Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Once she reached home and saw her own mother, Jin Qingyue let out all the grievances that were bottled up inside her. Finally, she exclaimed indignantly, “How dare they say that I’m a curse, what proof is there? This is too outrageous!”
Mrs. Jin replied unhurriedly, “If you don’t marry him, no one will be able to put the blame on you.”
“Mother, Shaochuan said it won’t affect our wedding.” Jin Qingyue continued irritably, “It’s his grandmother and those netizens making up all those rubbish.”
Mrs. Jin did not say anything further and lowered her head to continue knitting a hat.
“Mother, are you knitting this hat for me?” She sized it up and continued, “There are plenty of nice ones on the streets, stop knitting it.”
“I’m knitting this for your sister-in-law, not you. There’s no need for you to show your dislike.”
Jin Qingyue pouted her lips. “I saw the news, Sister-in-law’s joined the police force. Even with those qualifications of hers, she can enter the police force. Did she use my brother’s connections?”
“Since you’ve seen the news, didn’t you see that it was the newly appointed Bureau Chief who invited your sister-in-law to join?” Mrs. Jin said. “Look at your sister-in-law, even though she’s married to your brother, she still keeps herself busy. First, opening a shop, then helping the police to arrest criminals. I heard she still does yoga and swimming. People like her are living such enriching lives, look at yourself — you’re around that Shi Shaochuan all day and it still hasn’t gotten you dizzy.”
“Alright, alright, alright. My sister-in-law’s your hot favorite now, I’m like a pile of dog poop, okay?” She got up and headed upstairs.
Mrs. Jin darted a glance at her, feeling very affected.
—
Although it did not rain at night, the night breeze was quite strong, and the five sat in the police car, heading towards Wang Fangfang’s grave.
Her remains were buried in the countryside, at the village where An Xiaoning’s previous foster parents lived in.
The car stopped at the petroleum road outside the village entrance, and the five got off at once.
An Xiaoning led the group while Pan Zhenghui stood in the middle, and the five orderly made their way towards the fields.
As they knew it had just rained and the ground was muddy, they all wore rubber shoes when they came over.
There was no one in sight in the fields.
They all walked carefully in the muddy fields, but An Xiaoning suddenly stopped in her tracks and said in a low voice, “The four of you can wait behind this stack of hay, I’ll go by myself.”
Although Pan Zhenghui was very unwilling to go, he felt that since they were here, they might as well go and experience it themselves. Otherwise, he would not believe such a thing!
He believed in reading one’s fortune, but ghosts and spirits were something he had never seen, so he did not believe in them.
“We should go with you.”
Seeing that he was rather insistent, An Xiaoning then replied, “Alright, you guys can come. But don’t make any noise at all.”
The four nodded their heads unanimously. Actually, it wasn’t just Pan Zhenghui who did not believe in ghosts and spirits, the other three were even more skeptical about it. Especially Ma Jianguo, who had incredible doubts inside his heart and was not in the least convinced.
An Xiaoning finally stood before Wang Fangfang’s grave. The night sky was pitch black and it was very dark.
She thought about it and eventually spoke. “Wang Fangfang, I’m here to see you. I have something to ask you.”
There was complete silence.
An Xiaoning took a deep breath. “Wang Fangfang…”
Just as before, it was completely silent. The few of them wrapped themselves up tightly as it turned cold.
Having stood for almost half an hour, Ma Jianguo could no longer stand it. “A person’s death is like a lamp being wiped out. How can they possibly turn into evil spirits? It’s all rubbish, let’s go back, we’re just looking for suffering in the middle of the night.”
Pan Zhenghui said under his breath, “Err… Xiaoning, why don’t we go back?”
An Xiaoning gave a stern warning, “Don’t talk.”
“…”
Ma Jianguo rebutted, “Young Madam Jin, how can you talk to our Chief like that? You wanted to come here in the middle of the night, and we came here with you. Don’t tell me we have to stand here the whole night? Is there something wrong with you?!”
“Then all of you can leave first.” She seemed determined to continue waiting.
Without hesitation, Ma Jianguo turned to leave by himself. Pan Zhenghui could not possibly leave An Xiaoning alone here since she was someone whom they painstakingly invited.
But Ma Jianguo had taken only a few steps when a gust of strong wind came blowing from behind, leaving him blown down on the ground.
“Quick, squat down!”
Everyone squatted down in an orderly fashion, with both their hands supporting themselves by pressing on the muddy ground. When the wind had passed, An Xiaoning stood up, looking at a faint figure who had appeared and was sitting by the grave mound, back-faced.
“You really did not go and reincarnate. Why are you still hanging around the living world?”
“Hehehehehe…”
A voice that brought chills to one’s spine sounded, and, although the few could not see the figure, they were terrified upon hearing this voice.
With one hand clutching his police uniform, Pan Zhenghui’s whole body trembled with fright as he lay on the ground. On the other hand, Ma Jianguo, who had gotten quite a lot of mud into his mouth, crawled towards the other four.
“Don’t you already know why, cousin? Why are you asking me?”
An Xiaoning asked, “Did Shi Shaochuan’s parents die because of you?”
“So what if they did or didn’t? If not for this bunch of useless police, all these won’t have happened. I will make everyone who had used money to settle this matter die, they better watch out.” As soon as she finished speaking, another gust of strong wind started blowing. An Xiaoning looked up and saw that the figure at the grave mount had disappeared.
She let out a sigh. Although she had already expected it, knowing the truth still gave one the urge to sigh.
Turning as she flashed the torch, she saw the other four. Other than the two armed officers, Pan Zhenghui and Ma Jianguo’s postures were really unsightly.
“Let’s go now.”
The group hurriedly followed behind her. When Pan Zhenghui was standing up, he almost lost his balance and fell back down, but luckily, Gong Le was agile and held onto him immediately.
On the way back, there was complete silence in the car. No one uttered a word at all.
After a long while of driving, Ma Jianguo finally said, “I really got a huge shock just now. I think we need to find a priest to get rid of her. Otherwise, I really do not dare to think of what will happen. An old man like me has believed in science for so many years, I really didn’t think that I’ll be able to see such a thing.”
“No, we can’t do that,” An Xiaoning interjected over him. “Do you really think Wang Fangfang, who has such deep grievances, can be easily handled like that?”
“Then what do you suggest?”
An Xiaoning hesitated for a moment and replied pensively, “The one who created the problem should be the one to solve it. We should get Shi Shaochuan to ask for forgiveness and send her away.”
The thought of it angered Pan Zhenghui. “It’s all Shi Shaochuan’s fault, I heard her words just now loud and clear. She said she’ll make all those who used money to handle this matter die. Why do I feel that the next one would be Shi Shaochuan’s grandmother?”
“Let’s head back to the police station. We should get a change of clothes and go to the Shi residence.”
“Okay.”
“Boss, someone is calling again!” The sudden chiming of her ringtone jolted the other four. An Xiaoning answered it, “Hello.”
“When are you coming back?” Jin Qingyan inquired.
“Maybe about two more hours, you can sleep first.”
“Can’t you settle it tomorrow?” Jin Qingyan pressed her. “Come back soon.”
“I know.” She ended the line.
“Xiaoning, your ringtone is really special.” Pan Zhenghui chuckled.
“I’m used to it already, can’t be bothered to change it.”
The car headed to the police station first, and, after they got a change of clothes, they made their way to the Shi residence together.
The Shi family was in the midst of conducting a funeral. Seeing that An Xiaoning had arrived, Shi Shaochuan immediately questioned, “What are you doing here?”
