47: Former amusement park owner

Time quickly came to 11 o'clock. Lu Chuan saw off the last customer and, after cleaning up the trash left on the premises, rode his tricycle away.

But as he was about to reach the amusement park's exit gate, he suddenly heard a mournful cry coming from his left rear.

This gave Lu Chuan quite a fright.

“System, didn't you say there were no ghosts?”

【Host, watch fewer ghost movies, you must be a firm materialist warrior!】

Although the system was a bit cheeky, at least it wouldn't lie.

With his mind at ease, Lu Chuan couldn't help but become curious about the crying sound.

He immediately turned his tricycle and rode towards the direction of the crying.

Before long, he arrived in front of a rusty, mottled tin shack.

Looking at the middle-aged man sitting at the entrance, guzzling alcohol and wailing, he couldn't help but ask in surprise:

“Uncle, you…”

But before he could finish his sentence, he startled the middle-aged man instead.

“What the heck! Who are you? How did you get into my amusement park? What do you want to do?”

The middle-aged man's words made Lu Chuan pause again.

“Your amusement park?”

“If it's not mine, is it yours then?”

At this moment, the middle-aged man finally saw Lu Chuan clearly.

Upon realizing it was just a teenager and not the villain he imagined, his rapidly beating heart finally relaxed.

Then he rolled his eyes at Lu Chuan and retorted grumpily.

And at this moment, his alcohol-numbed brain, for once, cleared up. Seeing Lu Chuan on a tricycle, he asked suspiciously:

“What are you doing here so late at night?”

It turned out the person in front of him was the rumored owner of the amusement park.

Lu Chuan felt a bit awkward now. He was doing business on someone else's property. If he hadn't met him, it would have been fine, but since he did, he had to explain.

“Uh, well, these past few days I've been setting up a stall in front of the Haunted House, selling cold drinks and sweet soups.”

“Huh?”

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately spat out the alcohol he had just drunk.

He choked, coughing incessantly. After a long while, he finally spoke grumpily.

“At least make up a plausible lie. Setting up a stall in front of the Haunted House? Are you taking me for a drunkard who's lost his mind, trying to fool me?”

With that, he stood up and staggered over.

You're this drunk and you're not a drunkard?

Complaining aside, seeing how unsteady the middle-aged man was, Lu Chuan quickly got off his tricycle to help support him.

“Wow, Uncle, how much have you drunk?”

As soon as he got close, a pungent smell of alcohol hit his nose, almost making Lu Chuan pass out.

With Lu Chuan's help, the middle-aged man slowly sat on the ground.

“Not much, not much, just one bottle of white wine.”

He patted Lu Chuan's shoulder, motioning for Lu Chuan to sit down and chat with him.

“You're not some thief, are you, coming to steal tin sheets?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan's face immediately flushed red, and he was about to retort.

However, the middle-aged man then burst into laughter, waving his hand for Lu Chuan to relax.

“Just kidding, just kidding. You're a kind-looking kid, not like someone who'd do shady things.”

After speaking, he turned his head, his hazy eyes looking at the small pushcart.

Upon seeing the illuminated sign on it, he suddenly let out an “eh,” then looked back at Lu Chuan.

Finally, he scratched his head, looking puzzled.

“You really are setting up a stall?”

“I told you I was setting up a stall.”

Lu Chuan snorted grumpily.

“Hahahaha, you might as well say you're here to steal tin sheets. You're killing me, hahahaha. Someone is actually setting up a stall in front of the Haunted House, and it's this abandoned Haunted House… Wahahahaha, I'm dying of laughter…”

The middle-aged man suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, laughing so hard he swayed back and forth, his beard trembling, laughing as if he would die.

Finally, as he laughed, he started to cry.

Lu Chuan immediately felt at a loss.

He had never seen a middle-aged man cry so intensely in his life.

“Hey, hey, hey, why did you start crying while laughing!”

The middle-aged man looked at Lu Chuan's anxious expression, and as he cried, he suddenly burst into laughter again.

At this, Lu Chuan finally couldn't help but roll his eyes and muttered a complaint.

“You really are crazy!”

The middle-aged man heard him, pointed at himself, and nodded.

“That's right, I am crazy.”

Then he pointed at Lu Chuan, smiling mischievously.

“But you're setting up a stall in front of an abandoned Haunted House, so you're a little crazy too!”

“…”

Unbelievable, this uncle really is a character.

Lu Chuan was speechless for a moment.

But very quickly, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly chuckled.

“I'm not crazy. Even setting up a stall in such a remote place, dozens of people came to support me tonight.”

“Stop bragging, heh heh.”

The middle-aged man squinted at Lu Chuan and took another swig of alcohol.

“Believe it or not.”

Lu Chuan didn't bother to explain further, but since the person in front of him was the owner of the amusement park, he still needed his permission to set up a stall here.

He immediately asked:

“Uncle, can I set up a stall in front of your Haunted House these next few days? I promise my customers won't disturb you, and I'll clean up the area when I pack up.”

The middle-aged man was already feeling drowsy at this point. He waved his hand and said indifferently:

“Do whatever you want, just don't disturb my drinking.”

“Thank you, Uncle!”

Lu Chuan immediately thanked him, then got up to leave.

But a dull thud behind him still made him stop.

Lu Chuan sighed helplessly, turned around, and carried the completely unconscious middle-aged man back to the camp bed in the tin shack.

“This environment is really awful.”

Lu Chuan shook his head, looking at the indoor environment that even a dog would despise.

He didn't understand how the once glorious Yinhua Amusement Park owner had fallen into such disrepair.

However, Lu Chuan himself had enough on his plate, still burdened by a huge debt of 20,000 appetite coins, so he really wasn't in a position to meddle in others' affairs.

But everyone has a heart of compassion.

Also, because he had used the space in front of the Haunted House, he had implicitly received a favor from the middle-aged man, so Lu Chuan decided to help out.

He immediately rolled up his sleeves, cleaned up the accumulated trash and the mountain of wine bottles in the room, then fetched water and mopped the floor.

After a busy period, the room finally brightened up a bit.

“A good environment can inspire people's love for life. I hope you won't be so decadent anymore, Uncle, and cheer up.”

Lu Chuan took several ice cream, mung bean paste, and double-skin milk from his tricycle, placed them in an insulated bag with a lot of ice, and set it beside the middle-aged man's bed. After saying this to the sleeping middle-aged man, he closed the door and left.

In the dim environment, the previously sleeping middle-aged man suddenly opened his eyes.

He stared blankly at the rusty, dilapidated ceiling, and crystal tears slid down from the corners of his eyes.

Just then, a sweet fragrance wafted through the gaps in the insulated bag and into his nose.

His stomach, long corroded by alcohol, unexpectedly let out a loud rumbling sound.

The middle-aged man froze.

A look of struggle appeared on his face, but in the end, he shakily sat up and opened the insulated bag.

His hands rummaged inside, picking and choosing. After some hesitation, he picked out a double-skin milk.