The Zhang family.
Zhang Ming’s youngest son, Zhang Side, put down his chopsticks and asked, “Dad, haven’t you dealt with Cousin’s house yet? That monk was useless. He couldn’t even get rid of a single ghost.”
Zhang Ming frowned deeply.
“Your cousin is quite formidable. I’ve hired quite a few monks and masters, but none of them has been able to send her off to reincarnation.”
“With her still inside that house, would you dare move in?”
It was tolerable during the daytime, but at night, they feared the dead girl might take their lives while they slept.
Because of that, tempting as the large house was, not a single member of Zhang Ming’s family had ever considered moving into it. Instead, they had chosen to rent it out.
Zhang Side complained, “I met Lili’s parents last week. They said if we’re getting married, we have to have a marital home at the very least.”
Lili was his girlfriend. She was pretty and had a great figure. Zhang Side did not want to break up with her over something as simple as a house.
Zhang Ming replied, “Let’s wait a little longer. That master guaranteed me that this time it will definitely work.”
According to the master’s plan, the curse he had cast would gradually give Zhang Yunqi evil thoughts. Once she stained her hands with blood, he could naturally invite his senior brother to exorcise the demon.
If that still failed, then they would simply sell the two apartments they currently owned and use the money to buy three smaller apartments in a less desirable area, one for each of his sons.
The more Zhang Ming thought about it, the more he despised his niece.
She was unbelievably selfish.
He had already promised her that if she gave him the house, he would have his youngest son adopted into her family. That way, his elder brother and sister-in-law would still have someone to offer sacrifices to them after their deaths.
Yet she had refused and even spoken disrespectfully to him.
At the time, he had only wanted to frighten her.
Who could have expected her to end up in such an accident?
If she had obediently sold him the house from the beginning, she never would have ended up like this.
She was just a girl. What use did she have for such a large house anyway?
After viciously cursing Zhang Yunqi in his heart, Zhang Ming went downstairs for a walk in the neighborhood park.
While strolling through the park, he noticed an elderly man talking on the phone.
Judging by Zhang Ming’s eye for such things, the old man’s outfit alone had to be worth at least tens of thousands of yuan.
“I don’t want to keep living in that villa anymore. Every time I stay there, I’m reminded of your mother, and it makes me miserable.”
“I think I should just sell the place.”
“The apartments in Chenguang Residential Community seem pretty nice. I might as well buy two apartments there. That way each of my grandsons can have one.”
As the elderly man spoke, he suddenly began gasping for breath.
His phone fell to the ground, and the medicine bottle in his breast pocket rolled out as well.
His entire body froze. He could not move.
His trembling finger pointed toward the medicine bottle, but he could not utter a single word.
Normally, someone as self-preserving as Zhang Ming would never have interfered.
What if he got falsely accused afterward?
But this old man was dressed in luxury brands and clearly came from a wealthy family.
He spoke about buying two apartments as casually as someone buying a bottle of mineral water.
Zhang Ming hurried over, helped the old man sit upright, picked up the medicine bottle, poured out a pill, and fed it to him.
After taking the medicine and breathing deeply several times, the elderly man looked at him gratefully.
“Thank you.”
“If it weren’t for you today, I’d probably have died right here.”
Zhang Ming put on an honest smile.
“Even if I hadn’t been here, anyone else who saw you would’ve helped.”
The elderly man shook his head and sighed.
“People these days wouldn’t dare.”
“They’re all afraid of being falsely accused.”
“Kind-hearted people like you, who aren’t afraid to help, are becoming increasingly rare.”
Zhang Ming merely smiled, though inwardly he muttered, Since you know I saved your life, the least you could do is give me some kind of reward.
The elderly man asked, “You live around here too, don’t you?”
“Do you know of any good houses nearby that are for sale?”
“As long as the property is good, the price is negotiable.”
Zhang Ming suddenly thought of the two apartments his family owned.
This old man clearly spent money generously.
Besides, Zhang Ming had just saved his life.
Surely the old man would not be stingy.
His heart stirred.
“As it happens, my family has two apartments for sale.”
“They’re both excellent properties.”
“If you’re interested, why don’t I show you?”
The elderly man was immediately intrigued.
Supported by Zhang Ming, he went to inspect both apartments, commenting as he looked around.
“The lighting is excellent.”
“Oh? This one’s close to No. 1 High School. Very nice.”
“The landscaping in this neighborhood is good too.”
The old man was genuinely pleased with both properties and praised them repeatedly.
Watching his reaction, Zhang Ming finally relaxed.
Two days later, the elderly man purchased both apartments.
He even paid thirty percent above the market price.
To Zhang Ming, it felt like a pie had fallen straight from the sky.
The only troublesome part was that the old man was old-fashioned and refused to pay by bank transfer.
He insisted on paying in cash.
Zhang Ming spent a long time feeding stacks of banknotes through a money-counting machine before finally finishing counting them.
…
Once everything had been settled, Zhang Ming proudly boasted about it to his family.
“Dad, you’ve sold both of our apartments.”
“Where are we supposed to live now?”
“Are we going to rent a place?” his eldest son asked with a frown.
Zhang Ming answered with unconcealed pride.
“Don’t worry.”
“I’ve already bought a big villa.”
“It’s over three hundred square meters, with two floors.”
“It’s more than enough for our whole family.”
“As for the money that’s left over, the three of you can split it.”
“It’ll be just enough for the down payments on your own homes.”
Thinking that, at his age, he had finally gotten to live in a grand villa, Zhang Ming felt as refreshed as if he had downed an ice-cold beer on the hottest day of summer.
Zhang Side said, “Why did you suddenly buy a villa? Wouldn’t it have been better to buy more apartments with that money?”
Zhang Ming shot him a look.
“What the hell do you know? President Su couldn’t bear staying in that villa after his wife passed away because it kept reminding him of her. So he wanted to sell it.”
“He originally asked me to help him find a suitable buyer. I thought that although the location was a bit remote, the villa itself was excellent, so I decided to buy it.”
“Didn’t I save President Su’s life before? Because of that, he sold me the villa at a bargain price.”
“Even if we don’t live there in the future, we can sell it and make another profit.”
“Besides, I definitely won’t sell it within the next couple of years. Didn’t the government announce earlier this year that a subway line will be built nearby? Once the subway is completed, property prices in that area will definitely rise again.”
Zhang Ming felt that everything had been going his way lately.
Having successfully completed these two deals, he was immensely pleased with himself and could not stop boasting at the dinner table.
After hearing him, all three of his sons also began looking forward to it.
None of them had ever lived in a grand villa before.
Zhang Side also thought his father had made an excellent deal.
Once he brought his girlfriend to stay in the villa for a couple of days, her family would certainly think more highly of him.
The entire family enthusiastically discussed how they would divide the rooms after moving into the villa. The atmosphere was lively, and they all felt full of anticipation for their future.
Zhang Side and his brothers even took time off work to visit the villa in person.
The villa featured a classic European design.
Its blue-and-white exterior looked like something painted straight out of a picture, while the luxurious interior perfectly matched everything they imagined a wealthy person’s home should be.
The eldest Zhang brother felt somewhat uneasy.
“A villa this nice would probably cost at least ten million yuan.”
“And yet Dad bought it for just over two million.”
To Zhang Ming, those words sounded unpleasant.
His face darkened.
“That’s because President Su respected your father.”
“If it had been anyone else, they would never have gotten such a deal.”
“Besides, the property deed is already in my hands. What is there to worry about?”
Zhang Side flattered him.
“Dad, you’re amazing. Thanks to you, we get to live in such a huge house.”
“Dad, I want the second room on the second floor!”
Faced with his favorite youngest son, Zhang Ming’s expression softened considerably.
“If you like it, then take it.”
“Go move your things in.”
The family had not moved all of their belongings over yet.
Fortunately, the villa was fully furnished with everything they could need.
They planned to spend the night there first and enjoy themselves.
As for the rest of the move, there was no rush.
…
The entire Zhang family stayed overnight in the villa.
They were all so excited that they tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep right away.
Life felt like a dream.
Although the location was somewhat remote and there were not many neighboring houses, things would improve once the subway was built.
By then, more and more people would certainly build homes in the area.
The only drawback was that the chirping crickets outside were rather noisy.
Gradually, accompanied by the sound of crickets, the whole family drifted off to sleep.
…
Zhang Ming felt sunlight shining directly onto his eyelids.
It was dazzling.
The blazing sunshine covered his entire body, making him so hot that sweat was about to break out.
Still half asleep, a thought crossed his mind.
Strange.
Didn’t I close the curtains before going to bed?
How is sunlight getting in through the window?
He squeezed his eyes shut before forcing them open.
The instant he opened them, the bright sunlight hit him full in the face, bringing tears to his eyes.
He rubbed them until they adjusted to the light.
But the moment he clearly saw his surroundings, he froze.
When he had gone to sleep, he had been lying on a two-meter-wide bed.
Why was he lying on the ground now?
The gravel beneath him dug painfully into his body.
He quickly sat upright.
Only then did he realize that not only was he on the ground, but all three of his sons were also sprawled nearby, sleeping in awkward positions.
Who had broken into the villa and moved their entire family here?
A wave of panic washed over him like icy water.
It felt as though even his heart had frozen.
Zhang Ming hurriedly shook all three sons awake.
“Where’s our villa?”
“Where are we?”
“Has someone set us up?”
Unlike his two older brothers, who immediately started cursing, Zhang Side carefully surveyed the surroundings.
Then they spotted several graves not far away.
The graves were overgrown with weeds, giving the place an especially eerie atmosphere.
Zhang Side’s lips trembled.
He tugged on his father’s sleeve.
“Dad…”
“Isn’t this area near the villa?”
“Where did our villa go?”
Only after being reminded did Zhang Ming notice it too.
Their family car was parked nearby.
Beside it stood two large locust trees.
He remembered there had been two locust trees in front of the villa…
A vague suspicion surfaced in his mind.
He needed to verify it.
He hurried over to the trees.
Sure enough, tied around the trunk of one tree was the red ribbon he had personally fastened there the previous day.
The locust trees were still there.
But the grand villa that should have stood nearby had vanished overnight without a trace.
Not even a demolition crew could make an entire house disappear so cleanly.
Besides, they had not heard a single sound during the night.
Suddenly, a scream rang out.
It came from his eldest son, who was pointing at one of the graves.
“Dad!”
“Wasn’t the man who sold you the villa named Su Wei?”
Zhang Ming nodded, an ominous feeling rising in his chest.
“The owner of this grave is also named Su Wei!”
Zhang Ming hurried over.
Sure enough, the gravestone bore the name Su Wei, along with a photograph.
The man in the photo was exactly the same elderly gentleman who had sold him the villa.
In the black-and-white photograph, Su Wei wore a faint smile that seemed to mock him.
If Su Wei had died long ago…
Then had the one who sold him the villa been a ghost?
Had their entire family spent the previous night sleeping beside a grave?
Zhang Ming’s vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.