chapter 38

After checking out of the hotel, I called Fang Man first.

The call connected quickly, but from Fang Man’s tone, she seemed a little unhappy.

“Hmph, you haven’t called me in so long, and you didn’t even tell me when something happened at the store.”

“Manman, something happened on my end.”

I hurried to explain.

It’s not easy to finally have a girlfriend. If I hadn’t been haunted by a ghost, my life would be at risk-I wouldn’t have gone so long without calling her.

“Meng Yifan was arrested by the police…”

“What!”

On the other end, Fang Man was startled and lowered her voice to ask, “What happened to the boss? Why did the police arrest him?”

I said, “It’s complicated to explain right now. I need to get him out. I remember you mentioned you have a relative who’s a police officer. Can you arrange a meal with him? I’d like to ask for his help.”

Fang Man didn’t hesitate: “No problem. He’s my sworn brother, and our families are pretty close. He should be willing to help. I’ll set it up and we’ll meet at noon.”

After discussing the meeting with Fang Man, I hung up the phone.

I needed to go home first to get some money from my dad.

After buying a car, I still had over a hundred thousand yuan in savings. My dad was worried I’d spend it recklessly, so I left my bank card at home.

I’ve had a lot of expenses lately, so I needed to go home and get some cash.

I rode my motorcycle back home.

When I arrived, my dad and grandpa looked a bit surprised, since I’d just been home two days ago.

I told them I came back to get some money-Meng Yifan was in trouble with the law, and I needed money to smooth things over.

“In trouble with the law?”

My dad and grandpa looked concerned. “What happened to Xiao Meng? What kind of trouble is he in? Is it serious?”

I said it wasn’t serious, that these things are inevitable in business.

My dad didn’t ask further. He stayed seated on the sofa and pointed to his room: “The bank card is in my drawer. Go in and get it.”

I looked at him, a bit puzzled.

My dad should be at work today-he’s the accountant at the factory.

He rarely takes time off. Why wasn’t he at the factory today?

“Dad, are you off today?” I asked.

He smiled. “I haven’t been feeling well these past couple of days, so I took two days off.”

I saw that he really didn’t look well and felt a bit worried. “Is it serious? Have you been to the hospital?”

My dad said, “No, it’s nothing. Why go to the hospital? Go get the bank card and take care of your business.”

Hearing that, I didn’t press further.

I did have important things to take care of.

I went into his room and found the bank card in the drawer.

But I also found something else-a book called Six Yao Divine Mechanism.

I flipped through it casually and found it obscure and hard to understand. It seemed to be a book on metaphysics.

I frowned, wondering when my dad started getting into superstitions like my grandpa.

I took the book out and asked him.

“Dad, what’s this? You’re interested in this stuff now?”

My dad was taken aback, pushed up his glasses, and smiled. “I was influenced by your grandpa, so I just glanced at it. But I don’t really get it, so I left it in the drawer.”

My grandpa laughed too. “If you’re interested, you can take it and read it.”

I said I wasn’t interested.

Mainly, I have a shadow over these things now.

I didn’t linger at home, since it was almost noon and I needed to meet Fang Man.

As I was leaving, I noticed my dad was still sitting on the sofa, not getting up to see me off.
By some strange twist of fate, a thought suddenly popped into my mind-a thought that filled me with panic.

I started wondering… Did my dad hurt his leg?

At that moment, I couldn’t help but swallow nervously, staring hard at my dad.

Suddenly, I realized that his build was very similar to the man who gave me the motorcycle last night-at least eighty or ninety percent alike!

And that man from last night was also the one who disrupted the Spirit Writing ritual.

More importantly, that man’s leg… was injured too.

“Dad, can you walk me out? I want to chat with you for a bit.” I looked at him.

He was taken aback: “Aren’t you in a hurry to get the money for Xiao Meng? You’re all grown up now, why do you need me to walk you out? You’re not a kid anymore.”

I said, “Just walk me out, I want to talk to you.”

He didn’t say anything else and finally got up from the sofa, then walked a few steps.

I kept my eyes on his leg, and I saw that his leg was fine-not limping at all, not injured…

Just as he was about to reach me, my grandpa suddenly grabbed him: “This kid, how can you be so thoughtless? Your dad is sick, his head is still dizzy. You should hurry and take care of your business.”

I smiled awkwardly: “Alright, you rest. I’ll get going.”

With that, I left home.

Lately, I’ve really been on edge. I actually started suspecting my dad had something wrong with him.

With how timid he is-last time I took him to a haunted house, he didn’t even dare go in. How could he possibly hide out in a haunted place for so long?

And his leg wasn’t injured, so he couldn’t be that man.

After leaving home, I rode my bike to meet Fang Man.

Fang Man is 23 this year, just graduated from college not long ago. She’s beautiful and pure, so I really cherish her as my girlfriend.

No matter whether my grandpa approves or not, as long as nothing goes wrong between us, I’m definitely going to marry her in the end.

Near the restaurant, I spotted her from afar.

She was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers-her whole look radiated youthful energy.

As soon as I parked my bike, she ran over and threw herself into my arms.

Before this, we were still in the ambiguous stage, only ever held hands.

Now, with her suddenly hugging me, I couldn’t help but feel a little distracted.

“I missed you…”

She even started acting cute with me.

Who could resist that?

I couldn’t help but hug her tightly.

I figured she was probably feeling a bit vulnerable lately because her grandmother passed away.

We hugged for a while, shared a tender moment, then headed to the restaurant’s private room.

“Where’s your brother?” I asked her.

“He’ll be here soon.” She checked the time, then asked me, “What happened to the boss? Why did the police arrest him?”

I cleared my throat: “Let’s wait for your brother to get here before I explain, otherwise I’ll have to repeat everything again.”

We didn’t have to wait long before Fang Man’s sworn brother arrived.

Her sworn brother’s surname is Song, Song Xiaotian.

But as soon as I saw Song Xiaotian, my heart sank halfway.

I’ve never seen a cop with hair that long, and he deliberately left a tuft hanging over his forehead, flicking it from time to time.

When he walked in, I thought some local punk had wandered into the wrong private room.

After some brief pleasantries and introductions, I didn’t want to waste time and got straight to the point. If he could help me, I’d be happy; if not, I’d have to find someone else right after the meal.

Song Xiaotian looked at me and flicked his hair: “Bro, I get what you’re saying-you want me to help you get someone out, right?”

“Let me tell you, I got kicked out of the Police Force a while ago…”