Chapter 127 Animal in Clothes?

"Yo, an animal in clothes?"

Xu Qinglang was just about to close the door when he happened to see a "guest" in Zhou Ze's shop and came over to tease him:

"Brother, your getup is quite trendy."

Zhou Ze pointed to the tall hat on the middle-aged man's head and asked, "What does this mean?"

"Final judgment after death."

Xu Qinglang stretched,

"It's like the posthumous titles given to ancient emperors, empresses, and high-ranking officials after their deaths, or like the grades of Excellent, Good, Pass, and Medium on elementary school report cards at the end of the semester."

"So, this hat is the evaluation of him given by his social network after his death?"

"More or less. It also depends on luck. Most people aren't famous after they die, so they won't get this thing. Even if they're famous, very few get it. In short, it depends on luck, just like you being able to crawl out of hell while ninety-nine percent of other ghosts have to obediently reincarnate.

"Oh right, I remember reading somewhere that Qin Hui also had a tall hat after his death, with 'Framing the Loyal' written on it."

"Then Yue Wu Mu's hat would be 'Serving the Country with Utmost Loyalty'?"

"Nonsense. Parading with tall hats is for infamy; good posthumous titles don't need hats."

Zhou Ze let go of his hand, looked at his right palm, and prepared to open the gates of hell and throw this guy in. This guy had just acted like a horny bull when he saw the young woman; he truly deserved to be called an animal in clothes. He did look quite refined, with a bit of a scholar's air.

"You're going to send me down?" The middle-aged man seemed to have calmed down.

"Otherwise?" Zhou Ze retorted.

"Can you let me finish the last volume of this book?" The middle-aged man took out a piece of hell money from his pocket.

"Hey, are you trying to send away a beggar?" The female corpse couldn't help but mock, "Looks like you really failed in life. Even your relatives didn't give you much incense offering."

Hell money given by the dead themselves is different from the hell money burned by the living. Of course, the amount of hell money the dead have is indeed related to the amount of offerings from relatives, but there are still some limits. Otherwise, could you just burn a lot and become the richest person in the underworld?

The middle-aged man pursed his lips and looked at Zhou Ze with a pleading gaze, "Please."

Xu Qinglang lit a cigarette beside him and said nothing. This was Zhou Ze's business, and he wasn't going to interfere.

Zhou Ze glanced at the *Outline of Sinology* in the middle-aged man's hand and said, "I've read this book before. In my opinion, there are several obvious errors in it."

"Any book with academic value will have its own errors. Errors are also the accumulation of predecessors," the middle-aged man said seriously.

"But what's the point of a book that only sings praises?" Zhou Ze retorted.

"In a letter to Zeng Jize, Zeng Guofan said, 'Do not lightly criticize the ancients.' Although you run a bookstore, boss, you're not really a scholar.

"The background for Mr. Qian Mu writing this book was the War of Resistance. When he wrote this book, Mr. Qian Mu had already prepared for the worst-case scenario of national subjugation. He wrote this book thinking that if the country were really to fall, someone could still secretly read it in the middle of the night, savoring the civilization and heritage of our ancestors.

"Books of criticism and satire are naturally more enjoyable to read, but if the country really falls, and someone sees a book full of mockery and criticism, who will still have the heart to yearn for the homeland, to yearn for China?"

The middle-aged man spoke eloquently, waving the book in one hand.

Like a teacher at the podium, explaining his reasoning to his students,

Very excited, very involved.

"You're a teacher, right?" Xu Qinglang asked with a smile, "Oh, I mean in your previous life."

"I am a middle school Chinese teacher," the middle-aged man replied.

"Indeed, an animal in clothes." Xu Qinglang snorted coldly, "I'm going to sleep. Good night, Boss Zhou."

Xu Qinglang waved his hand, left the bookstore, and went back. The swaying figure was very graceful.

Zhou Ze turned to look at Bai Yingying, "Did his back view just now look like a madam from a brothel in your time?"

"My time?" Bai Yingying thought seriously, then shook her head and said, "Even the courtesans weren't as good-looking as him."

Zhou Ze curled his lips, not too surprised by Bai Yingying's answer.

The middle-aged man sat down again to read, seemingly not in the mood to guess whether Zhou Ze would agree. Reading more was the most important thing; maybe he could savor it a little longer on the road to the Yellow Springs.

Thinking about how restless this guy was when he saw the young woman earlier, Zhou Ze felt restless for him.

"Boss, I think he's quite learned," the female corpse said softly.

"The poor scholars your mistress used to seduce were quite learned too, right?" Zhou Ze asked.

Bai Yingying nodded.

"That's hard to say." Zhou Ze also found it difficult to quantify and could only say, "Mr. Ji Xianlin wrote in his diary, 'I have no other hope in this life. I only hope to sleep with more women and come into contact with women from different places.'"

"Scholars are indeed all lecherous," Bai Yingying muttered.

"Men are all lecherous," Zhou Ze corrected.

Bai Yingying looked at Zhou Ze and said coquettishly, "Boss, you have a lot of self-control."

"Go scrub the toilet."

"..." Bai Yingying.

For some reason, Zhou Ze wasn't in a hurry to open the gates of hell and put the middle-aged man in. Instead, he sat down opposite the middle-aged man, took out his phone, and casually browsed the web.

"What's your name?" Zhou Ze asked.

The other party didn't answer, seemingly immersed in the atmosphere of reading.

"If you don't answer, you don't get to read."

"Ren Xindu."

Zhou Ze nodded. Just as he was about to try searching for this guy's name to see his past scandals, the bookstore door was pushed open again.

His sister-in-law had returned.

"What are you back for?" Zhou Ze stood up, subconsciously reaching out to hold the middle-aged man's shoulder, afraid that this guy would get horny again.

However, to Zhou Ze's surprise, the middle-aged man was still sitting there quietly reading, showing no signs of restlessness.

Huh, learned his lesson this time?

His sister-in-law took out her phone, took a picture of the bookstore and Zhou Ze, and sent it. Then, she opened voice chat and said:

"Sis, I told you I was reading in Xu Le Bookstore all afternoon, but you didn't believe me.

Okay, okay, I'm going back now, I'm going back right away, okay?

Seriously, you're disturbing people when they just want to read quietly."

After sending the voice message, his sister-in-law stuck out her tongue and breathed a sigh of relief, saying:

"Phew, luckily I hadn't gotten a taxi yet, or I would have been exposed."

"At such a young age, don't go to those shady places. It's easy to get taken advantage of."

Zhou Ze still gave her a word of advice, even though she wasn't his sister-in-law. It was purely a middle-aged uncle's advice to a younger generation.

"Okay, okay, Xu Le, why are you becoming like my sister?" His sister-in-law obviously didn't listen.

"What about that girl?" Zhou Ze asked.

"She went home. I just watched her take a taxi. She lives quite far away. I was planning to take a taxi too, but my sister sent me a WeChat message asking what I was doing."

"The money?"

"Of course, she took the money back." His sister-in-law said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, it's just five thousand yuan. I'll pay you back when I get my allowance."

"You'll pay me back?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Yeah, who else would pay me back?

Her father is paralyzed at home, and her mother has a breakfast stall. Life is very difficult. I don't want to see her working so hard anymore.

Also, she was bullied in middle school, so she's so quiet now.

I treat her like a good sister, so I have to take care of her more, right?

Okay, Xu Le, that's all for today. I'm going back now."

His sister-in-law waved her hand, pushed open the bookstore door, and left.

Zhou Ze sat back down in his chair, looking at his phone for a while, and then at the middle-aged man who was reading attentively.

Then, he muttered to himself:

"He did something wrong, was discovered, and then committed suicide by jumping off a building."

The middle-aged man continued to read, as if he hadn't heard anything, but his tall hat was so clear and so glaring.

In ancient times, criminals had to have characters tattooed on their faces to show their identity and mark them as lower class. This tall hat was similar.

Bai Yingying worked very quickly. There was no choice; she was originally a lady from a wealthy family, but now she was under someone else's roof and had to lower her head. In addition, Zhou Ze was a bit of a clean freak, which undoubtedly increased her workload.

"Boss, I'm exhausted."

Bai Yingying took off her coat, as she wasn't afraid of the cold. She was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt and came out with a rag in her hand.

She looked very young, but her figure was quite developed.

"Boss, why doesn't he react when he looks at me?" Bai Yingying asked, puzzled.

"You're dead."

"But I'm also very beautiful," Bai Yingying struck a charming pose.

"Forget it, you..."

"You're the most insulting boss ever." Bai Yingying rolled her eyes at Zhou Ze, "Oh right, did your little sister-in-law come back again? I heard her voice in the bathroom."

"Yeah, she came back and left."

Zhou Ze suddenly thought of something,

That's not right,

If the middle-aged man in front of him didn't feel anything for Bai Yingying because Bai Yingying was a zombie,

Then why didn't he feel anything for his sister-in-law just now?

By the process of elimination, it was easy to get an answer:

This guy only felt something for the girl next to his sister-in-law.

The online news reports didn't have photos because they had to protect the privacy of the abused girl.

Some things,

Couldn't stand thinking about,

Couldn't stand considering,

Slowly,

Zhou Ze figured out the situation.

His sister-in-law seemed very fierce, but in reality, she was carefree, like a big silly girl.

"Hey, is that girl your student?" Zhou Ze asked.

The middle-aged man continued to read, not answering.

Zhou Ze directly grabbed the book from the other party's hand. "I'm asking you a question."

The middle-aged man looked up at Zhou Ze and then nodded.

"Did you actually assault her?" Zhou Ze asked again.

The middle-aged man still didn't answer.

"If you don't answer properly, I'll send you to hell right now," Zhou Ze threatened.

"I've finished reading the book. It's time to go," the middle-aged man stood up, looking very free and easy.

"Are you trying to be Wen Tianxiang?" Zhou Ze mocked.

"No matter what she's like, she's still my student. It's my responsibility that I didn't educate her well," the middle-aged man replied.

"So, what I just read in the news was fake? You didn't assault her. She deliberately framed you to get compensation from the school?" Zhou Ze pursed his lips.

Then the situation was easy to imagine. The girl probably stole his sister-in-law's wallet and made up a reason to get five thousand yuan from his sister-in-law.

Would a girl from a poor family who had worked a winter vacation take five thousand yuan in tuition money to a disco?

His sister-in-law had fallen into someone's trap.

"Tell me, did you actually assault her?" Zhou Ze reached out and grabbed the middle-aged man's shoulder, asking very seriously.

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment and then said, "This is my business, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Screw you, that's my five thousand yuan!"

Zhou Ze really wanted to slap him away, but he held back. He raised his hand and slapped the other party's hat, but when he touched the hat, Zhou Ze felt a burning sensation in his palm, a little painful.

This hat,

Was so hard,

That it actually caused a slight stinging sensation on his fingernail.

Even though the whole person was thrown back, the hat was still firmly rooted on the middle-aged man's head.

Zhou Ze thought of what Xu Qinglang had said before: Public opinion can melt metal.

This hat,

Regardless of whether it was real or fake,

Could not be taken off.