I sat up from the bed, quickly got down to put on my shoes, and hurried out of the room and out of the hotel.

It was already light, and there were already many pedestrians on the road.

I walked a few streets in one breath before I stopped, standing on the side of the road like duckweed not knowing where to go, and finally decided to go north.

Yangcheng has the saying that 'the west is rich and the east is expensive, and the south is poor and the north is poor'.

The Pearl River meanders southward, dividing Yangcheng into two to form four regions: east, west, north and south.

There is a Xiguan in the west, and most of the people who live there are rich businessmen.

There was a mountain to the east, and most of the people gathered were powerful people.

Most of the people living in the south are poor families living along the river.

To the north is the land of three religions and nine streams, where fish and dragons are mixed, and there are all kinds of people.

I headed all the way north, just in time for sunset to reach a village and town at the foot of Fei'e Ridge in the north.

The village and town were extended in all directions, and many people gathered.

The shops along the street sell coffins and shrouds, some do the leather and meat business, and there are pig slaughterers, grave builders, and so on.

There are also acrobatics along the way, as well as a lot of muttering people who sell dog skin plasters and fortune tellers.

The north is as poor as the south, so there is no shortage of beggars.

I was tired and hungry and found a corner to rest, and as soon as I sat down, a little beggar came up to me and asked if I was a new member of the beggar gang.

Before I could speak, he immediately warned me viciously about his territory.

I got up in silence and began to try to find a job on the street.

It's a crowded place, and it's never safe to sleep on the streets at night.

I was too skinny and only six years old for anyone to want me until I stepped into a shop.

The shop is divided into two floors, and the storefront on the first floor is connected to the entrance and exit facing the inside.

Above the entrance hangs a rolled-up bamboo curtain, behind which is the kitchen and bathroom and the staircase leading to the second floor.

Unlike ordinary stores that divide the store into two with a long counter and only place the products on and inside the counter, the shelves of this store are unobstructed on all four sides of the wall, only a short counter is set up in the corner, and the position against the wall in the counter is empty.

It was not yet dark, a kerosene lamp had been lit on the counter, and a hunched old lady with little feet was sitting on a small pony outside the counter folding ingots.

As I stepped through the door, she looked up at me.

Her left eye was cloudy and her right eye was white, her hair was white and sparse, tied into a small bun at the back of her head, and her face was furrowed.

"Excuse me, do you want a helper here? "I got straight to the point.

She looked at me silently, and continued to answer.

In this case, I looked at her for a minute or so, then turned and left.

"Help. She spoke suddenly, in a low voice.

I hurriedly returned to her and quickly picked up the ingots on the ground for her.

She is very reticent, but the food is very good.

After we had dinner together and closed the door, she turned the kerosene lamp on the counter brighter and told me to stay at the counter until she got up at dawn.

The counter was taller than me, and I needed to stand on the bench to get my head out of the counter.

On the floor inside the counter, a three-legged brazier is placed.

The three legs are very high, and the brazier is propped up straight to almost level with the countertop.

"Kerosene lamps can't be extinguished. Don't go out to the counter. There are guests who like to come in the evening, they don't like to be stared at or noisy. When a customer asks for a price for something good, if you can't read, take the price list and let them see it for themselves. You don't need to give change when they pay, and you need to burn the items the guests have chosen in the brazier after you collect the money. If you can hold out until dawn, you can stay for a long time in the future, in addition to taking care of food and shelter, there is also a reward. Her words made my scalp tingle.

The so-called guests are undoubtedly ghosts.

"They won't hurt you easily, as long as you don't provoke them. If you have anything to do, don't disturb my rest. When she said this, she lowered the bamboo curtain and went up the stairs to the second floor.

As she entered the room on the second floor, she closed the door, and the store was silent.

The dim light stretched my shadow so long that it could only illuminate a small area outside the counter.

I stayed at the counter, and I deeply felt that I had left the old man surnamed Gu and came here, and I had just come down from the knife mountain and entered the sea of fire again.

However, I would rather choose this place than stay by the side of the old man surnamed Gu.

After all, I have already seen ghosts in the big mansion, and the old man surnamed Gu looks much more than a ghost.

Just after midnight, the flame of the kerosene lamp suddenly turned green and swayed.

I hurriedly used my hands to protect the flames when a guest arrived.

The guest was dressed in a red dress and was wet with a black umbrella, and his straight black hair completely hid his face.

She was barefoot, her toes dangling vertically from the ground.

I glanced at her, and immediately lowered my eyes and focused only on her.

When she entered the store, she floated to the shelves where the shrouds were placed and began to try them on one by one.

She tried to the end, and left again without buying a single one.

I was relieved when she re-entered the store, this time straight up to me and asked if I could take credit.

Her questions were beyond my answer.

"I don't know. The mother-in-law didn't say anything. "I can only answer truthfully.

"Are you afraid I won't be able to pay it back?" she was suddenly excited, and her long hair suddenly rose to the back of her head, revealing a face that was swollen and festered by blisters.

"It's not. I can take credit. I hurriedly reassured.

She snorted coldly and floated to the place where the shroud was placed, picked out one and put it on her body, and then returned to the counter to give me an IOU.

On the counter, except for a kerosene lamp, there were only matches and price lists, as well as abacus yellow paper and pencils.

I shoved the pencil and yellow paper in front of her.

She scribbled the IOU and insisted that I sign it.

I confessed that I hadn't been to school and couldn't write, so she took out a box of ink from her pocket and asked me to put a handprint on it.

Although I was still young at the time, I felt that something was wrong, the IOU was written in arrears, and there should be no creditor who had to sign and press his fingerprint.

I was hesitating when another guest arrived.

The next should be a family of three, two middle-aged men and women with a two or three-year-old girl.

"Hey, Tofu Ju, find your son's daughter-in-law again! You actually found Granny Huang's shop, and you are not afraid that Granny Huang will break your neck. As soon as the middle-aged man entered the store, he leaned over to the counter and glanced at the IOU, smacking his tongue repeatedly.

I realized why the drowned ghost had to ask me to sign or put my handprints, and I felt angry.

At this time, the kerosene lamp went out abruptly and without warning in a windless environment.

The new family of three and the drowning ghost let out exclamations at the same time, and I hurriedly hugged my head and squatted down.

I crouched down on the bench, and the exclamations had stopped abruptly, as short and neat as if someone had suddenly choked me at the same time.

Or are the ghosts in the store scattered at the same time?

There was no more movement in the store, so silent that only the sound of my heartbeat remained.

My mother-in-law had only said that kerosene lamps could not be extinguished, but she did not tell me what serious consequences would happen if kerosene lamps were extinguished.

My mother-in-law also said before that I can't disturb her rest if I have nothing to do.

I didn't know what to do, so I couldn't do anything but get off the bench in the dark and shrank into the corner of the counter with my hands and feet.