Dr. Lin got out of the car, and Zhou Ze walked over at the right moment. The two of them had a tacit understanding, neither of them spoke, and walked silently towards the other entrance of the mall.
This shopping mall is "dead". Apart from Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang's small shop which is still open, there is only a cinema and a buffet restaurant left.
Of course, due to the influence of the overall situation, the cinema should actually be operating at a loss. On weekdays, not many people go here to watch movies, and you can easily buy a ticket to watch the whole theater.
However, it was the Chinese New Year period, and most people were on vacation, so it became very common for families to go out to watch a movie together, which added a touch of popularity to this already deserted theater.
However, to Zhou Ze, this kind of liveliness seemed like a last gasp.
The building is about to collapse, which means that no egg will be left unbroken when the nest is overturned.
Zhou Ze went to buy the tickets and a couple's meal. After checking the time, he walked into the cinema with Dr. Lin.
Because they arrived a little late and Zhou Ze bought tickets for the latest show, all the good seats were taken, so Zhou Ze and Dr. Lin could only sit in the first row.
It's not that you can't wait, but there's nothing else to shop in this mall, and "Neon Street Detective 2" is a 2D movie, so sitting in the first row won't have much impact.
Doctor Lin had been quiet along the way, and now he sat very quietly beside Zhou Ze, gently crossing his legs and looking up at the screen.
Zhou Ze handed over the popcorn, but Dr. Lin shook his hand, indicating that he didn't want to eat it.
Zhou Ze sighed. For a man like him who was a bachelor in his previous life, how to pursue girls was really an unfamiliar subject.
The movie has good jokes. Zhou Ze can laugh occasionally, and Dr. Lin also laughs often, but her laugh is silent and subtle, and looks good.
But for Zhou Ze, the atmosphere of this movie was somewhat different from what he expected.
It's a bit bland, and there's no salt in it.
After the movie ended, Zhou Ze and Dr. Lin walked out side by side. It was only seven o'clock in the evening, which was not too late, but after leaving the cinema area, the rest of the mall was already pitch black.
Doctor Lin continued to remain silent and just followed.
Zhou Ze wanted to say something, but didn't know how to say it.
I was the one who said yesterday that I wanted to end it and say goodbye. If I act too enthusiastic today, will people think I'm crazy
"Go to my bookstore..."
"Let's go to your bookstore..."
The two seemed to be trying to find a way to break the awkwardness at the moment, and then they came up with the same idea.
After returning to the bookstore, Zhou Ze found that the noodle shop was closed and the roller shutter was rarely pulled down. He didn't know whether Xu Qinglang was still in the store.
Dr. Lin selected a magazine and sat down on a chair behind the counter. Zhou Ze also picked up a book and sat next to him, flipping through it casually.
Two cups of hot tea were placed on top, with smoke rising.
Zhou Ze suddenly felt as if he had no face to mock Xu Le anymore, because he found it was very rare that he could make the first date so artistic and respectful!
It's so rare that I want to give myself a slap as a reward!
"Now, aren't you going to close the door?" Dr. Lin asked. In fact, what she meant was that she wanted to leave. After all, it was night time, and as long as Zhou Ze closed the door, she could take the opportunity to say goodbye.
"Oh, I usually open for business at night." Zhou Ze didn't hear the hidden meaning, he was telling the truth.
Doctor Lin was speechless for a moment. He could only smile, gently smoothed the black hair beside his earlobe, and continued reading the book in his hand.
"Squeak..."
The door of the bookstore was pushed open, and two men and one woman walked in.
The three men were not very old, probably in their early twenties. The two men were obviously drunk, and one of them was even drunk, with his entire face flushed.
"Boss, do you have any water?" the woman asked.
Zhou Ze pointed to the water dispenser on the wall.
The woman poured a few cups of hot water and handed them to her friend, then walked to the counter and asked:
"How much?"
As she spoke, the woman took out her mobile phone, apparently preparing to scan the code to pay.
"Thirty." Zhou Ze replied.
"Boss, you can't rip off customers like this during the Chinese New Year. Three glasses of purified water from you cost thirty yuan." The woman scolded with a smile, but she still scanned the code to pay. Then she turned around and said to her two male companions, "Just take a break here and read a book."
They treated this bookstore as a temporary resting place. The 30 yuan Zhou Ze charged was a bit like the minimum consumption to enter a teahouse for them, which was understandable.
"Reading? What kind of book?"
The drunken man shouted in a high voice,
"I want to read ghost stories and horror novels. Do you have them in this store?"
The man laughed to himself as he spoke.
Zhou Ze sighed, took out two horror novel collections from under the counter, walked up to the man, handed them to him, and inadvertently touched him with his finger.
Well, it’s a human, not a ghost.
Tonight's date was a failure.
It would be incredible if Dr. Lin were to experience the "Night Talk of a Hundred Ghosts" similar to what the five migrant workers had experienced last time, but Zhou Ze doesn't want that.
As long as he's a human being, that's fine. He looks cute, even if he's drunk.
Zhou Ze didn't go to meet the other two people because it was not convenient.
The drunk man sat down, and his two friends, a man and a woman, also sat down on the plastic bench. The three of them played with their cell phones and casually flipped through books.
The point is that the minimum consumption of 30 yuan should at least be worthwhile for the sake of face.
"What kind of ghost story is this?"
The man threw the book right next to the water dispenser.
The woman went to pick up the book and found that the cover and the inside of the book were wet because some water had spilled when she poured it.
"Boss, how much?"
"The marked price is 20% off." Zhou Ze was happy. The quality of these three young people was quite high.
Of course, Zhou Ze hoped that the drunk man would quickly throw all the books on his bookshelf and make them all dirty, just to help him clear out the stock.
The woman reluctantly scanned the code to pay, then walked up to the drunk man.
"Let's go, stop going crazy."
"This is not a ghost story at all. The person who wrote it must have never seen a ghost." The drunk man insisted.
Zhou Ze responded softly, "Well, you must have seen a ghost, right in front of you."
"I'm not going back, absolutely not! I'm not going to sleep tonight!" The man continued to act crazy while drunk. "If I go home, I'll be in trouble. If I sleep, I'll be in trouble. I might as well just read a book in this bookstore all night.
At the very least,
No ghosts will come across you!"
“… …” Zhou Ze.
At this time, Dr. Lin also put down the book in her hand and looked at the drunk man. Obviously, she found this matter quite interesting.
"Hey, Brother Liu, is there a ghost in your house?" The man who came in with the drunk man joked at this time.
The woman glanced at him and signaled him to stop talking nonsense.
"Get lost! There's a ghost in your house!"
The drunk man stood up.
"Damn it, that ghost only knows how to abuse me every New Year. He doesn't care about anyone else. I have three brothers, a sister, my parents, and my grandparents, but he doesn't care about anyone else but me!"
"Female ghost?" the companion man asked again.
"It would be better if it was a female ghost. It's a female...dog!"
"puff!"
The drunk man's two companions laughed subconsciously.
Even Zhou Ze and Dr. Lin lowered their heads and coughed a few times, but it was indeed very funny.
Especially the drunk man's face was full of grievance when he said it was not a female ghost but a female...dog.
The baby is in pain,
The baby is drunk and wants to talk!
"Every New Year, it comes to me in the days before and after! As soon as I fall asleep, it comes, fuck!"
Although the drunk man was acting crazy, he was still under control. He did not seem scary, but rather quite interesting.
"From seven years ago until now, it has come on time every New Year, even more punctual than when my parents gave me New Year's money!" The man held his head, squatted on the ground and started crying, "Damn it, I can't live like this anymore!"
"What's going on? Do you know that dog?" asked the companion.
"That was the dog my family raised before. It got the money my dad put under the bed out and chewed it up. As a result, we killed it and ate its meat."
"The dog must be dissatisfied and came back to take revenge," the companion man analyzed.
"I just don't know why they picked only me? When the dog was killed, it was me, my brothers, my father, and my grandfather!
When eating dog meat, the whole family eats it together, just as a new year dish!
That dog lost five thousand dollars, he deserved to be eaten!
But why do you hate me alone? "
The drunk man almost cried, "I've asked my brothers, including my father and my grandfather, and nothing has happened to them. Why are they targeting me alone?"
"You are drunk. Come on, I'll take you home." The woman helped the man up and motioned to her male companion to come and help.
The group walked out of the bookstore.
The bustling atmosphere just now suddenly became deserted.
"Why do you think so?" Doctor Lin looked at Zhou Ze, not caring whether it was true or not. He was just chatting after hearing a story. "Why did the dog only tease him? Is there something special about him?"
"Are you very interested in this?" Zhou Ze asked with some surprise.
"Yes." Doctor Lin nodded.
Zhou Ze smiled and said, "Actually, it's very simple. If you want to understand a dog's thinking, you have to put it into the dog's body first."
"How do you say it?" Doctor Lin smiled. "It's hard to put yourself in my shoes."
Yes, how can a human put himself into the mindset of a dog
"The dog's ghost came back to seek revenge and play tricks on people because it was resentful," Zhou Ze explained. "It should be the same as for people."
"Then why doesn't it take revenge on the rest of the family?"
“Perhaps, the dog was naughty and bit off part of the money, but another part might have been stolen by this young guy at that time.
So the dog felt it was very unfair. It tore up the money, was punished, was killed, and had its meat eaten. It felt that it was justified and it deserved it.
But why
That person also stole money and lost some of it, but nothing happened to him
So it refused to accept it, and it didn’t take revenge on other people in the family, but only on him.”
Doctor Lin shook his head and said with some surprise: "It was originally just a drunken story told by a drunk. After your analysis, it feels like a true story."
Zhou Ze walked to where the group of people had just sat and found a wallet on the ground. He picked it up and walked to the door of the store.
At this time, the companion woman came trotting over.
"Excuse me, there is a..."
Zhou Ze handed over the wallet.
"Thank you!" The woman bowed to Zhou Ze to express her gratitude. "If this guy goes home tonight and finds that his wallet and ID are all lost, he will be scolded by his family again."
"It's okay." Zhou Ze waved his hand.
The other party also waved to Zhou Ze, then turned around and caught up with the partner in front.
In the moonlight,
As the woman ran,
Under the coat,
It seems like there is a fluffy yellow tail swaying gently...