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“Don’t be too surprised. Many merchandise has been left here by customers for us to sell, we’re sort of a middleman. If you damage them, you’ll have to pay.” Huang Li took out a pair of gloves and apron from under the counter, “That is one of the reasons why we operate for 24 hours. Sometimes customers would come to pawn their items or buy back the stuff they’ve pawned to us. Last time, there was a man who came with all of his son’s toys, he wanted to sell them but that very night, his son sneaks over to beg us to keep the toys for him. He would return to buy his toys back.”

“So did the child manage to buy back his toys?” Han Fei stared at the altar and asked casually.

Huang Li pointed at the miscellaneous items pile. “His toys are still inside the paper box. I haven’t seen the child for a week already.”

“Are we still going to save the toys for him?”

“Sure, the toys aren’t going to sell for much anyway but they represent the child’s childhood, they have special meaning to him.” Huang Li removed her hair clip to smooth out her hair. “The value of 2nd hand items is actually very hard to gauge. Most of the time, we’re actually helping the customers store their stuff rather than to sell them.” Huang Li led Han Fei to the computer. She showed Han Fei the account and then tested him with some questions. Han Fei answered all of them smoothly and without mistake. “You’re even more impressive than I thought, you’re going to be a reliable colleague.” Normally a person would need 3 days to get used to the job but Han Fei only used 1 hour. He had memorized all the location and prices of the merchandise and the rules of the shop.

“I have nothing more to teach you, I feel like I can get off work early.” Huang Li yawned. That was what she said but she was still worried about Han Fei. Working the nightshift here was not that easy, there were many unspoken rules. “You’re a quick learner. Tonight you’ll man the counter and I’ll support you from the side.” Huang Li poured 2 glasses of water and placed them on the table. She then led Han Fei to the 2nd floor of the shop and the underground warehouse. Even though the 2nd hand shop was part of the mall, it had its own private path that led to the underground warehouse.

“Normally, we rarely come to the warehouse, the things here have been basically abandoned by their owners. It’s not our policy to throw away stuff so…” Huang Li was explaining when a chime came from the front door. It was a customer!

“It’s your time to shine. I’ll be guiding you from the side. Don’t be nervous, show your best side to the customer!” Huang Li and Han Fei walked out from the private path. They saw a seriously hunchbacked old lady inside the shop. The old lady appeared to be a regular. With her bent back, she wandered on her own into the shop, like she was looking for something.

“Granny, what do you need?” Han Fei walked over with extreme politeness but the old lady kept her head lowered and didn’t reply to Han Fei. She walked from the entrance to the back of the store. She stared at the wall of clocks and then raised her finger to point. “Do you have any clocks that can go backwards?”

“Go backwards? These clocks might be 2nd hand but they’re all working normally…”

“Normal?” The old lady raised her head to look at Han Fei. Her eyes were sunken inside her wrinkles. Silvery white hair dropped before her eyes. The old lady stopped browsing. She walked back to the door. She left a large sack at the door and then walked away.

“Granny, your stuff!” Han Fei walked over but was stopped by Huang Li.

“The sack should be clothes for children, she plans to donate them.” Huang Li seemed to know the old lady well, “That’s Granny Liu, she’s a nearby resident. She lives alone and she would often bring things here to donate. She has been doing this for years already but as she gets older, her mind is not that clear anymore. She often mistakes people for others and would say strange things.”

“Granny Liu…”

“She is a good person. When she comes next time, you should try to help her if you can.” Huang Li had Han Fei carry the sack to move to the donation box at the back of the mall. But Han Fei stopped just as he picked up the sack.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a smell coming from the sack, are you sure it’s only clothes?” The moment Han Fei picked up the sack, he knew something was wrong.

“I’m sure! She has been doing this for years already.”

Before Huang Li could stop him, Han Fei already opened the sealed sack. The top layer of the sack was indeed clothes for children. The workmanship was nice and the style was cute, but underneath the clothes were feathers stuck with chicken shit and rat skins. The rats were unprofessionally skinned, the cuts were uneven and the blood stained the clothes.

The gore startled Huang Li. She shielded her nose and gasped in fear and shock. “How is this possible? Granny Liu has been donating to us for years already and this is the first time this has happened…”

“Could someone have tempered with her sack?” Han Fei didn’t know too much about Granny Liu so he didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

“I don’t know.” Huang Li didn’t dare to come too close to the rats. “We’ll dump the stuff in the trashcan and keep the sack. When the old lady returns tomorrow, we’ll ask her about it.”

“I guess that’s all we can do.” The donation box and trash cans were at the back of the mall, but the trash cans were even more isolated. Carrying the bag of smelly stuff, the two walked into the shadow behind the mall. The street lights flickered on and off, making the place feel creepier.

“The trash cans are so far away?”

“Of course, we can’t have them too close to the mall.” Huang Li opened the lid of the trash can. Han Fei poured the trash inside. The rat skins and feathers dropped on broken plastic mannequins, giving them a layer of new skin.

“We should keep the red sweater the old lady knitted, we’ll return it to her tomorrow.” Huang Li was about to close the lid when Han Fei saw the mannequin head turn slightly. Carrying the red sweater, the two returned to the mall. Han Fei stayed in the shop while Huang Li went to the 2nd floor toilet to clean the sack and the sweater.

“Things have started to get strange.”

There was another chime at the door. Han Fei hurried over but saw no one there. “Who is it?” Han Fei went to check the surveillance and he spotted a boy about 7 run into the shop. “It’s early in the morning, why would a boy be here?”

Han Fei left the counter and came to the miscellaneous items zone. A drenched kid was squatting before a paper box filled with toys. He looked at them with round eyes, he wanted to take them back. “Do you want to purchase these toys?” Han Fei asked gently.

The boy turned to Han Fei. His eyes were rather bloated from all the water. “They are mine. Uncle, I will buy them back. Can you please keep them for me?” Before Han Fei could answer, the system notification came.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered a random altar mission—Toys.

“Toys: There are many kinds of toys. When you play with toys, destiny also plays with you as toys.

“Mission Requirement: Help the boy save his toys until he can afford to buy them back.”

Since this was a mission, Han Fei agreed. “These toys are rather old so I doubt anyone will buy them. I’ll help you store them in the warehouse or I’ll help you buy them myself.” Han Fei was considering how to hide the toys when there was another chime from the door. He turned and saw a muscular man walk into the shop. The man wore a deep colored attire, mask and cap.

“How can I help you?”

“I just moved last month and took some old things to sell them here. I want to see if they have been sold or not.” The man sounded nervous.

“What things?”

“Some old furniture and a big box of toys.” The man then strode towards the miscellaneous item zone.

“Sir, you can’t do this!” Han Fei moved to block the man. The man’s hand that was hidden inside his pocket trembled like he had just grabbed something. “I’m looking for my own stuff, why are you stopping me?”

“The things you mentioned have been sold, just not too long ago.” Han Fei used his body to block the man’s line of sight.

“Who was the buyer?”

“It was a boy, his skin was exceptionally white like he had been soaked in water…” Before Han Fei finished, the man started to gasp rapidly, “Sir, are you alright?”

“Where is the boy now?”

“He left from the way you came, didn’t you see him?” Han Fei wanted to say something more but the man already turned and ran out. After the man departed, Han Fei turned back to the miscellaneous item zone and the boy had also disappeared.

Han Fei moved the box of toys to the back of the counter. He looked over the toys carefully. He noticed that most of the toys were carved with the word, “Father”. But there was a puppet missing a head which was carved with the word, “Mother”.