Chapter 1 Saying Goodbye to the Old Year

The sound of firecrackers bid farewell to the old year. After midnight, the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers came from all directions, extremely lively and dense. Originally, there were only sparse movements, but at this moment, they formed an overwhelming momentum.

Zhou Ze blew on his fingernails. The noise outside had little to do with him. He had no home. Although he nominally had a "home" now, he didn't want to go back.

Many people have had the thought while alive that if they could be reborn, they would do this and that.

Passionate words, unrestrained writing, regarding powerful people of the past as mere dirt.

But when you truly return from hell, you will suddenly find that your previous pursuits, thoughts, and aspirations are like when a kindergarten teacher asks: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Then the children answer together: Scientists, doctors, astronauts, soldiers...

Dreams are always full of promise.

But reality isn't exactly bony, but a person's enthusiasm is destined to be limited.

Sometimes, just being able to breathe, hear sounds, and sit here to slack off and waste time,

Perhaps, that is true peace and tranquility.

Xu Qinglang still slept in the shop tonight. Zhou Ze heard the sound of him closing the shop door.

He said he had twenty-some apartments, but Zhou Ze knew his parents were in the shop.

A family should be together.

The New Year is naturally more important this year.

Outside, it started to rain, and a little bit of moisture began to seep in, making people feel a little depressed.

Zhou Ze's phone rang. It was his wife calling.

"Hello," Zhou Ze answered the phone.

"Are you asleep?" Doctor Lin asked.

Zhou Ze thought this question was idiotic.

If I were asleep, who would answer your phone?

Could it be a dead person... no, a ghost?

Wait, something seems wrong.

Zhou Ze leaned back slightly in his chair, and the image of Doctor Lin gently poking his chest with her finger, calling him a "dead ghost..." appeared in his mind.

For the first time, he felt that speaking the truth could be so mesmerizing.

Perhaps it was too boring, or maybe it was purely out of idleness,

Zhou Ze found that his thoughts were a little scattered now,

Thinking a bit too much.

"No," Zhou Ze replied.

"Creak..."

Doctor Lin pushed open the shop door and walked in. She was holding a red umbrella, wearing leather pants and a white sweater, with her hair scattered over her shoulders.

Zhou Ze forgot to hang up the phone for a moment.

This woman,

Is indeed beautiful.

Especially her temperament, which always gives you a sense of "life is only as beautiful as the first time you meet," instantly piercing a man's heart.

"Afraid I'd be lonely and cold?" Zhou Ze stood up and poured a glass of water for Doctor Lin.

She is the mistress here.

Well,

To be precise, the money Xu Le used to open this bookstore came from her family.

Doctor Lin took the water and shook her head without saying a word.

The two are married, but in reality, they are like the most familiar strangers, in a more awkward position than close friends.

It's hard to move forward;

It's even harder to take a step back.

"Let's go for a walk," Zhou Ze said. Zhou Ze felt that the room was a bit stuffy, and he couldn't possibly invite Doctor Lin to sleep in his room upstairs.

Even if Doctor Lin had taken the wrong medicine today and planned to offer herself, seeing his freezer upstairs would probably make her immediately call the mental hospital she knew well and send him in for a good rehabilitation.

"It's raining," Doctor Lin said.

"Light rain, it's okay," Zhou Ze waved his hand, relaxed and at ease.

...

"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."

The rain became heavier, and it was very heavy.

Zhou Ze, who hadn't even taken an umbrella before and wanted to experience the "spring rain is as precious as oil," was almost soaked like a drowned rat. Doctor Lin was still holding the umbrella, standing on the side. Zhou Ze refused her suggestion to share the umbrella.

He had to finish acting cool, even with tears in his eyes.

Patting his wet hair, Zhou Ze shivered. He wasn't very afraid of the cold. He was actually very resistant to cold, but the woman next to him, even though she was holding an umbrella and wasn't very wet, was still slightly shivering.

The bus stop could block most of the rain,

But the cold wind that night could still be wanton.

Bourgeois sentiment,

Man and woman together,

Wet body in the rainy night,

Beautiful woman to be pitied,

This should have been a good opportunity for both parties to cultivate their relationship, a good opportunity, and even a possible spark and a mistake in the flower field, but the two were speechless.

Zhou Ze lit a cigarette, and Doctor Lin stood next to him.

One wanted to escape, and the other inherently resisted, so naturally they couldn't go together.

Forced melons are not sweet, and both the melon and the vine are awkward.

Zhou Ze was a little resentful of Xu Le in his heart. If that coward had married and then forced himself on her once, there wouldn't be this mess now. Even if Doctor Lin was a married woman or pregnant with a child, she would probably still be incredibly beautiful, and might even gain some points.

He could have just gone with the flow. Why would he need to be in such a dilemma now?

Of course, this kind of resentment was very unfair to Xu Le. If Zhou Ze had forced himself on her that night, wouldn't Doctor Lin have desperately resisted and shouted "indecent assault"? And then called the police to send Zhou Ze to the Public Security Bureau? Accusing him of rape?

The rain was still falling,

Zhou Ze threw the cigarette butt on the ground,

"Did you drive here?"

"Taxi," Doctor Lin replied.

"I'll take you back."

"Okay."

There was no need to dwell on how this seemingly silly and naive New Year's Eve rainy night road trip started,

At least, the two of them felt that ending it at this time was the most appropriate.

They hailed a ride-hailing car, and Zhou Ze and Doctor Lin got in together.

A quarter of an hour later, they arrived. Zhou Ze accompanied Doctor Lin out of the car. The driver settled the bill and drove away directly.

Home was upstairs, but Zhou Ze and Doctor Lin did not choose to go up directly.

This scene was a bit like junior high school couples walking back to the girl's home downstairs at night. It was time to say goodbye, lingering and affectionate.

But the atmosphere at this time was not as strong as that of naive junior high school students. It was like meat soup without salt and MSG. It didn't taste good, but it was a pity to throw it away.

"Aren't you going up?" Doctor Lin asked.

"I'm not going, let's talk about it after a while, let's deal with our matter."

Doctor Lin understood Zhou Ze's implication and said, "I'm sorry."

Zhou Ze smiled, and then stretched out his hand, intending to pat Doctor Lin on the shoulder, but after putting his hand on it, he suddenly had some impulse and hugged her over.

Doctor Lin's body stiffened slightly, but she didn't resist.

The two got a little closer, but it wasn't a very intimate movement. Compared with the connection between the two, it could be said to be very polite.

She smelled good, and he didn't know which shower gel she used when she took a bath, but overall, it smelled good.

"I've always been curious about one thing, is there someone else in your heart?" Zhou Ze added, "That someone else can refer to a man or a woman."

"Yes," Doctor Lin was very frank, and even answered without hesitation.

Before, her husband had always been timid, which made her feel unbearable.

Now, her husband seemed to have changed, which also made her let go of some baggage.

"Oh," Zhou Ze responded, glancing slightly upward, wanting to see if any particular protective color had appeared on his head.

He was still a little disappointed.

It couldn't be said to be love,

It couldn't be said to be much like,

Even familiarity was barely there,

But she, no matter what, was nominally his woman, but in the end, he was still cuckolded.

Well, as long as it's a man,

No,

As long as it's male,

They shouldn't be too happy in their hearts when they encounter this kind of thing.

"I'm sorry," This was the second time she had said sorry.

Zhou Ze let go, and the two separated slowly.

"Saying sorry is too polite," Zhou Ze leaned against the stone pier next to him and sat down. The rain had lessened, and there was still a small eaves here.

"I'll give you another sum of money, you can open another bookstore," Doctor Lin said, and then said again: "I'm sorry."

Zhou Ze originally wanted to wave his hand generously and say: I don't care about the money.

But thinking about his freezer, thinking about his future life,

Zhou Ze suddenly felt that he couldn't say these words,

What if,

What if,

What if this woman took it seriously, felt that giving money was an insult to him, and really didn't give him any compensation?

"Let's talk in a few days," Zhou Ze shrugged, "How is that guy?"

"He's very handsome, in my opinion," Doctor Lin replied.

It's a man,

Damn,

Another knife,

It would be easier to accept if it were a woman...

Zhou Ze felt that the intensity of photosynthesis on his head seemed to be stronger.

"There's no chance, is there?" Zhou Ze asked a very silly question. He regretted it as soon as he asked it, but he was still comforting himself, I'm asking this for the sake of the pitiful Xu Le.

You've occupied someone else's body, and now his wife is cheating on him, so you have to help ask why, right?

Yeah, that's how it is.

"There's no chance," Doctor Lin replied, still quickly and surely.

This woman is also a surgeon, and her speaking style is really straightforward, just like using a scalpel, cutting into key parts with every cut, without any procrastination.

Otherwise, the patient will be more painful, and it seems that the same is true in relationships.

"Okay, okay, I can't compare, I can't compare, it's okay, everyone lives their own lives, you go back and deal with your parents," Zhou Ze said a little烦躁.

Doctor Lin nodded and turned to walk into the building.

Zhou Ze stood up, ready to take a taxi away, but at this moment, a strange phone call came:

"Hello."

"Sir, I've driven the car back."

"So smart?" Zhou Ze was a little surprised, he could hear that it was the voice of the previous driver.

"You left a bag in the back seat, I'll bring it back to you."

"Oh, thank you."

The car drove back to the downstairs of the community, and from the car window, the driver handed out a lady's bag.

"Please check it."

"Okay."

Zhou Ze was not polite, opened Doctor Lin's bag, which contained a mobile phone, a wallet, a data charging cable and a few packs of tissues.

Taking out the wallet, Zhou Ze was stunned as soon as he opened it,

His gaze was fixed on the photo storage location in the wallet,

There was a photo there,

The woman in the photo looked very young, even a little... naive, wearing an ill-fitting white coat.

And Zhou Ze felt a bit of unfamiliar familiarity with the man on the right side of the girl.

After a long time,

Zhou Ze recognized it,

Isn't this me.

This was a cropped photo, it should have been a group photo, but it was cropped into a photo of the two of them alone.

"Is anything missing?" The driver urged.

"It's okay, thank you, you can go."

The driver drove away.

Zhou Ze continued to hold the wallet and looked at it, he didn't even think that he should call Doctor Lin at this time and tell her to come down to get the bag.

Some memories that were not considered sealed, but were considered not very important began to emerge,

Faintly remember,

Five or six years ago, he seemed to have brought a group of students who were assigned to intern while still in school. There was a girl, who seemed to be surnamed Lin, and the appearance of the girl in the photo seemed to be able to overlap.

A girl changes a lot in eighteen years,

A smile appeared on the corner of Zhou Ze's mouth,

Doctor Lin also had such a cute time back then, who knew that she would have grown so beautiful five or six years later, he really didn't notice the development potential of this girl at all.

Moreover, at that time, he was very perfunctory about the hospital letting him lead interns, and these students were purely used as "medical dogs" by his side.

Zhou Ze shook the wallet in his hand,

"Damn it, no wonder you were almost thirty and still single."

This time, surprisingly, he was not scolding Xu Le,

But scolding himself,

"Eyes,

Are really blind..."

Zhou Ze opened his arms and stretched,

The one who cuckolded him,

Turned out to be himself,

After the rain, early in the morning, the first day of the Lunar New Year,

Hehe,

Looking at the sky.

He solemnly reached out and patted his chest,

Zhou Ze paused,

Very seriously said:

"Xu Le, you are really my good brother!

Your wife, I will take care of her myself, don't worry."