Chapter 141 Reunion?

The next morning, after washing up, Zhou Ze went to the noodle shop next door as usual. This had gradually become a habit for him. When eating was no longer an enjoyable process, it purely became a task. When doing tasks, simple and efficient were best, and there was no place more convenient and quicker than Xu Qinglang's.

"Bitter gourd juice." Xu Qinglang placed a large glass in front of Zhou Ze, then brought over a plate of egg fried rice.

Zhou Ze first tried a sip. The moment the liquid entered his throat, he felt an unbearable bitterness between his lips and teeth. Immediately afterwards, after swallowing, even his intestines and stomach began to knot up.

After about ten seconds, Zhou Ze recovered and exhaled a long breath.

It was really bitter.

"Haha, potent enough?" Xu Qinglang had a look of "hurry up and praise me" on his face, then sat down in front of Zhou Ze. "Seriously, you have such a heavy palate. Can't you eat without these things?"

Zhou Ze calmed down, then picked up the large glass of bitter gourd juice and drank it all in one gulp. Immediately afterwards, he quickly picked up his chopsticks and began to devour the egg fried rice in front of him.

A minute later, Zhou Ze finished his meal, put down the plate, and then closed his eyes.

"That eating manner, you're just like a hungry ghost crawling out of hell." Xu Qinglang teased.

But whether this was just a tease or had other meanings was unknown.

Zhou Ze opened his eyes and glanced at the other party. On the seventh day after death when the souls of the five migrant worker brothers returned home, it was normal that his sister-in-law and wife couldn't see them, but this noodle shop owner could see them; otherwise, he wouldn't have made those five servings of braised pork over rice.

But between the two of them, based on the tacit understanding of seeing through but not speaking out, they had never broken the window paper. Perhaps this was the way to get along.

"Why aren't you taking orders today?" Zhou Ze asked.

In the past few days, even on New Year's Eve, Xu Qinglang's phone had been constantly receiving takeout orders, but today, it seemed much quieter, and no delivery guys came to pick up meals.

"Taking a break." Xu Qinglang took out a cigarette, put one in his mouth, and handed another to Zhou Ze.

Although it was strange to not rest on New Year's Eve but to rest after the New Year,

as a man with more than twenty apartments,

he certainly had the capital to be willful.

"Do you know about ghost-carried sedan chairs?" Zhou Ze asked. He remembered what happened last night vividly, but he wasn't in a hurry to do anything. He just went home and lay down to sleep in his freezer.

Zhou Ze himself had indeed saved the person. If there were any problems, Zhou Ze didn't want to care.

He was just cautiously and seriously living his little life. If there were some things he encountered on weekdays that he could do conveniently, he would do them, but he wouldn't really force anything.

Even if there was really something wrong with that little girl in the lily dress, it was no longer up to Zhou Ze to care.

"Ghost-carried sedan chair?" Xu Qinglang was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "Hehe, there must be many of them on New Year's Eve. It's said that when everyone burns scriptures and paper money during the New Year, those ghosts also have some spare money, and they're willing to take a taxi."

Xu Qinglang continued to talk nonsense, then yawned. "Speaking of which, why isn't your bookstore open yet?"

"I'll open it in the evening."

"Okay, willful." Xu Qinglang took out his phone, glanced at it. "Why don't we go see a movie this afternoon?"

The scene

instantly entered an awkward silence.

"I'm not going." Zhou Ze refused.

"See, you really don't give me face. I went to the trouble of making you a new juice, and you're not even willing to accompany me to a movie.

Men, not one of them is any good."

"..." Zhou Ze.

"Sorry, I forgot that I'm also a man." Xu Qinglang shook his head with some resentment, with an expression of regretting why he wasn't born a girl.

"Did you experience some kind of psychological trauma when you were a child?" Zhou Ze asked. "I know some psychologists who can help you."

Xu Qinglang laughed with a "tch."

"Heterosexuality is just an anomaly created for reproduction. Homosexuality is true love."

"I can't agree with that."

"People with different beliefs cannot make plans together."

The two men's after-meal conversation broke up unhappily.

Zhou Ze returned to his bookstore, opened the door, and thought about it, he didn't lock it. He simply sat behind the counter, turned on his computer, and sent a WeChat message to Doctor Lin:

"Going to see a movie this afternoon?"

After waiting for about ten minutes, Doctor Lin replied:

"At work."

Just because it was the New Year didn't mean people weren't allowed to get sick or have accidents. Zhou Ze, who was also a doctor, knew that there was too much water in the holidays in hospitals.

Thinking about it, he could understand, but it was still a bit uncomfortable.

Zhou Ze really wanted to tell her that he was Zhou Ze, not some Xu Le.

But he was worried that the ending would be that Doctor Lin would be frightened and doubt her life, and even that hazy, one-sided good feeling would be shattered. Of course, most importantly, the fewer people who knew about some things, the better.

Someone would come to catch him.

Zhou Ze was very clear about this.

He was waiting. While waiting, he didn't choose to curl up in some dark corner like a rat in a sewer and tremble. He still needed to live, and he needed to live a normal life. Otherwise, it would be better not to come out of hell and just walk the road to the Yellow Springs with the main force.

As for whether the neighbor next door had seen through him, Zhou Ze wasn't sure and didn't bother to find out.

"Tonight then."

Doctor Lin sent another message.

Zhou Ze smiled. He felt that his smile was like an idiot, as if he had returned to his middle school days when he saw the class's study representative shyly glancing at him.

In the past, he had lived too tiredly.

In this life, he had to live more casually and freely.

Many of life's principles can only be truly understood before death and when you're old, but when you understand them, you've already lost the chance to start over.

Zhou Ze cherished his current life and opportunities.

A red car stopped on the road in front of the bookstore, and two women got out.

One was less than thirty years old, and the other looked only five or six years old.

The woman was wearing a red dress, her hair was flowing, and although she was a mother, it was still difficult to hide the amorous feelings on her body. Instead, she was even more able to pluck at people's heartstrings.

The girl was wearing overalls, and she should have worn several layers of thermal underwear and pants inside, wrapped up like a little rice dumpling, cute and charming.

But when he saw the girl, Zhou Ze's eyes narrowed subconsciously.

Those who come are not friendly,

the friendly do not come,

he didn't go looking for her,

but she took the initiative to come to his door.

He had previously heard Doctor Lin say that the other party called out "Uncle" at the thank-you banquet, and Zhou Ze was still complacent. Now that he thought about it, she simply had no intention of letting him go.

In the end,

the death of that father with four children was because of this girl.

The bookstore door was pushed open, and the woman curiously looked around, while the girl walked timidly to Zhou Ze's counter, looked at Zhou Ze, and said in a soft voice:

"Hello, Uncle."

Zhou Ze nodded, slightly reserved.

Actually, he was thinking in his heart whether he should directly offer his fingernails and strangle this girl to death?

"Hello, I'm Rui Rui's mother."

The woman walked to Zhou Ze and placed a gift box on the counter.

"Thank you."

The woman bowed to Zhou Ze,

sincerely.

"You're welcome." Zhou Ze still didn't get up.

He really wanted to pretend that everything was normal, so that this girl wouldn't see anything.

But it was too difficult.

Even an Oscar-winning actor,

after seeing the memory scenes of the driver before his death last night,

it would probably be difficult to maintain a normal expression in front of this girl, right?

Since he couldn't pretend to be like anything, he might as well not pretend.

"Mommy, I want to read a book here," Rui Rui said to the woman.

"Okay, Mommy will go get her hair done first, and you stay here with Uncle to read a book." The woman smiled at Zhou Ze. "Thank you for your trouble."

"No trouble."

"I only knew you opened a store here after asking Doctor Lin."

Silly woman.

"You and Doctor Lin are really a match made in heaven."

These words were so insincere that even Xu Le himself wouldn't believe them.

The woman drove away, leaving her daughter behind. This was originally a bookstore, and Zhou Ze was half of her daughter's life-saver and Doctor Lin's husband, so she was relieved to leave her daughter here temporarily, without worrying that something would happen.

Next, Rui Rui chose a picture book and sat on a plastic stool to read.

She didn't make a fuss, and she didn't make any noise.

She didn't ask for a drink, and she didn't ask for snacks.

Zhou Ze sat behind the counter, watching her.

At this time, Xu Qinglang walked in. Seeing the little girl who looked like a porcelain doll, he immediately walked over and picked her up.

"Oh, what a cute little girl."

"Thank you, Big Sister," Rui Rui responded.

The smile on Xu Qinglang's face bloomed like a chrysanthemum, becoming even more radiant.

The little girl's flattery was just right, scratching Xu Qinglang's itch.

Zhou Ze, on the other hand, kept a straight face and continued to sit there.

"Come out, I have something to tell you." Xu Qinglang put down the child and pointed at Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang walked out.

"Someone from the square came and asked if we wanted to terminate the contract. They can refund us the rent we paid in advance."

"Let's not refund it." Zhou Ze didn't want to mess around for the time being. What's more, he didn't have enough capital. Even if he got the rent paid in advance, it wouldn't be enough for him to open another store.

"That's what I was thinking too." Xu Qinglang nodded, indicating that he knew. "Then I'll go talk on your behalf?"

"Okay."

"Okay, that's settled then."

The two of them stood outside the store and smoked another cigarette before dispersing.

When Zhou Ze turned around, pushed open the store door, and walked in,

he found that the little girl was no longer on that row of small plastic stools. The picture book was placed on a stool.

Zhou Ze frowned,

looked up,

and heard the sound of little leather boots on the stairs.

The little girl walked out from there, half of her figure exposed and half of her figure blocked by the wall.

She had just,

gone to his second floor.