Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 201: Dirty Little Devil
Standing in front of the blacksmith shop, Lu Sanlang had a modest and sincere smile on his face. This was a trick he and Zhang Shou had learned, that is, to only show your smug and arrogant side in front of the people closest to you, and in front of outsiders, you can be righteous, indignant, passionate, modest and polite... but never show an expression that makes people want to slap you.
This positive image makes him seem approachable. During the journey, he chatted with three young and naive teenagers and received a lot of admiring looks.
Zhang Shou didn't care at all about Lu Sanlang's attempt to show off. At this moment, he saw Luo Xiaoxiao standing in front of the door, staring at the sign that had not been removed. Zhao Si was looking inside with envy and jealousy, and seemed to want to have his own woodworking workshop. Guan Qiu rushed in without caring about anything. He looked at Lu Sanlang and whispered, "Where's Ah Liu?"
"He brought me here just now." Lu Sanlang quickly explained, "He was the one who agreed with me on the price first. In the end, the price for the house and the land was 70 guan. I couldn't carry that much money, not even silver, so I gave him the money note, and Ah Liu took his people away, saying that he would go to Shuntian Prefecture to change the house and land deeds to avoid any more trouble."
Seeing Zhang Shou frowning suspiciously, as if questioning the price, the fat man, who had just been a little proud of himself for getting the job done, finally remembered how he acquired the shop. After thinking it over, he finally decided to tell Zhang Shou the truth.
He whispered, "Young sir, I'm not speaking in hindsight, it's Ah Liu who told me not to tell you. This blacksmith shop is really spooky, and it's said to have been haunted for almost half a year!" As he spoke, he unknowingly lowered his voice so that only he and Zhang Shou could hear it, and he even looked around as if he was afraid that some unknown creature would appear.
Seventy guan bought a blacksmith shop with the land and the house, and even gave away all kinds of tools and furniture inside. For a place like Beijing where prices are so high, it is really unimaginable, so Zhang Shou was suspicious of whether Lu Sanlang and Ah Liu had used some tricks. At this moment, when he heard the word "haunted", his suspicions immediately disappeared.
However, he didn't believe in ghosts and gods in his previous life, but now that he had experienced the most mysterious time travel, he couldn't say for sure that ghosts and gods didn't exist. Moreover, if ghosts and gods existed, maybe he could return to the world he was once familiar with? So, he took a deep breath and said in a subtle mood: "How is it haunted?"
"this……"
Lu Sanlang felt scared when he thought of the time when he came to buy this shop and the haggard blacksmith Hu, who looked as if he would die at any moment, treated him as his savior. Besides, since Ah Liu, who always claimed that he was not afraid of any ghosts as long as he was around, was not here, he could only comfort himself that ghosts would not dare to come out since there were so many people around. Then he relayed the news he had obtained from the blacksmith Hu.
"When I came to him and said I wanted to buy the shop, I gave him the excuse that I had loved reading those strange and bizarre stories since I was a child, so I heard that this house was haunted and wanted to buy it to study it carefully. When Blacksmith heard about this, he looked at me as if I were a lunatic. Finally, because I paid him readily and he had no other buyers, he confided a little to me."
"This house has had five owners in less than half a year. It has two courtyards in total. The first resident was a retired official from Beijing. But it is said that his wife died suddenly of illness, so he personally carried the coffin back to his hometown and sold the house. The haunting began at that time. Because this place is located in the north city, although there are relatively few people, it is at least in the inner city, so the first buyer was a small businessman."
"After living there for three days, I started to get red rashes all over my body. Then I saw ghosts in white clothes floating around in the middle of the night, and someone was stuttering and reciting poems." When he said this, Lu Sanlang couldn't help scratching his neck, as if someone was blowing air from behind him. "The small businessman was superstitious. He sold the house he bought for 800 taels for 600 taels in less than ten days."
"Then there was a small teahouse that provided meals for the students of the Imperial College. As a result, several of the students encountered ghosts and fell ill after returning home. The owner was almost sued to the Shuntian government office. There was a tavern, but the wine jars broke overnight. There was an officer who didn't believe in ghosts and had his beard shaved off in the middle of the night without him noticing. He was ashamed to face people."
Lu Sanlang told the story of one strange thing after another, and finally said carefully: "In the end, this blacksmith was confident that his blacksmith furnace could defeat any evil spirits, so he bought this place at an extremely low price of 80 strings of cash, and brought in several apprentices who, in his words, were foolish and bold. But in the end, one day, the sword he made for a prominent uncle suddenly broke, and his business plummeted."
"So, he reluctantly lived there for two months, but he couldn't stand it anymore. He was overjoyed to have me take over."
Zhang Shou listened to these messy ghost rumors. If he hadn't known that Ah Liu had just followed him to Beijing, he would have thought that the seemingly calm but actually mischievous boy was doing something bad. But even so, he was more inclined to think that someone was playing a prank. Therefore, when Lu Sanlang hesitantly repeated Ah Liu's previous declaration that there was no need to be afraid of ghosts, he put his mind at ease.
"Since Ah Liu said so, there's no need to worry. Let's go and take a look around first."
Luo Xiaoxiao and Zhao Si, who didn't know they were in a haunted house, happily entered the gate at Zhang Shou's invitation. The shop in front was obviously newly built, and the courtyard in the back was old, with both business and residential properties. The two of them took a look around and found that there were stoves and many tools, even the coal for making fire was still there. They couldn't help but nod vigorously, saying that it saved the boss's trouble.
When Zhang Shou saw the tools in the shop in front that had not been moved away in time, he could not help but mutter that the blacksmith Hu did not even take away his eating utensils before leaving. But when he came to the backyard and saw the all-Huanghuali furniture in the main room, he unconsciously put away his joking heart.
Taizu liked mahogany , which was one of the gossips he heard after entering Beijing. Therefore, the ships that went to Southeast Asia would often cut down a lot of wood for ballast in addition to spices and gems. Therefore, the most popular furniture in Beijing was all kinds of mahogany furniture. Therefore, when he saw Zhao Si entering the room, he stroked the smooth surface and asked a question.
"Zhao Si, you have been learning from your master for so many years, but do you know how much a set of Huanghuali furniture like this is worth?"
When Zhao Si saw the set of Huanghuali furniture, his eyes almost popped out of his head. He rushed forward, carefully stroking the surface with both hands, then opened the cabinet and took a look at the partition structure. Finally, with a complicated expression, he said, "A set of furniture like this would cost at least 1,800 guan. The most important thing is that it is very old and the craftsmanship is exquisite, otherwise it wouldn't be so valuable."
As he spoke, he asked uncertainly, "Dr. Zhang, we haven't even moved the furniture yet, how much did you pay for this blacksmith shop?"
You ask me, who should I ask?
Zhang Shou was in a state of both laughter and tears. Seeing Lu Sanlang shrinking his neck and losing the momentum he had deliberately put on at the beginning, he sighed and said, "Of course there is something unspeakable. But it doesn't matter. We'll talk about it when Ah Liu comes back."
As they were talking, Luo Xiaoxiao had already entered the main room and was equally amazed by the whole set of Huanghuali furniture. But when several people left the main room, Zhang Shou suddenly felt something was wrong and immediately frowned and asked, "Where is Guan Qiu?"
As soon as Guan Qiu was mentioned, Zhao Si suddenly realized that this junior brother who he had always thought was strange was missing! He was shocked and rushed to the east wing, while Luo Xiaoxiao took a look at Zhang Shou and took the initiative to go to the west wing to look for him. Lu Sanlang, who stayed where he was, felt that there were gusts of cold wind and ghostly air all around him, and he couldn't help but lean towards Zhang Shou.
"Young sir, there aren't really ghosts, are there?"
"A gentleman should not speak of strange things!" Zhang Shou said in a bad mood. When Zhao Si and Luo Xiaoxiao rushed out of the two side rooms in panic, obviously not finding anyone, he looked at Lu Sanlang and asked, "Is there a back door here?"
Lu Sanlang was already shaking his head like a rattle, and even his teeth were chattering. However, before he could tremble and explain that this was a haunted house, Zhang Shou just laughed.
"It seems that there might be a secret passage here that allows people to come and go without a trace." What a joke, it is possible for hundreds of ghosts to roam at night, but if demons and monsters can kidnap people in the capital in broad daylight, then what kind of order can we talk about in the capital?
Just as Zhang Shou finished speaking, he suddenly heard a cough. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a familiar boy squatting on the wall. It was Ah Liu. However, apart from him, he was holding Guan Qiu in his left hand and another dirty child who was struggling desperately in his right hand. At first glance, judging from his height, he seemed to be only eight or nine years old.
As Ah Liu landed effortlessly, he gave a very simple explanation: "This kid is just playing tricks."
Lu Sanlang came back to his senses with a start, pointed at the threatening child and shouted, "Ah Liu, you just followed that blacksmith Hu to the Shuntian government office to get the house and land deeds. Could it be that you were just talking about it, and you were actually trying to lure the snake out of its hole?"
"I'm just curious." Ah Liu let go of Guan Qiu with an innocent look on his face, but his other hand was still tightly grasping the scruffy child's neck, as if he was not holding a person, but a cat. Seeing that the child couldn't touch him no matter what, he patiently explained, "There is a dog hole in the wall, just right for him to go in and out."
He then said calmly, "Hu the blacksmith said that the family next door rarely opens their doors, and few people show up, but the yard is presentable, and it looks like a legitimate family home. But when I came here to see the blacksmith shop before, I climbed over the wall and found that no one lived next door at all. The yard was clean, but the house was a mess."
“That’s my home!” The dirty child who could no longer struggle suddenly shouted loudly, and then burst into tears. “Brother Zhu has gone to the war, and Sister Zhou has also left… As long as we drive them away, Sister Zhou and Brother Zhu will definitely come back, they will definitely come back!”
