Chapter 253: Shazhu Gets Drunk

Damn it.

I, the old woman, had misjudged them.

It wasn't that they discovered their conscience and felt they should help the Jia family; rather, they saw that this house was a haunted house, felt it was bad luck to sleep there, and so let the Jia family bear the blame.

Beasts.

All of them are beasts.

Jia Zhangshi was about to curse in the street, not knowing what she had thought of, her body inexplicably shuddered.

Qin Huairu, who had taken in this scene, secretly felt a bit of delight; seeing Jia Zhangshi's frightened look, she clearly believed her own ghost story.

Her plan to use the haunted house to intimidate Jia Zhangshi.

It achieved the expected effect.

Given time.

Jia Zhangshi will surely go insane.

A lunatic.

Isn't she still easy to manipulate?

That said.

Even if Jia Zhangshi doesn't go mad, given Qin Huairu's understanding of her, she knows that Jia Zhangshi, living in a haunted house, will definitely try to solve this problem.

What can an old woman from the countryside do?

Qin Huairu didn't even need to think to guess what Jia Zhangshi would do: either seek a female shaman or a male shaman, begging all the gods and buddhas.

Under the explicit ban.

When Jia Zhangshi does these things, she can only do them secretly and furtively.

Find a way to catch her red-handed; Jia Zhangshi is still Jia Zhangshi—she's just a stinking bug in a cesspool, and one stomp can easily kill her.

Qin Huairu felt she needed to add more fuel, so she deliberately cried out 'aiya' and then quickly hid her head under the covers.

A sudden scene.

It really gave Jia Zhangshi a fright.

She hadn't even taken off her shoes.

Imitating Qin Huairu, she also dove headfirst into the covers.

Fortunately, there were no outsiders.

Otherwise, they would surely have laughed.

The two widows of the Jia family, both young and old, were like ostriches that bury their heads in the sand when danger strikes, leaving only their backsides exposed, and they didn't care at all.

"Mom, how did you get in?"

Jia Zhangshi insists on saving face while suffering.

Clearly afraid, yet she insists on acting nonchalant.

She spoke stubbornly: "I came in to see you; by the way, where did Bangeng go?"

She thought of her precious eldest grandson.

The Jia family's sole heir.

Cannot afford any mishap.

"He's been inside for several days, I gave him two fen, and he took Xiao Dang out to play."

"He went out to play?" Jia Zhangshi worried: "Don't let anything happen to him."

"Impossible?"

"What's impossible? Even the deaf old lady is dead."

"Mom, keep your voice down."

"Huairu, Mom asks you: what did you see? Did you really see the deaf old lady?"

"There are eyes on the wall watching us."

"The deaf old lady's?"

"I don't know; I just saw a pair of eyes. Mom, you always say you're brave—go take a look, see what's going on."

"Huairu, Mom says you're brave, but that's with people; now it's with ghosts—can it be the same?" Jia Zhangshi paused, then said, "Wait, you said there are eyes on the wall? The east wall?"

"Hmm."

"I know what's going on."

Jia Zhangshi pulled her head out from under the covers.

Just a moment ago, when she went out to curse in the street.

Seeing the deaf old lady's photo hanging on the wall, she muttered a curse about bad luck, thinking she would throw it away after finishing her chores, but because she was too pleased with herself, she forgot to toss the photo entirely, leading to this mix‑up.

Less than a minute.

Jia Zhangshi used a broom to take the deaf old lady's photo down from the wall, tore it into pieces, added some soot from the pot bottom, mixed it together, and burned it.

The photo turned into green smoke as it burned.

But the thorn in her heart remained.

Moreover, with Qin Huairu as the planner and executor, even if Jia Zhangshi had a plan, it would be hard.

After Bangeng brought Xiao Dang back.

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu made a deal; regardless of whether the grandson needed to ward off evil now that he was older, they insisted on squeezing into the main house with Qin Huairu and Bangeng, calling it "bringing in the new".

What exactly does "bringing in the new" mean?

Or is it fear?

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi understood each other perfectly.

Even if Jia Zhangshi didn't speak, Qin Huairu would find a way to get Jia Zhangshi to come over and live with her; only when the two were squeezed onto one bed could Qin Huairu carry out the second step of her plan—she couldn't possibly, late at night, take advantage of Jia Zhangshi sleeping like a dead pig and go across the living room to mess with her.

This would increase the risk of exposure out of nowhere.

After a brief hesitation, he nodded and agreed to Jia Zhangshi's request, and the five members of the Jia family crowded into one room.

The night passed in silence.

The next day at 6:30.

Shazhu opened his eyes with a heavy, dazed feeling.

He felt weak all over, his stomach was terribly uncomfortable, and it hurt as if he had been beaten.

He wanted to drink some hot water to warm his stomach.

He reached out, relying on his memory, to grab the thermos.

He ended up grabbing nothing but emptiness.

It wasn't that he didn't grab anything; what he grabbed wasn't a hot water bottle but a hand—a soft, limp hand.

By feel.

It wasn't Yu Li's hand.

Yu Li's hand wasn't that smooth.

Lou Xiaoe!

With a bang.

He sat up straight, his sleepy eyes widening as much as possible.

He looked around at his surroundings.

Sure enough, it wasn't his own home.

It was Xu Daming's home.

I spent the night at Xu Daming's place.

Shazhu swallowed, lowered his head to look at his own clothes, then at Lou Xiaoe's clothes, and saw Xu Daming fully clothed beside him.

He felt relieved.

Fortunately.

No drunken scandal happened; otherwise, they'd have been in deep trouble.

Although nothing happened, they couldn't stay here.

They had to leave quickly.

Shazhu tiptoed to the door, gently opened it, moved his body from inside to outside, and then closed the door.

He was about to stride away.

A sound of a door bolt being pulled came from Liu Haizhong's house.

Xu Daming's home was about seven or eight meters from Zhong Yuan; Shazhu wasn't a 100-meter sprint champion, so he couldn't dash to Zhong Yuan in three seconds.

To avoid giving himself away.

He had to pretend.

He spat a few mouthfuls of saliva into his hands, rubbed them together, then smeared some on his face, tidied his clothes, and knocked on the door that had no bolt.

"Xu Daming, wake up, don't sleep anymore, or you'll be late."

"I'm taking the day off."

"You're still awesome, Xu Daming."

Shazhu turned and left.

The door next door was pulled open.

Liu Haizhong poked his upper body out, still holding a chamber pot.

He saw Shazhu.

He shouted.

"Shazhu, it's not the elder uncle saying this—we're adults now, we need to have limits. The liquor is from Xu Daming's house, the bodies are our own. You and Xu Daming drank until after 2 a. m., finishing three bottles of erguotou. The elder uncle got up at night, met you at the door, and you pulled him aside to talk for a long time about making it big and being number one—all just drunken talk."

Shazhu scratched his head.

Liu Haizhong said those things, but he really had no memory at all; his only memory was of suddenly wanting water while drinking, and he didn't even feel his throat burning.