Chapter 19 He's Already Dead

The police officer sat there, flipping through the book, occasionally taking out his phone to check the time.

To be honest,

his presence in the store put a lot of pressure on both Zhou Ze and Bai Yingying.

It felt like sitting on pins and needles.

He was a good police officer, filled with righteousness. The police uniform he wore was enough to ward off almost all evil.

But Zhou Ze couldn’t just leave; this was his store, after all.

Fortunately, Zhou Ze and Bai Yingying weren’t low-level wandering spirits or wild mountain demons. Although they felt uncomfortable, they weren't substantially harmed.

On the contrary, Zhou Ze felt a sincere respect for him.

You can't judge a book by its cover, that's true,

but as a ghost, one is even more sensitive to such feelings.

So, when Zhou Ze initially gave him that batch of books, it wasn’t to make fun of him, but because Zhou Ze had initially assumed that a police officer who cultivated such uprightness would enjoy reading serious and valuable books.

But later, Zhou Ze realized that police officers are people too;

and as people, they have their own interests and hobbies. Like the police officer in front of him, engrossed in reading a novel.

"Uncle, have some tea."

Bai Yingying timidly brought over a cup of tea.

"Oh, thank you." The police officer took the cup, looked at Bai Yingying, and asked, "Aren't you in school?"

"It's a holiday today."

Bai Yingying didn't dare say she wasn't in school and was just wasting her days, lest it cause more trouble.

Bai Yingying was somewhat afraid of him, even more so than Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze was a modern person and could relate to this way of thinking. The officer made him instinctively afraid, but in another sense, it also meant that he was more worthy of respect.

Bai Yingying, on the other hand, just felt her heart beating faster. After handing over the tea, she immediately ran upstairs, not wanting to come down again.

"Boss, how much do I owe you?" the police officer asked Zhou Ze.

"Just give what you think is fair," Zhou Ze said.

"That won't do. Never mind, I'll settle up when I leave. They should be here to pick me up in half an hour." The police officer sat down again, felt his pocket, and paused.

As an old smoker, Zhou Ze understood and handed him a cigarette.

"Thanks."

The police officer thanked Zhou Ze for lighting it for him, and then the two of them smoked together.

Cigarettes were indeed a bridge for men to socialize. They went from strangers to smoking buddies, and it was easier to brag a little.

"Your business here isn't easy, is it?" the police officer asked.

"Just scraping by," Zhou Ze replied.

"Oh, I remember who you are now." The police officer patted his head. "You were the one who bravely rushed into the fire to save people last time, weren't you?"

Zhou Ze nodded.

"Look at my memory. Right, the bureau wanted to give you a banner last time, why didn't you go pick it up?"

"It was just my duty, didn't want to show off," Zhou Ze replied.

The police officer nodded, somewhat helplessly saying, "Indeed, in the end, no one expected that the arsonist would be one of the heroes who rushed into the fire to save people."

"Damn it, taxis have really disappeared. It's hard to get a ride-hailing car at this hour. I can't even get a taxi. Lao Zhou, it seems we really have to move. You can't even get a taxi in this godforsaken place.

I'm missing a cable here, I have to go back and buy a new one, otherwise the host can't be installed."

Xu Qinglang complained as he walked in, then saw the police officer sitting in the bookstore.

"Yo, Director Zhao!"

Xu Qinglang obviously knew the police officer, and immediately showed a smile, warmly saying,

"Director Zhao, you look as healthy as ever. Hmm, I remember seeing news about you a while ago, writing about what, I forgot, but it seems like you got another award and medal, right, it should be like this, congratulations, congratulations!"

"You little rascal, you're getting better-looking," the police officer said with a smile as he stood up, patted Xu Qinglang's shoulder, appearing very affectionate. "Still stealing chickens and dogs?"

"How dare I? My house was demolished, and I got over twenty apartments. Now I'm a legally-taxpaying citizen," Xu Qinglang replied.

"You..." Director Zhao pointed at Xu Qinglang, "You've finally had your hard days."

"Director Zhao, your son is getting married soon, right? How about I give you an apartment as a wedding gift for him?"

"You brat, dare to say such nonsense in front of me again, believe it or not, I'll put you back in the bureau?" Director Zhao sternly rebuked.

"Hey, I'm just opening a noodle shop, not bribing you. If it wasn't for you back then, I probably wouldn't have survived until the old house and the land were demolished. It's only right to show my respect with an apartment."

"It's good if you can live a good life."

"You guys know each other?" Zhou Ze asked.

Director Zhao nodded, "Know each other? More than that, this kid has been running around stealing things and picking pockets since he was under ten years old. I've caught him many times.

The first time I caught him, I even told the police under me that I caught a girl thief, who knew it was a boy!"

"I didn't know any better before, don't mention it," Xu Qinglang didn't want Zhou Ze to hear about his past embarrassing deeds.

"Mention it, we have to mention it. You did a lot of bad things before, those mistakes, can't be forgotten, must be remembered in your heart, to warn yourself not to do it again, good days don't come easily."

"Director Zhao, I understand," Xu Qinglang nodded.

"Right, I sent you to Sun-shifu as an apprentice before, how is Sun-shifu doing now?" Director Zhao asked.

"Not bad, but he passed his store to his son, and I came out on my own."

It turned out that Xu Qinglang opened a noodle restaurant for this reason as well. Back then, his family had an accident and he almost became a hooligan. Director Zhao, who was the head of the police station at the time, caught him and educated him several times. In the end, Director Zhao arranged for him to work as an apprentice in a noodle shop, which was considered to have put him on the right path.

Otherwise, Xu Qinglang might have to add another apartment, that is, a prison cell.

"Director Zhao, why did you come here?" After speaking, Xu Qinglang whispered, "Let me tell you, come here less, the feng shui isn't good."

The implication was that there were more dead people than living people who came to Zhou Ze's bookstore to read books.

Zhou Ze raised his eyebrows beside him,

what does that mean?

"You brat, you still haven't changed your habit of pretending to be mysterious. I was born under the red flag and grew up under the red flag. I don't believe in these crooked ways.

Besides, if you act right and sit straight, you don't have to be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door if you haven't done anything wrong,

even if there are really ghosts in this world, the ghosts are afraid of me, I won't be afraid of ghosts!"

Zhou Ze touched his nose beside him, you are right.

"Director Zhao, let me personally cook a few dishes, we haven't met in many years, how about a few drinks tonight?"

"Can't do it, someone will come to pick me up later, I'm going on a business trip to another province, I'm just afraid of being bored on the road, so I specially bought two novels to read on the road."

"You're so busy even though you're the director," Xu Qinglang said regretfully.

"It's good to be busy, I'm a police officer, if the police are lazy, the people won't be able to rest easy."

Director Zhao scratched his head, put his police hat back on, and then took out his phone again to check the time, saying,

"It's about time, they should be here to pick me up, I'll go first."

"Take care."

Zhou Ze thought that he had finally sent away this radiant great god.

Director Zhao walked to the door, then thought of something, reached into his pocket, apparently preparing to take out his wallet:

"Look at my memory, I took the book and drank the tea, and almost forgot to pay."

"Look at you being so polite, I paid," Xu Qinglang immediately stepped forward and said, "This boss grew up eating my food, he's one of us."

"............" Zhou Ze.

"That won't do, why should you pay for the books I bought?" Director Zhao disagreed.

"Okay, I'll personally visit you in a few days, let you return the money for the books, and I'll bum a meal, how about it?" Xu Qinglang begged, "You have to give me a reason to visit your house, right?"

"Okay, your aunt's cooking is still good, I might not be home at that time, let your aunt cook a meal for you, and you learn from her, just say I said it. Strive to turn this noodle shop into a hotel in the future.

People always have to have some pursuits, don't just lie on those houses and wait to die, that's not interesting."

"Hey, what am I going to do if you're not home," Xu Qinglang said with a smile.

"Alright, I'm leaving, goodbye!" Director Zhao waved to Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang, pushed open the bookstore door and left.

"Boss, there are so many cars outside." Bai Yingying, who was originally on the second floor, walked down the stairs and shouted to the people in the bookstore.

"What cars?" Xu Qinglang asked, "A wedding car procession?"

"Wedding cars don't have eight-carried sedan chairs with license plates," Zhou Ze joked with Xu Qinglang.

"Not wedding cars, taxis, a lot of taxis, the whole road is full of taxis," Bai Yingying said, she could see very clearly from the second-floor window.

"Taxis?" Xu Qinglang was taken aback, and said, "Damn it, I said why it's so difficult to get a taxi today, taxis are nowhere to be seen, are they organizing a strike and parade?"

Suddenly, Xu Qinglang froze,

he seemed to have thought of something, immediately took out his phone and started searching, finally, he found it.

It was a news item from half a month ago,

the news homepage had a large photo of Director Zhao, and the content below described that a car theft gang that had been running around in multiple provinces was arrested in Tongcheng by a deputy director of the police bureau who was off duty and returning home. During the struggle between the two sides, the deputy director unfortunately died in the line of duty.

Three days later, the police wiped out the criminal gang in one fell swoop, without missing a single one. The car theft gang mainly stole taxis, and they also had the lives of two taxi drivers on their hands.

Director Zhao had already sacrificed.

"He's already dead... I remember I read this news, and I was sad for a long time, but as soon as I saw him in front of me, I subconsciously felt that he was still alive, and I didn't even think about this news."

After speaking, Xu Qinglang angrily looked at Zhou Ze:

"He's a ghost, he's not a living person, why didn't you remind me just now, I still have a lot of things to say to him!"

Zhou Ze was also stunned and said, "He's a ghost?"

"Didn't you notice? You're a ghost messenger, didn't you notice?"

"I specially observed him when he came in, he's a person."

"How could he be a person!" Xu Qinglang almost roared.

He could have said goodbye to him before, but just now he was only concerned with chatting!

"What am I lying to you for, I carefully observed him, I really didn't find out that he was a ghost."

"I didn't notice either," Bai Yingying walked over at this time.

At this time, on the road in front of the store,

taxis lined up in two rows and moved slowly forward, the procession was very long, almost endless.

Xu Qinglang pushed open the bookstore door and walked out, Zhou Ze and Bai Yingying also followed out.

Nearly a thousand taxis spontaneously organized themselves into a procession and moved forward. The taxi drivers changed their usual habit of driving fast and constantly overtaking,

this time,

they were driving very slowly.

At the rear of the procession,

there was a hearse, playing mourning music,

at the same time, a large black and white photo was hanging above the hearse, it was Director Zhao's portrait.

"Is it a funeral today," Xu Qinglang said sadly, "So he said he was going on a business trip, and someone was coming to pick him up, is it this funeral procession?

But how could I not see that he was a ghost, and you can't see it either."

"Some people are alive, but they are already dead;

some people are dead, but they are still alive.

Perhaps, that's the reason," Zhou Ze said.

"Sigh." Xu Qinglang nodded upon hearing this, then waved to the long procession, he was saying goodbye.

At the same time, he also felt a little relieved, no wonder it was so difficult to get a taxi in Tongcheng today.

Zhou Ze watched the hearse with the portrait slowly drive past,

and said in his heart:

"Farewell."

——————

This story is based on true events.