Chapter 20 Centennial Yizhuang
I don’t know why, but the man’s attitude suddenly improved.
"My surname is Pan, but you can call me Fat Brother."
"Fat brother? Were you ever fat?"
"Yes, I had a strange disease at that time. I was as fat as a balloon. That friend cured me." The man smiled.
"There are no restaurants on this street. We all cook by ourselves. If you don't mind, you can eat something with me for lunch."
"Thank you so much. I'll pay for your meal."
"No, it's just a simple meal, not worth much money."
The fat brother walked into the cubicle at the back of the shop and started working. After a while, the smell of rice came.
I sat outside and waited patiently.
It's still a long time before dark, so it's good to have a place to spend time, not to mention, you can find out about the situation of Coffin Shop No. 44 from Fat Brother.
It's a small grocery store, the goods are miscellaneous but not cluttered, and they are organized in an orderly manner.
Fat Brother should be the youngest boss in this town.
Not long after, the fat brother came out with two plates of side dishes, another empty plate, and two bags of dried meat from the shelf, opened them and poured them into them.
"I usually eat alone and don't have much food. Xiao Li, just make do with something."
"It's already very good, thank you, Fat Brother."
How to quickly get closer to a stranger, eating together is definitely the best choice.
While eating and chatting, Fat Brother talked a lot.
"Fat brother, can you tell me what happened at Coffin Shop No. 44?"
"It's okay to tell you, but I hope you can do me a favor after hearing this." Fatty paused and put down his chopsticks.
I nodded happily: "Of course, what does Fat Brother need from me?"
"Don't be impatient. I'll tell you after I finish telling you about the coffin shop." Fat Brother waved his hand and took a sip of water to moisten his throat.
I also put down my chopsticks and gave him a cigarette.
He hesitated for a moment before taking it, and started pumping slightly unfamiliarly.
"I haven't smoked since I got married, but today I don't know why, but I just want to take a puff." Slowly exhaling the smoke, Fat Brother squinted his eyes and looked at the big house with white walls and black tiles outside the store.
"The coffin shop is a taboo here. No one dares to go near it, and no one is willing to talk about what happened there. Because anyone who has anything to do with that shop will have a bad end."
"I believe you have also noticed that the house in the coffin shop is not a modern building. It is an old house. It has been standing there since I can remember it, which may be more than a hundred years ago."
"I heard from the old man that the old house was originally a righteous village, which was a place specially used for parking corpses in ancient times. Later, the righteous village was useless and empty for decades. I don't know why it was bought and used as a coffin shop. ."
"The Yizhuang turned into a coffin shop, and they also kept coffins. It didn't seem inappropriate, but that's where the strange things started."
"The first owner of the coffin shop did a prosperous business in the first year and made a lot of money. At that time, many people on the street were envious of him."
"However, the next year, he suddenly went crazy and killed his wife and children! The body was hidden under the bed, and he hanged himself. He was not discovered until it stunk."
So cruel?
I shuddered.
"After that, I changed my boss two times. The business was good at the beginning, but not long after, they all hanged themselves in the coffin shop for no apparent reason."
"No one knows why. That coffin shop is so evil."
"Some old people said that Yizhuang was originally a shelter for lonely ghosts. If someone occupied their territory, they would definitely be in trouble. I just don't know why it is so miserable!"
"It can be said that every coffin shop owner has a bad end. It wasn't until the fourth year that a young man about your age came and took over the coffin shop again."
It seemed like this young man was a turning point.
I asked curiously: "Did something different happen to him?"
"Yes, he took over the coffin shop for more than a year. Not only did he not die, but he also lived a good life." Fatty took a deep breath of smoke rings and seemed to be lost in memories.
"His surname is Lin, and he is the friend I mentioned who treated me. In the year he was here, this street became alive, as if it was coming to life, unlike now, which is lifeless."
"Then where did he go after that?" The coffin shop had been closed, and it was obvious that the young man had left.
"I don't know, but suddenly one day he never appeared again. Our street became like this again. Everyone who could walk was gone, and only the old, weak, sick and disabled were left here waiting to die."
The fat brother shook his head and sighed, then smiled again.
"But I believe that one day he will come back, just like we are now, smoking and chatting together."
"Fat brother, if I guess correctly, the thing you want to ask me to help you with is related to him, right?"
Fat Brother paused, looked at me for a while, and then smiled: "You and he are really similar. If you can meet him one day, please give me a message and tell him that Fat Brother wants to meet him again." He drank once.”
"I don't even know him, how can you be sure that I can meet him?" I was very surprised.
"I don't know, it's just a feeling. I feel the same thing as him in you." Fat Brother's eyes were complicated, he said no more, stood up and put away the dishes.
I sat in his grocery store all afternoon, thinking about what he had said.
Time passed slowly and the sun set in the west.
The people in the town hurriedly closed their doors, and no one would spend the night here.
"If you want to enter the coffin shop, let me remind you, never open the red coffin." Fatty locked the door, left in a hurry and left.