“Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor. He shouldn’t be looking for Mr. Chen.”
I sent him to his biological father's place. You both share responsibility for the abortion. Once he's finished taking his revenge, his biological father will come after you.
So Lu Mingran stopped arguing with the system and was stunned.
Xu Lingqiu turned to look at him and said:
"Mr. Chen, I've taken care of that brat and even helped you get rid of your sixth wife. How about it, are you satisfied?"
...Lu Mingran now understood why Xu Lingqiu was able to earn so much money.
It's a pity that Xu Lingqiu won't earn that much money today.
Lu Mingran shook her head, and the NPC behind her sighed.
"Little Xu, it's like this, business people are always robbing Peter to pay Paul, and I've got so many wives to support..."
"Don't worry, I'll pay the bulk of the money, but as for the odd change..."
Xiao Yao understood immediately and opened the door to a room.
Whoosh—hundreds of packs of the special-supply cigarettes that Lao Yan smoked poured out in a loud and enthusiastic manner.
"These cigarettes are valuable, why don't you take them?"
...Xu Lingqiu calculated that the change was two thousand yuan.
Although he didn't know how this wealthy businessman could be so poor that he couldn't even come up with two thousand yuan, Xu Lingqiu knew his stuff and knew that these cigarettes were very expensive.
He accepted it.
Xu Lingqiu had no idea that this was the beginning of his nightmare.
In the following days, many more people asked him for help.
And each of these people eventually asked him:
"Little Xu, how about I use cigarettes to pay for it? Is that okay?"
"Xiao Xu, you can take these cigarettes with you..."
On Friday night, Xu Lingqiu couldn't sleep.
When he sat up, the table, the study, and the living room were all piled high with this kind of cigarette.
Xu Lingqiu: "...I want to count money, who the hell wants to count cigarettes?!"
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On Saturday morning, the first thing Lu Mingran asked the system upon waking up was:
"What is his reaction now that he has seen this kind of smoke?"
"I don't know, but let's go to Yixin Garden first."
Xu Lingqiu had a client in Yixing Garden. Interestingly, the three families who were murdered lived opposite him, upstairs, and downstairs respectively. The apartment he lived in was originally a haunted house, which he bought cheaply.
The man was trembling with fear. He wasn't afraid of his house. Even if there really were ghosts, he had lived there for two years and probably had developed feelings for them.
But the same can't be said for haunted houses outside.
Left with no other option, he turned to Xu Lingqiu for help. It was Xu Lingqiu who had helped him buy the house in the first place, and now he wanted to ask for after-sales service.
As Lu Mingran entered Unit 5, she heard a sound of dry heaving before even going upstairs.
This tone... sounds familiar.
Chapter 39 Want to Rise to the Top Quickly? No Way (3)
About ten minutes ago, Lao Yan went to the third floor alone to do the final finishing touches on one of the deceased's houses.
Coincidentally, just as he arrived at the door, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs, one after the other. Old Yan stood there and vaguely heard them saying something about "haunted house" and "taking responsibility."
Finally, a lean man stood in front of the opposite door, cursing and pulling out his keys; he seemed to be the homeowner.
Behind him stood a young man wearing a hat, standing on the next step, leaning against the wall, waiting indifferently for the man to open the door.
...Interesting. Old Yan could tell at a glance that this young man had opened his third eye, and he could also tell at a glance that he had not received much systematic training, and the aura on his body was somewhat chaotic.
At this moment, the neighbor across the street turned his head and finally noticed Old Yan.
"Hey, you are—"
The neighbor felt he had seen the white-haired man recently, but couldn't remember where, and exclaimed in surprise.
Old Yan didn't want to talk to him much. He coughed twice and handed him a cigarette: "A relative of this family, just came to visit."
"Oh, oh, please accept my condolences."
Then Lao Yan pulled out another one and held it up to the young man's face.
Just as Lao Yan had predicted, the neighbor recognized the cigarette and exclaimed in surprise. However, the young man leaning against the wall frowned instinctively when he saw the cigarette.
Wait a moment……
Old Yan was starting to doubt his own eyes.
Is he... looking down on it? Don't you know what's good for you? This kind of cigarette isn't something most people can buy normally!
Over the years, whenever Lao Yan offered a cigarette after meeting someone for the first time, the way people looked at him immediately changed.
Yes, the person in front of me did look different, but the direction of that change was rather strange. He examined the cigarette closely, saying "thank you," but he just held the cigarette between his fingers without smoking it.
Tsk, young man, you've caught my attention...
Seeing that the neighbor was eagerly trying to strike up a conversation, Old Yan didn't linger any longer. He opened the door, went inside, and slammed it shut, leaving the neighbor with a cold, impersonal iron door.
At this moment, the young man's mood suddenly improved. He looked at his neighbor's dejected figure, his attempt to curry favor failing, and chuckled softly.
"Stop looking. Do you expect him to invite you in for tea? Besides, I remember you haven't even wanted to look at this house's door these past few days."
"What do you know?"
The man turned around dejectedly, rubbing the cigarette he hadn't yet smoked: "He's definitely not an ordinary person, you know that?"
"It's quite unusual for someone so young to have a full head of white hair."
Xu Lingqiu glanced at the man: "Alright, enough nonsense, are you going to look at the house or not?"
"Ah, look, look!"
Xiao Liu finally remembered why he had invited Xu Lingqiu over today. He yanked open the door, and outside, Xu Lingqiu's eyes suddenly fell on the cigarette in his hand, and he couldn't help but gag.
These past few days have been incredible. Wealthy businessmen, doctors, and even the old lady selling jianbing (Chinese crepes) downstairs have all been stuffing this kind of cigarette into his arms. For a moment, Xu Lingqiu had the illusion that it was no longer a matter of the whole nation being well-off, but rather that the whole nation had become extremely wealthy.
He did consider exchanging the cigarettes for money, but no one believed him if he sold so many at once, and he found it troublesome to sell them one box at a time.
Recently, Xu Lingqiu has been having recurring dreams at night, dreaming of a certain nightclub in Shanghai, a place of dazzling lights and bustling activity. He's not a rich young man going in to have fun, nor a dancer, but a pitiful little child standing at the entrance, selling cigarettes with a wooden plank, tugging at the clothes of every passerby, his dirty little face looking up and asking:
"Sir and Madam, would you like some cigarettes?"
It's so pathetic that it arouses the wrath of both gods and men.
Meanwhile, Xiao Liu heard him gagging and turned to look at him in confusion.
"It's okay, don't worry about me. I just can't stand the smell of smoke right now."
“Hey,” Xiao Liu laughed, “then give me the one you’re holding, since you don’t want it anyway.”
————————————
What Lu Mingran heard was Xu Lingqiu retching outside the house.
When he went up, he saw that the door of the house was not closed properly, and he could vaguely see what was inside.
This house was notorious for being haunted; it was said that a burglary occurred and the male homeowner was murdered in his bedroom. Afterwards, the house was auctioned off, and Xiao Liu contacted Xu Lingqiu.
Xiao Liu said he was a poor ghost and wasn't afraid of evil spirits, but he was actually terrified. He not only asked Xu Lingqiu to clean the house first, but also rented it out for a year, letting a few unsuspecting male college students come and "enhance" the house's yang energy. Before the students moved out, they somehow found out about this and ganged up on him and beat him up badly.
Of course, Xiao Liu never mentioned the despicable things he had done in front of Xu Lingqiu. He would just sit on the sofa, trembling, watching Xu Lingqiu turn the compass around.
"It's fine, it's still clean. I already told you, I've sent that man away."
The room already had excellent feng shui, and now that there are no evil spirits, Xiao Liu has made an exceptionally good deal.
But Xiao Liu was still uneasy, his eyes gleaming with suspicion as he circled around Xu Lingqiu:
"What should I do if something comes from the other side?"
"As long as you don't go into other people's houses, nothing will bother you."
Xiao Liu was furious: "I don't care, I'm scared, you have to leave me something."
After saying that, Xiao Liu glanced at Xu Lingqiu's fingers:
"I remember you always used blood to draw talismans. Hey, I have a knife at home. Why don't you draw me a hundred today so I can keep them for later?"
Hearing this, Lu Mingran, who was outside the door, couldn't stand still any longer.
Brother, do you think blood from your fingertips isn't blood? You actually want him to draw a hundred copies!
Xiao Liu added, "Don't worry, I won't let you bleed for nothing. I'll treat you to a good meal later to help you recover."
Lu Mingran was even more unsteady on his feet. During the few days he had taken over Xu Lingqiu's business under a pseudonym, having witnessed how complex the talismans Xu Lingqiu drew with blood were, he forced the system to lower the difficulty of the script.
After Xu Lingqiu finished drawing the talisman that time, he not only brought him a delicious meal to replenish his body, but he almost led a cow to his home to give him pure natural milk.
You actually think you can just get rid of me with a meal?
Fortunately, Xu Lingqiu wasn't one to back down easily, and coldly replied:
“I don’t do useless things. Also, I helped you back then because you were an orphan with no one to rely on, and I didn’t charge you much money.”
"Hahahaha," Xiao Liu laughed loudly, "Look, your true colors as a charlatan have been revealed. You just think I didn't give you enough money."
Xiao Liu gritted his teeth and said, word by word:
"Xu Lingqiu, you're just standing by and watching someone die."
"To stand by and watch someone die." After these four words were uttered, Xu Lingqiu stopped in his tracks.
Lu Mingran also stopped moving.
The novel mentions that for Xu Lingqiu, the words "failure to save someone in distress" were the most hurtful.