Chapter 17: Encountering a Ghost at Midnight

Old Lady Luo quickly pushed Luo Xingci aside, wishing she could slap her to death. “Xingci, what are you looking for? Grandma will help you find it.” She had been so careful, but she never thought she would be this kind of person. She really was like that woman, she looked good, but in reality? Luo Xingci searched the entire room but couldn’t find the money or the ticket. She clapped her hands and turned to Old Lady Luo. “Grandma, didn’t you ask me to buy fabric? I’m looking for the fabric ticket. How can I buy clothes without it?” She rolled her eyes. It was all her fault for not asking for the ticket earlier. She was too excited to see the money and forgot about the ticket, which was so important. “If you want the ticket, just ask Grandma directly. Why would you come in and look for it yourself? It’s so rude. If your in-laws find out, they won’t like you.”

Old Lady Luo lectured her, pretending to be for her own good, almost making Luo Xingci want to vomit. “In-laws, in-laws, I think you just don’t want to give it to me. If you don’t want to give it to me, just say so. What’s wrong with me looking? I’m a child of the Luo family, and everything in the Luo family will eventually be mine. Why are you, a married-in woman, nagging so much? Even if I take it, I’m taking my own things.” It seemed like she needed to set some rules. From now on, all the money and things in the Luo family would belong to her. She would be the mistress of this house, and she would rule over them. Not finding anything else, Luo Xingci took the tickets and walked out.

 As she passed Old Lady Luo, she bumped her with her elbow. Old Lady Luo almost fell to the ground. Strange, didn’t Old Lady Luo go to get the money this month? According to her usual habit, she would go to town to get the money these days. Why hadn’t she gone this month, even though it was almost over? Who was sending Old Lady Luo money every month? She felt like Old Lady Luo was hiding something, something that no one in the family knew about, including Luo Jianmin. She had to find out what Old Lady Luo was hiding. Luo Xingci deliberately went to Old Lady Luo’s room to search for things. She wanted to make her anxious, she wanted to expose Old Lady Luo’s flaws.

Back on the mountain, Luo Xingci met the wild man at the door. Two white wolves stood proudly beside him. The wild man saw her and made two sounds, “Ah, ah,” and he was holding something in his hand. Luo Xingci couldn’t see what it was. Maybe it was something he brought to repay her. “Are you looking for me?” Before the wild man could react, the two wolves let out a “Woof” from their mouths, scaring Luo Xingci so much that her face turned white. She waved her hands. “Don’t woof, woof. You scared me to death.” Every time she saw these two wolves, she was afraid they would eat her. She didn’t dare to provoke them. What if they were hungry one day and ate her? The wild man seemed to sense her fear. He lowered his head and mumbled something to the white wolves.

Then, the two wolves lay down on the ground like dogs, their eyes looking at Luo Xingci with a sense of grievance. The wild man handed the thing in his hand to Luo Xingci and gestured something. She didn’t understand. Maybe he was abandoned by his family and later picked up and raised by wolves. Just like her, she was also not favored by her family, but at least the Luo family didn’t throw her away. That was because she was valuable. But in this era, no one would throw away a boy, right? Maybe he was the son of a wealthy family who married a stepmother. The stepmother was afraid that all the family’s assets would fall into his hands, so she threw him away.

Then, she looked at the wild man with a hint of sympathy. She wondered which wealthy family’s child he was. It was really tragic. He had lived with wolves since he was a child. If it weren’t for the two wolves, he probably wouldn’t have survived. Even if he could return to his family in the future, he had missed so much. No amount of compensation could make up for it. The wild man didn’t know what she was thinking. At this moment, he was holding a wooden doll he had carved himself. It looked a bit like her, and he had even made a beautiful dress for the doll. Luo Xingci took the doll and looked at it, lost in thought. This was the first time someone had given her a gift, and it was handmade. In the Luo family, no one ever cared about her. Even on her birthday, no one remembered. But the other children in the Luo family were different. On their birthdays, Old Lady Luo would make them a bowl of longevity noodles and boil an egg.

 No comparison, no harm. Seeing that she liked it so much, the wild man smiled slightly. “Do you want to be able to talk like me?” Suddenly, Luo Xingci turned her head and asked the wild man. She thought that if the wild man could talk, at least it wouldn’t be so difficult to communicate in the future. They could also have each other’s backs on the mountain. If possible, she could also bring him into her fold and make him work for her. She would keep this account in mind. She wasn’t a saint. After teaching him things, she would definitely make him work for her. The wild man seemed to understand what she said and nodded vigorously. So, Luo Xingci would meet him on the mountain to exercise whenever she had time. The wild man would teach her how to fight and how to run fast, while she would teach him how to speak and read. Time passed like this for a few days.

 Luo Xingci went down the mountain and returned to the Luo family. Old Lady Luo was a little anxious because she hadn’t seen her for a few days. Her son had told her that the factory manager’s family was very satisfied with Luo Xingci, that she was a good girl, and asked her to take good care of her these days and not let her run around outside. The factory manager had promised that if this matter was successful, he would promise to let her son be the office director. If Luo Xingci married into the factory manager’s family and gave birth to a son for them, then her son would be able to find him for anything in the future, and he would definitely help if he could. For her son’s future, Old Lady Luo used all her tricks. “Oh, Xingci, where have you been these days? Grandma made you a new set of clothes. I’ll show you.” It was already eight o’clock in the evening, and Luo Xingci was just coming back. She didn’t know where she had been. Luo Jianmin scolded her.

“Don’t run around outside, girl. If something happens, don’t blame me for not reminding you.” “It’s none of your business. You haven’t cared for the past 13 years. Now you’re pretending to be a good father. If you really care about me, then kick that woman Wu Haihua out. Can you do that? If you can’t, then don’t talk to me.” Luo Jianmin choked on his words and didn’t say anything else. He turned around and went back to his room. Old Lady Luo took out the clothes.

The clothes were colorful, but the fabric wasn’t new. It looked very rough. Luo Xingci didn’t even bother to look at it and turned around and went back to her room. “Bah, you bitch!” Old Lady Luo took the clothes back to her room. If she didn’t want them, then fine. If it weren’t for waiting for this bitch Luo Xingci, she would have gone to sleep long ago. At night, it was very quiet. Even the chirping of crickets could be heard clearly. Luo Xingci jumped onto Old Lady Luo’s window and then flipped over and landed on the ground. Her hair was messy, covering her eyes. She slowly walked to Old Lady Luo’s bedside, squatted down, and reached out to shake Old Lady Luo’s arm. “Hmm…” Old Lady Luo let out a moan full of old woman’s charm. Then, she opened her eyes and saw a black shadow crouching at her bedside. “Ah!” A scream ripped through the night. She seemed to see her great-grandmother!