Midnight Bookstore

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The next morning, Zhou Ze went to the restaurant opposite the bookstore after washing his face. It had gradually become a habit for him. Eating was no longer an enjoyment for him, it had turned into a daily task. He just needed to be effective at the task, and nothing was more effective than settling it in Xu Qinglang’s restaurant next door.

“Bitter melon juice,” Xu Qinglang placed a glass of juice in front of Zhou Ze before serving him a plate of egg-fried rice.

Zhou Ze took a sip of it first. Strong, intolerable bitterness filled his mouth as soon as the juice went down his throat. He even felt like his stomach and intestines got tangled up when he swallowed the juice.

Zhou Ze finally focused after around ten seconds. He took a deep breath.

It was seriously bitter!

“HAHA, did you like it?” Xu Qinglang looked like he was waiting to be complimented. He sat down in front of Zhou Ze, “Speaking of which, do you a heavy mouth? Can’t you eat without having to drink stuff like this?”

{TL Note: ‘Heavy mouth’ means a person that likes to eat food with strong taste or flavor in Chinese.}

Zhou Ze gathered his courage and emptied the glass of bitter melon juice in one go. He quickly picked up the chopsticks and wolfed down the fried rice.

A minute later, Zhou Ze was done eating. He placed the plate down and closed his eyes.

“Look at you, you’re like a demon that has just climbed out of Hell,” Xu Qinglang teased.

It was difficult to tell if he was just joking or hinting at something else.

Zhou Ze looked at the man sitting in front of him. It was normal that his wife and his sister-in-law did not see the five men the other day, but the owner of the restaurant clearly saw them. Otherwise, he would not have offered to cook them the braised pork rice.

However, the two did not bring it up since the day, perhaps it was better this way.

“You’re not doing takeaway orders today?” Zhou Ze asked.

For the past few days including New Year’s Eve, Xu Qinglang’s phone kept ringing with takeaway orders, but it was a lot quieter today. He did not see any food delivery workers either.

“I’m resting,” Xu Qinglang took out his cigarettes. He put one in his mouth and gave Zhou Ze one.

It was quite strange that the man was resting on New Year instead on New Year’s Eve, but it did not matter since the man had more than twenty properties.

“Have you heard about a ‘Ghost Litter’?” Zhou Ze asked. He clearly remembered everything that had happened last night, but he went straight to bed in his freezer after it happened.

It was true that Zhou Ze had saved the kid’s life, but he really could not be bothered, even if something was wrong.

He just needed to mind his own business and be more careful. He would not mind lending a hand to people that he stumbled into, but he would not want to force anything either.

Even if there was something wrong with the little girl in the flowery dress, it was none of Zhou Ze’s business.

“A ghost littler?” Xu Qinglang was stunned for a moment before he burst out laughing, “Hehe, perhaps there are lots of them on New Year’s Eve. Apparently, lots of people burn joss money for the dead during the day, so I guess the dead did not mind spending some money hiring some litters?”

Xu Qinglang yawned after he was done with the nonsense, “By the way, why isn’t your bookstore open?”

“I’m opening it at night.”

“Sure, as you please,” Xu Qinglang took out his phone and glanced at it, “Say, why don’t we go watch a movie this afternoon?”

Silence. An awkward silence…

“I’m not going,” Zhou Ze rejected the offer.

“Really, I even made a new juice just for you, yet you aren’t willing to go watch a movie with me. Men are nothing but jerks.”

“…”

“Sorry, I somehow forgot I’m a man, too,” Xu Qinglang shook his head grumpily, as if he was regretting that he was not born a girl.

“Did you go through some kind of trauma when you were young?” Zhou Ze asked. “I happened to know some psychologists. They might be able to help you.”

Xu Qinglang giggled.

“Heterosexuality is a heresy that exists to produce offspring. Homosexuality is true love.”

“I’m afraid I don’t agree with you.”

“It seems like we have different beliefs.”

——

The two parted on bad terms after the conversation. Zhou Ze went back to his bookstore. He opened the door and hesitated, before deciding not to lock it. He turned on the computer and sent Doctor Lin a message on WeChat.

“Shall we watch a movie in the afternoon?”

Doctor Lin replied around ten minutes later, “I’m at work.”

Falling sick or accidents would still happen on New Year. Zhou Ze, who was once a doctor too, knew hospitals rarely gave doctors any holiday.

It was a reasonable excuse, but Zhou Ze was still displeased by it.

Zhou Ze had the urge to tell her that he was Zhou Ze instead of the pain in the arse, Xu Le.

However, he was worried that it would be too much of a shock for Doctor Lin. The woman’s impression of him might even topple. Most importantly, the fewer people that knew his secret, the better.

Someone was coming to catch him eventually, Zhou Ze was well aware of that.

He was waiting for it to happen, but he did not choose to curl up in a dark corner like a rat in the sewers. He needed to live, and he wanted to live a normal life. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to come back from Hell. He should have just walked the entire Yellow Spring Path.

Zhou Ze could not tell if his neighbor knew what he was. He did not care, either.

“We’ll go tonight,” Doctor Lin replied.

Zhou Ze smiled. He felt like an idiot, like he was back in middle school and the class monitor was smiling and him shyly.

He had lived a tiring past life. It was time for him to enjoy a little.

There were many things that one only learned when they were old, or when their end was near. However, it was too late for them to start over again.

The chance to live again was very precious to Zhou Ze.

A red sedan stopped in front of the bookstore. Two people came out of it.

One was a woman in her twenties, and one was only around the age of six.

The woman was wearing a red dress. Her hair was drifting in the wind. Even though she already had a daughter, she was still gorgeous. As a matter of fact, it even granted her a different charm.

The girl was wearing overalls. She must be wearing a few layers inside, as she was wrapped up like a rice dumpling. She was adorable.

However, Zhou Ze’s eyes squinted subconsciously when he saw the girl. –She came in the end…

The girl had taken the initiative to come find him.

He was actually quite pleased when he heard Doctor Lin mention that the girl was looking for him. It turned out that the girl didn’t want to let him go.

She was the reason that the father of four kids had died…

The door was pushed open. The woman curiously looked around while the little girl timidly went over to the counter and said in a soft voice, “Hello, uncle.”

Zhou Ze nodded politely.

Meanwhile, he was wondering if he should just use his fingernails and strangle the little girl to death right on the spot.

“Hi, I am Ruirui’s mother.” The woman came up to Zhou Ze and placed a gift on the counter. “Thank you,” the woman bowed to Zhou Ze sincerely.

“You’re welcome,” Zhou Ze did not stand up.

He was trying to pretend that everything was normal, just so the girl would not realize anything, but it was just too difficult.

Even an actor that had won an Oscar would struggle to remain calm in front of the little girl after seeing what the driver had seen prior to his death.

Since he knew it would not work, he decided to just be himself instead.

“Mum, I want to stay here and read books,” Ruirui said.

“Sure, I’ll go do my hair. You can stay here with uncle and read some books,” the woman smiled at Zhou Ze, “Sorry about that.”

“Not at all.”

“I only learned about your bookstore from Doctor Lin.”

Such a busybody!

“You and Doctor Lin are perfect together.”

That sounded so unconvincing. Even Xu Le would not agree with it.

The woman left in her car, leaving her daughter behind. It was a bookstore, and the owner had saved her daughter’s life. He was Doctor Lin’s husband too, thus the woman was not worried about leaving her daughter behind.

Ruirui went ahead and chose an illustrated story. She sat down on a plastic stool and started reading it.

The little girl did not make any noise.

She did not ask for a drink, nor did she ask for a snack.

Zhou Ze sat behind the counter and watched her.

Meanwhile, Xu Qinglang came in through the door. He quickly went over to the girl and picked her up as if he had just discovered a porcelain doll.

“Hi there, such a cute little girl.”

“Thank you, sister,” Ruirui replied.

The smile on Xu Qinglang’s face widened. The little girl’s comment had definitely scratched Xu Qinglang’s itch.

Zhou Ze remained seated with a gloomy face.

“Come, I have something to tell you,” Xu Qinglang placed the kid down and pointed at Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang went out of the bookstore.

“Someone from the shopping district came and asked if we want to terminate our contract. They are willing to give us back the rent that we’ve paid in advance.”

“I won’t terminate the contract,” Zhou Ze did not want to move anywhere for the time being. Besides, he did not really have any money. Even if he got the rental back, he would not have enough money to move the bookstore somewhere else.

“I’m thinking the same thing too,” Xu Qinglang nodded, “So I’ll just go ahead and talk to them on your behalf?”

“Sure.”

“Alright, it’s a deal then.”

The two smoked a cigarette outside before parting ways.

—

When Zhou Ze turned around and went into the bookstore, the little girl was no longer sitting on the plastic stool. The book was placed on another stool beside the first one.

Zhou Ze frowned. He raised his head and heard the tapping of her boots coming from the stairs.

The little girl turned the corner, revealing half her body at the corner.

She had gone to the upper floor…