Book 1: Chapter 91


    I swallowed, looked at the leather figurine womans sinister mouth, and panicked. But there werent any teeth in that mouth, so physically putting my hand into it definitely wouldnt be dangerous. I stepped forward and quietly said, "I mean no offense, I mean no offense." I then put my hand in the leather figurine womans mouth bit by bit.


    I had half of my arm in there but still couldnt reach it. The hollowness inside the figurine felt just like a sheepskin raft. My cell phones light kept shining, which showed the shadow of my hand inside the leather figurine.


    I had to push my whole arm into it, which was a little disgusting. When I finally touched the object, I found that it felt like a cocoon. It seemed as if it had been hung by a lot of silk in the cavity of the leather figurine woman, but it dropped and fell into the hollow leg as soon as I touched it.


    I pulled my hand out, used my phone to illuminate it, and found that the cocoon was stuck in the figurines knee. I was certain I couldnt reach it by going through the mouth again, so I looked up to see if there was some other ce I could reach through.


    But I felt embarrassed as soon as I looked at it. I stood up and saw the expression on the leather figurine womans face. Its mouth now looked like Darren Wangs (1) and I couldn''t see the former sinisterness at all.


    I heaved a sigh and looked at the leather figurine womans lower body while thinking, <em>do I really have to do such a terrible thing?</em> But if I didnt do it, then I could only cut open this very rare figurine. It would be a pity to destroy it so hastily.


    I lifted my sleeves and squatted in front of the leather figurine woman while scoping out the various angles. I constantly changed the angles and gestures of my hands, making a series of movements like Wolverine and Spider-Man, but it was all to no avail.


    I was just at my wits end when I heard someone cough behind me.


    I looked back and saw a young man in the warehouse uniform standing behind me and pointing to the camera overhead.


    I blushed and immediately stood up straight. "It''s not what you think, I said to him. Dont get me wrong." I shined the shlight at the leather figurines knee and told him my intentions. The young man looked at me, turned the leather figurine woman upside down, and gave it two hard shakes. A cocoon-like fur ball fell all the way from the leather figurine womans knee to its throat.


    He gave it another hard shake and the ball fell out. The young man put the leather figurine woman back as I stared at him in amazement. I was most definitely an idiot. The young man then handed me a business card, put on his headphones, and went back to listening to his music.


    I looked at the card, which read: Bai Haotian, Duty Manager of Warehouse Eleven.


    Warehouse Elevens original manager was the great Chao Feng (2), whose surname was Bai. The Bai family was very prosperous and there were likely thousands of them now. It didnt matter whether it was the family nning era or the glorious mothers era (3), the Bai family always gave birth to at least seven or eight children. They were always a big family. Uncle Two said that Warehouse Elevens managers had umted good merit, so the Bai family would continue to prosper. I used to have a buddy from the Bai family, whose nickname was Baishe (4). People said that he lived very well and always hung out in bars when he wasnt going down in the tombs.


    Although there were many people in the Bai family, their quality varied. Some were especially high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen, while others helped put protective covers on cell phones. The ones sent to take charge of Warehouse Eleven were generally neen-year-olds from the Bai family who were going to college in Hangzhou. It was one crop after anotherjust like a bunch of leeksbut they never broke the cycle.


    The name Bai Haotian was domineering enough (5), so the fortune teller probably said he wouldnt die young. But I felt that his personality left something to be desired.


    I sighed and thought that it was sad enough that I was going to be looked down upon by a post-00 kid (6).


    I looked down at the thing that had been dumped out of the leather figurine and found that it was a moldy rag. The rag had rotted to the point that it looked like mud and was covered in various fungi. It was very old and must have been stuffed in there by Uncle Three. When I opened the rag, it broke apart to reveal the contents inside. It turned out to be a dry piece of wood, but when I looked carefully, I realized that it was a mummified tongue.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Taiwanese actor. Hes best known for his breakout role as Hsu Tai-Yu in the film, Our Times. More info here.


    (2) Chao Feng was a title given to the manager of wealthy pawn shops in ancient times.


    (3) Family nning=basically limiting poption growth by advocating dyed marriage and dyed child bearing. They want fewer and healthier births, and advocate one child per couple. More info here. I think the glorious mothers era is the opposite. Mao Zedong wanted more babies and glorified motherhood as helping the Communist cause.


    (4) Baishe= White Snake. (He''s the Suzhen guy from "Ten Years Later")


    (5) Bai Haotian= white/pure/bright clear sky


    (6) Refers to Chinese citizens born between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009. We call them Gen Z in the US.