Tomb Keeper

Chapter 16 Reconciliation with the Village Chief (3)

It was late at night when I returned to the cemetery.Ye Zi asked me, why did I come back so late?I said that after checking my waist at the hospital in the town, I had a long massage treatment. On the way back, I found that my wallet was missing from my pocket, presumably dropped on the massage bed in the hospital.I went back to the hospital to look for it. After a lot of trouble, I found the wallet, so I came back late.

You can't tell Ye Zi what happened that day, this is one of the agreements reached between me and the village chief.

Reaching an agreement with the village chief was a difficult process.He still insisted that I frightened his son by pretending to be a ghost. I made two objections to this.One is the theory that my soldiers have to wear grass rings on their heads, so I do that because of my job requirements; the other is the so-called "scaring the fool", which requires a medical appraisal.I said that as far as I know, your son is not stupid, but infatuated, and this matter has nothing to do with me, only with himself and the people he loves.My rebuttal made the village head gradually speechless. I then proposed to sue him for illegal detention, and he softened.Accusing his subordinates of acting recklessly, he just wanted to invite me to talk, but he solemnly apologized to me.Then, with a long sigh, he talked about his worries about his son.This son was the second child, but he was actually the only child, because the eldest child died of illness shortly after birth.Two years ago, the village head set up a cement prefabricated parts factory for this precious son and asked him to be the factory director.But not long after, he found that he often went to the cemetery to chat with Yang Huzi regardless of the affairs of the factory.It was only later that he found out that it was fake that he was chatting with Yang Huzi, and his real intention was to get in touch with the new female tomb keeper.

This incident surprised the village head. He secretly went to the cemetery to look at Ye Zi, and found that the main reason why the girl attracted his son was that she was full of ghosts.So, the village chief asked someone to introduce girlfriends to his son one after another.These girls are all educated and beautiful, but his son just looks down on them.In desperation, the village head went to Mr. Yinyang, who said that your son's soul was taken away by the woman on the graveyard.Our place was very barren hundreds of years ago, and there were many foxes.Later, the population became more and more prosperous, and the foxes disappeared. However, the foxes that became spirits would turn into seductive women and stay behind, specializing in seducing men's souls... The village head couldn't help laughing when he heard this. Stories, what age is it now, this Mr. Yin Yang is still deceiving people with old stories.The village chief rewarded this nonsense Mr. Yin-Yang with two hundred yuan and sent him away.However, the words "your son's soul was taken away by that woman on the graveyard" lingered in the heart of the village head. The village head didn't believe in vixens, but he was neither sure nor sure about the existence of ghosts. Dare to deny.Last night after his son met me on the cemetery, he went home and told me that the village head was furious, so he arrested me. However, during the contest with me, the village head gradually softened his attitude and had a new idea. So we negotiated some things with me, even an agreement is fine.

In the agreement, apart from not being able to tell Ye Zi what happened here today, the second is to let me help him break his son's infatuation with Ye Zi.The specific method is that the village head will publicize everywhere that Ye Zi and I have fallen in love.When I readily accepted this condition, I was also taken aback in my heart, only to realize that his son's pursuit of Ye Zi had already made me jealous, and I seemed to be expecting the village chief to make such an arrangement.

Since it's an agreement, the village chief should of course do something for me.The village chief said that as long as I helped him get his son to give up pestering Ye Zi, he would be responsible for finding a satisfactory job for me in the township enterprise here.However, the village chief never expected that I would flatly reject his reward. I said, change jobs?That's unnecessary.The village head was puzzled, what's the point of you wanting to guard the tomb for the rest of your life?I said, I like it.

As soon as this remark came out, I suddenly remembered Ye Zi's answer to why she wanted to be a grave keeper.It can be inferred from this that the gravekeeper who gave such an answer must have a secret identity and a secret mission.

Rejecting the village head's kindness, I put forward another condition in return, which is that when I need it, he will send someone to help me immediately.The village head agreed and asked me to write down his phone number.But, he added bewilderedly, what would you need help with?I said, I don't know now, maybe I was besieged by tomb robbers, maybe I was caught by ghosts... Speaking of which, the village chief and I laughed.

Before leaving, the village head also took the initiative to give me another reward, which is to help me eliminate the influence in the surrounding area.Because after his son told about the incident on the cemetery last night, many people said that there was a thatched ghost on the cemetery, and that ghost was me, who became a gravekeeper during the day and showed his original shape at night.The rumors came so quickly that I was surprised. Of course I am happy that the village head is willing to clarify.

The village head and I finally turned our hostility into friendship.The village head shouted to see off the guests.In the afternoon, the woman who saw me naked appeared, she led me through the dark yard, and I asked, how old are you?she says,.I want to ask something else, she has already opened the gate of the courtyard, and said quietly, go out and go left, turn right at the intersection, and you will be able to return to your grave.

That night, Ye Zi didn't arrange for me to visit the tomb anymore, she said, your waist was injured, you should rest for two days, Poet Feng has volunteered to visit the tomb for you.Ever since I sent the little yellow flower picked by the mute back to the grave and burned incense in front of the grave, Poet Feng has obviously taken a liking to me.I suddenly thought of a question, that is, did Poet Feng's love for the fiancée in the grave become so strong and crazy after her death?

The next morning, I continued to go to Xihe Town to carry out my mission.When walking down the stone steps outside the courtyard, a five or six-year-old boy was catching butterflies in the grass.I walked over curiously and asked, kid, where are you from?How old, the child was turning to look at me, suddenly a young woman rushed out from behind the tree, took the child by the hand and left.The young woman was still walking and bending over to talk to the child, and I actually heard the three words "thatch ghost".I strode up and stopped the young woman and said, what did you say?thatch ghost?Stop scaring the kids.If I am a thatch ghost, you can ask your Village Chief Luo to find out.

At this moment, I recognized the pair of mother and child, they were the two people who had flashed by the gate of the cemetery not long after I came to the cemetery.Seeing that I was angry, the young woman said embarrassingly, I didn't, I didn't say anything.That's what everyone here says.My family lives not far from Shui Yan's house. I saw you and Ye Zi went to her house.If you don't believe me, you can ask Shui Yan, if you say you are a thatch ghost, it is all rumored by others.

I asked, do you believe this rumor?
The young woman shook her head reluctantly.

There is no way, everything can only be clarified slowly for me by the village head.I said to the young woman, I saw you coming to the gate of this courtyard before.The young woman said that it was this child who often made a fuss about coming here to play.Do you think this kid is weird? There is no fun in any place, but he has to come here to be happy.

I said, so what here?Is the side of the cemetery so scary?There are a lot of grass and flowers here, so it's normal for children to like it.

Although what I said to the young woman was very righteous, on the way to Xihe Town, I felt lumpy in my heart.One of the doubts is, is it normal that the kid just loves to come to the cemetery?The second doubt is, is the reason for coming to the cemetery told by the young woman true?
Before I knew it, I had arrived in Xihe Town.I wanted to call the kid's mother immediately, but when I got to the door of the post office, I hesitated again.Because it was noon at this time, the woman who was the nanny must be cooking lunch at the moment, and it would take a long time for me to talk to her on the phone.So, I decided to call in the afternoon. At that time, the two elderly people she served were taking a nap, and she could talk to me with peace of mind.

I was also hungry, so I decided to have lunch first. There was a small restaurant across the street from the post office. I walked in across the street and saw the one-eyed boss. Then I remembered that I had eaten here when I first came to town.

The one-eyed boss recommended to me his signature dish - squirrel fish. Of course, this dish is a bit more expensive.This dish takes a little longer to cook, which is exactly what I need to kill my midday time.When the one-eyed boss brought the fish, I said I had dinner with you some time ago, remember?The one-eyed boss still gave me a slanted look like last time, and said he didn't remember.Also, people come and go here, how could he remember me?But this time I interact with him like this, he will have an impression.This is my purpose, and I feel for no reason that I should establish some acquaintances in this town.

We ate lunch slowly, and it was almost time to talk on the phone.I entered the post and telecommunications office, and there was a row of counters in the front, which handled letters and parcels; there were three public phones on the side wall, I picked up one of them, took out a small piece of paper with a phone number on it from my pocket, and ordered After calming down, he dialed the phone.

Sure enough, a woman answered the phone.She picked up the phone and said, is it Director Zhao?Your parents are fine and taking a nap now.I said, are you Yuan Yanjie?She paused, feeling that she had made a mistake in her judgment, and said cautiously, who are you?I said, I am the person who put up a missing person notice in the newspaper to find you, and my name is Xu Yong.First of all, let me explain that the reason why I claim to be your relative in the notice is because it is the only way to find you easily.In fact, I am the administrator of Xitu Cemetery. There is something wrong with your son Yao Leilei's tomb, so I am eager to find you to understand something.

What's wrong with my son's grave?The tone of the woman's voice has changed, which is the effect I planned to achieve.Because only by getting her emotionally excited can I ask the truth of the matter.

I said it's not a big deal.A while ago, a vine grew beside your son's grave, and we cut it off.But within a few days, the vine grew again, and it stretched all the way to the path beside the grave.It stands to reason that any ivy should not grow so fast, so I thought, does your son have some grievances, or some wish?So I'm calling you to see what we can do for you?
Woo—the woman was already crying on the phone.Everything went so smoothly, I think my judgment will be confirmed soon - the child was killed by Yang Huzi in the incident I imagined.

The woman finally stopped crying.She sobbed and said, "This child is so pitiful. After I divorced his father, I managed to bring him to the age of eight, but he has leukemia, so there is no way to save him."If there is any wish for this child, it must be that I often visit him.I haven't seen him for a long time.It's all because I'm too busy to get away.However, I must come to see him soon and burn some paper for him.

Having said that, the woman cried again.

I also felt uncomfortable, mixed with disappointment, this child was not killed by Yang Huzi, but why was he afraid of that grave?
As a scout, I now taste the frustration and anxiety of failing to infer.

You, don't be too sad.I comforted the woman incoherently on the phone.

At this time, a young woman walked into the post office, and I was surprised to find that this person was Zihua.This woman who sat next to me in the car when I first came to Xihe Town, this woman who died and then called the cemetery in the middle of the night to find me, walked into the post office with a black handbag at this moment.She didn't notice me who was on the phone by the side wall, but went straight to the counter, took out a piece of paper and handed it to the staff in the counter, I felt like she was going to pick up a package or something.

hello, did you hear me?The voice on the phone made me realize that I had lost my mind.I'm sorry to say, oh, the signal was bad just now, what did you say?Please say it again.

The woman on the phone said, I mean, except for the ivy, is the child's tomb intact?I said it was fine.She asked again, is the tombstone intact?I said again, it's fine.The other party said with a sigh of relief, you don't know how well-behaved and sensible this child is.

(End of this chapter)