This was perhaps the deepest wound Xu Qinglang had ever suffered.

Men liked to show off and brag in front of women, just like gorillas beating their chests and making sounds of:

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh!"

In Zhou Ze's eyes, Xu Qinglang, with his flattering expression, seemed to be releasing that courtship signal for the first time.

Unfortunately, the girl's words: your house was given as resettlement housing by my family's company.

"Snap!"

It was like something had broken.

Xu Qinglang wished he could kneel down, clutching his chest.

Pain,

So much pain,

Heartbreaking pain.

The girl slowly stood up and said to Zhou Ze, "Boss, let's add each other on WeChat. If you plan to cooperate in the future, you can contact me."

"Okay." Zhou Ze naturally wouldn't refuse.

After adding each other on WeChat, the girl left with her Corgi dog.

Xu Qinglang breathed a sigh of relief, waved his hand, and slowly turned around, leaving the bookstore.

He needed some time to heal.

Zhou Ze smiled. It seemed that at least for a while, the words "twenty-something apartments" wouldn't be coming out of Xu Qinglang's mouth again.

Turning around, Zhou Ze saw Bai Yingying sitting on a plastic stool, in a daze. No, not in a daze, to be exact, she was reading "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty."

"Boss, what do you mean by 'the water is too cold' that you said to that ghost?"

Most of the female corpse's memories were inherited from Madam Bai. In those days, women didn't read many kinds of books. Naturally, they couldn't be as "learned" as men who wanted to pass the imperial examinations.

As for the talented women gathering together in "Dream of the Red Chamber," it probably only happened in books.

"He was a leader of the literary world in the late Ming Dynasty, and he seems to have even served as the Minister of Rites. When the Qing troops entered the pass, and the Ming Dynasty was about to fall, he prepared to die for his country. His beloved concubine, Liu Rushi, prepared to die with him, but when the concubine jumped, he didn't dare to jump, saying, 'The water is too cold.' In the end, he surrendered to the Manchus."

"Then that person is really scum. Boss, were you using that to mock that ghost?" Bai Yingying asked.

"In fact, although Qian Qianyi surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in the end, he secretly funded the anti-Qing forces and informed them of information, and was even questioned by the Qing court because of it."

"This..." Bai Yingying didn't know how to evaluate this person.

She was very simple, just like old people and children who like to ask bluntly when watching TV: "Is this person good? Is this person bad?"

For many people, the world is either black or white. As for the gray areas, they're too complicated, too difficult to understand, so they simply pretend they don't see them.

"The one I just threw into hell is actually similar to Qian Qianyi in essence." Zhou Ze smiled, picked up his teacup, and sat down in the chair behind the counter.

"Then why did you send him to hell?" Bai Yingying asked, puzzled. "At least, you could have turned a blind eye and let him stay in the mortal world for a while longer, right?"

Zhou Ze shook his head. "Are you starting to feel sorry for him?"

"The water's too cold, it's human nature." Bai Yingying pouted. "I'm dead now, a zombie. If I were still alive, I think not dying for the sake of the emperor and the court should also be my choice.

Death can certainly be praised, but not dying can also be understood."

"The ghost judge was right to say that he should have died that day." Zhou Ze put down his cup. "I was originally dead, but I came back to life through reincarnation. I'm actually trying my best to survive, and I shouldn't have the right to ask others whether they should die.

Don't you think so too?"

Bai Yingying nodded.

"Anything needs to be considered in a specific context. To think about the ancients, to think about their way of doing things, you have to put yourself in that era, in the context of that era's culture, customs, and so on.

From today's perspective, of course, it's a situation of national harmony where all ethnic groups are one family.

But if you put it in the late Ming Dynasty, everyone should have their own stance.

Your thinking is like an ancient farmer thinking that the emperor can eat ten fried dough sticks and ten meat buns for breakfast every day. It's wrong and inappropriate for us to project our petty thoughts onto those historical figures.

Yes, Qian Qianyi helped the anti-Qing army do a lot of things even after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, and even ridiculed the Qing Dynasty in the documents he compiled himself, but that's not enough for him."

"Not enough? Does he really have to die?" Bai Yingying asked, puzzled.

"He has to die." Zhou Ze answered seriously. "Including that ghost I just threw down there, he has to die too!"

After saying that, Zhou Ze took a deep breath,

"Not dying is also an option, leaving freely, becoming a wealthy man, completely forgetting the world, abandoning wealth and glory, and becoming unknown from then on, that's also an option."

"Why?" Bai Yingying clearly disagreed. "Everyone's life should be in their own hands."

"When Dodo's army marched into Nanjing, Qian Qianyi was the highest-ranking official in Nanjing at the time. He led everyone to kneel and welcome the Qing troops into the city, surrendering to the Manchus.

He couldn't surrender, and he wasn't qualified to surrender.

His reputation, his identity, his power, his status, his enjoyment, his special treatment, were all given to him by the court, which can also be understood as being given to him by the country.

You get so many benefits, so you should naturally bear that much responsibility.

You took so much from the country, reaching the highest position, even if your back is almost unable to move, you still have to pursue Liu Rushi, you can be carefree and enjoy the beauty.

Then when the country needs him, he naturally has the obligation to fulfill his responsibility.

This is a kind of contract spirit.

When the country is in trouble, every man is responsible. In fact, even if ordinary people look up,

Gazing at the sky,

No one will blame them for it.

But those ancient officials who ate salaries and enjoyed the people's fat and blood, they themselves had the obligation to do everything possible to hold back the ship when the country was about to sink, and even die with the ship."

Bai Yingying listened and nodded as if she understood.

"For example, that one in the Confucian Temple, was an official in the Ming Dynasty, similar to a prosecutor now, but not the chief prosecutor, but later he became one of the Nine Ministers, similar to the current minister.

After surrendering, he can still do so well, rising steadily, do you think he deserves to die?

A high official in the Ming Dynasty once shouted, 'The country has supported scholars for 150 years, and today is the day to die for justice.' That's what he was talking about."

"My head is spinning." Bai Yingying shook her head.

"This is a bookstore. Although there are more novels, you can also read other books." Zhou Ze twisted his neck. "Anyway, you don't have anything else to do."

Bai Yingying glanced at Zhou Ze, meaning that you're saying that as if you have something to do.

Zhou Ze got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face. When he came out, he saw Bai Yingying refilling his teacup. Bai Yingying asked again:

"By the way, boss, what happened to that high official who shouted 'The country has supported scholars for 150 years'?"

"Oh, he was severely beaten with sticks by the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent by the emperor in front of the Left Shun Gate."

Zhou Ze sniffed,

"And then there was no then."

"............" Bai Yingying.

The master and servant rarely became literary and artistic, talking about history and worldviews;

Of course, this good atmosphere didn't last long, because the female corpse immediately put down the book, picked up her phone, and started playing Honor of Kings.

But another customer came to the store, a middle-aged man, about forty years old, wearing a black down jacket, with a rough face and some worn clothes, looking a bit simple and honest.

"Boss, can I put up a notice here?" The man asked Zhou Ze humbly.

"What kind of notice?" Zhou Ze asked.

"A missing person notice." The man answered honestly.

"Put it up." Zhou Ze got up and walked to the front of the store, watching the other party put up the notice on the wall.

"No photo?" Zhou Ze saw that there was only text on the notice, no photo.

"She was still young when she was taken away, only a few months old, there are no photos." The man rubbed his hands and handed Zhou Ze a cigarette. "Don't mind."

Zhou Ze took the cigarette and asked, "Was she abducted?"

"No, she was given away for adoption. At that time, she had an older sister, and there was no two-child policy at that time. I couldn't afford the fine, and I was afraid of losing my job, so I had to give her away for adoption.

Over the years, we've been thinking about her day and night, hoping to see her again, but we haven't had any contact over the years. After all, she was given to someone else to raise, and as long as the other family is good to her, we don't want to bother her, it's not good for her either."

"Oh." Zhou Ze nodded.

"This time, her younger brother is unlucky, he got leukemia. I only know that the family who adopted her more than ten years ago lived near this area, so I can only look for her here.

Her older sister didn't match, and now her younger brother's life can only be saved by her, and we can also have a family reunion."

"Younger brother?" Zhou Ze frowned and asked, "How old is she this year?"

"Seventeen."

"How old is her younger brother?"

"Sixteen."

"Pity." Zhou Ze sighed.

"Yeah, how could such a good young child get this disease? Boss, please help me pay attention. I'll go ahead and continue to post. I've already contacted the media, and there may be an interview tomorrow.

I guess we'll be able to find her soon, and then our family will be able to reunite, and her younger brother will be saved."

The middle-aged man smiled very honestly,

And then walked forward.

After he walked away, and his figure disappeared into the night,

Zhou Ze looked at the missing person notice on the wall in front of the store and said softly:

"Pity."

Then,

Zhou Ze reached out,

And tore off the newly posted notice.