Chapter 1 The Wife

The woman gave her business card, set a time, and provided an address, indicating that she wanted Zhou Ze to visit her home at noon the next day.

As soon as the woman left, Bai Yingying stood next to Zhou Ze, timidly saying:

"Boss, can I ask Lao Dao to watch the store tomorrow? I'll go with you."

"Oh? What's wrong?"

"Look at you, Boss, you're still injured. Lao Dao's skills are okay against ordinary people, but against ghosts, all he can do is grab his crotch. It's not safe to bring him. Just take me."

"............" Sweeping-the-floor Lao Dao.

"Okay." Zhou Ze nodded in agreement. In fact, from the last time Bai Yingying soloed and completely defeated that corpse spirit, Bai Yingying's combat power was actually very strong.

"It's okay, you know that the Boss has problems in that area, what are you worried about?

Although a million for one night with a woman is indeed too expensive, it's really not a loss for that kind of beauty. Look, even this Boss has given up."

Lao Dao finished mopping the floor, wiped his sweat, and comforted Bai Yingying.

Although Lao Dao wasn't married, he'd seen pigs run even if he hadn't eaten pork.

"Lao Dao." Zhou Ze called out, holding his coffee.

"Here, Boss, what's up?"

"The floor's dirty."

"Dirty? Impossible, I just mopped it!"

"Oh."

Zhou Ze tilted the coffee cup in his hand slightly, and the coffee inside spilled out, splattering on the floor.

"Now it's dirty. Mop it again."

"............" Lao Dao.

In the second half of the night, Zhou Ze went up to rest. Xu Qinglang didn't return until almost morning, completely drunk. After returning to the bookstore, he went straight to his room on the second floor.

When Zhou Ze woke up the next morning, Xu Qinglang hadn't come out of his room yet.

"Where is he?"

Zhou Ze looked at the take-out breakfast in front of him, and it was obvious that the cook was absent.

"He got drunk yesterday and hasn't gotten up yet. He smelled like alcohol when he came back," Lao Dao explained.

Zhou Ze nodded and didn't say anything more.

After eating breakfast and changing into casual clothes, Zhou Ze turned his head and called out to Bai Yingying:

"Bring me my crutch."

Bai Yingying and Lao Dao were arguing about something behind the counter. When they heard Zhou Ze calling her, she immediately grabbed the crutch and ran over, then desperately winked at Lao Dao.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Nothing, I just told Lao Dao to remember to wake up Lao Xu in the evening to cook. Boss, you're still recovering from your injuries, and eating take-out isn't nutritious."

"It's okay."

Leaning on his crutch, with Bai Yingying's support, Zhou Ze walked out of the bookstore and took a taxi.

Standing behind the counter, Lao Dao scratched his head helplessly and reached out to pull out an electric wheelchair.

In order to flatter the Boss, he had immediately ordered this electric wheelchair after the Boss's rampage in Yancheng last time, and he was thinking of giving it to the Boss as a surprise gift.

Who knew that the female zombie insisted on not letting him give it away, saying that he might die if he did.

Oh dear,

This female zombie is getting more and more jealous now. I'm a man, could I possibly compete with you for affection?

She even dared to threaten me with death.

Thinking this, Lao Dao helplessly pressed a button on the wheelchair.

The wheelchair began to play music:

"Wooo wooo wooo... Little Erlang, carrying a schoolbag to school..."

While playing music, the wheelchair also automatically started and spun in place.

Very cheerful, very cheerful.

"I'll give it to the Boss when he comes back tonight."

............

Arriving at the address by taxi, Zhou Ze was a little surprised to see that it wasn't a mansion, but a rural house built in the countryside.

Three stories high, with its own courtyard wall. Although this kind of house is spacious and free to live in, it's actually not that expensive. At least compared to the woman's casual wave of a credit card with a million on it, living here seemed a little out of place.

He rang the doorbell.

A woman in home clothes and an apron walked out and opened the door. Only then did Zhou Ze realize that this woman, who looked even more like a virtuous wife than a virtuous wife, was the one who came to his bookstore yesterday.

Clothes make the man, the saddle makes the horse. The woman now looked, at least in terms of temperament, completely different from yesterday.

"Please come in."

The woman lowered her head slightly, signaling Zhou Ze and Bai Yingying to come in, then closed the door.

"After my husband fell ill, he insisted on living here. This used to be his old home, and it had always been a family ancestral home. No one had lived here for decades. It was renovated and rebuilt a few years ago."

Zhou Ze nodded and walked into the hall at the same time. The layout of the hall was also very ordinary, just like an ordinary family's home. A statue of a god was hung on the south wall, and Zhou Ze didn't recognize who it was.

Then there were candles, and another table.

"My husband is on the second floor, please come with me."

The woman lowered her eyebrows and was very obedient, as if this was her image at home, a perfect housewife.

Bai Yingying kept staring at her. Although she had confidence in the Boss,

But,

Heh, men!

Walking up the stairs to the second floor, as soon as they pushed open the door to the balcony, Zhou Ze saw that the balcony aisle was covered with talismans of all kinds.

Bai Yingying subconsciously took a step back. Zhou Ze shook his head, signaling her not to be afraid.

These talismans were all for show.

Walking inside, the door of the second room was pushed open. Zhou Ze saw that the room had a tatami layout. An old man with white hair and only skin and bones was sitting there, muttering to himself, as if he was chatting and talking to someone.

Zhou Ze also noticed that from the entrance, or rather, from the road outside the door, all the way to every corner of the house, there were surveillance videos.

Probably even the bathroom was the same.

So, in this place, the woman had to keep pretending. The old man must have had a backup plan for his inheritance. Rich people aren't too stupid.

Zhou Ze sat down next to the old man, reached out, picked up a glass of red wine on the side, poured a glass, and took a sip.

Not bad taste, he's a man who knows how to enjoy himself.

The old man should have been "playing" with his great-granddaughter and great-grandson, constantly making fun of children and telling them stories.

Zhou Ze leaned to the side and listened. From what he could see, the old man should have a mental problem, because Zhou Ze didn't see any ghosts in this room.

Bai Yingying stood at the door, and after a while, she felt a little bored again, so she walked to the balcony and looked at the rural scenery outside.

The woman brought some snacks and walked over, handing them to Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze shook his head, indicating that he didn't need them, then clapped his hands and called out:

"Old man, is this your great-grandson?"

"Ah?" The old man's eyes were a little cloudy, but in this cloudiness, there was a strange excitement.

The woman had said before that her husband was already bedridden, just waiting for him to die so she could receive the inheritance. Now, the old man was sometimes crazy, sometimes completely normal, but his spirits were getting better every day, able to eat, move, and get out of bed. If it was a final flash of brilliance, wasn't it a little too long?

"Yes, my great-grandson. Come, Junjun, call this uncle."

The old man signaled the "great-grandson" in front of him to come over.

"Hey, that's a good boy."

Zhou Ze praised, even though he didn't see a single hair.

Next,

It was Boss Zhou's time to chat with the old man. The old man talked about his business, telling how he had started from scratch in middle age, and then how he had made his family's life better.

Zhou Ze didn't do too much research at first, but later he learned that the old man's ancestral home was in Tongcheng, but he had smuggled to Southeast Asia when he was young, where he made his fortune. After the reform and opening up, he returned, cut off his previous smuggling business, laundered his identity, and became an overseas Chinese investor.

Seriously, this old man was a bit of a legend, and his rags-to-riches story could be written into an inspirational chicken soup autobiography.

Zhou Ze listened with great interest. The old man also asked his great-granddaughter and great-grandson to perform ancient poetry recitations and songs. Zhou Ze still didn't see a single hair, but he still clapped and cheered.

The whole process was a bit like those young idols filming movies with green screens. The stunt doubles acted there, and then they pasted their faces on in post-production.

While they were chatting, the woman came again.

"Husband, Mr. Zhou, lunch is ready. You can eat now."

Hearing this, the old man lost his previous amiability all at once, and his whole person became fierce. This fierceness looked a bit like being tough on the inside but weak on the outside. In short, he roared with great fear:

"They're all downstairs, they're all downstairs. I'm not going, I'm not going. They're all downstairs waiting for me!"

The old man shouted and curled up on the tatami, looking like a scared baby.

The woman was a little helpless and looked at Zhou Ze, signaling that Zhou Ze could come down to eat.

Zhou Ze got up and said goodbye to the old man.

Just as he was about to leave, the old man grabbed his hand.

The old man said very seriously: "Don't go down, they're downstairs, they're downstairs. They were sent back by the Dragon King of the Sea. They'll eat you. Really, if you go down, you'll lose your life!"

"Okay, don't worry, I'm Sun Wukong, sent to return the Golden Cudgel. Don't worry."

Zhou Ze reached out and patted the old man's shoulder, and took the opportunity to escape while the old man was chewing on his words.

The three of them walked from the balcony to the staircase together.

The woman asked in a low voice, "Is there a way to treat him?"

Zhou Ze shook his head and said, "Let Wang Ke take a look. This old man probably has psychological problems or a rare type of Alzheimer's. There are no ghosts around him."

"Then the deposit doesn't need to be returned. Let's have lunch before you leave. I'm better at French and Japanese cuisine. My Chinese cuisine is only so-so."

If there were ghosts, Zhou Ze would have seen them.

It was a pity that this deal couldn't be done.

"Come back! Come back!"

The old man suddenly stood at the door of the room and shouted.

Zhou Ze looked back and continued to walk downstairs with the woman.

"Then the deposit doesn't need to be returned. Let's have lunch before you leave. I'm better at French and Japanese cuisine. My Chinese cuisine is only so-so." The woman said modestly.

Going down the stairs, they arrived at the hall. To be honest, Zhou Ze really wanted to try the woman's cooking.

That's why being able to marry into a wealthy family and achieve the accomplishment of an old husband and young wife requires some real skills. This path is not easy to take.

If you want to lie in your dorm bed and watch TV while fantasizing, then you'll basically only ever be fantasizing.

But,

When Zhou Ze turned into the living room,

He was stunned.

Bai Yingying behind him was also stunned.

Around the table in the hall,

Was full of people.

Old and young, male and female, four generations under one roof.

Their family was sitting there neatly,

Everyone was staring at the rice bowl in front of them, and a pair of chopsticks was stuck upside down in each bowl.

At the same time,

Everyone on them was soaked through,

Water droplets were constantly dripping from their chins and the hem of their clothes,

The living room floor was already wet,

As if it had just been mopped.