Chapter 6: The Case of Zhang Mei's Deception

  Entering the village, what a beautiful scene, truly worthy of being a rich and prosperous village.

  Two-story small buildings rise from the ground, flowers and fruits are fragrant in front of and behind the houses, dense green shade and smiling faces everywhere, where is the gloomy wind around the spine or the ghost crossing the sun.

  This is Nancun, named after its location south of a small town.

  Old Qian laughed like a child, "Oh ho ho!" he shouted loudly, which attracted the attention of passersby who couldn't help but smile and glance over.

  "Are you with the engineering team?" an old man asked after seeing us two.

  It was decided long ago to build a highway here, and the engineering team has come to inspect.

  I was just about to say something when Old Qian grabbed me and said to the old man, "No, it's accumulating good deeds by repairing bridges and roads."

  You're weird and so are we, it's a perfect match. The old man laughed and said, "That's why the dog didn't bite you."

  Lao Qian is very clever and wants to make up for something, but there are still disagreements between the village and the construction team.

  Lao Qian asked again: "Want to find a temporary place to stay, can you point me in the right direction?"

  The old man seemed startled and looked us up and down carefully before asking, "Are you here to stay for a while?"

  Lao Qian said: "Just asking casually, I'm afraid you'll come to live here sometime. The scenery is good here, it's a great place to spend the weekend."

  The old man seemed to put his heart at ease and chuckled: "Walking forward from here, the first house in the southernmost part has many empty rooms."

  Lao Qian and I thanked him and continued on our way forward.

  It's also a two-story small building, only without the final coat of paint, as if something unexpected had stopped it. But the small house and courtyard are extremely clean, showing that the owner is diligent in tidying up. Quiet and soundless, this is quite different from other houses. Entering the yard and standing in front of the building, one can't help but feel a sudden thud in their heart. I am always carrying my thoughts with me, the copper bell in my bosom hasn't moved, I put my mind at ease.

  Lao Qian didn't care and went forward to knock on the door.

  After waiting for a long time, the door creaked open and a woman in her thirties opened it.

  At first glance, I secretly exclaimed. The countryside is full of beautiful women, young wives with delicate eyebrows and slender waists, black hair and white teeth, wearing a simple white dress, with breasts that tempt people, round buttocks and straight legs, slender and elegant.

  I clearly heard Old Qian swallowing a mouthful of saliva, this old lecher, he's probably unable to hold back and has come to test the waters first.

  The woman said softly, "Who are you looking for?"

  Old Qian hastily stepped forward and said: "Sorry to disturb you, it was the villagers who told us that your house has many empty rooms, we plan to come and rent them to repair the bridge for a while."

  The young woman heard Old Qian say that it was an introduction by a fellow villager and frowned slightly. Suddenly she smiled and said, come in.

  At this time, I took a closer look at the young woman's face and found that it was less rosy than usual. Her smile just now was like a fleeting red glow on white silk, which made me feel a bit uneasy.

  Inside the house, it is spotlessly clean.

  It was a large black frame hanging high on the wall, which startled us greatly.

  The young woman poured tea and saw us looking at the photo frame, so she said: "My husband died three years ago while working outside."

  "Could it be that she is the second widow? What a coincidence." I secretly exclaimed.

  "Haven't even asked for the young lady's name yet." Old Qian sipped his tea, his eyes darting back and forth, this guy was okay in every way except that he couldn't stand seeing a beautiful woman without sticking to her like glue.

  "Oh, I'm Zhang Mei. Haven't you heard the villagers introduce me? In casual conversations, they call me Er Guafu (Second Widow). My deceased husband was the second son in his family." The woman said with a smile.

  Good heavens! As it turned out, I really found the second widow.

  In my heart, it was Zhang Mei's repeated cries of "dead ghost" that made me feel a chill. No wonder the old man said their house had many empty rooms, it turned out they were playing a trick on us, but it was still a pretty good place to stay.

  Old Qian said: "To be honest, you also know that we are repairing the highway. We are just employees of the city's road and bridge company. Whether or not to repair the road has nothing to do with us. We are just working for the company. If the company wants to repair it, we have to work. You know, when you eat from someone else's bowl, you have to obey their rules. So, after the project started, my partner and I were responsible for auditing. We need to come and stay here from time to time, so we found you. Can you make it convenient for us? We will pay at the market price."

  Lao Qian is an old hand at this, with just a few words he pulled us into the same camp as the villagers.

  Zhang Mei smiled and said, "Fixing the road is a good thing, it's convenient for everyone once it's fixed, I'm in support of it. My house isn't rented out anyway, after all, there's only me living here. If you ask me, I'd be happy to have more people around."

  I didn't expect it to be so refreshing, but somehow the words and tone made me a little scared, maybe I was being overly cautious.

  Lao Qian suggested going upstairs to take a look around. Zhang Mei led us upstairs to see the rooms.

  I found that there was a house facing south, but the window was directly opposite the depression. Looking through the window, I could still see white mist floating in the depression.

  Lao Qian was overjoyed, the house was clean and tidy, with complete water and electricity facilities, no one making a disturbance, where could you find such a good place.

  Let's go downstairs together.

  The village building was simple, with narrow and steep stairs. In a moment of carelessness, Old Qian suddenly slipped, and his whole body almost rolled down the stairs. Fortunately, I followed closely behind and grabbed him in time, and Old Qian was only frightened into repeated cries of alarm. Zhang Mei hurriedly said "be careful" from behind.

  Suddenly there were gusts of wind, blowing the door creaking.

  Lao Qian and I were both shocked to a standstill. Zhang Mei hastily walked past us, heading towards the main house while saying: "That dead ghost of mine is back again to see me, he's really possessive, can't bear to see strangers, as soon as you two arrived, he came back, don't worry, I'll go talk to him."

  "Ah!" Old Qian was thoroughly stunned this time, staring at my face with a deathly pale complexion. This guy had never seen such a situation before.

  I pulled Old Qian and followed Zhang Mei in a state of panic.

  Only then did Zhang Mei rush to the portrait of her deceased husband, lit an incense stick from the table and inserted it, then clasped her hands together, closed her eyes slightly, and muttered: "Don't worry, it's just people from the city's road bridge company coming to build a bridge, I'm looking forward to the road being fixed, didn't you leave me behind after having an accident while working on the road outside? Now we're going to build a highway here too, once it's done, it'll be more convenient for you to come back, and for me to visit you." As Zhang Mei spoke, tears actually rolled down her eyes. This scene made both of us forget our fear for a moment, and we stepped forward together to comfort this poor woman who had lost the pillar of her family.

  It's strange to say, after the woman's murmurs, the wind actually stopped. Looking at the hanging photo frame, I suddenly felt that this man's face was incredibly vivid, and my heart was shocked again.

  Before long, Zhang Mei turned around and looked at our stunned expressions, and suddenly burst out laughing.

  "Are you scared?", Zhang Mei said, "I was just scaring you guys, there's nothing going on. It's just the wind blowing through the hallway. When you all came in and went upstairs earlier, I didn't close the door properly, so the wind blew through and scared you. But usually, I think of this as that dead guy coming back to visit me, he has a conscience after all. Maybe I'll get a chance to talk to him sometime. It's nothing, really."

  I'm fine, but Old Qian is still in a daze from the fright he had just now.

  I patted Old Qian's back and said: "It's okay, you've just lost your soul."

  Lao Qian smiled and said: "First time here, really not used to it."

  At this time, I clearly discovered that Zhang Mei's eyes had an unintentional flash of white light. This place is eerie and requires caution. But having gone through what happened earlier, I thought to myself, retreat is not an option, can only see it through to the end, using retreat as a means to advance.

  Let's take a look at the courtyard. Old Qian agreed and quickly came out of the house. This guy was probably really scared.

  The courtyard is very clean, at first glance, it's an ordinary farmhouse yard. But just as I suggested taking a look around the yard, Zhang Mei's face seemed to sink slightly, not noticeably, but for someone like me who pays attention to everything, it didn't escape my notice.

  Taking a closer look, I was even more shocked in my heart. My god, having just escaped the wolf's den, this is entering the tiger's lair again!

  The temple has lush green trees all around, but to me, they seem to be planted in the shape of the Tai Chi diagram I saw in books before, with clear yin and yang distinction, dense and luxuriant like arms.

  Zhang Mei followed closely behind me without saying a word. I suddenly turned my head and found that her face was even whiter than before, it was a ghastly pale.

  The copper bell in my bosom seemed to have a slight tremor. I knew that it was time to test our hearts again. This place was absolutely not as simple as we saw it.

  I deliberately chuckled and said: "It's really beautiful, and it matches the lady's name. I'm afraid that if ordinary people like us come in, we'll be enchanted and can't find our way out."

  Zhang Mei didn't smile, but looked me up and down, then suddenly said: "Boss, are you really the one who repairs bridges in our small town?"

  Lao Qian didn't wait for me to finish speaking, and smiled as he said: "What's the big deal? It's not like it's some high-end or useful thing, pretending to be something it's not."

  The competition has begun, I secretly exclaimed in my heart.

  Zhang Mei said: "Repairing bridges and roads accumulates good deeds, but the boss didn't bring paper and pen, instead brought other things."

  As expected, there's something strange. As I estimated, Zhang Mei should be the one who triggered the strong desire to occupy the Wuying Gate. Otherwise, there's more to her words than meets the eye. Perhaps she saw that I had a magical object in my bosom and couldn't get it off her hands. In fact, it started from the moment we entered the house. First, it was the main hall, where the portrait frame didn't hook us, thanks to the copper bell's protection. Then, when we went upstairs, they set up another trap, but still failed. The strong wind couldn't steal it successfully. The Taiji maze was also seen through by me at a glance. Why did Zhang Mei's face turn so pale? I think she felt that the two people who came to her house today were not ordinary people.

  I picked up where Zhang Mei left off, saying: "Whether to bring something or not, it depends on the place we're going. Since I've come to your place in such a hurry, with empty hands, all I want is to have a heartfelt conversation with you." I stared straight at Zhang Mei, thinking to myself: "You think you can fool me? Ha! I've seen through more cunning people than you, and I won't let you deceive me." At the same time, I felt another surge of gratitude towards Qing Shan Daochang.

  Just as I was speaking, Old Qian suddenly disappeared.

  When I took a closer look, I was really scared to death.

  Lao Qian's eyes were dizzy and he found himself surrounded by a circle of green plants in the courtyard.

  Zhang Mei stood beside him, her hands hanging down, her hair disheveled and scattered over her face and shoulders.

  Mom's, want to borrow old money to spend the Spring Festival!

  "I shouted loudly, 'Old Qian, come out!'"

  At the same time, I put my hand into my pocket, my eyes bulging out, and approached Zhang Mei. At this moment, my face was already full of anger, with a red glow flashing on and off on my forehead, and the hand in my pocket wanted to move but didn't. Again, I shouted loudly, "You're really beautiful, Widow! Or should I give you a gift for meeting me?"

  One word one nail, every word is firm, while keeping eyes on Zhang Mei and hands on the copper bell in her arms.

  Zhang Mei suddenly woke up from her dream, quickly lifted her head, stretched out her hand, and saw the familiar white bones. She grabbed Zhang Mei's hand that was reaching into her bosom, but suddenly seemed to have been scalded by something and quickly pulled it back. Her face showed a begging expression, but she still smiled and said: "In this rural area, there are many things to wait for slowly, so let's just forget about the gift for now."

  Just as Zhang Mei's words fell, Old Qian let out a sigh of relief and stopped pacing around in circles. He walked up to us and said inexplicably, "Damn it, the temperature difference is like the back of an ox in our village. It's so cold among these green plants. I just want to find a warmer place, but all I see are trees wherever I turn."

  Zhang Mei blinked silently.

  When Old Qian came to my side, I grasped one of his hands with a sudden movement, while the other hand was still holding the copper bell in my bosom. I stared at Zhang Mei with a fierce gaze, and then slowly, slowly, suddenly, I pulled it out with a swift motion. Zhang Mei let out an "ah" sound, I laughed, and my hand was empty.

  Damn it, let's all come and play together.

  I smiled coldly and continued staring at Zhang Mei. I could clearly sense that Zhang Mei felt relieved when she saw that my hands were empty.

  Smiling and covering up, he said: "The two bosses are scaring the country people, I'm a little short-handed, afraid that it's not cold for the two bosses."

  "There are quite a few people, it's very lively."

  Lao Qian didn't understand our conversation but just urged me to hurry up and said we would discuss it later.

  This matter cannot be withdrawn, and withdrawal will lead to bad consequences. It's like a game of chess, where the rules have already been set, and forced withdrawal can lead to unpredictable and irreparable situations. To withdraw from the game, one must break the rules, but breaking the rules means destroying the game itself. My mind is made up.

  I said to Lao Qian: "This place is so good, let's settle on it. We'll come back later."

  Lao Qian looked at me with suspicion. I turned to Zhang Mei and said, "It's settled then, come find us when the time comes, but don't take the initiative to contact us, we're too busy." The look I gave Zhang Mei, as well as these words, should have made her understand through our previous implicit struggle.

  Zhang Mei nodded at this time.

  He pulled Lao Qian to bid farewell and leave. Behind him, he faintly heard a strange noise, but Lao Qian couldn't hear it, and was only pulled by him to stumble forward hastily.

  I know, as Li Yan said, I'm trapped in this situation and can't escape, so I might as well face it.

  Sat in the car. Old Qian was still flustered, asking me: "What kind of place is this? I feel that something's off. Why don't we work harder and make a trip every day?"

  I said: "You're the one who wanted to come, you've already expressed your opinion, and this project isn't something that can be done in a day or two. We neighbors have already agreed on it, with red lips and white teeth, we can't go back on our word."

  Lao Qian had never seen me speak so harshly before. Normally, because he is the director after all, although we get along well and are like two peas in a pod, on the surface I always show him great respect, which is also one of the reasons Lao Qian thinks I'm a reliable friend.

  Lao Qian muttered: "Alright then, anyway with you by my side, I'd be content to die under the peony flowers, and even as a ghost, I'll still be romantic."

  "That's right."

  The return trip was uneventful. But I don't know how Zhang is doing?

  The greatest gain for me from Zhang Er's widowhood is that it has transformed my state of mind, turning a setback into an opportunity. Whether it's good fortune or bad, the misfortune can't be avoided!