Chapter 1 The First Order

After Xu Qinglang translated the old woman's last words, the crowd, who had been so moved before, was dumbfounded.

What the hell?

What happened to the heartwarming story of "I'm good to my son and daughter, and they're good to me; a mother's love"?

Why this twist?

Zhou Ze clapped his hands and asked, "Are you finished eating?"

The implication was:

Now that you're done, it's time to go.

The old woman put down her chopsticks bashfully and said:

"I don't know how I got here. I didn't want to go down. I still want to..."

Zhou Ze watched her silently.

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The customer is always right.

You must listen to the customer's requests with a smile.

The old woman shuddered, terrified,

and immediately said:

"I think it's better if I go down sooner."

Zhou Ze thought he should put up a few slogans in this small private room:

Confess and be lenient; resist and be severely punished.

That seemed a little too serious. Or maybe:

Reform earnestly and start anew.

These thoughts only amused him. Zhou Ze stood up and opened the gate to hell. The old woman was still hesitant, but Zhou Ze grabbed her shoulder and threw her in.

And so,

the first order of the new shop was completed.

Next, Zhou Ze bent down and looked under the small table, finding a small stack of hell money.

"Count it and see if there's more than before," Xu Qinglang urged.

"It seems like there's a little more," Zhou Ze confirmed.

"That means this method works. I told you, the profit margin for additional services is the biggest. Can we add other items?"

Even with twenty-odd apartments, Xu Qinglang's desire to make money remained as strong as ever.

No one would complain about having too much money.

"Massage? Or a spa?" Zhou Ze joked.

"That's a bit much," Xu Qinglang frowned.

"Some funeral homes have this service now, water therapy massages for the dead. I've seen it before, in a glass cubicle. The family stands outside watching, and the technician bathes and massages the corpse inside, and trims their nails; the whole works."

"You're disgusting," Xu Qinglang said, acting like he couldn't stand it, and turned around to start clearing the table.

Actually, none of the dishes had been touched, or at least it didn't look like they had. But the food still had to be thrown away.

If it was food or fruit offered to one's own ancestors at home, people could still eat it after the ceremony. After all, it was something their own ancestors had eaten, and it wasn't a big deal to share a bowl of food at the same table.

But Xu Qinglang and the old woman were not related, so of course, they couldn't eat her leftovers.

Putting the hell money in the cabinet, Zhou Ze sat back in his rocking chair,

rocking forward,

rocking backward.

He liked this comfort, and he enjoyed this leisure.

Bai Yingying had run upstairs to play on the computer, and the old Taoist had taken the monkey upstairs to watch TV. Xu Qinglang had also gone upstairs to rest.

As a result, Zhou Ze was the only one left in the bookstore.

He picked up his phone and flipped through it, reading the news. Unbeknownst to him, it had started to rain outside, and it was coming down hard, from a drizzle to a downpour.

This season, it really could rain at any time.

He picked up his water glass and took a sip. When Zhou Ze stretched and looked up again, he found a dense row of people standing in front of his bookstore.

Wow,

business is so good today?

This was only the first night the new shop was open. If it was like this every day, Zhou Ze thought he could not only quickly pay off the money he owed his maid but also buy a nice car right away.

Well, it's just that Xu Le, the useless bum, doesn't even have a driver's license. He'd have to get one himself.

Walking to the door of the shop, Zhou Ze was taken aback. Standing outside weren't people, but rows of clothes.

It was the people who had been selling clothes outside who had moved their stalls to his shop's doorway to take shelter from the rain. Because of some preconceived notions, Zhou Ze had mistakenly thought it was a ghostly gathering.

He opened the door.

Standing outside were two young girls, around twenty years old, with wallets tied around their waists and wearing ponytails. They looked very neat and capable.

"Boss, sorry for blocking your business. We'll leave as soon as the rain gets lighter. Sorry, sorry," one girl bowed to Zhou Ze in apology.

"Boss, do you have coffee? We'll buy two cups," the other girl was more active. If they bought two cups of coffee here, the owner would be too embarrassed to chase them away, right?

"It's okay, wait until the rain stops before you leave."

Zhou Ze wasn't that heartless. Besides, even if he put up an iron plate outside, customers could still come in to do business.

"Thank you, boss."

"Thank you, boss."

The two girls thanked Zhou Ze again.

Zhou Ze returned behind his bar. The upgraded bar was indeed much more advanced and comfortable than the previous counter. The surround sound system was playing soft music.

About fifteen minutes later, the rain still hadn't let up. One of the girls who was selling clothes pushed open the bookstore door and came in.

The girl walked to the bookshelf, selected a few fashion magazines, and then walked over to Zhou Ze, ready to pay.

"Forty-eight," Zhou Ze glanced at the price tag and casually said, "Give me fifty, keep the change."

"Okay."

The girl responded and handed Zhou Ze a fifty.

Zhou Ze took the money.

After a short while,

the girl paused.

Something,

didn't seem right.

Zhou Ze continued to lean back in his chair. The girl didn't dwell on the two yuan and sat down on the small sofa in the shop with the books.

Her companion was watching the stall outside, while she took a blank notebook and copied the clothes in the magazines.

Zhou Ze got up and poured a glass of orange juice, delivering it to her.

"It's free," Zhou Ze said.

"Oh, thank you, boss."

"Studying design?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Yeah, we're students at Tongcheng University."

"College students setting up a stall to do business, that's pretty good."

Zhou Ze praised them a couple of times. He wasn't some perverted uncle with ulterior motives, so he didn't chat any further. However, as he walked to the door, Zhou Ze suddenly saw the girl who had stayed outside to watch the clothes talking to a man in black.

Behind the man in black were several other people. They seemed a little cold, standing in the rain, shivering, but even so, they didn't move closer to take shelter under the eaves.

Zhou Ze pushed open the shop door and walked over.

The man in black looked up, saw Zhou Ze, and then immediately lowered his head again.

The few thinly dressed people behind him suddenly became timid and didn't dare to meet Zhou Ze's eyes at all.

Zhou Ze walked up to the man in black. He was wearing a hat, half of his face hidden, and then Zhou Ze turned his head and saw the girl who had handed over the clothes looking dazed, her eyes cloudy. And the money she had just received was a stack of old hell money.

"That's a bit much," Zhou Ze said.

"We are all wandering spirits, originally on our way back home, but on this rainy day, my brothers have no clothes on and are very cold. We beg you to be lenient."

"Wandering spirits should just go to hell."

Zhou Ze's attitude was very blunt; he clearly wasn't planning to negotiate.

What a joke!

Wandering spirits were also part of his performance!

Boss Zhou was preparing to boost his performance, and every little bit counted. He wouldn't let it go.

It seemed that choosing to change shops was the right choice. Look, how lively it was tonight.

The man in black slowly raised his head, revealing his scarred face, and said in a deep voice:

"So, you're not planning to discuss this properly?"

"What is there to discuss with you?"

Zhou Ze reached out and grabbed the girl's shoulder first, pulling her back, and then he stepped forward, standing in front of the man in black.

He reached out his hand

and poked the man in black lightly in the chest.

"You can try to make up a pitiful story to soften my heart.

Oh no,

sorry, I forgot,

my conscience has been eaten by myself and I haven't found it yet."

"After I take them back to our hometown, I will take them back to hell. You can rest assured!"

Although the man in black's face was covered in scars, he spoke forcefully, like the leader of these little ghosts.

"Am I supposed to buy a plane ticket and go home with you to visit? Sorry, I'm not free."

Zhou Ze's fingernails grew out,

black smoke slowly swirling around him.

At this moment, the girl sitting in the shop looked outside and only saw her companion and the boss seeming to be chatting. She didn't see anything else she wasn't supposed to see.

"I can't hand them over to you now. I have to take them back first!"

The man in black charged at Zhou Ze, full of momentum!

But the next second,

Zhou Ze just flicked his arm,

and the man in black was sent flying out. The sharpness of his nails made his soul unstable.

"Heh."

Zhou Ze laughed twice.

A mere ordinary ghost

actually dared to attack him, a ghost messenger.

The man in black charged over again, but without exception, he was sent flying again by Zhou Ze.

This time, the ghosts who had been standing there trembling suddenly showed signs of instability.

Zhou Ze had thought they would all come up together to help their boss fight, that would be called loyalty.

Or,

these ghosts would quickly kneel down and beg him for mercy,

although begging for mercy wouldn't do any good.

But they actually turned around and pounced on the black figure, who was becoming blurred after being repeatedly sent flying by Zhou Ze.

They were furious, starting to devour and tear at the black figure.

Zhou Ze stood on the side, watching the show and said:

"Looks like your little brothers usually get exploited by you a lot."

Even though the man in black was being torn apart, he still didn't let out any screams, and solemnly retorted:

"They are my prisoners. We died together in a car accident.

But even if we are dead,

I will take them to the Public Security Bureau near the scene of the crime to turn ourselves in!"