"There is a bride in my neighbor`s home. She died, now the neighbor`s home is thriving. The matchmaker introduced another bride to my neighbor, they started their wedding then.
"The wedding hall is bright, the bride and bridegroom live a long life together."
I listened to her nursery rhyme song; it was like some story.
It was a little scary for me.
Then Feng Chunsheng patted her on the shoulder and said: "Stop."
"The wedding hall is bright…" Lei Qiaoqiao was so happy singing, but she stopped immediately as he touched her. She gave a look to Feng Chunsheng, then suddenly fainted.
I hurried to get her up.
Feng Chunsheng told me: "It's the last two days now, and that red ghost must be following her. We had better stay with her in the shop tonight. It would be very bad if something happened."
I also thought so, and I told Lei Qiaoqiao we'll take her back to the shop, and would ask her what happened when she woke up.
I carried her on my back to the tattoo shop and put her on the tattoo couch.
Then Feng Chunsheng and I sat on the chairs with all the lights on. We stayed with Lei Qiaoqiao in order to not let that red ghost disturb her.
We stayed up till midnight.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
We started feeling very sleepy after midnight.
Around twelve fifteen, we lay down on the table and fell asleep.
I didn't know how long we had been sleeping when we suddenly heard the nursery rhyme again.
"There is a bride in my neighbor`s home. She died, and now the neighbor`s home is thriving. The matchmaker introduce another bride to my neighbor, they started their wedding then.
The wedding hall is bright, the bride and bridegroom live a long life together."
I was disconcerted hearing the song, and opened my eyes immediately.
But this time, I was clever and didn't look up, but squinted at her. What was she doing there?
Lei Qiaoqiao was wrapped in a piece of red cloth, sitting beside the mirror next to the tattoo couch. She was singing the nursery rhyme and putting something on her lips.
Damn, I checked carefully… and found it was some dye from my shop.
After she thoroughly painted her lips red, she continued to sit there.
Then, she suddenly scolded herself: "Damn, how could you seduce my man? I will hit you, hit, hit."
She started slapping her own face again and again.
It made a 'pop' sound.
It was rather loud, but I could see that Lei Qiaoqiao didn't really want to slap herself.
She was like a puppet, and someone was holding her hands and slapping her face from behind her.
The 'pop' sound again.
Lei Qiaoqiao seemed to have weak hands, but she had amazing strength and slapped her face bloody red, slapping again and again.
Well, I really didn't think it was a good idea… Could I let Lei Qiaoqiao be beaten to death like that?
Suddenly I stood up and shouted at her: "Damn you, get out of here."
I shouted fiercely and Lei Qiaoqiao abruptly turned back. She looked at me and giggled, "You liked her?"
"Of course I do, she was my friend long ago," I replied.
"Hee-hee-hee… That's good. I will kill her first, and then you." Suddenly, she grabbed her own neck.
It was that red female ghost controlling Lei Qiaoqiao, trying to make her kill herself.
I was angry and shouted: "Why do you want to kill her? Any reasons?"
"Hee-hee-hee…"
Then came the nursery rhyme again: "The wedding hall is bright, the bride and bridegroom live a long life together."
It looked terrible, but I didn't know what to do.
Then, a voice suddenly came from outside: "I am Chen Yuhao of Tianshui, now just get out of her, ghost spirit."
Hearing this sound, Feng Chunsheng got up immediately and hurried out to open the door.
Damn… Feng Chunsheng was pretending to be sound asleep there.
When Chen Yuhao came, Lei Qiaoqiao screamed in pain.
Then she fainted and I saw a red shadow slip into the slit of the window.
I could imagine how powerful Chen Yuhao was… Even an evil ghost like the red woman got so scared after just hearing his name.
By then, Feng Chunsheng had already opened the door. Chen Yuhao was standing there holding a signboard. What a cool man he was.
"Tianshui, it must be from Gansu, right?" So Chen Yuhao was from Gansu.
He stood at the door and called me: "Mr. Yu… are you satisfied with this signboard?"
He patted heavily on the signboard.
Pengpengpeng…
The signboard made a dull sound. The material was good and made from copper.
Chen Yuhao turned it back, and I saw the words on the board: "The Great Tattoo."
I just gasped when I saw those words.
This signboard was not an ordinary one. It came from a very famous tattoo studio in Beijing, but how did Chen Yuhao get it?
Chen Yuhao told me he would smash the signboard whenever he was not satisfied with a tattoo, but he didn't smash this one because he liked it so much.
Now he gave me this signboard.
I put my fists on my hips and said: "this is a good signboard."
"Good, I will hang up it for you."
He jumped up and hung it for me on the lintel with only one hand: "You deserve it; The Great Tattoo."
Feng Chunsheng just clapped: "Well, Mr. Chen… We were very lucky; we would have died here if you hadn't come today."
Chen Yuhao smiled. He went inside the studio and sat on a chair, then he removed the box on his back and put it on the desk, saying: "Get your own business first."
Then closed his eyes to have a rest on the chair.
I hurried and took Lei Qiaoqiao up.
She forced herself to open her eyes to look at us, and asked: "Where am I now?"
"Don't ask me questions." I told her she might die tomorrow.
Lei Qiaoqiao was shocked and asked me why.
I asked her why she had such questions… "Just tell me if you offended anybody."
She was silent.
Then I continued: "If you tell me now… I will help you and give you a Yin and Yang tattoo to resist that ghost. But if you don't tell me, you may die tomorrow."
Forced by the treat of death, she didn't resist and told us her story.
Before she talked, she told me: "Please don't look down on me once I've told you this."
I asked her to tell me the story first.
Lei Qiaoqiao said she knew a man named Chen Zhixin two years ago. He was tall, handsome, and knowledgeable, and could understand so many things. She finally accepted him since he was also such a romantic.
Then they fell in love very quickly.
After half a year, Lei Qiaoqiao saw his chat record and she was surprised to find out that…
Chen Zhixin was a married man.
He had been cheating with her for half a year.
Without hesitation, Lei Qiaoqiao straightened things out with Chen Zhixin.
Chen Zhixin was a very talkative man full of flourishes. He said to Lei Qiaoqiao: "To be honest, I didn't love my wife, I married her just because of her family's property. I hate her, and you are the only person I love… So, please give me half a year's time, so that I would divorce with her and marry you, OK?"
Lei Qiaoqiao thought for a while, and she forgave Chen Zhixin and still stayed with him since she loved him so much.
After that, Lei Qiaoqiao would remind him about the divorce matter with his first wife each month.
But each time, Chen Zhixin would find an excuse and explain to her: "Sorry, Qiaoqiao, I can't divorce like this, or else, I would lose my property and money. I am now transferring my wife's money, so please give me more time, OK?"
Lei Qiaoqiao didn't agree, but she had to accept since Chen Zhixin was so charismatic.
Chen Zhixin told her he would travel with her all around the world once he had divorced his wife. He was transferring his wife's money, just preparing for the future world travelling.
Another year passed…
Chen Zhixin didn't divorce and continued to cheat with Lei Qiaoqiao.
Lei Qiaoqiao even told Chen Zhixin: "Just stay with me and forget the money… I am a program designer with a high salary, I am a rich woman."
But he didn't accept that and fobbed her off with empty promises.
Another six months had passed just last week.
Then Lei Qiaoqiao had an idea. It was an insidious trick.
She felt that she had no time to waste on him and wanted a choice from Chen Zhixin.
She'd give him two choices: her, or his first wife.
He would have to choose one.
With this decision, Lei Qiaoqiao drove to Chen Zhixin's home.
"So, you killed his wife? His wife became an innocent ghost and disturbed you?" Feng Chunsheng asked her.
She shook her head and said: "I would never have the courage to kill anybody. I was there not for Chen Zhixin's property but only for an answer, so how could I kill her?"
"So what did you do in her home?" I asked her.