Chapter 8: Investigation

Su Rou’s shouting had an absolute effect. Perhaps it was because in the 1990s, the brand Montjoie was too dazzling. In any case, a large crowd gathered around and began to pick and choose the clothes.

“Look at the logo carefully, it’s absolutely authentic Montjoie. It’s so fashionable that it’s really a bargain. My heart is aching at this price.” Su Rou said with spittle flying.

I was just so full of pride, but when I faced the crowd, I suddenly turned red and couldn’t speak.

At this time, a woman holding a set of underwear asked me, “Young man, when did Montjoie have underwear?”

My face turned even redder. I didn’t know anything about Montjoie, so how could I answer this question? Could it be that Su Rou was faking? At this moment, Su Rou was smiling at the crowd, but with one hand behind his back, he was twisting the meat on my waist, almost making me cry. I finally managed to say something while twisting Su Rou back and forth: “There are underwear, and there are some in Guangzhou.”

“Oh.” The auntie was convinced.

At this point, I had to admire the little boss, who had imitated the logo so realistically that even these ‘fire-eyed’ aunties who buy things could be fooled.

That night, my business with Su Rou was very good, and I basically sold all the clothes and underwear I brought with me. At this point, I also realized the great changes in China. A few years ago, it would have been enough to have a nice-looking outfit to wear. What was the concept of a brand? I guess no one cared.

After this experience, I have also become as smooth-talking as Su Rou, and I have to admit that life has its own unique charm, which makes people fall into it. For me, it is like when I collect money…

It was already late when we closed up shop. Su Rou happily pulled me aside and whispered to me, “Sanwa, at this rate, we’ll sell out in another 7 or 8 days, and then we’ll fly far away.”

“Get lost, you’re talking like I’m running away with you.” I laughed and scolded him.

Suru was so happy that he didn’t care about what I said and told me, “Sanwa, don’t you believe it. We can make 5,000 yuan from this batch of goods. We’ll get our money back today. But we can’t do this too much. We have to make a quick buck. Let’s go. We’re in a good mood today. Let’s go eat something good.”

“What’s good?” I asked.

“Big spending! Let’s go… let’s go eat Yulin skewers!” Su Rou said with a heavy heart.

I looked at him with infinite contempt. This kid is so stingy. He calls eating a skewer a big hemorrhage?Taoist priest

In the crowded restaurant, Su Rou and I were guarding a steaming hot pot, while swallowing our saliva, waiting for the skewers inside to cook quickly. The red soup base had a special spicy fragrance, and Su Rou and I both wanted to eat it raw.

In front of us was a small dish with peanuts, cilantro, green onion, chili, garlic, and other ingredients. Su Rou couldn’t stop eating with his chopsticks, but I had to keep my composure and maintain my image.

The red soup in the pot was boiling, and the crispy meat finally couldn’t resist. He picked up a string of beef and put it in the bowl. He didn’t care about the heat, and rolled the beef in the bowl a few times before throwing it in his mouth. While chewing, he told me, “Sanwa, eat quickly. The beef can’t be too cooked.”

I couldn’t help it either, so I simply picked up a handful of beef and put it all in the bowl.

Seeing my “ferocious” appearance, Su Rou quickly came to grab it, so neither of us cared about our image and began to eat it in large mouthfuls, drinking beer while eating. The skewers were spicy and delicious, and the beer was refreshing and fattening. It was winter, and we were eating hot food, and even the cold beer could not quench our sweat.

Halfway through the meal, Su Rou looked at the bamboo skewers piled high in the bamboo tube and said to me, “You see, I said it was a big loss, didn’t you believe me?”

I was speechless. I could eat the crispy meat, and I could eat even more. Although he was fat, I didn’t get fat. The countless bamboo skewers proved that the crispy meat was right and that it was indeed bleeding profusely.

We drank eight bottles of beer between us, not to mention how much we ate. The beer alone was enough to fill our stomachs, and we had to go to the bathroom twice. We slowed down our eating pace decisively.

As I was eating, I asked Su Rou, “Su Rou, how do you know these small factories are haunted?”

“That’s because I have a lot of contacts, you know? These small business owners are very smart. How could they let the word get out that their place is haunted? It would affect their business! They just want to quietly hire a high-level person to fix the problem. I’m telling you, it’s not that I’ve been running around these places and meeting so many people that I know about these rumors. I really didn’t know about it.” Su Rou was showing off again.

“But I don’t think this ghost story is credible. I’ve thought about it, and there’s no way a skeleton could be scary. People who don’t know what they’re talking about think skeletons are scary, but people who know better know that skeletons are the least scary thing of all. First, it’s impossible for a corpse to change, and second, it’s been so long that the soul might have already left. How could a skeleton be walking around?” I think this is a very strange thing.

“I don’t know about that. You know, although this is a secret, it doesn’t mean that people aren’t exaggerating. It could be an exaggeration,” Su Rou said to me as he chewed on a chicken tip (the tip of the chicken wing) with great effort.

I took a sip of beer and said nothing. To be honest, my master didn’t seem to have any particular likes or dislikes, but there was one type of person he particularly hated and detested, and that was the kind of swindler, the real charlatan.

In his words, they simply tarnished the reputation of Taoism.

I once heard my master mention a school of frauds, the Jiangxiang School. It can be said that the reputation of Taoism was completely ruined by this school of frauds. In the end, whenever people mentioned Taoist priests, they naturally thought of those charlatans who talked nonsense.

So, at first I was purely interested in this matter, and then I became more concerned.

I have followed my master for so many years, and I absolutely share his disgust for the same kind of people. I suspect that this is a deliberate scam. People often think that the biggest scam is a charlatan fortune teller or a medium.

What people don’t know is that a real scam takes at least a month to set up, using every means possible to make you believe something.

When I suspected something, I naturally paid attention to it. So, sometimes when you lament that fate has pushed you down a certain path, it is because you yourself have not paid attention. You are concerned about this in life, so how could you not go down this path? Just like me, I am concerned about this, so my fate naturally goes in this direction. This is not something I can complain about as a coincidence, or that I can complain about how I can’t live a peaceful life.

Seeing me in a daze, Su Rou wiped his mouth and said, “Come on, when you meet the Taoist priest, you’ll know for sure. He’s not taking your job away, and if it’s a hoax, just treat it as a joke.”

This is what Su Rou said. His reaction was the same as most people. Yes, the level of concern is different. Ordinary people may miss something strange because they don’t care.

I didn’t say anything, thinking that Su Rou was right. If it wasn’t a particularly bad liar, I wouldn’t bother. As my master said, there would be consequences.

After finishing this meal with Su Rou, it was already past 1 a.m. When we returned home, slightly drunk, the area where Su Rou lived was already dark.

Su Rou took a leak in a corner and insisted that I accompany him. He said, “I’ve seen people before, so I believe them. Sanwa, if you’re capable, you have to accompany me.”

Maybe it was the wine, or maybe I was too excited that day, I wasn’t sleepy. I said to Su Rou, “Why don’t we go to that small factory and catch a ghost to play with?”

Su Rou had just finished peeing. When he heard me say this, he looked at me as if he had really seen a ghost and said, “Sanwa, can you stop talking nonsense with me? What do you mean by catching a ghost to play with? I’m not doing it. Let’s go back to sleep. Yes, let’s go back to sleep.”

I grabbed Su Rou and said, “With me here, you have nothing to fear. The scariest thing is a ghost. Even Hua Feifei can handle a spider, don’t you remember? Let’s go. Don’t you want to get rich? Let’s go and see. If we really see something, can’t we take the money that the bosses have put together?”

Su Rou is a money-grubber. When he heard me say that, his fat face twitched and he gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, let’s go take a look. I’ve seen it all, after all. Snake spirits, roadblock ghosts, hungry ghost kings, this is nothing. It’s just money that’s real. Let’s go!”

This kid suddenly acted more impatient than I did.