Chapter 1 A Gathering

The sun was just right, and the streets teemed with people. Tongcheng has always had the custom of temple fairs, which in other places could be called market days.

However, with the development of the times, especially as daily shopping has become more and more convenient, the influence and necessity of temple fairs have been declining year by year, and people's enthusiasm for them is also waning.

But there were many people attending today. A tide of people filled the streets, and a small platform was erected in the middle of the temple fair. It was said that at twelve o'clock noon, a Buddha bone relic from some famous temple outside would be brought in.

In fact, there may not be many true believers, but everyone is willing to join in the fun, and when the relic arrives, they are willing to put their hands together and pray for blessings.

Anyway, it's just a matter of moving your hands and feet, so why not?

Besides, if others pray and I don't, wouldn't I be at a disadvantage? Anyway, there's no admission fee.

"Hey, you guys keep a close eye on things over there! And you, Xiao Wang, Xiao Sun, take the loudspeakers and go over there, pay attention to maintaining order, and absolutely do not allow any trampling incidents to occur, do you hear?"

"Understood, Captain!"

"Understood, Captain!"

"Good, go get busy."

After Old Zhang finished his instructions, he walked to a milk tea shop across the street.

Inside the shop,

Boss Zhou, wearing sunglasses, was leaning back in his chair, not knowing whether he was observing the situation outside or dozing off. Old Zhang thought the latter was more likely.

His own boss never sat when he could lie down, and never stood when he could sit.

Lawyer An was there with his own Super Cup,

asking the people in the milk tea shop for some ice to add to it,

raising the Super Cup from time to time,

*glug glug glug…*

+1+1+1+1+1 (imagine the sound of Mario jumping for gold coins)

Old Zhang found an empty seat and sat down. The shop had air conditioning, which was indeed more comfortable than outside.

Lawyer An put down his cup, looked at Old Zhang, and asked,

"Where's your ancestor?"

Didn't that sound like cursing someone?

But Old Zhang had no choice. It was like the boss eating rice mixed with cremated remains; ordinary people would never encounter such a thing.

"I don't know." Old Zhang shook his head and guessed, "Gone to the fair?"

Lawyer An curled his lip. In fact, he was a little dissatisfied with today's arrangement.

He had arranged for everyone in the bookstore to run around outside for several days, with almost no results, but Old Zhang had come up with this method. If Old Zhang really caught that thing this time,

wouldn't it make him look stupid?

Don't look at Old Zhang's self-righteous, upright, and unyielding appearance,

such people are often more awesome at boosting their superior's favor,

and the superior happens to enjoy that.

Lawyer An, feeling that his position as the number one white glove, number one lackey, and number one strategist was beginning to loosen,

was now a little anxious, and the more anxious he was, the more he habitually wanted to rely on large gulps of coffee to relieve it.

Unconsciously,

he raised his cup again

and took a big swig.

"Yo, drowning your sorrows in coffee?"

The little boy pushed open the door and walked in.

Lawyer An glared at the little boy.

"Actually, it's not a big deal whether that guy is caught or not. In recent years, some rules have been relaxed, and everyone can feel it.

Even the Earth Gods are starting to grow again in the fields. Isn't it only natural that some other things want to come out and breathe some air?

It's probably just to collect some incense and reshape a dharma body."

Hearing these words,

Zhou Ze, who had been motionless while leaning back in his chair, took off his sunglasses and looked at the little boy.

The little boy's expression didn't change as he continued, "Of course, incense isn't anything precious, and most people don't really need it.

But honestly, take a look at whose territory Tongcheng is.

If you're passing by, you have to say hello to the owner, right?

If you're thirsty, you have to ask nicely and beg the owner for a few bowls of water, right?

How can you just sneak into someone's house and cause trouble without saying a word? That kind of person really needs to be taught a lesson!"

Lawyer An chuckled and looked at Old Zhang, saying,

"Look at your ancestor, so old and still transforming."

Life is not easy, life is not easy.

"Is everything arranged?"

Zhou Ze didn't want his subordinates to continue bickering.

"It's arranged." Old Zhang nodded.

"I invited the people, I did the publicity, and I even applied to the town government." Lawyer An also took this opportunity to show his contributions.

"How did you apply?" Old Zhang asked.

"For promoting local folk culture, of course. I also found some reporters I knew from my days at the law firm and said we wanted to do some recording and interviews. It went straight through."

"I'm still very curious, the relic is…"

Before Old Zhang could finish his question, Lawyer An answered directly,

"The monks were hired, and the relics in the box are just old-fashioned glass balls. Do you know how much it costs to have a relic tour around?"

Hearing this, Old Zhang nodded.

"Then let's not waste any more time here. Old Zhang, settle the bill, and then everyone spread out. Whoever finds it first, don't act rashly. They're very alert."

"Okay."

"Alright."

Lawyer An and the little boy went out.

After Old Zhang paid the bill, he found Zhou Ze waiting for him, and he was a little surprised, saying,

"Boss, should I go out and take another look?"

"No need. Do you see the residential balcony on the third floor above that platform over there?"

"I see it."

"I had Lawyer An rent that house for me for a day. You just go up there and wait for a while."

"Wait on the balcony?"

"Yes, just on the balcony. Don't go inside."

Zhou Ze still remembered what happened a few days ago when Old Zhang and the old Taoist were outside the Confucian temple. Those two clearly had a great attraction to that thing's clone.

As for why he didn't bring the old Taoist this time, even though the old Taoist wanted to join in the fun, Zhou Ze didn't allow it. The reason was right there. What if another clone was attracted and attracted to the old Taoist, and then it exploded directly? Then what the hell were they going to do?

God knows how many clones that thing has. He didn't have much patience or energy to play cat and mouse with it.

And so, everything was arranged. Zhou Ze walked around the temple fair alone for another half an hour.

He still remembered when he was in elementary school, the orphanage would wholesale some small commodities during the two annual Tongcheng temple fairs and have the children help sell them.

One was to subsidize the operation of the orphanage, and the other was to allow the children in the orphanage to adapt to society earlier. After all, only a few people in the orphanage, like Zhou Ze and Wang Ke, could get into university by studying. For most people, it was most important to quickly find a way to support themselves after reaching the age of self-reliance.

However, Zhou Ze had just walked halfway around and found that there were quite a few performances, but the "one yuan" and "two yuan" supermarkets that he remembered from back then were basically gone.

Times have changed...

Feeling a bit hot from walking, Zhou Ze bought an ice cream and ate it as he walked. Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure ahead. She was wearing a mask.

Just as Zhou Ze was about to say hello,

he suddenly felt someone quickly approaching him from behind.

Almost instinctively, Zhou Ze quickly turned around and kicked out.

Why not use his hand?

He was holding an ice cream in it.

Fortunately, after seeing who it was, Zhou Ze basically unloaded the force from his foot, but even so…

"Ah!"

Lin Yi was still kicked over by Zhou Ze.

A young, beautiful woman in a short skirt fell very ungracefully onto the mat stall next door and rolled around several times.

"Xu Le!"

The little sister-in-law was very angry.

She was accompanying her sister to the temple fair when she accidentally spotted Xu Le and wanted to give him a surprise, but she was treated like this!

Zhou Ze shrugged and ignored the rampaging little sister-in-law, instead looking specifically at the opposite side.

"Weren't you supposed to be going on a trip?"

"I went out to play for a week and just got back."

Doctor Lin, wearing a mask, walked over.

"What are you doing here?" Zhou Ze asked.

"What else could I be doing? Looking at the relics. I dragged my sister here. I want to see the relics and pray for my sister."

Hearing this,

Zhou Ze frowned slightly,

then,

nodded.

"Xu Le, this is rare. It's really not easy to see you come out once." Lin Yi said.

"Tongcheng is very big."

"But every time I go shopping on South Street, I see you lying on the sofa in the shop, sunbathing."

"Coincidence."

"So many times are all coincidences?"

"Yes."

Zhou Ze smiled. Seeing Lin Yi and Doctor Lin, Zhou Ze's mood also brightened a lot. He joked,

"The lily I recently bought just bloomed."

The little sister-in-law's face turned completely red in an instant!

"You're starting to grow flowers now?" Doctor Lin asked curiously.

"Yes, to cultivate my emotions."

"Something happened at the hospital recently." Doctor Lin said.

"Oh? What's wrong?"

Since Doctor Lin had occupational exposure and was infected with that thing, she basically didn't go to the hospital anymore, and naturally couldn't continue practicing medicine, but she certainly assigned people to manage the hospital.

"There's a patient who's preaching in the ward, attracting a lot of other patients. I had someone arrange for him to be transferred."

"Oh?"

"The problem is that quite a few people believe him, and I'm afraid something will happen."

"Yes, that does require caution."

"Hey, look, the car is here! Wow, so many monks! Is the relic in the car?"

In front of them, a modified van slowly drove into the area, surrounded by a group of monks with their hands clasped together, chanting scriptures.

Lawyer An really spent some money.

Boss Zhou subconsciously touched the tip of his nose.

Fortunately, it wasn't charged to the company account.

The little sister-in-law immediately put her hands together and started praying to the van, then saw Zhou Ze still standing there blankly and poked him.

Zhou Ze nodded,

and very seriously followed suit, clasping his hands together.

After a long while,

"Xu Le, have you seen a relic before?" the little sister-in-law asked.

"Eat more whole grains every day and drink more mineral spring water."

"What does that mean?"

"When you die, you'll probably be able to burn out a relic."

Lawyer An,

will probably be able to burn out quite a few.