Midnight Bookstore

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Doctor Lin left the car when she saw Zhou Ze approaching. The two had quite a mutual understanding. They both walked toward the entrance of the shopping district in silence.

The shopping district was basically dead. Apart from Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang’s shops, there was only a cinema and a buffet-style restaurant left.

That being said, due to the lack of crowds, the cinema was most likely making a loss. Not many people came here to watch a movie. They could easily book the entire hall with just the price of their tickets.

Since it was New Year, most people were still on holiday. It was quite common for families to come and watch a movie together. The cinema was a lot livelier than usual.

However, Zhou Ze assumed it to be the final radiance of a setting sun.

The shopping mall would soon be demolished. It could be described as when the nest was upset, no eggs would be left intact.

Zhou Ze proceeded to buy the tickets and a set meal for couples before entering the hall with Doctor Lin.

Since they had come late and Zhou Ze had bought the tickets for the closest session, the good seats had all been taken. Zhou Ze and Doctor Lin had no choice but to sit in the first row.

It was not like they could not afford to wait, but there was simply nothing to shop around for in the shopping mall. Besides, Neon Street Detective 2 was a 2D film. It did not matter much if they were seated on the first row.

Doctor Lin did not talk much on the way. She sat quietly beside Zhou Ze with her legs crossed and her eyes on the screen.

Zhou Ze gave her the popcorn, but Doctor Lin waved her hand to indicate no thank you.

Zhou Ze let out a sigh. For someone who had been single for his entire life, he really was clueless when it came to dating a girl.

——

The movie was quite funny. Even Zhou Ze would burst out laughing occasionally. Doctor Lin would laugh too, but she was not the kind that would make a lot of sounds. She was restrained, and good-looking.

However, the atmosphere was slightly different than what Zhou Ze had expected.

It felt dull, like someone had forgotten to put salt in it.

The movie came to an end. Zhou Ze and Doctor Lin walked out of the hall side by side. It was only seven at night, but the shopping mall was already pitch-black darkness when they left the cinema.

Doctor Lin remained silent as she followed Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze wanted to say something, but he did not know what to say.

It was him that suggested they end their relationship. Would the woman think he was a lunatic if he was too passionate today?

“Come to my bookstore…”

“Let’s go to your bookstore…”

The two shared the same thought, as they both wanted to break the awkwardness.

Zhou Ze realized that the restaurant was already closed when he reached the bookstore. He was quite surprised to see that the roll-up door was closed, too. He could not tell if Xu Qinglang was still inside.

—

Doctor Lin chose a magazine and sat down on a chair behind the counter. Zhou Ze also picked a book. He sat down beside the woman and skimmed through it.

Two cups of hot tea were placed on the counter, steam rising into the air.

Zhou Ze suddenly felt like he no longer had the guts to mock Xu Le, as he realized he had somehow turned his first date into a meeting between two strangers!

He had the urge to slap himself on the face as a reward!

“You’re not closing still?” Doctor Lin asked. It was obvious that she was thinking of leaving. It was already night. Once Zhou Ze closed the store, she would have an excuse to leave.

“Oh, I normally open at night,” Zhou Ze was unaware of what the woman was hinting. He simply spoke the truth.

Doctor Lin was left speechless. She smiled and combed her hair over her ear, and continued to read the magazine.

Squeak… The door was pushed open. Two men and a woman came in.

The three were only in their twenties. The two men had obviously drunk some alcohol. One had drunk quite a lot, his whole face was red.

“Boss, do you have water?” the woman asked.

Zhou Ze pointed at the drinking station close to the wall.

The woman went over and poured a few cups of hot water for her friends. She went to the counter and asked, “How much?”

The woman took out her phone to scan and pay.

“Thirty,” Zhou Ze said.

“You can’t overcharge us just because it’s New Year, thirty yuan for three cups of water?” the woman blurted out, but she still paid the money. She turned to her friends and said, “Let’s just rest up here and read some books.”

They completely treated the bookstore as a resting spot. It was quite reasonable since thirty yuan was like the minimum cost to eat at a tea house for them.

“Books? What books?” the man that was a little drunk yelled.

“I want to read ghost stories, horror novels! Where can I find them?” the man exclaimed, and burst out laughing.

Zhou Ze let out a sigh and took out two horror novel series from below the counter. He handed the novels to the man and touched the man with his finger in the process.

Mmm, he was a human, not a ghost.

The date was already a total failure. It would be even worse if Doctor Lin ended up encountering some ghosts, like the five men that came into his bookstore last time. Zhou Ze did not want it to come down to that.

It was a relief that the man was a human. Look at how adorable he was, even though he was drunk.

Zhou Ze did not bother touching the other two, and it was not like he had any excuse to, either.

The drunk man sat down on the ground while his friends sat on the plastic stools. They played their phones while flipping through the books. It was like they had to make sure the minimum amount of thirty yuan was well spent.

“What the hell is this story even talking about?” The man threw the novel to the side of the drinking station.

The woman quickly went over to pick up the book. She had spilled some water on the side before, thus the novel was wet when she picked it up.

“Boss, how much is this?”

“Twenty percent off the original price,” Zhou Ze was amused. These three young adults were really something.

That being said, Zhou Ze did hope that the drunk man would throw all the books on the shelves and dirty them all, just so he could get rid of them.

The woman helplessly went to the counter and paid the money. She went over to the drunk man.

“Come, let’s go, stop causing trouble.”

“This is no horror, I bet the author has never seen a ghost before,” the drunk man insisted.

Zhou Ze softly whispered, “Mm, you have seen a ghost, it’s right in front of you.”

“I’m not going back, there’s no chance I’m going back! I’m not sleeping tonight,” the man continued with his outburst. “I keep seeing the ghost when I go home and when I sleep. I would rather stay here and read books for the whole night! At least I won’t see a ghost here!”

“…” Doctor Lin placed her book aside and looked at the drunk man. It seemed like his words had caught her attention.

“Yo, brother Liu, is your house haunted?” the other man that came in with the group of three teased him.

The woman looked at him, hinting him to keep quiet.

“Screw you! Your house is haunted!” the drunk man rose to his feet. “Damn it, that ghost keeps bothering me every New Year’s. She could have bothered the others, like my two brothers and my sister, or my parents or grandparents, but I’m the only one that she troubles!”

“A ghost lady?” the other man asked.

“I wouldn’t mind if it’s a ghost lady, but it’s…it’s a b**ch!”

(Ed. Note: Referring to a female dog.)

His friends immediately burst out laughing, even Zhou Ze and Doctor Lin let out a few dry coughs. It was extremely funny, especially the expression the man was wearing when he said it was a b**ch.

He just wanted to tell someone about the suffering he was enduring!

“Every New Year’s, she comes and troubles me for a few days! She would come when I’m going to bed, f**k!”

The man might be drunk, but he still managed to control himself. He did not look scary, but amusing instead.

“It started seven years ago. It shows up on time every New Year, even more punctual than my parents giving me red packets!” The man hugged his head and burst into tears on the ground., “Damn it, I can’t stand it anymore!”

“What happened exactly? Did you know the dog?” the other man asked.

“It used to be a dog that our family had as a pet. She tore the money that my father put under the bed into pieces, so we ended up killing her and eating her.”

“The dog must have come back to get her revenge,” the man said.

“But why am I the only one she troubles? It was me, my brothers, my father, and my grandfather that killed her! The whole family was eating her meat, we simply treated it as an extra dish for dinner during New Year! That dog tore five thousand yuan into pieces, she simply deserves it! Why am I the only one she troubles?” the drunk man said. He almost burst into tears.

“I already asked; my brothers, my father, and my grandfather are perfectly fine. Why me?”

“You’re drunk, come, I’ll send you home,” the woman helped the man up. She asked the other man to lend her a hand.

The group left the bookstore. The place immediately fell silent.

“What do you think?” Doctor Lin looked at Zhou Ze. She was not really concerned about the truth. It was just a casual conversation after listening to the story, “That dog, why did she only trouble him? Or maybe there’s something about him that’s different?”

“You’re interested in the story?” Zhou Ze asked in a surprised voice.

“Mm,” Doctor Lin nodded.

Zhou Ze smiled, “It’s actually very simple. If you want to understand a dog, you have to think from its perspective.”

“How?” Doctor Lin smiled, “That’s very hard.”

Yeah, how could a human think from a dog’s perspective?

“The dog’s ghost must have returned to get her revenge,” Zhou Ze explained, “It’s the same as humans, so why didn’t she trouble the others? Perhaps the dog only bit part of the money, but a guy who was still young back then had taken the rest of it, so the dog thinks it’s unfair. She was punished for tearing the money to pieces. She was killed and eaten, and she thinks that’s reasonable, but the guy also stole the money, why wasn’t he punished for it? So she couldn’t accept it, and she came back to trouble the guy instead.”

Doctor Lin shook her head. She seemed quite surprised, “It’s supposed to be a story from a drunk man, but why does it suddenly feel like it’s real after listening to your analysis?”

——

Zhou Ze went over to the spot where the group was seated and saw a wallet on the ground. He picked it up and went to the entrance.

The woman from before quickly showed up too.

“Sorry, I forgot…” she began, and Zhou Ze gave her the wallet. “Thanks,” the woman bowed to express her gratitude, “His family is going to scold him if he loses his wallet and his identification.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Zhou Ze waved his hand.

The woman waved at Zhou Ze and turned around to catch up to her friends.

Under the moonlight, as the woman was running, it seemed like there was a furry yellow tail swaying under her jacket…