Chapter 6: Everyone Has an Opinion About Me

Forget it, I’m starving. I wonder when the food vendor will come by.

“Cigarettes, drinks, mineral water! Peanuts, sunflower seeds, eight-treasure porridge! Instant noodles, fresh fruit, all for sale!”

Hearing that familiar call, I quickly looked toward the aisle—only to notice all the ghosts gazing at me as well. Surely, they didn’t want to eat too? That couldn’t be. What would ghosts want with food? I tried not to look at them, thinking to myself that if they really did want to eat, I certainly couldn’t afford to buy enough for all of them.

…Damn, just as I was thinking this, I suddenly spotted ghostly figures reflected in the window and couldn’t help but curse under my breath.

“I want something to eat, too, Lord of the Living,” the old woman looking for her son said to me. “My son hasn’t visited in so long, nor sent any offerings. I don’t have money for food in the underworld, so please, have pity.”

I looked speechlessly at the group of ghosts gathered around me. “Even if I buy something, how would you eat it?”

“It’s just like an offering, it doesn’t take much. We can all share!” the old woman replied.

Hearing that it wouldn’t cost much, I nodded. “So, what do you want? Instant noodles?”

“I don’t want instant noodles, I want rice…”

“I’d like braised pork…”

“I want noodles—”

“That’s enough,” I cut them off, “none of those are available here. It’s either instant noodles, some fruit, or other snacks. Take it or leave it.”

“Ah, you’re right. There’s not much to choose from here these days—anything will do,” the old woman said.

I nodded, and when the attendant came by with the trolley, I bought a few cups of instant noodles, some snacks, and fruit—spending over a hundred yuan in one go. The attendant must have thought I was going to eat it all myself.

After opening and arranging the food, the ghosts came forward one after another to eat. To anyone else, the food appeared untouched, but I could see them enjoying it.

Suddenly, the world felt truly strange. If all the ghosts I met in the future were this easy to get along with, that would be nice—because I really am quite a useless emissary of the living.

After eating, I didn’t bother with the ghosts any further. I leaned back in my seat and fell asleep.

At dawn, just past five, I got off the train and headed straight for the bus station nearby. My family lived in the countryside, so I had to catch a bus from the county to the town, and then from the town take a private van to our village, Datang.

But when I reached the town, it occurred to me that I hadn’t brought anything back with me, which seemed a bit thoughtless. So I quickly bought some fruit and candy before catching the van to the village—a bumpy ride all the way.

At least I no longer needed to wear a hat. Ever since I’d fallen asleep on the train, my eye had gradually gotten better, and today it looked completely back to normal.

When the van stopped at the entrance to the village and I got out, I ran into a few neighbors coming back from the fields, including the girl next door, Yanran He.

“Xiaobei! You’re back? You didn’t mention anything about this when we chatted the other day.” Yanran hurried over, her face bright with surprise.

I smiled wryly, scratching my head. “It was a last-minute decision, so I didn’t have time to tell you.”

“So this is Xiaobei! I almost didn’t recognize you after these two years,” said Aunt Liu, joining us after hearing Yanran call my name.

I smiled politely and took out the food I’d bought in town. “I brought some fruit—please have some.”

“No need, you carried it all this way. You should take it home first,” Aunt Liu said kindly.

“It’s fine, really—just have a taste.” I opened the bag and handed them each an apple.

After a bit of small talk, Yanran and I headed home together since our houses were next door.

As we walked, Tan Xiao suddenly appeared, making me jump. Luckily, I didn’t react too strongly or Yanran would have started asking questions I couldn’t answer.

“Zhang Xiaobei, who’s this?” Tan Xiao asked, walking beside me.

I ignored her, continuing to chat idly with Yanran. With someone else there, I couldn’t talk to Tan Xiao, and after her outburst on the train last night, I was still a bit annoyed, so I didn’t feel like dealing with her.

Seeing I wouldn’t respond, Tan Xiao didn’t get angry. She tugged at my sleeve, saying, “Are you still mad at me? I didn’t mean it—can’t you just be generous and forgive me?”

I smirked to myself but still didn’t respond. With Yanran there, I really couldn’t talk to her.

“Hey, Zhang Xiaobei, will you at least acknowledge me?” Tan Xiao now blocked my path.

Ordinarily, I would have walked right through her, but because I could see her, I reflexively stepped around her instead.

Yanran noticed and looked at me curiously. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I quickly shook my head.

She didn’t press the issue. Then, seeing no one else around, she suddenly brought up something I’d asked her about before. “Xiaobei, remember when you asked me about what happened to your family?”

“Yeah? Why?” I was puzzled by her sudden mention.

“This morning, when I went to Aunt Wang’s store, I overheard some people talking. They said the local earth deity your family used to host left something in your cowshed.”

“What did they leave?” I asked quickly.

“I’m not sure. They just said that your old ox died because of it.”

That was strange. Given how important the fields were to our family, we’d always needed cattle—so why hadn’t we raised any more after the old ox died? And since then, the cowshed had been locked up. My mother still went to clean it from time to time, too.

“Xiaobei, there have been a lot of rumors about your family in the village lately. Some of them are pretty harsh. If you hear anything unpleasant after coming back, just ignore it. You know how small the village is—people with nothing to do love to gossip,” Yanran warned, as a few villagers up ahead seemed to be talking about us.

Usually, when someone returned to the village, they’d be the main topic of conversation.

“Zhang Xiaobei, who’s this sister? Why does she care about you so much?” Seeing Yanran’s expression and tone as she spoke to me, Tan Xiao blocked my path again, asking questions.

I still ignored her, because I’d overheard what those women were saying: “That child has been unlucky since birth. Just look at what’s become of their family. Who knows why he even came back—probably nothing good will come of it.”

I kept my head down, silent. But Yanran couldn’t help herself—she called out to the group of elderly women, “Auntie Third, I think wild boars have been digging up your cornfield. You’d better check on it instead of gossiping all day. Watch your mouth!”

“Hey, you bratty girl! What’s it to you?” the old woman snapped.

“You’d better go see if there are wild boars, or you’ll end up with no harvest this year!” Yanran retorted.

“Yanran He, are you cursing me? Your family will be the ones with no harvest! Your grandmother told you not to hang around with that Zhang boy, but you never listen. Be careful, or his bad luck will rub off on you!” The old woman stood on the stone dam, shouting at Yanran and dragging me into it as well.

Seeing me hang my head in silence, Tan Xiao was also furious and glared at the old woman. “That old hag is so annoying. I’ll teach her a lesson!” she said, about to storm over, but I grabbed her.

“Why are you stopping me? Did you hear what she said?” Tan Xiao complained.

I shook my head and turned to Yanran. “Let’s go, Yanran.”

“Yeah, come on. Ignore her!” Yanran said, not bothering to argue further.

I was genuinely touched by her standing up to the elders for me today. Yanran had always been good to me, even when we were kids—whenever I was sick and other parents wouldn’t let their children visit, Yanran always came over and even snuck me sweets her grandmother had hidden away.

“Thank you, Yanran,” I said, walking beside her.

She smiled. “No big deal. I argue with them all the time. I’m used to it.”

“Really? Doesn’t your grandmother scold you?”

“Of course, she does—she says I’ll never get married, that I argue with everyone and no one would want me as a match.” Yanran shrugged with mock disdain.

That was just her straightforward nature. I teased, “That’s nothing. Next time I go to the city, I’ll introduce you to someone.”

She just smiled and didn’t say anything. But as we reached the courtyard, her grandmother spotted us, her face instantly darkening.

“You’re back already? Didn’t I tell you to pick vegetables in the field?” she shouted.

“I did—I brought them back, didn’t I?” Yanran replied.

“A young girl, lazing around all day, hanging out with the wrong sort of people. Haven’t I told you enough times? What exactly are you planning to do?” her grandmother complained.

Yanran rolled her eyes and barely responded. She turned to me and said, “You’d better go on home, Xiaobei.”

I nodded and called out, “Hello, Grandma Wang!” before heading home with my luggage.

But after just a few steps, I heard Grandma Wang scolding Yanran, “How many times have I told you not to hang out with Zhang Xiaobei? What’s so good about that boy? You’ve liked playing with him since you were little.”

“That’s enough—must you go on and on? He just got back. Why say such things?” Yanran shot back, her tone sharp.

Seeing her talk back, Grandma Wang grew even angrier. “So now I can’t say anything about him? He’s good-looking and just came back from the city—do you want to marry him? Do you think he’d even want you?”

…Hearing this, I couldn’t help but feel awkward, though if Yanran was willing, I wouldn’t mind marrying her. It’s just that I had to survive past twenty first.