Chapter 138
Chapter 138
Meng Yifan truly possessed a certain grit and business acumen.
In just one short week, he had scoured nearly half of Lanjiang City, acquiring over twenty stigmatized properties from other agencies.
During this time, he inevitably faced cold mockery and ridicule. After all, those in the same trade were rivals. Now that he had fallen on hard times-so desperate that he was reduced to selling stigmatized properties-there was no shortage of people ready to kick him while he was down.
I followed him around for two days. Several times, I couldn’t help but want to snap back at people, but he held me back.
I had to admit, he was a man who knew how to swallow his pride when necessary.
Song Xiaotian was now considered part of our shop, though not as an employee.
He would help us scout for locations where homicides had occurred, and Meng Yifan would pay special attention to those. If a murder happened in a residence, the house would most likely be put up for sale.
That evening, the three of us had just finished handling one such stigmatized property.
This particular house had been acquired from another agency. A murder had taken place there; supposedly, a thief had broken in to rob the place. He hadn’t scouted the target well enough and only realized someone was home after entering-an old woman.
The thief hadn’t originally intended to kill anyone, but the old woman kept screaming, so he ended up murdering her.
Afterward, the old woman’s ghost refused to dissipate, lingering within her home.
She didn’t harm anyone; she simply didn’t want to leave her house.
Later, neighbors often heard noises coming from the house in the middle of the night-either the sound of the old woman crying or the sound of her cursing the thief.
The old woman’s children had originally planned to sell the house, but with a problem like this, who would dare buy it? It had been listed with the agency for two years without a single bite.
Two days ago, we went to deal with the old woman. Of course, we didn’t do anything to her; we just used a lot of persuasion to convince her to move on.
In truth, the energy of an elderly person’s ghost is very weak, possessing almost no ability to harm people.
Furthermore, Old Zhao Seven had told me never to kill a spirit lightly. A common Ghost like this was just a wisp of a Human Soul, also known as a Corpse-Guarding Soul. If you killed them again, their Three Souls would be incomplete. Without all Three Souls, it would be difficult for them to reincarnate; even if they could, they would be born with a disability or as a simpleton in their next life.
Although I had the blade Old Zhao Seven gave me, I hadn’t even pulled it out. We spent a long time talking to the old woman, explaining her children’s difficulties, before she was finally persuaded to leave.
We were here today because a client had taken an interest in the house and had already paid a deposit.
This was our first successful deal since officially changing careers, so naturally, we had to celebrate.
After leaving the residential complex, we sat down at a nearby barbecue stall and ordered a crate of beer.
“The house sold for six hundred thousand. The owner listed it at four hundred and fifty thousand, so that’s a profit of one hundred and fifty thousand. After giving the previous agency their forty percent cut, we’re left with ninety thousand.”
Meng Yifan happily crunched the numbers. “Once the owner transfers the money, I’ll give you two twenty thousand each. Pretty generous, right? Heh heh heh.”
I said, “It’s all thanks to your foresight, Boss Meng. This career change was the right move. If every other stigmatized property only has minor spirits like that, then we’re basically just getting paid to run errands.”
Meng Yifan couldn’t take a compliment without it going to his head. He immediately grew smug. “That’s what you call talent-business talent. We might not be making much today, but in the future, earning hundreds of millions will be as easy as a casual conversation!”
I laughed. “Give you an inch and you take a mile. You think you’re printing hell money? Stop bragging so much.”
“How dare you!” Song Xiaotian glared at me. “How can you talk to my boss like that?”
“Here, Boss, have a drink.” He filled Meng Yifan’s glass and handed him a cigarette like a total sycophant.
Meng Yifan nodded. “Look at Little Song, then look at yourself, Chen Mo. I think I’ll just give you ten thousand instead.”
I was fuming. “Holy crap, on what grounds!”
Just as I spoke, the server brought our food over.
She was a young girl, quite pretty, and looked like a college student.
Song Xiaotian stared at her intently, his eyes practically glued to her.
Meng Yifan and I teased him, “What, you got a crush on her?”
Song Xiaotian didn’t say a word. He pulled out his phone and flipped to a photo to show us.
The girl in the photo was the very same server, only she was wearing a school uniform.
“Damn, where’d you get that photo?” Meng Yifan asked.
Song Xiaotian’s face darkened. “Do you know who she is?”
“Who?” Meng Yifan asked.
I froze for a second, the name slipping out of my mouth. “It couldn’t be Su Qian…”
Song Xiaotian nodded. “It really is Su Qian. I found this photo in her school’s archives.”
Meng Yifan and I were stunned. What were the odds of running into Su Qian here?
But why was she working as a server at a barbecue stall?
“Wait, her family’s situation didn’t seem bad. Why is she working here…” Meng Yifan looked completely bewildered.
“She hasn’t been back to school since He Tao’s incident.”
Song Xiaotian frowned. “He Tao must have told her something. She’s terrified, so she didn’t even go home. If she had, she probably would’ve been killed the night her parents were murdered.”
It clicked for us then.
Su Qian had been hiding. She was afraid she would end up like He Tao.
She definitely knew her parents were dead, but she didn’t dare go home. She could only work odd jobs to support herself while staying off the grid to escape Du Yuwei’s pursuit.
“Shit, that’s just too tragic!”
Meng Yifan cursed. “To drive someone to this… I’m telling you, those two sisters are freaking psychopathic!”
I was speechless.
Meng Yifan was right.
Su Qian had come from a decent family, but now her parents were murdered and her life was in ruins. A college student who should have been living a comfortable life was now working at a barbecue stall.
I noticed the owners of the stall weren’t exactly kind to her either, constantly barking orders at her.
To be honest, her life really was destroyed. The murder of her parents alone would be a shadow that followed her forever.
She was just a girl in love who refused to step aside for a homewrecker. First, she was bullied, and now she was caught up in this nightmare.
*Sigh.*
“Should we… go warn her?” Meng Yifan asked.
Song Xiaotian smoked his cigarette, his expression grim. “Warn her about what? If we get her involved again, the three of us might as well wait for our turn in hell. Just pretend we don’t know her. Stop talking about it.”
We decided to leave as soon as we finished eating; we weren’t even in the mood for more drinks.
Halfway through the meal, the owner told Su Qian to carry something to the storage room.
The load looked heavy, and Su Qian struggled with it. I saw her eyes welling up; she was likely thinking of her parents and her old life, her heart heavy with grief.
Meng Yifan couldn’t stand to watch and moved to help her, but Song Xiaotian quickly pulled him back.
It wasn’t that Song Xiaotian was heartless; he was afraid of putting Su Qian in even more danger.
Just as we were finishing up, we heard the owner and his wife grumbling nearby. They were complaining that Su Qian had been gone for too long and wasn’t answering her phone. They assumed she was slacking off and started discussing how much of her wages they should dock.
The three of us looked at each other, a sudden sense of unease washing over us.
Meng Yifan whispered, “We didn’t even talk to her, so… something couldn’t have happened… right?”