Chapter 441: Chapter 441: Every Bush and Tree Looks Like an Enemy
The immediate impact was that the workers at the slaughterhouse all took the day off, and several nearby factories also saw a significant number of absentees.
Usually, around six or seven in the morning, people would get up to go for a run, but now they didn’t dare to leave their homes. It was only after the sun came up that the town regained its usual bustle and noise.
Though everyone feared ghosts, for such a huge impact to be caused after just one night of rumors, it struck Zhang Dadan as a bit strange.
Zhang Dadan carried a teapot to the table of a few old men nearby and said with a smile, "Come, try this tea. It’s premium Dragon Well from before the Qingming Festival!"
The old men, who were chatting idly, saw Zhang Dadan being so courteous and immediately knew he had something to ask. They invited him to sit down and said, "Boss Zhang, you must be here to ask about something?"
Just after sitting down, Zhang Dadan was seen through by someone, feeling somewhat helpless, he smiled and said, "You really have divine foresight. Indeed, I wanted to ask you all about something..."
The old man sitting across from Zhang Dadan unceremoniously poured himself a cup of tea, sniffed it under his nose, and clicked his tongue in wonder.
"Are you here to ask about what happened last night?" the old man asked with a smile after taking a sip of the Dragon Well tea.
Zhang Dadan poured tea for the two old men on either side of him, then asked, "Just a little ghost incident, and it scared the whole town into a panic? Isn’t that... a bit far-fetched?"
"Far-fetched? Not at all!" The old man on Zhang Dadan’s left took a big gulp of tea and said sternly.
Before Zhang Dadan could ask, another old man, feeling sorry for the tea, scolded:
"Hu the Third, you uncouth brute, this is premium Dragon Well from before the Qingming Festival. How can you waste it like that?"
Zhang Dadan, eager to get information from them, generously promised, "I’ll get someone to bring you another pot. Just tell me what’s going on?"
Hu the Third, hearing this, felt emboldened and glared viciously at the old man on his left, saying, "This ghost business is no joke!"
"Over ten years ago, there was a ghost incident on that road, also involving a group of kids. Now they’ve come back. Tell me, isn’t that frightening?"
There was a ghost incident over ten years ago in the town? And it also involved a group of kids? That’s quite strange.
If these dead kids are the same group, where have they been hiding for the past decade? And why were they hiding? Why have they suddenly come out to cause trouble now?
Countless questions swirled in Zhang Dadan’s mind, leaving him puzzled yet unable to remain a bystander.
The old man sitting across from Zhang Dadan, seeing him deep in thought, smiled and said, "Boss Zhang, you probably weren’t even born when that ghost incident happened, so you wouldn’t remember!"
"How was the ghost incident resolved back then?" Zhang Dadan, knowing he had misunderstood, didn’t explain and directly asked about the outcome.
Before the old man could answer, Hu the Third interrupted, "I recall they invited a few Taoists."
"And they called the butchers from the slaughterhouse to help, and only then were the little ghosts suppressed. Who would’ve thought that after all these years, they would come back!"
Hearing this, Zhang Dadan couldn’t help but think of his father. According to the old men, his father should have been working at the slaughterhouse at that time. Why hadn’t he ever mentioned it?
Zhang Dadan furrowed his brows and asked, "Were those little ghosts very fierce back then? Why are the townspeople so terrified now?"
"Fierce? Of course they were fierce! They even killed a few people!" added the old man sitting across from Zhang Dadan.
So some people were killed back then? No wonder the townspeople are so on edge whenever ghosts are mentioned.
Although Zhang Dadan didn’t live in Stone Town often, his shop was there, and his customers were all townspeople.
If this ghost business continues to grow and spread, it would definitely affect his business.
He not only had to uphold justice but also for the sake of his business and money, he couldn’t let these dirty things run amok.
However, after learning the whole story and the events of more than ten years ago, Zhang Dadan found himself in a dilemma.
His dilemma wasn’t about whether he could handle the group of dead kids, but whether his father was involved in the whole affair.
The injury to his father’s lung was evidently not from an ordinary fight. Previously, Zhang Dadan had thought his father might have been injured by an expert from the Inner Sect.
Now it seemed more likely that he was injured by those dirty things. Otherwise, his father wouldn’t have been so respectful yet fearful of ghosts and avoided talking about the slaughterhouse.
After giving some instructions to little Li, Zhang Dadan got up and returned to Anping Village. He had to ask his father what had happened back then.
On the way back, Zhang Dadan, full of doubts, received a call from Wu Santong, who indirectly asked when he could bring the medicine over.
Only then did Zhang Dadan remember that he had promised to hurry back to the county today to treat Wu Dabao’s hand.
But some things were more urgent than others. For someone like Wu Dabao, letting him endure a bit more wouldn’t bother Zhang Dadan.
Moreover, the medicine for Wu Dabao wasn’t ready yet. Even if he went, he couldn’t apply the medicine. So Zhang Dadan decided to stand Wu Santong up.
On the other end of the call, Wu Dabao, informed by his grandfather that Zhang Dadan had delayed again, didn’t hesitate to think of him as a scammer.
As soon as Zhang Dadan returned to the village, he was surrounded by enthusiastic villagers, each taking turns to thank him, leaving him overwhelmed.
After barely dealing with the villagers, he returned home only to find his father wasn’t there but had gone to the factory to oversee work.
At this time, most villagers were chatting on the streets. Zhang Dadan dared not go out again and had to call his father to ask him to come home quickly.
Since Zhang Dadan had contracted the supply of soybean sauce needed for the factory to the villagers, giving them a chance to prosper.
As a result, while praising Zhang Dadan, the villagers started to flatter Wang Cuifen and her husband.
Wang Cuifen’s status and reputation in the village naturally rose greatly. Whenever she appeared on the street, she became the center of attention.
Thrilled by vanity, which is common among all women, Wang Cuifen being flattered and becoming the center of attention was all thanks to her son.
Thus, Wang Cuifen became even more attentive to her son, fearing even a slight displeasure and seeing his heavy expression, she comforted him:
"Dadan, Mom doesn’t understand your business, but no matter what it is, it will pass. Don’t be so glum!"
Thinking about how to deal with the group of dead kids, Zhang Dadan realized that he might have passed his anxiety onto his mother after hearing her comfort.
"Mom, don’t worry! I’m fine! I just want to ask Dad something!" Zhang Dadan reassured her.
Seeing that her son wasn’t facing any difficulties in his business, the clouds of worry on Wang Cuifen’s face immediately disappeared.
It didn’t take long for Zhang Yousheng to return from outside. As soon as he entered the main room, he asked, "Dadan, what’s wrong? What happened?"
Zhang Yousheng had now fully recovered and was in his prime, putting all his energy into the shiitake mushroom sauce factory.
Hearing his son urgently looking for him, he naturally assumed something had gone wrong with the mushroom sauce.