A Single Flower Of The Village - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“It was an illusion, all an illusion. There was nothing in the car; you were sleepwalking.”

This was the version Ruan Jingluo heard after she woke up. She felt this ‘second cousin’ in white clothes was lying. A ghost sleepwalking? She didn’t have that problem.

She had bumped the back of her head when she collapsed, and a bump had formed; it hurt whenever she touched it. Ruan Jingluo sat on the chair, grimacing. She absolutely had not seen it wrong; there were people in the car. If there weren’t, then she had seen a ghost. These two cousins who popped out of nowhere shouldn’t think they could fool her.

However, since they didn’t want her to know, she would just pretend she didn’t know.

She didn’t know who the people in the car were; it might be murder and robbery. If the police came to investigate one day, not knowing would be a way to save her life. “Mind your own business and keep your head low” had always been her life motto.

So, for the next few days, Ruan Jingluo didn’t stay long at the Drum Tower during the day. As soon as she was full, she went to the gate, and even when she came back at night, she stayed in her own room and didn’t go out. No matter what sounds were outside, she acted as if she couldn’t hear them.

The Black and White Impermanence were nowhere to be seen during the day, and there was nothing unusual about the vehicle until Lu Shouqiu returned carrying several large baskets of items. Only then did the two parties, who had been deliberately avoiding each other, officially sit at the same table.

Lu Shouqiu first went to Auntie Daohua’s house to drop off two baskets of jade mushrooms before returning to the Drum Tower.

She excitedly beckoned Ruan Jingluo, who was standing at the door sneering at her, to come over and help move things: “Look at what good food I brought you—jade mushrooms, jade cabbage, and abalone and scallops as big as a washbasin. The sea is far from the deep mountains, and the trip wasn’t easy.” Seeing Ruan Jingluo didn’t move, she urged her again: “What are you still standing there for? Move them inside.”

Ruan Jingluo originally didn’t want to move. She had spent the last few days in distress and fear, terrified that she would be silenced, waiting for Lu Shouqiu to return so she could hold her accountable. But when she heard that the items were brought for her, her brain, which had lacked love since childhood, acted as if it had short-circuited and moved without control. With a sour face, she went over to help move them.

“Are you going to deep mountains and old forests or beaches and seas? You’re having quite a blast, boss.” She hugged the basket of bright green, crisp jade cabbage and spoke with biting sarcasm.

Lu Shouqiu looked at the two figures behind the door, knowing that Ruan Jingluo must have had a rough time over the past few days; the resentment was piled up over her head like dark clouds. She twitched her nose and sniffed.

Wow~ Satisfied. The journey through mountains and rivers was worth it.

She smiled cheekily: “Oh, don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I’ll take you with me next time.”

“Who cares.”

“I care. I’m begging you to go with me, alright?” She carried other items and followed Ruan Jingluo inside. “Look at you, such a big temper, who can stand it?”

The person who was told she had a big temper threw the bamboo basket on the ground: “This is just how I am; if you can’t stand it, then quit.”

After finishing, she turned around and went back out, not even looking at Lu Shouqiu.

Lu Shouqiu wrinkled her nose at Ruan Jingluo’s angry back, muttering: “Dead duck with a stiff beak.”

Unfortunately, Ruan Jingluo heard it and turned her head: “What did you say?”

Her face was fouler than dog shit; better not provoke her. Lu Shouqiu, whose belly was large enough to sail a ship, decided not to lower herself to her level: “Nothing, I didn’t say anything. Hurry up and move the things outside in so we can cook and eat; I’m starving to death.”

“Starving to death serves you right.”

Despite what she said, her hands didn’t stop moving, and she moved everything Lu Shouqiu brought back into the kitchen.

They had heard before that the new gatekeeper had a bad temper and often quarreled with Qiuqiu, but they hadn’t seen it for themselves. The Black and White Impermanence didn’t know exactly how bad it was either. Today, they saw it—this wasn’t just “bad,” it was unbelievably terrible.

Qiuqiu was her boss, after all; was this how she talked to her boss? Awesome, awesome. If they treated the Ten Yama Kings with this attitude, they would be the ones descending to the 18th level of hell. Capitalists are heartless; this is true both in the human world and the underworld.

Sigh, the life of a wage slave—miserable.

“You’re just going to indulge her like that?”

Lu Shouqiu was calculating what to have Ruan Jingluo cook: “It’s quite fun. Such a vivid person; it’s boring to have someone acting timid and subservient in front of me.”

The employment term of the gatekeeper was decided by her. If she was satisfied, she could renew the contract indefinitely. The reason the previous gatekeepers retired within the stipulated term was actually because she felt bored. Those people respected her and feared her. Living people find it hard to generate resentment when they are afraid, and even if they do, it wasn’t what she wanted, so she let them retire.

Ruan Jingluo, this person, had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Her will to survive was weak; she was a contradiction of being able to endure hardship and not being able to endure it. She hung money on her lips every day, but her actual pursuit of money was just like that. It seemed she didn’t earn money for herself. Lu Shouqiu knew she had someone she cared about in her hometown. If not for this person, Ruan Jingluo would have died long ago; she didn’t want to live. This world was a purgatory for her—people were more terrifying than ghosts. No wonder there was such heavy resentment every day.

Besides abalone and scallops, there was a basket of shelled creatures that she couldn’t name but looked quite nice. They were all alive and very fresh. Lu Shouqiu planned to make “drenched seafood,” so she followed Ruan Jingluo around, chattering like the birds on the gate wall. Ruan Jingluo couldn’t stand it anymore; the vegetable cleaver in her hand slammed into the wooden stump cutting board with a clang.

She didn’t know when it started, but it was tacitly assumed that she was the one doing the cooking. Ruan Jingluo was fuming: “Do you think you’re a cow with four stomachs? You want to eat everything. If you nag anymore, don’t eat anything today. Stay hungry.”

Lu Shouqiu had been nagging in her ear about wanting to eat sour papaya fish, jade mushroom cool rice noodles, fish mint stuffed pulp tofu… just like a little eunuch in the palace reporting menu items. Now she wanted drenched seafood. Ruan was so annoyed that she didn’t want to do anything anymore.

Lu Shouqiu was startled by the roar. She stood there, pouting and twisting her fingers, aggrieved: “I’ve been sleeping in the open for many days, so what’s wrong with wanting to eat something good when I get home? Why be so fierce…”

Act, keep acting! Ruan Jingluo frantically pressed her philtrum (the spot under the nose). If she believed Lu Shouqiu’s words, she would be a complete idiot.

She couldn’t get angry with this kind of person; every time she did, she was the only one who got hurt. She was so angry she had internal injuries, and Lu Shouqiu was still perfectly fine. Every time she had some new trick, and it was her own bad luck to run into such an employer.

Lu Shouqiu secretly observed her expression and, harboring a little thought, deliberated: “Well… look, you’ve been working at the farm for ten days or so. Are you adapting? Although I don’t have money to pay you a salary, there are other things, right? Like the jade mushrooms, cabbage, seafood, fish, and shrimp I brought back today. If you fancy them, just pick some and mail them to your relatives and friends as local specialties.”

Ruan Jingluo didn’t expect her to say this. She was stunned, the anger on her face not yet dissipated, looking somewhat silly.

She turned around and continued to cut vegetables: “Keep them for yourself.”

If she could be obedient, she wouldn’t be Lu Shouqiu. She separated half of the remaining unprocessed items and put them aside separately. Tsk, where could one find an employer as generous as her? Ruan Jingluo really didn’t know how to appreciate her blessings.

Ruan Jingluo caught a glimpse of her small movements, pursed her lips, but didn’t stop her in the end.

Even if she didn’t know better, she knew that these things Lu Shouqiu brought back were good. Not to mention anything else, a bucket of live red coral trout was worth a lot of money. She looked up how to cook it online and was told that steaming was best, but Lu Shouqiu insisted that she make it sour and spicy.

“Here, I picked the sour papayas.” Lu Shouqiu, who had gone out for a while and came back, put down the basket, which contained oval-shaped papayas with hard shells.

These papayas, which looked like both fruit and melon, were the real indigenous ones. When ripe, they were greenish-yellow with a hint of rouge color. The sourness went straight to the crown of one’s head; using them in cooking could directly replace vinegar. A very reputable sour soup fish hot pot restaurant in the Ghost Village night market used this papaya as the soup base, while the papayas seen and eaten raw in the market were called “papaya” (carica papaya), which were sweeter and mostly eaten as fruit.

Rice-field carp were also commonly used for sour papaya fish, but Lu Shouqiu insisted on using red coral trout. Scaling and deboning them into slightly thicker slices—such fresh, tender fish didn’t need to be marinated in advance, as that would damage the texture of the fish. Then she cut the sour papayas and prepared other side dishes. The preparation process was actually not complicated; it was similar to making tomato fish or pickled fish, only the flavor was the fruit acidity of the papaya, and the spiciness wouldn’t be as heavy as mala fish.

Every time Ruan Jingluo put a dish into the pot, Lu Shouqiu stood by the stove like a hungry puppy, swallowing her saliva, her eyes fixed on the bubbling, boiling pot. The job of serving the dishes was done by the ‘cousins.’ Only she could order the Black and White Impermanence to do such work; if anyone else tried it, just go to the underworld for a trip and you’ll know you’re wrong.

“Luoluo, your cooking is really good,” she finished and added a comparison: “Better than mine.”

She loved to eat, but her cooking level was limited. She didn’t know many dishes and often had to look at tutorials, which was very troublesome.

Ruan Jingluo, who couldn’t stand reduplicated words, gripped the spatula tightly, held back from swinging it over, and gritted her teeth: “Don’t call me that.”

“Oh, Xiao Luo.”

“…” Life is meaningless; let it be destroyed.

Lu Shouqiu blinked innocently. She couldn’t afford to offend such a good free cook: “A-Luo?”

Compared to titles like Luoluo or Xiao Luo, which made her frantic, Ruan Jingluo would rather be called A-Luo. Although it sounded rustic, at least it was grounded.

“As you wish.” She gave up struggling.

Lu Shouqiu was very happy and started calling her A-Luo non-stop.

“A-Luo, the sour papaya fish doesn’t have fish mint.”

“A-Luo, can I put fish mint on the grilled scallops?”

“A-Luo, put some fish mint in the drenched small seafood.”

“A-Luo…”

Ruan Jingluo’s ears were full of ‘A-Luo’ and ‘fish mint,’ and she was nearly going crazy.

“Will you die if you eat less fish mint?” Listen, the sound of her molars being gnashed to pieces.

Lu Shouqiu educated her: “How can you keep talking about death all the time? How unlucky.”

Ruan Jingluo didn’t want to pay attention to her anymore and quickly finished frying the last dish of tomato and water fern.

For this meal, in order to take care of her fragile stomach, Ruan Jingluo used very little chili. The staple food was chicken porridge—a thick chicken porridge with minced mint. During the days Lu Shouqiu wasn’t home, she made a large pot every day. With a side of water fern fried meat, she could eat it from morning until night. And she discovered that the Black and White Impermanence liked it too; the porridge left in the refrigerator would disappear by two-thirds every afternoon.

The small square table in the main hall was finally full. The civet cat, which had been playing wildly outside for many days, had returned and was lying beside its bowl eating the rice Ruan Jingluo had prepared for it. Aowu aowu—it was clearly starved, and it would only make this sound if it was very satisfied with Ruan Jingluo’s cooking.

Lu Shouqiu was also visibly happy, introducing her two ‘cousins’ to Ruan Jingluo while storm-inhaling the peeled shrimp, crab meat, and scallops.

Using a bamboo pick to pull out an unusually large and weirdly beautiful sea snail, turning it clockwise and pulling it out, one could get the complete snail meat. Dipping the snail meat into the sour, spicy, salty, and fragrant soup, covering it with plenty of chili and fish mint, and stuffing it into the mouth—the fresh snail meat was very elastic and tasted like it was dancing in her mouth. It was so delicious that Lu Shouqiu couldn’t speak, dancing with joy.

She wouldn’t dare say anything else, but Ruan Jingluo was confident in her own cooking. Even for dishes she hadn’t made, she could easily learn them after watching a tutorial once. When seasoning, she would change the recipe to one she thought would be better, so although her dishes might not be authentic, they were definitely delicious.

“No wonder Qiuqiu always praises your cooking; it really is of a high standard.” Xie Bi’an was pretending as if it were his first time eating, as if he weren’t part of the gang stealing chicken porridge every afternoon for the past few days.

“It’s average.” Ruan Jingluo was modest.

“It’s not average, it’s delicious. A-Luo’s cooking is the best in the world.” Lu Shouqiu thought that strengths should be fully displayed, and then one should graciously accept the praise—that was deserved, and humility was unnecessary. Seeing Ruan Jingluo moving her chopsticks slowly, she urged: “Eat, eat! I brought all this back especially for you. If you like it, I’ll bring back more next time.”

When she was scavenging for things in the depths, she was thinking of this poor little thing, Ruan Jingluo, who hadn’t eaten any good things. As a qualified employer, she must be good to her employees. Isn’t the benefit of fine food better than a salary? Talking about money is so vulgar; she wasn’t that kind of vulgar ghost.

Hearing this, Ruan Jingluo couldn’t describe how she felt.

“Who would believe that,” her brain, lacking love, still kept a trace of intelligence, “You just love talking nonsense.”

“Every word comes from the bottom of my heart.” She just lied through her teeth occasionally; she didn’t mean to—it was mainly because she was afraid that telling the truth would scare Ruan Jingluo.

“Only a ghost would believe you.”

“…” It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, ghosts are there, right in front of you—all three of them.

With the ‘cousins’ present, Ruan Jingluo didn’t want to argue and ended it with a “Just eat your food.”

She herself put a lot of jade mushrooms into her bowl. She hadn’t eaten this before either, and hadn’t even seen it. The texture was crisp; she accidentally broke a few flowers when washing them. It tasted a bit like sea lettuce, but it was more fragrant than termite mushrooms.

There were many jade mushrooms brought back, and a basket of jade cabbage—crisp, tender, and sweet. These were things that couldn’t be bought outside. Lu Shouqiu left a third for Ruan Jingluo to handle herself, whether she wanted to send them away or sell them.

Ruan Jingluo only hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to move to the gate to sell them to passing citizens. However, she also packed a little separately, called an express delivery to come and pick it up, and mailed it to her hometown, with her own mother as the recipient.

As the sun set, the market was closed. Passing citizens complained that they hadn’t bought what they wanted today. When they passed by the gate and saw someone selling fresh food in front of the wooden house, they stopped.

Beside the bamboo basket lay a fat civet cat with glowing fur, its hanging tail like a large sea cucumber. Hearing footsteps approaching, the civet cat lazily opened its eyes, its vertical, grain-shaped pupils slowly turning round, revealing an innocent expression exactly like Lu Shouqiu’s. It meowed at the visitors, acting like it was pampered and very cute, making several living people’s hands itch with desire, surrounding it and petting it over and over.

“You’re the fat civet cat raised by the owner of the Drum Tower, right? Why are you here?”

Many people had seen it; the farm villagers said it was raised by the owner of the Drum Tower.

“Meow~~” This is called being healthy, not fat. You living people with no eye for talent are really annoying.

“Oh my, it’s so cute; I really want to steal it home.” The older sister with a round face at the front of the group loved the civet cat, hugging it to her chest and stroking it, unable to put it down. “What’s your name? Do you want to go home with me? My home has delicious cat food.”

The civet cat spent nine cows and two tigers’ worth of effort to escape from her arms, jumping onto the stool to lick the fur she had ruffled.

Who wants to go to your house and eat tasteless cat food? I am a precious civet cat raised on Milky Way water and mountain delicacies. I am the guardian beast of Lady Shouqiu. What glory! Why would I go to your house to be a useless pet cat?

“The cat is not for sale; you can choose the vegetables if you like.” Ruan Jingluo came out of the wooden house. She had just made a call to her hometown, and her face didn’t look good. Her natural “husky eyes” were filled with gloom. One could tell at a glance that she was not easy to approach, making people afraid.

However, there were too many people with strong personalities on the farm. There were many merchants in the market whose faces were fouler than hers and whose tempers were thief-like. The living people who came in to buy things were already used to it—as long as the goods were good, who cared about the owner’s expression?

“How much are your vegetables?” The first one to ask for the price was the round-faced older sister.

“Five yuan for cabbage, six yuan for jade mushrooms. Seafood depends on the size; large scallops are 50 each, small ones are 20, conch is 60 yuan per pound.” This was already a high price she had set against her conscience; any higher and she was afraid they wouldn’t sell.

When she was setting the price, Lu Shouqiu was beside her, wanting to speak several times—this price was no different from giving it away for free.

The round-faced older sister calculated quickly and asked Ruan Jingluo to help her pick a few. Such large scallops were very expensive in the market; you couldn’t get them for less than three or four hundred yuan. Here, they were only 50, and they looked very fresh. Was she sure she could still make a profit doing business this way?

“Younger sister, has anyone ever told you that you are very suitable for charity?”

Ruan Jingluo, who was putting scallops into a bag: “…”

She realized that the price she set was too low. No wonder Lu Shouqiu had that expression before she went out. Damn!

Was it too late to go back on her word now? She didn’t want to sell them.

“Hehe.”

In the end, she still weighed a bag of seafood for the other party at the set price. Fortunately, this was a business that didn’t require her to consider costs. She would make a profit regardless of how much she sold. Listening to the ding-ding sound of incoming payments, her mood improved slightly. This gatekeeping job wasn’t without its benefits.

After the first order was made, the rest sold out quickly. Ruan Jingluo didn’t know how many times she had checked her wallet balance; the corners of her mouth were almost reaching her temples. She had earned over three thousand yuan in less than ten minutes. She finally had money!

The civet cat, who had been watching from the sidelines the whole time, shook its head like a person. Sigh, cooking skills are quite good, but her brain is not very good. If these fresh goods were taken to the Ghost Village and sold to the stall owners, they could earn several times three thousand. This person really doesn’t know how valuable the things Lady Shouqiu brings back from the depths are.

The ghosts who had been lingering in the Drum Tower for several days could finally be sent away tonight. If they dragged it on any longer, the Black and White Impermanence would have lost their temper. They were now being forced to work overtime.

Because the three souls who were entangled with murderous aura had done many evil deeds in their lifetime, had not accumulated any yin virtue, and had no parting words from relatives and friends, it took a lot of effort to send them away. They knew this themselves, so they had been clamoring for these past few days, threatening the Black and White Impermanence to let them go. They had tried everything from intimidation to begging, but it was useless. Now, they were cursing loudly in the shuttle bus.

“Just wait and see! Even if we become fierce ghosts, we won’t let you off! Just wait!”

Bothered by the noise, Fan Wujiu gave each of them a “silencing order” and said to Lu Shouqiu: “The situation is special this time. Let’s not wait until midnight; let’s start now.”

Lu Shouqiu sat on the beam of the house, her well-proportioned, beautiful legs swinging back and forth: “It’s up to you; I don’t care.”

She disciplined the three souls. If you don’t listen, hit your head! Thump, thump, thump!

Aowu, aowu, aowu! The three souls covered their heads, tears streaming down their faces. They didn’t expect this girl who looked soft and weak to be more brutal than the Black and White Impermanence. Being hit hurts so much! Help! Is there anyone to manage this!

Xie Bi’an supported his forehead, helplessly: “Alright, Qiuqiu, that’s enough. It won’t be easy for us to account for it if they are beaten too badly when we go back.”

Lu Shouqiu snorted, stopped her hand, and said: “Do the Ten Yama Kings dare to manage me?”

Xie Bi’an: “…”

Looking at the Three Realms, who would dare to manage you?

The drum music and singing, which used to only ring out in the middle of the night, were heard before eight o’clock tonight.

Living people had researched it before, saying that the drum music transmitted from the top floor of the Drum Tower was an ancient ritual, and the lingering folk songs were a kind of ancient ethnic minority language that had been lost. Unexpectedly, someone in the farm could sing it.

Ruan Jingluo heard it too. She stood at the door and looked toward the Drum Tower. She hadn’t heard this song in her dreams during the days Lu Shouqiu was away. So, it wasn’t a dream? Was it Lu Shouqiu singing on the top floor every night? Were the scenes that looked like dreams also real? Was the girl dancing under the full moon Lu Shouqiu?

Having lived here for so many days, even if she weren’t shrewd, she knew that Lu Shouqiu was not as simple as she appeared on the surface. And this farm—everywhere revealed something strange. Why are the lights in the village only on at night, but quiet and uninhabited during the day? Why do the herdsmen and villagers never go to the left village? The Drum Tower, located in the middle of the farm, is like the dividing point on both sides, and the two roads are the dividing lines, keeping the two sides separate.

She picked up the napping civet cat, pinched its fat belly, and talked to herself: “What exactly is your owner…”

To be able to open such a large farm in Cloud-Qian, her family background must be extraordinary.

The civet cat stretched in her arms: “Meow~”

All the work done is business for the deceased. In your living people’s words, it’s ominous and bad luck.

The small silver car whizzed past the moonlit road and drove away into the distance.

Ruan Jingluo stretched her neck and muttered: “Driving so fast, aren’t they afraid of hitting someone?” Then she was strange again: “The gate is on this side; why drive to the end of the road? They’re sick.”

She had walked along the dirt road on the left side before; the end was a sea of spider lilies, which were beautiful but also ghostly.

Lu Shouqiu, who had finished her work, saw that it was still early, so she wandered over to find Ruan Jingluo to have a late-night snack.

Always thinking about eating. Ruan Jingluo sat back on the chair: “Your cousins left?”

“Mmh.”

“Then why didn’t you leave through the gate? Do they want to drive into the sea of flowers?”

“Uh…” Bad, she hadn’t noticed this detail. She could only lie: “There’s a shortcut over there, right behind the sea of flowers. Didn’t you notice?”

Is there? Ruan Jingluo was suspicious.

“Oh, they’ve already left; why do you care about them?” Lu Shouqiu came over and pulled her: “Come on, let’s go to the village and drink some roasted milk in a pot.”

Ruan Jingluo struggled: “I’m not going. If you want to go, go yourself.”

“I want you to accompany me, I want you to accompany me. I am the employer; my word is final. Let’s go.” She didn’t give Ruan Jingluo any chance to escape at all, pulling and dragging, and stubbornly dragged the unwilling Ruan Jingluo to the Ghost Village.

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