Chapter 1 The Bookstore Next Door

There was a noodle shop next to the bookstore, but its business was only so-so, almost as desolate as Zhou Ze's bookstore.

This pedestrian street was originally built around the periphery of a square center, but the square center had already been "abandoned." Except for a movie theater, all other merchants had moved out and closed down, making the entire square an almost "uninhabited" desolate area.

At least in Tongcheng, the symptoms of over-construction in the city had already become apparent. In recent years, commercial centers had been planned and built on a large scale, but Tongcheng was not Shanghai after all, and could not provide so much popularity.

Fortunately, this noodle shop could still do some take-out business, and the business seemed to be not bad, but obviously, no one would suddenly feel spiritually "hungry" and then order a few books to take away and nibble on.

Zhou Ze leaned back in his chair, still feeling a little dizzy. Doctor Lin sat opposite Zhou Ze, helping him wipe the chopsticks with her own paper towel before placing them in front of Zhou Ze.

She was very careful and considerate, just like she let Xu Le sleep on the bed while she slept on the floor, but at the same time, she was also very cold.

Zhou Ze didn't ask if she was really against feudal arranged marriages or if she was a lesbian herself, because there was no point in asking this question. Zhou Ze himself was not interested in or attached to the inexplicable family relationship network that Xu Le had left behind.

"Is your body really okay?" Doctor Lin asked again.

"Small problem, small problem." Zhou Ze himself was a doctor, and he knew that his problem with eating and sleeping was difficult to explain using modern medical theories, let alone treat.

Fortunately, he now had a place to sleep, but this eating... was a headache.

If he didn't eat, he would have fainted just now, but if he ate... the thought alone made him feel nauseous.

"If you don't have a good appetite, have a bowl of sour plum juice first." The noodle shop owner was around thirty years old, but already had some wrinkles on his face. The burden of life seemed to be really heavy.

"Sour plum juice, will it help?" Zhou Ze asked helplessly.

"It's appetizing." The noodle shop owner smiled and shouted to the back room, "Wife, is the snow cabbage noodles ready yet?"

The owner walked into the back room, and the voices of the couple talking could be heard.

Zhou Ze looked at the sour plum juice in front of him, took a spoonful with a spoon, and put it in his mouth. As soon as he swallowed it, Zhou Ze's face changed.

"What's wrong?" Doctor Lin took out a tissue and held it in front of Zhou Ze's chin.

Zhou Ze twisted his face and covered his stomach,

Then he took a deep breath and said:

"It's so sour."

Yes, it was so sour that his whole body was about to spasm, and it even covered up the nausea.

"Here it is, the noodles are here." The proprietress walked over with the noodles and put them in front of Zhou Ze, and said at the same time: "You can't drink my sour plum juice so quickly."

Doctor Lin glanced at the noodles and frowned slightly, "These noodles are too mushy."

Meaning that they were cooked for too long, and the noodles had lost their elasticity, which greatly affected the taste.

"This... my noodles are just like this." The proprietress said with a look of shame.

"It's okay, it's okay."

Zhou Ze waved his hand, whether they were mushy or not, elastic or not, it didn't matter to him at the moment, as long as he could eat them, he needed energy. If he couldn't eat anything else, Zhou Ze could only choose to go to the hospital for a glucose injection.

He raised his head very solemnly, Zhou Ze felt like a martyr, solemn and respectful, then he suddenly lowered his head and poured the unbelievably sour plum juice into his mouth in one breath.

Hiss…………

That sourness,

It was like pouring sulfuric acid into his stomach.

But then, Zhou Ze directly picked up the chopsticks, picked up the noodles and sent them to his mouth, as gluttonous as he could be. After five or six mouthfuls, a bowl of noodles was sent into his stomach, and then he picked up the bowl and poured all the noodle soup into it.

Huff…………

"Bang!"

Zhou Ze put down the empty noodle bowl,

He breathed a long sigh of relief, he ate it!

The next moment, Zhou Ze reached out and covered his chest. After the nausea was suppressed by the sour plum soup, it struck again, but the food had already entered his stomach. Zhou Ze almost pinched his neck with both hands to avoid throwing up again.

Not throwing up meant success.

The food,

Finally, he ate it.

Sweat had already soaked Zhou Ze's forehead, and he wiped it directly with the napkin on the table.

At this time,

Doctor Lin and the proprietress were both a little dazed, Zhou Ze's eating appearance just now was too terrifying.

"Hehe, you seem really hungry, do you want another bowl?" The proprietress asked.

"No, no, thank you." Zhou Ze refused.

"Okay." The proprietress cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks in front of Zhou Ze and shouted to the back room: "Dad, prepare the noodles for the afternoon, the take-out orders will be coming soon."

The proprietress walked in. Her back couldn't be described as graceful, only ordinary, but the plump breasts and the high buttocks added a special charm, which was particularly attractive.

"Do you like... this kind?" Doctor Lin asked.

Because Zhou Ze had been watching the proprietress go into the back room.

"No." Zhou Ze shook his head. I do like your kind, but you won't let me sleep with you.

Zhou Ze was slightly startled. The thought of "not letting me sleep with you" had been in his mind for a long time, and it had almost become an obsession. He had to admit that Doctor Lin was indeed very beautiful and still young.

Even if she was Xu Le's wife,

Even if Zhou Ze had never been married in his previous life,

But honestly,

He still wanted to sleep with her.

It was precisely because he couldn't sleep with her that he was so entangled and often kept her in his heart.

"Not going home?" Doctor Lin asked again.

"No, I'm not." Zhou Ze confirmed.

"Then I'm leaving." Doctor Lin stood up. "Call me if you need anything."

After all, he was her husband in name, even if there was no conjugal relationship.

"Okay." Zhou Ze nodded. If I had known you were so easy to talk to and so considerate, I should have borrowed some money from you when I was short of money before.

Doctor Lin left, driving away in her Porsche Cayenne.

Zhou Ze was still sitting in the noodle shop. His bookstore was next door. Even if he had finished the noodles, he could still sit here and chat, after all, they were neighbors.

The owner came out of the back room and handed Zhou Ze a cigarette.

"How much?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Don't be so polite, your brother can still afford a bowl of noodles." The owner waved his hand generously. They were neighbors, and they would see each other often, so there was no need to be estranged over a bowl of noodles.

"Won't your wife scold you?" Zhou Ze asked.

"No, a woman, what does she know? It's not her place to talk." The owner of the noodle shop exuded an air of male chauvinism.

A man, no matter what his status is at home, at least on the outside, he has to put on a show. No one wants to admit that he is afraid of his wife on the outside, just like no one wants to admit that he is impotent.

"Hehe, your wife is quite pretty." Zhou Ze said.

Teasing someone else's wife is a taboo. If two men are facing outwards, teasing a woman walking on the road, that is a topic of interest between men.

The owner was stunned for a moment, but didn't say anything, just smiled. The owner had a good temper. People who do small business always know the principle of being friendly to make money.

Zhou Ze smiled,

The owner also smiled.

"Isn't this joke a bit too much?" The owner was still suppressing his anger.

"What if your wife agrees?" Zhou Ze continued.

"Was that your wife just now?" The owner changed the subject.

"Yes." Zhou Ze nodded.

"Would you be willing to give her up?" The owner asked again.

Zhou Ze hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. Although she was Xu Le's wife, she was now his in name, and Zhou Ze was unwilling.

"Then why do you think I would be willing?" The owner asked back.

"Maybe you have some special preferences and unusual plots? There are a lot of things like that nowadays, aren't there?"

"Brother, it's been a long time since I hit someone." The owner stood up.

"Call your wife out and ask her. I want to hear her say whether she's willing or not." Zhou Ze leaned back slightly and smiled.

"Hehe." The owner took a few steps closer to Zhou Ze.

"You stand here and call her out." Zhou Ze insisted.

"You're looking for death!" The owner pounced on him.

"Can she come out?" Zhou Ze suddenly asked.

The owner was stunned,

Then a look of horror appeared on his face, and he took several steps back in fright.

Zhou Ze stood up and took the initiative to walk towards the back room, lifted the curtain, and it was empty.

There was only a human skin belonging to a woman,

Hanging on a clothes rack,

Because the wind came in when the curtain was lifted,

It fluttered gently,

Slowly swaying.

"How did you... see through it?" The owner walked over slowly, and you couldn't tell whether he was happy or angry from his voice.

"There's a saying... are you trying to fool a ghost?" Zhou Ze turned around and looked at the owner. "It's time to tear off the skin on your body too.

I'm very curious,

How bored are you,

Here,

To act out this farce."