Chapter 4

Cang Qiong never wore his glasses in front of Kong Kong since then. And he decided to let Kong Kong eat well every day, wear warm clothes, and live happily forever!

On the same day, he sold the old washing machine for fifty yuan to the junk removal company and bought a fancy automatic washing machine with the money he saved from renting the place. Kong Kong said there was no need to waste money, but Cang Qiong refuted, “My heart would catch a cold whenever I see you put your hands into the cold water during winter…”

Cang Qiong also upgraded the refrigerator and TV. Because of his sudden expenditures, his pocket money almost ran out. Fortunately, it was the end of the month; so he could go home to receive his pocket money as well as to spend New Year’s Eve at home.

There were only three days off for the New Year holiday. Before leaving, Cang Qiong bought a box of instant noodles.

“Kong Kong, if you’re hungry, you can eat these instant noodles. I only left enough money with me for transportation. I’ll be back after three days and bring you something delicious to eat!”

“I’m already very happy to have instant noodles! Qiong Qiong, come back soon…”

“Got it. You can sleep on the bed while I’m not here; the bed is more comfortable…”

  “Ok!”

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Uydt Cksdt awccle Isdt Isdt’p blye yde vssj bkp cynjrynj.

Isdt Isdt pvsse sd vbl cyznsdu, oyvnbkdt Uydt Cksdt zlyhl wdvkz bl nswzed’v pll bkx… Rd qynv, oyvnbkdt Uydt Cksdt zlyhl qsa pnbssz lhlau xsadkdt oyp zkjl y nsxrwzpsau ynv qsa bkx…

&dcpr;&dcpr; Gv dktbv, vbl rbsdl oyp akdtkdt. Isdt Isdt osdelale oblvbla vs rknj kv wr sa dsv. Bzvkxyvlzu, bl rknjle wr vbl rbsdl.

“Tlzzs…” Rq kv olal psxlsdl lzpl, vblu oswzed’v cl yczl vs blya bkx.

“Wssz! Ebyv olal usw eskdt? Ebu olal usw ps pzso vs rknj wr vbl rbsdl?!”

Ebld bl blyae kv oyp qasx Uydt Cksdt, Isdt Isdt clnyxl elzktbvle.

“R vbswtbv kv oyp psxlsdl lzpl’p nyzzkdt!”

“Ebs lzpl oswze nyzz clpkelp xl?” – ‘yde tseqyvbla’.

   “You’re home?”

“Of course!”

  “Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“I called you as soon as I finished dinner.”

“It’s so nice to have a home…”

“Kong Kong…”

  “Uhn?”

  “Happy New Year.”

“Thank you! Happy New Year to you, too!”

“I am definitely happy because of you!”

Kong Kong thought, ‘Why are you talking more and more nonsense?’

Hanging up, Kong Kong got into bed… ‘What is my mother doing now? I’m so unfilial. I didn’t even think about my mother’s feelings when I resorted to suicide…Mom, where are you now?’

.

On January 3^rd, the New Year holiday ended.

 Kong Kong had been waiting on the balcony all day. Just past noon, he saw a familiar figure.

Cang Qiong carried a lot of bags as if he had just returned from a lengthy trip. Kong Kong couldn’t wait and jumped down to help him take the bags.

As soon as he entered the room, Cang Qiong put everything on the ground.

“These things are awfully heavy. Finally, I’m home…” Cang Qiong sat down on the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief.

Kong Kong poured a cup of warm water for Cang Qiong. ‘Flatter him first, and then there would be a lot of food to eat!’

Cang Qiong took out a small kit from his pocket, “Come here and try it on!” He then took out a sweater and jeans from the kit. Such a small bag could hold so many things!?

“These are my junior high school clothes. I burned them so you can wear them. I think when you died, your family didn’t burn your relics in this room, so you couldn’t receive them. Therefore, you had to run around in shorts in the middle of winter! Come here, try them on and see if they fit!”

Kong Kong was so moved. He took the beige sweater and looked at it for a long time. ‘This sweater was given by Qiong Qiong. I will cherish it!’ 

Cang Qiong smiled and thought: ‘If Kong Kong wears this sweater, he will be warm when I hug him, hehe…”

When he held a crying Kong Kong that day, Cang Qiong indeed felt cold.

“Qiong Qiong, these are your old clothes, right?”

   “Yes.”

“Then why is there a tag?”

“This…” Honestly, he made a special trip to the shopping malls to buy these clothes for Kong Kong. ‘Stunning and adorable Kong Kong should wear beautiful clothes. My old clothes are out of style, how could he wear them?’

 “Oh, those were bought by my godfather. My godfather was too stupid, the sizes were smaller than mine, so I kept it.”

(His godfather who was sitting in front of the bronze mirror, “I heard that, brat!”)

After Kong Kong put the clothes on, he looked more like a human. Cang Qiong pulled him into his arms and hugged him tightly. He squeezed Kong Kong and said, “It’s really comfortable to hug you now! Feels like I’m hugging a big pillow!”

‘It turns out that he takes me as a big pillow…’ Kong Kong thought dejectedly.

Kong Kong’s stomach started to growl.

“Did you run out of instant noodles?”

Kong Kong nodded. Cang Qiong immediately took out a lot of food from the bag and piled them in front of Kong Kong, “Here you go! These are BBQ pork buns from XingHuaLou! I went there and bought them for you!”

“Qiong Qiong, thank you!” Kong Kong threw himself into Cang Qiong’s arms and cried. Of course, Cang Qiong was happy to receive this hug.

.

The next several days weren’t easy for Cang Qiong. It was the examination period.

This exam period was essential and crucial for Cang Qiong ever since he entered the university. Cang Qiong started studying every night for his exams, working hard for his scholarship! ‘If I’m able to maintain my performance for this scholarship, I can buy more delicious foods for Kong Kong!’ the aspiring young man thought. 

After reading the whole night, Cang Qiong would always fall into Kong Kong’s arms and ask him to give him a relaxing massage on his head, or he would lay on the bed and ask Kong Kong for a full body massage. 

On the other hand, Kong Kong has found another habit for himself, he became an avid viewer of health TV programs.

After the final exams, it was winter vacation.

Cang Qiong had to go home for the Chinese New Year. Even though Cang Qiong wanted to stay at his place for a few more days, his parents had urged him to go home. His high school classmates have also invited him to a reunion party. In the end, Cang Qiong started to pack.

Before leaving, Cang Qiong went to the supermarket, wanting to fill the refrigerator with food!

“Kong Kong, these are frozen rice balls and dumplings; they must be boiled before eaten!” He knew that as long as Kong Kong was able to eat, he could stuff everything into his mouth no matter if it was raw or cooked. The most striking case was that Kong Kong once ate a c*ckroach. He caught it from out of nowhere, picked it up, and put it into his mouth! Cang Qiong told him to spit it out but he refused to do so. Cang Qiong was so angry he didn’t give him food for a day!

“I bought twenty eggs. You have to cook them before you eat them. There are also ham sausage, eight-treasure porridge, vacuum-packed duck, chicken, and beef… instant noodles are in the box on the kitchen floor, while the biscuits are in the desk drawer. The apples…”

Kong Kong kept replying with “Um” when he suddenly cried…

Cang Qiong took him into his arms, “Kong Kong, it’s only winter break. I’ll be back soon. Besides, I’ll call you!”

“Wooo…” Kong Kong began to act coquettishly, “Qiong Qiong, can you buy me a book?”

“What kind of book do you want?”

“Cooking books! I want to learn to cook!”

   “Ok.”

Qiong Qiong went to the bookstore. When he came back, he found that he was already too late. Even though there were still many cars in the city, the last bus to his home was already gone. So, he stayed for another night.

In the early morning, there was light snow dropping from the blue-gray sky. Cang Qiong quietly got up, left a shallow kiss on Kong Kong’s forehead, put on a scarf, and left. After leaving the building, through the light snow, he looked back at the balcony – Kong Kong wasn’t there. ‘He is sound asleep.’

That afternoon.

“Bad Qiong Qiong, uh… you didn’t even wake me when you left!” On the phone, Kong Kong started to lose his temper. Cang Qiong had no choice but to apologize.

“Kong Kong, I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“It doesn’t matter! It’s your fault!”

“Yes, yes, it’s my fault…” Cang Qiong didn’t know when he became so submissive?

His godfather ran into Cang Qiong’s room, with a few big calligraphy “Fu” (Fortune) and couplets in his hand.

“Qiong Qiong, let’s decorate the house with these couplets!”

Cang Qiong lowered his voice and said, “Kong Kong, I have to hang up, bye!” Without waiting for the other party’s response, he immediately hung up the phone.

“Qiong Qiong!!” – Kong Kong angrily hung up the phone.

“Godfather.”

  “What?”

“Do you know any spell that can allow suicidal ghosts to leave their place?”

“Yes. Why?”

  “Teach me!”

“Why do you want to learn it?”

“To inherit my father’s business, make my ancestors proud!”

“Be honest! Want to lie to me?”

Cang Qiong knew how powerful his godfather was, so he was merely joking with his answer “Godfather, it’s like this…” Cang Qiong told the whole story to his godfather, while his godfather would sometimes listen and sometimes not. Since he already knew more than half of the story since he was always in front of the bronze mirror peeping at them!

After he was done listening, his godfather yawned and took out an amulet, “Well, bring this to him, then you can take him out of the apartment!”

“I want to know how to make this amulet!”

“Your curiosity is impressively strong.”

‘Of course! So that I wouldn’t need to beg you again!’ Cang Qiong thought then asked, “Could you teach me?”

“Of course, these are just some boring little spells, but it’s better to learn some boxing skills first…”

During the winter break, Cang Qiong began to study his godfather’s spells desperately and learned a set of Taiji boxing – as his godfather advised, he should start slow. His godfather’s spells were very different from his father’s family technique. His dad was only good at surrounding demons and hunting ghosts, and knew some Feng Shui; on the contrary, his godfather knew everything!

.

Time surely flew. 

New Year’s Eve finally arrived. Kong Kong stood alone on the balcony and watched the brilliant fireworks in the night sky. Everyone was happy and every family was reunited.

“I am definitely a ‘Lonely Ghost’ now? Qiong Qiong must be having a delicious New Year’s Eve dinner now! What could be on his table?” The more Kong Kong imagined it, the hungrier he got. He suddenly saw a small white dot flying over. After it flew closer, he found that it was an origami crane and it lightly landed on Kong Kong’s shoulder.

Kong Kong took it down and found a small greeting card and a small firework stick on it. The greeting card was drawn by Cang Qiong, with two little people and the words “Kong Kong and Qiong Qiong” on it. There was also a line that said: ‘When you set off the sparkler, count up to three to the paper crane, so I can set off my fireworks at home at the same time as you.’

‘Qiong Qiong is still thinking of me! I am not alone!’  ——Kong Kong rushed into the kitchen and took out the lighter, counting to the origami crane: “One, two, three.”

“Cha!” The sparkler was lit, a dazzling light illuminated Kong Kong’s face. The few seconds of when the sparkler was burning seemed like a long hour to Kong Kong…

‘This is the happiest New Year’s Eve I’ve had since I was born. Thank you, Qiong Qiong.’ He thought. 

.

With the sparkler stick burned out in his hand, Cang Qiong seemed to see Kong Kong’s happy tears in the fireworks just now…

“Qiong Qiong, stop playing with those fireworks for children! Come down and set off the firecrackers!” his godfather shouted downstairs.

“Got it! Coming down now!” Cang Qiong clipped the sparkler stick into a book. The sparkler was small and short-lived, but it was more beautiful than any gorgeous firework display because it had emitted meaningful, and happy colors.

.

  The next morning.

Kong Kong heard some gossip from downstairs…

“Have you seen it? That haunted apartment was haunted again last night!”

  “What happened?”

“Someone saw a sparkler being set off on that balcony! But there was not even a shadow of a person!”