The phone rang.

I didn't pick it up, and I didn't really want to pick it up, although I wasn't sleeping, just staring at the ceiling in a daze. My phone has only rang twice since I got home. The first time was when the fried ghost called the day before yesterday, and he just found out that I was back, so he called and asked if I wanted to go to his house to play games. I was in a bad mood, so I didn't go. Maybe he called this time, too, but I still don't really want to go out and meet people.

The phone rang and I continued to be in a daze.

Five minutes later, there was the sound of footsteps in the stairwell, followed by a knock on the door.

"What a victory! Your master called me and asked why didn't you answer his phone? "Mother's voice came from outside the door. She's been worried about me lately because I often don't want to go downstairs to eat, and I don't get two meals a day. In order to get me to eat more, she uncharacteristically bought a large bag of hungry snacks and drinks and put them in my room.

"You better call your master back!" Seeing that I didn't answer, my mother shouted outside the door, "I have to go downstairs to see the store!" ”

I had no choice but to agree: "Oh......"

Mom went downstairs again. Reluctantly, I picked up my phone and called my master back.

"Hello? A small victory? ”

"It's me, Master."

"When did you come back?"

"Uh, ten days ago......"

"It's been so long since you've been back, why don't you give me a call?"

“......”

In the past few days, I have been sitting in my room thinking about my unlucky things, and I have indeed forgotten about this stubble. I had no choice but to excuse myself and say, "I ...... I just came back from out of town, and I'm quite tired, so I've been sleeping at home for the past few days. ”

"Have you slept enough now?"

"Uh, enough sleep......"

"When you get enough sleep, come to me to help, there is a ghost market tonight!"

"Oh, is it July 15 today?"

"Today is July 13th! Fifteen is the day after tomorrow! Master's tone was a little impatient, "What's the matter with you?" I forgot about the days I lived! ”

I just remembered that it was the same at this time of year, when the ghost market was open for three nights from July 13 to July 15. The Halloween Festival on July 15 can be regarded as a carnival in the underworld! During these three nights, not only the ghosts around the mass grave will come to patronize the ghost market, but also the wandering ghosts and wild ghosts from the nearby ten miles and eight towns will gather to form a large ghost market, just like the market in the mortal world a year ago.

Since it's an annual ghost market, of course, it's not just these small vendors that we used to live in to do business. Many wandering merchants from the underworld will also come to join in the fun, and many strange things that are not usually seen will also appear in a pile. So, this time of year is also the best time for our ghost market business.

"Got it, I'll be over in a moment." I said yes and hung up. I've been in my room for the past ten days, and I'm really bored, and I even cry on my pillow! I looked at the pillowcase that had been smeared with layers of tears into an abstract painting, and I felt ashamed myself. Well, then go ahead, and go out for a walk!

I slowly got up and dressed, washed my face again, grabbed a pack of cookies from the snack pile, and went downstairs as I ate. Dad went out on a motorcycle to solicit customers to earn money, and he hasn't come back yet, while Mom is busy greeting diners. It's already six o'clock in the afternoon, and there are quite a few people coming to eat. When my mother saw that I was going out, she told me to eat dinner first before leaving. I shook the biscuit bag at her and motioned for me to eat it.

I walked leisurely to Paiwei Village and walked outside the small courtyard of Master's house. The walls of the small courtyard were simply piled up with stones, and over the years, they had already been covered with moss. I haven't been here for more than a month, and seeing such a broken wall suddenly makes me feel intimate. I pushed open the door and saw that Master was already busy opening it, and the yard was full of all kinds of ingredients, and if I didn't come, I guess he wouldn't be able to finish it alone.

"Hurry up and change your clothes and string up those geckos and toads!"

Master didn't say a word of nonsense to me, and urged me to work as soon as we met. I reflexively agreed, went to change my clothes, put on my bib, sat down and cut the toad with a knife to remove the dirt, washed it and skewered it with a skewer.

I'm not at home, and Master doesn't seem to bother to make new dishes, which are still the same as before. Even the "toothless in the world", "sweet and sour" and all kinds of zongzi that I tossed out by myself behind me did not prepare. It seems that my master's current work motivation is not necessarily much higher than mine.

The master and apprentice worked with their heads down, without any communication, and everything was as tacit as before. I put the five kinds of poisons and rice in a large pot and simmered over low heat, while the master was steaming the mosquitoes. In the end, there were only a few dead snakes left on the ground, and the master simply chopped off the snake's head before he could skin it. These snakes were relatively fat, and it was a bit difficult to peel them alone, so Master and I pulled one head and cooperated.

"Did you quit your job there?" It was only then that Master took the time to ask me about this.

"Well, it's gone." I replied.

"Why didn't you do it?"

"It's boring!"

"Then will you go back to your home house to find a job?"

"No return!"

The neighboring county is also my sad place, what are you going back for? Actually, I don't necessarily have any development in this county, but I just have nowhere to go for the time being.

"What about academics? Are you still ready for your senior year of high school next semester? ”

"It's gone!"

"Not up? So what are your plans? ”

"No plans!"

Master stopped asking, and I don't know if it was my negative attitude that made him unhappy. The master and apprentice continued to peel the snake's skin one end at a time, with a clear division of labor, and soon one was peeled, and then the master grabbed the other.

"Are you out of love?"

Master suddenly asked again. I looked at him in amazement, it didn't look like the kind of question that might come out of his mouth.

"You know that?" I asked rhetorically.

"Hey, hey!" Master smiled rarely, and it was still the kind of teasing smile, "Master is not a real antique, I won't be able to see your current performance?" ”

I'm speechless. I never told my master about my girlfriend. Even my parents always thought that I was just worried about being fired because I went to work, and they didn't ask me about my relationship problems. But Master, a bad old man, just saw it!

"Don't worry! I won't tell your parents. Master Lao Shen said on the ground, "Although I don't approve of your early love, I won't object to it either." After all, you're almost 18 years old soon. This kind of thing is a necessary stage in life! ”

I feel a little embarrassed, since when did my master become my emotional counselor? I sighed, "Alas...... Master, whether you approve or oppose it, it doesn't make sense now! She's been kidnapped by my best iron buddy! ”

"Then you can find another one!" Master still seems to be interested in this topic.

I smiled wryly, and I didn't know how to explain it to him, this kind of thing was purely a matter of personal feelings, and I was not used to sharing it with others, especially with my master, who was almost seventy years old. However, I still told him about my experience of working in a textile factory in a neighboring county, and asked him if I had done something wrong to be treated like this.

After hearing this, the master shook his head and said, "You didn't do anything wrong, and their reaction to you like this can be regarded as a normal reaction, no wonder they." ”

I was puzzled and asked him why he said that.

Master said, "When I took you as an apprentice, I already told your parents that you were born with such a physique, and you are destined to live an ordinary life in this life. If I hadn't taken you back then, you might have died young. If I take you, you will have to live between man and ghost, just like me. ”

The master pointed to himself, and then to the snakes, insects, rats, and scorpions that were piled up all over the courtyard, and said, "Look at these things." If a normal person suddenly pushes the door in now, will he be frightened? So will he talk nonsense everywhere when he is frightened, or simply call the police? In that case, once my landlord finds out, he will definitely come and evict me and not rent it to me! ”

"What we have become accustomed to is a terrible thing in their eyes. In this world, the vast majority of people still can't accept the existence of such a thing as a 'ghost', and they can't accept people like us who can deal directly with 'ghosts'! ”

"The people in the textile mill drove you away, not because they hated you, but simply because they were afraid of you. They are only afraid of you because they don't understand you. People like us are really hard to understand and accept. So, young people, you have to slowly accept this reality from now on, you know? ”

I was even more silent and continued to smile wryly. Although Master's remarks have solved many of my doubts, they have not helped my negative state of mind at the moment, but are more like a basin of cold water poured over my head, calming me down and extinguishing my remaining hope. Maybe my master is like me in a few decades, lonely and old, selling supper in a mass grave for the rest of my life.

"Of course, young people should not be so pessimistic, the days to come are still long!" Seeing that I didn't speak, Master came to comfort me again, "I just said that you can't live an ordinary life, but maybe your life will be much more exciting than that of ordinary people?" ”

I couldn't even smile bitterly at this time, I just shook my head, indifferent to Master's statement. This is obviously fooling me, right? Wonderful? I really don't see how wonderful this life can be!