"I didn't notice just now, but the apartment number in Yuehao Residential Complex in the address is different from the one delivered before."
The addresses she used to deliver takeout to seemed to be specific building numbers and unit numbers.
"Urgent order deadline, the risk of exceeding the time limit is extremely high," the electronic voice on the phone urged.
It's going to be late! Su Cheng didn't have time to think, and ran into the residential area with the takeout.
She's about to be evaluated for excellence, and she can't let going overtime affect her bonus!
"Da da da"
The only sound in the silence was the footsteps running.
Su Cheng turned on her phone's built-in flashlight, barely illuminating the path ahead, while simultaneously dialing the buyer's number.
"Beep beep beep beep--" After a busy tone, a woman's impatient voice came through. "Why aren't you here yet?"
For some reason, the moment the call connected, the phone in my hand felt as cold as an ice cube.
Without thinking much of it, Su Cheng politely apologized, "I'm sorry, I can't find the place. Which side is Area A?"
"Honestly, I've been waiting for ages..." the woman mumbled a few complaints before finally giving directions, "There are street signs in every district, can't you see them?"
Su Cheng looked around with her phone in hand and actually spotted a signpost.
The signs indicate the directions of the four zones: A, B, C, and D.
"I saw it," Su Cheng replied, quickly running towards the direction pointed to Area A.
"That's good, hurry up, I'm starving!" the woman said before hanging up the phone.
Su Cheng hadn't run more than a few steps when countless neatly arranged points of light appeared in the darkness ahead.
Those must be the lights on inside the house!
Su Cheng breathed a sigh of relief; she had finally found it.
Without further hesitation, she sped towards the point of light.
Before long, rows of neat, similar-looking villas came into view, with faint candlelight emanating from inside and lanterns hanging at the entrance.
The sign beside the path has the number 1 engraved on it.
The design of this residential complex is truly... ingenious.
Su Cheng muttered to herself as she walked towards the back of this row of villas. The list said row 5, so it should be at the back.
After walking briskly past three rows of villas with identical floor plans, she finally arrived at the fifth row.
Upon reaching the first house, illuminated by red lanterns, the doorplate read "1".
Below is smaller print: Luo Lin, 27 years old.
Luo Lin is the name on the delivery address.
They even wrote the names on the doorplates; were they afraid of going to the wrong place? After all, the villas in this community are decorated so similarly.
Su Cheng raised her hand and knocked on the door, "Your takeout is here."
Her voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet villa area, it was like noise disturbing the residents...
Su Cheng pursed her lips, a hint of unease creeping into her heart.
The door opened, revealing a slightly plump woman in her early thirties.
She was soaked to the bone, her face was pale, and her lips were completely colorless, as if she had just been caught in a heavy rain and hadn't recovered yet.
Water droplets dripped from her body onto the ground, forming a puddle.
Her dark circles stared at Su Cheng as she reached out to take the takeout, complaining, "Why are you so slow!"
"Sorry, I've never been here before, and it took me a while to find the place," Su Cheng explained, then took out a piece of paper from her pocket. "Could you please fill out this survey form?"
Luo Lin took the form, glanced at it, and slowly read aloud the contents, "Are you satisfied with the delivery driver's performance...?"
She looked up and scrutinized Su Cheng, her eyes darkening slightly as she softened her tone. "Look how anxious you are, your lips are dry. Delivering takeout must be tiring, right? Would you like to come in and have some water?"
Luo Lin turned to the side, revealing a dining table behind the door with white candles on it. The room was even dimmer, with no light or shadow on the white walls.
Su Cheng glanced at it and quickly shook her head, "Thank you, but I have other deliveries to make. Please fill out the survey form and give it to me now."
Luo Lin suddenly smiled, "Come in, and I'll give you a good review. Don't be shy, you're just here for a drink of water."
She was just on the phone urging us to place the order and saying she was hungry, but now that the meal is in hand, she doesn't seem anxious at all.
Su Cheng frowned, looking troubled.
She was indeed very thirsty, and hadn't had time to drink water while rushing around.
Going inside for a drink of water won't take more than a few minutes, and I can quickly deal with the buyer in front of me, grab the form, and leave.
There's no reason to refuse.
She thought this in her mind, but her feet resisted; subconsciously, she didn't want to step through the door.
It was as if the other person wasn't inviting her inside, but rather inviting her to some extremely dangerous place.
"Oh, come in! Stop worrying. Ouch! That hurts!" Luo Lin reached out to pull Su Cheng, but screamed and pulled back when she touched her arm, dropping the survey form to the ground.
Luo Lin clutched her burned hand, taking small steps back in fear, her face filled with apprehension. "What do you have on you?!"
"No," Su Cheng denied.
The jade pendant around her neck felt slightly warm, but she didn't tell the truth. She had a deep-seated protective instinct towards the pendant and wanted to keep it hidden away, not wanting to tell anyone.
"You really don't need water. I can't enter your home during working hours without permission."
Su Cheng glanced at the time; she had already been in the neighborhood for almost ten minutes. Dealing with such a difficult buyer was too much trouble.
She quickly bent down to pick up the watch, only to find that Luo Lin was standing on tiptoe, her shoes covered in a thick layer of mud.
Su Cheng quickly looked away, her fingers clenching and unclenching, and said calmly, "Please fill out the form quickly, I'm really in a hurry."
"Hmph," Luo Lin's eyes darkened, and she picked up her pen to write down her dissatisfaction, but then she saw in the annotation: If you are dissatisfied, you must explain the reasons in detail. If you lie, someone will conduct an exclusive interview later.
Su Cheng maintained an excellent attitude throughout, never exceeding the allotted time, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her.
Luo Lin was unwilling but had no choice but to forcefully write the word "satisfied" with her pen.
Su Cheng accepted the watch and thanked him. Seeing that the evaluation was positive, she breathed a sigh of relief. She immediately greeted him politely, and without waiting for Luo Lin's response, she quickly turned around and left the way she came.
She ran very fast, the cold wind whipping against her face, making it sting.
I was in a rush to deliver food and didn't realize how windy and cold this neighborhood was.
Various sounds came from the villa area next door:
"Is this the delivery driver? Do you have my meal...?"
"Um, I want to order too!"
"Which food delivery company are you from? I want to order takeout too, but I don't know how to use it. Can you come and help me? I'll give you extra money for the delivery, okay?"
"..."
They called out to Su Cheng, waiting for a response.
But Su Cheng covered her ears and ran away without looking up, the sound only disappearing after she left the residential area.
After getting on her electric scooter, she quickly drove away without looking back even once.
This Yuehao Residential Complex, she's decided she'll never take any more orders from here again!
The Yuehao Residential Complex fell silent again. Luo Lin threw the takeout aside and stared at her burned and festering hands with a distorted expression.
Damn it! The first two times went so smoothly! Not only could she coax people into the house, but she could also write on the form that the other person had a bad attitude. With a bad review in hand, she could legally withhold them!
"Knock knock," the neighbor next door knocked on the wall.
A frail, low voice came from behind. "Young lady, how did you order takeout? I'm too old for that."
Luo Lin snorted, knowing that the old man next door had become envious after seeing how deliciously she had eaten the food the previous two times.
After all, they can only connect with the outside world and have a big meal before the New Year.
Luo Lin initially didn't want to pay attention to her neighbor, but suddenly an idea popped into her head.
She walked to the wall and said to the 'person' on the other side, "I can teach you, but you have to share half with me."
The old man muttered something reluctantly, but since he didn't know how to use modern technology, he figured half was better than nothing, so he finally agreed.
He took out the phone his grandson had burned for him, and following Luo Lin's instructions, successfully placed the order step by step.
"The delivery driver has accepted the order and is on his way to pick it up. Please wait patiently."
Hearing the notification sound, the old man and Luo Lin smiled expectantly, staring at the young man in the deliveryman's profile picture, waiting for him to "deliver the food to their door."
A note from the author:
none
Chapter 121
Su Cheng sped along until she returned to a street with streetlights and saw pedestrians walking by, only then did her tense nerves relax.
Several more orders popped up in the mobile order-taking group, but she didn't bother to check them. Instead, she opened the map and started searching for Yuehao Residential Complex.
The search results showed the location as: Yuehao Home (cemetery), 3.6km away.
"A cemetery? How could that be..."
Undeterred, Su Cheng refreshed the page twice more, but the result remained unchanged.
Yuehao Residential Complex is actually Yuehao Home, not a residential community, but a cemetery!
Without a doubt, she just encountered a ghost.
Su Cheng's face was grim. She pulled out a survey form tucked at the bottom of the trunk in the back seat of the car. The handwriting on it indicated that what she had experienced was not a hallucination.
She couldn't help but think that agreeing to enter the house was like agreeing to be devoured by a ghost; one would either be eaten or possessed and forced to share a body from then on.
Wait, how do I know all this?
Su Cheng was slightly taken aback. She reached for the jade pendant hidden under her collar. The jade pendant had returned to normal temperature, and its cool touch brought her a sense of security.
The first encounter with a ghost undoubtedly panicked her, but deep down she wasn't actually terrified; subconsciously, she seemed certain she would escape unscathed.
The ghosts of the cemetery cannot harm her.
She's just an ordinary person, so what makes her so certain?
Su Cheng froze, stumped by her own question. She was stuck in a rut, feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure it out.
"Hey? Are you alright?" A passerby saw her covering her head and approached to ask.
"It's nothing, thank you." Su Cheng shook her head, declining the passerby's offer to take her to the hospital.
"The Lunar New Year is almost here. Delivering food must be tough. Please take care of yourself, no matter how hard it is."
Thank you, I will. Happy New Year in advance!
"Haha, you too." The passerby smiled and, seeing that Su Cheng was indeed alright, waved and left.