Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen

After the feast of the exorcism competition ended in disastrous results, in the early morning of the next night, the houseboat was as quiet as a vigil.Taiichiro and Duohui, who usually wake up at the same time as the six quarter o'clock in the morning, are still hiding in the bed, and Ateng seems to be still sleeping.Last night, the three of them whispered about late at night, no wonder they couldn't get up.Ah Ling thought, even if they go to bed early, everyone must be very tired, so let them sleep as long as they like. No need to think about the houseboat when you fall asleep.The exorcism competition became like that, and the result was only worse, making the management of the houseboat more difficult.Not only was the ghost not expelled, but Baiziya and Asadaya were also furious due to their own reasons. They must have completely forgotten about the delicious food in the boathouse and the painstaking efforts in preparing the banquet.Although half of the money has been collected in advance as a deposit for stocking up, it is still a question of whether the rest of the balance will be collected.

The houseboat...maybe going out of business. Just get up and face these realities.Even if Taiichiro and Duohui didn't have the strength to face the reality and wanted to take a break, they couldn't be harsh.Hope they can at least sleep soundly and not dream. Just like the Tsutsuya incident before, Takadaya Shichihei has not yet sent anyone over, and he has not seen himself kicking the dust from the headquarters. This time the houseboat is really over, at least let Taiichiro and the others sleep until they are satisfied—this may be Shichibei’s considerate parents’ heart. But Ah Ling couldn't sleep.Even leaving aside the predicament of the houseboat, she still has a lot of questions to know and to be confirmed.

When the adults are away or have not woken up, it is strictly forbidden for Ah Ling to use tinder to make a fire by herself. Therefore, although Ah Ling is thirsty and hungry after waking up, there is only some cold rice left in the rice bucket. Boiled water is available for drinking. "Forget it." Ah Ling scooped water from the water tank with a spoon to drink, said "Okay!" and set off from the boat house. A Ling planned to go to Shimaji's house first, she heard that the delivery restaurant "Hayashiya" left by his brother Ginji was located by the Nimukashi bridge in the main office.She thought that even if she didn't come to the door directly, she could find out something.The people in the forest house used the door panels to carry the island back last night. The incident was so big that the neighbors who witnessed it must be eager to tell others now.

In fact, this is indeed the case. The vegetable shop and fish shop adjacent to the forest house, the dim sum shop opposite, and the hawker selling cold water passing by are all talking about Shimaji. Ah Ling walked around cautiously.All she had to say was: I live in the Sun Bingwei courtyard next to the boathouse, and the proprietress of the boathouse gave me some pocket money, and asked me to come and find out how Uncle Linwu was doing.Ah Ling said so with a naive expression, and the neighbor took the initiative to tell her. "Really? You are so sensible that you even helped to visit the sick. You need to ask the proprietress of the houseboat for some extra pocket money."

"Mr. Shimaji's own shop is obviously very busy, why bother to go to that cooking shop... called Brick House? Why would he go there to help?" "Probably owes someone some kind of favor." "But if you help, you can help. Why was he beaten until he had to be carried back? Didn't I hear that he has been sleeping like a dead man since last night? He must have been beaten badly." Residents near the forest house not only did not know the name of the boat house, nor did they know what happened last night, nor did they know that there was such an absurd banquet as an exorcism competition.Everyone was just chatting in the mood of watching the fun, and also a little worried for Daoci.A Ling secretly nodded in her heart.

"Can I meet the proprietress of the forest house? The proprietress of the boat house told me that if it is convenient, she hopes that I can greet her directly, and she will give me more pocket money when I go back." Ah Ling asked. The chubby vegetable shop aunt was a nice person, she patted her chest with a smile and said, "In this case, you wait here, and I'll ask Mrs. A Gao for you." The uncle at the vegetable shop was also very kind, and even specially made sugar water for Ah Ling.Ah Ling didn't eat in the morning, so she was very grateful for this bowl of sugar water.

After drinking the sugar water, the vegetable shop aunt came back with a thin woman with a pointed chin.The woman was wearing a deep purple striped dress. I wonder if the color of the dress reflected her face, and her complexion looked terrible. "This is Mrs. Gao from the forest house." The aunt of the vegetable shop introduced it energetically.She turned her head to face the skinny woman, waved casually at Ah Ling, and said, "Look, this is the child." "Oh, thank you for your hard work." The thin woman approached A-Ling while talking, and the pungent fragrance of thread came from her body.

"After you go with me, tell the proprietress, A Gao, the wife of Daoci, that I am very grateful to her for sending someone to visit." Then, she was Ginji's former wife, and she is now Shimaji's wife.It turned out that her name was Gao. Ah Ling saluted politely, expressing her greetings with a genuine look, although her words were solemn, but her words were faltering.The aunt of the vegetable shop smiled happily, and said with a smile: "This child is really sensible." A Gao listened to A Ling's greetings in a serious manner all the time, his expression didn't seem to say "my husband has become like that, I'm angry", nor did he have the feeling of "I'm sorry to come here to visit the sick".Obviously, she didn't listen at all, but she couldn't let others see it, so she had to put on a show.Her eyes kept rolling.

Before A-Ling could finish speaking, A-Gao looked impatient and took another step closer and asked, "So, did you bring anything to visit?" "what?" Ah Ling was really stunned, and the vegetable shop aunt also opened her mouth wide, and then laughed and said: "Oh, Mrs. Gao, this kid is just helping out with errands, and he didn't bring anything to visit." A Gao's face was obviously disappointed, which made people feel embarrassed.She said, "Really? I thought..." "I'm sorry." Ah Ling shrugged her shoulders and apologized, "The proprietress of the boat house only told me to come over and ask Mr. Shimaji how he is."

"Shimaji, it's nothing serious. It's just on the head," A Gao gestured with his hand on his forehead, "There is such a big swelling, it's not life-threatening." Her tone seemed to say: What a pity, there is no life-threatening danger. "Excuse me, Mr. Shimaji, can you speak?" "I've woken up, and I should be able to talk. The doctor said he was fine, but he refused to say a word, as if he had lost his soul." Ah Ling frowned inwardly.Before he passed out last night, Shimaji's behavior was obviously the same as usual... What happened to him?

Then Ah Ling remembered what Ginji said, and was secretly surprised. Didn't Ginji Ghost answer Ami in that scuffle? ——I want to take Shimaji's body away. —just a little more force, and the boy's soul could be wrenched out of his nostrils and driven away. Ah Ling felt the hairs on her neck stand on end.Shimaji who woke up didn't say a word. Is it just as Ginji said, Shimaji's soul has been driven out, and Ginji entered and occupied his body?If he spoke, would it be Ginji's voice that came out of Shimaji's mouth? —It was the voice of a ghost. "Hey, what's wrong with you?" When she came back to her senses, Ah Ling found that the vegetable shop aunt was looking at her worriedly. "Why are you so blue?" A Gao also looked surprised.Ah Ling hurriedly shook her head and forced a smile. "Then I'll go back to the boathouse and report to everyone that Mr. Shimaji is all right." "Yeah, be careful when you go back. It's hard work for you to make this trip." The aunt of the vegetable shop smiled and consoled A-Ling, but A-Gao remained silent.Her pointed chin made her look mean, but she looked even more so when she wasn't talking.Ah Ling ran away from the vegetable shop. After running to a place where the forest house could not be seen, she finally calmed down.Although his chest was still pounding, after he stopped and took a deep breath, his heartbeat gradually calmed down. The faces of Shimaji, Ginji, Agao, and the puffy-haired people who were crying and shouting, turned around in Ah Ling's small head, and it was impossible to tell who was who.In order to divert her attention and change her mood, Ah Ling racked her brains desperately.Kill the Brothers—that's the key to returning those tangled faces to their rightful owners. Ah Ling really wanted to know how Ginji died ten years ago.This can't be just guesswork, you have to know the cause and effect.Then meet Pengfa again and ask him if he has experienced the same experience as the Shimao brothers.To express Ah Ling's concern for Pengfa, this is the best way. As long as Pengfa understands Ah Ling's intentions, he can gain his trust, and then they can think about how to help him together. But how to do it?Just now the method of pretending to be an innocent child entrusted to do things can only be inquired to that extent.Who should I ask and how should I ask?To find someone I knew Shimaji from before... Ah Ling stopped in her tracks, her eyes widened.The cold water vendor carrying a shoulder pole came towards him, and smiled at Ah Ling as he passed by.No, maybe he couldn't help bursting out laughing when he saw Ah Ling's expression. What a fool I am!Ah Ling slapped her forehead with her palm.Isn't there a grandpa Shichibei!