Chapter 1 A Monk's Mourning

"Fúshēng Wúliàng Tiānzūn."

The old Taoist put his palms together,

Mourning in the manner of a Buddhist monk.

Anyway, the old Taoist always liked to integrate things like that; the people in the bookstore had long since grown accustomed to it.

Zhou Ze leaned against the door frame, and honestly, he didn't know how to offer comfort.

You could say the old Taoist was being affected, getting so distraught over a woman like that.

But if a person living in this world didn't even have the right to be affected, then what was the point of living?

Striving to strive, working hard to work hard, not for the sake of striving or working hard in itself,

What everyone struggled and sought,

Was nothing more than wanting to obtain a free and easy opportunity and conditions to be affected, wasn't it?

"Hoo..."

The old Taoist reached out and vigorously rubbed his face,

And picked up a tissue next to him,

Wiping away snot and tears.

Saddened by the sight of things, things were not as they once were; he was truly sad and upset.

The old Taoist might not be the richest among the patrons, but he should be the one who donated the most money; at the same time, he was also one of the most cultured.

It was just a pity,

That this circle couldn't hold a vote and then give out an award to encourage him.

"Hey, are you just going to keep crying like this?"

Zhou Ze asked.

The old Taoist raised his head, looked at Zhou Ze with red eyes, and said:

"Boss, what else can I do?"

"Actually, I've always felt that being sad here is the most meaningless thing, because other than making yourself feel good and venting a little,

It really doesn't change anything."

Sadness is to make oneself feel good?

The old Taoist pondered this sentence, feeling that something was off.

"The deceased has passed away; you said it yourself, she passed peacefully and probably won't be coming to the bookstore, so do something more for her."

Most people go straight to hell after they die; only those with obsessions or special circumstances need to make a stop at the bookstore.

If people ran to the bookstore after they died, Boss Zhou's performance would be beautifully bubbling.

"Should I go give her son money?"

The old Taoist said, then immediately shook his head, saying:

"Bah, I don't want to, a good-for-nothing man, a good-for-nothing son;

Relying on his own wife, his own mother to do this business to earn money and support the family.

I don't believe they wouldn't know this, wouldn't have noticed it at all.

Maybe they're pretending to be stupid, maybe they know and even support it; in short, those two bastards.

But,

Then what else can I do?"

He couldn't even afford to pay for a funeral for Fang Xing,

In what capacity?

As an old customer?

What kind of business was that!

Moreover, Fang Xing's act of bravery would also be unable to be publicized on a large scale like other acts of bravery due to the special nature of her identity.

"Feeling depressed, feeling uncomfortable, you always have to find a place to vent, find a better target, right?"

"A better target?"

The old Taoist reached out and pointed downwards,

Saying:

"The girl downstairs?

But I don't have the mood right now; Fang Xing just left, how can I do that?"

Zhou Ze suddenly wanted to raise his foot and leave a shoe print on the old Taoist's face;

He wasn't very good at comforting people to begin with,

And then he ran into this complete oddball in front of him,

It really made him angry.

To be honest, Zhou Ze's personality was a bit cold to begin with; after all, he had grown up in an orphanage since he was a child, and then as a doctor, he had seen too many partings of life and death.

But no matter what, he really couldn't stand seeing the old Taoist so depressed.

"Those two traffickers, haven't they been caught yet?"

The old Taoist heard this and suddenly raised his head.

What did the boss mean by this?

Zhou Ze took out his phone and dialed Zhang Yanfeng's number.

"Hey, Lao Zhang, that murder case last night, the one related to the traffickers, is there any news?"

"Boss, this isn't our team's responsibility; the case is very clear, and now we're in the arrest phase. The person should have already left Tongcheng, and we're now contacting the police in nearby cities and counties for a joint search."

"Which direction did they escape to?"

"North."

"Okay, got it."

"Boss, why are you asking about this? I..."

"Beep beep beep..."

Zhou Ze hung up the phone,

Looked at the old Taoist,

"The people haven't been caught yet."

"This... then... we?"

The old Taoist was a little incredulous; you had to know that the boss was usually most afraid of trouble.

Zhou Ze walked to the old Taoist's side, patted him on the shoulder, and said:

"How about I help you catch them? To avenge your Fang Xing."

"Caught them, then what?"

The old Taoist suddenly asked.

Zhou Ze straightened up,

Stuck out his little finger,

Dug in his ear,

Then put it to his mouth,

Blew on it,

"Old Taoist."

"Yes, Boss?"

"You seem to have forgotten something."

"What thing?"

"I'm not a person; I'm a ghost. Maybe even I myself have forgotten that I can break the rules."

………………

"Is he not coming back for dinner?"

Lao Xu looked helplessly at the table full of dishes; only Hei Xiaoniu was sitting on the side, feasting.

Her appetite was super good now; while eating, she praised Lao Xu's cooking skills for improving again.

Xu Qinglang was sitting on the side, slowly drinking soup, while saying to Yingying:

"If the person isn't eating, what about the monkey?"

"The monkey is gone too."

Yingying sat behind the bar, continuing to study the recipes, "Just now, I saw the monkey take a call and run out."

"Okay, if the person isn't eating, then the animal isn't eating either."

Lao Xu shrugged his shoulders,

Pointed to the table full of dishes in front of him and said:

"Yingying, take it to the pharmacy next door and give it to Fangfang and the others later."

"Okay."

Yingying put down the recipe,

A look of anticipation on her face.

Every time she went to the pharmacy next door and heard them call her boss lady,

For Yingying, it was a very wonderful enjoyment.

"Next time, before eating, do I have to call everyone one by one and ask who's coming back for dinner?

I made a big table of dishes,

And no one's around when it's time to eat."

Xu Qinglang was angry;

Compared to the hard work of cooking,

The most disheartening thing was to work hard to cook but have no one eat it.

"How could that be, Master Xu? This bookstore can't do without anyone, but it can't do without you."

Yingying immediately leaned over and spoke softly to Lao Xu.

Xu Qinglang heard this, smiled, shook his head, got up, and went upstairs.

Yingying gritted her teeth,

And glared at Xu Qinglang's back,

Hmph,

Look how smug you are;

When I learn how to cook, you can go wherever it's cool.

Thinking this,

Yingying turned sideways and reached out to pat Hei Xiaoniu, who was still eating,

Saying:

"Meili."

"Hmm?"

"Eat less, save some room in your stomach; I bought a big carp, and I'll make a braised carp with noodles for you to try later. Are you looking forward to it?"

"Looking forward to it, looking forward to it!"

Hei Xiaoniu seemed very knowledgeable.

Yingying nodded with satisfaction,

Turned around and went into the kitchen.

Hei Xiaoniu immediately took another big bowl of rice,

And shoveled rice into her mouth in big gulps, gobbling it down!

………………

"Squeak squeak squeak!!!"

The little monkey held a half-knitted sweater in its hand,

Its monkey face blank.

"Smell, sniff, can you find the scent?"

"Old Taoist, are you stupid? This is the sweater that Fang Xing knitted, not the sweater knitted by the trafficker couple; you want the monkey to navigate us to the morgue?"

Zhou Ze cursed while driving.

"Oh, right, that's true."

The old Taoist patted his head,

Oh,

Headache, headache.

He was completely flustered; this time, without Lao Zhang instigating him, the boss took the initiative to say that he would help him catch the traffickers and avenge him, making him feel like he was dizzy from being hit by happiness.

He always felt,

That it wasn't very real.

"Boss, are you really going to take me to catch traffickers?"

The old Taoist really wanted to ask Zhou Ze's motive.

The boss's actions were too out of character for him.

"Old Taoist, tell me, even if the trafficker is caught and the child is found, for the children who were abducted by the trafficker, even if they're rescued, can they return to their parents' side after several years?"

"Uh, this..."

"Where will they ultimately end up?"

"Orphanage, I guess."

The old Taoist suddenly raised his head; he understood.

Zhou Ze blew out a smoke ring, bit his lip, and said:

"Actually, if you ask me what I hate most in this life, I don't hate Xu Le, who hired someone to kill me, that much; maybe it's because of karma and retribution.

But what I hate most is traffickers;

Sometimes,

I'm also wondering,

Was I also abducted and sold, and then for some reason or another, ended up in an orphanage?

Because a normal family, even if they want to abandon their child, they'll at least leave something behind; jade pendants and rings are too high-end to talk about,

But leaving a small note or half a bag of milk powder is always possible, right?

I didn't have any,

I didn't have anything!"

"Boss, you've suffered; you can take me as a f...

As a repeating machine, and tell me more about anything you have on your mind in the future."

"Actually, it's still for you; I'm very unhappy seeing you looking like a dead person."

"Hehe." The old Taoist smiled, feeling like he was being cared for by his son.

"Oh, right, Boss, how are we going to find them?"

In the vast sea of people, how were they going to find them?

Zhou Ze stopped the car,

In front of him was a rental housing area, and one area was still cordoned off with yellow tape; it should be the scene of the crime.

Zhou Ze dialed Lao Zhang's number again, then got out of the car and walked over.

"Hello, comrade, you can't go in here."

Zhou Ze handed his phone to the young policeman.

Then he lifted the cordon and walked in; after a short while, he came out, took back his phone from the young policeman, and got back into the car.

"Here, give this to the monkey to smell."

Zhou Ze threw a black plastic bag to the old Taoist.

"What is it?"

The old Taoist reached his hand in,

It was sticky,

After taking it out,

The old Taoist's eyes widened,

My god,

A used Biyun Tao (condom)!

"Hiss!"

The old Taoist subconsciously wanted to throw it away.

"Don't throw it away; the smell won't be as strong if you throw it away."

"............" The old Taoist.

"This thing is the essence of life; I found it under the bed of the trafficker couple. Hurry up; your monkey is waiting to navigate."

The old Taoist awkwardly pinched the Biyun Tao,

Then looked very embarrassed at the little monkey, who was sitting next to him, staring at the Biyun Tao with a lifeless expression,

"Well,

Monkey,

Sorry for the trouble,

Bear with it,

Smell the scent, okay?"

"............" The little monkey.