I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

The fact that the deal was sold for 420,000 yuan did not elicit elation from Lin Ye.

Rather, it was a guilty conscience.

Because this money came too quickly and too easily.

The payment was settled the following morning.

After deducting the auction house's service fee, Lin Ye stared at the extra string of numbers in his bank card for a full three minutes.

He didn't make a fuss.

There was no jumping or hopping.

I didn't immediately open a shopping app and go on a shopping spree.

He simply placed his phone face down on the table, then looked up at the anti-flood bottle in the corner of the security booth.

The anti-floating bottle remains the same.

Red is lively, blue is confident, and gold is dazzling.

Lin Ye nodded to it.

"Don't worry, I'm not arrogant."

Uncle Zhao just happened to come in carrying a kettle.

Upon hearing this, he stood at the door in silence for two seconds.

"Kobayashi, are you starting to confide in Bottle now?"

Lin Ye turned around, his expression serious.

"Uncle Zhao, people should have a sense of awe."

Uncle Zhao looked at the bottle, then at Lin Ye.

"You spent 18,000 yuan to buy this sense of reverence, so you should definitely cherish it."

Lin Ye thought this made a lot of sense.

But it's also heartbreaking.

He decided to change the subject.

"Uncle Zhao, I'd like to invite you to dinner."

Uncle Zhao was taken aback.

"Why are you suddenly inviting me to dinner?"

Lin Ye said, "I've learned something recently and I'd like to thank you for taking care of me."

Uncle Zhao looked at him warily.

"Did you buy something weird again, and you want me to help you move it?"

Lin Ye was silent for a moment.

This suspicion is reasonable.

After all, the last thing he brought back was anti-floating bottles, which took up half of the security booth.

"No, please treat me to a meal."

Uncle Zhao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, but not too expensive. The fried noodles place near the entrance will do."

Lin Ye now has several hundred thousand in his account.

Hearing the words "fried noodles" makes me feel at ease.

This shows that Uncle Zhao is a good person.

At noon, Lin Ye treated Uncle Zhao to a plate of fried noodles and a plate of braised dishes.

Uncle Zhao was very satisfied with his meal.

Lin Ye was also very satisfied with the meal.

The meal only cost sixty-eight yuan.

It's even cheaper than the starting price for a hand-drip coffee at Old Time Cafe.

After finishing his meal, Lin Ye suddenly realized that he was better suited to living a life of everyday joys and sorrows.

Coffee shops are clearly not my kind of place.

Before returning to his dorm to catch up on sleep in the afternoon, Lin Ye received a message from Lu Zhixia.

Has the payment been confirmed?

Linye returned.

"arrive."

Lu Zhixia quickly replied.

"Don't release too many things lately."

Lin Ye stared at the line of text, a thought suddenly occurring to him.

Why?

"You're finding bargains a bit too often. Snuff bottles, jade bracelets, early paintings by Liang Yansheng. The antique circle isn't big; someone will always notice."

Lin Ye looked at the screen, and the slight sense of relief he had felt earlier slowly faded away.

He had always thought he was quite low-key.

I didn't post it on WeChat Moments.

I didn't buy a luxury car.

He pretended to be rich by not treating his classmates to a meal.

Even after the 160,000 yuan arrived, the celebration was still instant noodles with sausage.

Logically speaking, he has already been very, very low-key.

But Lu Zhixia's words reminded him.

Somewhat low-key, but only in the eyes of ordinary people.

The antique circle is not very large to begin with, and a newly graduated cemetery security guard has managed to produce several good items in a short period of time.

This is anything but low-key.

Lin Ye thought for a moment and replied.

"I've already been very restrained."

Lu Zhixia returns.

"Restraint doesn't mean eating only fried noodles after earning 420,000."

Lin Ye was stunned.

How did she know he ate fried noodles?

He glanced down at his phone and suddenly realized that he had casually taken a picture of Uncle Zhao's braised dishes and posted it as "Today's celebration banquet".

Lin Ye silently considered taking back the photo.

It has been more than two minutes.

There's no going back.

Lu Zhixia sent another message.

"In short, be careful. Especially with things whose origins are unclear."

Lin Ye stared at the three words "unclear," his finger pausing for a moment.

He certainly couldn't explain it.

We can't exactly tell Lu Zhixia that his clues came from the owners' group of the East District of Qingshan Cemetery.

This reason is even more outrageous than his decision to open a bed and breakfast.

Bed and breakfasts can at least be set up.

Who would believe a dead person chatting?

Lin Ye only replied with one sentence at the end.

"clear."

When he was on night duty, he tried to control himself from listening.

But even after the group of dead in the East District started arguing, the sound still got into my ears on the wind.

Old Li is scolding his grandson again today.

Old Zhou is talking about his son again today.

Mr. Wei said his son finally burned the charger for the paper phone, but not the data cable.

Principal Chen pointed out earnestly that a charger without a data cable cannot constitute a complete charging system.

Boss Wei cursed him, saying that even in death he was like a living instruction manual.

Mr. Liang still didn't say much.

Lin Ye listened while looking at the anti-floating bottle.

He didn't take notes in his notebook today.

At least not in the first half of the night.

He felt he needed to rest.

If he keeps picking them up like this, not only will outsiders become suspicious, but he himself will start to doubt himself.

Just after 1 p.m., the motion-sensor light at the entrance of the cemetery turned on briefly.

Lin Ye looked up from the security booth.

A taxi was parked outside.

The car door opened, and a young woman got out of the car.

She was wearing a black trench coat, carrying a canvas bag, her hair was neatly tied up, and she was holding a voice recorder and a bunch of white chrysanthemums in her hand.

Lin Ye immediately sat up straight.

Almost no one comes to the cemetery at this time of year.

He pushed open the window of the security booth.

"Hello, the cemetery is not open for tomb sweeping at night."

The woman walked to the window and looked up at him.

She is very beautiful, especially her eyes.

Lin Ye felt his heart race for no reason when she glanced at him.

The woman took her ID from her bag and handed it to the window.

"Ning Zhi, Qingcheng Evening News. I'd like to know something about the situation."

Lin Ye looked at the documents.

reporter.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Lu Zhixia reminded him not to be too conspicuous in the afternoon.

The reporters arrived that evening.

It has to be said that people working in the news industry are incredibly efficient.

Lin Ye tried his best to remain calm.

"It's not working hours now. You can contact the cemetery office during the day."

Ning Zhi took back the documents, her tone very calm.

"I'm not here to look for an office."

"Then who are you looking for?"

"Mr. Liang Yansheng".

Lin Ye's fingers paused slightly under the table.

Liang Yansheng.

She didn't come here just for casual tomb sweeping.

Lin Ye looked at her, his expression unchanged.

"Are you his relative?"

Ningzhi shook her head.

"No. I'm working on a report about the transfer of the relics of local veteran artists, and I found that Mr. Liang Yansheng is buried here. I will officially register for the memorial service tomorrow during the day, and I just happened to be passing by tonight to confirm if this is the correct address of the cemetery."

This reason sounds perfectly normal.

But Lin Ye has heard too many plausible reasons these past few days.

Celebrating Grandpa's birthday.

Preparing to open a bed and breakfast.

Lin Ye said, "The address is correct, but the cemetery area needs to be visited by staff during the day. It's inconvenient at night."

Ningzhi looked at him.

"Are you new here?"

Lin Ye became even more wary.

"I guess so."

"What's your name?"

"Linye."

Ningzhi nodded and wrote the name down in her notebook.

She writes very quickly.

Lin Ye watched her pen move swiftly and suddenly had a bad feeling.

It's polite for others to remember your name.

But reporters remember names, haha.

Ning Zhi then asked, "Has anyone come to sweep Mr. Liang Yansheng's grave recently?"

Lin Ye shook his head.

"I'm not sure, I haven't been here long."

He was telling the truth.

But only half of it was said.

He had never seen a living person sweep the old man's beam.

I've only ever heard the dead talk.

Ning Zhi was clearly not satisfied.

"Did you know that one of his early landscape paintings was sold today at Jiahe Auction House?"

Lin Ye's heart sank for a moment.

coming.

Sure enough, they came for that painting.

He remained puzzled.

"What painting?"

Ningzhi stared at him.

"The one outside the restroom at the Old Time Cafe. It was bought by a young man this morning and then resold to a collector this afternoon."

Lin Ye felt he couldn't blink right now.

A blink of an eye might make you seem guilty.

He tried his best to appear as bewildered as a security guard should.

"You should ask a coffee shop or an auction house about this."

Ningzhi smiled.

The laugh was very soft.

But it's obviously not easy to fool them.

"I went to the coffee shop. The owner said the person who bought the painting was very young, in his twenties, and claimed to be preparing to open a bed and breakfast."

Lin Ye: "..."

The air suddenly became quiet.

He now finally understands that the most terrifying thing about lying is not being caught on the spot.

The problem is that it might come full circle and hit itself on the back of the head.

Ning Zhi continued, "I also asked the truck drivers nearby. They said that the person who bought the painting sent it to Jiahe Auction House."

Lin Ye found the reporter's efficiency to be frighteningly high.

If only the relevant departments could be as efficient as her.

Lin Ye coughed.

"so what?"

Ningzhi looked at him.

"So I want to know why a cemetery security guard would happen to buy Liang Yansheng's early paintings that had been scattered around the world right after his death."

Lin Ye's back slowly tensed up.

He did not admit it.

But she had already said the words "cemetery security guard".

This means she knew he was the one who bought the painting.

Lin Ye was silent for a moment, then asked, "How did you know I was the one buying the painting?"

Ning Zhi said calmly, "The coffee shop has surveillance cameras."

Lin Ye: "..."

He forgot that surveillance cameras exist in this world.

Ning Zhi added, "Don't be nervous. I'm not a police officer. I just find this very interesting."

Lin Ye thought to himself, "You think it's interesting, but I think it's deadly."

He remained calm.

"I just like that painting."

"Didn't you say you were going to buy it to hang in a bed and breakfast?"

"I feel that someone needs it more than I do."

Where is your guesthouse located?

Lin Ye remained silent for a second.

"Still in preparation."

Ningzhi looked at him.

"How far along are the preparations?"

Lin Ye thought about it seriously.

"The spiritual level."

Ning Zhi finally burst out laughing.

"Lin Ye, you're pretty good at making things up."

Lin Ye sighed.

"Reporter, coming to the cemetery for an interview at one in the morning, you really know how to pick your time."

Ningzhi put the recorder into her bag.

"I'm not here to make things difficult for you today."

"So what brings you here?"

"Just a reminder."

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment.

Ningzhi looked into the cemetery.

The night wind rustled through the pines and cypresses, and rows of tombstones lay shrouded in darkness in the distance.

Her voice lowered a little.

"In recent years, many elderly people in Qingcheng have had their belongings sold at low prices after their deaths. Antiques, paintings, and other old collectibles end up in auction houses or private collections. Individually, each item seems like a normal transaction. But when you look at them together, it becomes very strange."

Lin Ye did not speak.

Ningzhi looked back at him.

"You've had too many coincidences lately."

Lin Ye's heart tightened.

Lu Zhixia said the same thing.

Lu Zhixia simply phrased it tactfully.

Ning Zhi was much more direct.

"I did not break the law."

"I know."

Ning Zhi said, "At least for now, you don't. But I want to know if you know something that others don't."

Lin Ye looked at her.

This is a difficult question to answer.

Because he did know, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

I can't exactly say that I found out everything by listening to the dead chatting.

Ningzhi would probably think he was mentally ill.

Lin Ye could only say, "I was lucky."

Ning Zhi looked at him, her eyes clearly showing disbelief.

"So lucky that you keep finding bargains?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"Perhaps the feng shui of Qingshan Cemetery is good."

Ning Zhi choked for a moment.

She lowered her head and wrote a few strokes in her notebook.

Lin Ye was very curious to know what she had written.

Ningzhi put the notebook away.

"Tomorrow during the day, I will formally come to interview Mr. Liang Yansheng about his situation, and I will also go to the cemetery office to register."

Lin Ye said, "Welcome."

After saying that, he felt like a ticket seller at a tourist attraction and quickly shut up.

Ningzhi glanced at him.

"Lin Ye, I don't care if you're lucky or have someone pulling strings behind the scenes. You'd better be careful."

"What do you mean?"

"You can notice these things, and so can others. It's just that others may not be as disciplined as you."

Lin Ye's heart sank slightly.

Ning Zhi did not explain further.

She handed the white chrysanthemum to the window.

"Can I leave this bouquet with you for now? I'll bring it in tomorrow after I register, is that alright?"

Lin Ye accepted the bouquet of flowers.

The petals were very white, carrying a hint of nighttime coolness.

"Can."

Ningzhi turned and walked toward the taxi.

Before getting on the bus, she suddenly turned around.

"Oh, right."

Lin Ye looked up.

Ningzhi looked at him.

"If your guesthouse really opens, remember to let me know."

Lin Ye didn't react.

"What are you doing?"

Ning Zhi said calmly, "I want to see what kind of guesthouse would buy the painting that's displayed at the entrance of the toilet and hang it up."

After the taxi drove away, the entrance to the cemetery fell silent again.

Lin Ye stood in the guard booth, holding the bunch of white chrysanthemums in his hand, feeling a little numb.

He felt that the amount of information tonight was even greater than in the East District homeowners' group.

The reporter has arrived.

She knows about painting.

I know about coffee shops.

I know Jiahe Auction House.

I also know he's a cemetery security guard.

Most importantly, she said one sentence.

If you can notice these things, so can others.

Others may not be as disciplined as you.

Lin Ye slowly looked towards the eastern district.

In the darkness of night, the tombstones stood quietly.

But he suddenly realized that Qingshan Cemetery not only drops gold coins, but also trouble.