Chapter 6: The Matchmaker

  Don't make a big fuss, I followed his finger and glanced into the trash can, there were four peeled apples that had turned yellowish, one of which was already blackened as if it had been roasted by fire.

  Last night, Wenjing made a big fuss and I was so flustered that I had already forgotten about Ansu's matter. Now, seeing the four apples, what she said flashed into my mind, connecting with what Youwu just said, making the whole thing strange.

  I wanted to discuss with You Wu, but after calling out a few times, he ignored me. He had a regretful expression on his face and hesitated about whether or not to pick up the apple and eat it.

  Although Youmo's family is not as wealthy as Qin Feng's, they are also not short of money and have always been extravagant. However, Youmo has a bad habit - he can't stand waste. If you ask him to spend 1,000 yuan on a can of beer, he won't mind, but if you let him buy a 2.5-yuan beer and pour it away without finishing it, it's harder than killing him. Even if there is a grain of rice on the ground, he will pick it up and put it in his mouth.

  This is the nickname passed down from his grandfather, who was a veteran of the Vietnam War and later transferred to the local area. He was very strict with his children and grandchildren. The ridiculous name "You Wu" was given to his grandfather by an old superior in the army: "Yu yi ru feng xing ren shi, wu yi cu bo dai shi ren", which means "to be a Confucian gentleman in the world, not to be rough with others". It has nothing to do with "You Wu" being a plaything. His older cousin is named You Yu, meaning "round and smooth like jade, having an abundance of talent". His younger female cousin is named You Duo, meaning "the elegant lady of the You family". This woman is a top-notch weirdo.

  Spit into the trash can, before Yu Wu blows up, I say forget it, that apple can't be eaten, especially the black one, I suspect I saw a ghost last night.

  I'll tell you, Yumi, because from the strange apple and the state of being pressed down by a ghost, I have a direction to guess. I found many strange places related to Ansu, if explained by ghosts, it would make sense, for example, that night, I didn't know where she came out from!

  I don't believe in gods, but I'm not an atheist either. I'm relatively open to this kind of supernatural stuff, just worried that Youmo would think it's absurd, so I deliberately explained it to him. Unexpectedly, Youmo was very calm, and after finishing, I asked him if he found it a bit hard to believe?

  Yu didn't react for a moment, then immediately regained his composure. He said, "There's nothing unbelievable about it. I've seen ghosts before. I'm just thinking about whether that An Su is human or ghost."

  I was shocked and asked him when he had seen a ghost, whether it was a male or female ghost, and what it looked like.

  You Mou's eyes darted back and forth, his face slightly pale. He sat far away on the windowsill, pouring himself a drink: "My business can wait, let's talk about An Su first. Since I've seen ghosts before, I've asked many people about these things. I won't give you a basic lesson, but there's one rule: humans don't provoke ghosts, and ghosts don't provoke humans. Even if you unintentionally provoke them, they can only follow you around and bring bad luck. But someone like An Su who appears right in front of you and chats with you... that's basically an evil spirit. Either it wants to repay a debt or seek revenge. So I have to ask you, have you ever done any good deeds?"

  After racking my brains for memories, I could only tell Yu Wu that I never spit on the ground.

  Yu Mo sighed and said, "That must be here for revenge."

  I strongly protest, saying that I have never done anything wrong, and An Su's tone of voice when speaking to me is somewhat ambiguous and flirtatious, perhaps she has taken a liking to me. This kind of romantic and mysterious relationship, who knows how many there are in the Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio!

  Don't make a vomiting face, and say to me: "In the past, there was a monk who told me that a fierce ghost is not necessarily a malevolent one. 'Fierce' means having an unyielding will, which means this kind of ghost has a great obsession, something weighing on its heart, so it can't be freed. People's attachment to revenge is much stronger than their gratitude, so hatred can give rise to a fierce ghost. I said An Su might have come to repay kindness, actually just to comfort you, as for saying she has taken a liking to you..."

  Don't even get me started from head to toe, speechless: "You say it yourself, what's the good point about you that would make a woman unable to forget even after death, and become a ghost just to entwine with you?"

  I was somewhat disheartened, but still stubbornly said I had never killed anyone.

  "So she's not a ghost after all," Yu Wu rolled her eyes and pointed at the blackened apple, "I think An Su was being sarcastic when she fed you an apple and joked that it was poisonous. She was referring to this thing that looks like it's been burned by fire, don't you get it?" Yu Wu put on a plastic glove and picked up the black apple, saying: "I'll have someone analyze it. If I'm not wrong, it should be coated with poison."

  That apple was bought by Youmo himself, he definitely wouldn't want to kill me. But after he and Wenjing left last night, I fell asleep. If someone sneaked in and did something, it could be explained away later. As for Ansu's identity, that can only be discussed later. I told Youmo to think of a way to find that old man, but Youmo was very unwilling, repeatedly telling me not to interfere with Wenjing anymore, saying this kind of sister is not worth having.

  I know what's bothering Yu Wu, his cousin Yu Tao has a huge impact on him, to the point where he doesn't have a good face for any of his cousins or sisters-in-law. I explained to him that Wen Jing didn't make a move last night and I had to protect her.

  You didn't say, Wen Jing certainly wouldn't have taken action at that time. Even if the hospital couldn't save her, she would still become the prime suspect. What You Wu actually wanted me to pay attention to was whether anyone had contacted Wen Jing last night.

  If the old man didn't like me and Wenjing being intimate, last night she accompanied me for a whole night, at least making more than ten phone calls, but in fact, Wenjing stayed by my side all night without taking half a step away.

  You don't believe me, saying that I must have done it after falling asleep. To convince you, I had no choice but to tell him what happened last night truthfully. As a result, he shouted in disgust and scolded me as a pervert who wouldn't even spare his own sister.

  After a soft and hard bubble, Yu didn't let me out of the hospital. On the way home, Qin Feng from Beijing called to ask about my well-being and told me not to worry about company matters, focus on recovering, and if I needed money, just look for him.

  I've been working for over a year and only saved a few thousand yuan, but the medical expenses were still not enough. Because of unjustified absenteeism, Qin Feng found out about it and had the company send 30,000 yuan. However, You Mo continued to scold him behind his back. After I hung up the phone, he started saying that Qin Feng looked down on people with dog eyes, didn't even come back to visit, and was only pretending to be kind.

  I glanced at him, too lazy to persuade him again. In our four years of university, the three of us had a relationship that was as good as it could get, but after graduation, they got worse and worse. Half a year ago, we even got into a fight when drinking, and since then, we rarely came into contact with each other, and when we did meet, it was just a nod.

  When I arrived home, Wenjing was still sleeping. My body felt a bit weak, but I insisted on going out with Youmo to look for Shi Popo. The elderly neighbors in our community only knew that we had invited Shi Popo to calm the spirit of our building, but they didn't know anything else. After asking around for a while without getting any results, I suggested asking Shi Popo's children instead.

  You Yu hesitated, currently still unsure of the relationship between that young man and woman and Auntie Shi, what if they are also related to the old man, it would be like beating the grass to scare the snake, better to go to the big bridge to probe the situation.

  An Su told me not to approach the big bridge, as if there was a flood beast hidden there. The old lady upstairs circled around on the bridge and then hung up when she got home, which made me feel uneasy whenever I heard about the big bridge, and I didn't want to go.

  Many people have heard the rumor that Xin Qiao Xin Lu is a road where people are collected, I witnessed it with my own eyes when I was young. It was on my way home from school, I was carrying a small backpack and walking along the side of the road when suddenly there was a blood-curdling scream. A woman riding an electric bike had been hit by a truck, the wheels rolled over her body, and red and white mixed together, just like the tofu pudding I eat every morning with chili oil stirred in.

  Later, I heard my mother say that new roads and new bridges are destined to see blood, the way of death is not the same, it's just a matter of who is unlucky, with bad luck, even walking on the road can be hit by flower pots falling from the sky.

  Even if An Su didn't say anything, I wouldn't have gone near the big bridge for a while. But you insisted on going, stopped the car by the side of the road and let me wait, excitedly ran to the bridge, almost half an hour later, excitedly ran back, with flying eyebrows and dancing colors told me that she found Shi Po.

  I haven't even asked, and Yu Wu excitedly starts talking about his experience on the bridge. It's not that Old Lady Shi hid it too secretly, but rather Yu Wu made a big misunderstanding!