Fortune 011: Delivering Messages

Because someone was still waiting outside, Nan Shi didn’t want to keep them too long. He didn’t even bother to change clothes; he grabbed an umbrella, stuffed his keys and phone into his pocket, and headed out the door. Qing Lan trailed after him, step for step, so closely that she startled the old gentleman into taking several steps back.

Seeing this, Nan Shi hurried to reassure the old man. “Don’t be alarmed, this is my… housekeeper. She won’t harm you.”

Only then did the old man’s expression ease a little. He glanced at Qing Lan, who, with her fierce air, was at least a century-old ghost if nothing else. Then he looked back at Nan Shi, and couldn’t help giving him a thumbs-up. “Boss, your housekeeper… is quite something.”

Nan Shi could only respond with an embarrassed smile. “Please, don’t call me ‘boss.’ My surname is Nan, and my given name is just ‘Shi.’ You can call me Nan Shi.”

“Mr. Nan!” The old man waved his hand. “I do know proper manners! It’s not polite to call you by name directly. Mr. Nan, shall we go now?”

“Of course, thank you for waiting.”

The old man was still a relatively new ghost, having passed away just a few years ago, so naturally, ordinary people couldn’t see him. Qing Lan deliberately refrained from revealing herself. So, although the three of them walked together, only Nan Shi’s shadow appeared on the ground.

Nan Shi originally intended to lead the old gentleman along the route he usually took home, but as they passed a narrow alley, the old man pointed to its entrance. “Let’s go this way. It’s a shortcut.”

Nan Shi honestly hadn’t known there was a shortcut here. He was a little directionally challenged and, having a vivid imagination, he’d never dared take unfamiliar lanes, even after six months of living here. But he nodded and followed the old man inside.

The old gentleman led Nan Shi through several twists and turns, cutting the usual travel time in half before they arrived near the parking lot.

He stopped in front of an aged doorway and pointed at the weathered wooden door. “Mr. Nan, it’s this house.”

Nan Shi stepped forward and knocked. Soon, there were sounds from inside, and someone asked, “Who is it?”

He tried to sound as natural as possible, intending to chat his way into the subject—after all, they were neighbors, always running into each other; he didn’t want rumors of his unusual abilities spreading up and down the street.

“Do you sell spirit money here?” Nan Shi replied. “I bought some from you this morning. My family says it’s quite good, so they asked me to come back for more.”

“Oh… wait a moment.” After quite a while, the door opened just a crack, revealing the old lady’s weathered eyes. She recognized Nan Shi and, seeing his familiar face, finally opened the door wider. “How much do you want?”

Nan Shi glanced at his phone. “Let me see… I have a lot of relatives. How many do you have?”

“About twenty packs or so.”

“I’ll take them all.” Nan Shi had only planned to buy a couple out of courtesy, but then he thought of how he, as a young master from a big family, usually had a house full of servants. According to old customs, he should hand out red envelopes at the New Year. Qing Lan had said the ingots here were excellent, so he decided to buy them all and hand them out at New Year.

—Actually, he could skip it, but money determines who gets to speak! He had to make sure that when he slipped up and his senior brother gossiped about him, no one would go tattling on him to his brother!

With money, even ghosts will do your bidding; with money, even more so. As the only living person in the family able to buy spirit money, surely he could outspend them!

And if that didn’t work, he’d just order ten thousand yuan’s worth of spirit ingots! If he couldn’t bludgeon them into submission, it could only mean he hadn’t spent enough!

The old lady didn’t invite him in. She nodded and went inside, emerging with a cardboard box. The box was unsealed, filled neatly with stack upon stack of paper ingots. She set the box down and indicated that Nan Shi should check the quantity, holding out a card with a QR code. “It’s best if you can pay cash.”

“I don’t have that much cash,” Nan Shi replied, shaking his head. Twenty packs of ingots came to nine hundred yuan. Who still carries that much cash nowadays?

A thought struck him. “Why don’t you come back with me? My shop is on the pedestrian street, just five minutes from here—do you know Nanchen Pavilion? We’ve been open almost a year.”

The old lady hesitated. She thought Nan Shi looked familiar, so she nodded. “Alright then, wait while I get my keys.”

As she went inside, Nan Shi tapped the sloped bluestone at her doorway with his toe. “Old gentleman, is it under here?”

The old man nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that’s right.”

Acknowledging him, Nan Shi crouched and tried to lift the uppermost bluestone. It was heavier than expected; he almost didn’t get it up in a single effort.

Sure enough, beneath the stone lay a plastic-wrapped object. Nan Shi didn’t touch it, but left it exposed. He called out, “Grandma, could you come here a moment?”

The old man became anxious. “Eh? Mr. Nan, what are you doing? That’s your agreed-upon reward…”

“I don’t need the money,” Nan Shi said quickly.

“Eh?” The old lady emerged, only to see Nan Shi had moved her step. “What are you doing?!”

Nan Shi looked up at her with a smile. “I noticed your step looked a bit loose and thought I’d fix it for you—just helping a neighbor. But as soon as I started, I saw something underneath. I figured it was yours and didn’t touch it.”

The bundle, wrapped in a plastic bag, was only the size of a baby’s fist. The bag was already torn, covered in dirt and dust, hardly the sort of thing someone as well-dressed as Nan Shi—still in his fine silk tunic—would hide there.

The old lady gave Nan Shi a long look. “Must be something of ours… Didn’t you say you’d fix the step for me? Just set it straight, that’s all.”

Nan Shi was taken aback—wait, wasn’t this off script? Wasn’t she supposed to take out the item and look at it?

“Aren’t you going to check what it is?”

“What’s there to check? Just some useless trinket my old man hid there,” the old lady said disdainfully, nudging it with her toe. “He loved spending money on this kind of cheap junk, stuffing it everywhere in the house. I’m tired of even looking at it.”

The old man, waiting anxiously nearby, could not accept this. Incensed, he shouted, “Old woman, what do you know! They’re all precious! And what do you mean you’re tired of looking? It’s that good-for-nothing son who stole them!”

Hearing this, Nan Shi casually picked up the item and pressed it into the old lady’s hand. “Please, take it. Sorry for meddling—these are mementos, after all; you should at least take a look.”

“…How did you know my old man passed away?” The old lady was now watching Nan Shi with a distinctly suspicious gaze.

Nan Shi: …Slipped up.

He forced a laugh. “Just a wild guess.”

She said nothing, probably thinking this young man had a wicked mouth, cursing people without knowing the situation. If she were in a worse mood, she might have given him a beating.

Nan Shi hurriedly said, “Let’s go—it’s getting late. We can settle up at my shop.”

He quickly replaced the stone, stacking everything back into place, and took hold of the box, waiting patiently.

The old lady nodded and followed Nan Shi back to his shop. Nan Shi prepared the cash, counted it twice on the money-counter, and handed it to her, then accompanied her home.

The whole way, Nan Shi tried to initiate conversation, but the old lady either grunted vaguely or ignored him altogether, leaving him at a loss for words.

It wasn’t a long walk; soon he saw her to the door. As she was about to close it, Nan Shi called quickly, “My ancestors are quite numerous. If it’s convenient, I’d like to order another five thousand yuan’s worth of ingots—same price as before.”

She considered a moment. “Five thousand is too many. There’s not enough time.”

“Then however many you can make, I’ll buy,” Nan Shi added. “Cash payment.”

“Alright,” she agreed, about to close the door, but Nan Shi put out a hand to stop it.

Nan Shi, out of ideas, decided to be blunt. “Someone asked me to pass you a message: there’s something in the right-hand drawer of your five-drawer chest, and the thing just now too—sell them if you need the money. See a doctor if you must, spend when you must, save only when it makes sense.”

“What do you mean? Who wants you to give me this message?”

The old man, now quite agitated, interrupted, “Mr. Nan, say it again! And that unfilial son—who needs him! I think we should just sign a donation agreement and give the house away, don’t leave that brat a single cent!”

The more he spoke, the more worked up he became, finally pounding his fist on the door so hard it thudded, his eyes blazing red.

Qing Lan, from the side, intervened with her paper umbrella. “Please, sir, calm yourself.”

The old lady was startled by the sudden outburst. She glanced at Nan Shi, who was thrown by the old man’s vehemence, and Nan Shi quickly added, “And another thing—he wants the house donated, not a single cent to that unfilial son.”

He hastened to explain himself, “I’m just the messenger—who sent the message, you should know in your heart. Better not to ask, I can’t say anymore. It’s late; I’ll take my leave now. Bring the folded ingots to Nanchen Pavilion when they’re ready.”

With that, Nan Shi made a hasty retreat, leaving behind a visibly bewildered old lady.

The old gentleman didn’t follow. Qing Lan, seeing how Nan Shi darted away like a thief, chuckled. “Young master, you’re doing a good deed—why do it as if you’ve done wrong?”

Nan Shi didn’t stop until he rounded the corner, panting a little. “…It’s my first time! I’m not used to it yet, but I’ll get the hang of it.”

No, to be precise, it felt rather like dying of social embarrassment.

Qing Lan shook her head. “Forgive me for overstepping, but you shouldn’t have agreed to take this on, young master.”

Nan Shi pouted. “What else could I do? The old man came right to my door… Forget it, next time I won’t accept jobs like this.”

Qing Lan said nothing. She raised the umbrella, shading Nan Shi’s head. “You left your umbrella behind—should we go back for it?”

“…” Nan Shi paused, sighed, and resignedly turned back to retrieve it.

---

That night, the old house was brightly lit.

Nan Shi had barely reached home when he was summoned to Chi You’s courtyard. He hadn’t sensed what was coming. As he entered, he saw his senior brother turning over a silver ingot in his hand, and even teased, “Well, look at this—where did senior brother get such a large silver ingot?”

“You don’t know?” Chi You countered, handing the ingot his way.

Nan Shi reached to take it, but grasped only air: “…?”

Wait, wasn’t this the one he’d burned for his senior brother earlier in the day?

Chi You smiled faintly. “Ah Nan, have you memorized your lessons for today? You promised last night that you’d know them by heart—”

Nan Shi leapt to his feet, bolting for the door in a flash. “I haven’t! Don’t make things up! We agreed—quizzes only once a week, and you already gave one yesterday! Next week! Senior brother, I’m leaving, see you tomorrow, goodnight!”

He had barely reached the door when the twin carved panels slammed shut.

Nan Shi spun around to see Chi You, poised elegantly, stirring incense with a silver pick. “Try running again?”

“Senior brother, can’t we talk it out? I was just burning you some spending money—why are you upset?”

“I’m not upset at all; I’m quite happy,” Chi You replied with a soft laugh. “But I do think it’s time I taught you a lesson… Once you’ve mastered it, you can divine for yourself before coming home, to see if tonight is a suitable night to return.”

“…”