Chapter 004: Death Notice

At this thought, it felt as if my heart had stopped beating. Although there were so many people around, I still felt as if I were in a very dangerous place, as if a pair of eyes in a dark corner were watching me

Looking up from the embroidered shoes, I saw a pair of long, straight legs. I simply stood up, and before me was a woman in her twenties

She did not respond, almost greedily inhaling, as three incense sticks burned to ashes at a speed ten times faster than usual. She licked her lips with some satisfaction and took out money from her pocket to give to me: "Thank you"

Upon careful consideration, it becomes evident that the success of my flower shop is likely to incite envy among my competitors, particularly Old Chen, who owns several shops. As the saying goes, competitors are adversaries; how could he possibly have the goodwill to assist me

I calmed my breath: "I am not angry with you, but were your words just now true or false?"

Alright, just make the payment. I suppose this is a service industry, after all; I can't go against the customers. I took out three incense sticks, lit them with a lighter, and watched the smoke rise gracefully, making a wish for Tao Xin and my deceased friend to have a good journey together.

He let out a sound and said, "I still need to fix the threshold later."

The old police officer could no longer attend to me and personally went over to inspect. I stood on tiptoe to look, and indeed, there were dark bruises all over Old Chen's neck. The handprints appeared quite small, resembling those left by a child

Many people say such things. Although my shop and the books are not very large in appearance, the business is good; everyone knows it is a money tree. In fact, to sell at a high price, I should keep them hanging and wait for a better offer. But now I am terrified and just want to sell it quickly. I negotiated a price that was almost acceptable, and the transaction is about to take place. The other party did not have high hopes to begin with, but when they saw me nodding, they were extremely excited, looking at me as if I were a fool. I do not mind; as long as I can sell the shop, anything is negotiable. In fact, to sell at a high price, I should keep them hanging and wait for a better offer. But now I am terrified and just want to sell it quickly. I negotiated a price that was almost acceptable, and the transaction is about to take place. The other party did not have high hopes to begin with, but when they saw me nodding, they were extremely excited, looking at me as if I were a fool. I do not mind; as long as I can sell the shop, anything is negotiable.

I leaned in and heard the people around me discussing: "Hey, such a strong and healthy body, how could it just leave like that?"

I clapped my hands, kicked the removed threshold aside, walked in, and picked up the incense candles: "These total seventeen yuan, how many do you want?"

She remained silent, her gaze directed towards the incense candles over there

I have just one thought, Old Chen, didn't you say that I would never encounter evil again? But now this thing has come knocking at my door by itself

The seemingly delicate girl, with just one glance, left me trembling with fear. I looked at her cold, icy pale face and, feeling a bit intimidated, stammered, "Who... who are you?"

It is just that I am fortunate; neither the little girl from before nor this young woman has treated me poorly, especially the latter, who even paid, which is quite reasonable, although the payment was in ghost money

Seeing me in a fit of anger startled him, and he forced a smile, saying: "Just a joke, don't be angry."

However, this is just the beginning

We agreed to transfer ownership tomorrow. He was beaming with joy, looking at my shop as if it were his own home, completely satisfied. However, when he noticed the threshold, he furrowed his brow and said, "Xiao Xu, what’s going on with this threshold?"

I realized that Old Man Chen is dead

I thought he had discovered something, fearing that the business would go under, so I lied and said: "It's nothing, I just dismantled it because I found it displeasing"

He looked at me with suspicion, reported inside, and the old policeman remembered me, waving me over: "What are you here for?"

It really is dead

Is there really a counterfeit version of this thing? I find it amusing: "How about I light up two for you to verify the goods?"

I was stunned for a few seconds, then I slapped my own face hard; it hurt, and it was not a dream. I hurriedly chased after, but the empty street had not a single shadow of a person.

I do know a few things; can I possibly tell him? I estimate that saying it might only make him more suspicious, as he would think I am fabricating a story. I shook my head and said: "How could that be? I was actually thinking of selling the shop, knowing that Old Chen is wealthy, I wanted to ask if he might be interested. I never expected that he would pass away."

I have decided to sell the flower shop, taking advantage of the opportunity to make a profit and sell it quickly to reap some gains

Now I find myself in a dilemma; if I agree, it feels a bit foolish, but if I refuse, it contradicts what I said earlier. The woman might have sensed what I was thinking about the picture book and said, "I will pay."

At this moment, I had already sensed that something was amiss

I was joking when I said that, with a hint of sarcasm, but to my surprise, she seemed completely unfazed and simply nodded in agreement.

My first thought was, could it be related to me? Upon reflection, it really is possible. We had only met once, and then he died. Just thinking about this makes my expression turn strange. He set me up, I was fine, yet he ended up dead. Does this count as retribution?

As long as there is no evidence, even if he suspects further, he cannot say anything. We exchanged a few words when someone in a white coat came over to report: "The deceased was frightened while alive, his pupils were dilated, but there were no obvious wounds on his body, and the cause of death is unknown. The only clue is a bruise-like handprint on his neck."

Looking back at my flower wreath shop, I thought of a possibility; it seems that it was only after I took over the shop that strange things started happening. Could it be that this shop is cursed? Didn't the 'thing' that just arrived come specifically for the scent of the incense?

We had just met in the morning, how could it be that he is dead? I couldn't believe it. I separated from the crowd and moved to the front, but a police officer stopped me from going any further. I looked inside and noticed that the old police officer who had investigated me last time was also there. I pointed at him and said, "I know your captain; we are on the same side."

After sending him off, I closed the shop door and headed straight to the old man's store. Along the way, there were many flower shops and bookstores. I took note and observed that indeed, every single one had a threshold. This further confirmed my suspicion that I had been deceived. I was foolish to trust people so easily.

However, when I arrived outside Old Chen's shop, I was taken aback. Inside, there was a chorus of crying, and police cars and ambulances were parked nearby, creating a chaotic scene. It was evident that something had gone wrong

Have you left

Having spoken, she turned and left

The old police officer observed the situation and pulled me aside, saying: "Do you know something?"

I was taken aback and found it strange, so I asked him why he needed to build a seemingly useless threshold. He smiled and said, "You don't understand. In our line of work, we deal with the dead, and the atmosphere is quite heavy. The threshold needs to be a bit higher than that of an ordinary shop. In ancient times, there was a saying called 'blocking the yin,' which means to ward off the yin energy. If there were no threshold, well, those who are after the paper money and incense would surely catch a whiff of it.

Child, child, little girl

I felt something was off, and as I reached out to pinch the three incense sticks, she glared at me fiercely like a protective wild dog and said, "What are you doing!"

I just spread the news, and soon there were people knocking at my door. They were all from the same street, and upon learning that I wanted to sell the shop, they were like sharks sensing blood in the water, eagerly saying: "Xiao Xu, we are honest people. Just name a price, and if it's reasonable, we can make the deal immediately"

In the end, he deliberately teased me in a tone that was half-joking and half-threatening, but as I listened, I felt a surge of anger. Damn it, so it was related to the picture book. No wonder that woman in white came knocking at my door; this kind of thing never happened before. That damned Chen Lao has unknowingly put me in a difficult position!

She softly said, "Is this the genuine article?"

He spread his hands and said: "Anyway, this is what others told me when I first started doing business. It may be a bit superstitious, but everyone has been doing it this way all along. It is better to believe that it exists than to believe that it does not. Repairing a threshold is not a huge undertaking."

I nodded slightly, and the anger in my heart grew stronger; that old bastard really did deceive me

She was wearing a white shirt, which was somewhat out of fashion, especially paired with her pale complexion, creating a striking contrast. I thought she must be a customer, so I asked, "What would you like to buy?"

I heard the sound of inhalation, turned my head to look, and found that this woman, who had been expressionless all along, was very excited. Her nose was twitching, and her eyes were shining. How should I put it? To make an inappropriate analogy, it was like the way my cat used to look when it caught a whiff of the scent of meat.

Looking down, I saw the money she had just given me, and I almost threw it away; it was all ghost money!

I leaned forward with my head in my hands and discovered that Old Chen was lying on the table, with someone clearly covering him with a white cloth, indicating that he was already dead.

I have made up my mind; if he does not give me an explanation, I will take action directly, regardless of whether he is an elder. Even if he tries to use his age to intimidate me, I will still deal with him. What if I lose my life in a confused state? Who will I turn to for justice?