Grocery Store No.514

Gūlū lū, gūlū lū

The shop was very quiet, except for the sound of the boiling water from the egg cooker. Knowing that Ling Hua’an’s eyes could not see, Jiang Chengyan consciously stood aside and watched. Until ‘ding’ sounded, Jiang Chengyan realized that there was no need to watch at all.

Ling Hua’an fumbled to find a small plate before handing it to Jiang Chengyan then  said, “take out the egg and peel off the shell.”

Jiang Chengyan obediently did as he was told, and soon both eggs were peeled, “Okay, here is it.”

Ling Hua’an took out a clean handkerchief, “wrap the eggs and apply them to your face.”

Jiang Chengyan was stunned. He said with a smile, “don’t bother, it’s all right. ”

“He lied. If he was okay, how could he still be wearing a mask.”

Ling Hua’an eyes fixed on Jiang Chengyan, “will you do it yourself or should I help you?”

Jiang Chengyan hurriedly took the handkerchief and said, “I’ll do it myself, I won’t bother you.”

Ling Hua’an fumbled to the shelf and took a box of instant noodles. He opened it, put another egg in it, added seasonings and boiling water, and sealed it with a fork. After that, he pushed it to Jiang Chengyan and said, “Eat less spicy. It’s fire¹.”

Jiang Chengyan was moved when he looked at the braised beef noodles in front of him. He had only ever bought spicy beef noodles before. He knew Ling Hua’an could not see, but he did not expect him to know.

“Thank you.”

“I already sterilized that handkerchief, the other egg can still be eaten after you finish applying it. Two eggs and a bowl of noodles should be enough for you. Go back home and drink a glass of milk before going to bed.”

“Okay.” Jiang Chengyan couldn’t help but raise the corner of his mouth.

“Laoban, this man giggled when he looked at you, I bet he doesn’t have good  intentions towards you.” Wang Lei couldn’t help but mutter in Ling Hua’an’s ear.

Ling Hua’an did not say a word, he fumbled to pick up his phone, put on the headphones, and listened to the music. Jiang Chengyan also did not speak again.

He moved a stool, sat in front of the cash register, and ate the instant noodles. After eating and drinking, Jiang Chengyan was about to leave, when  heard Ling Hua’an say, “Captain Jiang, is the recent case difficult to handle?”

Jiang Chengyan stepped back after hearing the words, and said with some difficulty, “Laoban, the police station has regulations that no information about the case can be leaked.”

“My name is Ling Hua’an.”

“Ah? Oh, Ling Laoban.” Jiang Chengyan felt a little nervous for some reason.

“I’m asking because I want to ask a favor of Captain Jiang.”

When he heard that it had nothing to do with the case, Jiang Chengyan couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “What is it? just say it, I will definitely help if I can.”

“Some time ago, I was discussing business with a gallery owner. He owed me a lot of money, but I couldn’t find him in the past few days. I suspected that he wanted to renege on the debt, so I thought that Captain Jiang would find time to help me check.”

“Gallery owner? Which gallery? What is his name?” Jiang Chengyan got angry when he heard that someone was plotting against Ling Hua’an.

“South Zhonghua Road No. 73 – Changping Gallery, the owner is Jiang Changping.”

“It’s easy to handle when you have the name and address. I will run in person tomorrow.”

Ling Hua’an raised an eyebrow and said, “Captain Jiang, don’t you ask me if I have an IOU²? ”

Jiang Chengyan was stunned. He almost subconsciously chose to believe in Ling Hua’an, which was completely contrary to his usual professional habits. He asked, “does Ling Laoban have an IOU?”

“Yes.” Ling Hua’an took out the IOU signed by the headless ghost from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Chengyan.

Jiang Chengyan took the IOU and looked at it, and asked hesitantly, “Are you sure the signature and fingerprint below are Jiang Changping?”

“My friend was also present at the time. After seeing the ID card and confirming it was Jiang Changping himself. The fingerprints are also from me holding his hand.”

The fingerprint actually belonged to Ling Hua’an.

Jiang Chengyan smiled with relief and said, “then I will take this IOU for time being. If there’s any news, I will return it to you.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It’s Serve the People.³” Jiang Chengyan carefully put the IOU note into his pocket. When he saw that Ling Hua’an was no longer speaking, he hesitated for a moment and said, “That, if there’s nothing else I’ll go back first.”

Ling Hua’an took his phone out and said, “Captain Jiang, leave your number.”

“188****9032.”

“What about the name?” Ling Hua’an asked naturally.

“Jiang Chengyan. Jiang of the river, Cheng of bearing, and Yan of color. Remove the Yan beside the words on the page⁴.” Jiang Chengyan’s answer naturally.

To Jiang Chengyan’s surprise, although Ling Hua’an could not see clearly, he could accurately enter his name. Looking at the number in front of the name, he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “are those numbers a code?”

“Yes, I can’t see it, so the number can be dialed out accurately.”

“So, what happened to your eyes? is there any hope for treatment?”

“It can’t be cured.”

“Sorry…”

“I’m used to it.” Ling Hua’an put away the phone and said, “Captain Jiang, it’s getting late, go back to rest early.”

“Okay, then I’ll go first. If I hear anything tomorrow, I’ll …… By the way, I don’t have your number yet.”

“I will send you a message later.”

“Okay.” Jiang Chengyan was inexplicably excited, and said, “well… although the opposite side is the police station, most people don’t have the courage to do anything illegal and criminal here. But if you meet someone who doesn’t have a good eye⁵, you must not resist, save your life first, don’t say anything. If you encounter something that you can’t solve by yourself, give me a call at any time, and I will be there when I have time. “

“Thank you, I will trouble the  Captain Jiang to take care of it from now on.” Ling Hua’an was not polite at all.

“No trouble, you should, the police and the people are families”

Although Jiang Chengyan often comes over to buy things, whenever he tried to talk to Ling Hua’an, he always acted cold which made the two only exchange a few words. But today, Ling Hua’an sudden change made Jiang Chengyan a little flattered and in a happy mood. 

Seeing Ling Hua’an fall silent, Jiang Chengyan said, “Then I’ll leave first, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

The store door was pushed open then closed again, and Ling Hua’an looked out the glass window in the same darkness.

“Laoban, this man went out and kept looking at you, just now almost hit the bus stop sign. I dare to guarantee that he must have an intention for you.” Wang Lei began to chatter in Ling Hua’an’s ear again.

Ling Hua’an said indifferently, “Wang Lei, how long do you have before you can go to reincarnation?”

“There are 63 days left.” Wang Lei answered honestly.

If it was a normal case, immediately after death there will be a messenger who will lead them to go to the underworld to reincarnate. But if people die unnaturally and hold resentment,  they will become resentful ghosts. The Underworld will also take them away but they can’t reincarnate. They will be taken to a place called Huāng⁶ to purify their grievances. The process is very painful and takes ninety-nine eighty-one days. If the process is not successful, it can only stay there forever.

Of course, there is another way which is to find the spirit in the Yang world⁷, help them to find out the truth, resolve the grievances in their hearts, to obtain the opportunity to reincarnate.  In this way, they not only avoid the pain of taking away grievances but also find out the truth about their death. It is the best way to achieve the best of both worlds.

They only have only eighty-one days, and if the resentment cannot be resolved within eighty-one days, a Yin⁸ will appear and take it to the Huāng⁶.

If they want to get help from Spirit Guide⁹, they have to pay enough commission otherwise they won’t bother to help. These rules have been passed down from generation to generation. To become a Spirit Guide also has to pay some price. And Li Hua’an price is his eyes.

“Wang Lei, do you still have unfulfilled wishes?”

Ling Hua’an looked at Wang Lei, a skinny boy who had only just reached adulthood before he died. He accidentally witnessed a murder case and get killed by the murderer. After he was killed, he had been wandering around the crime scene and was bumped into by Ling Hua’an who was passing by. Because Wang Lei was an orphan before his death and could not afford the commission, Ling Hua’an asked him to help him in the supermarket and be his eyes until his reincarnation time.

Wang Lei touched his head and said somewhat hesitantly, “Actually, I don’t have any wishes. I just want to go to the beach, but I haven’t been able to…”

Ling Hua’an nodded and said, “I’ll take you there before you leave.”

Wang Lei’s eyes lit up and said emotionally, “Laoban, to meet you in this life is the luckiest thing for me, thank you!”

Ling Hua’an shook his head, pulled out his phone then typed a text message to send it to Jiang Chengyan, “Ling Hua’an.”

***

Jiang Chengyan just got into the car when he heard the sound of an incoming message. He opened his phone, looked at it, and couldn’t help but raise the corner of his mouth and he saved the number.

Jiang Chengyan hesitated for a while before replying, “Thank you for your noodles and eggs today.”

Jiang Chengyan waited nervously. Then he remembered that Ling Hua’an couldn’t see. He threw his phone aside in annoyance, started the car, and left the police station slowly.

When he got home, another notification alert rang from his phone. However this time it wasn’t a text but a friend request to his SNS account followed by a voice message. 

“Let’s use voice messages in the future.”

“Okay. That… I just got home.”

“Take a hot bath, drink a glass of milk, and go to bed early.”

Jiang Chengyan was in a happy mood as if all his exhaustion had been swept away. He charged his mobile phone, took his changed clothes to the bathroom, and comfortably took a hot bath, and a heated glass of milk. After drinking, he lay down in bed and fell asleep.

In fact, in the evening, Ling Hua’an received a phone call from Jiang Changping’s wife. He asked Ling Hua’an to give them time one more day because she can’t contact Jiang Changping for the time being. But Li Hua’an refused it directly. After all, he didn’t really want to hold a painting and calligraphy exhibition. The purpose of this trip was to determine the identity of the headless ghost, and Jiang Changping’s wife’s phone call just confirmed Jiang Changping’s disappearance which increased the possibility that the headless ghost might be Jiang Changping.

The reason why Ling Hua’an said that Jiang Changping owed him money was to remind Jiang Chengyan of the true identity of the headless corpse in the police station. This will not only help Jiang Chengyan get out of the predicament but also help him solve the case, which simply kills two birds with one stone.

~~~

The author has something to say:

Hahaha (?)? ω?) Hiahiahia, little ones, I’m the king, and I’m also the one who’s been the king!

🔔Cafe’s Memo 📝:

Hello, I’m here again. I get more more curious about the plot.

Captain Jiang seems like started to feel the butterfly haahaha

Anw, I’m trying to post this every two days!

Feel free to leave a comment if you guys find some typos or mistranslations. See ya.

1. The raw: 上火 (shànghuǒ),” which is also called “热气 (rèqì),” is a term that is derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). According to the theory of TCM, “上火(shànghuǒ)” is a symptom related to internal heat. TCM believes that the imbalance of yin and yang, and vigorous heat inside one’s body would lead to “上火 (shànghuǒ).” Here, the “火 (huǒ) internal heat” refers to some fever-like symptoms including red and swollen eyes, sore mouth and tongue, toothache, sore throat, etc ↺
2. IOU = bill/letter agreement. ↺
3. 为人民服务 – CCP political Slogan. ↺
4. Talking about how to write his name ↺
5. I kinda hard to find the right one. I guessed it was might mean a bad guy or someone with bad intentions. ↺
6. Huang – Wilderness/wasteland ↺
7. Yang World = Human Realm / Living World ↺
8. Yin = in the previous paragraph I choose the word messenger, but I thought it could be a grim reaper? ↺
9. The MTL showing Spirit Crosser or Spirit Guide, I choose the later ↺