Late Night Bookstore - Chapter 28

In the end, Zhou Ze called the police. The police arrived quickly. According to Zhou Ze’s statement, he explained that the delivery man suddenly went mad after arriving at his store, claiming that many souls of those he had burned to death were coming for revenge. He then began to kick and punch the walls wildly before passing out.

By the time Zhou Ze finished giving his statement at the police station, it was already daylight. The arson case at the cinema had taken several unexpected twists, but at least the situation was now progressing. Previously, the police might not have suspected the brave delivery man because they overlooked the obvious. But now, even though there wasn’t conclusive evidence, as long as they focused on him, the truth would likely emerge soon.

As for the shift in public opinion, the shock of online bystanders, and the disillusionment of those who had once showered the delivery man with gifts, these were not things Zhou Ze needed to worry about. He had done all he could, and that was all he was willing to do.

Matters concerning ghosts should be left to ghosts, and matters involving people should be handled by the police.

Standing outside the police station, breathing in the fresh morning air, Zhou Ze’s mind cleared.

When he returned to his store by taxi, he saw that Xu Qinglang’s shop next door had already reopened for business. Xu Qinglang had changed into some casual clothes and was sitting at the shop entrance, sorting vegetables while basking in the sun, humming a little tune from “Tongzi Xi¹“, leisurely exuding a charming elegance.

Everything seemed the same as before.

Zhou Ze walked into the shop. Xu Qinglang clapped his hands and asked, “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything is fine. I’d like some sour plum juice.”

Xu Qinglang nodded.

Zhou Ze sat down in his shop, gently tapping his fingers on the tabletop.

Before long, Xu Qinglang served a bowl of egg noodles. The broth was clear, and the noodles were chewy, but none of that mattered. What mattered most was that the familiar sour plum juice was once again in front of Zhou Ze.

“Can you make a whole barrel for me? How much would that be?” Zhou Ze pointed at the water dispenser in the store. “Start with one barrel.”

“Maybe later,” Xu Qinglang sat down in front of Zhou Ze, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He seemed to want to act like a rogue smoking with a nonchalant attitude, but somehow it gave off a discordant feeling, like “a woman smoking could also look this beautiful.”

He wasn’t effeminate, nor was he gay. It was simply that fate had given him the wrong appearance.

After finishing the noodles with the sour plum juice, Zhou Ze surprisingly didn’t feel as nauseous as usual, but he still drank several more glasses of water to settle his stomach.

“Do you remember what happened to Lin Daiyu² when she first dined at the Jia Mansion?” Xu Qinglang asked, exhaling a smoke ring.

Zhou Ze thought for a moment and understood.

When Lin Daiyu first entered the Jia mansion, during her first family feast, after the meal, the servants brought tea. Lin Daiyu had been taught by her father that drinking tea after meals could lead to indigestion, but seeing that Grandmother Jia and the other sisters were all drinking, she had no choice but to follow suit.

“As long as I can get full, that’s fine,” Zhou Ze shook his head. Given his current situation, it’s likely he’ll never be able to become a gourmet or a food critic in this life. As for digestive issues, well, that’s a matter for another time.

“I feel a bit unsettled,” Xu Qinglang bluntly said, “My parents are gone.”

Xu Qinglang’s parents had passed away long ago, but Zhou Ze knew what he meant this time; they had moved on.

“How did it happen so suddenly?” Zhou Ze asked, though he considered offering condolences, he felt it wasn’t appropriate.

“They were discovered.”

Zhou Ze’s hand trembled slightly as he held his cigarette.

Discovered?

Zhou Ze remembered that the old man had also shouted “They’ve found me!” just before he died.

Xu Qinglang looked at Zhou Ze. “I’m very bitter and resentful. Why did she take my parents but not you?”

“She?” Zhou Ze immediately thought of the little girl and, piecing together Xu Qinglang’s behavior that night and his sudden departure, started to understand.

“Her? That can’t be right.”

“Everything in the underworld follows a certain order, and the deceased embark on their journey!” Xu Qinglang lowered his voice, staring into Zhou Ze’s eyes. “A long tongue marks the way, a deep throat guides to the netherworld, does this sound familiar?”

“Hei Bai Wuchang³?”

“That’s just a general term.” Xu Qinglang sighed, “But they are indeed enforcers, wandering the mortal world, maintaining order, distinguishing between the living and the dead. The living follow the mortal path, the dead cross the Naihe Bridge⁴.”

“Oh.”

Zhou Ze still had doubts. If the little girl truly held an identity like Bai Wuchang, what about the time she revealed her long tongue on the school bus, causing the crash and killing the driver?

“She didn’t take me but took your parents, so now you hate me?” Zhou Ze pointed to himself.

“Yes,” Xu Qinglang nodded.

“There’s no poison in these noodles, right?”

“……” Xu Qinglang.

“No poison, right?” Zhou Ze asked again.

“No,” Xu Qinglang replied.

“That’s good.” Zhou Ze didn’t know that the stir-fried pork over rice that day had been poisoned. If Dr. Lin hadn’t arrived a bit earlier, he might have truly consumed that meal.

“Are you pretending to be stupid or are you actually stupid?” Xu Qinglang asked, annoyed. “Why didn’t she take you?”

“Yeah, why didn’t she take me?” Zhou Ze asked in return.

“I’m asking you!” Xu Qinglang raised his voice.

“I don’t know either,” Zhou Ze shrugged. “Maybe it’s because I saved her once.”

“……” Xu Qinglang.

The conversation ended as the last of the cigarettes burned out.

This time, both of them had spoken openly, breaking the silent understanding they once shared.

When Zhou Ze returned to his store and was tidying up the plastic stools on the floor, he noticed that under six of them were pasted with varying thicknesses of ghost money.

Was this money for reading or money for food?

Zhou Ze remembered that the old Taoist, who had live-streamed recently, had also given him a stack of ghost money, claiming it could accumulate virtue. So, was this how his ghost money had come from?

How did he get it?

Zhou Ze collected the ghost money, forming a neat stack. It felt nice to the touch, not as rough as the usual ghost money he’d seen; it had a silky texture.

This reminded Zhou Ze of what the old Taoist had said about funeral goods shops, where the business dealt with ghosts. The best shops were, of course, funeral goods shops, because the items sold there were all for the dead.

So, if the ghost money in his hand now was the “currency” of the dead, then running a funeral goods shop would definitely be more profitable than his current situation.

In his mind, the image of the man struggling to drink porridge behind the counter in the video flashed again.

Zhou Ze suddenly felt like he had discovered something interesting.

However, as interesting as it was, he didn’t have the energy to deal with it now. After staying up all night, he needed to catch up on sleep.

Zhou Ze pulled down the shutter of his bookstore and locked it. For some reason, the store was now open more at night than during the day. Perhaps, in the future, he could even get a new sign that read:

“Late Night Bookstore.”

After all, there wasn’t much business during the day, and the store had been losing money. He could afford to play around with some gimmicks. The worst outcome would simply be what it was now.

The delivery man had committed a heinous crime, but it had also given Zhou Ze some inspiration.

The shower in the bathroom was now installed. Zhou Ze had bought an electric water heater. He took off his clothes, showered, changed into clean clothes, and went upstairs.

As he bent down to adjust the temperature of the freezer, he froze.

Inside the freezer, there was a person.

The person was lying there with their eyes closed, breathing steadily, and hands crossed over their chest in a peaceful, almost adult-like manner.

It was serene and even cute—

If only her tongue didn’t grow so long.

The little girl had taken over his magpie’s nest.

Zhou Ze wanted to shout for Xu Qinglang next door to come and take revenge.

But on second thought, he gave up. It wasn’t that he was worried about getting Xu Qinglang in trouble, but he doubted Xu Qinglang would dare to seek revenge. In fact, he might even greet her warmly: “Oh, you’re awake? What would you like to eat? I’ll cook for you.”

The little girl opened her eyes. Her gaze was deep, no longer as clear and innocent as when they first met.

She reached out her hand, and Zhou Ze helped lift the lid of the freezer.

The little girl sat up inside, and Zhou Ze noticed that she hadn’t set a temperature but had only activated the ventilation.

“Doesn’t it feel cold lying there?” the little girl asked as she sat in the freezer. Before Zhou Ze could answer, she continued, “Oh, I forgot. You’re different.”

After she finished speaking, the little girl sitting in the freezer gently patted the empty space beside her, looking at Zhou Ze with an innocent face. “Want to sleep together?”

Zhou Ze reached out, intending to ruffle the girl’s hair, but stopped mid-motion.

She was a being similar to Hei Bai Wuchang, an enforcer of the underworld’s laws in the mortal realm.

The little girl grabbed Zhou Ze’s hand, pressing it onto her head, and guided his hand to gently ruffle her hair.

“……” Zhou Ze.

“You’re good,” the little girl finally stood up from the freezer, though she seemed to have some difficulty climbing out due to her short legs.

Zhou Ze lifted her out of the freezer.

He still wasn’t sure how she had managed to get in there in the first place.

“You’re good,” the little girl pointed at Zhou Ze, repeating.

“Uh… Thanks,” Zhou Ze didn’t know how to respond.

“I’m leaving.” The little girl turned away, her hands crossed behind her back. Zhou Ze could tell she was trying to project a dignified aura.

But like Xu Qinglang, she had the wrong body for it.

She looked far too cute.

Hold it in.

Don’t laugh.

Zhou Ze kept reminding himself.

This was a figure akin to Hei Bai Wuchang. You must not laugh!

Hahahaha!

But he couldn’t help it!

This is bad! Hahaha!

The more he tried to suppress it, the harder it was to stop, until tears came out from laughing too much.

The little girl ignored Zhou Ze’s laughter and didn’t punish him for his lack of respect. Instead, she asked:

“Do you want to replace me?”

TL Notes:

1. Tongzi Xi (童子戏) refers to a local folk opera genre, often performed in regional dialects. It typically features child performers, hence the name “Tongzi” (meaning “child”). While not as widely known as mainstream Chinese opera forms like Peking opera, it retains a cultural significance in specific regions.

2. Lin Daiyu (林黛玉) is one of the central characters in the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦), written by Cao Xueqin during the Qing dynasty. The novel is one of China’s “Four Great Classical Novels” and is highly regarded for its intricate portrayal of the decline of a wealthy aristocratic family.

Lin Daiyu is a highly sensitive and intelligent young woman, known for her beauty, fragility, and poetic talent. She is often depicted as melancholic, prone to illness, and deeply emotional. Throughout the novel, her love for her cousin, Jia Baoyu, is one of the key romantic threads. However, their relationship is complicated by familial pressures, social expectations, and personal misunderstandings.

Lin Daiyu represents the ideal of the tragic heroine in Chinese literature, embodying themes of unfulfilled love, emotional sensitivity, and the impermanence of life. Her character is also symbolic of the fleeting nature of beauty and the fragility of the human spirit.

3. Hei Bai Wuchang (黑白无常), often translated as Black and White Impermanence, are two deities in Chinese mythology who serve as underworld enforcers. They are responsible for escorting the souls of the dead to the afterlife. The “Black Impermanence” (Hei Wuchang) and “White Impermanence” (Bai Wuchang) are depicted as contrasting figures: one is dressed in black and the other in white. They are often portrayed as moral agents, separating the souls of the virtuous from the wicked, and their presence symbolizes justice and order in the underworld.

4. Naihe Bridge (奈何桥), sometimes referred to as the Bridge of Helplessness, is a key element in Chinese mythology related to the afterlife. According to legend, souls of the dead must cross this bridge as they transition from the world of the living to the afterlife. Beneath the bridge flows the “River of Forgetfulness” (Wangchuan), and before crossing, the souls drink the “Soup of Forgetfulness” (Meng Po’s soup) to erase memories of their past lives. The bridge symbolizes the inevitable passage into death, where souls must leave behind all attachments to the mortal world.