Ding Yi listened to the array of rooster calls, both near and far, and checked to see the brightening skyline outside before finally feeling a wave of relief wash over her.
“It’s finally morning,” said Ding Yi as she let out a bated breath and flopped onto the bed. She could feel the dark circles under her eyes and imagined how haggard her visage must be.
The first night at the new place was a terrible experience! Super crappy!
Feeling the strain on her eyelids, Ding Yi couldn’t resist the lull of sleep any longer and drifted away. When she woke up once again, it was already bright outside, and Mu Yueshi was nowhere to be seen.
She crawled out of bed and shouted: “Yueshi?”
There wasn’t a reply, so she shouted twice more, louder. Still nothing.
She instantly became wide awake with worry and headed outside to search for Mu Yueshi.
But as soon as she opened the door, she saw him suddenly come in from around the corner.
The boy was caked in mud and absolutely reeked, making Ding Yi wonder where he had been to look like that.
Mu Yueshi’s little face was slightly pale, and upon seeing Ding Yi’s questioning gaze, hurriedly hid his dirty hands, his innocent eyes filled with unease.
Actually, Ding Yi was only silent because she was surprised. After all, the cute little clean freak was suddenly covered in grime, it was too unexpected.
Ding Yi felt the corners of her mouth twitch: “Did… did you fall into the toilet?”
Mu Yueshi sniffed himself over, and his head drooped down. “I wanted to make something for you to eat, but I messed it up and broke the stove. Sorry,” he said, sounding vexed.
There was no way Ding Yi could be angry at the boy having heard that. She felt the tenderness in her heart overflow and ushered Mu Yueshi to go change, asking nothing more about what had transpired.
After seeing the little boy go inside, Ding Yi finally revealed her worries to the system: Is it just me, or is the boss hiding something from me?
System: No. Your instinct is correct.
Ding Yi was surprised: Really?
After rousing Ding Yi’s curiosity, however, the system fell silent once again, revealing not a word more! How frustrating.
But Ding Yi didn’t dwell on the subject for too long, her primary concern right now was what had happened last night.
I need to get this house returned!
And so, at noon, Ding Yi brought Mu Yueshi to the company that sold her the house, demanding that the irresponsible, crooked merchant who served her come and return her money!
To her surprise, however, the shopkeeper told her that there was nobody of that description anywhere in the company.
When she told the shop keeper that the house in question was the one at the end of West Street, the shopkeeper’s face turned aghast. He looked at Ding Yi as if he was looking at a monster and immediately threw the pair out!
Ding Yi became very angry: “It’s your fault in the first place! You guys are the ones who tricked me into buying a haunted house. I just want to speak with the guy responsible! Why are you chasing us out? This is a great injustice!”
The shopkeeper screamed with indignation: “Don’t lie! Our company has never owned that house! Are you going to leave? If you don’t leave, then I’ll be forced to resort to violence!”
As he was saying this, he told the clerks to grab their weapons.
Ding Yi was both stunned and furious. After she was chased out, one of the clerks saw that she was a single woman with a child, and taking pity, quietly whispered to her: “Ah! Young lady, please don’t find fault with the shopkeeper. That house really isn’t our company’s property. You should go find whoever sold it to you.”
Ding Yi was at her wits end: “But weren’t you guys the people who introduced me to the seller?”
The clerk also went pale: “Miss! Please don’t say things that aren’t true! There’s nobody of your description at our company, and we’ve never acted on behalf of such a person either. Alright, hurry up and leave!”
“How are you guys allowed to do this?”
The clerk glared at her and shooed her out, saying with a whisper: “It doesn’t matter how much of a ruckus you cause. I’ll tell you right now, that house is cursed, nobody is willing to even touch it. If you somehow bought it, then there’s no way you’ll be able to sell it again, so make what you will of it.”
Ding Yi felt herself exploding with anger, but the clerk shut the door and closed down the shop, so there was nothing she could do about it.
And as if this wasn’t enough, after a while, the stout and tubby owner’s wife came out with a bucket of black dog’s blood* and, with great reverence, splashed the entire thing on the place where Ding Yi had stood.
*(Black dog’s blood is a folk remedy thought to be able to chase away evil)