Chapter 1 Unexpected News

Emerging from the villa district, Zhou Ze wasn't in a rush to take a taxi. Instead, he planned to walk alone on the road at night.

Wang Ke said that his side wasn't a big problem, only needing to cut off Xu Le's previous network of relationships; of course, now it was already equivalent to being cut off.

Judging by how he treated Doctor Lin, Doctor Lin probably wouldn't pay him any attention for a while. As for his parents-in-law's house, he hadn't gone back for several days.

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

He'd just leave it at that for now. During this period, he also needed to calm down.

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

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

He hadn't broadcast for so long. He probably really wasn't going to broadcast anymore.

The streaming industry seemed very easy, making money sitting at home, but the pressure was also very high. Not to mention not broadcasting for a month or two, even not broadcasting for a few days could make you yesterday's news.

But just at this moment, Zhou Ze found an unread message in his account. Opening it, he discovered 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 meet up?"

The old Daoist's phone number was also attached below.

Zhou Ze frowned slightly. The old Daoist's message also had many loving little emoticons. Immediately, Zhou Ze flipped through the Xu Le account's information.

Female account,

And the address was Tong City.

Xu Le should have tried live streaming before, so he still had his own streaming room, but the popularity was terrible.

Zhou Ze finally understood where this strange feeling came from. The old Daoist's message clearly carried the meaning of "sleeping with fans." Because of some things, he had come to Tong City, looking for his fans in Tong City, casting a wide net, and hoping to catch something.

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

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

Standing up and stretching, Zhou Ze prepared to leave. He missed his freezer a little.

However, his phone rang at this moment.

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

Zhou Ze answered the phone.

"Hello, benefactor, where are you!"

The old Daoist's voice was very loud, as if he was shouting into the phone's speaker. It sounded like there was a train nearby.

"Where are you?" Zhou Ze asked.

Was this old Daoist very free? Didn't he have many fans? Why was he replying to his messages so quickly every time?

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

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

A big... dick trap!

Sadness,

Disappointment,

Despair!

But the old Daoist immediately changed his tone, crying and shouting with all his might:

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

………………

Taking a taxi over, Zhou Ze found the old Daoist in a ditch 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. He looked like a refugee. He had been lying on a plastic sheet underneath.

There was a "Longtan Home-Style Restaurant" on the nearby street. Zhou Ze ordered him two bowls of noodles, a plate of Gong Bao chicken, and a plate of small mixed fish. The old Daoist ate voraciously.

"Brother, you're really awesome!" The old Daoist finally began to slow down after eating a bowl of noodles. Then, he told the boss to warm up a pot of yellow wine. Immediately afterward, he smiled apologetically at Zhou Ze. He didn't have much money in his pocket, so Zhou Ze would definitely be paying for this meal in the end.

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

"Ah, don't mention it." The old Daoist drank a mouthful of noodle soup and smacked his lips. "My luck's been bad recently. Originally, I came to Tong City with a film crew to scout locations."

"Changed careers?"

"Sort of. I don't want to stream anymore these days." The old Daoist sighed. "People always have to have some dreams, right?"

"That's true." Zhou Ze nodded.

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

"You ended up like this on a film set?" Zhou Ze asked curiously.

"Hehe, I was originally a minor character on the set, but who knew that fate would play tricks on me?"

The wine came up.

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

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

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

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

This humble Daoist happened to run into 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, tell me, isn't that the right principle?"

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

"Nope, he didn't dare use this as an excuse." The old Daoist continued to smile, grinning. "There were many people who knew that this humble Daoist beat him up. He didn't dare deal with me like that, or his own reputation would be completely ruined."

"And then?"

"And then, the little actress that I saved 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 bit rueful when he said these words. "They're all pitiful people, all people who have a hard time."

"And then?"

"And then, the little actress said that I groped her and molested her. The assistant director didn't come forward. The big director fired me from the film crew." The old Daoist was still smiling, but his smile was a bit bitter.

"Let's drink." Zhou Ze said.

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

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

"Then that's fine, we'll replace wine with tea!"

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

The grievances, frustrations, anger, inequality, and everything else in life,

Were all in one cup of wine.

"You're out of money?" Zhou Ze asked, but there was no need to ask this question.

"Yeah." After the old Daoist finished speaking, he looked expectant, hoping that Zhou Ze would lend him some money. He had originally saved some money, but he had donated it all at the beginning of the month, and now his job had been terminated again, so he had suddenly become short on cash.

"Oh." Zhou Ze nodded.

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

Holy shit,

You say "Oh,"

Then why did you ask me if I had money?

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

He could have gone back to find Xu Qinglang, but Xu Qinglang had closed early tonight, the rolling door was pulled down, and 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 palm, pinching his fingertips as if he was calculating.

"Yeah."

"This humble Daoist thinks that opening a ghost supply shop actually makes more money." Seeing that Zhou Ze didn't seem very interested in his "calculation," the old Daoist thought to himself that the person in front of him was born under the red flag and didn't give a damn about feudal superstition, so the old Daoist gave up on his thoughts.

"Ghost supply shop?" Zhou Ze shook his head. "I don't want to open one."

He himself was a ghost; what ghost supply shop would he open?

"To tell you the truth, this humble Daoist used to run a ghost supply shop in Rong City." The old Daoist took out a stack of money from his pocket. It was hell money. "Brother, thank you for this meal today. This brother doesn'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, and directly lifted his Daoist robe, pointing to the wound on the right side of his chest. "Back then, it was a stack of hell money that saved my life."

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

Zhou Ze didn't want to see a grown man exposing his chest in front of him, so he had to reach out and take the hell money.

"I remember seeing someone in your videos, in your ghost supply shop. That person has a hard time drinking porridge." Zhou Ze asked.

"Oh, him? He's an employee I hired. He's so lazy, he only knows how to bask in the sun all day long, and doesn't do anything. I scold him every day, saying that you can't 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 think he's a little familiar."

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

You're familiar with a ghost; could it be that you're also a ghost?

Hahahaha,

You're killing this humble Daoist!

The two walked out of 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 grin.

"I'll only eat two. You can have the rest." Zhou Ze replied.

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

Zhou Ze didn't explain.

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

While what Zhou Ze said was what the grandfather said to his grandson in Lao She's *Rickshaw Boy*.

In the end, 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,

When he suddenly clutched his crotch,

And then a smell of burning hair wafted out,

"Damn it, it's burning this humble Daoist to death!"