Chapter 6, The Ghostly Land
After exerting all her strength to squeeze onto the bus, Zhao Lingjun asked Zhang Changsheng with frustration, "Why are there so many people in this cursed place? When Hao Meili and I came yesterday, it didn't seem to be this crowded."
"Hehe, you are still thinking about Wu Xiaoye," Zhang Changsheng said. "I forgot to tell you another characteristic of the buses here. Besides the infrequent service, the buses are also unreliable in terms of timing. Sometimes two buses arrive in quick succession, while at other times you might wait half an hour without a single bus showing up. So usually, I don't take the bus."
What happened? Zhao Lingjun felt a chill in his heart. Is there no dividend?
As Zhao Lingjun thought about the countless dismembered and headless corpses that had once lain beneath the house he lived in, and considered the possibility that a perverse entity akin to the Black Mountain Old Demon might be suppressed here, the excitement he had felt on his first day at work had completely vanished. By the time Zhao Lingjun and Zhang Changsheng reached the bus stop not far from the community, he nearly collapsed to the ground in shock.
Seeing Zhao Lingjun's expression, Zhang Changsheng smiled and said, "It seems you are quite honest. However, I also feel a bit embarrassed to deceive you. The reason the developer could not suppress this news later is that ever since the construction began here, it has been quite unsettled"
If I tell you that the monthly dividend does not exceed one hundred and * pictures * books, and at times, it is only fifty, what would you say?" Zhang Changsheng looked at Zhao Lingjun and said
Dividend?'' Zhang Changsheng laughed so hard that he bent over
"What you said later is mostly correct, but what you don't know is that the developer, under pressure, reportedly invited some kind of master to perform a ritual. After that, there haven't been any strange occurrences here. " Zhang Changsheng said. "However, due to the reputation of the haunted house, not many people dare to live here."
"That's not right. If there are few buses, how could Wu Xiaoye leave so soon?" Zhao Lingjun asked curiously
Not quite peaceful? Zhao Lingjun suddenly felt a breeze passing over him, cool and refreshing
I! · ! # ! # ! . '' Zhao Lingjun looked at Zhang Changsheng, wanting to cry but having no tears. She never expected that the so-called private suite employee dormitory of this company was actually a haunted house that the boss could not sell.
"It is not that there are many people in this place, but rather that there are few buses," Zhang Changsheng explained. "When you returned yesterday, it was not during the peak commuting hours, so there were definitely not many people."
Electric vehicle? Zhao Lingjun nearly fainted
Zhao Lingjun tightened his grip on the handrail, stabilizing his body and preventing himself from falling to the ground
"Then how could you be laughing like this?" Zhao Lingjun said. "Laughing so terrifyingly."
* * and - diagram - book *
"Thud," Zhao Lingjun nearly rolled her eyes and fainted on the ground. "Was it you who drove the electric vehicle into our community that I saw on the balcony yesterday?"
Is that before tax or after tax? Is it before the deduction of hardware, or after the deduction of hardware?
Zhao Lingjun felt a chill all over again. "So, what is the difference between the two? Is it a few hundred?"
Upon seeing the dense crowd at the platform, Zhao Lingjun could not help but feel that it was truly a rather tragic situation for a delicate girl like Wu Xiaoye to squeeze onto such a bus every day. If she were to buy a car in a couple of years, she would definitely take Wu Xiaoye to and from work for free every day. During the process of squeezing onto the bus, Zhao Lingjun's first thought was unexpectedly still of Wu Xiaoye
"I suppose so," Zhang Changsheng said. "Most people usually take the bus to work, except for Baoya Zhen and Zhang Pangzi. In our company, apart from the boss, only those two have bought cars. And the boss does not live here."
Ghost? Zhao Lingjun really wanted to say, "What do I have to fear as a man?" But when he thought of the female ghosts in many Hong Kong films, dressed in red, with blood flowing from their eyes, sticking out their tongues, staring at you from the window or the mirror, and of Sadako, who crawls out of the television at midnight practicing a dog crawl, Zhao Lingjun felt a bit uneasy inside. The words "not afraid" were also somewhat difficult to utter.
"What? What are you saying?" Zhao Lingjun asked. "Did just those few buy a car? Then how did Hao Meili tell me that some employees in our company, who have only been here for two years, have already bought cars?"
"It is raining so heavily today, how am I supposed to drive?" Zhang Changsheng said. "If I manage to get to the company, won't I be drenched to the bone?"
"This ... I am not quite sure about it," Zhao Lingjun said to Zhang Changsheng. "Is there a difference?"
The dense crowd on the platform reminded Zhao Lingjun of the dilapidated station in front of his school Zhao Lingjun could not understand how a place resembling the Lanruo Temple could have so many people waiting for the bus here
"Compensation? The salary discussed varies for each person who comes in. By the way, what did she tell you?" Zhang Changsheng did not answer the question immediately, but instead retorted to Zhao Lingjun.
As Zhao Lingjun walked out of the community entrance in the pouring rain, he was momentarily dazed, feeling as if the three characters "Hua Jing Yuan" at the entrance had transformed into "Lan Ruo Si".
"There is, how could there not be?" Zhang Changsheng said with a smile
After enduring two consecutive blows, Zhao Lingjun felt that everything was beginning to seem illusory. Clinging to his last hope, Zhao Lingjun asked Zhang Changsheng, "What is the compensation like at our company? Is there a bonus every month?"
Haha. Zhang Changsheng laughed so hard that he could hardly stand still. Can you really believe what Zhaoya Zhen said? She mentioned that there are employees in our company who have been here for two years and have bought cars, isn't that just me?
Then why aren't you open today? Zhao Lingjun asked
"Indeed," said Zhang Changsheng
"What, did you buy a car?" At this moment, Zhao Lingjun suddenly recalled what Hao Meili had told her, that this company offered generous benefits, and some employees had already bought cars after only two years of working there. Zhao Lingjun became excited all at once
"Two thousand," said Zhao Lingjun
"Electric vehicle," Zhang Changsheng said, looking at Zhao Lingjun with curiosity. "What other kind of vehicle could there be?"
Zhao Lingjun only felt a loud bang in her head, as if all the hopeful soap bubbles had burst right before her eyes. It seemed as though someone was laughing loudly in Zhao Lingjun's mind: "Haha, your money and beautiful women will all belong to me from now on"
If 2000 yuan, after deducting hardware and taxes, I can take home 1500, that would be quite good, right?" Zhang Changsheng said. "There should be a difference of about four to five hundred, right?"
Indeed, after the construction began, many strange occurrences took place here. For instance, the construction workers often heard voices outside at night. Shortly after the work commenced, there were several incidents of workplace injuries, and not long after that, one worker suffered a mental breakdown, continuously claiming during the day that he had seen something unclean at night. Zhang from m.hetushu.com stated, "After the community was completed, the first batch of homeowners who moved in also heard some very strange sounds at night. Gradually, the news that this place was originally a mass grave spread without anyone knowing how."
"Of course there is a difference," Zhang Changsheng said, looking at Zhao Lingjun with a sympathetic gaze. "If the 2,000 you signed for is after tax, the salary after deducting the five insurances and one housing fund, then I congratulate you; your salary is considered high among new employees in previous years. However, if the 2,000 you signed for is before tax, the salary after deducting the five insurances and one housing fund, then I feel quite sorry for you."
"Drenched to death?" At this moment, Zhao Lingjun felt that something was amiss. "What kind of car are you driving?"
Zhao Lingjun was completely at a loss for words, yet he still held onto a glimmer of hope. "What about the dividends? Are the dividends really distributed every month?"
Later on, did the housing prices here plummet? Not many people live here anymore? The boss's building can't be sold, it's stuck in his hands, and can only be used as employee dormitories? Zhao Lingjun increasingly felt a sense of emptiness. But didn't I sleep quite soundly yesterday, without hearing any strange noises?
Zhang Changsheng greeted many people in this group, and it seems that many of them are from the same company as Zhao Lingjun. However, Zhao Lingjun did not notice Wu Xiaoye among them. It appears that in this short time, Wu Xiaoye has already taken a bus and left.