Chapter 0061 Offerings of Menstrual Blood
I found it very strange—how did he know I wanted to escape? No time to overthink it. Hanging up the phone, I finally had an excuse. I told the woman a friend had an urgent matter and needed me. Standing at the intersection for less than ten minutes, Brother Jiang's taxi indeed arrived. I waved at the woman and dived into the car before she could say a word.
In the car, just as I was about to ask Brother Jiang how he knew where I was, he pulled out a brand-new Nokia N95 phone, his face blooming with joy.
"Where did you get that phone?" I asked.
Brother Jiang said excitedly, "That young guy from the carpool earlier, the one with glasses, remember? He dropped it! He was in such a rush to go save his girlfriend that he forgot his phone and didn't even ask for a receipt. The phone was already dead, so I didn't even have to turn it off. Hahaha!"
I was stunned. He found a high-end phone that quickly? Brother Jiang held up his palm and lamented, "Five years. I've been driving a taxi for over five years, and this is the first phone I've ever found!" Thinking of how anxious that young man looked, I almost advised Brother Jiang to return it, but then I thought—why act like a saint? If it were me, I might have sold it even faster. Since it was his first find, I kept my mouth shut.
That night, Brother Jiang stopped picking up fares early. He insisted on treating me to hotpot. During the meal, he kept slapping my shoulder: "Brother, this Thai stuff is truly miraculous. Five years of driving and I haven't even found a stray hen, let alone a phone. It's only been a few days, and I actually found a top-tier phone. Five years!"
Brother Jiang was like a broken record, repeating "five years" over and over. Seeing his pride, I suddenly reminded him: "Don't forget to fulfill your vow."
Brother Jiang grinned. "No problem. Just buying some more good food, drinks, and toys, right? I'll swap them out tomorrow!"
I suddenly remembered something else and quickly added, "The driver you share shifts with—you need to warn him. He doesn't need to make offerings, but tell him not to mess with the ones you've put there."
"I know," Brother Jiang waved his hand. "I already gave him a heads-up. Told him this chubby doll is a foreigner from Thailand, full of spiritual energy. Don't touch his stuff, and don't just pile random junk in that spot."
Late that night, Brother Jiang texted me saying he just got home. His wife had snatched the phone away immediately and was praising his "capability." I smiled inwardly but said nothing.
A few days later, my cousin in Thailand called, asking when I'd be back. He was going to the Philippines for a month to talk business and wanted me to manage the factory; he didn't trust outsiders. So, I booked a ticket for Thailand ten days out.
The following night, Brother Jiang called: "Brother, there's something... I wanted to ask you."
I smiled. "What is it? Just say the word."
Brother Jiang hesitated. "This... if, if someone offered... 'other' things to the Guman Thong, would there be a problem?"
"What other things?" My heart skipped a beat.
Brother Jiang said, "Like cigarettes or something?"
I replied unhappily, "If your kid was only a few years old and you made him smoke, do you think he'd be happy?"
Brother Jiang got angry. "Don't even get me started! The guy I shift with is a total degenerate. You tell him not to do something, and he does it anyway! Last night when I took over the shift, I found he'd shoved a cigarette into the Guman's little hand."
I thought for a moment. "Tell him never to do that again. Then, offer the Guman extra good food and drinks."
Brother Jiang asked nervously, "It's not a big deal, right?"
"It shouldn't be, but watch it from now on," I said. "A Guman Thong is like a child; their moods are unpredictable. Better not to provoke him."
Brother Jiang laughed. "I bought him a lot of stuff today. I even made a vow: if you can get me some more extra cash, I'll buy you a gold bracelet to hang on that fat little arm." I warned him not to make vows lightly, or the extra cash might not even cover the cost of the reward. Brother Jiang roared with laughter: "How could it be that easy to get extra cash? I've never won the lottery in my life. The last time I found money was back in high school—ten yuan."
A few more days passed. It was already after 2:00 AM. My phone kept ringing; I almost silenced it, but seeing it was Brother Jiang, I knew something was up. When I picked up, his voice was vibrating with excitement: "Brother, I found a leather bag!"
I blinked. "What bag?"
Brother Jiang whispered, "There are several stacks of cash inside, plus a wallet, passports, and visas. There's even a phone with an interface all in English! I just picked up two foreigners, a man and a woman. They were fighting non-stop in the car; it drove me crazy. They were still arguing when they got out, so I just drove off. When I looked in the back seat, I found this bag!"
"In that case... you should probably hand it over to the police station," I said.
Brother Jiang said, "Give it back? Then I found it for nothing! That's way too stupid." I pointed out that the bag had passports and visas; if he didn't return them, those foreigners might end up on the street and unable to go home. Brother Jiang was indecisive, saying he'd go home and discuss it with his wife.
I truly couldn't sleep after that. I wondered—could an Earth Guman Thong really be this effective? If so, why was I even selling amulets? If I invited ten of them, wouldn't I be swimming in wealth?
The next evening around 7:00 PM, Brother Jiang honked his horn downstairs. I went down and climbed into his car. I immediately noticed a brand-new, large Enicar watch on his wrist. I knew then he hadn't returned the bag. He whispered excitedly, "Guess how much was in the bag?"
"Thirty thousand?" I guessed.
Brother Jiang smirked. "Four stacks of RMB alone—that's ten thousand per stack. Plus a pile of foreign currency. I had someone exchange it at the bank; turned out to be German money, called Marks. It's worth even more than RMB."
I said it was a good haul, but he really should return the bag. Brother Jiang said, "My wife and I looked into it last night. She said those foreigners didn't even ask for a receipt and they definitely don't know my license plate. There's nothing to be afraid of, so she told me to keep it."
Based on his tone, he wasn't going to return it. I stopped trying to persuade him. Brother Jiang found a Dandong seafood restaurant, and we chatted while we ate. He told me he and his wife had gone on a shopping spree at the malls in Zhongjie today. He bought himself the Swiss watch, and his wife wanted "The Three Golds": a necklace, a bracelet, and a ring. She was so happy she couldn't stop smiling.
After dinner, we filled up the gas tank. Brother Jiang said he wanted to take me to a bath center in Fushun. It's nearly a two-hour drive from Shenyang. I thought it was too far and suggested a local place, but he insisted on Fushun, saying his friend owned the shop. Not only would we get a discount, but the service was great and the girls were beautiful.
Since I was the guest, I agreed. On the Shen-Fu Expressway, I asked him why his shift handover was so late today, since handovers usually happen around 4:00 or 5:00 PM. Brother Jiang said, "The idiot who drives the day shift—I chewed him out yesterday. He's a terrible driver, treats the car like trash. Every time I take over, I have to spend forever cleaning up after him. I tell him, but he won't listen. Yesterday he even talked back. Today at handover time, he intentionally delayed, saying the car broke down and he was getting it fixed. Bastard, trying to play mind games with me? No way!"
I advised him to keep the peace and not make enemies. While chatting, I noticed the gold bracelet hanging on the Guman's right arm and took it down to look. It felt heavy—maybe twenty-something grams, worth five or six thousand yuan. I smiled. "You really did fulfill the vow."
Brother Jiang said, "Of course, a man's gotta keep his word! But honestly, if I hadn't bought the bracelet, would anything really have happened?" I laughed and said I didn't know, but it was better not to test it.
Besides the gold bracelet, there were several packs of Want Want QQ gummies, small bottles of Xile yogurt, two bars of chocolate, and an Optimus Prime toy truck next to the Guman. I noticed one of the gummy packs had been torn open and reached for one. Holding the package, I saw a blue square plastic object inside. I pulled it out—it was a Jissbon condom, the studded kind. I immediately asked what this was. Brother Jiang was stunned. "Where did that come from? I didn't put that there. I never use condoms!"
I looked at him suspiciously, then picked up the yogurt bottles. One of the seals looked strange, as if it had been torn open and glued back. The liquid inside wasn't yellowish-white but pure white. I sniffed it—the smell of hard liquor. I ripped the seal off, and a strong scent of baijiu filled the cabin.
"This is baijiu inside, man!" I said. Brother Jiang pulled over, grabbed the bottle, and sniffed it. It was indeed liquor. He turned pale. "What the hell is going on?" I grabbed the chocolate bar and ripped it open; inside was a pornographic "escort service" card with a nude woman on it—the kind they hand out on every street corner. Brother Jiang and I stared at each other. He snatched the toy truck, looked it over, and flipped open the back hatch. A foul, metallic stench wafted out. He reached in and pulled out a used sanitary pad—soaked in fresh blood.