Linbiangui Village-Infinite Streaming Chapter 27
byA Surge of Jealousy
“A Qing isn’t a local?” Wu Zeng lay flat on his spread-out blanket, his hair still damp from his shower. His index finger tapped lightly on the blanket, his words sounding somewhat distracted. “A border village, it’s not surprising.”
“If she happens to be from Sha Country, that’s too much of a coincidence.” Chen Jin described everything he had seen and heard at Aunt Jiu’s house, but seeing Wu Zeng in front of him didn’t seem to care much, Chen Jin kicked his dangling calf and said sullenly, “What about you? Did you find anything?”
“Nothing.” Wu Zeng stared straight at the ceiling light, watching the spilled light without moving. “I’m going back to the card hall.”
Chen Jin frowned abruptly. “It’s midnight now, what are you going to do?”
“Some things are only clear when you see them in person.” Wu Zeng sat up with a whoosh, grabbed the key from the table, opened the door, and prepared to go downstairs. “You go back to your room and sleep first.”
This was Wu Zeng’s room, but it was the first time he had so directly dismissed someone, and that person was Chen Jin.
Chen Jin gave him a deep look, then strode out in a fit of pique, slamming his arm and locking his own room door.
With a click, he heard the sound of the opposite door closing, and Wu Zeng was gone.
Chen Jin felt a surge of anger. He didn’t know what had gotten into Wu Zeng. He wasn’t doing anything important, playing cards in the middle of the night, and his usual clinginess was gone. Even his speech was unusually… cold.
“It’s better if he’s not clingy, my ears are finally quiet!” Chen Jin cursed with a frown, then threw himself back onto the bed, burying his head under the covers, intending to sleep.
Through the thin blanket, Chen Jin only heard a thumping sound, so loud that he couldn’t fall asleep. He suddenly threw off the covers. The surroundings were silent. He realized with a start that it was his own heartbeat.
Chen Jin couldn’t sleep. He sprang up from the bed and quickly crossed to the window. He saw Wu Zeng had already reached the card hall entrance downstairs, and A Qing was leaning against the door frame, waiting for him.
The two stood at the entrance, chatting and laughing for a while, then entered the card hall one after the other. Although Chen Jin didn’t know exactly what they were talking about, it was clear they were having a good time. Wu Zeng had a way with words, which made A Qing cover her mouth and giggle.
The dripping sound of water came from the bathroom, fast and powerful like the beating of war drums. Chen Jin grabbed the key from the desk, opened the door, and ran straight downstairs.
A dim yellow tungsten bulb hung from the card hall ceiling. The otherwise peaceful night was suddenly swept by a strange wind from nowhere. The bulb swayed, and the light and shadows flickered back and forth, severely impairing visibility, but the few people at the card table seemed unfazed.
Wu Zeng’s profile was cast on the mottled wall, his facial contours blurred, as chaotic as his hazy eyes. He sat on the east side of the card table, his long fingers rubbing the dice cup back and forth.
“Throw the dice, little brother!” Brother Tang was still sitting in his original spot, having not moved all night.
“Dazed and confused!” another middle-aged man at the table spoke up. A Qing called him Third Brother.
Wu Zeng threw the dice—three twos.
“Tch! Brother Tang, you gave false information!” Third Brother pouted and retorted.
Brother Tang was also extremely shocked. Just now, he had been so arrogant with three sixes, how did it turn into two Bs now?
A Qing didn’t join the table this time. She just stood behind Wu Zeng. Seeing that he was about to lose everything, she leaned close to his cheek and whispered something in his ear.
Wu Zeng did not reject her proximity, even tilting his face toward her direction. Immediately after, he woodenly took out 400 yuan and threw it on the table, then prepared to continue throwing the dice.
Chen Jin witnessed this scene as soon as he arrived at the door. The room was filled with smoke, made foul by the two older men puffing away. Wu Zeng was slumped on the stool, looking somewhat sluggish, completely unlike his usual spirited young self.
Chen Jin pulled out two hundred and threw it onto the card table. “I’ll take over, let him step down.”
The money was taken from Wu Zeng’s bag, and it was only these two hundred. If he lost, he would have to leave.
“Is this little brother sure he wants to join? This brother might have a lucky streak tonight,” A Qing leaned against Wu Zeng’s chair back, showing no intention of moving. Her fingers were idly curling the ends of his hair at the back of his neck.
Normally, Wu Zeng would have pushed her away long ago, but tonight he indulged her.
Not normal, something fishy is going on! Chen Jin clenched his fists in his pockets.
Seeing that the people at the card table made no move, even looking like they were enjoying the show, Chen Jin’s face began to lose composure. He stepped up to Wu Zeng and pulled him out of the seat—fortunately, Wu Zeng didn’t resist at all, like a walking corpse.
But strangely, the skin that was usually ice-cold was now somewhat hot.
Chen Jin sat down in Wu Zeng’s previous spot. The residual warmth made Chen Jin very uncomfortable. The usual mint scent seemed to have been replaced by some kind of fresh, earthy smell. This Wu Zeng seemed like an imposter wearing human skin.
A Qing tactfully moved away and stood beside Wu Zeng. Her arm intentionally brushed against Wu Zeng’s folded forearm.
With a whoosh—three sixes.
“Newbie luck!” The two older men curled their lips in disdain and tossed four hundred yuan to Chen Jin as if dismissing him.
“Good luck,” A Qing chuckled, her voice sounding a little hoarse. “But a beginner’s luck always runs out.”
Chen Jin didn’t reply, just kept shaking the dice. Opening the cup again, it was still three sixes.
After several rounds, the two older men had lost all the money in their pockets and left the table gloomily, muttering curses.
Before Chen Jin could react, the next second A Qing surprisingly took Wu Zeng’s hand and sat down. When did the two become so intimate? The veins on the back of Chen Jin’s hand, gripping the dice cup, bulged—did this person not know what avoiding suspicion meant?
The three-person card game resumed.
Chen Jin gave the Wu Zeng opposite him a deep look. He was especially unfamiliar tonight.
A Qing smiled and took the dice cup, watching Chen Jin with eyes full of laughter. Her fingertips brushed over each die. “Now it’s clean.”
Chen Jin’s heart tightened. So she had seen through him but hadn’t said anything. Chen Jin had tampered with the dice after sitting down, and now A Qing had cleaned them up.
Throwing the dice—opening the cup. A Qing’s movements were much more skilled than Chen Jin’s. The results she opened caused both of them to lose everything, all full sixes. Even the few hundred yuan Chen Jin had just won was handed over.
“Thank you for the game.” Seeing that Chen Jin couldn’t produce any more cash, A Qing pursed her lips and smiled, asking, “Do the two little brothers wish to continue?”
Wu Zeng blankly felt his pockets. No money. Chen Jin was the same.
“Our little shop allows credit, but the interest… is calculated by the hour,” A Qing said with a smile, her eyes radiating a cold, poisonous light.
“Credit,” Wu Zeng uttered a single word, devoid of reason.
“What are you going crazy for? Let’s go!” Chen Jin slammed the table, stood up, and dragged Wu Zeng away.
“But this little brother already signed and stamped the contract,” A Qing said with a smile, pulling out a yellowed contract from her chest. On it was Wu Zeng’s vigorous signature.
It was impossible for the two of them to win money from her tonight. Chen Jin let go of Wu Zeng and slowly said, “I have money in my room. He stays, and I’ll get it for you.”
A Qing smiled and shook her head. She placed her hand on Wu Zeng’s arm, rubbing it back and forth twice before speaking. “Our interest is one hundred times, and we only accept cash.”
One hundred times two hundred yuan was twenty thousand. For two people, it was forty thousand. Chen Jin finally understood why Xiao Gang owed so much money. It turned out they were lending at ultra-high interest.
Chen Jin was slightly annoyed. He looked directly at A Qing and said, “Since you didn’t mention it beforehand, I can refuse to acknowledge it.”
A Qing pointed her slender, white finger behind her. A pink slip was stuck on the mottled wall behind them at some point: One Hundred Times Per Hour.
Chen Jin decided to throw caution to the wind. He forcefully pulled Wu Zeng up and asked, “What if I don’t pay?”
“We are a family of old, weak, sick, and disabled people. If you don’t pay, we can’t do anything about it,” A Qing smiled charmingly. “However, I don’t know what will happen to the mycelium in this little brother’s body.”
“What did you say!” Chen Jin questioned sharply.
It seemed there was a reason for all of Wu Zeng’s strange behavior.
“It’s literal,” A Qing slowly stood up and gently patted Wu Zeng’s shoulder. Wu Zeng obediently bent over to allow A Qing to touch him. “If the money isn’t repaid, and our family of old, weak, sick, and disabled people can’t eat or stay warm, then I won’t be able to control this mycelium. Mushrooms grow best where there is more water. I wonder if they like the blood inside the human body.”
“When did you put it in?”
“Naturally, sickness enters through the mouth.”
Chen Jin recalled the cup of tea Wu Zeng had drunk at the time and cursed inwardly. He immediately felt Wu Zeng’s body but found nothing unusual.
“Why don’t you check behind his ear?”
Chen Jin reached out as instructed. Sure enough, in an inconspicuous spot behind Wu Zeng’s ear, dense, thread-like growths had sprouted. They were very compact and soft to the touch. This sensation immediately gave Chen Jin goosebumps. He looked up again and saw that Wu Zeng’s pupils had turned white, like fish eyes that had been soaking for years.
Chen Jin’s face was cold as he asked in a deep voice, “So what do you want?”
“You just need to pay the money.” A Qing stared at Wu Zeng’s face and slowly uttered a few words. “If you don’t have the money, I can introduce you to a way to earn it.”
Working? It seemed the disappearances of those people were indeed related to her.
“What way?”
“Going to Sha Country to work,” A Qing said, emphasizing each word.
“Doing what?”
“You’ll know when you get there.”
Chen Jin wanted to say more, but A Qing gently patted Wu Zeng’s back, and he walked toward Chen Jin as if receiving an order.
“Go back and think about it for a night. I’m not in a hurry.” A Qing waved her hand at the two of them.
Thinking about it for another night would only increase the debt, wouldn’t it? In any case, if it didn’t work, they could just start over. Chen Jin gritted his teeth. “We’ll go!”
“Tomorrow at eight o’clock, meet at the entrance of Meiziqing,” A Qing smiled. “The time will be calculated until now, exactly one hour.”
Meiziqing again!
Chen Jin did not take Wu Zeng back to the Guesthouse. Instead, he turned toward Granny Liu Feng’s house on the edge of the village. For matters related to Meiziqing, perhaps learning from her was the best choice.
On the road, Chen Jin looked at the blank-eyed Wu Zeng, who was only focused on hurrying, and sighed helplessly.
“What are you sighing about?” A familiar voice came from beside him. The warm breath hit Chen Jin’s ear, making him shiver, and the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up.
He turned his face to look and saw that Wu Zeng had stopped at some point. Under the moonlight, his eyes were clear as if soaked in water. The previous muddiness had completely disappeared.