Starting with dissecting ghost stories

I have something to do at noon, so I won't be home to cook. Just grab something to eat. If you're short on money, there's some in the drawer next to the TV.

At noon, Shen Yuan, who was playing Snake by the fence at the school gate, received this text message from her brother.

"cut.."

Shen Yuan kicked a nearby stone and then glanced around.

It was still rush hour after school, and many students were walking or riding their bikes home together. The crowds were huge, but Shen Yuan didn't know where to go for a moment.

Since she wasn't hungry and didn't really feel like taking a nap, she decided to buy a steamed bun to tide her over and then go to the music store. Lunchtime was rather boring anyway. To be honest, for Shen Yuan, there weren't many interesting moments in the day; aside from answering the teacher's questions, she could basically only exchange a few words with her brother.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with it; she was used to it, and she always felt that the boys and girls in her grade were too immature.

I am a mature person now.

Shen Yuan turned off the Snake game on her phone, bought a custard bun from a shop across from the school, and started walking back. However, along the way, she felt as if someone was following her from behind.

Even as I quickened my pace, I couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched. In fact, the faster I walked, the clearer and more distinct the footsteps behind me became.

Someone stole my phone?

Shen Yuan couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Her phone was obviously expensive, and it was a gift from her brother...

As she passed a small shop, Shen Yuan suddenly turned around.

Here, even if you see someone following you, you can turn around and go into the convenience store for help.

But when Shen Yuan turned around, she saw a familiar figure that she didn't want to see.

The daughter of the owner of the audio-visual store.

"You've been following me?" the proprietress's daughter asked Shen Yuan preemptively.

"Huh? You're behind me, not following me?" Shen Yuan almost laughed out of anger. She stood still with her hands on her hips, determined to get revenge for what happened yesterday.

No matter what the other person says, I'm already prepared with my response.

"But I go this way to get home," the girl pointed to another direction on the street and asked doubtfully, "Your home is over there, right?" Shen Yuan was speechless for a moment.

I really wasn't prepared for this.

Heh heh, you're lucky.

Shen Yuan shut her mouth, turned around and walked away, but the girl followed her and walked alongside her.

"Why are you walking so close?" Shen Yuan moved to the side a little, her expression somewhat disgusted.

"I rarely walk home from school with my friends like this, I want to try it," the girl smiled at Shen Yuan and said, "You've never walked home with your friends either, have you?"

Is she picking a fight? She must be picking a fight, right? Why does every word she says make people so angry?

"Who said you're friends?" Shen Yuan was speechless.

"But didn't I help you? And you're friends with my mom too," the girl asked, puzzled.

"That's because I have a good relationship with my aunt. What does it have to do with you? And what have you done to help me?" Shen Yuan frowned.

"Is that so?" The girl pinched her chin with her right hand, thinking carefully. "Then what should I call my mom's friend...?" Suddenly, she seemed to have thought of something. She put her hands behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and greeted Shen Yuan with a smile, "Aunt Shen."

It hardened; even the fists in both hands hardened.

Shen Yuan shut her mouth, deciding not to say another word to the other person, and just walked on by herself.

The girl seemed unconcerned about whether she had angered Shen Yuan again. She simply walked along, looking around and muttering to herself, "There are so many police cars on this street."

Shen Yuan ignored it, but couldn't help glancing towards the street.

Compared to other places, there seemed to be a lot more police cars on this street... and almost every residential area had a sunshade set up at the entrance, with several people in white coats sitting there, greeting and chatting with everyone who passed by.

There must be some kind of free medical clinic event.

Shen Yuan entered the music store almost simultaneously with the girl, but the moment they stepped inside, a feather duster flew towards them. Shen Yuan ducked to avoid the flying feather duster, but the girl next to her took a solid hit on the forehead.

"You bastard! You dare come back here!" The proprietress practically leaped out from behind the counter, storming towards Shen Yuan. "Xiao Yuan, get out of the way!"

The proprietress picked up the feather duster from the ground and raised it, startling Shen Yuan so much that she tried to dodge. But someone was faster and hid behind Shen Yuan, pressing down on her shoulders with both hands to prevent her from running away.

The proprietress followed her around a few times, but couldn't find the right angle to pull it down.

Using me as a shield?

The time for revenge has finally come.

Shen Yuan seized the opportunity, turned around, wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, and circled behind her. Then, she pulled the girl up with both hands, supporting her under the armpits and placing the girl, who was shorter than her, in front of her.

"hand!"

The proprietress held the feather duster upside down and pointed the stick at the girl.

The girl obediently extended her right hand.

"Snap"

"Are you still bold enough to steal money? Huh? Do you know how long it takes to earn back a thousand dollars?!"

The feather duster struck the girl's palm repeatedly, leaving several red marks. The girl didn't cry out, but tears streamed down her face from the pain.

Seeing this, the proprietress seemed unable to bring herself to do it. After cursing a couple of times, she angrily walked back to the counter and sat down.

Shen Yuan released her "locking technique," wiped her tears with the back of her hand, walked to the cabinet, and whispered, "I'm sorry." The atmosphere became slightly tense, and even Shen Yuan was slightly affected, but she felt that leaving now was not a good idea.

She cautiously approached the counter and asked in a low voice, "Auntie, what happened?"

The landlady pulled a stack of laminated cards from the drawer and placed them directly on the table, her eyes red-rimmed. "That spendthrift! Yesterday she was yelling that some currency would skyrocket in value, that one coin would be worth tens of thousands of US dollars. I wouldn't let her buy it, so she stole a thousand dollars and bought this!" "It will go up...then we'll have money." The girl seemed oblivious to the scolding, adding with red eyes.

"You!" The proprietress almost spat out blood upon hearing this. She raised the feather duster, but after seeing her daughter shrink back, she put it down and pulled out a tissue to wipe her eyes.

Shen Yuan picked up the stack of cards with some curiosity and began to look at them.

...00 coin recharge card? The one for buying 00 Show? The boy in front of her had shown it off to her, saying that you could buy it at newsstands, internet cafes, or computer stores, but Shen Yuan didn't have Q0 and didn't care about it at all.

Will this price go up in the future?

That excuse... is just too lame.

"Auntie, it's okay. This hasn't been opened yet, so it should be able to be returned or sold to someone else," Shen Yuan said softly, putting down the stack of cards.

The proprietress glanced at Shen Yuan, then said to the girl somewhat helplessly, "If you had half of Xiao Yuan's temperament, I wouldn't be so angry with you."

"Xiao Yuan, have you had lunch yet?"

"Ah, I've already eaten steamed buns, I'm not very hungry..."

The atmosphere was tense, and Shen Yuan was preparing to find a chance to escape, but before she could figure out how to run away, the landlady made her stay.

"It's alright, stay and have something to eat. I ordered mala tang, we can eat together." Perhaps hearing that the stack of prepaid cards could be refunded, the proprietress's expression softened a bit, and she invited Shen Yuan to stay and eat with her.

"Stay and eat with us..." Even the girl who had just been beaten was looking at Shen Yuan expectantly, as if she wanted her to stay. It was as if she knew that if Shen Yuan left, she would get beaten up again.

Shen Yuan agreed to stay. With Shen Yuan present, the atmosphere seemed to ease a lot. Before long, the proprietress and Shen Yuan were chatting and laughing, while the girl was doing her homework at a small table to the side.

"Is your brother not coming home to cook again today?"

The conversation drifted further and further away, and somehow it ended up talking about Shen Yuan's brother, Shen Xing.

"Yeah, she's probably on another date," Shen Yuan complained. "She's been going on dates every day lately, and she looks like she's lost a lot of weight, like a monster has drained her of her blood."

"Hey...young man..." The proprietress seemed a bit gossipy too, and she asked curiously, "So, how is she? Is the girl pretty?"

"She's very pretty. Sister Xiaoran is a really nice person. She likes watching movies and TV series just like me. I think she lives nearby, at No. 1 Garden?" Shen Yuan said with a smile, her hands on her knees and her legs swinging gently. "I'll ask my brother for her phone number in a few days. I want to ask her out too." "Xiaoran, No. 1 Garden?" The landlady blinked and asked curiously, "Is it something on your forehead?"

"Yes, there's a scar, it looks like a burn from when I was little." Shen Yuan nodded, then asked curiously, "Auntie, do you know her? Has she ever come here to buy things?"

"I remember she wasn't..."

"Ah!" The girl who was doing her homework suddenly slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

This sudden outburst startled both Shen Yuan and the landlady. The landlady was about to scold her when she noticed the girl staring intently at Shen Yuan. "What are you doing? Did you see a ghost?" the landlady retorted to her daughter, but at the same time, she hesitated. She looked at Shen Yuan's face, seemingly unsure whether she should say something.

"I'm going out to play with Xiaoyuan for a while." The girl came out, grabbed Shen Yuan's arm, and practically dragged her out of the music store. "What are you doing?" Shen Yuan wanted to curse her out, but the proprietress was still there, so she couldn't say it easily.

However, it seems that the proprietress has no intention of stopping her daughter.

Shen Yuan was dragged along like this, completely bewildered.

She was pulled along until they stopped in front of a computer repair shop.

"I didn't steal the money... Oh no, I did." The girl released her grip and stood in front of Shen Yuan, her expression hesitant. She asked, "Your brother's girlfriend, is her name Wang Xinran?"

How did you know?

"Come here."

The girl walked straight into the computer repair shop, and Shen Yuan followed her after hesitating for a moment.

"Boss, give me a 30-coin card."

"Okay, Xiaoting."

The bespectacled owner, who looked to be in his twenties or thirties, smiled and took out a 30-yuan card from his drawer, handing it to the girl to Shen Yuan's astonishment.

Shen Yuan's gaze swept back and forth between the girl and the computer repairman.

Could it be that they have that kind of relationship?

Seemingly sensing Shen Yuan's suspicion, the girl continued to look in the direction of the shop owner and said, "Boss, the shop is yours for the taking."

"Okay, Xiaoting, but I rented the shop. Do you want me to buy it first?" The shop owner said to the girl in front of him with a happy smile. Holy crap! Mind control!

Shen Yuan turned to run away, but the girl's next words made her stop in her tracks.

"Almost everyone on this street is like this... No matter what you say, they won't refuse." The girl held up a 30-yuan 0-coin recharge card, shook it slightly, and said, "Do you know why?"

"Hey," Shen Yuan took a half step back and said, "I don't know what you're talking about..."

The girl's words were so absurd that Shen Yuan was momentarily stunned, only instinctively feeling a slight fear of the unusual. "First of all, my name isn't Hey, it's Wu Xiaoting." Wu Xiaoting stuffed the card in her hand into Shen Yuan's pocket.

"Here you go, now you're a thief too."

"I don't want it! Here you go..."

"Your brother is in danger."

Wu Xiaoting's words made Shen Yuan's hand, which was reaching into her pocket to take out a card, freeze in mid-air.