Do you sell hair

Zhang Gu felt that he was always in some kind of danger, even though he couldn't figure out the root cause. Moreover, he believed that the entire small town was shrouded in some kind of ominous atmosphere - this was truly foresight.

He made up his mind to get to the bottom of it all.

From then on, he became sensitive like a detective, meticulous, logical and imaginative.

Firstly, he spent a lot of effort investigating and found out that there were three outsiders who came to Juelun Di small town on the day when the baby boy appeared:

One was Old Zhang's niece from the carpentry society. She left after a week.

The second one was someone from the county government who stayed at their guesthouse for three days before leaving.

The third one was an old man from Jiangnan who sold bamboo products. He had been an old friend of Juelun Di small town and would come every season to do business; everyone liked him. He hadn't left yet.

None of these people seemed to be involved with the baby boy and were therefore excluded as suspects by Zhang Gu's investigation.

However, it must be admitted that Zhang Gu's thinking process was correct. Furthermore, he did a lot of detailed work.

At this time, Zhang Gu has already bought a duckbill cap, put on a pair of sunglasses, and even held a smoking pipe. Outside of his eight-hour workday, he changes into this outfit to conduct investigations.

He doesn't want anyone to recognize him.

Moreover, when walking around town with his collar raised high covering most part of his face along with wearing sunglasses and duckbill cap tightly over his eyes...

The mysterious new image of Zhang Gu appeared in a remote corner of the town. He walked around sneakily, feeling like he wasn't himself anymore. But someone in the distance greeted him with ease: 'Hey Zhang Gu, where are you going?' It was Liu Yali, the stationmaster of the town's cultural center, riding her motorcycle.

Zhang Gu felt disappointed because everyone knew each other too well in this small town.

Zhang Gu awkwardly replied: "I, I..." but Liu Yali had already driven away on her motorcycle with a "vroom vroom" sound.

Later, Zhang Gu noticed an unnoticed event that happened recently - an old lady who collected scrap metal came to the small town from somewhere unknown.

She was over sixty years old with deep wrinkles on her face and rough hands; she looked like someone who had gone through hardships.

The first thing she collected were some waste materials from Tie Zhu's house - some old newspapers and a few empty wine bottles. She took out wrinkled bills to pay for them.

Tie Zhu's mother said: "Don't worry about the money."

"How can we do that?"

"Waste is worth only so much money. If you don't come to collect it, we'll have to throw it away."

"Well then thank you."

For the residents of Juelun Di small town, she was an outsider and not easy to come by; everyone sympathized with her.

Later on, whenever anyone had any waste paper, scrap iron or broken shoes etc., they would put them in plastic bags outside their doors waiting for her to take them away and sell at supply-and-marketing cooperative society without asking for payment from her.

Zhang Gu secretly followed this old lady around and found out that she always seemed burdened by something while collecting scraps. He suspected that collecting scraps was just one of many identities she held publicly. One day he followed behind her again...

She pushed the garbage cart forward, and it creaked and squeaked. She walked past one house after another, picking up one waste bag after another. Slowly and leisurely, she shouted in her mouth: "Collecting scrap." A child ran out and brought two wine bottles. The old lady gave the child a few small coins, and the child happily put them in his pocket and ran away - this was their only legitimate income, they would use this money to secretly buy things that their parents did not allow them to buy.

Then she continued walking.

When she reached the 17th row of houses, she avoided it.

Zhang Gu suddenly thought that this old lady had never come to collect scrap from the 17th row of houses. Why?

Zhang Gu immediately associated her with the baby boy - there was a connection between them!

He impulsively wanted to stop her and ask directly. After all, as an adult they could talk about anything face-to-face. But when it came to the baby boy, Zhang Gu felt like he had become deaf and dumb.

"Hey! Please wait!" The old lady slowly stopped and turned around.

Zhang Gu walked over and stood in front of her for the first time seeing her clearly. He found that whether it was facial features or expression, this old lady resembled the baby boy somewhat.

She looked straight at Zhang Gu.

Zhang Gu asked directly, 'Have you heard of the male baby adopted by the 17th ward?' The old lady's face was as expressionless as wood, and she said lightly, 'What male baby? I don't know.' Then she turned around rudely and pushed her garbage cart away. After a few steps, she turned back suddenly and asked, 'Why are you following me?' Zhang Gu was a little flustered for a moment and said, 'I...' The old lady interrupted him and asked softly, 'Do you buy scrap?' Zhang Gu replied stutteringly,'No,I don't.' The old lady came closer step by step and asked again,'Then do you sell scrap?' Zhang Gu hesitated for a moment before saying,'No,I don't.' The old lady paused for a moment before pointing to the pile of messy hair in the garbage truck - human hair that may have been collected from salons wrapped in thick dust. She said,'Look at this. I even collect hair.' It had been quite some time since Zhang Gu had gotten his haircut; his hair was very long. He awkwardly responded,'Why would I sell any hair if there's nothing wrong with it?' The old lady sighed and said,'If you're not selling anything then forget about it.' With that, she walked away without looking back.

A gust of wind blew, and Zhang Gu's long hair fluttered. He felt a chill on the top of his head. He stood still and watched as she pushed the garbage cart away with a creaking sound...

He was pondering where the old lady resembled that baby boy.

He savored her expression and all the words she had just said.

That night, Zhang Gu had a nightmare.

In the darkness, someone was hovering over him. He sat up in terror: "Who is it?" It was indeed that old lady who whispered softly: "Shh...it's me." Zhang Gu asked: "What are you here for?" She replied: "I'm here to collect your hair." Sure enough, he saw shiny scissors in her hand. He said: "Get out!" She wasn't angry but took out stacks of dirty little notes from her pocket and handed them to Zhang Gu saying: "I'll give you all this money." At this point, Her old eyes shone brightly as she looked up and down at Zhang Gu, drooling as she said: 'There are many valuable things on your body, you're full of treasures.' Then, mysteriously, she said: 'Besides collecting hair, I also collect nails, eyeballs...I even collect heart, liver and lungs.' She glanced out the window and lowered her voice even more.Zhang Gu was so scared that he trembled into a ball and said, 'You go to the slaughterhouse, I won't sell it!' She said, 'How can pig bristles be better than your hair?' He began to beg for mercy: 'Please spare me...' She patiently said, 'Don't you understand reason? When autumn comes, I will harvest your wheat. When your nails grow long, I will cut them...' He panicked and covered his head tightly with the blanket.

She gently lifted the covers and said, 'There's one more thing - if I lose my longevity, I'll come after your life.' Then she lightly held Zhang Gu's head and began to cut. Her technique was extremely flexible, clearly that of an experienced hand at this work. The shiny scissors flew up and down from all directions, surrounding Zhang Gu. He looked foolishly on, unable to move a muscle.

"Snip-snip-" His hair was gone.

"Snip-snip-" His eyebrows were gone.

"Snip-snip-" Both of his ears fell off.

"Snip-snip-" His nose fell off.

"Snip-snip-" Both of his eyeballs fell out.

"Snip-snip-" Even his heart lungs were removed!

He only had a throat left, so he shouted with all his might: "Help! Help!" The scissors immediately aimed at his throat again...