Chapter 1 The Next Morning

The next morning, Zhou Ze, after washing up, went to the noodle shop next door as usual. This had gradually become a habit. When eating was no longer a process of enjoyment, it turned into a task. When doing a task, simple and efficient was best, and no place was more convenient and quicker than Xu Qinglang's.

"Bitter gourd juice." Xu Qinglang placed a large glass in front of Zhou Ze and 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. Then, after swallowing, even his intestines and stomach began to knot up.

It took about ten seconds for Zhou Ze to recover, letting out a long breath.

It really was bitter.

"Haha, potent enough, right?" Xu Qinglang had a "praise me" expression on his face, and then sat down in front of Zhou Ze. "Seriously, you really have a heavy palate. Can't you eat without drinking this stuff?"

Zhou Ze calmed down, then picked up the full glass of bitter gourd juice and drank it all in one gulp. Immediately afterward, 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 posture, you're just like a devil crawling out of hell." Xu Qinglang joked.

But whether this was a joke or had another meaning was unknown.

Zhou Ze opened his eyes and glanced at the other man. On the seventh day of the death anniversary of the five migrant worker brothers, his sister-in-law and wife couldn't see them, which was normal, but this noodle shop owner could see them, otherwise he wouldn't have made those five braised pork over rice.

But between the two, based on a tacit understanding of seeing through but not speaking out, they had never broken the ice. 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 delivery orders, but today, it seemed much quieter, and no delivery guys came to pick up food.

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

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

As a man with twenty-odd apartments,

He certainly had the capital to be willful.

"Do you know about ghost sedan carriers?" 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 in his freezer to sleep.

Zhou Ze himself had indeed saved the person. If there was any problem, Zhou Ze didn't want to interfere.

He was just carefully and happily living his little life. If he encountered something that he could do along the way, he would do it, but he wouldn't really force anything.

Even if that little girl in the lily dress really had a problem, it was no longer Zhou Ze's concern.

"Ghost sedan carriers?" Xu Qinglang was taken aback, then laughed. "Heh, there are probably a lot 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 can afford to take taxis."

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

"I'll open it later tonight."

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

The scene

Instantly entered an awkward silence.

"Not going." Zhou Ze refused.

"See, you really don't give me any face. I went to all the trouble to make you a new juice, and you're not even willing to go see a movie with me.

Men, not one of them is any good."

"............" Zhou Ze.

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

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

Xu Qinglang laughed with a "tsk" sound.

"Heterosexuality is just an aberration created for procreation. Homosexuality is true love."

"I don't agree."

"People who walk different paths cannot make plans together."

The two men's conversation after the meal ended on this unhappy note.

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

"Going to see a movie this afternoon?"

After about ten minutes, Doctor Lin replied:

"At work."

Just because it was New Year didn't mean people weren't getting sick or having accidents. Zhou Ze, who used to be a doctor himself, knew that there was too much leeway in hospital holidays.

Thinking about it, he could understand, but he was still a little annoyed.

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

But he was worried that the result would be Doctor Lin being so frightened that she would doubt her life, and even the hazy, unrequited affection she had before 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 knew this very well.

He was waiting. While he was waiting, he didn't choose to curl up in some dark corner like a rat in a sewer, shivering. He still needed to live, and he had to live very normally. Otherwise, he might as well not have come out of hell and followed the main force to finish the journey to the Yellow Springs.

As for whether the neighbor next door had seen through him or not, Zhou Ze didn't know 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, completely returning to his middle school days when he saw the class representative looking at him shyly.

In the past, he had lived too hard.

In this life, he had to live a more carefree and free life.

Many of life's principles could only be truly understood and understood before death and when one was old, but when you understood, you had 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, and her hair was flowing. Although she was a mother, it was still difficult to hide her charm, but instead, she was even more able to stir people's hearts.

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

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

The visitors were not friendly.

If they were friendly, they wouldn't have come.

He wasn't going to find her,

But she took the initiative to come to his door.

He had previously heard Doctor Lin say at the thank-you banquet that the other party was calling for Uncle, and Zhou Ze was still complacent. Now that he thought about it, people simply didn't plan to let 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 timidly walked to Zhou Ze's counter, looked at Zhou Ze, and said in a soft voice:

"Hello, Uncle."

Zhou Ze nodded, slightly restrained.

In fact, he was thinking in his heart whether he should directly use his fingernails to strangle this girl to death?

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

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

"Thank you."

The woman bowed to Zhou Ze,

With deep emotion.

"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 for an Oscar-level actor,

After seeing the memories of the driver's life last night,

It would probably be difficult to remain calm in front of this girl, right?

Since pretending wasn't going to work, 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 can stay here with Uncle to read." The woman smiled at Zhou Ze. "Thank you for your trouble."

"No trouble at all."

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

Gossip woman.

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

That was said insincerely enough. Even Xu Le himself wouldn't believe it.

The woman drove away, leaving her daughter behind. This was originally a bookstore, and Zhou Ze was half of his daughter's savior and Doctor Lin's husband, so she was very relieved to leave her daughter here temporarily and didn't have to worry about anything happening.

Next, Rui Rui chose an illustrated book herself and sat on a plastic stool, looking at it.

She didn't make noise or fuss.

She didn't ask for a drink, nor did she make noise for snacks.

Zhou Ze sat behind the counter, looking at her.

It just so happened that Xu Qinglang walked in and saw the porcelain doll-like little girl. He immediately walked over and picked her up.

"Yo, 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 brighter.

The little girl's flattery patted Xu Qinglang's itch.

Zhou Ze, however, frowned and continued to sit there.

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

Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang walked out.

"People from the plaza came and asked if we wanted to terminate the contract. They can refund us the prepaid rent."

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

"That's what I was thinking too." Xu Qinglang nodded, indicating that he understood. "Then I'll represent you and go talk to them?"

"Okay."

"Okay, it's settled then."

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

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

He found that on that row of small plastic stools, there was no sign of the little girl. The illustrated book was placed on one of the stools.

Zhou Ze frowned,

Looked up,

At the stairwell, there was the sound of small leather boots,

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

She had just,

Gone to his second floor.