Chapter 38 – What a scum. – The Potato Room

They went up to the thirteenth floor uneasily, and pressed 1302’s doorbell.

For some time after they rang the doorbell, nobody came to open the door, and just as they thought that nobody was home, the door opened with a ‘clack’. A chubby middle-aged woman reluctantly opened the door, “who? Keep pressing the doorbell – the hell you pressing for?!”

Lu Chu retreated slightly to avoid being splashed by the woman’s saliva, then took a closer look at her appearance. Even though she had gained weight, Lu Chu still managed to recognise her, and he said decisively, “you’re Liu Cuihe.”

When Liu Cuihe heard this, she immediately showed a suspicious expression, then looked at Lu Chu and asked, “who are you?”

please read this at the potato room! more translations like this can be found there!

Lu Chu gave a slight smile, “I’m from the same hometown as you. Do you know Lu Guoming? I’m his grandson.”

Liu Cuihe recalled for a moment, then asked suspiciously, “Uncle Lu’s grandson?”

“Yes,” Lu Chu still maintained his cordial smile, “the reason we came to find you today is because there’s something we have to confirm with you.”

“You’re looking for me for something?” Liu Cuihe was puzzled, then seemed to have thought of something and tried to close the door, “no time, no time! I’m busy! Go back to wherever the hell you crawled out from!”

Song Gui had predicted her action and blocked the door with a wicked smile, “Auntie, you must cooperate with us today.”

sorry to readers who use mtl translations or readers, but this is copy protection. Simply erase the parts that don’t match the original on the site for MTL.

Liu Cuihe pointed towards Lu Chu, who she felt looked the easiest to bully, and scolded, “who the hell do you think you are, daring to act so tough with me?!”

Qi Li frowned and used his hand to pushed the door open strongly. At this moment, Liu Cuihe’s whole body was leaning on the door, and his movement caused Liu Cuihe’s centre of gravity to become unstable as she almost fell to the ground. Just as Liu Cuihe wanted to scold him after she stood firm again, she ended up frightened by his fierce gaze.

Everybody woke up early, and Li Jiapeng and Song Gui first went to Wei Rong’s home, to see if she planned to run to Granny Wang’s place, while Lu Chu, Qi Li, and He Mingde prepared some tools that they might need to use. If Wei Rong went to Granny Wang’s place before Lu Chu and the rest finished their preparation, then they would go to Wei Rong’s place and check through the storage room, if not, they would rush to the city, and look for Liu Cuihe

Qi Li looked at her and said a word at a time, “please pay attention to your words.”

The three of them organised two backpacks, and placed everything that they thought would be of use in it. Also, after they ran to the city yesterday, Granny Lu didn’t feel at ease, and went to Granny Wang and a spiritual woman from a further village to ask for things that were supposed to contain ghosts. He Mingde laughed and said that they were like wizards getting all dressed up and going off to fight the devil. When Lu Chu heard it, he said at least it was a wizard with things that would work.

Liu Cuihe was so scared she froze in place, and the others took advantage of this time to look at the room.

On the other side, Li Jiapeng quickly replied, “Wei Rong went out in an odd manner, and turned towards another street. It seems like she’s going over to Granny Wang’s and probably won’t be back for a while, quickly, you guys come over!”

Li Jiapeng rubbed his arms, and said in astonishment, “woah, amazing.”

He Mingde nodded in agreement, he knew, that Li Jiapeng’s ‘amazing’ meant this room, as it was really too messy, and didn’t seem like a person could live in it at all. There was a greasy feeling when they stepped on the ground, and it could be seen how unhygienic they were.

While they were looking around, Liu Cuihe returned to her sense and was just about to start scolding, when she heard Lu Chu ask her, “do you know Guo Jianping?”

Liu Cuihe was taken aback, and immediately felt guilty. She asked in an evasive manner, “what do you mean? Are you guys here to look for trouble? I’m warning you that I’m going to call the police!”

Lu Chu said, “you only have to answer yes or no.”

“So what if I do?” Liu Cuihe shouted.

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“Twenty years ago,” Lu Chu asked slowly and solemnly, “Lin Lin’s death, how much do you know?”

Upon hearing this, Liu Cuihe widened her eyes, “what Lin Lin, I don’t know! I don’t know her at all!”

This was when the accident happened—

Like a trance, everybody instantly felt dizzy, and the wallpaper started to fade from the top to bottom, and the scene in front of them slowly changed into Guo Jianping’s house. This time, the courtyard and rooms were very clean, not messy and dirty like it became after Wei Rong turned crazy, and this obviously was the Guo house from twenty years ago.

They were stunned for a moment and walked into the house, with Liu Cuihe following behind them in a trance. After entering the room, they only saw a beautiful young woman resting on the table and writing a diary, and she looked exactly like how Lin Lin looked like in the photo.

The young Lin Lin didn’t seem to be able to see them, so the few of them came up to see what she was writing—

Hanging up the phone, He Mingde looked at Lu Chu and Qi Li, “Wei Rong went out.”

He Mingde and Qi Li each took a couple of small shovels and followed behind.

“Did Jianping really not lie to me? I’m starting to suspect more and more that he has someone outside, if not, why would he become more and more indifferent towards me, and beat and scold me? It’s definitely because of some woman outside.

Song Gui took his tools and said, “she’s left for some time. Let’s move quickly, Lu Xiaochu, you’ll be doing it based on your feeling. Wherever you think has a weird smell, or looks weird, we’ll dig at that spot.”

“No, I have to check it out.”

As too many murders had been happening in the village these past few days, the ones that could move away moved, as for those that couldn’t, they would close their doors even in the daytime. This ensured that the villagers didn’t see Lu Chu and the others’ strange behaviour.

Then, she put down her pen, looked towards the distance, and fell into contemplation for a long time.

Lu Chu looked at the words she wrote, and confirmed that this was the last paragraph in the notebook they had found. They had guessed then that after she wrote this sentence, Lin Lin died.

They looked each other, and their eyes were full of realisation.

And Liu Cuihe stood on the spot, with a confused expression, and mumbled, “this…… this is……”

Just at this time, the young Guo Jianping walked in with a cold expression on his face.

Lin Lin saw him and immediately smiled, “Jianping, you’re back? Just nice, I’ve just finished cooking.”

Unscrambled this text @ the p o t a t o room!

Guo Jianping washed his face with a basin and said, “en, I’ll still be going out after eating, I have to give students tuition tonight.”

“En?” Lin Lin asked doubtfully, “you have tutoring tonight too?”

“En.” After that, Guo Jianping, with an ‘I’m very busy and I don’t want to talk about it’ expression sat at the dining table, and shouted at Lin Lin, “what are you standing about in a daze for?! Where’s dinner?!”

Lin Lin jolted, mumbled something, then went to the kitchen and brought the hot food up.

The two of them finished their meal in silence, Guo Jianping stood up, and casually said, “I’m going. Go to sleep after washing the dishes, there’s no need to wait for me.”

Then he left their house.

The storage room wasn’t that big, and it would be a waste for five people to go in, moreover, it couldn’t fit all of them. Thus, they decided to let Lu Chu judge where they should search, and leave behind two people to search in the storage room. Out of the three remaining, one would be on the lookout, and two would go to the main north room, where they didn’t have time to see the previous time.

Lin Lin subconsciously listened to him and went to wash the dishes, before she remembered that she wanted to see what Guo Jianping was doing, and immediately got up to run out.

Lu Chu and the rest quickly got ready to keep up with her, when they saw Liu Cuihe frozen on the spot, with her face full of fear. She couldn’t help but continuously mumble, “Amitabha…… Amitabha……”

Li Jiapeng joked, “there aren’t many people left in the village, and if Wei Rong returns, she’s just a crazy woman. The five of us are men, why do we need a lookout for? Can’t we just meet her head on?”

They glanced at each other, and just when they as thinking of bringing her along too, they saw how Liu Cuihe suddenly became controlled by something, and with a dull expression, an empty gaze, and wide eyes, her feet followed the young Lin Lin step by step behind her.

Li Jiapeng shook his head, “no need, no need, you think too highly of me. I’ll get nightmares if I meet her head on……”

Li Jiapeng was already afraid, and started to tremble even more upon seeing this, he looked around, placed his hands together and whispered, “big sis, we’re here to help you…… please don’t get angry……”

Then, he also followed Lu Chu and the rest out.

As Lin Lin had come out late, she couldn’t find Guo Jianping, and could only walk towards the direction of the school.

At the same time, Lu Chu and the rest saw that it wasn’t walls that surrounded the road that they were walking on, but Lin Lin’s memories.

From these memories, Lu Chu learned that since Lin Lin and Guo Jianping got married, she never went to the school again, and put her whole heart into their home. Guo Jianping was an intellect, and he knew nothing about farming or housework, and the work at home and in the fields were handled by Lin Lin alone. Although she was tired, but she looked very happy to finally have her own family.

The Lin Lin in front of them walked to the school quickly, and found out that the classroom door was unlocked, and both the classroom and office had their lights off. She hesitated for a moment and pushed the door open, and just she as approached a couple of rooms, Lin Lin, Lu Chu, and the rest all heard several pants. When she heard this, Lin Lin quickened her pace, and walked near the door of the room that was used as a rest area. The houses of that time were far less soundproof than they were today, the clear sound of a man and woman gasping came from the inside, and mixed in was the sound of a man and a woman laughing happily.

Check out the original site @ the p o t a t o room for footnotes and explanations.

Lin Lin was already very angry, and she tried to push the door open, but found out that the door was locked from the inside, so she started to bang against the door, knock. The loud ‘bam, bam, bam, bam’ sounds were particularly obvious at night, and the gasping and slapping sound suddenly stopped. Even so, still, nobody came to answer the door, and Lin Lin was so angry she started to cry and shout, “Guo Jianping! Guo Jianping, open the door! Open the door!”

Another moment passed, and finally, there was the sound of footsteps coming from the distance, then somebody opened the door from the inside, and the man who came out was indeed Guo Jianping.

Guo Jianping came out in a hurry, and didn’t manage to wear his clothes properly, and because the lights weren’t on in the room, Lin Lin tried to lean in and see who the woman was in the moonlight, but Guo Jianping pulled her away.

“You’re good, aren’t you, Guo Jianping,” Lin Lin cried until her eyes turned hazy, “I cook and clean for you at home, and handle everything, but you cheat on me here?! Who’s that woman inside?!”

Truthfully, Li Jiapeng was correct. As long as Wei Rong wasn’t possessed by anything strange, it was during the bright daylight, and the five of them have no reason to be afraid of a mentally disturbed woman. However, it was better to have lesser problems, and Wei Rong’s thinking couldn’t be judged by normal people’s standards, so it would be better to avoid her.

Guo Jianping had a bored and disgusted expression on his face, “it’s late at night, be quiet!”

“I won’t! I’ll shout out loud, and let the other villagers judge, and see what kind of man you are! Tell me, who the woman inside it! If you don’t tell me, I’ll start shouting!”

Song Gui asked, “are you sure it isn’t the smell of the toilet next door?”

Guo Jianping was afraid that she would really call someone over, so he ignored his own image, and quickly covered her mouth, then dragged her out of the school.

The labour ended up being divided like this; Lu Chu and Qi Li would check the main north house, Song Gui and He Mingde would check the storage room, while Li Jiapeng would be responsible for being on the lookout. Although Li Jiapeng was somewhat timid, but he tended to be more careful, and his eyesight was also good, thus it would be the most appropriate for him to be on the lookout.

Lin Lin kept struggling, and tried to break free of him, but she ended up receiving a couple of slaps. The two of them passed by the young village chief’s house – of course, he wasn’t the village chief at that time. He heard the movement, came out of the house to ask, “what’s the matter?”

Guo Jianping gave an embarrassed smile, “she’s having a quarrel with me.”

When the village chief heard this, he said, “a woman, it’s nothing.”

After that, he helped Guo Jianping bring Lin Lin back home.

Guo Jianping only released his hand on Lin Lin after they returned home, and when Lin Lin saw the village chief, she immediately complained and said, “big brother¹Not real brother. Brother is a way to address other men, usually friends or acquaintances, it’s really not me who caused the trouble, did you know, Guo Jianping’s committing adultery!”

The village chief looked at Guo Jianping in surprise, and Guo Jianping stuffed a packet of cigarettes and 50 Yuan into the village chief’s hands, “household matters, household matters.”

The village chief rejected it twice before accepting it, and lectured Lin Lin, “why are you bring out your own household matters into the public?! Moreover, which man doesn’t cheat? You should think about yourself first, and how did you make Little Guo unhappy, angering him to the point he went outside to find someone!”

see this? it’s a scrambled text.

After that, the young village chief stepped out of the Guo home.

When Lin Lin saw this, she didn’t cry anymore. She wiped away her tears and said that she was going out to find someone else, and let everybody judge. While Guo Jianping could bride a person, she didn’t believe there wasn’t a single good person in this whole village!

Saying that, she ran out, and wanted to start yelling, but it so happened that she saw the drunkards who wanted to act indecently towards her the previous time. Those men saw her and wanted to come up to talk to her, which scared her so much she rushed home, but those men also followed behind her. After entering the courtyard, they kept chatting with Guo Jianping, but their eyes always looked towards Lin Lin.

After they left, Guo Jianping slapped Lin Lin to the ground and scolded, “you loose woman, you say that I went outside to cheat, but I don’t think you’re clean at all, if not, why would those men keep looking at you?!”

“It’s not the same,” Lu Chu shook his head, “I can differentiate between bananas and apples, although, they do smell much better.”

Lin Lin covered her face and shouted, “you’re slandering me!”

Lu Chu said, “that works, it’s a making a living.” After saying that, he suddenly pointed to the southeast corner of the storage room, “this area, dig it up.”

Guo Jianping pulled her by the hair and dragged her into the storage room, and said as he walked, “so what if I cheated? Let’s see if you dare to go out and say something about it.”

Lu Chu thought for a moment, then rejected it, “it’s still a little different, I can’t explain it.”

Lin Lin landed a slap on Guo Jianping’s face, and Guo Jianping became extremely angry, and started to beat her up, then, he locked her in the storage room and said, “go and think about it.”

“Or, perhaps,” He Mingde frowned, “‘it’s closer to us?”

After that, Guo Jianping went back into the house to sleep, and Lin Lin, trapped in the storage room without a trace of light, fell onto the ground covering her belly, and shouted weakly, “it hurts, Guo Jianping you bastard……”

Guo Jianping didn’t hold back at all while beating her. Lin Lin had been beaten all over, and her voice became weaker and weaker.

The next day, Guo Jianping ate the leftovers on his own, went to class as usual, and completely forgot about this matter. It was already in the evening when he came back, and when he saw no food at home, he went back out without even thinking more about it. On the third day, by the time he finally opened the door of the storage room, Lin Lin was already dead.

The memories came to an abrupt end.

Lu Chu frowned, and Li Jiapeng had already rolled up his sleeves and was ready to teach this scum a lesson.