Midnight Bookstore

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Three packs of cigarettes in the left hand, a bag of rice balls in the right, and a beautiful satchel on her back…

Bai Yingying did not waste the permission she had to leave the bookstore. It was difficult to tell how she had the time to buy a satchel after buying the cigarettes and the rice balls, after she was only given a limited amount of time!

Bai Yingying pushed open the door and saw two men hugging one another. She quickly put the things down and covered her eyes with her hands. However, she slowly spread her fingers so she could see through the gaps.

She stamped her feet and said in a shy voice, “Tsk tsk tsk, did I happen to come back at the wrong time?”

Xu Qinglang glared at Bai Yingying. The grief on his face was pouring out like the dew in summer.

The strong resentment was utterly terrifying!

Bai Yingying could not help but wonder whether she or the owner of the restaurant across the street was the real gyonshi.

“Did you buy what I need?” Zhou Ze stood up and tidied his clothes. Xu Qinglang rose to his feet and pretended to be buttoning up.

“Boss, I got everything you ask for,” Bai Yingying answered.

“Good, I’m heading out,” Zhou Ze went to grab the cigarettes and the rice balls. He told Bai Yingying, “Look after the bookstore, will you?”

“Not a problem.”

—

After Zhou Ze left the bookstore, Bai Yingying and Xu Qinglang both rolled their eyes at one another.

“What are you looking at, corpse?” Xu Qinglang snapped.

“I won’t see you if you keep hiding in the closet,” Bai Yingying snapped in return.

“You’re cold, cold like an ice pop!” Xu Qinglang added.

“Humph, your waterway is obstructed, and you will easily stumble into bandits on the dried path that will end up as a disaster for you,” Bai Yingying returned the favor.

“Humph!”

“Humph!”

The two parted on bad terms. Xu Qinglang went back to his restaurant while Bai Yingying imitated Zhou Ze by sitting down behind the counter. She poured herself a glass of hot water and got herself a book, and pretended to read it.

——

Zhou Ze was planning a visit to the Confucian Temple. Regardless of the sorrow and grief that life was giving him, he still had to endure and get along with his life.

It was similar to the despair of someone realizing that they would have to go back to work on the last night of a vacation.

They wanted to just give up on everything, but they still ended up setting the alarm for the next morning.

It was just how life was. People were always curious about the secret of how successful people in society managed to be successful. They would be envious of the attention they had gathered.

It was like a pregnant woman who just given birth to a child. Many relatives and friends would come to congratulate her, yet none of them cared how much sexual intercourse she had gone through to bear the child.

It might be a vulgar way to describe it, but the same principles applied.

Zhou Ze could only try to comfort himself.

He would have to think about how to get his revenge on Xu Le’s cousin and the driver of the truck. At the very least, Zhou Ze knew he was not a forgiving person.

He was not as rampant and bold as the person in Chengdu, but he would not let it go easily, since it had something to do with his death in his previous life.

He took out his phone and was about to hail a ride when he saw a message.

“What are you doing?” It was a text from Doctor Lin.

Zhou Ze was a little hesitant. As a matter of fact, he was feeling a little complicated, since Xu Le had only wanted to kill him because the beautiful doctor was secretly in love with him.

A beautiful woman was secretly in love with him.

A beautiful woman that was someone else’s wife was secretly in love with him.

A beautiful woman that was someone else’s wife and still a virgin was secretly in love with him.

It was indeed something to be proud of, but she was the reason why he had died in his previous life!

“I’m at the bookstore,” Zhou Ze replied to the message.

He was not Xu Le, he would not put the blame on someone else. The cycle of karma between him and Xu Le had nothing to do with Doctor Lin.

As a matter of fact, after he slowly discovered Doctor Lin’s affection toward him since he died in his previous life, he would be lying to himself if he said he had no feelings for her, especially after how the woman hugged him without any hesitation after he told her the truth, even though she was so scared that her body was trembling.

Zhou Ze could not tell whether the heavens were blind or not, but Doctor Lin had been the greatest highlight since he came back to life.

“I’m on the street outside your bookstore.”

Zhou Ze raised his head and looked around him. He eventually saw a white Maserati near the corner of the street.

He had scratched the Cayenne the other night while he was driving. It seemed like Doctor Lin had gotten herself a new car.

The detestable ideological trend of worshiping money!

Zhou Ze walked up to the car. He opened the door and got into the passenger’s seat.

Doctor Lin seemed a little restrained and lost. It was obvious that she had gathered her courage to take the initiative to come and see him.

After all, he was a ghost.

“Xu Le, is he…”

Zhou Ze frowned. Anything about Xu Le was the last thing he wanted to hear about.

“Don’t even mention him, just pretend that he never existed,” Zhou Ze interrupted firmly.

“Will…will you think… I’m a bad woman then?” Doctor Lin asked.

The Confucian moral injunctions for women…

Even though Doctor Lin was not as stubborn when it came to traditional teachings, it was quite obvious still that she was deeply influenced by traditional ideas because of her parents.

If her current husband was Zhou Ze, then what about Xu Le?

“Don’t overthink it.” Zhou Ze shook his head. Reality was zany sometimes.

When Doctor Lin learned that Xu Le was actually Zhou Ze, her tone and stance humbled significantly in front of him. It was as if she was back to the time when she was still an intern, and Zhou Ze was still her mentor.

Zhou Ze never went easy on the interns, regardless of their gender. He ordered them around like his lackeys, assigning all kinds of works to them, including buying him coffee.

After Zhou Ze spilled the beans, he slowly regained his old superiority in front of Doctor Lin.

His male chauvinism was slowly surfacing too.

Those that were loved were always the least afraid of losing the relationship.

“Alright,” Doctor Lin nodded.

Silence followed again.

Zhou Ze did not want to stay quiet. He looked at Doctor Lin and realized she was wearing a pink down jacket and a pair of jeans. Even though the clothes clearly outlined her perfect physique and highlighted her outstanding temperament, Zhou Ze kept feeling like something was missing.

“Wear stockings next time, I like women in stockings,” Zhou Ze said.

Doctor Lin was stunned for a moment, before she blushed.

She was supposed to be grieving. After learning that Xu Le might be dead, she was supposed to be grieving over it instead of being teased by Zhou Ze in the car.

However, she could not resist it. Perhaps she was actually a bad woman, a bad woman who cheated mentally on her husband.

Doctor Lin closed her eyes and resigned herself to the situation.

“I’m talking to you,” Zhou Ze reminded her.

“Oh…ok,” Doctor Lin replied. Her face blushed even more.

Zhou Ze smiled. He knew he was talking so wantonly because he was trying to get his revenge from Xu Le on purpose. Perhaps he was not a good man either…

One was a woman who thought she was a bad woman, and the other was a man who thought he was not a good man.

If they were still living in ancient times, they were basically imitating Pan Jinlian and Simon Qing.

{TL Note: Pan Jinlian and Simon Qing are fictional characters in the Chinese novel Jin Ping Mei (The Plum in the Golden Vase or the Golden Lotus).} 

-Who even cares about the Wu Da-lang stuck between the two?-

“Are you hungry?” Doctor Lin asked.

“Not really,” Zhou Ze answered.

Silence followed again.

Zhou Ze suddenly realized he had been single throughout his life not because he was too focused on his work, but he actually had a low EQ.

It was normal to have an awkward silence with a strange woman.

However, it was his problem that he was awkwardly silent with the woman who was legally his wife.

“Just keep the way it is now. Don’t tell anyone about my identity, just treat me as… Xu Le,” Zhou Ze clenched his teeth when he said the name.

“Sure,” Doctor Lin nodded. It was the same as she had in mind. Keeping everything the same…

“But I do have to remind you about something.”

“Tell me.”

“You can only call me Zhou Ze in bed.” Zhou Ze plucked his ear with his pinky, “I don’t want to hear you suddenly call out Xu Le’s name. You are only allowed to call my name when there’s no one around.”

In bed? Doctor Lin’s heart skipped a beat.

She might have been someone’s wife for some time, but she was still a virgin. She could not help but feel ashamed of the topic and what the man was suggesting!

However, she ended up nodding her head and answering softly, “Sure.”

Zhou Ze seriously believed Doctor Lin was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.

If Xu Le had used force instead of being so timid, perhaps he would have gotten what his heart desired.

On second thought, if Xu Le did force the woman to submit to him, wouldn’t that mean he wouldn’t have hired someone to kill him?

Was it better to have Doctor Lin who was still a virgin, or still be alive in his previous life?

Zhou Ze patted his forehead.

“What’s wrong?” Doctor Lin was deeply concerned about Zhou Ze, “Is your body experiencing some problems because of what happened?”

-Oh my, she’s even addressing me so courteously.-

{TL Note: In the raws, “您”(nin) is used instead of “你”(ni) here.}

Mister Zhou was flattered. Doctor Lin might not only suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, she might be a masochist.

Wait a second, something sounded off. Did she just ask if his body was having some problems?

Zhou Ze looked at Doctor Lin.

How could a man’s body have any problem? It’s unacceptable!

Zhou Ze looked around the car. The space in the front seats was quite limited.

“Get out of the car,” Zhou Ze said.

“Mm.”

Doctor Lin went out even though she was clueless about what she was doing.

Zhou Ze opened the door to the backseat and pointed inside, “Get in.”

Doctor Lin went inside confusedly.

“I have to prove that my body is fine,” Zhou Ze murmured.

It was already dark outside. Besides, the street outside his bookstore was deserted most of the time.

“Don’t you always have a bad appetite?” Doctor Lin asked confusedly in the backseat.

Zhou Ze froze. Was she referring to his appetite when she said his body was having some problems?

Phew… He let out a sigh after he was relieved of the mental burden.

However, he was already on the front line!

Zhou Ze said, “I have to make sure my body is fine in other areas.”

“What areas?” Doctor Lin was utterly confused.

Zhou Ze went into the backseat and closed the door.

The sky was dark, the car was shaking. They had a pleasant time.