Midnight Bookstore

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

According to the local newspaper, seven people had died in the fire that broke out in the cinema, while more than thirty people were injured.

A week had passed since the fire. The cinema was closed, and it was unlikely that it would reopen anytime soon. There was a chance that the cinema would be closed forever since it had been losing money. There was no reason to reopen it again.

If that happened, the shopping center was basically dead.

Zhou Ze did not contact Doctor Lin over the week. The two had been minding their own business. The parents-in-law did call a few times asking Zhou Ze why he had not been home for a long time.

Zhou Ze eventually blacklisted their numbers.

The only problem was, he had used his father-in-law’s money to open the bookstore. Gifts blinded the eyes of the wise, but the problem was, Zhou Ze had yet to come up with a way to make enough money so he could move the bookstore somewhere else.

He had to say that Xu Le had left him with a pretty bad start.

A few media companies did contact him, asking if they could interview Zhou Ze for his brave act, and set him up as a role model for the younger generation, but Zhou Ze rejected them all.

He had no interest in making a name for himself. As the saying went, a tall tree was more likely to attract the wind. He would more likely place himself at risk if he was famous.

Business was as usual this week. The gross profit he earned every day was less than a hundred yuan. Zhou Ze could not even afford to pay the rent and the bills, but he did not seem to be bothered.

He was more curious about why Xu Qinglang had not opened his restaurant for the whole week.

Zhou Ze even hired a lock opener that lacked conscience to open the lock of the restaurant. He searched inside, but failed to find any plum juice. The kitchen was all cleaned up.

Zhou Ze was overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness. When a beautiful man with over twenty properties decided it was time for a change and left to pursue something else, it was almost impossible for anyone to track him down.

As such, Zhou Ze was having difficulty surviving the week.

Chili oil, aged vinegar, soy sauce, concentrated orange juice; he had tried every single one of them. He was able to take a few bites, but he would still find himself suffering from great disgust. None of them were as effective as Xu Qinglang’s heirloom plum juice.

At night, Zhou Ze crouched in front of the bookstore, smoking a cigarette. He would occasionally look at the restaurant opposite his bookstore with a grim face.

A few pagoda incense sticks were set aflame by the road. They were set up by the owner of the shopping mall, following the rituals and worship of the God of Wealth. Even though he clearly knew that even the God of Wealth would not be able to save the shopping mall, he did it anyway.

What if a miracle happened?

Zhou Ze would glance behind him or look into the mirror at times.

The vengeful spirit of the man in the suit gradually materialized. It was the seventh day of his death tonight. It was almost time for him to get his revenge.

It was extremely rare for the soul of a deceased person would turn into a vengeful spirit. In addition to that, a normal vengeful spirit would mostly cause a person to trip or bite their tongue when they were eating. It was quite impressive if a vengeful spirit could make a person fall sick for a few days.

The kind of vengeful spirit roaming around and killing people recklessly like in the movies, it did not exist in real life. Otherwise, the world would already be in chaos.

Even a ghost that had reincarnated by claiming someone else’s body, like Zhou Ze, was forced to keep a low profile. How could the ghosts that did not even have flesh dare to stir up trouble?

Zhou Ze had spent the entire week reading some books, daydreaming, and cutting his nails, while checking how much the vengeful spirit behind him had materialized at times.

It felt like…he was raising the vengeful spirit. He had experienced how it felt like to be a father.

-Daddy loves you, daddy is waiting for you to grow up…-

Zhou Ze could clearly sense the emotions of the vengeful spirit. The man was not directing his hatred at the fire, but at him instead. He was angry and looking forward to getting his revenge.

Perhaps the man thought he could avenge himself when the seventh day arrived. How interesting…

Zhou Ze shook off the cigarette buds. Once the vengeful spirit materialized, it was time for Zhou Ze to teach him why the roses were red.

Zhou Ze did not think he had done anything wrong, nor did he think the man was wrong for hating him.

Zhou Ze had encountered a similar situation before. Once a man was drowning, and someone went into the water to save him. In the end, the first person who was drowning grabbed onto the second person so tight that both of them drowned in the end.

Normally, if you wanted to save someone that was drowning, you had to grab them from behind. If you approached the person from the front, they would just grab onto you like their last hope.

The man’s hatred was understandable, but it did not give him an excuse to trouble Zhou Ze after the clock struck twelve tonight.

During the day, Zhou Ze ordered a takeaway and had a little chat with the new takeaway boy. He learned that the previous takeaway boy had become famous lately. He was invited to a lot of functions to compliment him for his brave act. The company also rewarded him internally and gave him the nickname “The Most Handsome Delivery Boy”. He was still delivering takeaways, but he was also streaming while he was working. He was quite popular.

Zhou Ze drank mouthfuls of vinegar while he was eating while scrolling on Weibo. He was surprised to see the takeaway boy keyword in the search bar.

The fire had taken place a week ago. The topic of the brave takeaway boy that risked his life to save the people in the cinema that caught fire was now a trending topic not only in Tongcheng, but in the whole country too.

——

Around eleven at night, Zhou Ze was watching a movie called That Demon Within while waiting for the man in a suit behind him to materialize completely. It was a recent and well-received film by Dante Lim, with Nick Cheung and Daniel Wu as the main actors.

The door swung open. The takeaway boy in his uniform walked in while holding a selfie stick.

“This is a bookstore that I visit quite often. I come here and read some books after I finish my work every day. It’s not necessarily for knowledge, I just enjoy reading books.”

He took the book Eight Crises written by Wen Tiejun from a shelf.

The book was about the economic crises that China had faced recently. The takeaway boy opened the book and sat down on the plastic stool.

Zhou Ze remembered he had finished two volumes of Battle Through the Heavens when he last came in.

“Alright, I’ll be ending the stream here. I would like to read my book in silence. You all should get some rest too. Thank you for keeping me in company for the whole day,” the man bowed slightly, facing the camera on his phone.

The screen of the phone was soon filled up with fireworks, planes, and rockets. He was quite popular indeed!

After ending the stream, the man closed the book and put it back on the shelf. He stretched and said to Zhou Ze, “Boss, let’s go grab some supper, my treat.”

Zhou Ze shook his head and pointed at the screen in front of him.

“What are you watching?” the young man came closer and smiled when he took a glance at the screen, “I already watched it, it’s That Demon Within, right?”

“Yeah,” Zhou Ze nodded while glimpsing at the time at the bottom right corner of the screen. It was almost twelve.

The “baby” behind him was starting to feel impatient.

“None of the reporters interviewed you?” the young man asked.

Zhou Ze shook his head.

“You should accept their offer, it might attract some customers for your bookstore.”

“I prefer the quiet,” Zhou Ze said. Money was important, but staying alive was even more important!

“You can continue the movie later.” The young man seemed quite fond of Zhou Ze. After all, they had gone into a fire together to save people’s lives!

“Do you know? This movie is actually based on a real story. I believe the person was called Xu Bugao,” Zhou Ze said.

“Really? I didn’t know that,” the young man smiled faintly. “It’s just a film, so I didn’t really pay much attention to it.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right,” Zhou Ze shut down the laptop and stretched. “It’s already so late, what do you want to eat?”

“Anything.”

“Then I’ll just order takeaway.”

“No, let’s go out and eat instead, my treat. You should stop ordering takeaways. I must tell you, some of the kitchens doing takeaway are horrible. Some don’t even have a proper kitchen, they just rented a run-down home. Tsk tsk, I don’t know about you, but I don’t really dare to eat takeaways.”

“I see,” Zhou Ze nodded. “By the way, did you know what Xu Bugao did?”

“Won’t I know once you tell me?”

“He killed his business partner and ran away with the money. He started living a luxurious life. He even attended some reality shows on TV. He enjoyed the attention he was getting,” Zhou Ze rubbed his nose, “A complicated person. He really enjoyed the limelight.”

The young man fell silent. He did not continue the topic, “Boss, are you going out to eat supper or not?”

“Not really, didn’t you see the pagoda incense sticks in front of my bookshop? I have been smelling them the whole day, I don’t really have an appetite now.”

The pagoda incense sticks were bigger and taller than the normal incense sticks. They were stacked up like a pagoda, so they could burn for a very long time.

“Hehe, there isn’t any smell in here,” the young man pointed at the air conditioning system and said, “I bet there’s an air purifier installed in it too?”

“Yeah, together with the air conditioner. Besides, I like spraying some air freshener at times to make it a better environment to read books in. I don’t sell coffee or cakes, but at least the smell is good in here.”

“So you’re not accepting my invitation still.” The young man pretended to be angry. “Even though we’ve gone through life and death together.”

Zhou Ze raised his hand and asked curiously, “Actually, I’m quite curious about one thing.”

“What is it?”

“That day, I didn’t even smell anything. It’s unlikely that you smelled something outside in here, too. How did you smell the fire?”

The young man was startled. He seemed a little stiff, but he quickly collected his thoughts and said, “My nose has been sensitive since I was young. My grandmother always said that I had the nose of a dog. I always knew where the snacks were hidden.”

“Do you know what day it is today?” Zhou Ze asked.

“What is it?”

“The seventh day.”

“The seventh day?”

“Yes, the seventh day after the seven people died in the fire!”