The sight of the old woman made my heart clench. I remembered what Old Tang had told me: she had appeared before the truck drivers met with accidents. Old Tang was a ghost, so what about her?
Apart from the unusually deep mass of wrinkles on her face, she looked no different from any other ordinary old woman.
But she had been among the first people to ride my last bus. I still remembered her saying that night that I was talking to an empty seat. It had nearly scared my soul out of me, so she had left a particularly deep impression.
Hunched over, the old woman saw me standing dazed in the doorway, rolled her eyes at me, and shouted:
"What're you gawking at? Has your head still not recovered, kid? If you're sick, get it treated!"
I forced an awkward smile and subconsciously took a step back. "Ma'am, did you need something?" I asked quietly.
The old woman noticed my step backward. Clearly displeased, she turned her head away, her voice full of discontent.
"Remember me? Don't you recognize a good person, you little brat?"
My temper flared at once. Because of that one remark of hers, I had nearly mistaken Sixth Uncle for a ghost. And now, before I had even gone to settle the score, she had come knocking, expecting gratitude.
"Ma'am, never mind whether you're a good person. Has your eyesight still not recovered?"
That got her worked up. She bent down and picked up a potato from the vegetable basket on the ground.
Her movements were slow, and I saw the potato in her hand. What I never imagined was that she had picked it up to throw at me.
With a smack, the fist-sized potato split my scalp open.
I clutched my head, nearly crying from the pain, and shouted at her angrily:
"What the hell? Why are you hitting people, you old woman?"
She picked up her vegetable basket, lifted her chin high, and said unhurriedly:
"That'll teach an inexperienced brat like you to spout nonsense!"
I was so furious that all eight of my abs tensed up, but there was nothing I could do against the sixty- or seventy-year-old woman before me.
Seeing me clutching my head in silence, she slowly continued:
"A potato to knock some sense into you. I came to save you today. Don't go to work on the night of the fifteenth this month. Hide in your room, and don't come out even if the sky falls. Understand?"
Although I was usually a man of few words, I certainly wasn't the sort to let people walk all over me.
What I particularly hated was this kind of thing: slapping you, then offering you a sweet and claiming it was for your own good. For my own good, my ass!
I replied impatiently:
"You've split my head open, old woman, and now you're telling me you're saving me? Have you gone senile?"
She frowned at that, bent down to pick up another potato, and hurled it at me as she cursed:
"You little bastard! Better a split scalp and a little blood than losing your head!"
Seeing another potato coming, I hurried several steps backward. Prepared this time, I dodged it easily.
The old woman seemed unhappy after throwing two potatoes, too. She lifted her vegetable basket and slowly turned to leave, muttering:
"Ignorant little brat. I'm done with you!"
Once she was far away, I spat and hurried to take a taxi to a nearby clinic. When the doctor asked what had happened, I said I had fallen off a motorcycle.
On my way back to the dorm, I ran into several coworkers. Seeing the bandage around my head, they all started fussing over me with fake concern. I barely acknowledged them and walked on.
Those slick old hands were all smooth talk and polished manners to my face. Who knew all the ways they were laughing at me behind my back?
That old woman really was strange, coming all that way to split my head open and leave.
She had even told me not to go out on the night of the fifteenth. How could I possibly stay in that day? Master Liu Yunbo had instructed me to visit him without fail after my late shift on the fifteenth.
I touched the bracelet on my wrist, and a sense of calm washed over me. Taking a bold guess, perhaps she was like Old Tang: neither could bear to see me doing well, but both feared my bracelet and didn't dare touch me?
Otherwise, why would the two of them suddenly appear out of nowhere after being missing for so long?
The incidents coming one after another lately had kept me from getting a decent night's sleep. Back at the dorm, I lay on my bed, wanting a good rest, but I couldn't stop trying to sort through the complicated events of the past few days.
I started with the old woman. She had said Sixth Uncle didn't exist, which meant Sixth Uncle was a ghost. Then Old Tang had said this old woman had mysteriously appeared at the accidents ten years ago, which meant she might be a ghost, too.
Later, Old Tang had also told me that Liu Yunbo had burned to death ten years ago and was a ghost.
Likewise, Sixth Uncle had told me that the man who burned to death ten years ago was Liu Qingzhu.
Now it was clear: Old Tang and Liu Qingzhu were on one side, while Sixth Uncle and Liu Yunbo were on another. And now this old woman had appeared as a side of her own.
And all these people were calling one another dead.
It was far too complicated. I had met and spoken with all of them, yet they all gave me a hazy, elusive feeling that I couldn't grasp and that left me uneasy.
Before joining this company, I had been a man who wasn't afraid to shit facing out of the outhouse. In just these few months, I had turned into a coward who watched every step.
As my thoughts wandered, I received a text from Bai Fan.
"It's Friday! I'm taking your bus home tonight!"
Bai Fan always had that ability. Every time I spoke to her, or even exchanged texts with her, she warmed my heart and pulled me out of the endless abyss into a happy reality.
I grinned with delight and quickly replied: Sure. It's been a few days since we last saw each other. See you tonight!
I had been spending time with Bai Fan for a while now. We had eaten together and gone to the movies, but I still wasn't sure what our relationship was. Were we actually boyfriend and girlfriend?
Actually, I didn't dare hope that Bai Fan and I would become a couple. She was so outstanding and beautiful. If she really got together with me, wouldn't she be getting a terrible deal?
I had been so exhausted lately that, as I thought about it all, I finally drifted into a groggy sleep.
I had no idea how long I slept before "The Hottest Ethnic Style" successfully dragged me out of my dreams again. Happily, though, it was Bai Fan calling.
Still half asleep, I answered the phone and tried to keep my voice strong and clear as I said hello.
"Li Yao, what are you doing? Can you come get me and take me to the bus?"
I pulled the phone away to check the time. "What's wrong, Bai Fan? It's only eight thirty. My bus doesn't leave until eleven!"
"I know, but there's an electrical fault in my complex, and the whole building's lost power. I live on the thirteenth floor, and the stairwell's dark. I'm scared to go downstairs!"
I had noticed that ever since I started driving the last bus on Route 13, the coincidences had kept coming.
First, Master Liu Yunbo's residential complex was at 2386 Huaiyuan Road, the same number as my license plate. Now, by another coincidence, Bai Fan lived on the thirteenth floor!
I paused, then quickly agreed. "No problem. I'll come get you now."
After hanging up, Bai Fan sent me her address. I got up, quickly made myself presentable, and rushed out.
It wasn't a huge deal, but it wasn't nothing, either. Bai Fan had thought of me when she was frightened. That really was a chance for me to score points. Who better than me to play the hero rescuing the beauty?
I soon reached her complex by taxi. As I walked through it, I kept wondering what I should do if Bai Fan invited me inside to sit down and have some water.
With just the two of us alone in that pitch-black apartment, should I take the opportunity to make a move and elevate our revolutionary friendship?
While I was happily imagining that, Bai Fan called. "Li Yao, are you here yet?"
"I'm here. I'm walking through the complex!"
"Great! Hurry upstairs and get me. I'm scared!"
Hearing my goddess say she was scared instantly stirred my protective instincts. I put on a carefree manner and said, "Don't be scared. I'm here. Nobody's less afraid of the dark than me. I'll come upstairs and get you right now!"
"Okay, hurry. I'll be waiting!"
After hanging up, I was beside myself with excitement. For the first time, I felt that darkness didn't bring only bad things. It could actually lend me a hand.
Bai Fan lived in a mid-range residential complex. The stairwell was quite clean and even had small windows.
But it was past nine at night, after all, and without lights, the stairwell was still pitch-black. I hurried up the stairs by the faint glow of my phone.
With happy prospects on my mind, I practically flew along. My legs seemed to have endless strength, and I wasn't afraid in the slightest. Before long, I reached the seventh floor. Just then, Bai Fan called again.
"Hello, Li Yao, are you here yet? I just got out of the shower. If you're here, wait downstairs a bit. Come up after I've gotten ready!"
Her words left me baffled. "I got here ages ago. You called me five minutes ago and told me to come upstairs!"
Bai Fan went silent for a long while, then cursed at me. "You jerk!"
Then she said quietly, "Li Yao, I scare easily. Don't joke around and frighten me. I was in the shower that whole time. I never called you!"
At those words, I looked around at the endless darkness, and my legs instantly froze!