Extra Story: William Thompson’s Time Travel

1. Mary Carter, the Lottery Seller

In the underworld, on the Bridge of Helplessness, ghosts come and go, and there are quite a few ghosts doing small business—some carrying loads, some setting up stalls, all hawking loudly, making the bridgehead rather lively. Some sell Viagra—take one and your yang energy will flourish, letting you dream of being reborn into a wealthy family for twenty years. Others sell Indian God Oil—apply it to your head and you can fly straight from the eighteenth level of hell to the first to visit relatives, without having to climb the ghost ladder level by level. Of course, whether you can get approval from the local ghost official is another matter.

The side of the Bridge of Helplessness is crowded with new ghosts reporting in. According to the rules, each new ghost will receive a meal token from the bridge administrator, Mary Carter, and then go to the nearby Bridge of Helplessness cafeteria for a meal of yin-yang rice. Of course, the menu includes the underworld’s signature dish, Mary's Soup. Mary's Soup is supposed to be drunk only before reincarnation, but in recent years, many deceased bosses and tycoons have not changed their ways, continuing to bribe and network, corrupting the underworld’s atmosphere. So, the authorities changed the rules: now you must drink Mary's Soup before crossing the Bridge of Helplessness.

“Drink Mary's Soup, and you’ll forget your hometown forever!”

Mary Carter is not related to Meng Po by blood; she changed her name out of admiration, just like some people admire the American president and change their name to Obama. The names just sound similar. Mary Carter is a low-level clerk, an off-staff worker who doesn’t get a government salary. Therefore, she has to find ways to generate income. Thus, a lottery booth appeared by the Bridge of Helplessness, and the lottery seller is, of course, Mary Carter. Although this doesn’t quite align with the spirit of separating government and enterprise, Mary Carter has a high-ranking official husband backing her, so the director of the Bridge of Helplessness Economic Development Zone, White Impermanence Mr. White, can only turn a blind eye and pretend not to know.

“Come buy now! Last day for issue 1114 of the Underworld Lottery!” Mary Carter waved and shouted loudly to several ghost messengers on the Yellow Springs Road.

“Anna Carter, give me ten tickets, any numbers.” The ghost messenger George Thompson tossed twenty ghost coins to Mary Carter. Generally, new ghosts don’t have any money, so Mary Carter doesn’t do business with them. She cheerfully took the money, printed out ten consecutive lottery tickets from the machine, and handed them to George Thompson, saying, “The draw is tomorrow. The jackpot this time is two hundred million ghost coins. Good luck, Niutou!”

“Thanks for your kind words, big sis. If I win, I’ll treat everyone.” George Thompson took the tickets. Seeing all the other ghosts craning their necks to look at his tickets, he cracked his ghost whip and shouted, “Once you get your meal token, go eat right away. No dawdling!”

The new ghosts, frightened by his electric gaze, meekly took their meal tokens from Mary Carter and headed to the cafeteria. Business was slow for Mary Carter today, and seeing these sneaky new ghosts put her in a foul mood. She grumbled as she slapped the tokens into their hands.

“Boss lady, can I buy a lottery ticket too?” Mary Carter was taken aback. She saw a young new ghost standing before her, tall and thin, with a rather delicate appearance, standing out among the crowd of old ghosts. He stared intently at the lottery machine, his face full of excitement.

This, of course, is our protagonist. His name is Edward Thompson, twenty-five years old, a junior employee at a securities company. He’s loved buying lottery tickets since high school, buying for eight or nine years without ever winning even two yuan. But five days ago, his luck turned, and he won a huge prize of twenty million. Unfortunately, joy turned to sorrow—on the day he went to claim his prize, he suffered a congenital heart attack and reported to the underworld.

Arriving in the underworld, Edward Thompson felt a bit sad, but also a bit hopeful. Sad because he’d never see his parents again—though, fortunately, he wasn’t married and didn’t even have a girlfriend, so the nearly sixteen million yuan inheritance from the lottery could all go to his parents for their retirement. He hoped that Big Brother would take good care of them for him. As for hope, he looked forward to being reborn and making something of himself. On the way, some new ghosts worried about being reincarnated as pigs or sheep, but he wasn’t worried. He’d never done anything bad in his life—at most, as a child, he’d used a rubber band to shoot a few ants, and in high school, he’d peeked at Sarah Williams taking a bath.

As for the sins he committed as a stock operator, he didn’t think he was to blame. It was all under his boss’s orders—he just earned a small salary, while the bosses made the real money. Besides, the stock market is risky; the state had warned everyone. It was the small investors who were too greedy, always wanting another limit-up after making one. If they lost money, it was no surprise. So, after thinking it over, he figured there was no way he’d be reincarnated as a pig or sheep. If anyone deserved that, it was the corrupt officials—not him.