My Ghost Boy

The Family History

The air inside of the room were getting thick as the hot glares between the two fathers continued at the dining table. A dining table that should be filled with the smell of delicious dishes, glass clinking and laughter, was now replaced with the smell of silent. And the only sound that could be heard was that of the mechanic clock that was ticking impatiently like their hearts.

All were still somewhat stunned and sat quietly at the table until someone decided to break that silent void.

"Is this about a women?" Yezun asked wanting to know some juicy story about their father's. But instead he earned a light pinch coming from his mother.

"This is enough silent, now speak!" Mrs. Shen yelled, glaring at her husband who is now shrinking.

Mr. Shen cleared his voice before speaking. "We..we!" He hesitated.

"Dad! Don't..don't tell me you..you.. and Mr.Zhao were in a relationship!?" Yezun stuttered, making everyone turned to look at Mr.Shen, waiting for his answer.

"No, we used to be best friend." Mr. Zhao decided to answer instead.

All were very surprised by the revelation they did not expect and started to lean in closer to listen.

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FLASH BACK:

Shen Yi (Mr.Shen) and Zhao Ci (changed name to Zhao XinCi) were two best friend back when they were teenagers . They both grew up in a small rural town area and the town were really superstitious.

During the water festival month, both friends including some of the villagers would have the custom to go fishing for prosperity. Shen Yi thought he was in luck as he caught a big clam shell containing a rare pearl. While Zhao Ci were busy catching thieves who was trying to steal fishes from the elderly!

"Ah Ci! Look what I caught!" Shen Yi showed off to his friend.

"Hey keep it away! We have lots of thieves here!" Zhao Ci warned as he helped his friend to hide it in his pocket.

Shen Yi then asked if Zhao Ci could walk with him home as he was afraid someone would really rob him. Zhao Ci agreed knowing that everyone was afraid of him and beside, he's an orphan, there was no rush to get home.

Along the way, they met a young lady dressed in white with long hair covering her face. Zhao Ci decided to approach her thinking she might be in distress and needed help. But Shen Yi was scared of her, so he hid behind Zhao Ci.

"Young lady, can I help you?" Zhao Ci asked.

The lady shook her head and looked up into Zhao Ci and Shen Yi's eyes as if she was looking into their souls.

"You!" She pointed to Zhao Ci and continued. "You have justice in your heart. You will lead your children to follow your footsteps of righteousness."

"And you!" As she pointed to Shen Yi. "You have obtained a rare cursed item, do not lose or sell that item or wrath will befall on your children."

"A rare cursed item?" Shen Yi asked, coming out from behind Zhao Ci.

The lady did not answer Shen Yi directly but kept continuing with her readings on them. "You two have a special bond that will pass on to your children. It's cursed but it's rare, for the future is uncertain." After saying what she had to say, a gush of wind started to blow on their faces and the women disappeared.

It was a strange encounter, but they would rather believe than to risk the danger. From then on, Shen Yi kept the cursed pearl with him at all times.

Until one day, Shen Yi received a letter from Zhao Ci to meet him at the shrine on the south side exit at 7.

When it was time for the meet up, Shen Yi arrived on time looking for Zhao Ci who was not there. He suddenly heard footsteps approaching him and as he was about to turn, he was suddenly hit by a piece of wood and was knocked out. When he woke up again, the pearl were missing from his pocket.

Feeling betrayed, he went to look for Zhao Ci at his house, but all his belongings were missing as if he had fled from his wrongdoing.

On the other hand, Zhao Ci also received a letter from Shen Yi to meet him at the shrine on the north side exit at 7:15.

After arriving at the north exit, Zhao Ci decided to sit down and wait for his friend. He then also heard a sound from behind and got up to look. But as he turns his head, he too was hit by a piece of wood and was thrown into the ocean. When he regained conscience, he found out that he was saved by a saviour named Sang, who later became his adopted father.

When Zhao Ci finally recovered, he later went back to the town to confront Shen Yi. But he was told that Shen Yi's family had already moved from the town. From then on Zhao Ci never went back to the town and even changed his name.

END OF FLASH BACK!

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Mr. Shen abruptly stood up from his chair and started shouting. "I did not write you a letter and definitely did not throw you into the ocean. Why are you accusing me instead! You were the one that stole that pearl and caused my son to be cursed with misfortune!" He was angry from the accusation that was not true.

"I didn't write you any letter as well, nor did I steal that cursed pearl of yours." Mr. Zhao calmly defended himself.

"Wait! Something is not right! So you both received a letter and both were hit on the head. Mr. Shen lost his pearl, while my dad got thrown into the ocean to die. Someone deliberately is setting you both up!" Yunlan deduced after listening to both sides of the story.

Mr. Shen sat back down on his chair. "If not you then whom?" He asked after calming down. Actually he'd always knew Xin Ci wasn't that type of person, but his disappearance had left unresolved questions.

Then a sweet voice started to talk. "What about those letters, did someone delivered them to you both?" Shen Wei asked while clinging onto Yunlan the whole time.

"ZHU ZHEN!" Both Mr. Shen and XIn Ci shouted at the same time.

"That rat! No wonder he also hurriedly left town a week after the incident." Mr. Shen spatted.

"Then we must find Zhu Zhen and get the cursed pearl back to save Xiao Wei!" Yunlan exclaimed and wanted to contact Da Qing but only to be stopped by Xin Ci, leaving everyone confused.

"Of course we have to find Zhu Zhen, I also want to know the truth behind this mess. But there's no need to look for the pearl. If you want the pearl to save your son, then Yunlan must marry Shen Wei!" Xin Ci proposed a solution that befuddled everyone.

He got up from his seat, walked over to Yunlan and tapped on his shoulder.

Zhao XinCi continued to give them another shocking revelation. "Yunlan has the pearl inside of him!"

At this point, everyone was left baffled and could not move or say a word especially Yunlan. But only one person was happy about it and could not stop grinning from ear to ear.