Chapter 8: The Old Ghost of the Northeast

Cheng Xin Ge didn’t say anything clearly on the phone, just urging us to go there as soon as possible. This Cheng Xin Ge is rare. In normal times, he is the gentle spring breeze man with a slow pace and a gentle smile.

This phone call somehow also broke the delicate atmosphere between me and Ruoxue, so I had no heart to talk about anything else. After some discussion, we decided to fly there the next day. Ruoxue also left my room and went to my sixth sister’s room to sleep with her.

As for her brother-in-law, he had to sleep on the floor downstairs tonight, after all, he had given up his room to me.

The next day, we said goodbye to my sister and her husband, bought the earliest flight ticket of the day, and rushed to a certain province in the eastern three provinces.

Unfortunately, the city where Brother Chengxin was located did not have direct flights, so we rushed to the nearest city and then took a car to the city where Brother Chengxin was located.

This is the northernmost city in China. When I got here, I realized how wrong I had been. I had traveled all over the country, but I was really unprepared because I was in such a hurry!

I didn’t know what real cold was until I got here. It was really cold.

In October, many places in China have a cool autumn, but here in October, it is even colder than the coldest winter in my hometown, and it looks like it has already snowed.

So, when I and Ru Xue got off the bus, we were both shivering. I quickly took out the two down jackets I had bought in Beijing in a hurry, and first put one on Ru Xue, and then put one on myself.

In a hurry, I only had these preparations. After all, I have been busy for the past few months, and all the preparations were done by my brother. I didn’t think about it so much, and I didn’t expect such a mistake!

The place where Ru Xue lives is a warm place, warmer than my hometown of Sichuan. Even with a down jacket on, she was still shivering. It was obviously not suitable for the weather here. I felt distressed and almost without hesitation, I opened my own down jacket and from behind, held Ru Xue in my arms.

The moment I hugged her, Ru Xue’s whole body couldn’t help but stiffen a little, and I whispered, “Don’t move, I don’t mean anything, I just don’t want you to freeze to death.”

Ru Xue’s body softened and she leaned lightly against me. She really didn’t move, but she didn’t say anything either. We stood quietly on the street because Cheng Xin Ge said we should wait for him here.

I don’t know if my heart was warmed, and my body was warmed as well. I was leaning against her, and the fragrance of her hair was tantalizing my breath. It was as if I was immersed in her world, and I could barely feel the wind and cold outside.

I wished that time would pass more slowly, but after two minutes, a light laugh came from not far away. I saw Chengxin leaning against the street lamp, smiling at us. He apologized, “Chengyi, I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt you, but I didn’t want to make any noise. I was afraid that you would just stand there on the street until the end of time, freezing to death without moving.”

I made a helpless and angry expression at Brother Chengxin, and then I felt a void in my chest. It was as if Xue had already left my arms, and I only realized it at this moment. My whole body was already so cold that my hands and feet were a bit stiff.

“Let’s go back to my rented house and talk about it.” Cheng Xin Ge was dressed like a bear, and it looked like he couldn’t stand the cold, so he hurriedly urged us.

Ru Xue and I quickly followed his footsteps. As I walked, I asked, “Why rent a room in someone else’s house when you can just stay in a hotel?”

“Is something wrong? Has the situation changed? I’ll tell you more when we get back.” Cheng Xin quickly answered me. Like me, when he spoke, big white clouds of steam came out of his mouth. It was freezing cold, and it was clearly only mid-October.

“But why didn’t you tell me earlier? It’s in the old forest here. I said I would prepare some down jackets, but it’s still cold before we even enter the mountains.” In fact, I didn’t want to complain about Brother Chengxin, but I couldn’t help but look at Ru Xue’s face, which was red from the cold.

“I’ll tell you, I only arrived in this province two days ago, and only arrived in this city yesterday. Can you believe it?” Chengxin brother put his glasses back on and looked at me helplessly.

This is a bit strange, but it’s cold, and I don’t want to stay out here any longer, so I didn’t ask any more questions, but just followed Brother Chengxin and walked silently! I just hope to get into a warm house as soon as possible.

In the northern houses, there is usually heating, and once inside, it is like spring, completely different from the cold weather outside.

As soon as we entered the house, Brother Chengxin handed me and Ruoxue two cups of hot water. I and Ruoxue held the hot water and drank several sips before we felt warm. It was only then that I noticed that Brother Chengxin’s rented house was quite nice, with two rooms and a living room. It was clean and tidy, except that the living room was full of packages, which looked like Brother Chengxin’s things.

When he noticed that I had noticed the packages, he said, “Fortunately, I still have friends in the north. They just delivered them this afternoon. We need them in the old forest. Otherwise, we’ll just freeze to death in the mountains.”

At this point, I finally caught my breath and said, “You’ve been preparing for a long time, right? Why are you in such a hurry now?”

Cheng Xin looked at me, said nothing, then picked up an object and threw it onto the sofa in the living room with a loud noise. Then he slammed the door shut and said to me, “Keep your spiritual eye open to prevent anything from eavesdropping.”

I noticed that what Chengxin had just thrown out was a small pot-like object. I recognized it at a glance as a kind of yin instrument, made of special clay and fired. I thought of Chengxin’s words about opening my heavenly eyes, and I understood eight or nine points. He was guarding against ghosts. After all, who else could it be? It was the old ghost who had traded with him at the ghost market.

Xue was calm and silent, as if she were not involved in the matter at all. I felt that there was something fishy about this, and it would be better to do as Chengxin said, so I opened my third eye.

In fact, this state of mind is nothing special. It just makes me look a little hazy, but it doesn’t affect the conversation.

“Tell me, what’s going on?” I leaned back on the sofa, enjoying the warm heating, and I was more relaxed!

“I think there’s something wrong with this old ghost. I’ve noticed something wrong in the past few days. Let me put it this way: he’s always hiding things, like squeezing toothpaste. He squeezes a little and says a little. And I feel like he’s hiding something from me, so I told you on the phone that something was wrong.” Chengxin gave me a brief summary of the situation.

But his words were not heavy, because he was still busy fiddling with a stew pot in the room, trying to see if the contents were ready.

The stew in the pot was made with large pieces of meat and white vegetables. Even if I was ignorant, I knew that it was the unique pickled vegetables of the north, plus vermicelli. It was stewed to perfection, and when he opened the lid, the whole room was filled with the aroma.

Chengxin brother had a piece of white meat in his mouth, and he said to me in a slurred voice, “It’s not right, but I’m not worried. The transactions in the ghost market can’t be faked, so the old ghost should still be honest and take us to find the essence. But…”

At this point, Cheng Xin had already swallowed the piece of meat in his mouth and said to me and Ru Xue, “Northeast stew, the heat is just right, it’s flavored, and it’s also stewed and soft. Come, eat while it’s hot, and let’s talk while we eat.”

Northeast cuisine, to be honest, I haven’t eaten anything authentic. As soon as Brother Chengxin said that, I couldn’t help but sit down with Ru Xue. Brother Chengxin had already set up the small bench and prepared the bowls and chopsticks, handing them to me and Ru Xue. Then he turned off the fire and said, “Eat like this, it’s hot! Wait a minute, it’ll get cold, add some water, and then turn on the heat and you can eat it again. I think this northeastern cuisine is good, with a generous portion and a strong flavor. The northeastern fermented soybean paste is so fragrant. This is a man’s paradise, where you can eat large pieces of meat and drink a lot of wine.

Chengxin is really a foodie. When it comes to food, he has long forgotten the main point. I was so hungry that I didn’t care about the heat and even ate two bites. The big pieces of meat, the full-flavored pickled vegetables, and the sauce flavor were really delicious and easy to eat. However, I still didn’t forget to remind Chengxin, “You said the main point.”

Chengxin took out a bottle of wine, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to me before saying, “The point is that our search for the essence of ginseng may not be as simple as we thought. The old toothpaste squeezer told us that we could only enter the mountains in November because there was an important place, but he wouldn’t say exactly where it was. Anyway, we had to go in when it was cold and freezing. I can tolerate all of this, but what I can’t tolerate is that he told us to avoid some people in a secretive way.

I took a sip of the wine, which was no different from the burning knife that Yuan Yi had brought to the cemetery. After I drank it, my throat and stomach were burning. After I calmed down, I asked, “Why? What do you mean?”

Before Chengxin could answer, I heard a voice coming from somewhere. It was typical “ghost talk,” as if it were coming directly from inside my head.

“What the hell? What the hell? You can’t do this to me again!”

It was funny, I couldn’t help but laugh. Could this be the old ghost from the Northeast?