Urban Oddities: Soul Contract

Chapter 3 Hawthorn

When Huo Minghai came to the company, the first thing he did was to look at the bulletin board. Sure enough, the name of VIP customer Xie Xiaofang disappeared.

Inexplicably, Huo Minghai also became happier.

"Xiao Huo, the parcels are a little far away this time, and they are mainly distributed in the suburbs of Dongcheng District." The colleague who distributed the parcels patted Huo Minghai, "Thank you for your hard work."

Huo Minghai smiled and said it was all right, but then, a word from his colleague made him feel at a loss.

"Su Mu's package is a bit troublesome, please pay more attention."

Sumac?

Sender: Su Mu.Sender: Huo Minghai.

The name on the VIP notice board.

When Huo Minghai passed by, no one answered the doorbell and no one answered the phone, so Huo Minghai had no choice but to give up, thinking of coming back later.

He packed the package, rode on the bike and headed to the next place.

"Hello, please come and pick up the package."

A lazy voice came from the phone: "Oh, the iron door is open, can you send it in?"

"Okay." Wiping off his sweat, Huo Minghai pushed open a big iron door.

On the outskirts of Dongcheng District is an old house waiting to be demolished. Each household is an independent three-story building with a small yard in front of the building, lined with trees, which is out of place with the big city of steel and concrete.

According to the urban planning, this area will be converted into a subway entrance, and the residents will get new residences, and they have already moved here and there. On the way Huo Minghai just arrived, nearly half of the yard has been shoveled to the ground.

"It's a pity that such a beautiful place is going to be demolished."

The ivy was extremely luxuriant, distributed on the gray wall, spreading from the ground to the roof, emerald green, and a few small flowers bloomed. Huo Minghai looked up, and a figure flashed behind a window on the second floor.

He walked up the stairs and pressed the doorbell. He touched the dirty doorbell and it fell off the wall with a snap.

The wire to the doorbell was old and broken.

Huo Minghai was sweaty, so he had to knock on the door instead: "Hello, please come and get the package."

The old wooden door that had not been maintained was shaken off by knocks, and Huo Minghai's hand stopped in mid-air.

The door opened.

To be precise, it opened a seam.

There was a wind blowing, the door creaked and opened wider, the room was pitch black, and the curtains were drawn tightly.

"Hello, please come and collect the package!" Huo Minghai couldn't help but increase his voice, and the only answer was his own echo.

Da da da……

There was a sound on the second floor, did that person go downstairs?Huo Minghai stood outside the door and waited, but no one appeared on the stairs.

Huo Minghai wondered, didn't he see himself entering the yard just now, why didn't he go downstairs?

The rotten and moldy smell rushed towards the face along the airflow, Huo Minghai walked in the door, and there was a cloud of dust under his feet.

This family is too dirty, right?Why don't you clean it up?

Walking around, leaving footprints, the hall is empty, a few dilapidated wooden chairs are covered with thick dust, the musty smell gets stronger and stronger as you walk in, the windows are closed all the year round, and there is no sunlight in the room, it is cloudy and cold The feeling gradually became clearer.

Huo Minghai felt trembling, and yelled upstairs a few more times, inhaled the dust, and coughed a few times because of the musty smell.

Is this house really inhabited?

Go up to the second floor, stand in front of a door, and knock lightly.

Just now, there was a person standing in the room and looking out, Huo Minghai was sure that he was not mistaken, did that person encounter something and couldn't come down?

No one answered the door.

Huo Minghai tried to press the handle, but to his surprise, the door was unlocked and opened.

The curtains were drawn, there was no wind, and in the dim light, Huo Minghai looked at the room. There was only a tattered wooden bed, which was covered with thick dust just like the hall.

Huo Minghai only felt chills all over his body, he was almost certain that no one lived in this old house at all!

Is that person standing behind the window really a human?

Regardless of closing the door, Huo Minghai fled out of the room in a panic, the sound of Huo Minghai running could be heard in the corridor, he ran and turned around suddenly.

"Who?!"

The place where another kind of footsteps sounded was obviously empty, and the doors of all the other rooms were closed, except for one...

The room he just entered.

The room at the end of the corridor.

What ominous, invisible thing, followed him out?

He suddenly remembered that musty smell, like the smell of something rotten, rotten, is it really wooden furniture?

Huo Minghai was terrified by his own thoughts. When he ran to the stairs, his legs went limp, and the package fell from his hand. Huo Minghai yelled in his heart that it was not good, if there were glass products inside, the fall would definitely break it!

At this time, a person rushed up from downstairs, grabbed the package with one hand, and supported Huo Minghai who was about to fall with the other hand.

"Are you OK?"

Huo Minghai raised his head and met the gaze of the young man.

I can't tell what the look is, it seems a little annoyed, and it seems a little surprised.

"You... you live here?"

Seeing the man nodding, Huo Minghai handed him the package: "Your package, please sign for it."

The man took a look at the package and shook his head: "You made a mistake."

"what?"

"This is Building 107, not Building 101." The man smiled, "Maybe the 7 is painted off, and you see it as 1."

The man sent Huo Minghai downstairs. Huo Minghai looked at the thick dust on the stairs and always felt that something was wrong.

Passing by the yard, a few small fruits suddenly fell from the tree, rolled and stopped at Huo Minghai's feet.

"It's a hawthorn." The man picked up a small hawthorn and stuffed it into Huo Minghai's hand, "Appetizer, take it back and taste it."

Huo Minghai looked up, and there were some small red hawthorns hanging here and there on the big tree.

"What did you plant?"

"Ah."

Huo Minghai, who was born and raised in the south, saw the hawthorn tree for the first time. Hawthorn is a special product in the north. It is almost impossible to grow it in the southern city of S, but this hawthorn tree grows tenaciously and bears many small fruits.

The little hawthorn is not big. Compared with the ones on the market, it looks small and ugly. Huo Minghai put the hawthorn in his pocket, got on the bike, and looked at the house number before leaving.

Sure enough, it is a 7, but the color of that side has changed, and it looks like a 1.

In front of the gate of Building 101, the young man waited impatiently, and when he saw the courier boy coming over, his face immediately became long.

"Why did you come here? I have been waiting for you for a long time!"

"Sorry, sorry, I went to the wrong place just now, and I went to building 107." Huo Minghai apologized and handed him the package, but unexpectedly the young man shook his hand, and the package fell to the ground with a slap.

Huo Minghai picked up the package and handed it to him, but saw the livid face of the young man.

"Where did you just... go?"

"Building 107." Huo Minghai explained to him, "The paint on the house number was off, and it was misread as 101, so I was late."

"You went in?"

"En." Seeing the young man staring blankly, Huo Minghai reminded, "Please sign."

The young man looked in the direction of Building 107.

"That room has been empty for a long time." The young man suddenly turned his head to look at him, his face was full of fear, "Did you see anything strange?"

Empty...how long?

Huo Minghai finally understood what was wrong!

It has been empty for a long time, so it has accumulated a thick layer of dust!

He remembered that when he went downstairs, there was only one set of footprints on the stairs!

His own footprints upstairs!

Then the man who appeared on the stairs, how did he get up?

As the sun was setting, the last package was delivered. Huo Minghai rode on the bike, but stopped at the intersection, turned a corner, and took another road.

Even if it's a little farther away, he doesn't want to pass by Building 107 again.

Going to Mr. Chen's residence, the doorbell rang for the third time, and the intercom was finally connected.

"Which one?" A cold female voice.

"Hello, I have a package, please come and get it."

"Whose package? Who sent it?"

"It was sent by Su Mu to Chen Damin."

"Where did you send it from?"

"I didn't write it." In the sender's message, there was only the word "Su Mu", not even a phone address.

The intercom was silent for a moment and then hung up. Then there was the sound of the door opening, and a middle-aged woman with curly hair came out and asked through the iron door, "What is it?"

Huo Minghai suddenly found it funny, this woman must be too cautious, how could he know what was in the package.

"Can you help take it apart?" The curly-haired woman didn't intend to open the door.

"Please sign for it." Huo Minghai handed over the package in a good-tempered manner.

"Where's the pen?"

"This."

The curly-haired woman held the pen and let Huo Minghai hold the package and sign through the iron gate.

"Unpack it, please," said the woman.

Huo Minghai received the list and opened the package. When he saw the contents inside, Huo Minghai shook his hand and almost dropped the package on the ground.

"Thanks." The curly-haired woman turned around and walked back.

"Wait, package..."

"No, you can eat it yourself!"

boom!The door is closed.

In the company lobby, Su Mu's name on the bulletin board did not disappear.

When Du Jiajun came back from get off work, seeing Huo Minghai staring blankly at the package, he asked curiously, "Who sent it?"

Turning over the courier slip and seeing the recipient's name, he looked at Huo Minghai suspiciously.

"Hey, what did you think? Look."

Pointing to the receipt column, Huo Minghai smiled wryly: "I signed for it, but I don't want it."

"Oh..." He looked at the few small hawthorns on the table.

"It was given by someone else." Huo Minghai explained.

Du Jiajun took the little hawthorn away, went into the kitchen to fiddle with it for a while, and brought out a pot of red hawthorn tea.

"What about these?" Huo Minghai flicked the little hawthorn in the package.

The small hawthorns were very fresh, and the handles were still green. Du Jiajun took out the bag and spread the hawthorns to let them breathe.

There were not many hawthorns. Huo Minghai counted them, and there were only more than 30, but after a few days, the number increased to more than 60.

The second package that Su Mu sent to Chen Damin was abandoned again.

Su Mu's name was still hanging high on the bulletin board, and Huo Minghai rode his bicycle in a distraught state, unknowingly passing by that weird old house.

Seeing something, Huo Minghai turned his head to look.

In front of the big iron gate of Building 107, the young man was sitting on the ground. He seemed to be setting up a stall. On the blanket made of leaves, there was a bag of ugly little hawthorns. Under the bag was a piece of paper that read Fresh hawthorn, appetizers and digestion.

"Buy it? It's cheap." The man greeted him when he stopped.

Under the sun, the man didn't look scary at all, but Huo Minghai still didn't dare to approach, and asked from a distance, "Picked from a tree?"

"Yeah." The man picked out a few grains and showed him, "It's just picked, there are no moths, but it's fresh."

"How much is a pound?"

The man lifted the bag: "Ten yuan a bag, and a few more if you want."

Depend on!What a cheat!

"You can have a catty in this bag?" Huo Minghai questioned the quantity first, and then complained about the price, "The hawthorns are only a few yuan per catty now, and you sell them too expensive!"

The hawthorn is sour and has no juice. It is not attractive at all. The sales volume in the market is not good, and it is getting cheaper every year. This little brother probably has never gone to the market to charge prices randomly. No wonder no one buys his.

Besides, this kind of hawthorn is small and ugly, can it compare to the ones sold in the market?

Seeing that he had no intention of patronizing, the man put down the bag in disappointment.

After Huo Minghai delivered the courier, he deliberately returned to that road, and the man was still setting up a stall.

"Pick more, your bag is not enough for half a catty." Huo Minghai deliberately slowed down the car, and kindly reminded him from a distance, before the man looked up, he was going to leave pretending to be passing by.

"What did you say?" The distance was too far, the man couldn't hear clearly.

Huo Minghai had no choice but to stop the car, increased the volume and said it again.

The man looked at the hawthorn tree, and finally shook his head.

"The number is running out," the man said.

The next day, the man was still setting up a stall.

On the third day, the man was still setting up a stall.

On the fourth day, the front of Building 107 was empty.

Is it sold?Still can't sell it and go away?

Huo Minghai is more inclined to the last possibility, even if he is funny, he will not buy these things!

In the evening, when Huo Minghai saw a funny girl coming back with an unusually familiar bag, his jaw almost dropped.

"Does it need to be touched like this?" A certain teaser looked very happy to see Huo Minghai react so strongly, and happily took the hawthorn into the kitchen.

"Isn't there a bunch at home?" Huo Minghai was talking about the abandoned hawthorns on the table.

"It's been a long time, it's not fresh anymore." A certain teaser was tossing about something, Huo Minghai played with the little hawthorn speechlessly, some fruits began to darken and were about to break.

"The first one is indeed about to go bad, but the second one just arrived a few days ago, it's still fresh...huh?" Huo Minghai opened his mouth obediently, took a sweet stuff in his mouth, carefully At first glance, it turned out to be candied haws.

A string of three small hawthorns is wrapped in a layer of crystal clear rock sugar.

A funny guy also picked up a bunch and tasted it, boasting: "It tastes good."

Huo Minghai nodded: "It tastes good."

A certain tease said: "Sweet and sour is really delicious."

Huo Minghai: "Well, sweet and sour is really delicious."

A funny comparison: "I really admire Du Jiajun so much!"

Huo Minghai: "I really admire Du Jia... eh?"

A certain tease teased him: "There is a word missing, read it again."

Huo Minghai: "..."

When the courier boy rang the doorbell for the third time, Chen Xiaosha couldn't bear it anymore and hung up the walkie-talkie.

"Who?" Brother Chen Ge came over and asked.

"It's okay, it's just a courier."

As soon as the words were finished, the doorbell rang again. Chen Ge connected the intercom, asked a few words, pressed the door open button, and said to his sister, "I'll go and see."

The iron door that had been closed all the time slammed open, but Huo Minghai didn't go in. He saw the door inside open, and a tall man came out and stood in front of Huo Minghai.

"Whose package?"

"Chen Damin's, is Mr. Chen Damin here?" Huo Minghai was careful this time and didn't give him the package.

"I'm his son, Chen Ge, it's inconvenient for Dad to come out."

"Is it the hawthorn sent by Su Mu again?" Chen Xiaosha walked out aggressively, "Where's the package?"

Chen Ge was obviously calmer than his younger sister. He stopped his younger sister, took the package and looked at it. The sender only had the word Su Mu, so he asked, "Can you contact this Su Mu?"

"He didn't leave any contact information."

Chen Ge was unyielding: "He has to call to place an order, right? Is there no phone record?"

Chen Xiaosha immediately understood what her brother meant, and explained: "Please tell me, don't send hawthorns anymore, we don't eat this kind of thing."

After skillfully signing the courier slip, Chen Xiaosha stuffed the package into Huo Minghai's arms.

Huo Minghai was a little puzzled, since the package was not given to you, why are you making such a fuss?

"Please help unpack the package." Chen Ge winked at his sister and told her to go back.

"It must be hawthorn." Chen Xiaosha stared at Huo Minghai unpacking the package with a look of excitement on her face. When the box was opened, she pointed to the fresh little hawthorn and asked her brother to look at it.

"The package is for Chen Damin." Huo Minghai couldn't help it anymore, "I think it's better to hand it over to him."

"Father has a bad stomach and can't eat hawthorn." Chen Ge explained, "Besides, we have never heard of Su Mu."

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