Chapter Thirteen: Let’s Eat Dumplings!
The kind-faced, white-haired grandmother approached. She said to Liu Haoyu, “I just heard someone outside… Young man, wait for me.” The old woman slowly returned inside the house. When she came out again, she was holding a plate of dumplings. “Today is a good day. Grandma made some dumplings, but I accidentally made too many. Consider it a welcome gift.”
The scene was quite heartwarming. After all, cities these days are so busy, and people’s interactions have become so shallow. Receiving dumplings from a stranger is indeed a good thing. Provided, of course, that it were somewhere else. In this current environment, it didn’t look heartwarming at all; it felt almost like the underworld. “Oh dear! I’m so forgetful. Your gas tank on the third floor hasn’t been replaced yet. How about this, we’re having a late-night snack, why don’t you join us? It’s a great day, life is better when it’s lively.”
Faced with the grandmother’s warm invitation, Liu Haoyu naturally had to find a way to decline. But the old woman seemed to read Liu Haoyu’s mind. “Oh, young man, don’t be so polite. It’s just me and my little granddaughter at home, what harm could I do to you? It would be a waste not to eat so many dumplings!” The old woman’s words were filled with the warmth of happiness, like the warm sun in winter. It made it impossible to refuse. “Then thank you for your kindness, old lady.” Liu Haoyu finally nodded.
He walked into the house. The furniture inside was covered in dust, the walls were full of children’s doodles, and there were some black and red smudges on them. The room was also filled with a faint musty smell, which made people very uncomfortable. The old woman walked very slowly, her staggering gait making it seem like she could fall at any moment. “Grandma, please walk slower.” As a five-star good citizen, Liu Haoyu was very skilled at helping old ladies. “Thank you so much, young man. I’m getting old, and my legs aren’t as agile.”
The two walked into the house. The living room door had a large smiley face drawn on it in red paint by a child. The scene looked inexplicably strange and eerie. Moreover, the doodle was blurred, looking like it was a few years old. After entering the living room, the old woman coughed lightly and then pushed open the living room door. As soon as they entered, a rich scent of meat wafted out, like seeing a barbecue video late at night, making one’s appetite whet and unable to resist a hearty meal. Liu Haoyu peered into the living room. It was dark inside, but it was all red. Upon closer inspection, he saw that an entire row of lanterns was hung in the living room. The scene looked very festive, but in the dim room, it was so underworld-like.
The grandmother led Liu Haoyu into the living room. Looking at the red-colored room, Liu Haoyu asked the grandmother, “Why isn’t the light on? 6磷2I児⑶死（八）⑻ 〧⑷〳 绫B梦” “Why turn on the light? For such a festive holiday, of course, we should hang lanterns.” The grandmother pulled out a candle from somewhere, dripped a few drops of wax onto the dining table, and then stuck it in. The dim candlelight couldn’t illuminate the entire living room, but instead made the already dark and eerie room even more creepy.
As Liu Haoyu sat on the sofa waiting for the grandmother to serve the dumplings, he noticed a little girl, about six or seven years old, peeking out from the small door next to the living room, watching Liu Haoyu’s movements. Liu Haoyu turned to look at the girl, but when she met Liu Haoyu’s gaze, she quickly retreated back into the house. Looking at the strangely behaving child, Liu Haoyu narrowed his eyes. “It’s rare to have a new tenant, so I’ll just take out the dumplings from the refrigerator and treat you well.” The grandmother went to the refrigerator and found the large bag of dumplings.
However, looking at the dumplings frozen like ice blocks, Liu Haoyu couldn’t help but frown. He had seen the old woman take the dumplings from the insulated compartment with his own eyes, but why were they frozen like stones? And what was the deal with the dumplings in his hand? Not only Liu Haoyu, but even Qin Liu, looking at the scene before her, couldn’t help but shiver. The little ghost quietly muttered, “Could it be that… the filling in these dumplings is…” She didn’t continue, because if it were indeed the meat of some bipedal animal, it would be too terrifying. The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became, and Qin Liu finally gave up thinking.
“The dumplings are ready.” The old woman smiled brightly and served a large bowl of dumplings, placing it on Liu Haoyu’s dining table. “Eat them while they’re hot.” Liu Haoyu and Qin Liu, one human and one ghost, simultaneously looked at the large bowl of dumplings on the dining table. The old woman, with her kind face, said to Liu Haoyu, “These dumplings are a good thing. They not only symbolize wealth, but also reunion, harvest, prosperity, and good fortune. Most importantly, eating dumplings can remove the bad luck of the year.” “Looking at your exhausted face, young man, you must have encountered something dirty. So why not have a bowl of dumplings to warm your stomach and ward off evil spirits.”
Faced with the old woman’s repeated urging, Liu Haoyu did not pick up his chopsticks. “Eat quickly.” “They’ll get cold.” The grandmother looked at the chopsticks in Liu Haoyu’s hand, but at this moment, a “bang!” came from the small door behind Liu Haoyu. It sounded like something had fallen on the floor. “Oh dear, it seems my little granddaughter fell off the bed. I’ll go check on her quickly. Young man, eat while it’s hot.” After speaking, the grandmother left the living room.
Faced with the steaming, fragrant bowl of dumplings, Liu Haoyu had no appetite at all. He picked up a dumpling from the bowl and carefully peeled it open with his chopsticks to examine the filling. “How is it?” Qin Liu secretly swallowed, afraid that Liu Haoyu would say it was human flesh. After all, thinking about it, a missing corpse could very well end up in the murderer’s stomach. However, after examining the filling of a few more dumplings, Liu Haoyu’s brow relaxed. “This isn’t human flesh.” Hearing Liu Haoyu’s answer, Qin Liu also breathed a sigh of relief. “It should be pork.” Liu Haoyu looked at the dumplings in the bowl, thought for a moment, and finally decided to set them aside. Even if these weren’t human dumplings, they definitely weren’t anything good.
“I’ll go pour them out.” Qin Liu manipulated her resentful energy, picked up the large bowl of dumplings, and poured them all into the restroom. However, when she came out of the restroom, she bumped into the girl who had been hiding in the small room earlier. The girl was now staring intently at Qin Liu. Her gaze seemed to be one of pity. “Sister, did you eat all those human flesh dumplings?” Upon hearing this, Qin Liu was immediately shocked. Her first reaction was, could these really be human dumplings?! Then her second reaction was, this girl could actually see her!? Qin Liu’s face stiffened, and she silently took a step back and asked, “Are you human or ghost?”
But before the girl could answer Qin Liu’s question, the grandmother came rushing over angrily, shouting, “What human flesh! What nonsense are you talking about!” The grandmother, who had been kind-faced, was now as ferocious as a ghost from hell. “These are clearly pork from the refrigerator! You’re talking nonsense, what if you scare the guests outside?” The grandmother took her granddaughter away. Seeing them leave, Qin Liu also breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the grandmother couldn’t see her, so what was going on with this girl? Looking at the bowl in her hand, Qin Liu felt a chill. Could the dumplings that had been in this bowl really be made of human flesh?
Qin Liu cautiously approached the kitchen. After preparing herself mentally, she slowly opened the refrigerator door. What greeted her eyes was not any fearful human flesh, but indeed pork. The pig’s leg bone and ribs were clearly visible. Then why did the girl say that the dumplings in her bowl were made of human flesh? When the grandmother took out the dumplings, she took them from the upper shelf of the refrigerator. Could it be that there was something in the lower shelf? But the lower shelf of the refrigerator wasn’t very big, so it was almost impossible to put a person in it. Unless… dismembered.
With a heavy heart, Qin Liu gently opened the lower door of the refrigerator. Pulling out a refrigerated drawer, she found it filled to the brim with bulging black plastic bags. The terrifying cold made Qin Liu unable to think for a moment. Qin Liu had seen similar scenes in movies many times, but experiencing it herself was definitely ten thousand times more terrifying than watching a movie. “Gulu…” The strong smell of blood emanating from the refrigerator made Qin Liu swallow. Her slender fingers reached into one of the plastic bags. Qin Liu was very scared, afraid that when she opened the plastic bag, she would see a person’s face or hair.
With difficulty, she untied the plastic bag, but inside were only chicken, duck, and fish meat frozen harder than popsicles. Seeing that the contents were relatively normal, Qin Liu’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense, relaxed. “Being a ghost exorcist really requires a strong heart,” Qin Liu muttered softly. From the bottom of her heart, she admired Liu Haoyu. After all, only that man could calmly lift a female ghost’s skirt. “Sister, what are you looking for?” A childish and crisp voice sounded behind Qin Liu. The sudden voice startled Qin Liu half to death.
She quickly turned to look, only to find that the girl had appeared behind her at some point. The girl’s face looked very lively, cheerful, and cute. But for some reason, Qin Liu felt a strange chill whenever she looked at this face for too long. And why did this child walk without making a sound? Could she really be a ghost?
