In This Town, No One Stops Watching

“Neighbors ordered wontons, called for delivery. Help me run this errand.” Wang Chunying said, holding the receiver.

“No problem.” Su Lai quickly finished the bone broth in his bowl, not bothered by the heat. “I can charge for it, right?”

Wang Chunying: “Of course delivery should be paid. But our new shop just opened, they’re all neighbors. Charge a bit less, build a good reputation for the future.”

“Okay, got it.” Su Lai cleared his own bowl and chopsticks. Wang Chunying had already packed the hot wontons and gave Su Lai an address: Yong’an Hall.

“Know the way?” Wang Chunying asked.

Su Lai nodded. “Old acquaintance with the owner.” Yong’an Hall was the first funeral supplies shop he’d encountered after entering the urban village. It was also the place where all of Granny Xu’s savings had been spent.

The spirit money at Yong’an Hall was good quality, burning with a crisp crackle. Very satisfying.

Before leaving to deliver the wontons, Bai Ke managed to squeeze in a moment to ask: “Cousin, you’re going out to deliver wontons now?”

“New shop opening, need to build a good reputation. Of course I’m going. What, you think I’d fake it?” Su Lai countered.

Bai Ke was a bit anxious. “Today’s already the third day in the instance. The only players left who can move freely are us three and those siblings. At this rate, I’m afraid…”

“Fewer people make for a better holiday.” Su Lai replied casually.

Bai Ke was momentarily confused. “What holiday?”

Su Lai: “Ghost Festival.”

Bai Ke sucked in a cold breath. He had actually noticed before that the original residents living here were all “dead people.” Some things were better left unsaid, known only in one’s heart. Speaking them aloud multiplied the horror tenfold and was very bad for one’s mental stability.

That high school boy with his lips sewn shut was the price of a loose tongue.

“You help Mom manage the shop. I’m going to collect the peeper list. See you later.” With those words, Su Lai took his delivery box and sped off.

Bai Ke watched his figure disappear into the alley and shook his head. “Still so committed to the role.” Wait, Lai-ge said he was going to collect the peeper list…?!

Su Lai knew the way well now. In less than ten minutes, he was back at the entrance of Yong’an Hall.

This time, before he could knock three times on the door, a “Come in” came from inside.

Su Lai crossed the threshold. The incense shop owner, who usually kept his head down, paused slightly. His gaze shifted from the pink flip-flops to the delivery box in Su Lai’s hand.

The hot, fragrant smell of wontons overpowered the scent of incense, infusing the deathly still room with a bit of “living” energy.

“Wontons delivered. Eat them while they’re hot.” Su Lai placed the wontons on the counter. “Seven kuai for the wontons, plus two kuai delivery fee. Total nine kuai.”

The owner pulled ten kuai from his mold-spotted purse. Su Lai even gave him change.

“Delivery fee isn’t cheap.” The owner said.

Su Lai: “Family wonton shop. Just charging a bit for electricity. Hope you’ll help spread the word, boss.”

“Certainly. All neighbors here, we should look out for each other’s business.” “My shop may be new, but I’ve lived here for years. If anything comes up, you can ask me. Especially matters related to life and death.” The owner emphasized the word “death.”

Su Lai paused mid-step as he was about to leave. He guessed he’d triggered another hidden clue.

Not one to stand on ceremony, Su Lai turned back and asked directly: “Why is it that in this community, the common currency is living people’s money, not the spirit money you sell?”

The implication was: since everyone’s dead, why are they still using the currency of the living world? It was puzzling.

The owner paused in the middle of opening the delivery box, then chuckled. “Because dead people also want to ‘live’ like living people. It’s more dignified.” “It also makes the outsiders who come to rent feel more at ease. Don’t you think?” The owner’s smile slowly widened. “Otherwise, scaring those outside tenants away wouldn’t be very friendly.”

Su Lai nodded with an air of understanding. “True enough. Who isn’t just pretending to be alive?”

“Boss, do you know of anything that can help us ‘live’ more peacefully?” Su Lai asked again.

Since Yong’an Hall dealt in items for the dead, and the original residents here were all dead people pretending to be alive, what they sold might be more targeted to the problem than what the health clinic offered.

Su Lai thought he’d ask, just in case, to prepare for his later trip to the village committee.

As it turned out, he asked the right question. The owner smiled meaningfully and carefully pulled out a box of incense from under the counter. “Since you asked, truth be told, I have three sticks of Restful Incense here. It can make the locals who smell it more peaceful, more willing to close their eyes.”

“It’s just a bit pricey. Whoever wants it will have to grit their teeth.” The owner gestured. “Four hundred ninety a stick. For deeper effects, you need to light all three sticks.”

Seven sevens make forty-nine, turned into four hundred ninety. Sure enough, whether living or dead, everyone had to look towards money.

Although the price wasn’t cheap, Su Lai was intrigued. “What exactly are these deeper effects? Can you explain?”

Even though the shop was empty, the owner lowered his voice. “It means, literally, they close their eyes.”

Su Lai nodded. He understood. That was exactly what he wanted.

In the end, Su Lai bought three sticks of Restful Incense. Today, he wasn’t a delivery guy; he was a genuine customer.

After buying the incense, Su Lai helped Wang Chunying deliver another two orders. One of them was for the community health clinic.

The nurse poked her head out, saw the pink flip-flops, and asked: “Got scammed again?”

Su Lai pulled the steaming wontons from his delivery box. “No. Legitimate delivery this time.”

The nurse sighed. “After Granny Xu smoothly ‘left,’ this health clinic hasn’t had a single patient.” “But I still have to come to work. So I ordered takeout. Adds a bit of life.”

Su Lai’s tone was businesslike. “Total, nine kuai.”

This health clinic scene had been set up for the Granny Xu side quest. Now that the side story was complete, the place was completely abandoned.

“Paternity test, buy one get one free. Not interested?” The nurse asked again.

There were no secrets in the urban village. The words Jiang Zhenhua had spoken last night, declaring Wang Xiaosi a liar, had already spread quietly among the neighbors.

Su Lai waved his hand. “Don’t push it, nurse. Stay in your lane.” “Get off work early.”

Delivery made, money collected, Su Lai rode his little e-bike away from the health clinic. Seeing it was about the right time, he headed for his destination: the village committee office.

The staff member poked her head out the window. “Wang Xiaosi, heard your family’s wonton shop reopened. Why do you still have time to hang around here?”

The impatient tone was clear. The staff member found Su Lai’s appearance a headache.

As usual, Su Lai took out a bowl of wontons. “Yeah, taking a break from the busy schedule. Delivering wontons for the neighbors to try. Can’t leave you out.”

It was lunchtime. Su Lai had timed it perfectly. Although these neighbors were dead, they still thought they were alive and were used to the living’s routines: three meals a day, clocking out on time. Couldn’t miss a single one.

Su Lai had counted on this.

The staff member’s usually rigid face broke into a beaming smile. “Oh, how polite!” As she spoke, she came out to greet the wontons.

No one could refuse freshly made, thin-skinned, generously filled wontons. Especially free ones. Everyone loved a little bargain.

“Your family’s wonton shop will surely last long and prosper!” The moment the delivery box opened, the fragrant aroma hit her. The staff member couldn’t wait to dig in.

While she was eating with gusto, Su Lai quietly lit the three sticks of Restful Incense.

The funeral shop owner had said that when Restful Incense was lit, it could make the dead willing to close their eyes. In other words, literally close their eyes. This kind of paid hidden item wasn’t something just anyone could obtain. It required good neighborly relations.

The hot bone broth and the fragrant wontons covered the scent of the Restful Incense, but its effects were just as potent.

Su Lai asked casually, as if making conversation: “The information for all the residents in Spring Breeze Community is recorded in the registry book, right?”

Although the staff member didn’t care for Su Lai, she was softened by the food. While wolfing down the wontons, she answered: “Yes, everything’s there. Registered residents are legitimate. Illegals are considered vagrants. To maintain a good living environment, the staff clears out vagrants. No matter where they hide, they’ll be found. You’ve seen on Spring Breeze Report what happens to vagrants.”

Su Lai nodded thoughtfully. “Good to know.”

“What are you asking for?” The staff member looked at him suspiciously.

Su Lai: “Bored. Just asking.”

The staff member chewed and stared at him. “Don’t ask random questions. There’s too much going on with the neighbors. Walls have ears. Closing your eyes and covering your ears is best.” Intentionally or not, she too mentioned eyes and ears.

Su Lai suddenly thought of something and asked tentatively: “After ‘I’ disappeared back then, did Mom ever get any new leads? Why didn’t she come looking all these years?”

The staff member sighed. “Finding a missing child isn’t that easy. The traffickers take them. Dead or sold. The parents spend their whole lives… some go crazy, some leave. Life loses its hope. Wang Chunying was lucky. She waited until you came back…”

After downing a dozen wontons, the staff member’s eyelids started to droop. Her speech became more slurred. Finally, before finishing her soup, she collapsed onto the office desk.

The three sticks of Restful Incense were less than half burnt. Su Lai had plenty of time. After confirming the office was empty, he started searching the drawers for the community resident registration forms.

The registry wasn’t something that needed to be hidden. Su Lai flipped through the outermost drawer and found a booklet labeled “Spring Breeze Community Resident Information Registry.”

The booklet was a full three centimeters thick. Surprisingly heavy.

Su Lai recognized the familiar blue cover. When he had brought Bai Ke here to forcibly register for a temporary residence permit, he’d made the entry in this very booklet.

He quickly flipped through the registry, finding familiar names among the thousands, including Wang Chunying and the group of outside tenants calling themselves players. And also his own role: Wang Xiaosi.

The rules given by the instance stated that the village committee was trustworthy, and the staff working in the village committee office were also reliable. So they wouldn’t lie to him. The registry recorded information for all original residents and outsiders in the urban village.

The heavy weight of the registry was his leverage now.

Su Lai had also brought a notebook from Wang Xiaosi’s desk drawer, planning to copy down all the residents’ names by hand after getting the registry.

But now, opening the registry and seeing thousands of densely packed names, copying them all would take at least a few thousand characters. Thirty sticks of Restful Incense wouldn’t be enough to finish.

Su Lai quickly abandoned the idea of copying. He simply stole the entire registry, booklet and all.

Before leaving, Su Lai extinguished the half-burnt incense and took it with him. Not because he was afraid of leaving clues for the staff member, but because this Restful Incense was too expensive. Leaving it here would be a waste.