My Ghost Lover Is Too Annoying

93

93. Died at the Age of 16 (I)

Since a very young age, Chen Ming had clearly realized that he had been picked up by his master, so the word “Papa”, which was often said by him in a child’s tone , disappeared too soon.

His birth parents only left a note with his birthday, so he had to use his master’s surname.

Old Chen, whose real name was Chen Jingren, was called “Old Chen” by neighbors and villagers. Old Chen did not get married, let alone having children. He was doomed to be alone and to have no offspring to accompany him to his last years. He picked up the abandoned child after seeing the latter in the street and loved Chen Ming all the time. He often said to Chen Ming, “You are talented and intelligent. You should learn about Yin, Yang and life principles. You will be very suitable for my profession in the future.”

But there was always a generation gap between the elderly and the lively young children. From junior high school, Chen Ming gradually became unwilling to communicate with Old Chen. He mingled with his cronies all the time and stopped learning Yin, Yang and life principles by heart, being a dabbler all the time.

After he entered high school, his rebellious period started and he was even more unwilling to listen to Old Chen’s advice. He began to stay outside all day long, spent even more time with his cronies and was ashamed of the superstitious stuff.

Old Chen had been doting on Chen Ming without reprimanding him or forcing him to do anything. He just mentioned the idea of imparting his knowledge again the day before Chen Ming’s 16th birthday.

Chen Ming suddenly went furious for no reason and shouted back, “I said I don’t want to!”

Old Chen was stunned. His mouth was half open but he didn’t say anything in a while, wondering repeatedly if anything was wrong with his own words so that the young man threw a temper.

He still didn’t want to give up and struggled to speak again. But he still said the same words, “You are talented and intelligent…”

“Fuck the talent and intelligence.” The cranky and rebellious teenager was impatient with the words that he had heard so many times, “What’s the use of all these superstitious things? What can I achieve by making a living on this? How much money can I earn? I don’t want to spend my whole life in a shabby flower shop like you do!”

When his voice stopped, Old Chen finally realized in Chen Ming’s reproach

that he was such a loser in the young man’s eyes. Indeed, most of the time, he was just an ordinary, or even a poor old man compared to most people. He had long ignored the explicit envy in Chen Ming’s eyes when the latter saw the parents of his classmates being teachers, police officers or other senior officials.

The man who acted as his father was just a poor florist. Why?

At this moment, Old Chen’s hunched figure became even smaller.

Chen Ming saw Old Chen’s frustration and disappointment completely, and the conscience as a human being evoked sympathy in him for a while, but his rebellion urged him to cruelly leave. He turned his back on Old Chen without hesitation.

In the evening, a lot of friends came to celebrate Chen Ming’s birthday, and everyone agreed to stay up till midnight and drink and sing, and no one should leave sober. Chen Ming showed up as promised and reveled, completely leaving the small shabby flower shop behind. Old Chen had been preparing for his birthday for a long time and was waiting for him to come home for dinner.

Being a little unlucky that day, Chen Ming could never win the dice game. He was asked to drink a lot. Gradually, everyone got a little drunk and started saying all kinds of things.

The topic was naturally focused on today’s birthday star.

“Hey, Chen Ming, I heard that you do unusual little tricks.”

Chen Ming focused on turning the glass in his hand, found that his sight was a little blurred and saw everything in double. He replied casually, “Hmm? What do You mean?”

“Oh, why are you still playing dumb? I meant ghost hunting. According to the rumors, your father is a ghost hunter.”

When this was said, everyone laughed.

Faced with unkind ridicule, Chen Ming felt angry but he couldn’t find a way to refute. He just said, “I’ve told you so many times, he’s not my dad.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s your dad.” The person who started the conversation was unwilling to give up, “Just tell me if you can catch a ghost or not. Come on,  why not show us what you can do and broaden our horizon?”

This was clearly provocation, and he was just waiting for Chen Ming to make a fool of himself. Ordinary people wouldn’t fall for it, but when alcohol got to Chen Ming’s head, he really took it seriously. He threw the glass on the table, stood up, pointed at the tip of everyone’s nose in turn, and boasted, “Wait here for me, guys. Don’t run away unless you’re a coward.”

At that moment, there was loud clapping and whistling, and outsiders would see no difference between these people and ruffians watching a variety show. But Chen Ming felt the opposite, and he thought he was at the top of the world.

He staggered out of the room, and the cold wind sobered him up a little.

Catch a ghost? How?

His memory from the childhood was very vague with only a few incantations left. As for drawing rune papers, he had literally forgotten everything about it.

He sighed.

There was no other way. He had to go back to the flower shop and steal some of Old Chen’s rune papers. It was only half an hour to midnight, and the old guy should be asleep.

Now that you had decided, just hurry up.

At that time, Chen Ming did not expect that on his 16th birthday, he would face the bitter consequences of his long-term muddling and pay the price for his playful past, and 16 years of insipid life would take a huge turn that night.