Chapter Thirty-Six: Strange Occurrences

Page 1/3

As always, at dawn he exercised on the balcony, swaying his body to loosen up, before heading downstairs. Surprisingly, breakfast had already been made today, and it was even prepared by Lan Chen. His parents were both eating, and it was clear the kid was trying to win them over with delicious food… Well, forget it. Jin Chen pretended not to notice, turned away, and went down another flight of stairs to take his electric scooter to work.

Such a long sigh to hide his tears.

Jin Chen felt a pang of sorrow for his parents.

This time there was no obstacle from Lan Chen, so Jin Chen’s commute was smooth. As usual, he rode to Prosperity Family Restaurant for breakfast.

In fact, last night Jin Chen was quite surprised to discover he had absorbed a few wisps of primordial energy from the surrounding air. Not much, but better than nothing.

Of course, being able to draw in primordial energy didn’t mean he’d stop eating at Prosperity Family Restaurant. After all, he’d already paid for three months in advance, and he could have all three meals there every day.

Qin Yang was as enthusiastic as ever—though, truth be told, she was equally warm to all the guests. Jin Chen was long used to this kind of hospitality.

After breakfast, he headed to his own specialty store. Along the way, he received a call from his father, who gave him a stern talking-to and told him not to take Lan Chen to Mount Emei. Apparently, things were a bit chaotic there lately, and he should be careful.

Jin Chen agreed repeatedly—he hadn’t planned on going to Mount Emei anyway.

But his father’s words piqued his curiosity, so he pulled out his phone and searched for news about Mount Emei.

According to the reports, there was nothing out of the ordinary—just some stories about ghosts and spirits, not unlike the local lightning storm in Old Town Xialake last time. Experts had come out to debunk the rumors, the usual programs made their rounds, and the general public was pacified.

But these explanations only fooled ordinary people. Practitioners like Jin Chen weren’t so easily misled.

What puzzled him was why his father didn’t just chalk these things up to the weather. Could it be that his father was also a practitioner? Yet Jin Chen had never felt the slightest trace of spiritual energy from his parents—they seemed no different from ordinary folk.

Strange, but regardless, Jin Chen had no intention of letting Lan Chen go to Mount Emei. At least in Xialake, he was close by. Mount Emei was too far, and cross-district enforcement was hardly convenient...

Now that primordial energy was returning to the world, anomalies would inevitably occur here and there. No need to make a fuss. In a few days, Jin Chen might even stage an anomaly himself. After all, he was already at the Qi Stabilization stage, not far from the Spirit Consolidation stage that summoned the tribulation lightning. Though this gap could trap a person for a lifetime, Jin Chen fancied himself a man with a golden finger—how could he be stuck for long?

A real man never fears the lightning tribulation!

Arriving at the store, he surveyed the situation and took attendance after nine o’clock.

Page 2/3

The morning passed smoothly. Two orders were completed—a stone-carved tea table and a sofa set. Not a bad performance.

At noon, Jin Chen went to Prosperity Family Restaurant for lunch.

His morning was as uneventful as always, a monotonous routine with little excitement.

After all, it wasn’t every day that monsters besieged the city or terrorists set off bombs. This was China, not America—here, peace prevailed.

On his return, Zhang Hui came by for a chat, joined by Li Han. The three of them gossiped about trivial neighborhood matters—whose electricity had been pilfered, whose water pipe had burst, that sort of thing.

Of course, there were also tales of someone running into a wild-haired female ghost on the street. At this, Jin Chen instinctively glanced at Zhang Hui—after all, he was the only one on this street with a ghostly wife. So, this disheveled ghost was most likely his spouse.

But Zhang Hui simply shook his head...

It seemed this was just a wandering spirit. A proper send-off ritual should help her find peace, though who knew if the underworld still existed these days.

The chat circled aimlessly for half an hour before Zhang Hui was summoned back to his shop to cook wontons and stir-fried rice noodles. That left Li Han and Jin Chen alone to converse.

This kind of conversation was delicate. With three, it was easy to maintain balance, but with only two, the atmosphere changed. After ten minutes, they each found an excuse to part ways.

Actually, a customer arrived, providing a convenient exit from their awkward small talk.

Jin Chen had long noticed Li Han’s affection for Zhang Hui. At first, he thought she treated Zhang Hui just like any other man she’d met in a bar—use them and toss them aside. But to his surprise, this remarkable woman truly fell for him.

Perhaps it was because Zhang Hui was too aloof. Deep down, his heart belonged only to his ghostly wife, and even if he had other inclinations, she was always watching. How could Zhang Hui dare to make a move? Imagine if, in the heat of the moment, his ghostly wife suddenly appeared—he’d be so terrified he’d wilt on the spot.

Well, all this was just Jin Chen’s wild speculation. What he could see was that Zhang Hui genuinely loved his ghostly wife.

And Li Han saw this too. That’s precisely why the allure of a devoted, widowed man was so great for a woman yearning for true love. As vast as the Pacific, as deep as the Mariana Trench!

Of course, all this depended on the man’s looks. If not that, then wealth or talent—some essential prerequisite was necessary.

Otherwise, imagine if Pigsy, after losing Gao Cuilan, would have any admirers?

Page 3/3

Well, perhaps Pigsy wasn’t exactly the epitome of devotion…

No matter, another example: if Wu Dalang lost Pan Jinlian, would any woman fancy him?

Maybe his brother, Wu Song, had a chance, but Wu Dalang? Not likely.

“What on earth am I thinking about?” Jin Chen shook his head, and just then, his phone rang.

It was his mother.

The call was brief: a specialty store manager had suffered a tragedy—his son had suddenly died. She told Jin Chen to accompany her to the condolence visit later.

...

At five in the afternoon, after delegating a few tasks to Li Han, Jin Chen got into his parents’ car. They had already purchased the necessary condolence gifts. All Jin Chen had to do was lend a hand when needed.

All the owners of Jinlan Furniture specialty stores had been notified, as well as the senior executives in charge of furniture at headquarters.

Jin Chen gathered some details from his parents.

It seemed the store manager’s son, on his way to school the previous day, suddenly dashed into the street and was killed by a car.

By rights, the boy was already in middle school—he knew all the traffic rules and wouldn’t do anything so foolish. Yet it happened.

Having heard the story, Jin Chen was convinced there was more to this than met the eye.

…