The phone went silent on the other end.

The old Daoist didn't say anything more.

He had made himself very clear.

He was getting on in years, providing for their tuition and living expenses.

And he still had to provide for them to play on their phones and chase girls?

Why didn't they just change their last name to his? Just cut to the chase and recognize him as their ancestor?

Even if it was just to become a eunuch,

That would be fine.

They were going to university in Tongcheng, and he hadn't even seen them come by with a bag of fruit to visit him. Now they were trying to blackmail him like this, did they think he was senile?

If they wanted to jump, then go ahead and jump.

He'd just cook them a nice meal,

And give them a send-off at the bookstore.

Other people could only eat set meals at the bookstore,

But he'd give them VIP treatment with a la carte ordering,

What more could they want?

Go ahead and jump,

Go on and fucking jump.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

The phone was hung up.

Oh.

So they probably hadn't jumped,

He'd never heard of anyone hanging up before jumping off a building.

Letting their phone leap down with them,

And then "splatter,"

The sound of it shattering.

Thinking about it, it was quite a visual.

The old Daoist continued to wipe down Monkey's body. It was all he could do now. If Monkey hadn't been in trouble, he might have gone out to check on that suicidal kid, but with Monkey lying in bed like this, why would he go out? Was he crazy?

"Has little Monkey woken up yet?"

Yingying asked as she walked in.

"No, not yet, the fever hasn't gone down."

"Don't worry, it won't fry his monkey brain."

"..." The old Daoist.

"Keep an eye on him, call if anything changes, the boss is worried about everyone."

The old Daoist nodded, even though Yingying's concern felt very stiffly conveyed.

"How's the boss doing?"

"The boss is okay, he just can't eat anything. I'm going to check on the others."

"Okay, go ahead, I'll watch things here."

Turning back,

The old Daoist looked at Monkey again and grumbled:

"Get up already, don't make me, an old white-haired man, send off a young man before his time..."

"Pfft!"

Yingying hadn't left yet, and she suddenly laughed when she heard that.

"What's wrong?" the old Daoist asked, puzzled.

"Good thing Monkey didn't dye his hair and become a xisha matte (emo punk)."

"Huh?"

"Otherwise you'd be crying, 'Get up already, don't make me, an old white-haired man, send off someone with red-orange-yellow-green-cyan-blue-purple hair before their time...'"

The old Daoist's face immediately turned serious,

And then,

He couldn't hold it in anymore,

"Hahahahahaha!!!!"

Yingying went to check on everyone else. To be honest, the most pitiful ones were Zheng Qiang and his two friends lying in the pharmacy next door, but although they hadn't woken up yet, their physical condition was improving, and it was only a matter of time before they did.

It was just that these ghost soldiers hadn't really helped much after coming here; they had been dealt with directly.

But on second thought, she didn't really have the right to think of them that way, because including herself, it seemed that the only ones who had really contributed to this were the boss and Lao Xu.

Yingying didn't know about the "backbone" role that the old Daoist had played in the whole affair.

In fact,

Even the old Daoist himself didn't know.

After checking everything, Yingying went back to the bedroom. The boss was still leaning against the bed, watching TV.

Yingying didn't usually watch much TV, only occasionally watching with the boss; otherwise, she was either playing games or reading.

Today she decided to find some cookbooks to look at,

She felt that she had a long way to go,

And the revolution had not yet succeeded, so she still needed to work hard.

On the TV, a man was standing in his own home, facing a group of people pointing guns at him.

The man instinctively raised his hands in a gesture of surrender,

But then a voice seemed to ring out in his body:

"Why are you raising your hands?"

"To surrender!"

"Why surrender? It's shameful!"

Then the man's hands kept going up and down,

And then,

The man began to "massacre everyone."

Yingying found this scene a little inexplicable,

But the boss was watching with great interest, laughing despite his injuries.

"Is this movie good?" Yingying asked as she walked over.

"It's quite interesting."

It was quite relatable.

Watching the interaction between the protagonist and Venom in *Venom*,

Zhou Ze could quickly relate it to himself and Tie Hanhan.

"Then I'll find time to watch it from the beginning myself. Boss, do you want coffee?"

"No, thanks."

Civet coffee was expensive, and half of it was wasted when he drank it, which was too wasteful.

Yingying got on the bed and knelt down, leaning against Zhou Ze.

She reached out her finger,

And gently stroked Zhou Ze's chest,

Making circles.

Huh?

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Ze reached out and hugged Yingying.

"Boss, I feel so useless. This time, I couldn't help at all, I could only stand outside and watch.

After that barrier went up, I kept pounding on it, but I just couldn't break it. I could only vaguely hear the sounds of fighting and explosions from inside."

It was right in front of her,

It was really not far away,

But she couldn't help at all,

This feeling of powerlessness,

Really made Yingying feel very down.

"Some things can't be helped. This time, things were a little complicated."

Actually,

Zhou Ze had also thought about it carefully after waking up,

Trying not to miss a single detail,

But he still felt that many things were "like looking at flowers in the fog." It seemed that the development of things was not a straight line, but a curve. Who was pulling the strings here?

Zhou Ze really didn't know.

This feeling,

Seemed very similar to when he and Tie Hanhan were walking on the Naihe Bridge together,

He remembered that Tie Hanhan had said at the time that

Someone would help clear the way,

And then he really walked out of the Naihe Bridge.

And this time,

The old man's behavior clearly seemed like he had already silently pushed down all three lanes' towers,

But then he changed his strategy and started showing off his skills, and then his team was wiped out, and they were pushed back.

Moreover, this time, even without Ying Gou's final stage of awakening, he might not have lost if he had been a little luckier.

It was still that his evil energy was broken by the old man's formation, which caused him to lose most of his ability to act, and in the end he had to rely on a desperate attitude to constantly bite and swallow police officer Chen's blood, hoping to gamble that after absorbing a massive amount of corpse poison last time, Ying Gou was only a little bit away from awakening.

Thinking of this,

Zhou Ze was mostly filled with disappointment.

He had still made some mistakes in his operations, and the old man had seized the opportunity.

"Boss, I feel like I'm really useless, and it's hard for me to help you now."

"I'm already very satisfied with you by my side."

This was the truth, not just a perfunctory remark. Yingying had come to his side not long after he woke up in this life. Perhaps various reasons had contributed to their current relationship, but it had to be said that in Zhou Ze's heart, Yingying's position was very, very important.

People always had to have something to care about, and they always had to find someone to care about, otherwise, life would be so empty and boring.

"Next time, let's do this too. When I tell you not to take action, don't take action, let me solve it in front.

If I can't solve it,

Or,

Or if I get solved,

You have to help me keep living.

We agreed last time to adopt a child from the orphanage, with the last name 'Zhou,' and burn some paper money for me later."

"Actually, Boss, I really thought of that at the time, but I still prefer..."

"Actually, sometimes dying is very simple, but living is not easy. Just let me be selfish, anyway, I've always been selfish, right?"

Yingying thought about it, and didn't seem to understand anything, just kept putting her finger on Zhou Ze's chest and drawing circles.

As she drew,

Yingying noticed two points on her boss's chest,

That had hardened.

Oh.

Interesting.

Continue the attack!

Zhou Ze grabbed Yingying's hand,

And continued:

"Actually, I really don't want to deal with those things, but now I see clearly that no matter how well I hide, I can't escape in the end.

So you have to promise me this, we're not filming a TV series, there's no need to do that whole 'not until the mountains have no peaks and heaven and earth are combined' thing, understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Okay, good girl, say something for me to hear."

"Umm..."

"Say two things for me to hear."

"Um um..."

"Hehe."

"But, Boss, you were really amazing this time. After I saw Xu Niangniang get knocked out, I thought it was all over.

I didn't expect that the boss would turn the tide. Before the barrier disappeared, I really didn't expect such an ending."

"Actually, they were just clowns."

"Yes, that's right, those guys are all insignificant things in front of you.

So, I've always been disgusted by the views of Lawyer An and the others. They always think that your greatest reliance is the ancestor in your body..."

Yingying thought for a moment,

She didn't want to say the word "ancestor,"

But "mistress" didn't seem appropriate either,

So she could only say:

"That guy, they all think you rely on him, but I don't think so. I've always felt that you are the most powerful.

Whether it's that one or that Mount Tai or whatever, they're just playing supporting roles for you."

"That's a very healthy and positive idea, you have to keep it up."

"That's right, look at this time, that one hasn't woken up yet, but you can still become so powerful and solve them all. That's your real ability.

It's just that in the past, you thought, 'Since I've raised a dog, why not let the dog fight, and I can relax,' right?"

Zhou Ze didn't tell Yingying and the others,

About the fact that Ying Gou had awakened,

One was because there was no chance to chat, everyone was either unconscious or injured, and the other was because of Zhou Ze's own selfishness this time. Even when dealing with his closest people, keeping a trump card often gave him more confidence.

And this time, the old man's barrier did indeed hide the fact that Ying Gou had awakened.

"Yes, everything our Yingying says is right."

Zhou Ze reached out and scratched Yingying's nose.

Yingying smiled happily. "That's why I follow you, Boss, because you're the best, and I feel safe with you."

"Yeah."

Lying in bed,

Enjoying his maid's sincere and "unrealistic" flattery, was also a very good enjoyment.

Which of me is more handsome than Xu Gong in the north of the city?

You are much more handsome. How can Xu Gong compare to you?

It sounded very, very good.

Just as the master and servant were being affectionate,

A voice suddenly came from the bottom of Zhou Ze's heart:

"Where...is...your...face..."

——————

It's been two days since I got back from Shanghai. I really wanted to just explode, but Long slowed down for two days. I had to sort out my thoughts, otherwise forcing an explosion would only be to fill words, which is not good.

It's almost midnight now, so let's do this: the explosion will start after midnight.

Please give me monthly tickets.

Our monthly tickets are almost at 100,000.

Long hasn't experienced the feeling of having 100,000 monthly tickets in a month.