Chapter 1 A Dream

Zhou Ze had a dream.

This time,

it wasn't about going to hell,

but a simple dream,

so simple,

it was a little monotonous.

In the dream,

he sat on the edge of a small pier made of wooden stakes.

Beside him, several middle-aged women were washing clothes and vegetables, gossiping about trivial matters.

Behind him,

there were many children chasing and playing.

He held a fishing rod,

the bait cast into the river,

and he sat there quietly wearing a bamboo hat.

The weather was clear and the sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot. The wind blowing from the valley was refreshing and comfortable.

Then,

in the whole dream,

he just kept sitting there,

fishing,

fishing,

and more fishing.

When he woke up,

he still hadn't caught a single fish.

After waking up,

Zhou Ze let out a long sigh.

Yingying beside him was playing a game with her back to him, not yet noticing that he had woken up.

He opened his eyes,

looking at the ceiling.

Yesterday,

he had witnessed the difference between himself and "that one."

One was the Lord of the Nether Sea,

while he,

was just a small boat that could capsize at any time in the Nether Sea.

And in his dream,

he was just sitting there fishing.

He had once heard someone say that in dreams, one might see scenes from one's past life.

But Zhou Ze knew that he didn't have a past life.

Even if he did,

it seemed from the dream,

that his past life was quite similar to this one.

He reached out and rubbed his face.

Boss Zhou didn't feel sorry for himself, nor did he feel pitiful or wronged.

Perhaps this was related to his childhood experiences.

For an ordinary person, well, for most people, their life consisted of childhood, youth, middle age, and old age.

Like those great beings who possessed past and present lives, such as Jin Chanzi, they were, after all, a minority among minorities.

When he was in the orphanage,

having meat to eat,

and Sprite and Coke to drink,

was already very satisfying.

Even the current situation, compared to his past life where he worked day and night, eager to seize any opportunity to climb up the ladder, was much easier and more comfortable.

Living in the present,

many people talked about it,

but not many truly understood it.

As he thought about it, Zhou Ze felt a little tired again. There had been a lot of things happening recently. After returning from Changzhou, other things had happened. Sleeping in beside Yingying had become a luxury.

Therefore,

Zhou Ze didn't call out to Bai Yingying,

but turned his head,

and fell asleep again.

Bai Yingying was still intently playing her game, completely unaware that her boss had just woken up and fallen asleep again.

When the game console warned that the battery was low, Yingying tiptoed out of bed, ran downstairs to get the charger, and ran back up.

She knew she couldn't leave for too long, or her boss would naturally wake up.

After plugging in the charger, Bai Yingying didn't continue playing. Instead, she put the game console on the bedside table, turned to look at Zhou Ze, who was lying on his back, fast asleep.

Looking at his eyelashes, looking at his lips, looking at his nose,

many people would think there was nothing to see,

but perhaps only those who had truly been in love could understand this feeling.

The bedroom door was pushed open.

Xu Qinglang stood at the door,

pointing at Zhou Ze,

asking Yingying if he was awake.

Yingying shook her head.

Xu Qinglang shrugged. Anyway, simmering the broth longer would only make it better, so he wasn't in a hurry.

Downstairs,

the Deadpool was mopping the floor, and the old Taoist was sitting behind the bar playing chess with the monkey.

Yes,

playing chess.

A monkey had actually learned to play chess.

And judging by the situation, the old Taoist was at a disadvantage.

The little loli was sitting on the sofa, flipping through a comic book with boredom, yawning from time to time.

"Go to sleep if you're sleepy."

Xu Qinglang said.

"Just summer drowsiness, it's nothing."

The little loli shook her head. She was still used to sleeping at night. Although there was nothing to do in the bookstore, she still felt that even doing nothing and just sitting there daydreaming was "healthier and more positive" than sleeping day and night.

Perhaps,

this was the last bit of persistence she could hold onto before she was completely assimilated into a salted fish.

Lawyer An had just returned. After sending Zhou Ze back to the bookstore, he went to the prison. Recently, his business had only left one, that is, the evil ghost in Tongcheng Prison.

"Boss really is in a good mood, running over in the middle of the night to scare people, making it so they can't even meditate."

Lawyer An complained helplessly.

For evil ghosts newly arrived in the human world, sleep and food were a major problem. Eating could be forced down; as long as one wanted to live, one couldn't let the body starve. So, no matter how disgusting or difficult it was, one could force oneself to do it, at most eating a little less, resulting in slight malnutrition.

But sleep was truly impossible. Even taking sleeping pills non-stop would only paralyze the body in bed, while the mind remained conscious.

Also,

don't think that committing suicide by taking sleeping pills is beautiful.

In fact, committing suicide by taking sleeping pills is also extremely painful.

But you can't wake up at that time,

so to those who are alive, people who commit suicide by taking sleeping pills seem to have left peacefully.

But imagine the suffering and torment of being in pain but unable to shout or move when the sleeping pills take effect.

"Hey, I heard you used to be an official."

The little loli looked at Lawyer An and asked.

"Hmm?"

Lawyer An looked at the little loli.

"Can you tell me about it?"

The little loli reached out and patted the sofa beside her. She was dangling her feet, with a glass of ice water in front of her. Unfortunately, she was still too young.

Lawyer An was a bit of a lecher. Of course, this was a common problem among men. When a problem becomes widespread, it's no longer considered a problem.

But Lawyer An had no feelings for little lolis of this age at all. However, with the little loli's true age and experience, she always gave people a strong sense of incongruity.

Like a little girl secretly applying her mother's lipstick, or like an old woman wearing a student skirt, waving at you and calling, "Oppa, come here!"

Too incongruous.

"Um, why are you asking this?"

"Curiosity."

"Heh heh."

Lawyer An sat down opposite the little loli.

"So, what position did you reach back then?"

"You can guess."

"Head Constable?" The little loli shook her head. "It should be higher, like, Patrol Inspector?"

"Those are things of the past."

"I'm very curious, what mistake did you make back then?"

Saying that,

the little loli looked up,

towards the ceiling,

the one upstairs seems to have made more mistakes, but nothing ever happens.

"I don't want to answer that for now." Lawyer An stood up. "Actually, sometimes rising higher isn't a good thing, because only as a ghost official is one truly carefree."

"Carefree?"

"Its synonym is lawless."

Lawyer An twisted his neck and yawned. "I'm so envious of you, being able to freeload a night's sleep."

Lawyer An also wanted to freeload a night's sleep, but he was even more afraid of dying.

One could imagine that if he sneaked into that guy's room,

that guy would definitely get out of bed and fight him.

Saying that,

Lawyer An stood up.

"Alright, I'm going to meditate, otherwise, the fatigue in my body won't be relieved."

"So, you still want to be reinstated in your official position?"

The little loli asked.

Lawyer An stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and looked at the little loli with an idiot's gaze:

"Isn't that obvious? Isn't it because I've placed my bet on him? Eighty-twenty split, you bastard!"

………………

In the evening, Zhou Ze woke up again, went downstairs to take a shower. Although he was still a little weak, at least he had recovered well mentally.

First, he drank the River Styx Elixir, then drank a few bowls of the broth brewed by Xu Qinglang, feeling that he could finally grip something with force.

The old Taoist opened the shop door, took down the "Closed" sign, marking that the Late Night Bookstore was officially open for business. Then, the old Taoist looked towards the door.

Night had fallen,

and who knows how many young women are still alone in their empty rooms.

Sometimes, the old Taoist also felt quite guilty. His abilities were limited, and the number of people he could help was also limited.

He took out the radio, tuned the station, intending to listen to a late-night program.

The radio turned on, followed by an advertisement:

"Kidney deficiency, sometimes after excessive fatigue…………"

The evening breeze blew gently, taking away some of the summer heat. The bustling South Street during the day had finally quieted down.

The little loli went to the second floor because Wang Ke had called. She went to the second floor specifically to answer the phone. She didn't want outsiders to hear the conversation between father and daughter.

Xu Qinglang was sitting in the private room, the kind specifically used for the deceased to eat their last meal before departing, with a facial mask on, next to a glass of his homemade rice wine.

Smelling the faint aroma of wine while applying the mask.

The Deadpool was sitting at the door because the shop door was wide open, and insects would occasionally fly in.

Whenever an insect flew in, the Deadpool would extend its tongue and swallow it in a flash of lightning. He looked ecstatic and satisfied.

Lawyer An was naked, sitting cross-legged on the bed in his second-floor room, entering a meditative state, relaxing his muscles, and relieving his fatigue.

Opposite him was Lao Zhang, still unconscious. Lao Zhang had woken up a few times, but each time he woke up, he immediately fell unconscious again. According to Lawyer An, Lao Zhang's soul was too weak, so he needed more time to adjust to his new body, but the problem wasn't significant.

He estimated that he should be fully awake tomorrow.

Then,

Officer Zhang, whose values had been carefully protected by Boss Zhou,

might…………

The little monkey was sitting on the balcony on the second floor,

gazing at the moon in the sky.

The crescent moon,

silver-grey light scattered on the little monkey's body,

like a monkey sculpture.

Next to it,

was a toy hammer that the old Taoist had bought for it.

The old Taoist had wanted it to play with a toy golden cudgel,

but the little monkey preferred its little hammer.

Bai Yingying made tea for Zhou Ze, brought it over, and added some goji berries to the tea.

Then she sat down next to Zhou Ze, holding a palm-leaf fan, gently fanning Zhou Ze.

Boss Zhou leaned back in the rattan chair behind the bar,

occasionally getting up to take a sip of tea,

spending more time rocking gently in the rattan chair,

rocking,

rocking,

rocking…