Chapter 1 Embroidered Shoes

It is said that people become more refined as they age. In fact, some old antiques may also become refined.

For example, jade bracelets, Buddha statues, swords, etc.

If one day you find that strange things are happening at home, and there is some noise in the living room and kitchen every midnight, maybe it is an antique in your collection that is causing trouble!

In our industry, we call this kind of antique that has become a spirit: femininity.

If these femininity objects are left in the hands of people who don't know how to use them, they will often have bad luck and even lose their lives.

But if you make good use of it, it can improve your official luck and promote marriage. Therefore, no matter the high-ranking officials or the famous families, they all have a demand for feminine things.

Where there is demand, there is a market, and thus the business of femininity merchants was born.

Three generations of our Zhang family have been doing this.

It is said that my grandfather once dug out the eyes of a kappa and sold it to Yuan Shikai, who then transformed from a warlord to an emperor.

His father sold the sword used by Wu Zixu to commit suicide to a crosstalk actor named Zhao. The crosstalk actor soon became popular all over the country and even appeared on the Spring Festival Gala.

In my generation, the market for femininity has become even bigger. I can count the number of second- and third-tier celebrities I have come into contact with on both hands.

What I want to tell you next is my story.

In 2000, I took over the ancestral antique store from my father.

This store is very small, located in the most inconspicuous corner of the antique street.

Because I had just started and had little experience, the business was always tepid in my hands, and I even had enough to eat for a while.

The first time I came into contact with vaginal objects was during the period when I was starving to eat.

Boiling a pot of old wine, cutting a pound of beef, sitting in my small shop, looking at the empty streets, I am already enjoying this feeling.

Not only does our family have a special business, but the way we open the store is also very special. It only opens after the sun goes down. This rule has lasted for three generations. Therefore, our family is very respected in the antique street because we never compete with others for business.

At this time, Li Mazi came sneakily, carrying a black bundle in his arms.

Li Mazi is a colleague, and his shop is at the end of the west street.

"Hey, Brother Zhang, you are having a drink." When Li Mazi saw me, his expression suddenly relaxed and he sat down next to me unceremoniously.

My father and I learned a good way of observing people's emotions. From a few simple actions of Li Mazi, I knew that he must be in big trouble.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to be nervous when he came in and then relax after seeing me.

I don’t have any other skills, but I still have the ability to pretend to be a cool person.

I said calmly: "Li Mazi, do you have anything to do with me? Just tell me if you have anything."

Li Mazi suddenly became nervous again, secretly ran to the door, and looked outside. After confirming that no one was there, he closed the door mysteriously.

He walked up to me and put the baggage in front of me: "Brother Zhang, I seem to have collected a sinful object."

Femininity!

These two words stimulated my nerves. I looked at the black baggage seriously and reached out to open it.

But Li Mazi immediately stopped me: "Brother Zhang, this thing is very evil. It's best not to touch it. Things started happening in my family just because I touched this thing..."

I also became a little nervous. Li Mazi was famous for being bold in the neighborhood. To be able to scare him like this was definitely not an ordinary thing.

I said seriously: "What happened in your family? Tell me the whole story."

Li Mazi sighed, and then told me the origin of this evil thing.

It turns out that Li Mazi has been hunting for treasures all over the country all year round. When he sees a rural area, he will stop to see if he can receive one or two valuable antiques.

No, when I came back from my hometown, I did a few businesses on the way, including the feminine object in front of us: an embroidered shoe.

Those shoes look a bit historical at first glance, they are from the Manchu and Qing Dynasty styles.

Because the shop hasn't opened yet, Li Mazi puts the embroidered shoes at home for the time being.

And the strange things started from that time.

That night, Li Mazi went home after drinking with some buddies and found that the embroidered shoes were missing. He searched the living room up and down but couldn't find them.

He thought he was too drunk and forgot where he put his embroidered shoes, so he didn't take it seriously.

But in the second half of the night, Li Mazi vaguely heard someone moving around in the living room, so he got up from the bed and went to the living room to check.

The lights were not turned on in the living room, and the cold moonlight came in, making it look a bit desolate.

By the moonlight, he saw a figure cleaning, washing clothes and dishes in the living room.

Li Mazi stepped forward to take a look and found that it was his son. His eyes were open, his eyelids were unblinking, and his expression was a bit scary.

Li Mazi's wife died early, and he and his son depended on each other. Seeing that his son was so sensible, Li Mazi was very pleased and immediately praised him.

However, the son acted as if he had not heard anything and remained indifferent, still washing the dishes and chopsticks in his hands. Li Mazi, who was very nervous, thought his son was angry with him for drinking, so he didn't pay much attention and went back to sleep.

Unexpectedly, in the next few days, every time the clock struck twelve, my son would mechanically wash dishes and clean the house.

The floor is obviously very clean, and the bowls are also very clean, but he just sweeps and brushes them over and over again!

Li Mazi felt very strange, thinking that his son had never had sleepwalking before. What happened these days? I have seen people sleepwalking, but I have never seen people sleepwalking every day.

Li Mazi became serious. He looked at his son carefully, and then he was shocked to find that his son was actually wearing an embroidered shoe.

Those were clearly the embroidered shoes I had recovered in the countryside a few days ago!

A boy, wearing embroidered shoes, was walking around the living room doing strange things in the middle of the night, which made Li Mazi's hair stand on end.

He immediately realized that there must be something wrong with that embroidered shoe.

So the next day, he threw the embroidered shoes far away without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, the matter was not over. At night, Li Mazi heard the sound of women singing opera coming from his son's room.

Li Mazi rushed into the room immediately. He was horrified to find that the discarded pair of embroidered shoes came to the door again and was worn on his son's feet.

The son also raised his orchid fingers and sang the Shaoxing Opera "Agarwood Fan" in a decent manner.

That voice seemed to be that of a woman.

After his son saw Li Mazi, he raised the corners of his mouth and smiled strangely at him.

Li Mazi was shocked and immediately woke up his son. But when his son woke up, he couldn't remember anything, let alone where the embroidered shoes came from.

Li Mazi was so frightened that he simply threw the embroidered shoes into the well outside the house.

Unexpectedly, on the second night, Li Mazi was awakened by a strong feeling of suffocation. When he opened his eyes, he found that his son was wet all over and was squeezing his neck.

While pinching, he cursed: "Why do you want to drown me? Why do you want to drown me?"

The strength was very strong, not like that of a child at all.

If Li Mazi hadn't grabbed a wine bottle from the side and hit his son on the head, he would have been strangled to death.

After Li Mazi woke up, he vaguely discovered that his son was covered in water, and he was still wearing the same wet embroidered shoe on one foot.

He suddenly realized a horrifying fact. His son actually crawled under the well and fished out the embroidered shoes...

But the well was very deep and there was no place to climb. How did the son get down? Thinking of this, Li Mazi trembled all over.

This son was his lifeblood. If his son had any shortcomings, Li Mazi's life would be meaningless. Li Mazi knew that the embroidered shoes must be causing trouble. Having resold antiques for many years, he also realized that the embroidered shoes might be the legendary 'female object', so he immediately took off the embroidered shoes from his son's feet.

After taking it off, his son woke up. Just like before, all the memories were gone.

Li Mazi was very scared. After comforting his son, he hurriedly came to me with his embroidered shoes.

Because everyone in the antique street knows that only our family accepts such unlucky things.

Hearing what Li Mazi said, my heart began to throb.

I have watched my father collect vaginal objects before, but I have basically never encountered such a situation! Most of them cause the owner to lose things, make chickens and dogs restless, and so on. Such femininity can be subdued with a simple set of tricks.

In a situation like what Li Mazi said, it should be classified as a 'serious thing', right?

I was a bit confused, but I didn’t expect it would be so tricky when opening the business for the first time.

In our line of work, there are "three no-takes", namely those who hurt people's lives, those who mess with people's luck, and those who suck people's blood. This is the most basic principle, and it is also a means for us to protect ourselves. .

So before accepting this evil thing, we must first find out how vicious it is? Have you violated the rules of this industry?

Li Mazi nodded in agreement on the spot.

I smeared quicklime on my hands as a way to avoid contamination with bad luck.

The black baggage was opened, and an embroidered shoe stained with water appeared in front of my eyes.

It has to be said that the patterns on the embroidered shoes are very delicate, with delicate needle holes. The bright red pattern has not faded at all after such a long time. On the contrary, when it was wet with water, it appeared more vivid and red. Under the dim light, it looked like a smear of blood.

I frowned, stared at Li Mazi and asked, "Why is there only one shoe and the other one?"

Li Mazi said: "There is only one shoe."

I took a breath and put the shoes back on coldly: "Take it away, someone wants to harm you, I can't help you!"