After bringing the plaque back, Zhou Ze planned to nail it on both sides. He didn't care which one was on the left or the right.
The little brother next door, Xu Qinglang, is very enthusiastic.
He was squatting at the door peeling garlic. When he saw Zhou Ze preparing to hang the plaque, he directly took out a hammer and nails from his house.
Zhou Ze said thank you and picked up his hammer. He felt it was a bit greasy and heavy in his touch. Enduring some discomfort in his heart, Zhou Ze still nailed the two plaques on.
Then,
The two of them took a few steps back together, looking at the plaque, the door, and the bookstore.
Zhou Ze handed Xu Qinglang a cigarette as a thank you, and Xu Qinglang lit it for Zhou Ze.
They blew out smoke rings together.
Perfect sync.
"You got the artistic conception, right?" Zhou Ze said. This was a standard self-praise.
Xu Qinglang shook his head. "If I'm not mistaken, these two sentences should come from the title of Ji Yun's Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes."
"Youwei Thatched Cottage Notes" is a story book written by Ji Yun, also known as Ji Xiaolan, which is similar to "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" and expresses the author's own thoughts through the stories of fox spirits and ghosts.
In short, the meaning of this couplet is that these are the stories I have heard, and everyone here should just listen to them.
"Yeah." Zhou Ze nodded.
"You're still too literary. Your store will still lose money." Xu Qinglang's comment was impolite.
"Why?"
“There are too many stories in this world, and all kinds of bizarre things happen every day, but there are not many things that are really interesting.
Some things are meaningless to talk about.
Some things cannot be said at all.
Some things will not be listened to unless you change them.
There are some things that I dare not listen to unless I change them. "
Zhou Ze looked at Xu Qinglang for a long time.
Xu Qinglang lowered his head slightly, blushing.
He was a man with a charming manner, naturally charming, and at this moment he was even more gorgeous.
Seeing that Zhou Ze didn't say anything, Xu Qinglang continued:
"For example, how could mountain spirits, fox fairies, and ghosts really exist in the real world?" Xu Qinglang yawned. "How can the truth of using fake things to illustrate the truth be true?"
Zhou Ze continued to look at Xu Qinglang without saying anything.
Xu Qinglang felt his scalp tingling when he was looked at.
But Zhou Ze continued to look at him.
Finally, Xu Qinglang waved his hand and said he was going back to make the soup base. As he walked back to the noodle shop, he felt like there was a thorn in his side, because just now, he felt as if Zhou Ze was not looking at him.
But watching a joke.
Zhou Ze ignored Xu Qinglang. Since they were neighbors, they should just keep to themselves. They were not in competition anyway. The most important thing was that Zhou Ze didn't have the money to change shops.
In the afternoon, Zhou Ze sorted out most of the textbooks and tutorial books in the bookstore and took them away to the junk collector at the price of waste paper.
He went to the supermarket and bought ten small plastic chairs, and the only remaining bookshelves were filled with books that Zhou Ze found interesting.
At present, it is more of a cultural and entertainment center for the elderly than a bookstore.
Zhou Ze stretched lazily. He was not very good at doing business. Right now, he was just messing around. Anyway, when Xu Le was around, he was constantly in debt, so he didn't have any pressure.
Coming to the second floor, Zhou Ze turned on the freezer, set a temperature, smoked a cigarette outside and waited for a while, then reached into the freezer and touched it.
The temperature was about right, so Zhou Ze lay down.
The freezer that cost more than 10,000 yuan certainly has many functions, such as a timing design, which is equivalent to an alarm clock for Zhou Ze.
Close the freezer.
Zhou Ze placed his hands on his lower abdomen and lay straight.
It seems that
He passed away peacefully.
… …
late at night,
A red car was parked on the side of the road in front of the bookstore. The street was a bit empty. On the other side of the store, only the noodle shop and bookstore next to it still had their lights on.
There was a well-dressed girl sitting in the car, wearing a black down jacket and with her hair draped over her shoulders. She looked cute and delicate.
"Xiao Bo, you bastard, I've been preparing for three days, and today you told me that you were on a business trip. Go to hell, get out!"
The girl hung up the phone and sat in the driver's seat sulking.
The Corgi in the passenger seat jumped onto the girl's legs. Its fur was flowing and shiny, and it was obvious that it was of good breed and had been raised with great care.
"Good boy, luckily you are here with me."
The girl lit a cigarette, stretched out her hand to shake off the ash, looked outside, and saw the bookstore. The key point was that through the glass window she could see that the furnishings inside were a little unusual. There were not many bookshelves, but instead many plastic benches.
After getting out of the car, the girl walked towards the bookstore holding the Corgi. She didn't want to drive around aimlessly alone on this Valentine's Day night. She wanted to find a quiet place to sit down.
The door of the bookstore was not closed, and I could feel the air conditioning and heating inside when I walked in.
The girl, walking her dog, picked up a magazine at random from the bookshelf and then sat down on a plastic chair.
She let the Corgi go, and the little guy began to "explore" the store.
After flipping through a magazine, the girl stretched lightly, felt a little dry in the mouth, and shouted:
"Boss, are you there? Do you have milk tea or coffee?"
The girl stood up, put the magazine back, and picked up an illustrated version of "Dream of Red Mansions". When she sat down again, she couldn't help but shout again:
"Boss, are you dead in the middle of the night? How can you open a shop like this?"
There was a small sign hanging on the glass door of the bookstore that said "Open, Welcome". The door was open and the heating was on, so it must be still open for business.
If the girl is less polite or more curious at this time and takes the initiative to go upstairs to take a look, she might admire her own "prophecy".
There was indeed an ice coffin in the low space on the second floor.
The boss was lying inside, looking like a dead person.
No,
The boss is a dead man.
Of course, the girl might be scared to death before she has time to admire him.
A normal person enters a store late at night and finds the owner lying in a frozen coffin. Isn't that scary
The girl lit another cigarette, became a little impatient, and took out her cell phone to start playing.
At this time, footsteps were heard from the stairs. Zhou Ze did not wake up because of the girl's shouting, he woke up naturally.
As soon as he went down the stairs, Zhou Ze saw a small yellow figure jumping onto his legs and asking for a hug.
Zhou Ze bent down with a smile and held the Corgi in his arms. The little guy was not shy and seemed to be familiar with everyone.
Then, Zhou Ze discovered that the woman sitting in the store,
oh,
The first customer upon opening.
But it was not as exciting as expected, because Zhou Ze just changed the bookstore sign and cleaned up the furnishings inside.
But I haven't thought about it yet,
How to make money below.
"Do you have coffee here, boss?"
The girl asked.
Zhou Ze pointed to a water dispenser in the corner, where there were disposable paper cups.
The girl felt a little helpless, but she still stood up, poured herself a glass of water, and then sat back on her plastic bench.
One host and one guest,
They looked at each other in silence.
After about half an hour of silence, the girl started browsing Weibo and watching videos. One video was very noisy and boisterous:
“Don’t miss out on those who have passed by!
The ghost money blessed by me, an old Taoist priest, is in limited supply!
You can take it out and use it when you go to hell after burning it, and you can also earn some interest, which is higher than the interest rate of Yu'e Bao!
You can also roast it and send it to your relatives below. It is quick and convenient, and it is fair to all. The ghosts won’t bother you, and they won’t peel off your skin!”
The girl laughed after watching the video. People usually want to share funny things when they encounter them. She looked up at the boss sitting behind the counter and said:
"Boss, have you seen this video? This veteran live streamer is quite famous. He's almost become an internet celebrity."
"Oh, live broadcast?" Zhou Ze was a little confused. He took out his mobile phone. There were really a lot of live broadcast software in Xu Le's mobile phone. It seemed that this guy was really bored on weekdays. He was either watching live broadcast or writing the sequel to Bai Jie.
"Well, search his ID. It's funny. He seems to have opened a ghost store in Chengdu, but he hasn't live-streamed for a long time."
Zhou Ze opened the software and began to search for the old Taoist's ID according to what the girl said, and found a live broadcast room - the host was not at home.
But fortunately, he could watch the replay video, and Zhou Ze randomly clicked on a video from a month ago.
In the video, the Taoist priest fixed his phone in a position, and a man was doing boxing there. His boxing style was pretty good, and it could be seen that he was a martial artist. In the video, there was a young man sitting there with a smile on his face and his eyes narrowed, as if he was watching a monkey show.
Zhou Ze perfunctorily pulled back the progress, and a man appeared on the screen, sitting behind the counter, holding a spoon in his hand, as if he was drinking porridge.
The old Taoist was talking in the main video screen, constantly promoting himself and the ghost money he sold on Taobao, but Zhou Ze's eyes were subconsciously looking at the man in the corner of the video.
He is frowning, he is suffering, he is in pain, he is rejecting,
A mouthful of porridge,
He had a hard time eating.
Then continue with the second bite.
It feels like being tortured.
Zhou Ze took a deep breath as he watched, and it seemed that he was also infected by the man in the corner of the video.
Have a meal,
It’s really not an easy thing to do.
He didn't know the identity of the man in the video, but he instinctively became interested. Could he be an anorexic? Or have some gastrointestinal disease
After the video ended, Zhou Ze opened the page and, out of interest, sent a private message to the Taoist priest using the account Xu Le was logged into:
“Who is the man sitting in the back drinking porridge in the video?”
"Hey, I'm leaving now. How much?" The girl stood up and stretched. "If I tell people today, they will definitely think I'm a fool. I actually sat in a bookstore and read Dream of the Red Chamber for so long on Valentine's Day."
"Give it to me as you see fit." Zhou Ze said.
The other person just read the book for a while and poured himself a glass of purified water.
The girl glanced at Zhou Ze and said, "Boss, your tricks are really good, just like those fortune tellers sitting in the temple.
There is a sign on the cushion that says 'Free fortune telling'. After the tourists cast their fortunes and ask him to tell them, he will give you a red donation book with a long list of names and incense money written on it. The lowest amount is 100 yuan.
Zhou Ze smiled and said nothing.
The girl took out a hundred-dollar bill and placed it on the chair where she had been sitting before, then she held her corgi, opened the door of the bookstore and left.
Zhou Ze stood up, put away the hundred yuan, flicked it in his hand,
A crisp sound,
It is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.
When he walked back to the counter, Zhou Ze noticed that his phone screen lit up. He turned on his phone and found that there was a reply. It was a private reply from the old Taoist. The content of the reply was very simple:
“No!”