Chapter 37
Li Shan had other arrangements during the day, so the group agreed to meet at 8:30 in the morning at the construction site of Shiyi Middle School.
The old city was not far from Mount Luoyi, but it would still take at least an hour to travel from the city to the construction site. So, Xia Leyang and Shang Tingzhi got ready early, preparing to leave just past seven.
However, before leaving, Xia Leyang happened to encounter Tang Fengyi coming in with a cardboard box when he came down from the second floor. Curious, he approached Tang Fengyi and asked, “What’s this?”
Tang Fengyi stopped in his tracks and replied, “These are things Uncle Shang sent for you guys.”
“For us?” Xia Leyang asked, puzzled. “You mean me and Shang Tingzhi?”
“Yes,” Tang Fengyi nodded. “Uncle Shang asked me to put them in your bedroom.”
Shang Tingzhi packed up faster than Xia Leyang and had already gone to wait in the car.
Seeing that the box wasn’t tightly sealed, indicating Shang Tingzhi had opened it, Xia Leyang reached out to lift the box’s lid, wanting to see what was inside.
To his surprise, the box contained various strange items. Xia Leyang picked up a furry tail and furrowed his brow, asking, “What is this?”
Tang Fengyi freed up one hand and took the other end of the tail, explaining with a scholarly spirit, “This is a plug; it can be inserted.”
The term “plug” from Tang Fengyi was a small, cone-shaped object attached to the end of the tail. Just by looking at the cone, Xia Leyang couldn’t imagine where it would be inserted. However, when he considered the position of the tail on an animal, he immediately understood and swiftly threw the tail back into the box.
“What kind of stuff is this?” Xia Leyang asked incredulously, staring at Tang Fengyi. “Shang Shu Shu sent this to us?”
“Yes,” Tang Fengyi answered straightforwardly. “Uncle and Auntie care a lot about your intimate life and don’t want you to be unhappy, so they sent some adult items.”
“What?” Xia Leyang was bewildered as he rummaged through the box. Apart from the tail, there were a pair of cat ears, a bell collar, handcuffs, a small whip, an egg-shaped device, and other items. Xia Leyang was left dumbfounded. He hadn’t seen these things even during his years abroad, and now, upon returning to China, his elders were directly giving them as gifts?
“Uncle and Auntie are really outrageous,” Xia Leyang exclaimed, closing the lid of the cardboard box. Then, he pushed Tang Fengyi out of the house, saying with a complex expression, “We don’t need these things at all. Help me take them back.”
“But,” Tang Fengyi hesitated, standing still. He repeated what he said before, “Uncle Shang asked me to put them in your bedroom.”
“What?” Xia Leyang finally realized that Shang Tingzhi had not refused. He blushed and shouted, “Is he sick?”
Tang Fengyi pointed upstairs with his index finger and asked, “So, should I go up?”
“No! Take them back!” Xia Leyang pushed Tang Fengyi towards the Bentley parked outside the courtyard. “We don’t need them.”
Tang Fengyi quickly noted in his mind—Xia Leyang personally admitted that they didn’t need such items. Then he bent down halfway and said to Shang Tingzhi in the car, “Mr. Shang, Xia doesn’t want these items.”
Shang Tingzhi waved his hand, indicating it was fine.
Tang Fengyi put the cardboard box back into the trunk. Xia Leyang circled to the other side, opened the door, and got into the car, staring at Shang Tingzhi in confusion. “What do you mean by this? Why did you accept these things?”
Shang Tingzhi calmly put away his phone and replied nonchalantly, “We might need them in the future.”
Xia Leyang immediately expressed his disdain, saying, “Puh, puh, puh! Impossible forever!”
Suddenly, Shang Tingzhi found it amusing. He looked at Xia Leyang and asked, “Did I say it was for use on you?”
“Huh?” Xia Leyang was puzzled.
“I never said it was for you,” Shang Tingzhi continued, slightly hooking his mouth. “Do you really want me to use it on you?”
Blushing, Xia Leyang knew he had misunderstood and dryly replied, “No, I don’t.”
Shang Tingzhi chuckled lightly, didn’t say more, and Xia Leyang felt indignant, muttering, “Anyway, you’re the ‘wife-restraining’ type, and you can’t find a partner.”
At this moment, Tang Fengyi finished putting away the cardboard box and joined them in the driver’s seat.
In the past, Shang Tingzhi would never intentionally reveal his love life in front of Tang Fengyi, as Tang Fengyi was a spy placed by his parents and relationship issues were of utmost concern to his parents. Any small matters related to emotions would reach his parents’ ears.
However, things were different now, and Shang Tingzhi didn’t mind if Tang Fengyi reported to his parents.
“I do restrain my ‘wife’,” Shang Tingzhi said without caring that Tang Fengyi was eavesdropping with his ears pricked up. “But there are exceptions.”
Xia Leyang remained silent, waiting for Shang Tingzhi to continue.
“I restrain my ‘wife’ because there’s too much Yang fire in my destiny, but some people can help balance it out,” Shang Tingzhi paused and continued, “Like you. You have a prosperous ‘husband’ destiny, and it fits well with mine.”
In fact, Xia Leyang was a lucky star and would bring prosperity to everyone around him. However, Shang Tingzhi slightly changed the wording.
Hearing this, Xia Leyang felt something was off. “I have a prosperous ‘wife’ destiny, not a ‘husband’ destiny.”
Shang Tingzhi replied nonchalantly, “Because you’re below.”
Xia Leyang asked in confusion, “Below what?”
Shang Tingzhi didn’t answer, and Tang Fengyi, sitting in the driver’s seat, processed and filtered their conversation, silently adding another note to his mental report— the reason for the disharmony in their intimate life might be that Xia Leyang wanted to assert dominance over Shang Tingzhi.
Considering Tang Fengyi’s understanding of Shang Jianye’s old couple, they wouldn’t unconditionally favor their son. Therefore, this conflict might be beyond their ability to resolve.
But that was okay. Shang Jianye and Yang Wenting weren’t acting alone. They had Shang Guohua and Ji Zhengfang in their alliance.
Tang Fengyi believed that with all four elders working together, they could perfectly resolve the conflicts between this young couple.
During the rush hour, the roads were congested. Despite Shang Tingzhi and Xia Leyang leaving early, they were still almost late.
When they arrived at the construction site’s parking lot, several vehicles from out of town were already parked, including Zhang Wenlun and Li Shan, who had come specifically for this.
Liu Defa was chatting with Li Shan when he saw Shang Tingzhi approaching. He greeted them and led everyone to the northeast side of the construction site, where they had discovered the urn yesterday.
“Have you found out who this woman is?” Li Shan asked as he walked beside Shang Tingzhi. He knew that this woman was the single woman who committed suicide in the Gu family mansion in the 1990s. However, considering the subsequent funeral issues, it was necessary to know her name.
Shang Tingzhi shook his head. “Not yet.”
He glanced at Xia Leyang on the other side and continued, “He sent emails to people who might know her, but there haven’t been any replies yet.”
Li Shan, with his hands behind his back, sighed. “I consulted with the older generation. The burial method for this woman is too sinister. It might backfire on the person who buried her. Who could do such a crazy thing?”
Xia Leyang tilted his head, looked beyond Shang Tingzhi, and asked hopefully, “Master Li, can you tell who drew those talismans?”
“There’s no way to tell,” Li Shan directly burst Xia Leyang’s hopeful bubble. “The drawing method for these talismans is found in ancient books, and any Taoist can easily replicate them.”
“This way,” Xia Leyang felt a little disappointed and said, “Can you find another good place for her burial? I’ll cover all the expenses.”
As soon as Li Shan heard there was business to be done, a sycophantic smile appeared on his face. He bypassed Shang Tingzhi and came to Xia Leyang’s side, placing his hand on Xia Leyang’s shoulder, saying, “For cases like your family’s female ghost, you absolutely can’t just bury her anywhere. I can offer a comprehensive funeral service, but the price for this… well…”
Xia Leyang wasn’t familiar with the funeral industry’s fee structure, but he didn’t have the habit of bargaining. He said, “The price doesn’t matter.”
Li Shan snapped his fingers, saying, “That’s easy.”
However, Li Shan hadn’t enjoyed his happiness for a second when the hand on Xia Leyang’s shoulder was forcefully grabbed by Shang Tingzhi, turning it into a chicken claw.
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?” Li Shan swiftly withdrew his hand, rubbing his wrist. “We’re discussing business here, why are you causing trouble?”
“Discussing business?” Shang Tingzhi raised an eyebrow, looking at Li Shan coldly. “He is mine. Are you charging him?”
“Tsk.” Li Shan said discontentedly, “He’s so wealthy, what’s it to you? You’ve got meat to eat, at least leave me some soup.”
Shang Tingzhi couldn’t be bothered with the talkative Li Shan. He glanced at Xia Leyang, who had suddenly quickened his pace and walked ahead. From the rear, Shang Tingzhi could faintly see the reddening tips of Xia Leyang’s ears.
Actually, Xia Leyang initially wanted to refute the statement “He is mine.” However, he suddenly thought that Shang Tingzhi said it to save him money. Therefore, with the words already on his lips, he decided to hold back.
Yet, in the next moment, he thought that he hadn’t said anything, making it seem like he tacitly accepted a special relationship with Shang Tingzhi. So, in this back and forth, he couldn’t deny, nor not deny, and in the end, he hastened his steps, walking to the front with an unnatural blush.
The group soon arrived at the northeast corner of the construction site. Liu Defa had ordered the workers to cover the pit where the unearthed soil was yesterday. As they approached, he directed nearby workers to uncover the plastic sheet covering the pit.
“Master Li, come and take a look.” Liu Defa took the lead and stepped into the pit. “I haven’t had anyone touch it since it was excavated yesterday.”
Li Shan glanced around at the scattered urns and followed Liu Defa into the area where the female ghost was buried.
However, before he could get close, Liu Defa, who was in front, suddenly stopped, lowered his head, and looked at the deep pit. “Where is the urn in this pit?!”
