Su Kun got up very early, coincidentally in sync with Geng Zimo who was starting his first day at work. Not only did he get himself ready very quickly, but while Geng Zimo was getting dressed and washing up, he also reheated the leftover porridge and melon seed cakes from last night.

It wasn't until they sat at the dining table to eat breakfast that Geng Zimo had a look of disbelief on his face: "How come you woke up so early today?" He was actually more than ten minutes earlier than him.

You should know, Su Kun is the type of person who spins very fast when whipped, but won't budge without the whip. In the past when going to work, he was never seen being late. Five days a week, no matter how late he was busy at night, he always got up at the same time in the morning, so punctual that Geng Zimo never had to set an alarm clock.

But on weekends, and later when he lost his job, he never got up early, always sleeping until 9 or 10 o'clock before crawling out of bed in a daze.

Su Kun took out his cell phone from his pocket, swiped his fingers on the screen for a while, and then stretched it out in front of Geng Zimo's straight nose: "Look for yourself what day it is today."

Geng Zimo leaned his head back a little, moving away a bit, before he could see clearly on the perpetual calendar that under today's date was written in small letters: July 15th - Ghost Festival

"It's already the Ghost Festival?" Geng Zimo casually exclaimed, then nodded in understanding.

He almost immediately remembered that in the previous two years' Ghost Festivals, Su Kun also got up very early as if injected with chicken blood, even on days off. He would get ready and go out when the sun was bright but not scorching, taking a ride to the cemetery to visit his parents and relatives, burning paper money and talking to the elders one by one.

He didn't quite understand before why Su Kun always chose to go in the morning. According to his usual habits, sleeping until noon and going after lunch would be the same. At that time, Su Kun only vaguely said something like "afraid of traffic jams, taking a long time to go back and forth, and it would be getting dark by the time I return".

Now he finally understood, this guy's physique of attracting ghosts was too tragic.

Su Kun shook his head: "You've lost track of the days."

So to speak, when young people live together without elders around, it's not good in this regard. The traditional festivals, except for the few statutory holidays, are all forgotten. Every time they only remember by looking at the lunar calendar markings at the bottom of the calendar, and then stare at each other.

However, while it's fine to miss the others, Su Kun cannot miss his parents' death anniversaries and Ghost Festival, so he set reminder alarms for each one.

After finishing breakfast, the two went downstairs together. Geng Zimo walked towards the bus station, while Su Kun went around to the store closest to the corner of the row of shops outside the community gate, bought a few stacks of paper money and a few bundles of yellow paper, put them in an opaque bag and went to the platform across the street.

Geng Zimo was going in the direction of the city center, while he was going in the opposite direction to the suburbs - Mang Mountain Cemetery. His parents and ancestors had all left him early, lying there, sleeping for many years.

Because of his terrible physique, he basically didn't dare to go to places like cemeteries on normal days. Only during the Qingming Festival and Ghost Festival, when there were many people in the cemetery, would he go.

The burial plots in the cemetery were very small. Between every two dark green dwarf pines was a half-meter square marble slab, with photos embedded and names and birth and death years engraved. Below the marble was a cement-built trough, used to place flowers on normal days, and paper money could also be burned when there were few people.

Of course, during Qingming Festival when the whole mountain was full of people, it was naturally not possible, for fear that someone would leave before the fire was completely extinguished and burn down the mountain.

Su Kun arrived quite early. There weren't people everywhere on the mountain yet, but there were quite a few. Most were elderly people who originally lived in the near suburbs, carrying a few bags of tin foil ingots they had folded themselves, taking small steps and climbing the stairs up the mountain.

In the parking lot at the foot of the mountain, a fire truck was parked on standby at all times, and an ambulance with its rear door open.

When Su Kun went up the mountain, he could still bring the paper money up to burn. The cemetery management staff guarding the mountain entrance only reminded: be sure to extinguish the fire completely before coming down.

The cemetery had a good orientation, with wind but not strong. The paper money and new yellow paper burned quickly, and the ashes were not blown all over the sky.

Su Kun placed the flowers he bought at the foot of the mountain in front of each elder's grave, kowtowed, and then sat between his parents' two graves, chattering alone for a long time. He racked his brains to brag about all the good things that happened after Qingming Festival, typically reporting only the good news and not the bad.

Only at the end, Su Kun, who had already stood up, patted the dust on his pants and said, "I've been haunted by a little ghost recently. The first day I almost lost my life, and you two didn't come to help... But these past two days, it seems to like me more. I think it has given up the idea of trying to kill me. Mom and Dad, you must bless that it doesn't change its mind, otherwise if I go down to accompany you, there will be no one in our family to burn paper money in the future. What will we spend?"

A gust of wind suddenly rose from the ground, blowing on him, just like when he was a child and said something ominous, his parents would pat him on the buttocks, not affectionately or heavily.

He smiled and said, "But although that little ghost died quite miserably, I increasingly feel that it shouldn't be someone who committed all kinds of evil. Except for strangling my neck without explanation on the first day and not letting me go... Oh, and secretly touching my jade in the middle of the night without consent, it's still quite reasonable."=_=

"Sometimes when I see the blood on its face and the rags it wears, I feel quite sorry for it... Although it's still quite scary to see it in the middle of the night, with this piece of jade, my life should still be safe, don't worry."

He bent down to tidy up the flowers that had been blown a bit messy by the wind, put the lighter back in his satchel, and finally looked at the photos on the two tombstones, saying, "I'm leaving first. There are too few people on your birthdays, so I won't come. I'll burn some at that bridge in the old district. The old house may be demolished by then, don't forget the way."

There were more and more people on the mountain. After confirming that there was not even a spark left in front of the several tombstones, Su Kun went down the mountain and took a ride back to the city.

Considering that there was no more stock of toilet paper and the like at home, the vinegar bottle was also running low, and the stock in the refrigerator was empty, Su Kun went to the supermarket one stop before Guanyang New Town, planning to buy some daily necessities to bring back, and buy some vegetables at the same time.

This shopping trip took quite some time. By the time he was ready to go home with his bags, it was long past lunchtime.

Su Kun shifted the bags to one hand and took out his phone from his pocket to check the time, while pushing open the transparent door curtain at the supermarket exit and walking out. Just as he lowered his head to put the phone back in his bag, he happened to brush past a short figure.

Su Kun vaguely heard her muttering, "Ah, finally a day off today, should I..." He didn't catch the second half of the sentence as the figure had already walked away.

That light, airy voice was memorable after hearing it once, unforgettable after hearing it twice, and this was already the third time. Su Kun almost reflexively shuddered upon hearing it - it was that short old lady again!

He abruptly turned his head, but only saw the old lady's back as she walked in the opposite direction. She was still wearing wide-leg pants, the hems almost dragging on the ground, covering her shoes. The drooping fabric fluttered slightly in the wind.

That fluttering made it seem like she was taking quick steps, as if she was trotting forward with small, rapid strides. Her speed was much faster than Su Kun's large strides.

In just a moment of hesitation, she had already reached the entrance of an old residential area ahead, turned a corner, and disappeared from sight.

The more times Su Kun encountered this old lady, the more he felt something was off about her. Whether it was her mental state or something else...

Just the places she appeared were very strange -

The first time Su Kun ran into her was around 7 or 8 pm, in that short alley by the entrance of Guanyang New Town. Elderly people out and about at that time wouldn't venture too far from home, so if she wasn't a ghost, she should be someone living nearby.

But the second time he encountered her was on a bus returning from the old district, six or seven stops away from Guanyang New Town, in a somewhat remote residential area. At that time, dark clouds were rolling in and it looked like it was about to pour, and it was also almost evening. Normal people should also be hurrying home, but she was leisurely strolling into that residential area.

This time, on a bus going in the opposite direction from last time, one stop away from Guanyang New Town, this little old lady was once again tottering into an old residential area.

Damn, where on earth does she live?! These three places are not close to each other at all!

Su Kun felt that this old lady was definitely going to become an enigmatic existence in his life, even more profound than childhood shadows. Encountering her three times in four days! Do you think you're a traffic light, seeing you every time I go out?

Almost instinctively, he once again thought of the old lady as not being human. The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed, giving him goosebumps and cold sweat in the bright afternoon sun.

But... as he got on the bus back to Guanyang New Town, Su Kun became doubtful again... Apart from the first time being at night, the other two times were in broad daylight! Can ghosts come out during the day??

This question troubled him for almost the entire journey, and he nearly forgot to get off and missed his stop. It was already past two o'clock when he got home. He didn't feel hungry, his mind still filled with the lingering image of the old lady.

He sorted and put away the large amount of items bought from the supermarket. Su Kun whipped up a simple fried rice in the kitchen for lunch. After taking a shower, he felt refreshed all over. Entering the bedroom and enjoying the cool air conditioning, he finally put the old lady aside for the moment as he opened his computer.

Bright sunlight poured in through the window, falling in large swaths on the desk and bed. That little coffin lay quietly in the shadows of the bedside table, untouched by the sunlight.

Su Kun stared at the coffin lid, lost in thought... In such a small shoebox-sized space, wouldn't it feel stuffy being cooped up inside all day? Even if the little ghost was small, it could probably only turn over at most inside, wouldn't it get numb lying down for a long time?

Their floor wasn't high. From where he sat, he could see through the window that under the old building diagonally in front, an elderly person who had difficulty going out was squatting on the ground, slowly burning yellow paper money. The pale smoke mixed with fluttering ashes from the paper money, creating a hazy scene.

Su Kun watched the old person's back for a while, then looked at the little coffin. Somehow, he felt a strange sensation in his heart.

It wasn't quite sadness, just a faint sense of regret on behalf of that little ghost, as someone who merely knew of him.

The little ghost's words echoed in his mind again, the hoarseness revealing not only hatred, but also a deep sorrow: Return the lives of the 179 members of my Gu family!

If not a single living person remained, would anyone remember to burn a stack of paper money for them on a day like this?