Chapter 1 The Setting Sun

The setting sun was like a red apple, or like a little sister's face flushed from the heat.

Zhou Ze sat in the Late Night Bookstore, sorting through the latest batch of bills. The bookstore's operations were entering a period of austerity. The key problem was that the inheritance he had received from Xu Le was just too small.

If he hadn't managed to claw back a portion of the profits from the pirated booksellers, the shop probably wouldn't have been able to continue operating.

That night, after returning from the hospital, Zhou Ze burned all the remaining ghost money. He even squatted at the door and smoked half a pack of cigarettes, waiting for a while. Indeed, no one came to throw money.

According to the female corpse, this was called using yin virtue to ward off disaster.

The ghost's ghost money was equivalent to yin virtue. When you needed money, you could use it to "exchange" for money, and when you needed to avoid disaster, you could use it to offset the trouble.

The last incident was reported in the news; a wealthy man hired someone to murder his wife.

There was a rumor that the suspect said that a high school girl appeared and beat them up, but of course, no one would believe it.

It's not like she was a Sailor Moon.

In short, that matter came to an end, and Zhou Ze's ghost money wasn't burned in vain.

Xu Qinglang came over from next door, holding two cups of tea. His lifestyle was getting increasingly extravagant.

Originally a diligent and upward-striving young man,

after owning twenty-odd properties,

he had finally begun to indulge in pleasure and entered a rhythm of decadence.

The two sat together at the counter, drinking tea.

"What happened to your wife in the end?" Xu Qinglang asked.

"She said she wanted some quiet time, and some time to think," Zhou Ze replied.

The process of confessing was smooth,

even overly smooth, one might say.

Doctor Lin's affection for him was even trending toward "morbid," but thankfully, she was still a rational person.

Xu Le was dead, and Zhou Ze had possessed his corpse. So many incredible things had happened before her eyes; it was a little difficult to expect her to accept everything all at once and continue to live a happy and shameless life with her "dream lover" and "current husband."

"It's already pretty good; she's stronger than I imagined," Xu Qinglang smiled. "An ordinary person would probably be scared to death."

Zhou Ze remained noncommittal.

Xu Qinglang shouldn't have known about this; clearly, someone had leaked it.

There was no need to look for the leaker; it was that Madam Bai Yingying.

"By the way, let me ask you something," Zhou Ze asked seriously. "Was Xu Le this strapped for cash when he first opened the shop?"

"No, I thought he was living quite freely, but I didn't have much to do with him before he died; he was a very dull guy, really boring.

But he should have had a lot of money; I remember he often helped out his relatives in the bookstore back then, very generous."

After Xu Qinglang finished speaking, he glanced at Zhou Ze, even sticking out his tongue and licking his lips.

"But you're more interesting."

In an instant, his waist swayed, and his charming eyes were like waves, truly stirring one's heart.

"It's a shame you're not a gigolo; you could have been a generation's king of gigolos."

"Can't we have a proper conversation?" Xu Qinglang said angrily.

"That's a compliment."

"Heh..." Xu Qinglang pointed at Zhou Ze. "You should worry about yourself."

"Worry about what?" Zhou Ze pointed at the bookstore. "Business hasn't been good lately; it's bad enough that I hardly see any living people, but I haven't even seen any ghosts lately."

"How are you and your doctor wife planning to develop things? I think she just needs some time to buffer things out, and then she'll accept it.

After all, to be honest, you've struck gold with a woman like her. Who knew that in this day and age, there would still be someone like an ancient aristocratic lady? Her parents must be oddballs too."

"Yeah," Zhou Ze nodded. His father-in-law and mother-in-law were indeed oddballs.

His father-in-law had been the director of a hospital and had also run a medical company. Logically speaking, he should have been a complete success, but in some ways, he seemed very feudal and stubborn.

"A woman like that, as long as you tame her, she will willingly devote herself to you, raising children and managing the household," Xu Qinglang said with a look of longing. "I want a woman like that too."

"You already are," Zhou Ze added, twisting the knife.

"Let's talk about your problem; you're going to live with her in the future, right?"

"Probably," Zhou Ze said.

"Then you're definitely going to sleep together, right?" Xu Qinglang stretched out his hand, shook it, and continued, "When I say 'sleep,' I'm using a verb that encompasses many complex actions and special positions, you understand?"

Zhou Ze nodded; he still didn't know what Xu Qinglang meant.

"Okay, so here's your problem: you're using Xu Le's body now. If you really sleep together, doesn't that mean Xu Le is cuckolding you?"

Xu Qinglang narrowed his eyes; at that moment, he smiled very mischievously.

Then,

Zhou Ze fell into deep thought.

"Even your DNA isn't originally yours; it's Xu Le's. In other words, after you go through the extremely complex and rich process of 'sleeping,' the child that's born

isn't really your child; it's Xu Le and Lin Wanqiu's child.

Right?"

Then,

Zhou Ze fell into deep thought again.

Xu Qinglang got more and more excited. Seeing Zhou Ze continue to be silent, he felt an unspeakable sense of joy!

Back when Madam Bai had her people carry an eight-carried sedan chair to pick him up,

it was Zhou Ze who secretly pointed at him,

He had that score written down in his little notebook!

Zhou Ze took a sip of water, remaining calm and collected.

"Do you feel very worried and lost?" Xu Qinglang asked.

"I'm the one enjoying it," Zhou Ze replied.

Xu Qinglang frowned and continued, "But this body is Xu Le's; when you sleep with her, it's Xu Le's body."

"I'm the one enjoying it."

"But the child's DNA..."

"I'm the one enjoying it."

Xu Qinglang slammed his hands on the counter and scolded:

"Damn it, you can't be so open-minded about this!"

"Anyway, I'm the one enjoying it. That guy Xu Le has long since gone to hell, and who knows where he is now? He's probably already drunk Meng Po's soup and been reincarnated. Why should I care about that?

I'm the one enjoying it, that's all that matters."

Xu Qinglang's chest rose and fell with anger. He didn't know why he was angry,

but he was just so angry!

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore; if we keep talking, it'll turn into a debate about mental and physical issues, and we'll almost reach the height of philosophy," Zhou Ze said, indicating that they should end this somewhat boring discussion.

"Whatever makes you happy," Xu Qinglang said resentfully.

"By the way, I need to ask you something," Zhou Ze said, thinking of something else.

"What?"

"Do you know any other ghost messengers?" Zhou Ze asked.

"I was living with the souls of my parents before; would I dare to get to know any ghost messengers?" Xu Qinglang retorted.

"Alright, I understand."

It seemed he would still have to find time to go to the Confucian Temple and take a look. The dwarfish old man he had seen banging the gong last time should also be someone with official status.

"What exactly do you want to ask?" Xu Qinglang asked.

"I want to ask if ghost messengers have any kind of performance reports or anything like that, things related to promotions, raises, and benefits."

"They should... have something like that, right?" Xu Qinglang pondered for a moment and said, "Look at someone like Madam Bai; she was able to accumulate merit and return to hell from the mortal realm to seek an official position. You should have something similar.

Didn't that little loli tell you?"

Zhou Ze shook his head.

"I also think your becoming a ghost messenger was a little too easy. I'm guessing that she might have some other serious matter to deal with, so she temporarily left you in charge of this task."

"You mean, I'm really just a temporary worker?"

"Heh, once she's finished dealing with her matter, you'll probably have to move out. If she's in a good mood, she'll turn a blind eye to you, but if she's in a bad mood, she might just drag you back to hell."

"What exactly is she going to deal with?" Zhou Ze muttered to himself.

Immediately afterward, the image of the young man drinking porridge in the old Taoist's livestream flashed through Zhou Ze's mind.

Rong City,

a underworld shop?

Recalling the little loli's reaction when he mentioned Rong City,

it seemed,

it was really possible.

But no matter what, he couldn't easily give back his status as a temporary worker; being a person without status wasn't comfortable.

Xu Qinglang returned to his own shop, saying "Happy Lantern Festival" to Zhou Ze as he left.

Zhou Ze was also packing up, instructing Bai Yingying to go out and buy him some cigarettes and some yuanzi (sweet rice balls). He had to change his plans and go to the Confucian Temple tonight to chat with the dwarfish old man.

Just then, the bookstore door was pushed open, and a man wearing a white down jacket walked in.

"Brother Le! I'm here to pick up my dad from the hospital."

Zhou Ze was stunned for a moment and began to think, guessing the man's identity. He should be his uncle's son, younger than him, and probably a cousin of Xu Le.

Xu Dachuan had come to the city to see him last time and had a minor fracture in a car accident when he left. Zhou Ze had gone to see him once afterward, and Doctor Lin had paid for the medical expenses, so he hadn't paid much attention to it after that.

"Hello," Zhou Ze responded somewhat coldly.

"Brother Le, I'm a little short on cash lately. You see, my dad's fall means he'll have to rest at home for at least two months, and he can't go out to work and earn money."

The cousin smiled at Zhou Ze.

"I already gave Uncle some money for nutrition," Zhou Ze had given some; Xu Dachuan refused to accept it, but Zhou Ze had secretly stuffed it into his clothes.

"Hey, Brother Le, I've gotten a new girlfriend recently, so I'm a little tight on money. Bro, help out your little brother, please." The cousin was directly asking for money.

"Business isn't good here either," Zhou Ze didn't plan to give him any.

"Brother, you're not being very generous," the cousin said unhappily. "I was the one who found someone to help you out with that matter last time."

"What matter?"

"Brother, that's not right, is it? You're not acknowledging me after I helped you out? Let me tell you, I'm not shamelessly asking you for money. Have I ever come to you asking for money in the past six months?

Last time, that driver guaranteed he wouldn't say a word, and besides, he's already been locked up for six months, and he'll be out in another six months or so. He'd be stupid to reveal it, right? He's definitely got a tight mouth, otherwise, it would go from reckless driving to intentional homicide.

I'm really short on cash this time, bro. Just help me out with a thousand or two, and I'll pay you back when I have money, okay?"

Zhou Ze picked up the teacup on the counter. Hearing this, he suddenly frowned slightly and said:

"What exactly are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Brother, are you planning to kick me to the curb after I've served my purpose?

Half a year ago, you asked me to contact a truck driver and pay him to intentionally kill that doctor,

you can't forget my contribution..."

"Crack..."

The glass cup in Zhou Ze's hand

was directly crushed.