CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47: UNCLE WANG

Before Chen Xingyue could question again, Chen Shouyi quickly found an excuse and left in haste.

Once back at the hotel, he couldn’t help but sigh repeatedly.

The days of freedom were over.

He initially wanted to hold out until the agreed "training period" ended, but he didn’t expect such bad luck, being caught by Chen Xingyue.

After sitting for a while, he had no choice but to pack his luggage.

Looking at the big and small bags of food he had bought today, Chen Shouyi thought for a bit and decided to leave them here.

For one, buying these things without a reasonable explanation could easily arouse his parents’ suspicion. For another, with six days left in his two-week hotel reservation and money not being an issue, it made sense to keep a place for supplies rather than check out.

Moreover, his delivery address was written for the hotel room, and with the current situation, who knew when it would arrive.

Checking out would be inconvenient by then.

...

"Dad! Mom! I’m back."

The restaurant’s door was closed, clearly signaling the business had ended for the day.

Upon hearing Chen Shouyi’s shout, the iron shutter was pulled open shortly after, with Mrs. Chen and Chen Dawei coming out to greet him.

"Shou Yi, why are you back?" Mrs. Chen asked.

Chen Shouyi quickly recounted his earlier excuse.

"I guess there should be a holiday. I didn’t feel it yesterday, but everything seemed strange when I woke up this morning. My heart’s been all over the place." Mrs. Chen’s voice carried a trace of unease.

"Stop being superstitious and talking nonsense." Chen Dawei casually shifted the topic and laughed, "You left for a few days and got a lot fairer and more handsome."

The inevitable question came, and Chen Shouyi composed himself, quickly responding, "The training is all indoors, probably because I haven’t been in the sun for a long time."

"Seems like you should indeed get less sun, you look much better now." Mrs. Chen also chuckled.

After that, both didn’t bring up Chen Shouyi’s changes again, nor did they dig deeper. Instead, they asked about the training situation.

Was the food good?

How’s the relation with other trainees?

Was the training effective?

Chen Shouyi had already prepared his answers on the way there, responding one by one.

He passed the "test"!

He had a lot of other contingency plans, unused for now.

Chen Shouyi suddenly felt touched, realizing that the seemingly insurmountable issues for oneself may not be of priority for parents, as long as one is healthy and safe, that is enough.

...

After a while, Chen Xingyue came back, but not with good news; although there were still many daily necessities, the shelves of supermarket food items were already empty.

"Luckily, I bought a lot in the morning!" Mrs. Chen said with foresight.

Chen Shouyi thought his mother was overreacting; as a family running a restaurant, staple foods like beverages and grains were always stocked, likely enough for a family of four to last more than a month without panic-buying.

After dinner, as Chen Shouyi and Chen Xingyue went upstairs, Chen Xingyue suddenly said mysteriously.

"Brother, let me tell you something, Uncle Wang who runs the grocery store in our community died last night after you left!"

"Oh, he seemed quite robust usually, how did it happen so suddenly?" Chen Shouyi said with some surprise.

This area was rural before becoming part of the city, and he was familiar with most neighbors.

However, knowing them was as far as it went; sincerely caring would be pretentious.

Chen Shouyi was initially just surprised, thinking this was it, but what Chen Xingyue said next took a strange turn.

"They say it was a cerebral hemorrhage, by the time they found him, he was barely alive. Last night, when his family was sitting vigil, his two sons, whom you know aren’t very devoted, left to sleep at midnight!"

Chen Shouyi nodded, there was no electricity last night, and with just candlelight, without exceptionally filial children, it would indeed be uncomfortable to stay for long.

"But when they woke up in the morning, they found that Uncle Wang’s body was gone! Guess where they found it?"

"Where?" Chen Shouyi prompted, already feeling surprised himself.

"They finally found it at the east gate of the community, half a kilometer from their home, isn’t that strange?"

Chen Shouyi nodded.

A body wandering by itself, if this was before, he’d have brushed it off as rumor and nonsense.

Yet after encountering a ghost last night, he knew the world had indeed changed.

"It’s best not to go out at night from now on." He advised his sister.

Chen Xingyue, uncomfortable with her brother’s concern, replied awkwardly, "Of course I know."

Then she lowered her voice and asked, "Bro, do you think there are ghosts in the world?"

"Don’t you know the otherworld is full of spirits and ghosts at night?"

"I mean on Earth?"

"What if there are ghosts, are you scared?" Chen Shouyi gave her a sidelong glance.

"I... Of course, I’m not, I was just asking." Chen Xingyue feigned nonchalance after being provoked by Chen Shouyi’s look.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Actually, last night I really encountered a ghost; it was around one or two o’clock. I was suddenly woken up by the urge to pee, and upon waking, the air felt chillingly cold, and the window was open, I found it strange since it was clearly shut last night..." Chen Shouyi intentionally lowered his voice to create an atmosphere.

"I don’t believe your ghost story, just keep making things up, I’m going back to my room." Satirized, Chen Xingyue fled in haste.

Chen Shouyi found it amusing, surprised by his sister’s fear of ghosts.

...

Chen Shouyi returned to his long-missed bedroom.

He released Shell Lady from his briefcase.

The Shell Lady, smitten with the familiar yet unfamiliar environment, was dumbfounded: "Giant, are we staying here tonight?"

Chen Shouyi nodded, knowing this place wasn’t as soundproof as the hotel, a conversation would soon attract someone knocking at the door.

"Why not stay in the usual spot?" The Shell Lady asked urgently.

"Why ask why?" Chen Shouyi couldn’t help but lower his voice.

"B-but, my... my gem." Shell Lady stammered.

"Isn’t the gem in your hand!" Chen Shouyi replied without patience.

"But I only have one... one gem!" The Shell Lady pitifully showed the glass bead in her hand.

Accustomed to her pitiful count of one, Chen Shouyi looked skeptical: "When did you have two gems?"

Whenever Shell Lady obtained glass beads from him, it could only end up in two places.

First, held in her hand without letting go even while sleeping or eating.

Second, secretly stored in the clam treasure box buried in the sands of the otherworldly island.

She never left things in the hotel room.

"I-I didn’t take it from you... Nonetheless, I have one... one gem." The Shell Lady, feeling guilty, turned her head.

Surely, this is the classic "The money is not buried here" scenario.

Chen Shouyi nearly laughed, how could she take his glass bead with such boldness.

Fortunately, he rarely quarreled with her; making her upset would be a headache. It was just a glass bead, so he generously pulled one out and placed it in her hand: "Here, happy now?"

The Shell Lady beamed with joy, gripping it tightly, her face immediately brightening with delight.

...

In the middle of the night, a strange sound suddenly woke Chen Shouyi.

It sounded like someone in the toilet straining hard to defecate, making a labored "uh" and "uh" noise.

At first, he thought someone at home was constipated.

However, after listening for a while, he felt something was wrong; the sound seemed to come from outside the window and was gradually approaching, along with the sound of shoes scraping against the ground.

Even though it was just October, the weather was still warm, so he hadn’t closed the window, and in the quiet of the night, the sound was extraordinarily clear.

Curious, he stood up and looked out the window.

What he saw made his hair stand on end.

With a 13.8 physique, his vision was much sharper than an average person. In the dim moonlight, he could clearly see a strange figure slowly making its way toward him.

He was dressed in a mourning suit, a dark gray one, with golden Chinese characters for longevity clearly written on it.

The face was pallid blue, with the cheeks severely sunken, appearing somewhat sharp and unkind, the mouth slightly open revealing several yellowish bad teeth. The eerie "uh uh" sound came from his mouth.

"That’s... Uncle Wang!"