Chapter 13

Chapter 13

When it came to grudges between men, there was nothing barbecue and beer couldn’t solve.

After half a case of beer, Lin Zhicheng and I were talking like we were one drink away from becoming sworn brothers.

“Brother Lin.”

I poured the man across from me another drink. “Tell me about your aunt Bai Yanmei.”

Lin Zhicheng’s expression shifted. He had just picked up a skewer of grilled kidney, but he set it back down.

“Are you thinking of turning Bai Yanmei’s story into a video like that Double-Corpse Case from before?”

Sensing something was off, I waved a hand. “If you family members don’t agree, I definitely won’t post it. Besides, I’m really just curious. If there’s something you’re not comfortable talking about, Brother Lin, then forget I asked.”

Lin Zhicheng hesitated. “Something I’m not comfortable talking about… I guess there is a bit of that. But it’s not like I can’t say it.”

He thought for a few seconds, then slapped his thigh hard.

“I really did you wrong with the cabinet this time. Ah, it’s mainly because… my mom’s illness hasn’t been good. For all these years, our family practically hasn’t even been able to mention the word ‘Bai.'”

His mother was Qi Xin, Bai Yanmei’s cousin.

I changed the subject. “Then how about we start with the cabinet? Why did Bai Yanmei carve her name into it? Wouldn’t that ruin the antique?”

Lin Zhicheng gave a scoff. “I asked my mom the same thing before. My mom said Bai Yanmei had been neurotic and overly dramatic ever since she was little. Back when my mom was dating, Bai Yanmei was terrified my mom would take that antique cabinet away as part of her dowry when she got married, so she carved her name inside it ahead of time. Tell me, isn’t that just sick?”

I asked with a smile, “So who did the cabinet actually belong to?”

Lin Zhicheng’s face was flushed from drinking, and his emotions were running a little high. “How do I put it? The cabinet really was hers.”

“But that cabinet was passed down through the Bai Family for generations. My grandma’s surname was Bai too. By rights, my grandma and my mom should have been qualified to inherit it too.”

“Young Master Han, you be the judge. Wasn’t Bai Yanmei crazy?”

I nodded and smiled. “A little, yeah.”

In my heart, I rolled my eyes a thousand times.

Your grandfather Qi Wentao owed a massive amount in loan-shark debt back then, and his creditors even chased him all the way to his workplace. Why don’t you mention that?

For all I knew, your grandma’s side of the family wanted to sell the cabinet to pay off the debt!

Bai Yanmei had probably been forced into a corner, which was why she carved her name inside the cabinet to protect her own property.

I topped off Lin Zhicheng’s glass. “I looked it up online before. For an antique cabinet like that, the current market price would be at least six figures. Why did you sell it to me so cheap? Did you run into…”

What I’d originally wanted to say was: did you run into something strange? Like frequently dreaming of Bai Yanmei, who had been dead for over thirty years.

But after thinking about it, I changed course. “Did your family run into some kind of trouble?”

Lin Zhicheng rubbed his reddened face with both hands, as if he found it hard to speak.

I patted the man’s arm, retreating in order to advance. “How about this? I noticed your shop sells tiles. As it happens, I’ve been thinking of renovating my big flat recently.”

Lin Zhicheng suddenly lifted his glass, drained it in one go, then thumped it down on the table with a clink.

“Brother, I really did do you wrong.”

“It’s just that cabinet is too damn evil. I… I seriously couldn’t take it anymore!”