"What are you talking about!"

Grandma spat, "That's right, I'm not familiar with your dad, nor with your mom."

Zhang Yuanqing cheerfully snatched the mop. "I'll mop the floor, you old folks rest. I heard from Chen Shu that you and Grandpa didn't like my dad."

Back then, when Mom wanted to marry into the countryside, Grandpa and Grandma didn't approve. A Shanghai户口(hukou, household registration) was worth a lot of money, coveted by people all over the country.

The older generation worked hard for decades, and then you marry into the countryside? Future generations will all have rural hukou.

Didn't we work for nothing?

Undutiful daughter, if you dare to marry into the countryside, we'll sever our relationship!

It's probably the same reason why the Queen Mother opposed the Weaver Girl marrying the Cowherd.

Of course, Grandpa and Grandma were fairly open-minded and didn't really draw a Milky Way to separate Zhang Yuanqing's parents. Besides, Mom was strong-willed and fierce. Probably without Grandpa and Grandma taking the initiative, she would slam the table and say:

"You two old thieves, if you say another word, I'll go to court to sever our relationship!"

That's who Chen Shu was.

In short, Grandpa and Grandma didn't like Dad very much. Zhang Yuanqing heard about this from his mother and uncle.

His mother mentioned it casually, but his uncle's account was more vivid. His uncle said: Your dad is always sickly. He looks like his body has been hollowed out. More importantly, he's useless. He can't sing, dance, or rap, and doesn't know how to make the two old folks happy.

Zhang Yuanqing thought at the time, my son is already useless. If my son-in-law is like this too, Grandpa and Grandma will have a heart attack and die any minute. He said on the surface: Yes, yes, yes, Uncle is the most promising. I need to learn rap from Uncle. Uncle, give me some pocket money.

"What Chen Shu, that's your mom!"

Grandma scolded him, then said, "Why are you asking about this?"

"I just want to understand," Zhang Yuanqing mopped diligently, "My dad passed away early."

"My mom was widowed at a young age, she must have been very sad at the time. I've been living in Shanghai all these years, and I hardly interact with relatives from the Zhang family." Grandma said:

"Speaking of which, your mom didn't seem that sad at the time. I was very surprised. I thought she would quickly find someone else, but it's been more than ten years and she hasn't remarried. Oh well, I can't be bothered with her. Her child is so old, whether she gets married or not doesn't matter. I'm just hoping your brother and your aunt can find someone soon."

"Grandma, you're digressing, talk about my dad," Zhang Yuanqing reminded.

"What's there to say?" Grandma muttered:

"Your dad had a good personality, he wouldn't get angry, and could tolerate Chen Shu's strong personality, but he just didn't have any temper, and he was weak. Your grandpa wanted to get him into the system so he could transfer his hukou over here, but he refused, he just wanted to stay in the countryside, farming and doing odd jobs.

"Tell me, what kind of future is that? If he has a son, will he be an old dirt-leg leading a little dirt-leg?"

What's wrong with dirt-legs? Dirt-legs are the masters of society. Grandma, your bourgeois ideas are unacceptable. Besides, if my dad was really a useless person, how could your daughter, with her high standards, have fallen for him?

Zhang Yuanqing complained in his heart, while humming in agreement: "Please continue."

He believed that Dad wasn't broke, but deliberately keeping a low profile.

The reason he didn't go to work was probably because he was busy killing Sovereigns and doing副本(fuben, instances/dungeons), busy saving the world, and also didn't want to attract the attention of official Xingzhe (Lingjing Xingzhe).

"That's all, what else is there to say?"

Grandma urged, "Hurry up and mop the floor, and when you're done, go mop your aunt's room."

"Don't, I haven't finished asking yet. Didn't my dad have any good friends? Close friends that my mom knew too, do you remember any?" Zhang Yuanqing probed. Grandma frowned, thought for a second, then gave up and shook her head:

"I don't know, I wasn't familiar with your dad. It's been more than ten years, who remembers these things. If you don't bring Guan Ya back for dinner, I'll soon forget what she looks like."

Useless Grandma, she's getting old and forgetful. Zhang Yuanqing hummed to himself, but he wasn't willing to give up, so he mopped the floor while thinking.

Soon, he thought of a question:

"Grandma, did you attend my dad's funeral?"

"Of course, even though I wasn't familiar with your dad, I still had to attend the funeral," Grandma rolled her eyes at him. "Did you see a dog at the funeral?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

"What?" Grandma was stunned. "Even if your dad didn't have any friends, he wouldn't be so down on his luck that he would become close friends with a dog, would he?"

"Let me be direct, did you see a curly-haired poodle?" Zhang Yuanqing said.

"Let me think..." Grandma tilted her head and thought for a long time, then suddenly looked surprised:

"Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing a dog at the funeral. It stayed at your dad's funeral for a long time, and even stood up and bowed a few times, it seemed."

"I thought it was very interesting at the time, and wondered which friend's dog it was, it was so well-trained. I can't remember if you ask me about people, but I do remember the dog."

Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath and repeated to confirm, "Was it a curly-haired poodle?" "I'm not too sure, it seemed like it was," Grandma said.

Zhang Yuanqing leaned on the mop, standing still, speechless and expressionless for a long time.

Damn, Elder Dog really knew my dad. If that's the case, the reason he ended up at the zoo was likely a gift or transaction from my father, rather than the despicable schemes I had guessed.

He knows my dad's real identity, not just his Lingjing ID, so he must also know that I'm Zhang Zizhen's son, unless he hasn't seen my file information.

But that's impossible, because Elder Dog is directly under Fu Qingyang, and Fu Qingyang is directly under the Section Chief, so he has permission to view my information.

I suddenly realized that Elder Dog actually takes a little more care of me than usual. The first time we met, I rubbed his dog head, and he didn't even get angry. Usually when we interact, he doesn't have the majesty and airs of an elder, while the other elders in Shanghai don't give me a friendly feeling.

I always thought that Elder Dog was particularly gentle and easy to talk to me because I, this Heavenly Venerate, was outstanding, just like teachers taking care of top students when I was in school.

Now it seems that there's another reason behind it. What's his relationship with my dad?

For my dad to tell him his real identity, their relationship must be extraordinary.

Zhang Yuanqing almost couldn't resist the urge to call and ask Elder Dog. But he felt that everything was just his own speculation, without any evidence to support it, and it would be unwise to rashly mention Zhang Zizhen.

Just then, the防盗门(fangdao men, security door) made a "beep" sound as the password was entered, and Auntie came back, humming a little tune and skipping, carrying a delicate little box.

"Hi, Dogzi!" Auntie skipped past her nephew and patted his head in a good mood.

"There's another one here, you should say something to her too," Zhang Yuanqing pointed at Grandma, signaling Jiang Yuer to spread the love evenly. Jiang Yuer saw through her nephew's clumsy scheme and didn't fall for it, skipping into the house.

"Are you going shopping this afternoon?" Zhang Yuanqing said.

Jiang Yuer peeked her head out in surprise, "How do you know I'm going shopping?"

"You just got a new set of cosmetics, with your narcissistic personality, you're definitely going to put on makeup and show it off," Zhang Yuanqing scoffed. Jiang Yuer wrinkled her nose at him, retracted her head, and slammed the door shut.

Zhang Yuanqing went into the bathroom, washed his face, and glanced at his face in the mirror with his Star Eyes.

"Oh, my Marriage Palace is bright and sparkling, there will be good social opportunities in the near future, it seems today is a good day to go out," Zhang Yuanqing was a little surprised.

At the same time, he was a little disappointed, because the Marriage Palace was bright and clear, indicating a good social opportunity, but not a dense, ambiguous soft light. So, it probably has nothing to do with romantic relationships. If it were the latter, Zhang Yuanqing would head straight to the hotel to find Guan Ya without saying a word.

Jiuguang Shopping Mall.

In a clothing store, the ragged King of Fear covered his mouth and coughed violently. "Sir, sir, are you alright?"

A well-dressed shop assistant stepped forward with concern.

To be honest, someone dressed so raggedly wasn't really suitable for entering a high-end luxury store like this.

The cheapest piece of clothing here would cost a small-bourgeois person a month's salary.

The King of Fear coughed to himself, his handsome face lacking color, his lips chapped, and his pupils turbid and dull. Every cough came with a huge tremor, as if he would cough up his lungs at any moment.

"You, you wait a moment, I'll pour you a glass of water."

Seeing that the "guest" seemed to be suffering from great pain, the shop assistant hurriedly ran to the cashier, filled a disposable paper cup with warm water, and ran back on her high heels.

While handing over the warm water, she asked:

"Sir, how are you? You might need to go to the hospital."

As a shop assistant at a world-class luxury store, she had received professional training and had good manners. She wouldn't show a disdainful attitude just because the customer couldn't afford the goods here. Even when facing a beggar, she had to maintain an elegant smile and politeness, this was what the store manager taught.

The King of Fear took the paper cup, drank it all, and walked tremblingly to the soft sofa for guests to rest on, sitting down and hoarsely said, "Give me another cup."

Zoo.

In Shanghai, there are probably three zoos. This zoo, far in the suburbs, has the best online reputation.

Netizens say that the animals in the Shanghai Zoo are particularly spiritual: alpacas that spit at guests; orangutans that throw feces at tourists; African gray parrots that scold "idiot," "grandson"; monkeys that like to expose their genitals to attract female tourists; raccoons that like to dance with tourists, etc.

Moreover, there are many species of animals, very complete.

In addition, the name of this zoo is very unique, it is simply called "Zoo", without any prefix. Therefore, every weekend, the zoo has many tourists, and on holidays, it is even more crowded.

Lion enclosure, in the secret room imprisoning the King of the Magic Eye, Elder Dog stood by the fence, quietly gazing outside the enclosure, at the tourists watching the lions.

From inside the camphor tree behind him came the sigh of the King of the Magic Eye, "Business is really good, you must make a lot of money every month."

Elder Dog retracted his gaze, his round black button eyes looking back, "Does a dignified King of the Magic Eye also care about money?"

"Of course I care, money is a good thing," the King of the Magic Eye's laughter pierced through the curtain-like vines, "But money is also the dirtiest thing. How dirty human nature is, how dirty money is. My misfortune in this life was all caused by it."

"I thought you would say that power is the dirtiest thing in the world, after all, absolute power leads to absolute corruption, and you just happen to hate people who abuse power the most," Elder Dog squatted on the ground, scratching his head with his hind legs.

The King of the Magic Eye laughed, "In my eyes, money and power are the same thing. Money can leverage power, and power can gather money, no difference."

"Are you going to start telling your life tragedy now? I'm looking forward to it," Elder Dog squatted facing the camphor tree.

"You are not qualified to know my story," the King of the Magic Eye said lightly, "The day I'm about to die, I'll tell it, but only to Yuan Shi Tian Zun. He will take over my will and continue to cleanse the world."

After saying that, he also said:

"You've been in the zoo for two days, that's not like you," Elder Dog didn't hide anything, sighing:

"The King of Fear has come to Shanghai, to save you. I need to stay here to take charge of the zoo, and cooperate with the Marshal to ambush and hunt down the King of Fear. However, it seems he can't even get past the Palace Master's level."

"Fear came to Shanghai to save me?" There was doubt in the King of the Magic Eye's tone.

"What's the problem?" Elder Dog frowned.

"Fear is lazy to the bone. He never spends more than an hour handling affairs. When the time is up, he'll put aside even the biggest things, the reason being that he needs to seek freedom. He hates doing things, thinking it's not free enough. I remember he used to chase down the Judge of the Ghost Eye, chased him for an hour, and was about to kill the Ghost Eye, but that guy suddenly gave up and went to seek his freedom."

The King of the Magic Eye said lightly, "He never bothers to deal with one thing. To run all the way from the north to Shanghai, he must be talking about saving me every day, but wandering around every day, doing nothing."

"But he came anyway," Elder Dog said in a deep voice.

"Then he must have another purpose, and one that can make him slightly abandon freedom. You guys need to investigate it thoroughly."

The King of the Magic Eye scoffed, "However, since he's here, he will definitely come to the zoo to save me."

Elder Dog said lightly, "Don't be too happy too soon, the Palace Master has already injured him. If he still dares to come to the zoo, with the two Alliance Leaders taking action, Fear will surely die."

[Yuan Shi Tian Zun: The Palace Master of the Water God Palace seriously injured the King of Fear? That's amazing, no, what a pity, why didn't she kill him.]

[Fu Qingyang: Fear possesses demi-god battle power, and is a war-loving Bewitchment Demon, it's not that easy to kill him. The Palace Master of the Water God Palace alone is not enough, unless the Marshal also takes action.]

[Yuan Shi Tian Zun: Interesting, since the Palace Master can find Fear, then why not bring a group to beat him up? That trash used to break two Rule-class items with one sword, wasn't he awesome, why doesn't he come to Shanghai to kill Fear?]

[Fu Qingyang: In demi-god battles, if it's a matter of life and death, it will inevitably be tragic. Unless it's in the Lingjing, any sealing method will not be able to trap them, the Alliance Leaders don't want to see Shanghai become a living hell.]

[Yuan Shi Tian Zun: I see, I was too shallow, well, boss, remember to delete the chat history (kowtow)]

[Fu Qingyang: Mm!]

I like this kind of serious man, boss. He's upright and steady in his work, unlike the young people nowadays, who are all smiles and jokes, running their mouths, wishing others would die socially. Zhang Yuanqing was extremely touched.

[Yuan Shi Tian Zun: By the way, boss, I got a magical artifact from the Qianhe Group, how can I bring it into the Lingjing?]

Magical artifacts and道具(daoju, items/props) are the same thing, but they are not produced by the Lingjing, so they are not considered Lingjing items and cannot be brought into 副本(fuben, instances/dungeons).

[Fu Qingyang: It's simple, find a refiner to process it and inject Lingjing information. Come to my place this afternoon, I'll find someone to process it for you.]

[Zhang Yuanqing: Thank you, boss (kowtowing like crazy), but, can refiners also process nuclear bombs?]

[Fu Qingyang: Although magical artifacts are not produced by the Lingjing, they contain spiritual power, nuclear bombs don't work.]

[Zhang Yuanqing: Then, what if we replace the shell of the nuclear bomb with Lingjing materials?] Fu Qingyang ignored him.

[Zhang Yuanqing: Doesn't work?]

Fu Qingyang ignored him.

[Zhang Yuanqing: Doesn't work?]

[Fu Qingyang: I'm just a scout, not a search engine.]

Okay, he doesn't know either. Zhang Yuanqing wisely ended the chat and returned to the main chat page. Zhang Yuanqing sent another message to Xiao Yuan:

"Xiao Yuan, I'm going to enter the official gang Lingjing tomorrow, it may take a week. During this time, if you can't contact me, don't panic."

[Magical Aunt Xiao Yuan: Won't contact you.]

[Yuan Shi Tian Zun: Love you!]

Returning to the main chat page again, he sent a message to the Palace Master of Zhisha: "Twelve o'clock tonight, same place, I have something to ask you."

The Palace Master of Zhisha didn't reply.

"Oh, don't play with your phone," Auntie frowned, reaching out angrily to snatch it away, "Come out shopping with me, no phone allowed. Five Emperors Forum"

"I know, I know."

Zhang Yuanqing quickly put away his phone and walked forward with Jiang Yuer, arm in arm. Jiang Yuer looked around, pointed to a clothing store in front, and said, "It's been a long time since I bought you clothes, let's go to that store, this brand is very expensive. Well, I'll choose, you pay. Auntie doesn't have the money to buy you such expensive clothes."

If the ten billion Japanese yen from the Qianhe Group hadn't been mortgaged, Zhang Yuanqing would have said in a tone of "I'll contract the entire fish pond for you": "I'll buy the whole store." But now he only has five or six million savings, and he can't afford to squander it.

Clothing store.

The King of Fear, who was gradually recovering, put on a straight suit and stood in front of a full-length mirror, enjoying the shop assistant's flattery.

It wasn't really flattery, the shop assistant's eyes were full of infatuation, like a man seeing an extremely beautiful woman.

The King of Fear had handsome features, elegant demeanor, and mature temperament. Two silver earrings made him look fashionable and trendy, a cold and handsome man that young women would be infatuated with.

"The clothes are good, give me ten sets," the King of Fear nodded in satisfaction.

When the shop assistant heard this, she became even more infatuated.

At this moment, the King of Fear saw a young couple enter the store through the full-length mirror.