Chapter 166 Buying a House

Zhou Ze carried Bai Yingying back. Bai Yingying had one arm around Zhou Ze's neck, and the other hand held an ice cream cone, taking occasional licks. Zhou Ze could smell the faint fragrance emanating from the girl, as well as the sweetness of the ice cream.

"Boss, are you tired?"

"Not at all."

"Is Yingying heavy, then?"

"Not at all."

"Then why do you keep letting Yingying slide down and then hoisting her back up?"

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"Yingying."

"Yes, Boss?"

"Why aren't you wearing a bra?"

"Boss, Yingying always wears a bra."

"Then why are you wearing a dudou (traditional Chinese undergarment) today?"

"Boss changed Yingying's clothes today."

"Oh, my mistake. I thought you were from the Qing Dynasty and used to wearing a dudou."

"Boss, do you like dudous?"

"I like everything."

Casually chatting about the latest anecdotes from "Paris Fashion Week," Zhou Ze carried Bai Yingying to the bookstore entrance.

A song was playing inside the bookstore.

"Ren zai Guangdong yijing piao dao shi lian (Lost contact after whoring in Guangdong)?"

Bai Yingying hummed along with the song, then asked, "Boss, what's this song? It's so stimulating."

"It's 'Ren zai Guangdong yijing piao bo shi nian (Wandering in Guangdong for ten years),' called 'Guangdong Love Story.' It's sung in Cantonese."

"Oh, is that so?"

Pushing open the bookstore door, Zhou Ze discovered a stranger inside. This person was dressed in a white outfit, wore cloth shoes with layered soles, and held a writing brush, waving it over a piece of white paper on the counter.

The old Daoist was sitting in his wheelchair, clapping and shouting "Good!" with every stroke.

Zhou Ze put Yingying on the sofa and walked over to take a look as well.

"Boss, you're back! This guest is a great calligrapher. He drank a cup of tea at our shop but didn't have any money, but he had writing materials with him, so I let him leave a calligraphy piece as payment for the tea."

Zhou Ze nodded, not saying anything about it. A cup of tea wasn't worth much, and letting him leave a calligraphy piece was reasonable.

"Hoo!"

It was done.

Signature, seal.

The white-clad gentleman, nearing fifty, took two steps back, surveying his work.

The old Daoist also crowded around, constantly shouting, "Good calligraphy, good calligraphy! Profound meaning, every character sonorous. Boss, how about we frame it and hang it in the bookstore?

Right below your 'Gū wǎng tīng zhī, rú shì wǒ wén (Listen to it casually, as I have heard)' plaque?"

"Kāng kǎi gē Yān shì, cóng róng zuò Chǔ qiú. Yǐn dāo chéng yī kuài, bù fù shào nián tóu (Singing generously in Yan City, facing captivity in Chu with composure. Drawing a knife to make it quick, not betraying my youthful head)."

Each character was written with spirit; the old Daoist's assessment that every character was sonorous was not an exaggeration. Zhou Ze wasn't very knowledgeable about calligraphy, but from a bystander's perspective, it was indeed a good piece.

But when he heard the old Daoist say that he wanted to frame this calligraphy and hang it outside, Zhou Ze said directly:

"Don't hang it outside. Hang it in your own room."

"What?"

The old Daoist was shocked. Something must be amiss!

Whenever the boss was nice to you, it meant he saw a pit in front of you and was waiting for you to jump into it.

This was the experience the old Daoist had gained from repeatedly testing the edge of 404.

"Hehe, this boss is right. This calligraphy is not suitable for hanging in the hall. This is an excerpt from Wang Jinwei's 'Kāng Kǎi Piān (Generous Song).'"

"What, a traitor's poem?"

The old Daoist immediately pointed at the fifty-year-old man and said, "I say, old brother, this is too unkind of you. I only agreed to let you exchange a calligraphy piece for the tea because you didn't have any money. Are you cursing me by writing this?

Do you know what kind of place this is?

Even little devils have to leave some travel expenses when they pass by here!"

"The calligraphy is good, and that's enough. Hanging it up is out of the question. My calligraphy isn't that cheap; it's not worth a cup of tea."

The white-clad old man began to pack up his writing materials, then turned and walked out of the bookstore.

"What kind of person is this?" The old Daoist was still brooding over the matter.

"She Wenyuan." Zhou Ze looked at the signature and said, "Maybe he felt it was too much of a loss for you to exchange a cup of tea for his calligraphy, so he deliberately wrote something that you couldn't hang up to show off, so he could feel a little more balanced."

"Petty. Who does he think he is? A guy dressed up in a cosplay outfit trying to act cool. No matter how good his calligraphy is, is it as valuable as a leader's inscription?"

Zhou Ze ignored the still-angry old Daoist, washed his hands, put on his white coat, and went upstairs.

Old Xu's condition was also improving, but he hadn't woken up yet. In Zhou Ze's opinion, it was possible that Old Xu's self-consciousness was temporarily resisting awakening, because his master had become the enemy who killed his parents, and he didn't know how to face this matter after waking up.

But at least his physical condition had recovered well.

Zhou Ze went to the glass tank to look at Deadpool again, only to find that a few blades of grass had actually grown on Deadpool's body.

"Old Daoist!"

Zhou Ze walked down from upstairs.

"What did you add to Deadpool's glass tank!"

There were very few people who could move around in the bookstore now. Zhou Ze counted as one, and Yingying had just woken up and had been with him the whole time, so the suspect was directly identified.

"Didn't add anything?" The old Daoist said in confusion.

"Then how did grass grow on his head?"

"Holy crap, grass grew on his head?" The old Daoist was also shocked. "I don't know, Boss. I didn't do anything."

As he spoke, the old Daoist's gaze suddenly fell on the monkey eating melon seeds next to him. He directly picked up the monkey and questioned, "Monkey, tell me, did you put something in there?"

The little monkey was a bit confused at first, but under the gazes of the old Daoist and the boss, the monkey also pouted and took out a handful of seeds from its small backpack.

"You put seeds in there?" The old Daoist's jaw almost dropped in astonishment.

"Zhi zhi zhi zhi!"

The monkey shouted and gestured, pointing at Zhou Ze from time to time.

The meaning was roughly that he saw Zhou Ze fertilizing Deadpool every day, and the monkey felt that not only should he fertilize, but he should also plant something.

"Keep an eye on your monkey." Zhou Ze didn't know what to say.

"Aye aye, I understand, I understand." The old Daoist hurriedly apologized for the monkey.

The daytime in the bookstore finally regained some vitality. Zhou Ze lay on the sofa, flipping through the newspaper. Bai Yingying lay next to Zhou Ze, holding a copy of "The Self-Cultivation of a Maid" and continued to study it carefully; she wouldn't let go of any opportunity to improve herself.

When it was evening, Zhou Ze first sent Bai Yingying upstairs, then went downstairs to prepare for a shower.

At this time, the shop door was pushed open, and a young man wearing a cheap suit walked in.

After the man came in, he looked around, not taking a seat, just standing there.

"Hello?" The old Daoist behind the counter called out, almost asking, "Are you a person or a ghost?"

"Excuse me, does Miss Bai live here?"

Zhou Ze, who had already pushed open the bathroom door, took a few steps back, looking at the young man with a bit of scrutiny in his eyes.

What do you want with my Yingying?

Also, why would my Yingying know you?

"It's like this, Miss Bai hasn't contacted me in a long time, and I was really worried, so I took the liberty of visiting today."

"Oh." Zhou Ze responded, sat back down on the sofa, pointed to the seat opposite him, and said, "Sit."

The young man sat down, looking slightly uneasy.

What are you being uneasy about?

What's with that look in your eyes?

Why does it look like a prospective son-in-law looking at his father-in-law?

"What do you want from her?"

Zhou Ze picked up the cold tea on the coffee table and took a sip.

"It's like this, I've already found a house for her."

"Pfft..."

Boss Zhou spat out a mouthful of water, directly spraying it on the coffee table.

The young man immediately stood up and used a tissue to help Zhou Ze wipe up the water stains.

"What's wrong?"

"How long have you known each other?"

Zhou Ze asked.

Impossible.

Zhou Ze didn't think Yingying had the chance to meet other men. He was usually at home, so Yingying didn't have the chance.

She spent her days serving him and playing games. Where would she find the time?

Could it be that it was during the time he was unconscious?

Zhou Ze remembered that he often fell unconscious for half a month or so recently.

Was it during that time?

"Known each other, known each other for almost a year now." The young man said.

Almost a year?

So, it was not long after she woke up that she met him?

He had been kept in the dark for almost a year?

Zhou Ze's breathing suddenly became rapid.

At this time, he had an urge to pack up the guy in front of him and send him to hell.

Regardless of whether it was right or wrong, regardless of whether it was appropriate or not, and even regardless of whether he would be punished, this impulse was growing stronger and stronger.

"Excuse me, where is Miss Bai?" The young man asked.

"Old Daoist, prepare food." Zhou Ze shouted.

"What?" The old Daoist looked confused.

"Cui's braised pig head, Baipu dried tofu, Xiting crispy cakes, Hai'an steamed bun crisps, Rugao aged yellow wine, bring them all."

"This..."

The old Daoist thought to himself that these were the things prepared for entertaining passing souls before.

"No need to be so polite, no need to be so polite. I've already eaten, I've already eaten." The young man looked flattered.

He had no idea he was about to eat a hellish meal.

"It's like this, the row of townhouses that Miss Bai asked me to look at, I've already negotiated the price. The price is almost a quarter of the market price, but I'm here to confirm one last thing with Miss Bai, because someone died in that villa before. I want to ask Miss Bai herself if she knows about this..."

"Wait!" Zhou Ze interrupted the other party and directly asked, "What do you do?"

"Oh, I forgot. This is my business card. I'm the sales manager of Lianjia in Tongcheng."

"Selling houses?" Zhou Ze asked in confusion.

This is a real estate agent, right?

"Yes, Miss Bai is our golden VIP customer here. Over the past year, she has purchased more than a dozen high-end properties in Tongcheng through our branch."

"..." Zhou Ze.

"..." The old Daoist, who was eavesdropping on gossip with his ears perked up.

"Is there some kind of misunderstanding here?" Zhou Ze asked.

I know my maid is rich, but I really didn't know my maid was this rich!

"It's like this, Miss Bai said that her husband has a mistress who has been using the fact that she has twenty-some houses to seduce her husband.

So she plans to surpass her in the number of properties, and Miss Bai said she doesn't want resettlement housing, only mid- to high-end locations."