Chapter 1 A Walk at Night

Leaving the villa area, Zhou Ze didn't rush to take a taxi. Instead, he decided to walk alone on the road at night.

Wang Ke said that his side wasn't a big problem, and he only needed to cut off Xu Le's former network of relationships. Of course, now it was already equivalent to cutting it off.

The way he treated Doctor Lin, he figured Doctor Lin wouldn't pay attention to him for a while. As for his father-in-law and mother-in-law's house, he hadn't been back for several days.

The only difficult thing might be his Late Night Bookstore. After all, the money to open the bookstore was given by his in-laws.

Let's just leave it at that for now. He needed to calm down during this time too.

There was an overpass ahead. Zhou Ze walked up and sat down on one of the steps, taking out his phone and casually swiping through it.

By chance, Zhou Ze opened that live streaming app. Xu Le had followed many game and beauty streamers when he was alive, but Zhou Ze wasn't very interested in them. Scrolling down, Zhou Ze saw that the old Daoist streamer he had watched last time still hadn't started broadcasting.

It’s been so long since he last streamed, he probably won't stream anymore.

The streaming industry seems easy, making money sitting at home, but the pressure is also great. Not to mention not streaming for a month or two, even not streaming for a few days can make you yesterday's news.

But just then, Zhou Ze found an unread message in his account. He opened it and found that it was a private message from the old Daoist, sent the day before yesterday.

"This humble Daoist has come to Tong City, dear. Want to hang out?"

Attached below was the old Daoist's phone number.

Zhou Ze frowned slightly. The old Daoist had many small loving emoticons besides the message. Then Zhou Ze flipped through the information profile of Xu Le's account.

Female account.

And the address was Tong City.

Xu Le should have tried live streaming before, so there was his own live broadcast room, but the popularity was very dismal.

Zhou Ze finally understood where this strange feeling came from. The old Daoist's message clearly implied the intention of sleeping with fans (cao fen). Because of some things, he came to Tong City, looked for his fans in Tong City, casting a wide net, trying to hook one.

Zhou Ze wasn't interested in this old Daoist. What he was interested in was the young man who had appeared in the old Daoist's video, the one who had difficulty drinking porridge.

However, Zhou Ze still replied with a message, with his own number.

Standing up and stretching, Zhou Ze was ready to leave. He missed his freezer a bit.

However, the phone rang at this moment.

Picking up the phone, the caller ID showed a Rong City number.

Zhou Ze answered the phone.

"Hello, benefactor, where are you!"

The old Daoist's voice was very loud, like he was yelling into the phone's speaker. There seemed to be the sound of a train around him.

"Where are you?" Zhou Ze asked.

Was that old Daoist very free? Didn't he have a lot of fans? Why did he reply to his messages so quickly every time?

Could it be that the label of "female fan" was really so attractive?

"Huh..." The old Daoist was startled. He was silent for a while, not expecting that the fan he was planning to meet was actually a man!

A big... dick cute girl!

Sad,

Disappointed,

Despondent!

But the old Daoist immediately changed his tone, crying and shouting hoarsely:

"Big brother, I'm hungry! Please give me three or five bottles, just to have something to eat!"

………………

Taking a taxi, Zhou Ze found the old Daoist at a bump under a railway bridge. The old Daoist was wearing a dirty Daoist robe, his hair was disheveled, and there were some bruises on his face, looking like a complete refugee. He had been lying on a plastic sheet below.

There was a "Longtan Home Cooking" restaurant on the nearby street. Zhou Ze ordered him two bowls of noodles and stir-fried Kung Pao Chicken and a plate of small miscellaneous fish. The old Daoist ate voraciously.

"Brother, you're really kind!" The old Daoist ate a bowl of noodles and finally began to slow down. Then he told the boss to warm up a pot of yellow wine, and then smiled apologetically at Zhou Ze. He didn't have much money in his pocket, so Zhou Ze would definitely pay for the meal in the end.

"How did you end up like this?" Zhou Ze had a glass of water in front of him. He didn't touch any of the dishes on the table.

"Alas, don't mention it." The old Daoist drank a mouthful of noodle soup, smacked his lips, "I've had bad luck recently. I was originally following a crew to Tong City for location shooting."

"Changed careers?"

"Sort of, I don't want to stream for now." The old Daoist sighed, "People, you always have to have some dreams, right?"

"That's true." Zhou Ze nodded.

"This humble Daoist's dream in the future is to be able to star in a *Mr. Vampire* movie, whether it's three, four, five, or six, seven, eight." Speaking of his dream, the old Daoist's whole temperament seemed to have changed slightly.

"Ended up like this in the crew?" Zhou Ze asked curiously.

"Hehe, I was originally a minor character in the crew, but who knew fate would play tricks on me."

The wine came up.

The old Daoist poured a cup for Zhou Ze first, then filled his own, and then took a small sip, narrowing his eyes:

"Tsk tsk tsk, very beautiful, very beautiful."

Zhou Ze picked up his white water and took another sip.

"The assistant director was not a good person. He wanted to sleep with a young actress. That girl probably wasn't even eighteen years old. Alas, the girl cried, unwilling;

This humble Daoist happened to see it, and went up and beat up that assistant director."

The old Daoist reached out and patted his chest, saying:

"Making money is making money, becoming famous is becoming famous, but no matter what we do, we can't go against our conscience, right?

Brother, you tell me, is that the right thing to do?"

"Yeah." Zhou Ze responded, "So you were fired?"

"No, he didn't dare to use this to make a big deal out of it." The old Daoist grinned and continued to smile, "This humble Daoist beat him, and many people knew about it. He didn't dare to deal with me like that, otherwise his own reputation would be completely ruined."

"And then?"

"Then, then the young actress who was saved by me that night took the initiative to walk into the assistant director's room the next night, and didn't come out all night."

The old Daoist was a little emotional when he said these words, "They are all poor people, all people who are not easy to get by."

"And then?"

"And then that young actress said that I took advantage of her, molested her. The assistant director didn't come forward, and the big director kicked me out of the crew." The old Daoist was still smiling, but there was some bitterness in his smile.

"Let's drink." Zhou Ze said.

"Come, let's have one!" The old Daoist raised his glass. Seeing that Zhou Ze was holding white water, he immediately said, "Are you looking down on your brother? Let's have a glass of wine. Today, your brother is down on his luck, and I'm grateful for your care. We'll meet again someday. One day when your brother has money, he will take care of you in return."

Zhou Ze shook his head, "I'm allergic to alcohol."

"Then that's okay, let's replace it with tea!"

The two touched glasses, and the old Daoist drank it all in one gulp.

The grievances, frustrations, indignation, and inequalities of life,

All in one glass of wine.

"You're out of money?" Zhou Ze asked. Actually, this question didn't need to be asked.

"Yeah." After the old Daoist said that, he looked expectant, hoping that Zhou Ze would lend him some money. He had some money left before, but it was all donated at the beginning of the month. However, now that his job had been terminated again, he suddenly became short of money.

"Oh." Zhou Ze nodded.

"…………" The old Daoist suddenly felt a little familiar with the way this person was talking.

Damn,

You say "Oh,"

Why did you ask me if I had money?

Zhou Ze got up, paid the bill, and then prepared to leave. He treated the old Daoist to a meal purely because Zhou Ze was a little bored tonight and wanted to find someone to talk to.

He could have gone back to find Xu Qinglang, but Xu Qinglang closed early tonight. The rolling shutter door was pulled down, so he couldn't be found.

Now, he was tired and wanted to go back to rest.

"Brother, you run a bookstore?" The old Daoist asked.

"Yeah."

"Running a bookstore doesn't make money, right?" The old Daoist spread out his palms, pinching his fingertips, as if he was calculating.

"Yeah."

"This humble Daoist thinks that opening a ghost item shop (ming dian) actually makes more money." Seeing that Zhou Ze didn't seem very interested in his "calculation," the old Daoist thought that this person in front of him was born under the red flag and didn't believe in feudal superstition at all, so the old Daoist gave up his thoughts.

"A ghost item shop?" Zhou Ze shook his head, "I don't want to open one."

He himself was a ghost, why would he open a ghost item shop?

"To be honest, this humble Daoist used to run a ghost item shop in Rong City." The old Daoist took out a stack of money from his pocket, it was hell money (ming chao). "Brother, thank you for the meal today. I don't have anything good to give you. Take this stack of hell money first. Don't rush to scold me. Of course, this money can't be spent, but it has yin virtue on it. Just carry it with you, don't be afraid of bad luck, it can bring you some good luck."

Zhou Ze didn't reach out to take the money.

Who would be stupid enough to take a stack of hell money and put it on their body?

"Brother, don't disbelieve." Seeing that Zhou Ze didn't want it, the old Daoist became a little anxious. He directly rolled up his Daoist robe and pointed to the wound on the right side of his chest, saying: "It was a stack of hell money that saved my life back then."

"Okay, okay, I'll take it."

Zhou Ze was too lazy to watch a big man expose his chest in front of him, so he had to reach out and take the hell money.

"I remember seeing someone in your video, in the ghost item shop, that person, has difficulty drinking porridge." Zhou Ze asked.

"Oh, him, he's an employee I hired, lazy as hell, only knows how to bask in the sun all day, doesn't do anything. I scold him every day, saying it's not okay for you to be so lazy, you're so young."

"Oh, does he have anorexia?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Sort of." Speaking of that person, the old Daoist was a little disappointed, "Why, is he very handsome?"

"No, I just feel a little kinship."

"Kinship my ass." The old Daoist seemed to have heard a funny joke.

You feel kinship with a ghost, could it be that you are also a ghost?

Hahahaha,

This humble Daoist is dying of laughter!

The two walked outside the restaurant together. Zhou Ze gave the old Daoist a cigarette. There was a supermarket next door that was still open, with a small fruit stand at the entrance.

"You stand here and don't move, I'll go buy you some oranges." The old Daoist joked with a smile.

"I'll just eat two, you can have the rest." Zhou Ze replied.

"What?" The old Daoist thought that Zhou Ze was a little out of touch and didn't understand his joke. Thinking about it, it was a little boring. This bookstore owner must be a bookworm.

Zhou Ze didn't explain either.

In fact, "I'll go buy some oranges, you just stand here and don't move" is what the father said to his son in Zhu Ziqing's *Back View*.

And what Zhou Ze said was what the grandfather said to his grandson in *Rickshaw Boy*.

Finally, Zhou Ze reached out and patted the old Daoist on the shoulder, "I'm leaving, take care."

The old Daoist was just about to say something,

Suddenly he covered his crotch,

Then a burnt hair smell wafted out,

"My goodness, this humble Daoist is burning to death!"