At that time, Uncle Ma was even more puzzled. The currency used in the old society had been recycled and banned from circulation as early as the liberation of Chongqing at the end of 1949. So Uncle Ma thought to himself, maybe it was because the old man was old and he didn't turn in all of them earlier, so he kept a few as souvenirs, and he happened to take the wrong ones just now. Uncle Ma didn't think much about it. It was inevitable for this person to be confused occasionally. So we closed the stall that day.
But for almost a month after that, the old man never visited again. Until the evening five days ago, it started to rain, but the rain was not heavy that day, and there were still many pedestrians on the street, so Uncle Ma was not in a hurry to close the stall. At this time, the old man came again.
Uncle Ma said that when the old man came, he was cutting the hair of another customer. So I called to the old man and said, "Master, please sit down and wait for a while. I will shave you in a while." The guest was very puzzled at that time, so he asked him, are you talking to me? Am I not shaving while sitting? Uncle Ma smiled and said, I didn't talk about you, I said about the old man.
The customer finished shaving quickly, so Uncle Ma asked the old man to sit down. Knowing that the old man had bad ears, he said in a slightly loud voice, "Old man, last time you came to have your head shaved, you gave me the wrong money. I'll use it as my old money. I'll give it to you next time you come here. I gave you a free haircut last time. You should also be careful when buying things in the future. Don't use old money. If you encounter someone who is doing something good, he will file a lawsuit against you later, which will be troublesome.
The old man remained silent, with his eyes closed and his face expressionless. Uncle Ma thought that he was quite deaf and thought he was resting with his eyes closed, so he didn't continue talking. After cutting his hair, shaving and plucking his ears as usual, the old man handed Uncle Ma another piece of money. This time Uncle Ma looked at it directly and found that it was still a 5,000 yuan legal note. Looking up at the old man, he was almost at the entrance of the alley, so Uncle Ma ran up to the old man and said, "Uncle, you gave me the wrong money again. This is still old money."
The uncle ignored him and continued to walk on his own. Uncle Ma was a little anxious. It was not that he felt sorry for the dime, but that he had used old money twice in a row. This was a bit unreasonable. Seeing that the old man ignored him, Uncle Ma The uncle thought that he probably didn't hear it, so he stretched out his hand to pull the old man. It didn't matter. It scared Uncle Ma half to death.
Uncle Ma said that the weather has been very cold these days, but it was only then that he realized that the old man had been wearing thin autumn clothes during his recent two visits. When he grabbed the old man's hand, he suddenly felt an obvious sound coming from his hand. Numbness. It was as if he had touched something electrified, but the current was not very strong, more like a leakage of electricity. But when he pulled him, the old man turned his head, but his eyes did not look at Uncle Ma, he was very dull. And where the old man's forehead meets the surrounding environment, there is a faint translucent and wavy feeling.
Uncle Ma was so frightened that he quickly let go, stared at the old man, and then kept moving back. The old man ignored him, but continued to turn around and walked away. Uncle Ma, who was still in shock, dared to stick his head out and take a look after the old man disappeared around the corner. He found that there were people coming and going in the direction where the old man left, but there was no trace of the old man.
Then Uncle Ma realized that he was a ghost. It was still hard to believe at first, but when I thought about the details that I had ignored before, I was convinced that I was a ghost.
Master was listening with me on the side, and neither of us spoke. But I have a problem in my heart. In front of Master, I still can't use my small things to make up for my big things. So I looked at Master, and Master nodded, which means that since I am looking for you, you can understand it how you want. So I turned around and asked Uncle Ma, you just said that you had ignored some details before, what were you referring to specifically.
Uncle Ma said, this old man is a regular customer of my shop. He is always amiable and always smiles when he sees people. But from the day he first gave me French currency, he always had a sullen face from the moment he walked into my stall. , but the feeling was not that of anger, but of indifference to the surroundings. From beginning to end, there was no other action except shaving my head. In addition, he wore the same clothes both times, and the clothes were not suitable for this season. Moreover, it rained both times. He did not bring an umbrella each time, but his clothes did not get wet. In addition, when I came for the second time, I asked the old man to sit down and wait. The customer in my hand thought I was calling him because he felt that he and I were the only two people present. In other words, that day The old man I saw was actually invisible to this guest.
I interjected and asked, but when cutting hair, you can't turn your head casually. What if it gets flattened accidentally? Uncle Ma shook his head and said that shouldn't be the case. Although he couldn't turn his head casually, there was a large mirror hanging on the wall in front of the guest. Even if he didn't turn his head, the guest could still see the old man through the reflection of the mirror.
I stopped talking. Judging from Uncle Ma's description, there is no doubt that he was a ghost. If the first time was because the old man was confused and in a bad mood, and the second time was because the guest was blind and didn't see, this is all very reluctant. , but Uncle Ma stretched out his hand to take the old man's hand, and the touch that appeared and the translucent shape of the old man's head he saw were a definite fact. It can't be said that Uncle Ma was also dazzled. These three impossible things combined When we get it together, we actually have a conclusion.
Uncle Ma said, I have not dared to set up a stall these days. I am afraid that the old man will come again, and I am scared. If this matter is not resolved, I will not dare to continue setting up a stall. I said to Uncle Ma, this is not necessary. First of all, this old man did not scare you or harm you. You also said that he is a very kind person. Secondly, if you didn't help him at that time, you wouldn't have been able to convince yourself that he was a ghost. Uncle Ma said with a sad face, but I am scared. I have lived half my life and have never seen these things since I was a child. Although I have been in prison, I am not a bad person and I have never done anything bad. Why did a ghost come to my door?
He looked very depressed, and since I wasn't familiar with him, I didn't have the nerve to go up and comfort him. So I told him, judging from what you said, assuming that this old man is a ghost, he has been dead for at least two months. I would like to ask, before you received the legal currency for the first time, did you have any abnormal reaction when the old man came to see you last time?
Uncle Ma frowned and thought about it carefully, and then told me that before that, the old man seemed to have not been here for almost a month, but the previous time was not very impressive, but he did not give me legal currency that time, which should be normal. Yes. After finishing speaking, Uncle Ma took out a newspaper from his pants pocket. After unfolding the newspaper, there were two 5,000 yuan legal tender.
I didn't directly reach out to grab the money, but put my nose to it and smelled it. In addition to the smell of old paper, there was also a slight fishy smell, which was difficult to detect if you didn't smell it carefully.
Master told me that generally speaking, people will not encounter ghosts for no reason, so the appearance of ghosts is mostly accompanied by clear intentions such as reluctance, concern, repayment, and revenge. But there are also some people who do provoke ghosts inexplicably because they themselves become part of the ghost's obsession. This was the case with my first order a few months ago. What was wrong with that little girl was just because she became a part of my grandfather's obsession and was affected.
But Uncle Ma's situation is indeed not very common. If the old man dies, will he not leave Uncle Ma? care? This is obviously out of the question, not related to each other. Repay a favor? revenge? That's impossible. Of course, there is no hatred. Uncle Ma just shaved the old man's beard and dug his ears for free. How much kindness can he be? So Uncle Ma is part of his obsession? This is even more impossible, unless Uncle Ma's shaving skills are so good that the uncle will feel itchy if he doesn't shave for a day.
Is it a habit? According to the cases I have seen and heard in the past, there are indeed many ghosts who continue some of their habits in life, but this must have a premise. The ghost must stay because of some other obsession. Under this premise Only then can he continue his previous habits.
Master has said that the manifestation of ghosts is usually very risky. The appearance of the old man did not scare Uncle Ma because of his own subjective will, but he was frightened by this scene after Uncle Ma took the old man's hand. If it was not to harm others or to scare people, then What is the significance of his appearance?
People are always like this. When you fall into a kind of thinking, you will try your best to eliminate many possibilities, but in the process, you will find that your thoughts are getting narrower and narrower, and you will gradually force yourself into a dead end, and you will be wary of wanting to exit. When I came, I found that I had already forgotten the way I came.
So at this time, people still need a bright light. So I stretched out my hand to cover my face slightly to prevent Uncle Ma from seeing my expression, but my eyes looked at Master pitifully.
Master understood, smiled at me contemptuously and mockingly, and then three words popped out of his mouth: bardo.
