Chapter Fourteen: The Rental House at the Foot of Mei Mountain

  The paddy frog laughed and said: "Brother, looking at your appearance, you must have succeeded, is it cool?"

  The pheasant laughed lewdly, as if wanting to pry into what I was doing with the woman. I slapped his pointed head hard: "Satisfy your sister, you're also inquiring about this kind of thing?"

  The pheasant quickly gathered its bad smile and said, "Brother, this is burning the bridge after crossing. It's not as good to enjoy alone as it is to enjoy together, let's just forget about it, okay?"

  I'm not sure, but Tianji claims he's still a virgin to this day. I wouldn't believe it even if you killed me. Back in police school, he would often sneak into the video room alone and return very late at night. Not only that, but he'd also recount the plots of the movies he watched in our dorm, describing them in vivid detail. He'd say that foreign men are more potent than Chinese men, and when it comes to doing things, they're not ordinary. Although I rarely spoke with him, every time I did, my lower body would become painfully hard, and I'd hide under the covers, releasing myself countless times. Those occasional releases in police school were all because of him.

  The pheasant was very strange. I didn't open my mouth to scold him, and pushed the bowl of noodles that had been eaten towards the middle of the table, saying: "Brother, let's go rent a house!"

  I drove around the old town area with a car full of frogs, but surprisingly couldn't find a suitable house. It's not about whether the price is expensive or not, but rather that nobody was renting out their houses at all.

  I'm fed up: "Tianji, why don't you ask your dad to take a look at my old house, I'll just move back there?"

  "Listen, buddy, I advise you not to go back to your old mansion. The aura in that place is really ominous, and even my dad might not be able to handle it. I don't want you to die young, why don't you try your luck in the new city district instead?"

  "Shut your crow mouth, stop talking nonsense. Do you think the invincible and great Shen Shangyu, Shen Dàgōngzǐ would die young?" I lit a cigarette, took a puff, and handed it to Tianji, agreeing with his point of view.

  The new city district had just been developed, and I finally found a house willing to rent in the development zone near Meishan with Tianji. The house stood alone at the foot of Meishan, like an ownerless grave, with a big "demolition" character written on the wall, estimated to be within the scope of urban planning land acquisition and demolition, but it couldn't be demolished for the time being.

  The landlord was an old lady over eighty years old, with dry lips and wrinkles all over her face, like a mummy. She told us that the rent is five hundred yuan per month, including water and electricity fees, and the contract will be terminated whenever the house is demolished.

  I brought the pheasant, went into the house and looked around for a while. Although it's not very satisfactory, I feel very quiet. It's a one-story flat-roofed house with complete kitchen and bathroom facilities, and you can move in and live here immediately.

  The old lady collected a month's rent from me and left, instructing me to take good care of the house until the day it was demolished, to which I hastily agreed.

  I won't have to listen to those terrifying laughs and songs that linger in the old mansion every night, I lay on the newly laid big bed, feeling at ease.

  The paddy field frog said: "Brother, we're moving into a new home, shall we celebrate?"

  I laughed and said: "What's there to celebrate? What are two grown men celebrating?"

  The paddy frog smiled and said: "Why don't you call that chick from the bar?"

  This little guy is really cunning, with a lot of evil ideas. I had an idea in my heart, and pretended to be nonchalant, saying: "Okay, I'll make a phone call."

  Actually, I'm not sure if Qin Su'er can be called over, but I don't want to show weakness in front of Tian Ji. I take out my phone and dial the number Qin Su'er left me.

  The phone on the other end suddenly played a prompt tone: "The number you dialed is empty..."

  An empty number? I almost fainted. What this woman left me is an empty number? Is she playing with me?

  The paddy field saw me looking ugly and asked: "Brother, what's wrong? She doesn't answer the phone?"

  "My grass! Her phone is turned off." I lied to Tian Ji. If Tian Ji knew that I didn't get the girl, but instead got played by her, where would Shen Da Gong Zi's face be? How could I still pretend to be cool in front of him? In my heart, I thought: "Damn it, she actually dared to cheat me. Tonight at the bar, I'll definitely take her back to this rental house and settle the score..."

  I recalled Qin Su'er's appearance, and my body involuntarily reacted. Afraid of being seen by Tian Ji, I hastily shifted my position.

  "Hey, bro, how about this? I'll go buy some braised dishes and peanuts from the street, and you contribute a bottle of cognac that you brought back from Shenzhen. Let's celebrate properly."

  Although this little guy sometimes behaves very poorly, it cannot be denied that he is indeed a good brother. After finishing speaking, he went out into the scorching sun with a happy and contented expression.

  After the pheasant left, I lay on the bed and fantasized about Qin Su'er's long beautiful legs and white chest again. My hands involuntarily reached into my pants, and that thing jumped up and down wildly. As I fantasized about Qin Su'er, I had a thorough release.

  I just finished, and the pheasant came back.

  The pheasant looked at my face which was red with anger and laughed strangely: "Brother, having a nice dream?"

  I thought Tianji saw something and cursed in a disguised tone: "Your sister's beautiful dream! Have you ever had a beautiful dream under the blue sky and white sun?"

  "Get up, bring out the wine, we're celebrating!"

  My friend Tianji and I finished a bottle of brandy. That kid can't hold his liquor, he got drunk and couldn't speak clearly, kept talking nonsense: "Brother... brother, you say... you say am I Tianji or not..."

  Even though he's drunk, he still remembers that we're sworn brothers. I couldn't help but feel a little regretful about my usual behavior of bossing him around in front of others.

  When I sent Tianji to "Tian's Paper Shop", it was already dark, his old man wasn't there, but the door inside was open. When I helped Tianji lie down on the bed, he actually vomited all over me, what bad luck!

  I was busy going back to change clothes, poured a glass of water and put it on his bedside table, then drove back to the rental house.

  I was eager to see Qin Su'er, wanting to ask her why she had played me and left me a phone number that couldn't be reached. After taking a bath, I spent the day in my rental house, feeling like it was dragging on forever, until finally, 9 o'clock arrived at night.

  When I appeared at the Le Fan Tian bar, Qin Suer sprang up from the corner like a startled swan, her charming eyes shining: "Yu Ge, you're here? You've kept me waiting for so long!"

  Qin Su'er wasn't lying, I saw that the cup of red wine in front of her, which was as red as blood, was almost empty, it seemed she had been waiting for a long time.

  The beauty appeared before my eyes, and the anger I had when I came was gone in an instant. I quickly replied: "Su'er, sorry, I just rented a new house today, so I'm late."

  "Have you rented a new house?" Qin Su'er asked with interest, "Your old house is so spacious and big, why do you still want to rent a house outside?"

  I didn't dare to tell her about the haunting in the old house, fearing she would be scared, so I lied: "Su'er, it's like this, the old house is too far from the city, and commuting to work isn't convenient, so I thought of renting a place to live."

  Qin Suer burst out laughing: "Really? That's great. When will you take me to see your rental house?"

  She couldn't help it either, and actually brought it up herself. I hid the delight in my heart and smiled: "How about tonight?"

  "Alright, tonight is tonight, after all I've already agreed to be your girlfriend." Qin Suer was looking for an excuse to back down, at least that's what I thought. Looks like there will definitely be something happening tonight, I'd better put on a good show.

  I still felt a bit uncomfortable when I remembered that the number she left me was an empty number. I asked, "Su'er, why is the phone number you gave me last night an empty number?"

  Qin Suer's face was filled with astonishment, but she quickly regained her composure and chuckled: "Yu Ge, how is this possible? Or else, why don't you try hitting me now?"

  What she said was exactly what I thought, so I took out my phone and dialed her number again. Strangely, her phone rang immediately, but the ringtone was terrifying, like Leslie Cheung's rendition of some "The Legend of the White Snake" song.

  I called her phone and proved that she wasn't fooling me, the unhappiness in my heart had long been thrown far away. With concern, I asked: "Su'er, why did you set such a scary ringtone? If you receive a call in the middle of the night, aren't you afraid?"

  Qin Suer didn't answer and instead asked: "Yu Ge, what's there to be afraid of? I like this ringtone. Are you a big man who is even afraid of a ringtone?"

  My face turned red and I replied: "I care about you, of course I'm not afraid."

  Qin Su'er walked up and took my hand with a big smile, saying: "Yu Ge, let's go take a look at your new house?"

  It seems she couldn't wait any longer. I felt delighted in my heart and took her hand to get on my car.

  The old town is not far from the new town, and it only takes a dozen or so minutes to drive there. Recalling her uncomfortable situation last night insisting on going back, I'm afraid that tonight will be another Yang Bailao, so I tentatively asked: "Su'er, has your body recovered?"

  Qin Suer must have seen my anxious appearance from the rearview mirror, and smiled softly: "Yu Ge, I will be yours sooner or later. What's wrong, still holding a grudge from last night?"

  This girl, she seems like she can see right through me! My face turned red and my heart skipped a beat, I forced a laugh to cover it up.

  I stopped the car in front of a solitary house at the foot of Mei Mountain. Qin Suer got out of the car, looked around at the house I rented, and smiled: "This is not bad!"

  Xincheng District was just developed, and it's located at the foot of Meishan Mountain. It's all dark and gloomy everywhere. If you couldn't rent a house in the old town, who would come to this godforsaken place to rent a house?

  She actually said it was okay, so I just went along with her: "Yeah, it's okay, it's quiet here, I like it too!"

  I took Qin Su'er into the rental house, just about to turn on the light switch, when suddenly a gust of wind came up, and in the darkness I felt like someone was laughing, that kind of sinister laugh.

  The wind blew and made the back of my neck cool, I fumbled to turn on the light, turned around to look at Qin Su'er, her scattered hair covered her face, couldn't see her expression.