Gao Bo leaned against the window, staring blankly at the gloomy weather outside. A shy "Onii-chan" came from the speakers on the desk, and the monitor flashed with the girl-themed game he was halfway through.
Gao Bo was a pseudo-otaku. He started watching anime in middle school, got into 2D games in high school, and now, having graduated from college, he had been immersed in it for nearly ten years, gaining some understanding of the ACG world.
He was somewhat introverted, which led to him staying home most of the time, watching anime and playing games. As a result, although he was fairly handsome, he had never held a girl's hand in his life. He didn't even have what you'd call a close friend. He had friends with similar interests, but they could never confide in each other. Gao Bo had wanted to change but never succeeded.
Hearing the drip of the water dispenser, Gao Bo went to make a cup of tea. He didn't know when he'd developed the habit of drinking tea. Though he didn't understand the tea ceremony, he felt uneasy if he didn't have some tea every day.
Just as he turned from the window to get the tea, the red string around Gao Bo's neck inexplicably snapped. A jade pendant slipped from his neck and fell to the ground. The pendant was shaped like a Bagua trigram and looked like a cheap trinket from the outside, the kind you could buy for pennies.
Gao Bo squatted down, picked it up, and examined it. He found a crack on the jade and felt a pang of sadness. Though the jade wasn't valuable, Gao Bo had worn it for over ten years and had grown deeply attached to it. It also had a legendary backstory.
That was twenty years ago, just a few years after Gao Bo was born. His father was often away from home due to work. One day, while passing through a neighboring province, he saw an old fortune teller on the street. For some reason, Gao Bo's father felt compelled to have his fortune told, specifically about his career prospects.
Gao Bo never learned what the fortune teller said. But he heard his father mention offhandedly that the old man's predictions were remarkably accurate, matching his work prospects over the next few years. Gao Bo's parents, both Taoism believers, felt they had encountered a master. His father had been to that place before but had never seen the fortune teller.
Perhaps it was fate. Ten years ago, Gao Bo's father was on another business trip south and encountered the fortune teller again on the roadside. These two encounters, one north and one south, surprised Gao Bo's father. This time, he asked about his son's fortune. The fortune teller said nothing, simply giving him a jade pendant and instructing him to have Gao Bo wear it upon returning home and never take it off.
That jade pendant was the one Gao Bo wore now. Since his father's return that time, Gao Bo had never removed it, whether sleeping or bathing. But now, it was broken.
Sighing helplessly, Gao Bo took off the broken red string from around his neck, held the jade pendant, and went to make tea.
"I'll go buy a new red string to wear later," Gao Bo thought.
Knock, knock— Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Coming!" Gao Bo responded, abandoning the tea, and went to open the door.
Unlocking the door and looking through the security gate, Gao Bo was surprised to see his uncle standing outside.
As for this uncle, he had cut ties with their family years ago over a property dispute.
His uncle's name was Gao Sen. When Gao Bo was very young, Gao Sen had committed a crime and been sent to prison. Fortunately, the offense wasn't severe, and he was released after a few years. At that time, Gao Bo's grandmother was still alive and lived with Gao Bo and his parents in their current home.
In the first few years after his release, Gao Sen was very well-behaved. He rented a small shop not far from Gao Bo's home and made a living selling melon seeds and peanuts. He was also very good to Gao Bo when he was a child.
But before long, Gao Sen's true nature resurfaced. He started gambling again. This time, he lost the capital his family had borrowed to open the shop. At first, he could still borrow money from various sources, but once people found out he was gambling, even his relatives stopped lending to him. He then set his sights on the house. He pestered Gao Bo's grandmother incessantly, eventually angering the old lady to her death. Before she died, she willed the house to Gao Bo's family, hoping Gao Sen would give up his claim.
Gao Bo's parents, being decent people, felt somewhat uneasy about acquiring the house outright, so they decided to give Gao Sen some money and ask him to stop gambling. He agreed, but soon lost all the money. With no other options, Gao Sen returned to cause trouble again, even suing Gao Bo's family. The news spread quickly among the neighbors, and even Gao Bo's mild-mannered parents couldn't bear the humiliation. Combined with the loss of face, they countersued Gao Sen.
Naturally, Gao Bo's family won the lawsuit, but Gao Sen wasn't satisfied. He resorted to underhanded and childish tactics—letting the air out of bicycle tires, jamming door locks so they couldn't be opened, and other petty annoyances. Though childish, these acts were incredibly irritating, leaving people no choice but to involve the police.
The police called Gao Sen in. Perhaps because of his prison experience, he was terrified of the police station and never showed up there again. Several years had passed since then.
...
"Uncle, what brings you here?"
Looking at the uncle he hadn't seen in years, though unhappy, Gao Bo maintained courtesy and still addressed him as "Uncle."
"Are your parents home?" Gao Sen asked with a smile.
"No, they're out visiting friends," Gao Bo replied, frowning.
"Oh, I see. I've really wronged your family before, but thinking about it now, your father is my brother after all. We're family. I came to apologize and brought some gifts." As he spoke, he lifted the bag in his hand for Gao Bo to see. However, since the bag wasn't transparent, Gao Bo couldn't see what was inside. "Open the door; let's talk inside."
As the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Gao Bo felt his words weren't entirely sincere, but since he came to apologize and wasn't a stranger—being his uncle and a blood relative—Gao Bo reluctantly opened the door.
"You're home alone? Have you eaten?" Gao Sen asked as he walked in, while Gao Bo closed the door.
"I've eaten. Mom and the others prepared food before they left." Not knowing his intentions, Gao Bo made small talk.
Gao Sen's appearance hadn't changed much from Gao Bo's memory. He looked a bit older after all these years, but his physique remained the same, still very robust. Gao Sen's lifestyle might be problematic, but he had one good habit: he never skipped exercise. Nearing fifty, he was as strong as a young man.
"Oh, by the way, I've traveled a lot these past few years and brought back many local specialties. I came to apologize to your family, so I brought them all." He placed the bag on the floor, squatted down, and began rummaging through it. "Let me take them out and show you; they're all novel and interesting."
Gao Bo didn't comment. He didn't know if Gao Sen's apology was genuine, so he let him be. He watched Gao Sen squat with his back turned, opening the bag. His attention wasn't on that. He opened his hand and looked at the broken jade pendant, thinking about where to get a new red string.
Whoosh! Suddenly, there was a sound of something cutting through the air. Gao Bo caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye, but his body couldn't react in time. He tried to retreat but failed to dodge. The next second, Gao Bo felt a sharp pain in his neck, as if something warm was gushing out. What met his eyes was Gao Sen's hateful bald head and his devilishly狰狞 expression. The previous gentle words and smiles were gone.
"You little bastard, die along with your father!" Gao Sen said viciously. Pulling the axe from Gao Bo's neck, he felt a perverse pleasure watching the blood spurt out.
After being summoned to the police station, Gao Sen, already terrified of the police, didn't dare bother Gao Bo's family again. He left Province B and wandered around. But as the saying goes, a leopard can't change its spots. Gao Sen continued gambling. He ended up in debt and was hunted by loan sharks. Though physically strong, he was outnumbered. He barely managed to escape back to Province B, but with no food or shelter, life was extremely hard. Moreover, the loan sharks hadn't given up and were still searching for him.
Gao Sen thought that if he had a share of the house, none of this would have happened, and he began to resent Gao Bo's family. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Finally, with no way out, he grew desperate and decided to kill Gao Bo's family.
Gao Sen bought an axe, put gasoline and other supplies in his bag, and went to Gao Bo's house. He didn't expect Gao Bo's parents to be out. However, having made up his mind, he feared he'd lose his nerve if he left. So he resolved to kill Gao Bo first to make his parents suffer, then burn down the house. Thus, the events above unfolded.
Ignoring Gao Bo's body, Gao Sen took gasoline from his bag and poured it on the floor and walls. Finally, he took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and threw it on the ground. Watching the flames spread along the gasoline, Gao Sen turned, opened the door, and left.
After being struck in the neck by the axe, Gao Bo didn't die instantly. The severe pain invaded his senses, and his consciousness grew increasingly blurred. It seemed his vocal cords were damaged; his throat could only produce a "gurgling" sound like an old bellows.
But he didn't see that the blood flowing down his arm was seeping into the jade pendant in his palm. The cracks in the jade grew larger, as if something was about to be born.
In his final moments of consciousness, Gao Bo saw Gao Sen set the house ablaze with gasoline and leave. Staring at the raging fire, watching the place he'd lived for over twenty years burn, feeling his life slip away, Gao Bo's last thought was: "Ah, thankfully my parents insured this house. The insurance company should pay out, right?"
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(TL : Support me @)[1]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/c/Gooberilla