Fortune 010: Daily Life

The next day, Nan Shi went to work with his left hand aching terribly.

Though he had fainted, it did nothing to prevent his senior brother from entering his dreams to catch him for an exam.

After being shaken by Chi You’s world-defying act of altering fate, how could Nan Shi still remember anything of the “I Ching”? When he met his senior brother in the dream, he assumed it was just any ordinary dream, slung his arm around Chi You’s shoulder, gave a thumbs up, and blurted out, “Bro, you’re really something else—like the mother cow’s mother opening the door for the calf—badass down to the bones!”

……

So sad.

Outside, the drizzling rain continued. Behind him, Qing Lan pursed her lips in a smile, opened her thirty-six ribbed purple bamboo umbrella, and held it above Nan Shi’s head. “Young master, let me escort you.”

“Thank you.” Nan Shi thanked her, thinking nothing of it. Only after getting in the car did he realize Qing Lan had followed him in to sit in the passenger seat—he mainly noticed the hem of her dress. “…Qing Lan, why did you follow me in?”

Ever since yesterday, Nan Shi seemed even more timid. Today, he hardly even dared look his family in the face.

“Mountain Master instructed me, saying you might have some inconvenience today, so I am to accompany you to work,” Qing Lan said, smoothing the hem of her skirt and rather awkwardly fastening her seatbelt. “I hear if I don’t wear this, the butler deducts your allowance? I’ve read the traffic laws.”

Traffic laws, really.

It seemed even fierce spirits kept up with the times.

“…You don’t have to. Senior Brother didn’t hit all that hard, I’m just being cautious… Isn’t it bad for you all to appear in broad daylight? Go back, don’t get hurt,” Nan Shi said, cautiously glancing at Qing Lan in the rearview mirror.

Qing Lan smiled all the more gently. “Thank you for your concern, young master. In this kind of rainy weather, it’s no trouble. And since I have some cultivation, even under the blazing sun, an umbrella is sufficient.”

“Oh… Alright then.” Nan Shi didn’t argue. Since his senior brother had given the order, there was no moving those at home anyhow.

The pain of being at the bottom of the food chain—who could understand?

As the car started, Qing Lan gazed out in curious wonder, praising, “No wonder young master dislikes carriages—automobiles really are far smoother and more comfortable.”

Though it was raining, at least it was clearly daytime today. Perhaps because they’d left the old house, Nan Shi felt much more relaxed—Qing Lan appeared far less ghostly, at most like a pale classical beauty.

After running this through his mind a few times, Nan Shi felt she wasn’t so frightening anymore, and his mood improved.

Maybe he’d also grown used to their presence over time and didn’t fear his family so much. It was just in the old house that his brain kept reminding him of their otherworldly nature; now that suggestion was gone, he felt far better.

Nan Shi said with a casual smile, “Isn’t that right? My senior brother’s just an old fogy…”

He caught himself mid-sentence, realizing his slip, and changed topics neatly: “Besides, keeping horses is so much trouble. You have to feed them grain and hay, but a car just needs gasoline, and that’s it—no need to worry about anything else.”

Qing Lan pretended not to hear Nan Shi disparage Chi You and simply responded, “Young master is right. When we return home, I’ll ask Sister Qing He to try it as well.”

“Sure,” Nan Shi agreed readily, “I’ll give you the car keys when we get home… Wait, you know how to drive, right?”

“Please rest assured, young master, I would never let your vehicle come to harm.”

Nan Shi nodded, but his mind wandered—did ghosts need a driver’s license now? Was there a ghost driving school? Did ghosts serve as instructors? How would the test go? What if it was a sunny day?

Surely some instructors have passed on by now? Maybe there was no need to worry about the school—just his senior brother…

He pressed his lips together, trying not to let the amusement show too much—he could already imagine his senior brother learning to drive, with the seasoned instructor scowling and swearing beside him, cigarette dangling: “Are you trying to kill me again?” “See that guy up ahead? Step on it—run him over! No? Then why didn’t you hit the brakes?!”

Pure joy.

Before long, they arrived at the parking lot. Nan Shi pulled out an automatic umbrella from the car, preferring to use it himself so as not to draw attention. He absolutely didn’t want to be besieged by gossipy neighbors with questions like “Is that your girlfriend?”

If others couldn’t see Qing Lan, that’d be even scarier—a floating umbrella! He’d make headlines on the evening news for sure.

They made their way through alleys and streets. Ahead, Nan Shi saw an old woman selling incense and joss paper. He supposed it was nearly the New Year, which explained why she was out. At first, he meant to just walk by, but for some reason, he stopped and bent to ask, “Granny, how much for the ingots?”

The old woman squinted up at him. “Tinfoil is twenty-five a dozen. Pre-folded gold ingots: three hundred for forty-five.”

Nan Shi considered, then bought five dozen pre-folded gold ingots, as well as incense and candles, and took Qing Lan to the shop.

Qing Lan, curious, asked, “Young master, what are you buying these for?”

Nan Shi answered vaguely, half-joking, “It’s almost New Year. I’ll burn some at home.”

His parents had passed away early; his grandmother now lived in the neighboring province’s countryside. The old woman claimed that, at her age, she disliked city living, preferring to chat with old friends. Since Nan Shi’s family once had some savings and his grandmother had a pension, life in the village was comfortable.

He hadn’t dared to visit her this year—since meeting Chi You, his odds of running into “good brothers” had shot up. In S City, he was under his senior brother’s protection, but if something happened in the neighboring province, help might not arrive in time.

A man ought to know his own limits.

Once at the shop, Qing Lan sensibly went to clean. Nan Shi saw that the rain had stopped, so he took a brass basin out to the back door, drew a chalk circle, and burned three bags of ingots for his parents and grandfather. On a whim, he drew another circle and mischievously burned a pack for Chi You.

The last bag he burned outside the circle—for the lonely wandering souls, as long as they saw the flames, they could take them.

A sudden draft came out of nowhere and sent the yellow ashes whirling and tumbling away.

With a bit of the fire, Nan Shi lit three sticks of incense, bowed to the sky, and murmured, “Please, Heavenly Father, don’t be angry. My senior brother is a bit outrageous, but since he’s already dead, don’t hold it against him… But I’m not like that—see how well-behaved I am? If you ever find a moment, toss a bite my way. I’ll make offerings every festival; please, Father, love me a little more!”

He didn’t know if Heaven was amused or angry, but at least he’d done his duty. He tossed the incense sticks into the basin, squatted nearby to wait for the fire to burn out, then got a dustpan to clean up, closed the door, and went back inside.

Qing Lan had already smelled the burning joss paper and hurried over to take over as soon as Nan Shi came in with his things.

Grinning, Nan Shi offered a quick apology. Still holding some incense, he fetched his lighter, lit them, and bowed to Qing Lan—silently offering them for her.

Qing Lan had no time to dodge and was immediately enveloped in the smoke. Angry, she stamped her foot. “Young master! How can you offer incense to a servant!”

Nan Shi waved her off. “No worries—waste not, want not! Please tidy up, I’m opening the shop.”

With that, he handed her the incense and walked off.

Left holding incense lit on her behalf, Qing Lan stood at a loss. Seeing Nan Shi opening the front door and afraid the incense smoke might fill the shop, she quickly set aside her cleaning tools, opened the back door, and went outside to wait for the incense to burn out before returning.

Being a rainy day, there wouldn’t be many tourists, so Nan Shi was in no hurry. Leisurely picking out a book, he settled into a seat. With Qing Lan present, there was nothing for him to do—he could just take it easy.

He even had the time to apply a hot compress patch to his left hand—which, though it looked fine, was red and swollen in his dreams from the beating.

His senior brother really didn’t hold back! Though he spared the skin, there was no missing the pain where it counted!

Not until the afternoon did Nan Shi make his first sale—a fifty-yuan bracelet. The customer had tried it on several times, haggled for ages, and finally bought it. Nan Shi superstitiously sensed the day’s business wouldn’t be good, and sure enough, no other sales came till evening.

As dusk fell, the rain worsened. Nan Shi, finding things dull, was just about to close early and go home when a rapping sounded at the glass door.

Tap-tap-tap-tap, four knocks.

Looking up, Nan Shi saw an elderly gentleman dressed quite respectably, hesitantly lingering at the entrance. Seeing Nan Shi return his gaze, the old man waved him over.

Nan Shi pointed to himself. The old gentleman nodded rapidly.

Nan Shi walked to the door but didn’t step outside. “Are you looking for me?”

“I knew you could see me!” the old gentleman whispered. “Say, would you be willing to deliver a message to my wife for me? I wouldn’t waste your effort; I’ve got some money tucked away, hidden under the bluestone outside our house!”

Since he was bored anyway, Nan Shi nodded. “What message? Where’s your wife? Name? Address? Phone number?”

“She’s the one you saw earlier today—you can tell her when you pass by on your way home.” The old man glanced nervously behind Nan Shi, clearly uneasy. “Her surname’s Li, given name Lihua. Tell her the wedding rings she put in my urn—I couldn’t bear to take something so valuable with me, so I sneaked it back to the far right drawer of the dresser. She’s old now, should stop folding joss money for me—I don’t need so much. Now that she’s elderly and needs medicine, her pension’s not much; let her sell my wedding ring for a few thousand yuan. I agree, I don’t blame her! Tell her to hurry and sell it for her medicine!”

He gave the address, and Nan Shi immediately recognized it—it was the old woman selling joss paper that morning.

“Rules might be different in the underworld, but that’s about all I have to say,” the old man added, satisfaction tinging his voice.

Nan Shi nodded, calling out, “Don’t leave yet. I’ll close up and walk you home.”

“Deal!”

---

Chi You toyed with a silver ingot between his fingers, asking, “Where’s the young master?”

Qing He, eyes downcast, replied, “Mountain Master, it isn’t yet time to finish work. The young master likely won’t return for some time.”

Chi You’s lips twitched—a show of either irritation or satisfaction, it was hard to say.

Just moments before, as he was preparing to sleep, a torrent of silver ingots, still warm with incense, had rained down upon his quilt.

Three hundred in total.

Their quality was excellent—each the size of a baby’s fist, solid through and through—accompanied by Nan Shi’s muttered chant: “For Senior Brother, for a car… for Senior Brother, for a car…”

Was this a gesture of goodwill, or simply an attempt to make trouble for him?