There was a Liu Xiucai in Huangzhou City who was greedy by nature and loved money as much as his life. However, because he had read poetry and books since he was a child and set up a library to teach, he was very capable of imparting academic knowledge. Therefore, some wealthy families often took advantage of his skills and invited him to work as a private tutor in their homes.
Once, a member of the Communist Party of China named Ma from the outskirts of the city heard about Liu Xiucai's talents and sent someone to invite him to his home and read Liu Xiucai's articles. Seeing the neat dialogue and the natural and natural wording, I couldn't help but say "good" and praise it profusely. Immediately, Liu Xiucai was left to live with his parents and train his only son.
From then on, Ma Yuanwai looked at Liu Xiucai in a different light, and regarded those words that corrupted Liu's character as market rumors, and did not take them to heart at all. Not long after, a new house was for sale in the neighborhood, and Ma Yuanwai bought it for Liu Xiucai to live in and run a school.
Liu Xiucai came to his new house and looked around. He was very happy when he saw that the building was simple and elegant and the environment was pleasant. It was indeed a good place for reciting poems and writing poems. Immediately, he asked people to move the luggage, tea sets, and four treasures of the study, decorate the bedroom, and organize the study. I was busy until the bright moon hung high in the sky and it was late at night before I finished cleaning up. Liu Xiucai took advantage of his pleasure and looked outside Wujia again. He felt very satisfied and his tiredness disappeared. When I looked up and saw the bright moonlight, I took a leisurely walk in front of the door. Recalling that I had had bad luck in my life, I failed in several provincial examinations, but now I was fortunate to be favored and generously treated by other officials, and continued to provide financial support. Although I could not seek fame or fame, I had more than enough food and clothing. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but dance with joy.
Just as I was sighing, I suddenly saw a beam of golden light flickering in and out of the trees in front of me, which was very eye-catching. Liu Xiucai felt something strange. He looked carefully and still couldn't figure out what it was, so he walked over to find out what it was. Unexpectedly, the golden light seemed to have spirituality. As soon as Liu Xiucai came closer, it quickly moved away, jumping and stopping in front of it. Liu Xiucai was even more surprised and chased after him. After following him until he reached a valley in the wilderness, the light stopped and froze. Liu Xiucai looked carefully and saw that the light came from a pile of fallen leaves and branches. He felt funny in his heart. Ignoring it, he stepped forward and pulled away the pile of floating branches and fallen leaves. Looking down, Liu Xiucai was startled. It turned out that there was a coffin hidden inside. Due to the age, the wood had begun to rot and turn black.
Liu Xiucai felt very surprised and felt a chill running down his spine. He turned around and ran back. After not running far, he suddenly stopped again. I thought to myself: Only gold in the world can penetrate wood and shine with golden light. Could it be that the coffin contained gold? I once heard someone say: After committing a theft, someone dressed up as a funeral in order to hide the stolen goods. He wore mourning clothes and carried a coffin to pretend to be buried. Later, the police tracked him down and found that there was no dead person in the coffin. It turned out to be a coffin of gold. silver. Liu Xiucai thought of this legend and thought to himself: Could the coffin in front of him also belong to this type? Otherwise, how could the coffin glow? If so, it's time for me to get rich. Luckily there was no one around so I could grab it.
The more Liu Xiucai thought about it, the more he felt that there must be a coffin full of gold and silver in it. He couldn't help being ecstatic and smiling from ear to ear. Forgetting his fear, he ran back, found a stone, jingled with it, knocked off the iron nails on the coffin, opened the lid of the coffin, and leaned over to see a corpse lying in the coffin, with a bruised face and a distended abdomen. Liu Xiucai hurriedly searched the coffin, and found a silver ingot buried under the body. It was bright white and weighed about two taels. Liu Xiucai reached out and grabbed it. Unexpectedly, just as he caught it, the corpse suddenly jumped up and reached out to grab it. Liu Xiucai quickly put the ingot of silver into his arms, turned around and ran away. When the corpse saw Liu Xiucai running away with the silver, he jumped out of the coffin and followed closely behind him.
Liu Xiucai was so frightened that he ran as fast as he could. After chasing the corpse for a long time, he could not catch up. He was so angry that he screamed loudly. When he saw a steep slope in front of him, he jumped down and blocked Liu Xiucai's path. Liu Xiucai saw the corpse blocking him in front of him, staring at him fiercely, thinking that he would not be able to escape, so he asked in a trembling voice: "You, what are you going to do?"
The corpse said: "Give me back the money, otherwise, you will never get there today."
Liu Xiucai saw that he only asked for money and had no intention of harming him, so he became bolder and wanted to return the money to him, but he was reluctant to do so. I thought to myself: He is already dead, why should I be afraid of him. I set up a library to teach, but I have worked hard for a year and can't earn this money. If I pay him back, won't the cooked duck fly away? As the saying goes, a horse won't get fat without night grass, and a man won't get rich without windfall. How can he take away the money he got? So he said to the corpse: "Brother Rong, you are already dead, so there is no use in taking the silver . Why don't you give it to me?"
The corpse said: "Give it to you? Huh! I was lying in the coffin thinking about how to plot other people's houses and occupy other people's fields. How could I give you the money I kept?"
Liu Xiucai said, "You can't use your money even if you take it to the underworld. Why don't you give it to me and I will burn two taels of money for you. This will be of some use to you and me. I think your coffin is also rotten." Yes, the house you live in in the underworld must be dilapidated. You can use this money to buy a good house in the underworld."
The corpse shook his head repeatedly and said: "No, no. Even if I want to exchange it, I have to exchange my silver for one scale of Yin coins. Why did you only give me two taels?"
Liu Xiucai calculated in his mind: According to the current market price of Shenji Guizang , if he exchanged it for one scale of Yin coins, he would have spent all his money, and he would have nothing left. This bastard was really greedy for money, and he couldn't help but said angrily: "You are really a greedy man for money. Even after you die, you still hold on to your money and refuse to give away any profit."
After hearing this, the corpse laughed and said, "I am a money-grubber, who are you?"
Liu Xiucai said: "I am also a ghost, and I am more greedy for money than you. I'm sorry, but I have to settle this ingot of silver."
As he said that, while the corpse wasn't paying attention, he got under his arm and ran away. When the corpse saw Liu Xiucai running away, he followed closely behind him, shouting as he chased him back: "Give me my money, give me my money."
Liu Xiucai pretended not to hear and did not answer. He ran back into the house and bolted the door. After a while, when there was no movement outside, he thought the body was not coming, so he opened the window and peeked out.
But he said that the corpse chased him outside the door and saw that Liu Xiucai had closed the door and could not go in. So he walked around the house and saw that the front and rear doors and windows were tightly closed. He was wondering what to do when he suddenly saw Liu Xiucai opening the window. He was overjoyed and jumped up, ready to fly in through the window.
Liu Xiucai was startled when he saw the corpse flying towards him, and hurriedly closed the window. The corpse was unprepared and was knocked down by the window door. It fell to the ground and moaned "Ouch, ouch". It took a long time to get up, with angry eyebrows and angry eyes, stamping its feet and cursing. Suddenly there was a long roar and a loud cry, like thunder rolling across the sky. After the howling, he saw a strong wind blowing, and the doors and windows opened loudly, as if someone had opened them for him.
When Liu Xiucai saw the door and window open and the corpse running toward him with murderous intent, he was so frightened that he sweated profusely and his whole body trembled. I thought that the corpse would never let it go, and I was definitely dead this time. I regretted it endlessly, but there was nothing I could do about it at this time. It was too late to save it. Also thinking out of desperation, Liu Xiucai didn't know where to hide when he suddenly saw a long sword hanging on the wall. He quickly grabbed it in his hand and hid behind the door. The corpse broke into the room at this time and shouted loudly: "If you can, we will fight three hundred times. If you win, give me the money, and you can take my life!"
Liu Xiucai didn't answer. He took advantage of the corpse's turning and slashed it with his sword. Unexpectedly, the corpse was very strange. He felt a noise behind him. He turned aside to avoid the sword edge. He raised his fingers as curved as a sickle and clawed at Liu Xiucai. . When Liu Xiucai saw that his sword failed to hit, he was so frightened that he hurriedly backed away. He accidentally tripped over the threshold and fell to the ground. The ingot of silver in his arms rolled out and fell to the ground with a "suck" sound. When the corpse saw the money, he hurriedly stopped his attack and leaned over to pick it up. When Liu Xiucai saw it, he was secretly happy. Taking advantage of the corpse bending down to pick up the silver, he raised his long sword and slashed at the corpse with all his strength. There was only a strange cry, and then there was no more sound.
Liu Xiucai lit a candle and looked at it. He saw the body lying on the ground, no longer moving, and a large bloody hole on the back of his neck. So they called the neighbors, dragged the body outside to the barren dam, brought firewood, poured tung oil on it, and burned the body. Liu Xiucai picked up the ingot of silver, looked at it again and again in his hand, and sighed in his heart: "If he hadn't been greedy for this ingot of silver, I would have died under his claws. Alas, I have attracted corpses because of my greed for money. Entering the house, the body was burned because of greed for money. Ghosts cannot be greedy, let alone humans!"
From then on, Liu Xiucai concentrated on setting up a library and teaching, and no longer coveted wealth. If there are children from poor families, their tuition fees will be waived and no money will be taken from them. I often help others with clothes, quilts, firewood and rice. No matter who is in need, I try my best to help. In the third year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, Liu couldn't stand Ma Yuanwai's repeated persuasion and took part in the provincial scientific examination. When the results were announced, Liu unexpectedly succeeded in passing the exam and ranked second, which was highly praised by the villagers.