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

When Lin Ye checked out, the guesthouse owner was sitting at the front desk shelling edamame.

She saw Lin Ye dragging a suitcase downstairs, first looking at the suitcase, then at him.

"Young man, are you going home?"

"Um."

"Can you see the sea?"

Lin Ye placed the room key on the counter.

"I saw it."

The proprietress laughed, "How about it? Spectacular, isn't it?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"It's quite big."

The proprietress paused for a moment, then laughed and scolded, "You silly child, you're so big, but you have absolutely no romantic sense."

Lin Ye also laughed.

He didn't explain.

The sea is quite beautiful.

What he remembered most about his trip to Haicheng was not the sunrise or the grilled squid, but the few intermittent words spoken in front of the old sea burial monument.

Those words were like pebbles stuck in my shoe, pricking me every few steps.

On the way to the high-speed rail station, the driver played a local radio station.

The host is talking about the renovation of the old wharf in Haicheng, saying that a new cultural and tourism commercial street will be built there.

Lin Ye leaned back in the back seat, his fingers resting on the edge of his phone.

He wanted to look up information about the "old sea burial site in Haicheng," typed a few words, and then deleted them.

Forget it.

Even if you look it up, you might not understand it.

Besides, he's currently out of town, so even if something is discovered, it's impossible for him to drag his suitcase into the sea to retrieve something.

What's more, he's a landlubber and can't swim.

When he arrived at the station, he bought a bottle of water and a rice ball at the convenience store.

When I went to pay, the cashier asked, "Would you like a bag?"

Lin Ye looked down at the limping suitcase he was dragging.

"I'll take it."

He carried his things to the ticket gate.

My phone vibrated.

Gu Wantang sent a message: "What time will you arrive in Qingcheng?"

He sent a screenshot of the train number.

After a while, Gu Wantang replied, "Go straight to the cemetery after we arrive?"

Lin Ye: "I'll go let Uncle Zhao know I'm safe first, so he won't dock my pay."

Gu Wantang: "He's really stingy?"

Lin Ye: "He can even keep track of the number of tea eggs."

Gu Wantang: "Come find me after you've let me know you're safe."

Lin Ye: "Roger that, boss."

Gu Wantang...

After having his ticket checked and entering the station, he found his carriage.

The ticket is for an aisle seat.

The window seat is empty.

Lin Ye placed the water and rice balls on the small table and looked up to stuff his luggage.

The wheelchair is not cooperating; the wheels are stuck on the side of the luggage rack, and it won't go in no matter how hard I try.

There were people waiting in the aisle behind.

Lin Ye was a little embarrassed.

"Wait a moment, it's old and not easy to take care of."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a hand reached out from the side, supported the bottom of the box, and gently lifted it upwards.

The suitcase immediately slid into the luggage rack.

Lin Ye bowed his head: "Thank you."

The person who helped him was a woman.

She was in her early twenties, with her long hair loosely tied back, a few strands falling beside her ears. She wore a light beige knitted cardigan over a simple white top; both colors were very light, making her look exceptionally clean and neat.

When Lin Ye looked up, he paused for a moment.

She is very pretty.

She's not the kind of stunningly beautiful at first glance, but rather a quiet, slightly aloof kind of attractive.

Her skin was as white as if bathed in the morning light, her eyebrows and eyes were gentle, and her nose was delicate and straight. What was most attractive was her temperament, calm and composed, as if she had stepped out of a bygone era, carrying an indescribable scholarly air.

The carriage was bustling with people and filled with noise.

But as she sat there, the surroundings seemed to quiet down a bit.

Lin Ye has seen many beautiful girls.

But when I looked at it, my heart skipped a beat.

Like suddenly spotting a stunningly beautiful landscape during a journey.

Even though I knew I was just passing by, I still couldn't help but take a second look.

The woman withdrew her hand and smiled.

"Your suitcase is quite unique."

Lin Ye sat back down in the aisle seat.

"After being with me for so long, I've picked up a bit of the class vibe."

The woman sat down by the window.

"Are you very tired from work?"

"It's alright." Lin Ye thought for a moment, "The main problem is that my job isn't in the sun."

The woman glanced at him, but didn't ask any further questions. She simply lowered her head and put her bag away.

This reaction surprised Lin Ye a little.

When most people hear "not the sun," they either ask, "What do you do?" or laugh and ask, "You don't mean funeral services, do you?"

She didn't.

It's like knowing when to accept and when to stop.

The car started moving.

The platform outside the window slowly receded into the distance.

Lin Ye tore open the rice ball and took a bite.

The rice ball was a bit cold, and the rice grains were hard.

He took a couple of bites, and the woman next to him suddenly glanced at his plastic bag.

"You bought seaweed?"

Lin Ye lowered his head.

"Yes, it's a local specialty."

The woman's eyes held a hint of a smile.

"Bought at the station convenience store?"

Lin Ye stopped swallowing the rice ball.

"How did you figure that out?"

"The packaging has a label for the convenience store inside the station."

Lin Ye looked down.

It really does.

He chuckled and moved the plastic bag closer to his feet.

"I brought it for a friend; I know I should keep quiet about it."

The woman smiled.

"It's not shameful. It's a specialty of Haicheng; it'll all end up back on the shelves at the train station anyway."

Lin Ye nodded seriously.

"Yes, I go directly to the source, eliminating the middleman's markup."

"Have you had any good food these past few days?"

"Grilled squid," Lin Ye said. "I ordered it mildly spicy, but I almost died from the spiciness."

The woman couldn't help but laugh.

"The term 'mildly spicy' in Haicheng is used by locals. Visitors should ask for 'very, very, very spicy'."

"Now I know," Lin Ye sighed. "Unfortunately, it's a bit too late."

The woman laughed for a while before asking, "What else did you eat?"

"Seafood noodles, fried yellow croaker, seaweed pancakes, and a fish ball soup recommended by the owner."

"Which restaurant makes fish ball soup?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"It's by the old dock, the signboard is very old, and the proprietress has a loud voice."

"That place is alright," the woman said, "but their soup is a bit bland. If you go there again, you can walk down two streets into the alley. There's an old lady's fish ball shop there; the soup is much fresher, but the shop is small, and you have to wait in line during mealtimes."

Lin Ye looked at her.

"You know this place very well."

"I've been here a few times before," the woman said. "The really good food in Haicheng isn't on the trendy street; it's just a place for taking photos and checking in."

"Indeed." Lin Ye put down the rice ball. "I bought a cup of coconut water on the trendy street for twenty-eight yuan. My biggest feeling after drinking it was that both I and the coconut were ripped off."

The woman's eyes crinkled as she smiled.

Lin Ye's tense heart unconsciously relaxed a little.

Her smile was soft and natural.

"And what about the tourist attractions?" the woman asked. "Which ones did you visit?"

"The seaside, the old pier, the pier," Lin Ye counted on his fingers, "and we also went to the Haicheng Museum."

"How's the museum?"

"It's fine," Lin Ye said. "The air conditioning is on full blast."

The woman looked at him.

Lin Ye added, "The exhibition is also quite good."

"Your order of evaluation is very realistic."

"When visiting exhibitions in the summer, air conditioning is the most important factor."

The woman nodded: "I agree."

Lin Ye added, "There's also the old sea burial memorial."

The woman paused her hand as she turned the pages of the book, very lightly, almost imperceptibly.

"That place is quite remote," she said casually. "Tourists don't usually go there specifically."

Lin Ye put the water bottle back on the small table.

"I just kept walking and it happened."

"night?"

Lin Ye glanced at her.

How did you know?

"You just mentioned the old pier, the pier, and the museum, which are all more convenient to visit during the day," the woman said. "The old sea burial memorial is far from the tourist routes, and unless you specifically go out of your way to visit it, you'll mostly come across it when you're taking a walk at night."

Lin Ye smiled.

"With your observational skills, it's a shame you're not a detective."

"Being a detective is too tiring." The woman opened the booklet. "I'm better suited to sitting and reading documents."

Lin Ye then noticed that the cover of the booklet in her hand was dark blue.

"Haicheng Ancient Ships and Maritime Folk Customs Commemorative Album"

"You're still buying this?"

"Hmm." The woman tilted the booklet towards him. "A travel souvenir booklet. The writing is so-so, but the pictures are alright."

She turned to one of the pages and pointed it out to him.

"This is a small boat that used to be used near the coast of Haicheng. Many tourists think it's a fishing boat, but it was actually used for sea rituals."

Lin Ye looked in the direction she was pointing.

An eye is painted on the bow of the boat.

"The boat even has eyes painted on it?"

"There used to be many such places along the coast," she said. "The boats sailed on the sea, and with eyes, they could recognize the way home."

Lin Ye didn't say anything.

The whispered words in front of the old sea burial monument resurfaced in my mind.

He squeezed the water bottle, and it made a soft popping sound.

The woman looked up at him.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Lin Ye released his hand. "It's just that there are still quite a few old rules."

"In coastal areas, there are more rules than people," the woman said. "Before setting sail, you worship Mazu; when going out to sea, it's taboo to say 'capsize' or 'sink'; and there are even guiding lights for funerals. Now many of these have become tourist brochures, sounding like stories, but people actually believed them in the past."

Lin Ye hummed in agreement.

"It's similar over there."

"Over there?"

"Qingcheng," Lin Ye said, "has quite a few old rules."

The woman closed the booklet and looked at him.

"Are you from Qingcheng?"

"Um."

"Then why are you interested in the old sea burial memorial?"

Lin Ye paused for a moment.

That's a very natural question.

He thought about it for a while, but in the end, he didn't go around in circles.

"I guess you could call it an occupational hazard."

"Occupational hazard? What do you do for a living?"

Lin Ye leaned back in his seat, his tone quite calm.

"Cemetery security guard."

The woman gave him a serious look.

There was no fear in his eyes, nor was there that exaggerated "Wow, you're so special" reaction.

She simply nodded.

No wonder.

"No wonder what?"

"No wonder you look at monuments and old cemeteries more often," the woman said.

Lin Ye picked up the water and took a sip.

"In our line of work, we always take a second look when we come across a cemetery."

"Day shift or night shift?"

"night shift."

Are you scared?

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"I was scared at first."

"And now?"

"My main concern now is that wages won't increase."

The woman laughed, a very happy laugh.

"This is indeed more terrifying than a ghost."

Lin Ye couldn't help but laugh too.

After the woman finished laughing, she put the scrapbook into her bag.

"Your workplace is in Qingcheng?"

"Yes, Aoyama Cemetery."

"What a coincidence."

She looked at him.

"I'm going to Qingcheng too."

Lin Ye stopped moving.

Qingcheng.

The moment those two words were uttered, a nerve in his head snapped.

"travel?"

"Go to stay with relatives."

"Do you have relatives in Qingcheng?"

"My cousin," the woman said, "owns an antique shop."

Lin Ye looked at her.

Antique shop.

This word is now a bit sensitive for him.

The woman noticed his expression.

Have you ever been ripped off by an antique shop?

Lin Ye put the water bottle away.

"It's not exactly a scam."

"That means I was scammed."

"Isn't your reasoning a bit too fast?"

Your expression just now made it quite obvious.

Lin Ye touched the tip of his nose.

"Fine. I bought a fake bottle before."

"How much?"

Lin Ye remained silent.

The woman didn't urge him either.

After two seconds, Lin Ye whispered, "Eighteen thousand."

The woman's eyebrows twitched slightly.

It's not mockery.

It's more like he was holding back his laughter; it wasn't too obvious.

Lin Ye saw it.

"Laugh if you want to, holding it in can cause internal injuries."

She then smiled.

The sound was very soft.

"And then?"

"I later left it at my workplace."

Why?

"Anti-drifting".

"What are you guarding against?"

Lin Ye said seriously, "To prevent me from getting arrogant after I become rich."

The woman smiled again, her eyes crinkling slightly, and her whole demeanor softened.

Lin Ye suddenly felt that the air conditioning in the carriage wasn't so cold anymore.

The moment the thought popped into his head, he cursed himself inwardly.

He's got some potential.

They just smiled.

You act like you've never seen a pretty girl before.

After the woman finished laughing, she extended her hand.

"Su Tinglan".

"The 'listen' in 'hearing,' and the 'wave' in 'ripples.'"

Lin Ye looked down at her hand.

Her fingers were slender and fair, like a piece of exquisite porcelain.

He reached out and shook hands briefly, then quickly let go.

"Linye."

"The 'lin' of forest, the 'ye' of field?"

"Um."

"It's a nice name," Su Tinglan said.

In the latter half of the conversation, the two chatted more smoothly than Lin Ye had expected.

We talked about what to eat in Haicheng and then about what to eat in Qingcheng.

Lin Ye said there's a beef potsticker place on Qingcheng Old Street that's pretty good, but the owner has a grumpy face.

Su Tinglan said that shops with a grumpy attitude are usually not bad, because they don't rely on service to survive.

Lin Ye said there was a wonton stall near Nanqiao Secondhand Market, and the soup was so bland it sounded like the owner was practicing asceticism.

Su Tinglan said that it might not be that the wontons were bland, but that his palate had been overwhelmed by the spiciness of the grilled squid from Haicheng.

The topic circled back to antiques.

When Lin Ye got a date wrong, she didn't correct him directly, but only said, "That's also the version, but another account is more common."

That sounds much better.

Unlike Lu Zhixia.

When Teacher Lu corrects someone, he usually says, "You're wrong."

Two words: clean and efficient.

Lin Ye couldn't help but smile when he thought of this.

Su Tinglan looked at him.

"What came to mind?"

"I thought of a friend."

"girlfriend?"

Lin Ye almost choked on the water.

"no."

Su Tinglan's eyes held a hint of a smile.

"With such a strong reaction, it looks even more like it."

"No, that's not true." Lin Ye waved his hand. "If she heard that, she could do an age check on me right then and there and conclude that I was just deluding myself."

"Sounds like you work in cultural heritage?"

"I guess so."

"Then you have quite a few people around you who know about antiques."

Lin Ye's heart stirred slightly.

He didn't reveal it, but just continued talking along with the joke.

"There's no other way. The professional circle is too dark, so I can only make more friends in the real world to balance it out."

Su Tinglan nodded.

"So, am I considered a friend of the living world too?"

Lin Ye looked at her and paused for a moment.

"For now."

"temporary?"

"The main issue is that we haven't confirmed whether your cousin's antique shop is a scam or not."

Su Tinglan smiled.

The high-speed train is heading towards Qingcheng.

Someone boarded the train midway, and there was a commotion in the carriage for a while.

A child was crying for a tablet, an older man in the row in front of him was watching short videos on his phone with the speakers on, and a flight attendant was pushing a food cart through the aisle and asking if anyone wanted a boxed meal.

Lin Ye was a little annoyed.

But Su Tinglan spoke slowly.

She can talk about complex things as if it were casual conversation.

They won't deliberately try to show off their abilities, nor will they treat people like fools.

Such a sense of proportion is rarely encountered in the forest.

As we approached Qingcheng, the loudspeaker came on.

Su Tinglan put the commemorative album into her bag.

Lin Ye asked, "Where is your cousin's shop?"

"Over at the South Bridge."

Lin Ye's eyelids twitched.

"South Bridge?"

"Hmm, the shop is called 'Full Warehouse of Antiques'." Su Tinglan lowered her head and zipped up her bag. "The name is a bit corny. My cousin said that antique shops can't be too elegant, or they'll lose money."

Lin Ye smiled.

"Your cousin has a great business sense."

"He's also very fat, has a big appetite, and is very afraid of his wife."

"That does sound like a living person."

Su Tinglan looked up at him.

"Don't the people you usually know seem like real people?"

Lin Ye thought about the old neighbors at Qingshan Cemetery who used to start their nighttime mic sessions.

"Some are difficult to define."

Su Tinglan looked at him and didn't ask any further questions.

The car slowed down.

The platform of Qingcheng Station appears outside the window.

People in the carriage began to collect their luggage.

Lin Ye stood up and pulled his wheelchair out.

It got stuck again, just like I expected.

He pulled hard, but the box didn't come out. The man next to him was so startled that he took a half step back.

"Brother, I'm sorry."

Su Tinglan stood up and reached out to touch the bottom of the box.

The box came down safely.

The two moved a little closer together.

Lin Ye smelled a faint scent on her.

It's not the scent of flowers.

It's like old paper that's been dried in the sun, with a hint of woody scent.

He paused for a moment.

Su Tinglan looked at him: "What's wrong?"

Lin Ye came to his senses.

"It's okay. The suitcase just embarrassed itself again."

"It's alright," Su Tinglan said, "at least it didn't fall and hit anyone."

"You have very low expectations for it."

"It doesn't seem suitable for high standards either."

Lin Ye: "..."

well.

Even his suitcase was politely humiliated.

After getting off the bus, the crowd surged toward the exit.

Lin Ye dragged the suitcase a few steps, then looked back.

Su Tinglan happened to look over as well.

She stood out in the crowd, her light-colored clothes standing out among a pile of dark gray coats.

She raised her hand towards him.

"Linye."

"Um?"

See you later.

Lin Ye gripped the box handle and paused for half a second.

Then he smiled.

"Okay, see you later."

He turned and walked toward the exit.

After taking a few steps, I couldn't help but turn back.

Su Tinglan had already looked down at her phone.

The screen light shone on her face, then quickly flashed and went out.

Lin Ye couldn't see what she had posted.

He felt that the high-speed train ride was very comfortable.

Su Tinglan stood behind the crowd and waited until Lin Ye was far away before sending the message.

There are only three words.

"Contact has been made."

A few seconds later, the other end replied.

"Don't rush it, make him like you first."

Su Tinglan stared at the line of text, her fingertips pausing for a moment.

She turned off her phone and looked up in the direction of the exit.

Lin Ye's limping wheelchair rattled through the crowd, making it easy to spot.

She stood there for a while, then gently exhaled.

"It's not difficult."