Early the next morning, I headed for Kaoshan Road. Since I had made the decision to face the whole situation head-on, I didn't want to waste any time. Unfortunately, the house near the ghost house was still a ruin; there was no sign of a shroud store. I stopped to think about my next move for a second, then flagged down a taxi and set off for the funeral goods street.

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There was an old, undeveloped street where it was common knowledge that funeral goods were sold. The families on this street would put two benches and a sign in front of their gate to do business, some would sell handicrafts such as small toys. Of course, most of them would sell funeral supplies, thus the locals would call it the funeral goods street.

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The taxi stopped at the street corner; there was no way for the car to get in without getting trapped. The narrow road was occupied by hawkers on either side and even if the car was be able to squeeze in, it would ha e a really difficult time getting back out.

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I paid the driver and got out of the car, following the crowds down the street. Today was market day and many people had come from the surrounding villages and towns. It was crowded and both sides of the road were practically paved with pieces of plastic sheeting which displayed assorted goods such as tiger bones and other folk medicine. Even many funeral stalls – practically abandoned most of the time – were crowded with people.

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I went directly to the largest funeral store in the middle of the street. I had been to this store before, but that was a few years ago. It looked as if it had been renovated recently; it was a lot cleaner than the other stores. There were many people inside, many of them wearing mourning clothing and sobbing.

I would have come another time if I’d known it was going to be this crowded. However, I was already there and I didn’t want to make the trip again, so I carefully passed through the stalls and stood in front of the Hall of Tianshou. After countless polite ‘excuse me’s and ‘pardon me’s, I finally made it into the store.

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The guy in the shop saw me in and gave me a look: "I'm sorry; there are a lot of people here today."

I nodded, then picked up a golden paper ingot. The quality of the golden paper ingots in this store was not bad. Although not as carefully made as that of the shroud shop next to the ghost house, it was better than a few of the other shops and stalls I’d passed. Compared to the other funeral good’s ingots, they seemed to be of superior quality. The ghosts in the ghost house would hopefully be satisfied.

I asked the shop assistant to give me a bag and began putting paper money and golden paper ingots inside. I felt like l needed to take more than last time to show my sincerity and commitment to the ghosts. I also hoped that it would guarantee my safety..

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When I was ready to pay and go about on my way, a man wearing a Chinese tunic suit who seemed to be the owner, looked at the things in my bag and handed me a business card. "Young man, I’m the owner of this store. Take this card and call me if necessary."

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I didn’t take the card, instead I just stared at the old man unhappily. Usually, funeral shop owners wouldn’t even greet customers out of respect, imagine the audacity of this guy to give out business cards for customers to call him. It was bad form, as if he was looking forward to the death of someone's family members.

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Seeing my reaction, the old man tapped his forehead, "Look at me, I must be confused… Young man, please don't mind me, you just don’t look like you’re in a good place, so I just...."

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Before the old man finished, I saw another man step out from behind the counter. He looked very similar to the man, but he was wearing casual clothes. The old man that was casually dressed pulled the other old man aside and said to me: “Young man, I'm sorry. This is my brother; don’t pay too much attention to him. Come, I’ll calculate the price for your purchases."

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This old man was sweet, even though I assumed it was all just customer service for the benefit of the business. I handed over the shopping bag and he punched a few buttons on his calculator. "Young man, it comes up to a total of 374 Yuan. Let’s make it 360 for you today."

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I nodded, paid for my goods, took the bag, and then took one last good look at the old man before walking out into the crowd.

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I couldn’t afford a taxi back; it had cost over three hundred yuan to buy the paper money and without my job, I had no steady source of income. Although I had saved some money over the past few years, it was only about ten thousand Yuan. At this point, I could only afford renting out a restroom, and a small one at that. It was obvious, that I’d have to start saving up money somehow. Luckily, the funeral street was not far from where I lived; it was just a 20 minute walk.

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I walked slowly down the street on my way home. I’d bought the paper money; that meant the first condition was fulfilled. As for the second one, I didn't really know how to prepare for it. How I was supposed to help a ghost find its skin?

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My real concern was about living in the ghost house. My mom came to my house at least once a week to help me clean up the place. If my mom found out that I wasn’t living there anymore, she would know something’s up.

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When I got home, I still hadn’t come up with an idea, so I decided to just put it off.

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Putting the papers and candles inside the cupboard, I hurriedly turned on my computer. Sure enough, a message from Xiaoru was waiting for me on WeChat. It had been sent a few hours back.

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Rujia Buddha: Hello?

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Rujia Buddha: I’m in the hospital for another examination, how boring.

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Rujia Buddha: They know I’ve been to the ghost house and now I’m grounded. I can’t go out for a while. Are you all right?

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Rujia Buddha: I lost my phone. This was sent to you from my younger brother's cell phone. I’ll contact you in a while.

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After reading the messages, I felt my heart soften. To be honest, although the time we spent together was very short, I felt as if I had known her for a long time. Sure, it also helped that she was beautiful.

I returned a message asking her about her health, but she didn’t reply. She must have returned the phone to her younger brother.

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Sitting in front of the computer, I didn’t know what else to do. Then I heard the front door open. I stood up quickly, but before I could reach the door, I saw Mom walking in carrying a bag of food. When she saw me, she said loudly, "Why aren’t you at work today? Come and help me with this."

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I quickly stepped forward to take the bag, "Mom, why are you here?" Mom usually came on Saturdays or Sundays. She didn't typically come here just to take care of Xue’er.

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Mom slumped her tired hands, "What, so I’m not welcome here? Last time I was here, I saw nothing in your fridge. I brought you something to eat, and stop eating instant noodles!" She frowned at the cup of instant noodles in the trash can.

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I shrank my neck and hurriedly carried the bag to the kitchen. I thought about how I was going to go about telling my mom that I was moving out. I certainly couldn't say I was moving to the ghost house.

When I returned, my mother was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Why didn't you go to work today?"

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An idea occurred to me, "The company wants me to go on a business trip. I’ll be away for a while, so they gave me two days’ leave to pack things."

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Mom frowned, "How long will it take?"

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I blurted out, "a month."

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Mom said, "Why so long? What for?”

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"It's not a business trip actually. It's a company training." I thought of a better explanation.

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Mom nodded. "What about your salary?"

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Ah, pay… I was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly replied, "As usual."

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Mother just nodded, "That’s good. Next month, Xue’er will take up dancing lessons. They cost 1000 Yuan. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? I bought so much food...”

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More than 1000 Yuan, that was so much money… Whatever, I could afford it. I quickly told my mom to take it back. Mom grumbled, helped me pack up a lot of clothes, and left.

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Now that I’d persuaded her I’d be gone, I would have to take things as they come. After all, I only had a month.

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