If the old Daoist was here crying and wailing, Zhou Ze estimated he'd kick him without a second thought.

And curse, "You old disgrace."

But seeing the old Daoist like this now,

Boss Zhou was genuinely worried.

You had to know, the old Daoist's mental fortitude was incredibly strong.

Seventy years of ups and downs,

Calculated, he'd actually walked alongside the new China the whole way,

So many bumps, so many hardships,

He'd gritted his teeth and weathered them all.

Before, no matter what happened, the old Daoist always chuckled. At least on a spiritual level, he was always a beacon, a spiritual giant, if you will.

But now,

The old Daoist blankly clutched that red sweater,

Just squatting there,

Squatting,

Squatting,

Like a wooden sculpture.

Zhou Ze walked over and squatted down in front of the old Daoist. "What's wrong?"

The old Daoist raised his head, looked at Zhou Ze, his gaze struggling to focus, then smiled habitually,

"Boss, you're here."

"Let's go, we're going back."

Zhou Ze said, helping the old Daoist up.

He didn't ask what had happened. If it were before, everyone would joke around as usual, but with the old Daoist like this, it wasn't the time to talk.

Hei Xiaoniu had once summarized some of Zhou Ze's characteristics:

Aloof, finding it difficult to actively invest in and trust others.

But very protective of those he'd acknowledged.

Right now,

Forget that the old Daoist didn't seem to have done anything wrong,

Even if he really had,

Zhou Ze would take him away from here without another word!

"Hey, make a record."

A policeman knocked on the table and said.

Zhou Ze ignored him, leading the old Daoist straight out.

The policeman just shook his head and didn't say anything more.

Once they were in the car,

Zhou Ze started the engine.

The old Daoist, sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly turned his head, looked at Zhou Ze, and said,

"Boss, let's go to East Gate Street."

The old Daoist was still clutching that red sweater tightly, unwilling to let go.

"Alright."

Zhou Ze nodded, not heading back to the bookstore, but driving to East Gate Street.

There was a RT-Mart on East Gate Street, but going past RT-Mart and driving a bit further in, there was a small wet market, a small street.

On the street, there were several foot massage parlors and hair salons.

Without waiting for the old Daoist to give directions, Zhou Ze slowly drove in, while observing the old Daoist's condition.

The old Daoist's gaze was fixed on a small shop called "Qinzu Garden."

Zhou Ze stopped the car.

The old Daoist pushed open the car door, got out, and took a deep breath.

Although Boss Zhou found it hard to understand why finding a big sister required such a heavy face.

Shouldn't the average man be hopping with excitement, feeling "like he's flying"?

The old Daoist sighed, crossed the road, and walked towards it. Zhou Ze followed behind. The old Daoist's current mental state made Zhou Ze unsure.

He pushed open the shop door.

Inside, a middle-aged woman was sitting there watching TV. Seeing a customer come in, she quickly got up and said,

"I'm sorry, it's just me in the shop today. We only do regular stuff now."

The meaning of this sentence was,

We used to be able to do irregular stuff,

Another meaning was,

You can also do irregular stuff if you add money.

"Big sister, I'm just here to take a look. I'm Fang Xing'er's friend."

The middle-aged woman's expression changed when she heard the name "Fang Xing," and she said,

"Heh heh, alright, it's fine, you can look. I'm from the shop next door. The boss is still in the police station. I'm just here to watch the shop."

The old Daoist nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. When you're out and about, having a true friend is better than anything."

The middle-aged woman looked at the old Daoist, a bit wistful. Then her gaze fell on Zhou Ze, who was following behind the old Daoist, and she said,

"Young man, you want a foot massage?"

Zhou Ze shook his head.

His private life was basically taken care of by Yingying. After getting used to Yingying's gentleness, consideration, and professional skills, nothing outside held any attraction for him.

Besides,

This place was the kind of place old men like the old Daoist frequented,

Not Boss Zhou's cup of tea.

"Alright."

The middle-aged woman took two disposable cups, put in some tea leaves, poured water, and handed them to Zhou Ze and the old Daoist.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

The middle-aged woman continued to sit back on the sofa and watch TV.

The old Daoist walked inside on his own. There was a narrow staircase inside, initially very cramped. After reaching the corner, it became much wider. After walking up, the layout of the second floor was much more spacious, with six or seven separate small rooms.

If it was just a foot massage, there generally wouldn't be so many small rooms. Aren't we all just getting foot massages? Everyone could just sit in a row of chairs, side by side, and that would be enough.

Plus, with the pink background here, coupled with the independent small spaces, men with a bit of life experience could guess the extent of the services offered here.

"I said, where is that Fang Xing?"

Zhou Ze asked.

The old Daoist didn't say anything, just turned his head and gave Zhou Ze a bitter smile.

"She's dead?"

Zhou Ze asked.

The old Daoist closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

So his old flame died, no wonder.

The old Daoist pushed open the door of a small room.

The layout inside was also very small,

Just a half-meter-wide bed and a bedside table, with wet wipes and tissues on it. Above that, in a small hanging basket, were colorful condoms.

The old Daoist sat down on the small bed,

Put the half-knitted red sweater on the bed,

He put his hands together,

And lowered his head.

Boss Zhou frowned slightly. Was he here to reminisce over things?

"Boss, have you ever been with the women here?"

Zhou Ze found it difficult to answer.

"Heh, look at what I'm asking."

The old Daoist laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Actually, I quite like this place, because it's real, real in that as long as you give money, they'll be honest with you."

Zhou Ze stood beside him, lit a cigarette, and listened silently.

"Actors are unrighteous, what's the previous line?" the old Daoist asked. "Oh, no need to answer, just that meaning."

"But how should I put it, it's probably all the same. I rarely came to Fang Xing, coming too often isn't good, it disturbs their lives.

She usually didn't have any business, and when she was free, she'd send me a WeChat message asking if I was free.

Fang Xing's son had just entered university. After she was laid off, she relied on doing this to earn tuition fees for her son. Her husband liked to gamble and didn't do anything proper, had no money.

The living expenses for the whole family were all supported by her.

Actually, making money this way is fast, but it's also tiring, really tiring.

Moreover, to be honest, you can't earn big money. She was getting old, and the clubs didn't want her. Here, it's just a fast-food price, and she has to split it with the boss.

After working hard on a customer, what she gets in hand is really not much.

But it's more than earning money by properly going to work.

She relied on doing this to support her son until he graduated from university, and even saved up for a down payment.

She once told me that as long as she waited for her son to graduate from university, she could stop and go home, go home to farm, rest, this life is too tiring.

Now, her son is getting married, so she has to continue, to provide for her child to buy a house, help pay off the loan, and reduce the child's pressure.

Sometimes when she's not busy, she'll send me a WeChat message, and I'll come over and chat.

She said to me, Brother, it's too cold to wear just a Daoist robe in the middle of winter, let me knit you a sweater, anyway, it's winter, she doesn't have many customers anymore.

That day, it was terribly cold, so cold that people's things were shriveling up."

"I said okay."

"So she knitted a sweater for me. When customers came, she'd put down the sweater. After finishing the job, she'd sit on this bed and continue knitting the sweater for me."

"She and I are just a purely transactional relationship. I give her money every time I come, and I don't think about trying to get a discount or anything.

I don't do that kind of thing, after all, everyone's out here making a living, it's not easy."

Zhou Ze rubbed his eyebrows, and had to interrupt the old Daoist's monologue, asking:

"Did something happen to her?"

The old Daoist was silent,

Covering his face with his hands,

A little distressed,

Said:

"Yesterday evening she told me that the sweater would be finished in a few more days, and asked me to come over and she'd give it to me, I said okay.

She lives in a rented house nearby, doesn't live in the shop, there's no room in the shop, and it's not convenient.

She shares it with a few fellow villagers, there are also sisters who do this kind of work.

Yesterday,

Because she had her period,

So she didn't go to work,

And just sent me a WeChat message from home every now and then, while knitting my sweater.

She told me about her son, told me about her son's house, told me that she wanted to renovate her old house in her hometown, and also told me what kind of wife she wanted to arrange for her son.

She said a lot,

She knew I liked to hear it, and didn't mind listening to it.

Heh heh,

At the bookstore,

I've met some old ghosts,

And I also like to chat with them.

Then,

She heard the sound of a child crying coming from next door to her house,

Her neighbors are a young couple who came to work, but they don't have children.

She went to look, and found that the child was dressed well, this child, had been kidnapped.

She grabbed the child, shouting loudly, shouting kidnapper, shouting kidnapper!

The couple beat her, kicked her, but she still held onto the child and wouldn't let go.

Then the man,

Picked up a kitchen knife..."

The old Daoist gestured,

"That kind of narrow-mouthed kitchen knife, stabbed directly down, Fang Xing still wouldn't let go, blood, bleeding, bleeding..."

The couple were scared and immediately ran away, and the police are still catching them.

The child was left behind,

Was discovered,

Fang Xing died,

She died."

Hearing this, Zhou Ze took a deep breath and took a heavy drag on his cigarette.

I was still thinking of saying that Lawyer An was setting you up on a blind date,

But those words, just couldn't be said.

The old Daoist rubbed his nose,

Continuing to mutter to himself:

"Fang Xing once told me that she knew that this made money quickly, but it would cut off her chances of switching to other jobs.

But she's just a deadbeat anyway, she's also getting old, and she'll squeeze as much as she can out of this body,

Like squeezing oil,

The more oil you squeeze out, the more you squeeze out.

Tsk tsk tsk,

I was thinking that maybe tonight in the bookstore, I might be able to see Fang Xing again;

But I just saw her body at the police station,

She confirmed that the child had been rescued before she breathed her last,

She left very peacefully, really peacefully,

This kind of person doesn't need to come to the bookstore for transfer.

I didn't even get to see her one last time..."

The old Daoist reached out and grabbed the half-knitted sweater,

Red,

Red,

Like it was stained with blood...