Ghost Says - Extra 1

The man woke up at exactly seven in the morning. In the past, at this time, he would still have been asleep.

However, he thought he would soon get used to it.

The man walked into the bathroom. For him now, taking a shower was undoubtedly the most effective way to wake himself up.

The man stood naked under the water. His skin, slightly paler than that of Asians, had a pearl-like luster under the water flow. The man had a good physique, his body proportions were the best embodiment of the golden ratio.

Muscles were evenly distributed throughout his body, expressing strength in an elegant and understated manner.

After rinsing, the man wrapped a towel around his waist and began shaving in front of the mirror.

The face that appeared in the mirror had deep-set features. His near-brown hair, dripping with water, clung to his neck. Upon closer inspection, his eyes were a lighter shade of brown than most people’s.

This was an outstanding face. Looking at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, he gave his evaluation.

He was quite satisfied with his new appearance.

Walking out of the bathroom, after changing into his clothes, he also smelled the aroma of fried eggs.

This was the best-rated thing Qiao Gang had made.

The man looked at Qiao Gang, who was wearing an apron and holding a spatula, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Taking the plate from his hand, the man casually picked up the soy milk on the table and took a sip. Turning back, he saw Qiao Gang’s strange look, and the man smiled and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“You didn’t drink soy milk before.”

“… Is that so? I don’t remember.” He thought for a moment and said, “I find it tastes good now.”

A vein on Qiao Gang’s forehead showed signs of throbbing, “What I meant was… that cup was mine.”

The man blinked, “Okay, I’ll give it back to you.”

Qiao Gang looked at the cup that was only half full and quickly said, “Never mind, you can share one of your sausages with me later.”

The man nodded in agreement, and Qiao Gang squinted his eyes in satisfaction.

The man picked up the cup and took another sip.

“After breakfast, I need to go out for a while. If you have any place you want to go, I’ll drop you off first.”

After leaving the hospital, the man had been recovering for several months and his body had improved a lot. But the recovery after surgery was an extremely long process. From initially not being able to hold chopsticks steadily, to now being able to walk without support, Qiao Gang was already very satisfied.

“Where are you going?”

Qiao Gang was silent for a moment and said, “… Qing Yuan.”

Qing Yuan was a cemetery in the western part of the city.

It was a resting place for the deceased, where tens of thousands of souls had already been buried, and more would move in in the future.

The human body was like a house, and the souls that moved out always needed to find a new place to dwell.

The man also fell silent, finished the last sip of soy milk, and said, “I’ll go with you.”

Qiao Gang glanced at him and lowered his head to pick up the sausage on the plate.

After breakfast, the two went downstairs together, with Qiao Gang carrying a black bag.

After getting in the car, the man sat in the passenger seat, and Qiao Gang leaned over to fasten his seatbelt.

Smelling the same shower gel fragrance on the other person as on himself, a smile rippled in the man’s light brown eyes.

Qiao Gang drove with concentration, his expression serious, eyes fixed straight ahead.

The man was not able to drive, so on days when he wanted to go somewhere, Qiao Gang would always drive him.

Qiao Gang had always liked cars, and he certainly wouldn’t refuse the opportunity to test drive someone else’s car.

When they arrived at Qing Yuan, standing in front of Jian Xia’s grave, looking at the vibrant and lively face in the photograph, Qiao Gang stood quietly for a long time.

From the moment he stepped into the cemetery, he hadn’t said a word.

He silently took out a small broom from the bag he was carrying, swept away the dust and fallen leaves in front of the tomb, then silently took out a package of incense, candles, and joss paper. He lit the incense and burned the paper.

Green smoke rose in curls, obscuring the radiant smile on the face of the man in the photograph.

Qiao Gang threw a pack of cigarettes into the fire and said, “He loved two things in his daily life: one was chasing girls, and the other was smoking. This was his favorite brand.”

The man just stood beside him, silently watching.

“This guy had a frivolous appearance and never seemed to take things seriously, but he was a good person.”

Qiao Gang looked at the paper ashes burning white in the fire, speaking about his friend now sleeping underground in a somewhat flat tone.

“When my mother passed away, I didn’t even have money to buy a burial plot. When he found out, he immediately handed me his only savings book without a second word.” He pressed his lips together, his mind drifting back to how Jian Xia looked when he died.

“… I was the one who harmed him.”

The man reached out his hand and gently placed it on his shoulder. The man’s palm was very warm, bringing a touch of warmth on this somewhat cold morning.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“… You don’t know.”

Indeed, the man didn’t know. He had forgotten all about the past very cleanly.

Qiao Gang lit a cigarette and said to the person in the photo, “You rascal, I’ll have one last smoke with you.”

The man beside him frowned slightly. He knew that Qiao Gang didn’t smoke.

After slowly finishing a cigarette, and burning half of the joss paper he had brought, Qiao Gang put the rest back in the bag.

Seeing the man’s puzzled look, he said, “Xiaoyu is also here. I want to go spend some time with her.”

Xiaoyu’s grave wasn’t far from here. Qiao Gang quickly arrived at her graveside.

The girl’s radiant smile leapt out from the tombstone. Qiao Gang’s fingers brushed over the cold stone, as if caressing the girl’s smooth cheek.

“Xiaoyu, I’m here.”

Qiao Gang stayed at the grave for a long time, so long that the sun that had just risen when they arrived was now directly overhead.

“The first time I met Xiaoyu was on the way to xx City. At that time, she was out playing with friends, and their car broke down halfway. She looked a bit pitiful standing beside the car.”

“I helped fix the car, and then she thanked me. At that time, I didn’t know that I would meet her again a few days later, let alone that she would become my girlfriend half a year later.”

Qiao Gang’s face was unusually gentle, with a hint of sweetness.

The man’s hand holding the joss paper tightened slightly, leaving faint fingernail marks on the soft paper.

“I liked her very much.”

He looked at the smiling face of the girl in front of him, thinking about what might have been the happiest time in his life.

But those days would never return. Just as she would never wake up again, never show him that bright and gentle smile from the photograph.

“I let her down,” Qiao Gang said softly.

“That’s why I didn’t dare to come see her before. During that time, every time I closed my eyes, I saw her bloodied appearance.”

The man didn’t speak, just stood silently behind him.

“I swore I would find the person who harmed her, but I… broke my promise.”

“You hate him a lot, don’t you?”

Qiao Gang knew who “he” referred to. How could he not hate him? That person’s hands were stained with the blood of the two people closest to him left in this world. How could he not hate him? What reason did he have not to hate?

But he knew… his heart wasn’t hard enough.

His feelings towards that person were too complex…

In Qiao Gang’s life, he had received very little help. His character was strong-willed and proud, and he usually refused to show weakness to others. Even when his mother was seriously ill, he hadn’t asked anyone for help, gritting his teeth and enduring it alone. So when he did receive help, it touched him more deeply than most.

When you receive kindness from others, if you can’t repay it with your flesh, you should at least repay it with flowing springs.

If it weren’t for Song Yuan, he might not have had those last two years with his mother.

Because of him, his mother had lived on, but also because of him, Jian Xia and Xiaoyu had died.

Should he hate him or should he be grateful to him?

In the end, what he remembered most was Song Yuan’s sad, desperate, and unwilling look when he died.

“… I don’t know.” In the end, Qiao Gang could only utter these words helplessly.

A flash of indecipherable light quickly passed through the man’s eyes.

When the last piece of joss paper turned to ashes in the fire, Qiao Gang stood up. “Let’s go.”

The man nodded, seeing the white paper ash on Qiao Gang’s hair, and gently brushed it away with his hand.

Qiao Gang cooperated by standing still. His eyes, previously irritated by the smoke, were slightly red and moist. The man suppressed the urge to lick them.

“It’s done.”

After tidying his hair, Qiao Gang smiled at him, then brushed off the white ash on the man’s shoulder. The two walked out of the cemetery together.

It was autumn now, and all the green leaves on the trees had turned yellow and fallen to the ground, forming a thick layer. Every step made a crisp crackling sound, which grew fainter as the two left. Finally, only the tombstone with the girl’s bright smiling face remained, standing there quietly and lonely.

As the man got into the car, he glanced back towards the cemetery, and then on that face with deep, elegant features, he revealed a pleased, even delighted smile.

He’s finally mine, what can you do to compete with me now?

Looking at Qiao Gang urging him to get in the car, the man’s smile became increasingly gentle.

The wind gently blew up the fallen leaves on the ground, swirling them up into the air. In that howling wind, if one listened carefully, there seemed to be a faint sound of a girl crying.

As the wind faded away, that sound became inaudible.