The matter of Jiang Hua selling her machinery factory job could not be kept hidden, and she had no intention of hiding it anyway. Before long, everyone in the compound knew.
Auntie Chen even deliberately brought Director Chen’s nephew over to thank her. Director Chen also gave Xu Chenghuai considerable convenience at the research institute, which made many people feel sour with envy.
However, Jiang Hua did not care about that. All her attention was focused on the clothing shop.
First, the shop needed renovation. After drawing up the renovation plans, and with Auntie Chen’s introduction, she found workers within the compound to handle the renovation.
Time was not urgent, but it was not especially ample either. While following up on the renovation process, Jiang Hua was also looking for suitable fabrics.
While the adults were busy, the children had their own important matters to attend to as well.
Yunkai and Yunshu, together with Ma Fenghuo, the three little friends, had agreed to go on an adventure.
When the area was originally divided into zones, two nearby alleys were also included within the compound’s range. However, the residents of these two alleys had always kept to themselves and did not interact much with the people in the compound.
One of the alleys was called Guihua Alley. It was said that there was a haunted house inside. Someone, driven by curiosity, had once sneaked in and personally seen the densely packed memorial tablets inside. The entire courtyard felt gloomy and sinister.
Because of this, even though the courtyard stood empty, no thieves dared to go there.
Ma Fenghuo, as the one who proposed the adventure, began to feel cold feet when they reached the entrance of the alley. He swallowed nervously and looked at the two companions beside him.
“Are we really, really going in?”
Yunkai tightened his grip on his sister’s hand and was also a little hesitant.
Yunshu, however, furrowed her small brows, grabbed her brother’s hand in return, and strode forward boldly, her voice fearless. “Let’s go. Daddy said there are no ghosts in this world.”
Ma Fenghuo thought to himself that his own father had said there were no ghosts too. But just because there were no ghosts did not mean he was not afraid of them.
Still, seeing that Yunshu, a little girl, was bravely walking inside, how could he, a proper little man, show fear?
Thinking this way, he hurried to catch up with the siblings. “Wait for me. Let me lead the way for you!”
Yet despite what he said, his feet stayed firmly stuck behind them, as if there were an invisible barrier ahead that he could not cross.
Yunkai cast a sideways glance at him with his round eyes. A trace of disdain flashed across his immature face. “Scaredy-cat!”
He was not even as brave as his sister.
Ma Fenghuo immediately showed an indignant expression, but he did not dare to argue back.
The three little brats continued walking forward. Perhaps because of the rumors about the haunted house, Guihua Alley was very quiet, and along the way, they did not see a single person.
As Ma Fenghuo walked on, his courage gradually grew, and he finally dared to walk side by side with Yunkai and Yunshu.
He lowered his voice and said, “I heard the older kids in the compound say there’s a hole in the wall on the side of the haunted house. When the time comes, we can crawl in from there.”
Hearing this, Yunshu immediately knitted her small brows. Her short legs stopped, and she turned her head to look at Ma Fenghuo. “We have to sneak in?”
Yunkai also did not approve. “I’m not crawling through a dog hole.”
Ma Fenghuo froze and asked blankly, “Then how are we going to get in?”
Little Yunshu spoke righteously, giving him a look that clearly said, ‘Are you stupid?’ “Of course, we knock on the door.”
Yunkai only listened to his sister and nodded in agreement.
Ma Fenghuo: …
“…I’m scared,” he stammered. “I heard that old grandma is very fierce. She’s an evil ghost that turned into a person. If she finds out we went in, will she eat us?”
Yunshu wrinkled her nose and corrected him seriously. “My daddy said there are no ghosts in this world. That’s just a bad-tempered old grandma.”
This time, Yunkai swallowed and did not echo his sister’s words. Clearly, he was also afraid that the old grandma might really be a ghost.
Ma Fenghuo, considering himself a little man, did not want to lose to Yunshu, a little girl. He puffed out his chest and tried hard to ignore his wildly pounding heart.
“Fine. Then we’ll knock on the door.”
The ground of Guihua Alley was paved with neatly laid stone slabs. Qinhai City had high air humidity, and in the less frequently used areas on both sides, a thin layer of moss lightly covered the stones. The haunted house from the rumors was right ahead, and from afar, one could already see the vermilion-red gate.
Ancient, heavy, mysterious.
The three children stood in front of the vermilion-red gate, tilting their heads up to look at the patterns on it. Their movements were neat and filled with curiosity, giving off a strangely eerie feeling.
Yunshu looked at Ma Fenghuo, lifted her chin righteously, and said, “You go knock.”
Ma Fenghuo subconsciously looked toward Yunkai. Yunkai was frowning as he stared at the gate, his right foot slightly stepping back, as if he could retreat at any moment if something happened.
Ma Fenghuo snorted unwillingly. “Why should I be the one to knock?”
Despite her young age, Yunshu’s mind was very clear. She snorted as well. “You were the one who suggested the adventure. Of course you should knock. Or are you scared?”
Ma Fenghuo: … Saying he was scared would be way too embarrassing.
The strange sense of competitiveness between children instantly overcame his fear. Ma Fenghuo secretly took a deep breath, trying to dispel the uneasiness in his heart. He jogged to the vermilion-red gate, knocked three times with “dong dong dong,” then quickly ran back.
In just a dozen seconds, fine beads of sweat had already appeared on Ma Fenghuo’s forehead.
Yunkai pressed his lips together and tightened his grip on his sister’s hand.
Yunshu, however, showed no sign of being affected at all. Her dark, round eyes were bright and moist. Her long eyelashes fluttered, filled with innocence and bewilderment.
The three children waited quietly and nervously.
Second by second, time passed, yet there was no movement at all from inside the gate.
Yunshu looked at Ma Fenghuo and waved her small hand. “Knock again.”
Ma Fenghuo: …
He really wanted to say no, but that stubborn unwillingness to lose flared up again.
Ma Fenghuo paused, then repeated the action just like before. His heartbeat surged wildly once more. Yet even after his heart finally calmed down, there was still no sound from inside the gate.
The three children: …
Yunshu pouted in disappointment, while Yunkai quietly let out a breath of relief.
The little girl’s dark, bright eyes blinked. She tugged her brother and turned around. “Forget it. Let’s come again next time.”
Ma Fenghuo, who had thought he was about to be freed, stiffened instantly when he heard this.
Next time?
What if someone was home next time? Wouldn’t that be walking straight into trouble?
Ma Fenghuo’s not-so-clever eyebrows knitted together. His feet stopped as he followed them, and he said with a straight face and a serious tone, “Since we’re already here, we should still go in and take a look.”
Yunshu could not help looking at him, her soft little face full of disapproval. “You’re still thinking about sneaking in through a hole?”
Ma Fenghuo craned his neck and retorted, “I knocked. She didn’t respond, so isn’t that the same as agreeing to let us go in?”
Yunshu: …
Yunkai’s dark eyes flickered. He first glanced at Ma Fenghuo, then tugged his sister’s hand slightly, his gaze falling on her face.
He cleared his throat and turned his head slightly to avoid Yunshu’s eyes. “I think what Ma Fenghuo said makes sense.”
Yunshu immediately widened her eyes and looked at Yunkai as if he were a traitor. She stamped her foot angrily. “Brother, how can you take his side?”
Yunkai rubbed his nose, naturally not daring to admit in front of his sister that he was also afraid of ghosts.
In the end, no one could escape speaking nonsense with a straight face. Yunkai looked at his sister with complete sincerity and said, “I think Ma Fenghuo makes sense. And the knocking was so loud, but the grandma inside didn’t come out. I suspect something might have happened to her.”
Ma Fenghuo had not expected Yunkai to agree with him. The surprise on his face was impossible to hide. His reaction speed had never been this fast. He kept nodding to show that Yunkai was right, his eyes fixed on Yunshu.
“Let’s hurry and take a look.”
Yunshu was, after all, only a three-year-old girl. No matter how clever she was, she could not process too much information at once. For a moment, she did not know who she should listen to.
Yunkai seized the opportunity and pulled her toward the hole in the wall.
Once Ma Fenghuo realized there might be no one inside, his face was filled with eagerness. Standing at the front, he bent slightly and peered inside, then turned back. “I’ll go in first?”
Yunkai nodded and pulled his sister two steps back.
Ma Fenghuo did not notice Yunkai’s movement. He squatted down and crawled inside.
As his butt wiggled and disappeared into the hole, Yunshu’s small brows knitted together. She looked at her brother. “Brother?”
Yunkai pressed his lips together, his gaze falling on the dirt-covered hole. A trace of disgust flashed in his eyes. But under his sister’s gaze, his immature brows furrowed. He half-crouched down and was just about to reach for the hole to crawl in when suddenly——a sharp scream rang out without warning, followed by crying and chaotic footsteps.
——It was Ma Fenghuo.
Yunkai straightened up instantly, reacting extremely fast as he pulled his sister back.
Yunshu, however, showed no fear on her face. Instead, she calmly squatted down and looked into the hole. “Ma Fenghuo, what’s wrong?”
Ma Fenghuo’s voice came from inside with sobs, trembling with fear. “There’s a dead person!”
As soon as the words fell, his small body crawled out of the hole. Tears and snot covered his face, and the terror on his expression had not yet faded. It was obvious that he had been truly frightened. Without even looking at Yunkai and Yunshu, he spread his legs and ran out of the alley.
Yunkai: …
Yunshu: …
For a moment, the air returned to silence.
Yunkai quietly swallowed and turned to look at his sister. “How about we leave too?”
Yunshu hesitated a little. A trace of indecision flashed across her face. She walked closer, stuck her butt up, and peeked into the hole again. Then, under Yunkai’s horrified gaze, she spoke in a soft, childish voice, “Brother, let’s go in and take a look.”
The more innocent and sweet her tone was, the more cruel and merciless her words sounded.
Yunkai tugged at the corner of his mouth and said cautiously, “Maybe we shouldn’t go in. Ma Fenghuo was scared away.”
Hearing this, Yunshu bent down on her own. “Then I’ll go in by myself. Brother, you wait outside.”
Yunkai instantly felt suffocated, bearing exhaustion and mental strain far beyond what someone his age should endure. He forced out a smile uglier than crying. “Then I’ll go in. You wait outside.”
The little girl’s round, bright eyes rolled. A trace of innocent shrewdness appeared, and she spoke like a little adult. “I’ll go in together with Brother.”
Yunkai did not dare agree. The little guy understood very clearly. No matter how much Jiang Hua indulged him, it was only because he had not touched her bottom line. If she found out that he had taken his sister somewhere dangerous, he would definitely die a miserable death.
Yet he could not stop Yunshu at all. Taking advantage of her small size, the little girl moved nimbly and crawled in before Yunkai could even react.
Yunkai: !!!
Sunlight filtered down through the treetops, casting mottled shadows on the ground. Noisy insects chirped from the branches, a gentle breeze brushed past, leaves rustled softly, and roadside flowers and plants swayed.
Jiang Hua had gone early in the morning to oversee the renovation at the clothing shop. When she saw that it was about time, she went home to cook. Usually, she would see the two children as soon as she returned, but today, the meal was almost ready and the children were still nowhere to be seen.
She walked out to the courtyard entrance and looked around. The alley outside was quiet, and every household was busy cooking lunch.
Jiang Hua could not sit still anymore. She took off her apron and hurried out to look for them.
Unexpectedly, she nearly made a full round of the entire compound. Everyone she asked said they had not seen the two children.
When Auntie Chen learned of this, she also came out to search together with her.
“Could they have gone to the research institute to look for Xiao Xu?”
Jiang Hua was extremely anxious inside. “I already asked several households near the compound entrance. Yunkai and Yunshu didn’t go out.”
Auntie Chen said, “Then where could they have gone? Our compound is only so big. We’ve already searched everywhere we should.”
Just then, Li Qingran, who had not been seen for several days, walked over from the distance.
Jiang Hua suddenly thought of something, and her almond-shaped eyes widened slightly.