Air still lingered with the smell of firecracker smoke, a little acrid, but it seemed this was the true scent of the New Year, what was commonly called the New Year's atmosphere.

Especially for Zhou Ze at this moment, life seemed to have gained some beauty.

Not some oath of eternal love, nor the exaggeration of mountains crumbling and the earth uniting,

Simply equivalent to a child who usually has no pocket money finding a ten-yuan note on the road, with no police uncle passing by, but a small shop very close by.

A trip to hell, a change of body, and there were still many discoveries and undiscovered troubles to be resolved, and his personality had also unknowingly undergone considerable changes.

Thinking back to himself in the previous life, walking out of the orphanage, his mind was full of climbing up step by step with his own hands and abilities. In fact, upon closer inspection, the reason he ignored Doctor Lin back then might not have been how foolish and ugly Doctor Lin was five years ago. That young girl back then should also have been filled with the yearnings of youth; otherwise, she wouldn't have cut that photo out separately and put it in her wallet.

It was just a pity that the self back then had neither the energy nor the inclination to take another look at the scenery along the way. His obsession was too heavy, a bitter and hateful person pretending to be very cool, so cool that he was like a breath of fresh air.

Unlike now, having died once and returned, he had a kind of detached and lost feeling of being "free from officialdom and feeling light."

But no matter what,

The feeling of being secretly loved, even the feeling of "love until death,"

Was indeed not bad.

He made a phone call, and Doctor Lin came down again. She came down somewhat hurriedly, took her handbag from Zhou Ze's hand, smiled, and didn't say thank you. With the current relationship between the two, saying "thank you" was even more inappropriate than saying "sorry."

Waving his hand,

Zhou Ze left a silhouette,

Went back to sleep,

And then waited for tomorrow, tomorrow would be even better.

Doctor Lin felt that her husband's mood seemed to have undergone some changes, like a feeling of relief.

Perhaps, it was indeed a good thing that both sides could think things through.

Rather than awkwardly continuing to be entangled together, it was better to separate freely and face life anew.

It could only be said that the affairs of the world were unpredictable. Doctor Lin could not have imagined that inside her husband's body was another soul.

It was that man whom she, as an intern back then, had vaguely admired.

Zhou Ze called for a car again, and then squatted at the entrance of the residential area smoking a cigarette. The message on his phone screen kept displaying the search. Zhou Ze regretted it a bit. Why did he let that driver leave? He should have let him wait a little longer so he could take his car back to the bookstore.

Now it was fine,

On New Year's Eve,

It was really difficult to get a car.

After waiting for about ten minutes, having smoked three cigarettes, Zhou Ze felt a little annoyed, straightened up, and stretched.

Although he wasn't very afraid of the cold, it was quite tiring to walk back like this.

Just at this moment, a black sedan drove over from the road in front of Zhou Ze, and slowed down when it passed him.

"Going?" The driver stuck his head out of the car window, a large round face, middle-aged, with a stubbly beard, wearing a black cotton coat.

"Going." Zhou Ze had no other choice.

"Get in, I won't charge you extra." The driver smiled.

Zhou Ze got into the car, told him the location of the bookstore, negotiated the price, and the driver started the car again.

This car should be new. The seat cushions still had the smell of plastic and leather, and the inside was very clean.

Generally speaking, few people would be willing to take a new car out to pick up passengers.

"That place is remote." The driver took the initiative to offer Zhou Ze a cigarette, and Zhou Ze accepted it.

"Yeah."

"Living there?"

"The shop is there."

"Oh, then business must be bad, right?" That commercial center had been dead for a long time, and there wasn't much activity. Many people knew that.

"You're not a local?" Zhou Ze asked.

The Tongcheng dialect was different from other dialects. It was almost two different styles of speech from Mandarin, and it was easy to hear.

"My home is in Rongcheng, I work here." The driver lit his cigarette, "Smoke, don't be polite."

Zhou Ze also lit his cigarette, took a puff, and frowned slightly. The taste of this cigarette was so weak that it didn't seem like anything.

"Not going back for the New Year?"

"My wife and children are at home, no problem, I'm not going back, thinking of earning some more money." The driver stuck his hand out of the window and flicked the ash, "I have four children."

"Impressive." Zhou Ze praised.

"It's hard too." The driver smacked his lips, "My wife's first child was a son, and the second was also a boy. I was thinking of having a daughter, and then the third was another boy. Fortunately, the fourth was finally a girl, I'm satisfied."

"Not bad." Zhou Ze echoed, took another puff of his cigarette, and then threw it out the window. This cigarette was so weak, it was like smoking paper rolls.

"I don't have any old-fashioned ideas, and I don't mean to value sons over daughters. I just like children, I want to have more children, haha." When talking about his children, the driver became more talkative.

"The youngest one's fine hasn't been paid yet. When it's time to go to school, I'll pay the money and get the household registration done. By the way, what kind of shop do you run?"

"Bookstore."

"How's business?" The driver asked the question he shouldn't have.

"Not very good."

"Yeah, these days you can buy books online, and there are coupons."

Ahead on the road, there was a traffic accident. Traffic police had set up roadblocks there. The original four lanes were now reduced to a single lane. Fortunately, there weren't many cars on the road late on New Year's Eve, so it shouldn't take too long.

"It's unlucky to have a car accident during the New Year." The driver spat out a smoke ring. His tone of voice was like a leader, with a bit of criticism.

Zhou Ze leaned back, changed to a more comfortable sitting position, and asked:

"Is this car you bought new?"

"Yeah, my son gave it to me."

Zhou Ze smiled, "How old are you? How old is your son?"

"Hehe." The driver narrowed his eyes. "My son is promising. These days, ambition doesn't depend on age. If you have hands, feet, and a brain, and you're not destined to be unlucky, how can you endure poverty?"

"That's the way it is." Zhou Ze nodded in agreement.

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

A car behind seemed to be in a hurry to get home, and the horn was honking frequently, urging the car in front to hurry up and move on.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry to see a ghost."

The driver also had a bit of a crazy streak. He stuck his body out of the car again and cursed at the car behind.

But the cars behind honked their horns even more frequently, as if deliberately showing off.

"Hey!"

The driver pretended to push open the car door, preparing to get out and have a good talk.

Just then, the traffic police who were clearing the traffic gestured for the cars here to pass quickly. The driver then sat back down sheepishly, started the car, and drove past.

"Business is not good today." The driver began to lament again. "If I had known, I might as well have gone home to see my wife and children."

"It's alright." Zhou Ze was noncommittal. He saw that the noodle shop next door was doing okay. Most of the competitors were closed for the New Year. Even if the demand was a little smaller during the New Year, overall, business was still better than before.

Especially just now, Zhou Ze had been trying to get a car for so long and no one had accepted the order.

"Hey, it's not good." The driver shook his head. "I don't dare to rest either. The children's tuition fees, I have to send money home every month. I usually work during the day and come out to drive for half a night. This life is pretty boring, even this cigarette, I can't bear to smoke a better pack."

This cigarette of yours... seems to be fake.

Zhou Ze took out his own cigarette, took one out, and played with it in his hand.

"But it's good that the internet is convenient now. When I get home at night before going to bed, I can video chat with my wife and children, it's good to be able to see them." A look of relief appeared on the driver's face.

Zhou Ze closed his eyes slightly. He couldn't sleep, but at this time, he didn't really want to talk and chat.

But even without Zhou Ze's feedback and response, the driver continued to talk about his own affairs. On New Year's Eve, he was alone in a foreign land, of course he was lonely.

From the children's names, to the children's school, to his own parents, to the local customs of his village, the driver babbled on and on.

In the end, Zhou Ze simply leaned his forehead against the car window and urged, "Master, drive faster."

This driver was driving too slowly, probably only thirty miles per hour.

You know, this was an elevated road.

Zhou Ze even felt that the other party was probably too lonely, so he deliberately drove slower to find someone to chat with, but Zhou Ze had no interest in being a confidante.

"Hehe, it's a new car, I'm not too familiar with it yet, I don't dare to drive too fast." The driver stroked the steering wheel somewhat possessively. "This car isn't worth much, it's even very cheap, but it's also my eldest son's heart, I have to cherish and treasure it.

I'll try to use this car to do business for a few years, and when my eldest son finds a girlfriend, I'll get him an apartment. I'll take care of one thing at a time. I don't want the older ones to have to take care of the younger ones. That's not fair to the older ones. After all, it was me, the father, who decided to have them. As long as I can still work, and still go to work, I have to grit my teeth and carry on. I'm not an irresponsible person, and I won't do something like giving birth and not raising them."

Zhou Ze frowned slightly,

He felt a little annoyed,

Then he lit one of his cigarettes, took a puff,

"Master, really, please go faster." Zhou Ze missed his freezer a little, and also regretted it a bit. If he had known, he would have had Doctor Lin drive him back.

"Don't be impatient, young man, it's the New Year, we're also destined, aren't we? There's no need to rush. I understand, I understand, I'm an old driver..."

Zhou Ze flicked his cigarette ash,

He accidentally didn't flick it out the window,

A pinch of ash fell on the inside of the car door.

Immediately afterwards,

The inside of the car door was burned through by the ash,

A hole the size of a thumb,

The cold wind from outside kept "whooshing" in from the small hole.