Chapter 1: The Boss, Can You Dig a Grave?
It was late at night. The wide, straight road was lined with two rows of phoenix trees, their dense, sprawling branches reaching out and interlocking, forming a vast, interwoven canopy that hung over the road like a massive net.
A few scattered streetlights cast a faint, dim glow.
The sharp clack of high heels echoed down the entire street, the sound unnervingly clear in the quiet of the night.
Luo Yan had been working overtime a lot lately. With the holiday season approaching, tourist numbers were surging, and the tourism bureau she worked for was scrambling for new ways to attract visitors and attention.
Clearly, three days of non-stop overtime were starting to take their toll. Luo Yan rubbed her temples, feeling confused. The ten-minute walk home had stretched to half an hour, and she still hadn’t reached her building.
Had she been working so hard she was losing her mind? Or had she taken a wrong turn?
As Luo Yan pondered this, she pulled out her phone to check the time, but no matter how many times she pressed the power button, the screen wouldn’t light up.
What’s going on?
A sudden flash of clarity cut through her fuzzy mind. She began to think: was this road always this quiet?
Then, a few of the already sparse streetlights suddenly flickered out, making the road even dimmer.
The light that remained cast long, distorted shadows of the tree branches. These shadows grew longer and longer, weaving into a dense web that seemed to envelop the sole person in the middle of it all.
In the distance, the darkness seemed to hold a lurking beast, waiting for its prey to walk right into its trap.
Luo Yan held her breath, her head stiff, only able to glance around with her peripheral vision. The pounding of her heart was impossibly loud. She could hear it.
Thump—
Thump—
Thump… thump…
Knock-knock—
Something was tapping the ground, slowly approaching her.
The sound grew closer, and Luo Yan’s body went rigid. All the ghost stories and urban legends she’d ever heard rushed into her mind.
If you’re walking alone at night and someone taps you on the shoulder, never turn around.
Never turn around!
Right, don’t turn around.
A voice in her head was screaming, a warning bellow. She swallowed hard, wanting to run from this horrifying place. But her legs felt like they were filled with lead, rooted to the spot.
Just as a wrinkled, gnarled hand, like ancient tree bark, touched her arm, Luo Yan finally let out a piercing scream.
The scream was met with a hoarse voice. “Yan Yan, it’s me.”
Luo Yan’s body was still trembling, her heart still racing, but she stared in shock.
“Grandma?”
In the old part of Rongcheng, there was a road called Xiang’an Road, also known as Phoenix Road. The name was said to come from the decades-old phoenix trees lining both sides: “The phoenix rests on the phoenix tree; all is peaceful and prosperous.”
The street was bustling with people, so Jiang Si chose it as the location for his new shop. After a meticulous renovation, he carefully displayed his wares.
The only problem was, most ordinary people wouldn’t dare approach the kind of goods he sold. It was as if his shop was protected by a magical barrier, making it the only quiet business on the entire street.
As usual, Jiang Si opened his shop with a steamed bun in hand. The neighbors who passed by were all familiar with the handsome young man and greeted him warmly.
“Morning, Xiao Jiang.”
“Morning, Auntie Zhang. Have you had breakfast?”
“I have.”
Jiang Si smiled and nodded at everyone. He didn’t know that as soon as he walked past, Auntie Zhang’s smile vanished, replaced by a strange look as she watched him go. She muttered to herself, “What a shame, a good-looking boy like him coming back to his hometown to do this.”
What future was there in running a funeral goods shop and selling paper effigies? Forget a future, there was no money in it either.
Looking at the room full of paper dolls, gold and silver ingots, and white funeral banners, Jiang Si couldn’t help but sigh.
Since he’d quit his last job, he hadn’t made a single penny. His wallet was getting dangerously thin, and he could only afford plain vegetable buns. At this rate, he’d be eating plain steamed buns in a few days.
Looking at how broke he was now, who would have thought that just a few years ago, he was the first director in the country to win a Newcomer Award at a major international film festival?
Jiang Si was a professional artist who had majored in painting, but his main profession was directing. At eighteen, an animated film he directed won an international award. His graduation project at twenty-one went viral, and he was signed by a major company in the industry.
But the workplace was a battlefield. His boss, a capitalist, only cared about squeezing employees to maximize profits. Jiang Si, who was only interested in art, couldn’t adapt. He was openly undermined by his boss and ostracized by colleagues. Eventually, he punched his boss and left, feeling a great sense of satisfaction.
His family had been in the funeral business for two generations. Now that he couldn’t make it on his own, he simply inherited the family trade.
“Sigh.”
Jiang Si sighed again. But even the traditional funeral business wasn’t doing well these days.
He went behind the counter, picked up a piece of yellow paper, and cut out a paper doll. Just as he put down the scissors, he heard the quick taps of footsteps and a timid female voice.
“Is the boss in?”
Jiang Si’s heart lifted. He put the paper doll in his pocket and went out to greet the customer. “How can I help you? Our selection is very complete, please have a look.”
As he spoke, he took in the woman. She was wearing a black and white long dress, her hair was tied back, and she had on light makeup. She looked to be around thirty, but the red in her eyes was a dead giveaway that no amount of makeup could hide.
“I need two complete sets of funeral goods. Get them ready; I’ll take them with me.” The woman didn’t bother to look at the items and went straight to the point.
Jiang Si was taken aback. “Two sets? Are you sure?”
“Yes, two sets.”
Most people just bought some spirit money and flower baskets for ancestor worship. On a more solemn occasion, they might buy a larger floral wreath and some gold ingots. It was rare to buy a complete set. A full set included spirit money, gold ingots, incense and candles, wreaths and flower baskets, two paper effigies of a boy and girl, and a funeral banner. This was usually only done for a fresh burial.
But this woman didn’t look like she was in mourning…
Even though Jiang Si was puzzled, he wasn’t about to refuse a big order. He agreed and went to get the items ready.
The woman watched him, remaining silent. Suddenly, she asked, “Boss, how do you use these things?”
“You just place them in front of the grave, draw a circle, and burn everything inside it. It’s very simple,” Jiang Si replied, his hands working quickly to pack the items.
“That’s it? Is it the same process if you’re burning them for a stranger?” the woman asked again.
Only then did Jiang Si notice a tremor in her voice. He looked at her tentatively. “It’s the same for a stranger. Who are you using these for?”
The woman clutched her handbag and didn’t answer.
“How about this? I have nothing going on right now. I’ll go with you. I’m very familiar with the process,” Jiang Si seized the opportunity and offered.
The woman’s eyes lit up as if she’d found a lifeline. “Really?”
But then she calmed down and decided the idea was too unreliable. Her eyes fell on Jiang Si’s striking hair. The tips of his slightly wavy, fluffy hair were dyed with a few streaks of blue-green.
The boss looked way too young, like he was just temporarily watching the shop for his family. He probably knew less than she did from her own research.
“I’m serious,” Jiang Si waved his hand. “It’s nothing, really. It’s normal to be scared if this is your first time. I’ve been doing this with my family since I was a kid.”
His calm tone helped her relax a little. She held on to the ‘nothing to lose’ mentality and asked, with a glimmer of hope, “Have you ever dug up someone’s grave?”
Jiang Si’s smile froze on his face. He thought he misheard her.
Dug up what?
A grave?
As if she had found a kindred spirit, the woman poured out everything on her mind.
“My grandma passed away a long time ago. But for the past few days, I keep dreaming that she’s telling me her resting place is too crowded, and that someone is pressing down on her.”
“At first, I thought maybe I just missed her too much. But then my mom had the same dream, and Grandma said the same things to her.” The woman faltered, finding it hard to continue, and hesitated before looking at Jiang Si and going on. “I took a few days off and went back to my hometown. I found, I found that someone had built a new grave right next to my grandma’s, pressing right up against it. That’s when I understood what she meant.”
Jiang Si finally understood. “So you want to…?”
Thinking of her grandmother’s hunched figure and hoarse voice, repeatedly telling her how crowded it was, the woman felt a surge of anger. “I’m going to dig up their grave! It’s too much. My grandma was buried there first. Don’t they know ‘first come, first served’?”
“Calm down,” Jiang Si said, exasperated. “I think I get it now, but why did you buy two sets of funeral goods?”
“One set for my grandma and one for the person in that grave,” the woman said, completely serious. “I’m worried there will be trouble after I dig up their grave.”
“…”
That’s… considerate of her. She knows to provide compensation before she starts her demolition.
Although Jiang Si felt it wouldn’t do anything, he wasn’t about to say something that would be counterproductive.
“Alright, I’ll go with you once I’ve packed everything up.” Jiang Si thought he’d go check out the situation first. If they could talk it out, great. If not, he, the accompanying person, would be in trouble too.
The woman paid him quickly, picked up the bags, and went to her car. When she opened the trunk, Jiang Si clearly saw a shovel.
The plastic wrap hadn’t even been taken off. It looked like a brand-new purchase.
“You came prepared,” Jiang Si said, a little dumbfounded.
“I can’t sleep until this is sorted out. And I haven’t even dared to tell my mom yet,” the woman said, sighing with emotion. As Jiang Si locked up the shop, she sat in the passenger seat.
“I’m the calmest person in my family.”
Having shared her secret, she became more talkative, constantly asking Jiang Si if there was anything else she should be aware of.
Jiang Si chatted with her on and off as the scenery outside the car window changed from city skyscrapers to vast fields. The endless plains slowly unfurled as they drove.
Luo Yan’s hometown was a small county town near Rongcheng. The drive took about an hour.
Jiang Si had dozed off in the car and felt much more refreshed when they arrived. He got out, squinting as he looked around at the endless green rice paddies.
Many small towns still practiced earth burial. In Rongcheng, where there were many plains, people often buried their elders in the ground for convenience, believing it would “connect them with the earth to bless their descendants.”
He was standing on the edge of a field. Not far away, there was a tall locust tree, and under its shade, there were indeed two small grave mounds. The taller one had a half-burnt wreath on it, the white flowers standing out against the dark brown soil.
This huge new grave was pressing right up against the old grave next to it, making it look almost flat in comparison.
“That’s the one,” Luo Yan said, grabbing the shovel and getting ready to charge at it.
Jiang Si’s eyelids twitched. He quickly stopped her. “We agreed. We’ll burn the offerings first, then do the rest. Don’t rush. We have time.”
The sight of the new grave made Luo Yan angry. She listened to Jiang Si’s words and, despite her anger, relented. She plunged the shovel straight into the soil with a heavy thud, then turned to Jiang Si. “Alright, boss, you go first. I’ll wait.”
Jiang Si looked at the muscles bulging in her arm from the force she used, then at his own body, which was frail from too many late nights working on projects.
“…”
How can a woman be this strong?
He was worried he’d mess up and she’d end up burying him too.
Jiang Si was well aware of his lack of physical strength and wisely carried the two large bags of funeral goods to the graves.
It was around ten in the morning, and the sun was already high, starting to bake the earth.
After a few minutes of squatting to arrange the items, Jiang Si started to feel a little dizzy. He wasn’t sure if it was low blood sugar or the heat. He hurried to finish the task and started thinking about what he would say to try to persuade the others.
Burning funeral goods was simple, but the key to ensuring the recipient got the items was to draw a circle. This circle defined the area and prevented other lonely ghosts from snatching the offerings.
Jiang Si picked up a stick and carefully drew a large circle on the ground. He was pleased with himself, marveling that his years of art training still allowed him to draw a perfect circle by hand.
It was true, he thought, that a skill was never useless.
Just as he lit the gold ingots, a man’s voice bellowed from behind him, “What are you two doing?!”
A few muscular men in work T-shirts and shorts stomped over aggressively. The man leading them was wearing a straw hat. He frowned and glared at the two of them—one squatting, the other standing.
He spotted the new wreaths and paper dolls and the half-burnt gold ingots on the ground. He pushed Jiang Si aside and stomped on the ingots, putting out the fire.
He then looked at them with a hostile gaze. “Who are you? Why are you burning this stuff in front of our family’s grave?”
The others joined in. “Exactly. What’s wrong with you? Can’t you find your own graves to cry in?”
“Get lost, or we’ll beat you up!”
In just a few words, Jiang Si and Luo Yan figured out who they were.
Luo Yan, especially, picked up the shovel again, glaring at them furiously, ready to charge into battle.
Jiang Si rubbed his dizzy head. He wasn’t provoked by their taunts. Instead, he was looking at something behind them.
In front of the stomped-out gold ingots, a short, frail black shadow had appeared out of thin air.
Her face was pale, her skin was more withered and dry than the bark of the locust tree, and her eyes were fixed on everyone in front of her, especially on the man who had spoken.
Someone had blocked her path to wealth, and she was furious.
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