After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Red Coffin in the Center of the Hall

She never took on jobs that involved seeing ghosts. When the main family was holding ceremonies for the seventh and twenty-first day after a death, she would come to help fold paper ingots.

She would arrange everything for the burning ceremonies and then leave. She would absolutely not stay at night.

The main family here also said they wanted to check horoscopes and consecrate a tablet, which was why she came.

How could someone be dead?

Jiang Huaiyi struggled to follow the old man across the threshold. The central courtyard was very large, and most of the servants were busy.

The old man brushed his long robe and led the two into the main hall.

He shouted in a loud voice: “Master, the two masters have arrived.”

The person behind him slowly closed the main door. The servants coming and going greeted the two: “Hello, masters.”

Jiang Huaiyi nodded in response. Shen Wensi had no reaction, her face expressionless, following behind the old man.

She couldn’t help but ask: “The main family is…”

She pointed to the coffin in the main hall without finishing her sentence.

The old man forced a smile, and the wrinkles on his face deepened. His two eye bags also hung down, but under the warm yellow candlelight in the house, he wasn’t so scary.

His hearing was good. Despite his age, he heard Jiang Huaiyi clearly on the first try.

He explained unhurriedly: “The coffin belongs to our master. It was made for two years, and the shop just delivered it a few days ago. It just happened to be in the main hall. We’ll move it tomorrow.”

People in the countryside prepare their coffins early, but there is a special place to put them. Especially for a wealthy family like this, they wouldn’t just put it in the center of the hall.

She was startled by the coffin in the hall.

After adjusting her state, she calmly walked into the hall next to the main hall.

The Ge family’s courtyard was a typical traditional Chinese wealthy family, but there were also many modern things inside. The electric lights used inside were old-fashioned and retro.

The colorful glazed lanterns emitted light. The patterns were very intricate and mixed together. The light that shone down was very bright, covering the entire hall with a soft light. She had only seen this in the mansions in spy movies.

The various decorations and interior design were also a combination of trendy and retro. The two blended together subtly, and there was nothing out of place.

Jiang Huaiyi casually glanced around twice and then looked away. It was not good to look around someone’s house, especially for a wealthy family like this, who paid more attention to rules and etiquette than ordinary families.

After bypassing the main hall with the coffin, the old man led the two into the room next to it.

The client, Ge Shihong, was sitting in the main seat. He was holding a cup of tea, gently blowing on it, and taking a sip.

The old man’s hair was half gray, but he looked very spirited. He smiled when he saw the two enter and motioned for them to sit.

“The two masters have come a long way. It must have been hard. The fare will be noted on the account later. Old Chen, report to the accountant.”

Shen Wensi naturally took out the small ticket. Jiang Huaiyi breathed a sigh of relief. So the main family would reimburse them. She thought she would have to pay before she even started earning.

Old Chen walked to the door, placed the lantern on the shelf outside, and after instructing a passing servant to serve tea, he turned around and went outside.

After some pleasantries, Ge Shihong got straight to the point: “I’ve invited the two masters to help me look at the horoscopes of my daughter and my distant nephew. The fortune-telling house’s new owner has changed recently and hasn’t opened yet. I’ve already gotten the dragon and phoenix tablets. Which one of you will be the main one? Take a look first.”

Saying that, a young maid with an apron handed over the horoscopes.

She naturally took them and saw Shen Wensi also take them. She chuckled to herself. How could a ghost cultivator know how to read horoscopes for a marriage?

As expected, the other person looked at them twice and then handed them directly to her.

Jiang Huaiyi then concentrated on reading them. She no longer needed a book to interpret horoscopes.

After all, this was the easiest way to make a living, and it was her specialty. Her shishu would transfer similar jobs to her.

This ordinary check made her more and more shocked. A layer of fine sweat even appeared on her forehead.

If she was not mistaken, the two people on these horoscopes had already died ten years ago.

Jiang Huaiyi was not sure if the Ge family had gotten them wrong. She looked at Miss Ge’s name below and fell into confusion.

Seeing that she hadn’t moved for a long time, Ge Shihong on the seat asked with a smile: “Young master, how is it?”

Jiang Huaiyi came back to her senses and forced a smile: “Miss Ge and this gentleman’s hidden stems are compatible, and their year branches are of the same element. It’s just that they don’t have the fortune for children.”

Ordinary families cared more about their descendants. Hearing Jiang Huaiyi say this, they would inevitably show a cold face.

Ge Shihong, upon hearing this, did not get angry at all. He smiled and nodded, and said to Shen Wensi: “What about this master?”

Shen Wensi nodded: “Indeed compatible.”

Ge Shihong waved his hand, and the maid behind him handed the prepared red envelopes to the two of them.

“The matter of consecrating the tablet will be postponed. The carpenter in town hasn’t started work recently. Please stay at my home for two days. After drinking the wedding wine two days later, you can leave. Is that convenient for the two of you?”

Shen Wensi nodded and looked at her. Jiang Huaiyi smiled bitterly. She was thinking of an excuse. Usually, she would be happy to stay at the main family’s house, but not today.

Just as she was about to shake her head, Shen Wensi kicked her under the table. Jiang Huaiyi turned her head and saw her eye signal, swallowed her words of refusal, and put on a smiling face again, nodding.

“Have the two of you eaten? If not, I’ve prepared a guest room. You two can go upstairs to eat.”

Jiang Huaiyi stood up and followed the servant.

When she got upstairs, she anxiously asked: “Why didn’t you let me refuse? Don’t you know there’s something wrong here?”

Shen Wensi sat down unhurriedly. The dark blue dress made her skin look as white as snow. She said carelessly: “It’s because there’s something wrong that I didn’t let you say anything. What if the other party notices it when you open your mouth?”

Jiang Huaiyi’s face was a little pale: “You have no idea! The dragon and phoenix tablets… the dragon and phoenix tablets!”

Shen Wensi interrupted her: “The two people on those dragon and phoenix tablets are dead people. I know.”

Jiang Huaiyi slapped the table: “You know? You know and you still stopped me? I can’t earn this money. I won’t help people with ghost marriages. This is feudal dross.”

Although the two people had already passed away, she didn’t like to mess with fate. The main family asked her to check, so they must have already had someone check.

Now they were keeping her here to take charge of the situation, saying something about drinking the wedding wine. The wedding ceremony would definitely need her to host it. This kind of thing had happened before.

Shen Wensi scoffed and pushed the window open, motioning for her to look down: “After we came in, do you think we can get out? Or have you learned some kind of ‘flying over rooftops and walking on walls’ skill?”

Ge Shihong didn’t mention the ghost marriage at all. There must be some kind of conspiracy.

Jiang Huaiyi leaned on the windowsill and found that there were several people guarding the main entrance she had just entered.

The surrounding courtyard walls didn’t have windows. The Ge family’s walls were unusually high, almost three meters. Even if she could climb up, it would be difficult to get down, unless Shen Wensi could go with her.

She saw the figures outside the door moving around but not coming in, and she knew that the outside was also being watched.

It was fine for her to do the Eight-Section Brocade with her shishu, but climbing a wall was really not for her.

Jiang Huaiyi sat on the stool in a slump, her whole body slumped on the table.

She was wailing in her heart. The first mission given by the old lady was so difficult, and she was not prepared at all.

Jiang Huaiyi didn’t want to face the situation and buried her face in her hands. Shen Wensi poured a pot of her own tea and drank it leisurely, not looking worried at all.

A knock came from the door. Jiang Huaiyi looked up and saw two servants come in, carrying an old-fashioned food box.

After placing the dishes one by one, they pushed them out: “Please enjoy.”

Jiang Huaiyi frowned, picked up her chopsticks, and fiddled with the dishes. There were three dishes and one soup: braised pork, steamed sea bass, stir-fried potatoes, green peppers and eggplant, and sweet and sour spare ribs.

They were common dishes. The color was not very good, faintly showing a grayness, and there was no smell.

They looked very familiar. She picked up a piece of sweet and sour spare ribs and brought it to her nose to smell. It smelled like burning paper money. Her face instantly changed. Wasn’t this the food that the dead ate?

Only mourning food would look like this. It had no color, aroma, or taste. It tasted like chewing on wax.

Jiang Huaiyi suddenly felt like crying. The Ge family was too much. Not only did they imprison her, but they also didn’t give her normal food.

Although this food was at most tasteless and lacked nutrients, who could eat several mouthfuls of wax?

She looked at Shen Wensi, who was sitting on the side. She was leisurely eating the dessert she had taken out of her bag and didn’t even look at the dishes.

She recognized the logo on it. It was from a dessert shop in town. The owner said she was a “returned overseas student” and that this was a side business.

The variety of desserts inside was abundant. Her shishu had brought her a piece when he bought dessert for her shijie. That dessert called a “Swiss roll” was completely different from the sticky sweetness of ordinary cake shops.

The cream melted in her mouth, and she couldn’t stop eating it, but the price was so expensive that a person like her who only spent three to four hundred yuan a month on food could not afford it.

She had only eaten it twice and never tasted it again.

Now, she was salivating at the white Swiss roll in Shen Wensi’s hand.

The other person seemed to have noticed her gaze. Her cold eyes slowly looked over.

Jiang Huaiyi hurriedly avoided her gaze and subconsciously picked up a piece of braised pork to put in her mouth.

The moment the greasy meat was about to touch her lips, Shen Wensi grabbed her wrist: “This mourning food is not good.”

Jiang Huaiyi was stunned. She saw Shen Wensi push the Swiss roll she wanted to eat the most toward her.

She felt her stomach rumbling, wanting to eat that cute Swiss roll. The sweet smell quickly drilled into her nose.

She put down her chopsticks and looked at Shen Wensi with some anticipation.

She would never listen to her shijie say that ghost cultivators were bad people again. This was clearly a good person.

Shen Wensi pushed the Swiss roll in front of her. She could already imagine the taste of the soft cake and dense cream melting in her mouth.

If she could eat it, she couldn’t even imagine how happy she would be.

Shen Wensi opened her mouth under her expectant gaze. Jiang Huaiyi felt that her voice was about to become pleasant. She was no longer as cold as before. If she gave her the Swiss roll, she would definitely accept it without any burden.

Shen Wensi’s slender and fair fingers pinched the transparent fork, cut off a large piece, and brought it to her mouth.

She could already smell the sweet scent of the cream. Her head moved closer involuntarily, and she was about to say thank you.

Then she saw her hand quickly retract, and she stuffed that large piece of Swiss roll into her own mouth.

She only heard her say: “Daoist Jiang, you can just watch me eat. I’ll eat it for you.”

Jiang Huaiyi: ?

Jiang Huaiyi: ???

Ghost cultivators are all big bad guys!!!

She felt her mouth a little wet. She knew her tears were flowing down her mouth.

Jiang Huaiyi turned her face away and held her hands, no longer looking at the other person.

Her back was hunched up, looking very wronged.

A soft laugh seemed to come from behind her. Jiang Huaiyi simply covered her ears.

After a long time, there was no sound from behind her. She turned around and found that the mourning food on the table had been moved to the side.

On the table lay two unopened boxes of desserts. One of them was the Swiss roll she liked.

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