Chapter 1 An Encounter

Big shots have their schemes, and small fries have their goals; often, the two aren’t contradictory.

Zhou Ze didn’t know how much the sea god had to do with the wealthy old man’s affairs. Perhaps, one day when Boss Zhou had earned enough money to enjoy buying a yacht and sailing on the sea, he might find an answer.

Right now, what he needed to do was to strangle that Japanese priest who had been constantly causing trouble and hogging the limelight from beginning to end, then send him to the crematorium to be incinerated, and mix his ashes with curry chicken leg rice.

Following the navigation, Zhou Ze drove to the entrance of an old residential area. This area should have been a housing project built a long time ago by a certain institution. It was about to be demolished, and most of the residents had moved out. It looked a bit dilapidated and messy, but there were still a few households living there.

Tongcheng had already entered summer, but after walking in here, you could feel a hint of coolness. This wasn’t the influence of any ghosts or monsters, just a special psychological suggestion given by a place with few people.

"The leftmost room on the third floor is where a young man who works in Tongcheng lives; it’s a rented apartment," the little loli explained.

Zhou Ze nodded, without much hesitation, and walked directly up. Although it wasn’t certain whether the priest was inside, it would be too foolish to just wait down below.

Arriving on the third floor, the door was locked. Zhou Ze opened it with his fingernail. After pushing it open, he found that it was spotless, so clean that it felt a bit strange.

A place where people live couldn’t possibly be this clean. Not even a speck of dust in any corner. Even the most attentive cleaning company would have difficulty achieving this level.

The walls,
The tiles,
The windowsill,
Even the toilet shone with a kind of luster.

Bai Yingying looked at the situation inside and suddenly felt a little worried. She knew that the boss was a neat freak, so she was afraid that after the boss liked the cleanliness here, he would also require herself and Lao Dao to clean the bookstore to this extent.

If that were the case, then besides sleeping with the boss, she would only be able to clean non-stop, without even time to play video games.

There was no one in the room, a small one-bedroom apartment couldn't hide anyone.

Zhou Ze squatted down, scraped the tiles with his fingernail, and then looked at the dirt under his fingernails. There were some crystal-like substances stuck there.

Yes,
The reason this room was so clean was here. It wasn’t that it had really been cleaned so well, but because there was a layer of wax-like substance attached to it, giving a deceptive visual impression that "this place is very clean."

Even the bedding on the bed was covered with this stuff.

"He's not here," the little loli said.

"I'm not blind," Zhou Ze replied.

"Then should we go to the next place?"

The little loli shrugged. Finding that Japanese priest was the first task Zhou Ze had given her. She had monitored and tracked him for a long time, putting in a lot of effort. If she didn't succeed at the final moment, then all her previous efforts would have been in vain.

A thankless task. After doing so much, yet failing at the last moment; it wasn't as good as the silly zombie next to her who only knew how to "Eee-ing" stupidly, which increased her favorability more.

"Slap."

The little loli slapped herself.

What kind of crazy things am I thinking?

"What are you doing?" Bai Yingying asked, looking at the little loli.

"Killing a mosquito."

Bai Yingying shook her head.

You forgot that you're a soul body today, killing mosquitoes?

"That person should be back soon," Zhou Ze said, pointing to the stove area.

Calling it a stove was actually just an induction cooker placed on a small table, with some seasonings, scallions, ginger, and garlic next to it.

Because Zhou Ze noticed that this was the only area in the entire room that wasn't stained with that waxy substance, meaning it had just been used. There were still chopped vegetables on the cutting board.

Perhaps the other party had chopped the ingredients while cooking, but then remembered that he didn’t seem to have bought any groceries.

Okay, that explanation was a bit silly, but it seemed there was a possibility of someone being that silly.

"Let's wait outside."

Zhou Ze closed the door and stood at the entrance of the stairwell.

The little loli's soul slowly floated up and sat on the railing, her little legs swinging back and forth, extremely innocent and cute.

Bai Yingying pouted, not knowing why, but she was convinced that this little loli would eventually take the road of competing with her for favor. Perhaps this was a woman's intuition.

Therefore, Bai Yingying refused to be outdone, propping her hands on the railing as if looking at the distant scenery, but highlighting the curves of her backside to the fullest, in a posture of "only now does my humble door open for you, my lord."

Zhou Ze stood for a while, then sat down on the steps next to the two women who were vying with each other, his back to them, and lit a cigarette.

Actually,
Sometimes, thinking about it,
Boss Zhou hadn’t had a bad life in his previous life, but he was thirty years old and still a bachelor, never even been in a relationship. This wasn’t without reason.

Even if Doctor Lin back then wasn’t as elegant as she was now, or as well-developed as she was now, she was definitely not bad, and she had the adoration of a little fangirl for him. In the end, he didn’t even remember her name, treating her purely as a medical dog assigned to him for an internship.

If such a person doesn’t live a lonely life,
Who will?

The two women, one big and one small, were competing with each other with great enthusiasm, but now it felt like they were performing for a blind man. Immediately, the two women settled down.

After finishing a cigarette, Zhou Ze thought of Lao Xu. Since he was just waiting anyway, Zhou Ze took the time to give Lao Xu a call.

Lao Xu was still very inexperienced in matters of love, a virgin, so he inevitably got too emotionally invested. The woman had died, and he probably wasn't feeling very well.

The phone connected, and a weak "hello" came from the other end.

"Are you okay?" Zhou Ze asked.

"I'm okay."

"Look on the bright side."

"Mm."

"Some things, looking back, can only be considered an experience in your life, a memory. You'll understand later."

The other end of the phone was silent for a long time.

Zhou Ze thought that Xu Qinglang was feeling sentimental, touched by his comfort, but after a while, Xu Qinglang raised his voice slightly and replied:

"Have you been through this before?"

This was a rhetorical question.

We're both virgins, but I've at least gotten laid, and you're still a cherry. You're comforting me?

"I'm married," Zhou Ze reminded him.

Xu Qinglang was silent again. He suddenly felt that Zhou Ze was the most shameless person he had ever met in his life.

"I'm getting divorced soon," Zhou Ze added.

At this time, the BGM of "Yi Jian Mei" (A Plum Blossom) should be playing, to highlight Boss Zhou's melancholy and story.

Xu Qinglang continued to remain silent; this level of shamelessness had increased by an order of magnitude.

Forcibly adding drama, stories, and vicissitudes to himself?

For a moment, Lao Xu didn't know how to refute.

"In short, look on the bright side."

After saying that, Zhou Ze hung up the phone. He felt that if he continued the call, the embarrassed and angry Lao Xu would start to fight back.

Yes, this kind of feigned comfort that is actually rubbing salt in the wound is what true friends are for!

"Someone's coming," Bai Yingying said.

Because there were really very few residents in this building, very few people passed by in front. Now, a man in a white short-sleeved shirt was walking here carrying a plastic bag. It was very likely that he was the person they were looking for.

Zhou Ze turned to look down.

Sure enough, the young man was carrying a plastic bag and starting to walk up the stairs from this stairwell.

The man was nothing out of the ordinary, with a fair face and delicate skin, giving off a feeling of a weakened version of Xu Qinglang.

Zhou Ze felt that his aesthetic sense seemed to have developed some problems. Other men habitually compared the women they saw outside with their wives.

But now, when he saw men outside, he habitually compared those pretty boys with Xu Qinglang.

The plastic bag in the man's hand was heavy. After he walked up, he first saw Zhou Ze sitting on the steps, and then saw Bai Yingying standing by the railing.

In the end,
His gaze fell on the little loli sitting on the railing, swinging her legs,
And he especially looked at the little loli a few more times, a lustful look on his face.

"It's him," the little loli said.

She was a soul body;
Anyone who could see her definitely had a problem.

Bai Yingying took a step forward, trying to grab the man's shoulder. The man suddenly took a step back, throwing the plastic bag in his hand over. Bai Yingying reached out and slapped the plastic bag away, resulting in more than a dozen pig trotters scattering and rolling on the ground.

"Crack..."

Bai Yingying's fingers hooked onto the other party's shoulder, but the other party didn't retreat at this time, but advanced instead.

A "buzz" sound was heard, but Bai Yingying didn't move. She was much stronger than the other party, but the other party's momentum and reaction caught Bai Yingying off guard.

The fingers hooking onto the other party's shoulder loosened in an instant.

So slippery,
Not just the skin,
Even the clothes he was wearing were so slippery!

The man turned over, wanting to jump over the stairs and escape, but Zhou Ze, who was sitting on the steps, reached out at this time, his fingernails instantly growing longer and piercing into the man's calf.

"Ah!"

The man let out a scream and fell to the ground. Zhou Ze stepped forward, his fingers directly gripping the other party's neck.

The man's body was twitching non-stop, probably because the damage from Zhou Ze's fingernail was still continuing to fester.

The little loli floated up and came to the man's face.

The man rolled his eyes. He looked at Zhou Ze, his eyes filled with fear and terror. He seemed to want to say something, but he couldn't even speak properly, and could only make noises in his throat:

"Ah ah... ah ah... ah ah..."

"Where is that Japanese priest?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Ah ah... ah ah... ah ah..."

"Can you speak properly? If you can't speak, I can only get rid of you."

"Ah ah... ah ah... ah ah..."

The little loli lowered her head at this time and placed her hand on the man's throat, as if listening to something.

"What is he saying? Translate it," Zhou Ze asked.

The little loli frowned, looking very incredulous,
Then looked at Zhou Ze and said:

"He's calling you,
Dad?"