraid, right?"

We agreed and opened the shop door together. As soon as the door opened, I shone the flashlight inside and saw that the writing desk in the center had been moved significantly.

A black shadow was crouching next to one of the legs of the desk.