Chapter 48: Ex-Wife

Lu Guanchang's ex-wife, named Zhao Qiuyun, was a native of Yehegou Village near Binhai.

After divorcing Lu Guanchang, she took her daughter back to her maiden family.

However, because of the divorce, she was not well received by her maiden family; after all, in that era, divorce seemed to be considered a woman's fault, subjecting her to cold stares and idle gossip.

To prevent her daughter from suffering grievances, Zhao Qiuyun took her daughter, Lu Hongxia, and left Yehegou Village, going to the neighboring city of Ci'en.

Ci'en is located in the southwest of Qionghai, adjacent to Binhai, possessing unique natural conditions, rich cultural characteristics, and an advantageous geographical location.

It enjoys abundant sunshine, is unaffected by monsoons, and has a cost of living far lower than that of the tourist city of Binhai.

As the saying goes, poverty breeds change; Zhao Qiuyun, who had no education, went out to set up a stall to support her daughter, selling cooling drinks and cold foods such as Qingbuliang, sweet potato jelly, and old salt juice.

Because she started early, belonging to one of the first batches of individual households, her competition was relatively small, so she actually earned quite a bit of money.

Zhao Qiuyun was actually a woman of considerable ability; previously, with a husband, he provided her with monthly expenses, so she never had to worry about livelihood problems.

But now, having to plan for the future of herself and her daughter everywhere, after earning money, she did not settle for modest wealth; she successively opened restaurants, supermarkets, clothing stores, domestic service companies, and so on.

Having struggled all her life, though not extremely wealthy or noble, she accumulated some assets; during this process, she remarried, her husband treated her extremely well, and she gave birth to another son and daughter; now she has handed over all her enterprises to her children, enjoys her grandchildren at home, and lives a very happy life in her later years.

As for Lu Guanchang's daughter, Lu Hongxia, she has long been renamed Zhao Hongxia, taking her mother's surname.

Zhao Hongxia experienced family upheaval from childhood and wandered with her mother, so she appeared more sensible and mature than her peers from a young age.

Her environment shaped her strong-willed personality; therefore, whether in studies or in doing things, she was extremely excellent; after taking over her mother's business, not only did it not decline, but it flourished even more, reaching a new height.

When Lu Guanchang spoke of his ex-wife and daughter, a sense of self-satisfaction unconsciously crept into his tone, feeling somewhat proud on their behalf.

Shen Siyuan did not understand what he was proud of; did their current achievements have even a penny's worth of connection to him?

He would not think that their current achievements were largely due to his abandoning his wife and daughter back then.

"So, do you think there is still a need to disturb them? Will they still care about that little asset of yours?" Shen Siyuan asked rhetorically.

"But... but I am unwilling to give up."

Lu Guanchang's face twisted a bit; he had been on the go his whole life, not only raising someone else's children and grandchildren, but also having his home usurped; how could he be willing to accept this?

It was a good thing ghosts could not harm people; otherwise, he would have wanted to devour those two alive to relieve the hatred in his heart.

Appearance reflects the heart; his mouth split to his ears, his body grew larger, his belly expanded; sitting there, he looked like a giant toad with its mouth wide open, ready to swallow something at any moment.

"Wow, Grandpa Lu is so scary."

Watching Dou Dou hid behind Little Sister Xiaoyue, sneaking around, peeking out, looking indescribably cute.

"Didn't you say he was a good person?" Yin Xingyue glanced at her askance.

"Mom said we shouldn't think someone isn't a good person just because they don't look good." Dou Dou defended herself.

"One shouldn't judge people by their appearance."

"Yes, yes, that's exactly it; how do you know that too? Sister, you are so amazing."

Yin Xingyue was still an elementary school student; hearing Dou Dou's praise, she felt a bit happy inside.

"We are ghosts now, not humans, so we cannot judge by human standards; let me tell you, the less one looks like a human, the worse they are..."

"Wow, so they are all bad people? I thought they were all big monsters; I was afraid they would catch me, so I stuck closely behind Mom and Dad, hiding from them; also, while flying in the sky, I saw many; so there are so many big villains?"

Dou Dou widened her eyes, full of surprise.

"You don't need to fear them now; they should be afraid of you," Yin Xingyue said.

She extended her right hand, and immediately, small blue flames sprang from the tips of her five fingers.

Seeing this, Dou Dou immediately joyfully extended her own short, stubby little fingers, pressed her lips together, and stared intently at her fingertips, as if exerting all her strength.

But her few little fingers showed no movement at all; it was a good thing she was a ghost now, not a human; otherwise, a few farts would have popped out.

"Concentrate your attention; think with your heart."

Hearing this, Dou Dou revealed an expression of sudden realization.

"So that's it; I was thinking with my brain head."

Then she continued staring at her fingertips; after quite a while, she angrily cupped her own little head.

"My brain head won't listen; it's always thinking about little monkeys, big bananas, big tigers, eating meat..."

Yin Xingyue, who was introverted and rarely smiled, was also amused by her at this moment.

Seeing Little Sister Xiaoyue laugh at her, Dou Dou grew angrier and angrier; just then, fire suddenly erupted from her entire body, and her whole body seemed to be burning.

"Wow... Sister, Sister... I made fire come out; so it turns out getting angry is enough." Dou Dou looked delighted.

Shen Siyuan, hearing the commotion, looked at the two of them.

Lu Guanchang, standing nearby, naturally saw it too; although there was some distance, he still felt his heart pound and his soul sting; originally his mind had been clouded by rage, looking like a toad, but he instantly calmed down and returned to his human form.

"Master, I beg you, let me meet my... daughter; whether she is willing to seek justice for me or not, I will then completely give up hope; otherwise, I truly cannot let go and will be forever trapped here, unable to find release..."

As Lu Guanchang spoke from the depths of his emotion, the lumps on his face seemed to vanish somewhat, revealing his original kind and benevolent appearance.

"Your daughter is far away in Ci'en; I am only free on Saturdays and Sundays; I can help go over there..."

"That's no problem; I can wait," Lu Guanchang hurriedly said.

Shen Siyuan thought for a moment and said, "Do you know her address? I can write a letter and send it over; if she can come to Binhai, that would be best..."

"That is indeed a good idea." Hearing this, Lu Guanchang was overjoyed.

"In that case, come with me." Shen Siyuan stood up.

Lu Guanchang hurriedly followed Shen Siyuan upstairs, arriving at his rented apartment.

Shen Siyuan found paper and pen and said to Lu Guanchang, "You dictate; I will record."

Hearing this, Lu Guanchang lowered his head and pondered; for a moment, he did not know how to begin.

Shen Siyuan paid him no mind, poured himself a glass of water, went to the window, and looked down at the street below.

He saw two little ones playing below, chasing each other; it was already night, and even with streetlights, it was hard to see clearly.

However, the ghost fire on Dou Dou's head was too conspicuous, like a firefly in the dark night, so eye-catching.

The reason they were not allowed to come back with them was mainly because of the worry that if they were in the same room as Lu Guanchang, by accident, they might set him on fire; ghost fire uses karma as fuel; the more sins one has, the longer it burns; as long as the sins are not exhausted, the ghost fire will not extinguish.

"Master, I have made up my mind."

Lu Guanchang's voice interrupted Shen Siyuan's thoughts.