After seeing off the man, I picked up the business card and glanced at it. It was a sole proprietorship, owned by Ning Junhao, with a phone number, and there wasn't much description on it.
Back in the room, I lay back on the bed and watched the news. Although my eyes were fixed on the screen, my mind had already drifted elsewhere.
I scrolled through the screen aimlessly and couldn't concentrate, so I threw my phone on the bedside table and closed my eyes, falling asleep.
I woke up from a nap at 3 o'clock and didn't wake up until six o'clock the next day. After getting up and washing up, I waited for Du Xiaolan downstairs and was going to drive her to the store, but then I thought it wasn't necessary at all.
Arranging ghost marriages is also a type of wedding service, and given the unique nature of this profession, it definitely pays a lot more than a normal wedding.
Leaving Du Xiaolan alone in the store while I go out to earn extra money is clearly very unfair to her. Moreover, who knows what dangerous things might happen in a ghost marriage? Bringing Du Xiaolan, this tough woman, along might give me some courage.
When I mentioned the matter of Ning Junhao looking for me yesterday, as soon as Du Xiaolan heard "ghost marriage," she would definitely have jumped up if she wasn't sitting in the car.
This wasn't out of fear but rather because she was too excited. I was also very puzzled by this; she was just too excited.
I called Ning Junhao's phone and it rang for a long time before he answered.
I told him about my need to bring someone, and he readily agreed without hesitation, and sent me his location. This place was a county town near Xi'an. I hadn't been there before, but I had heard a lot of people talking about this county town.
Without going into the store to pack things, I drove directly to the destination.
On the way, Du Xiaolan was looking at various things about ghost marriages on her phone. Although I didn't read, she would blurt them all out, and each method was different, leaving me unsure of what to do in the future.
I don't know if she didn't sleep well last night, but halfway through the trip, she fell into a deep sleep leaning on the seat, and my ears were much quieter at that moment.
When we arrived at the county town, Ning Junhao had been waiting for us for a long time. When we arrived at his shop, I looked up and it was not an ordinary shop, but a paper shop, specializing in making things for the dead.
I suddenly felt a little hesitant, but since I was already here, there was no reason to go back.
I woke up the sleeping Du Xiaolan and she rubbed her eyes groggily and asked if we had arrived. I nodded and pointed at the shop, saying, "We're here, let's go down now."
Without looking closely, Du Xiaolan stretched and complained that she was very tired, then opened the car door and walked down. When we entered the shop and saw dozens of paper people, she clearly froze for a moment, turned her head to stare at me without blinking and asked, "Mingyang, did we come to the wrong place?"
I smiled bitterly and shook my head, saying, "No, this is the place."
"But it seems like a paper shop here?" Du Xiaolan was somewhat hesitant, clearly very afraid.
"What's there to be afraid of? Besides, you came with me." I had seen ghosts, let alone these lifeless objects.
Du Xiaolan muttered, sneered at me, and didn't say anything.
Ning Junhao awkwardly smiled and brought us chairs, then handed us two glasses of water, saying, "I should have explained earlier, but the time you gave was too tight, so many things weren't explained properly."
I took the glass of water and turned to look at Du Xiaolan, her expression was very strange, as if I had deceived her into coming to this place.
Ning Junhao continued, "Actually, this time it's not me arranging the ghost marriage, it's one of my clients. But Mr. Yin, rest assured, the price will definitely not be unfair to you."
I gave a bitter smile, seeing that Ning Junhao was truly a broker. Unable to deal with the job himself, he wanted to find someone else to handle it.
But if there's money to be made, then it's foolish not to make it. I took a sip of the tea and nodded, saying, "Should I discuss the specifics with you or with the employer?"
"Just talk to me." After saying this, Ning Junhao glanced at Du Xiaolan, nodded and smiled, asking me, "How should I address this lady?"
"My colleague, Du Xiaolan." I finished, then asked again, "What's the situation with the employer?"
Ning Junhao scratched his head and started to talk.
Three days ago, he had just opened the shop door to do business when a mysterious old man in his sixties came to his shop and asked him for a favor, promising that the money would be trivial.
Ning Junhao worked in the funeral business, and business had been slow recently. Seeing the old man acting so mysteriously, his curiosity was piqued.
After entering the shop, the old man took Ning Junhao's hand and whispered that he wanted to find a wife for his son. At that moment, Ning Junhao thought the old man might be mentally ill, wondering why he, a paper shop owner, could help find a wife.
As he prepared to send the old man away, the old man hurriedly said that the matchmaker couldn't handle this marriage, only someone in Ning Junhao's line of work could.
Ning Junhao's curiosity was once again piqued by the old man, so he asked what kind of match the old man wanted. The old man glanced around, lowered his voice, and said that his son had died, but he was in his thirties and had not yet married, so he was planning to find him a wife in the afterlife.
Upon hearing this, Ning Junhao was extremely surprised and quickly said that he was just a paper shop owner and didn't know these things about the afterlife.
But the old man thought he wanted money and raised the price. Tempted, Ning Junhao finally agreed to the request and later, after some inquiries, found me.
However, he never mentioned to me how much money the old man promised to give him. I didn't inquire too much, but regardless, after the job was done, he would definitely take a cut.
I had a general understanding of the situation, finished my water, and then asked, "How did the old man's son die?"
Ning Junhao refilled my water cup and placed it in front of me before saying, "They said he drowned while fishing."
I furrowed my brows slightly. A person who dies by drowning cannot find peace, only lingering by the water until finding a new victim to take their place before being able to be reborn.
I didn't say anything, but Du Xiaolan interjected, "He's already in his thirties, why hasn't he found a wife?"
I gave her a disdainful look, realizing this had nothing to do with what we were here to do. It seemed that women cared about different things compared to men.
However, to my surprise, Ning Junhao earnestly replied to her question, "I heard he seems to have some difficulties in that area."
His seriousness left me unsure of what expression to show, and Du Xiaolan nodded thoughtfully, asking me, "Mingyang, what does he mean by difficulties?"
I sighed softly, why not just Baidu it if you don't know, asking made me feel so embarrassed.
Ning Junhao was experienced, and he didn't avoid the question. He answered for me, "It's the most sensitive topic for a man, the inability to perform husband and wife duties."
Even a fool could understand what that meant. Du Xiaolan's face turned extremely red, glaring at me and cursing, "Yin Mingyang, you pervert!"
"Oh, come on, this has nothing to do with me, it wasn't me who said it!" I rolled my eyes at her.
"Anyway, it's your fault, you pervert!" Du Xiaolan snorted, pouting at me.
I smiled bitterly, seeing Ning Junhao still wanting to talk, I quickly waved my hand and asked, "We're already here, what do we need to do now?"
"I almost forgot, let's go to that old man's house now." Ning Junhao stood up in a hurry, and Du Xiaolan followed him out.
Looking at Ning Junhao crossing the road and getting into that brand new Audi A4, I glanced at the old van beside me. I couldn't help but sigh, thinking that if my paper craft business did well, I could also become rich.
As I got into his car, I asked him if the paper craft shop had made a lot of profit in the past year. Ning Junhao shook his head, laughing, saying that the shop barely made any money in a year, and that he bought the car with the compensation money from the house demolition.
I and Du Xiaolan exchanged a smile, not saying anything. Sitting in the passenger seat, I took a look and saw that although the car was new, the interior was very simple.
As we sped along the road, many construction sites were in progress, clearly indicating that this area had been requisitioned, and it made sense that those with money would reside here.
The village where the old man lived was very upscale, filled with farmhouse villas. As we drove past, each household had a car parked in front, all of them quite expensive.
I couldn't help but feel envious and jealous. These demolished houses were indeed different. If my hometown were also demolished, I wouldn't have to work a job that barely pays enough to support myself every month.
We stopped in front of a villa, and after getting out of the car, Ning Junhao rang the doorbell. After a while, the villa door opened, and a man in his sixties appeared.
The old man was well-dressed and didn't look like a typical rural old man at all. Instead, he looked very fair and clearly enjoyed a life of luxury in his old age.
Seeing Ning Junhao bringing us, the old man was very polite. After inviting us in, he gestured for us to sit on the sofa in the living room and brought out three bottles of drinks from the refrigerator for us.
The old man's life was indeed very good. After taking a sip, and introducing himself, I learned that his last name was Bi and his son was named Bi Ping.
Before their original residence was requisitioned, the two of them made a living by raising fish in a reservoir. One time, Bi Ping fell off the boat while fishing and drowned.
It was strange because Bi Ping was an excellent swimmer, and he could effortlessly swim in the reservoir even with his eyes closed. However, that day, after falling into the water, he didn't even struggle and sank to the bottom.
At first, Grandpa Bi thought his son and himself were just fooling around and didn't pay attention. When a long time passed without seeing Bi Ping come up, he panicked. He hurriedly jumped into the water to look for his son, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find him.
He realized how serious the situation was and asked the villagers with good swimming skills to help search, but they still found nothing.
After three days of searching, Bi Ping's body was found in a distant water channel. The body had been pecked at by fish and shrimp and was almost unrecognizable. If it weren't for a birthmark, it would have been impossible to identify the body as Bi Ping's.
Grandpa Bi couldn't bear the pain of losing his beloved son and fell seriously ill. After recovering, he would have a very strange dream every night.
In his dreams, Bi Ping would stand in the reservoir, crying to Grandpa Bi, saying that even though he didn't have a wife or child in life, he couldn't find a spiritual body to marry him even after death, and asked Grandpa Bi to help him.
However, conducting a spirit marriage requires a lot of money, and Grandpa Bi had been postponing it until the house demolition provided him with the extra money to find a wife for his son in the afterlife.
Hearing this, I couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Grandpa Bi. Although the life of the wealthy was very good, the lack of a child was very distressing.
Having gained a better understanding of the situation, I nodded and finished the drinks on the coffee table before getting up and saying, "Grandpa Bi, could you please take me to the place where your son drowned now?"
Grandpa Bi nodded eagerly, and Ning Junhao received a phone call, saying that a customer was waiting for him in the store, and he had to hurry back.
With him gone, Grandpa Bi took me and Du Xiaolan to the side of the reservoir where Bi Ping had drowned.
If Grandpa were here, he might have been able to see something, but to my eyes, it was just an ordinary body of water, with fish leaping and splashing water.
I couldn't see anything, but I put on a mysterious look and kept shaking my head and sighing.
Grandpa Bi quickly asked if I saw something, and just as I was about to speak, Du Xiaolan suddenly exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the middle of the water, "Mingyang, there's someone rowing a boat over there!"
Looking in the direction she pointed, I saw a small boat appearing on the water, with a man standing on it, paddling slowly.
I frowned tightly. Du Xiaolan really was something. Rowing a boat is very common, but in her eyes, it seems as if it's a rare sight.
I was about to answer Uncle Bi's question when the person rowing suddenly turned his head and looked at us, filled with a puzzled expression.
Puzzled myself, just as I was about to speak, the man suddenly sped up and disappeared in front of us, rowing the boat quickly.
Taking a deep breath, I anxiously asked Du Xiaolan, "Did you see that just now?"
"Of course, I saw it. But why did it seem like that person recognized us?" Du Xiaolan looked puzzled.
Just as I was about to speak, Uncle Bi suddenly asked in confusion, "What are you talking about? What person rowing a boat? How come I didn't see them?"
Du Xiaolan and I looked at each other in disbelief. That person rowing a boat was so obvious, yet Uncle Bi didn't see him?
Could it be that the person wasn't human, but a ghost?
Du Xiaolan turned pale, leaned in and asked me in a low voice, "Mingyang, is that person a ghost?"
I cleared my throat, nodded and said, "If I'm not mistaken, he should be."