Zhou Ze sent the sister-in-law's wallet back via an anonymous courier.
Um,
The charges are payable on delivery.
Zhou Ze took the 2,000 yuan that was originally in the wallet. Since the girl had a lot of pocket money, he would consider it as a reward for helping her find her wallet. Zhou Ze felt that his fee was reasonable.
Then the next day, Zhou Ze saw his sister-in-law post a circle of friends:
"This thief has a very good professional ethics. He stole my wallet but sent back all my cards and ID documents. There are still many good people in this society."
Zhou Ze read this post and was silent for a while.
Forget it, silly girl, just continue to be silly, fools have good fortune.
Bai Yingying secretly sent the USB flash drive with the deleted video to the home of the middle-aged man's sister. His sister went to the police station to report the case that day. A few days later, the local police's official Weibo account also released the news.
This incident also caused quite a stir, with many people denouncing the girl for her shamelessness and heartlessness, but the level of attention it received was in no way comparable to when the incident first happened.
And those who are scolding this girl now probably also called the teacher a "beast in human clothing" in the past.
In short, the days passed peacefully for several days, business was still slow, Bai Yingying became more addicted to the Internet, making rapid progress, and gradually became addicted to online games. She would sit there for a long time every day reading a copy guide.
A typical internet addict girl.
At dusk, I had dinner at Xu Qinglang's place as usual, accompanied by the herbal juice that Xu Qinglang had just developed.
Zhou Ze felt that he could slowly taste the flavor of food.
After the meal, Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang shared a cigarette as usual.
Xu Qinglang was holding his mobile phone, browsing Weibo, leisurely.
Zhou Ze discovered that Xu Qinglang's restaurant business had been getting less and less popular recently, and there were fewer and fewer delivery guys coming in and out. Of course, this was not due to the poor business or the decline in the reputation of Xu Qinglang's restaurant, but simply because the man in front of him was getting lazier and lazier.
But according to Xu Qinglang, the problem lies with Zhou Ze.
How could he feel balanced when he was busy from dawn to dusk while the person next door was sitting in the bookstore without moving
Come on, he is a man who owns more than twenty houses!
Why can’t you live as comfortably as the poor guy next door
So he should live a good life, enjoy himself, and rest when he should.
It's fallen.
Zhou Ze sighed in his heart.
"Hey, there's been a lot of strange things happening in the East District recently." Xu Qinglang said as he exhaled a puff of smoke.
The East District is located to the east of Tongcheng urban area, a little away from the city center. The Confucian Temple and the City God Temple are both there. It is usually bustling only during festivals because many people go there to burn incense.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Ze asked, shaking off the ashes from his cigarette.
"Look at this. Someone posted on Weibo that when he passed by the Confucian Temple last night, he saw a few people playing ancient costume cosplay. When he walked over to say hello, he found that they had suddenly disappeared."
"Here's another one, saying that when I was taking my parents for a walk in the woods behind Wenmiao Street after dinner, I saw someone reciting poems and composing couplets."
"There was another one, a driver posted a Weibo post saying that when he was driving past the Confucian Temple, he heard a lot of people crying on the roadside."
Confucian Temple
Zhou Ze frowned slightly, this matter seemed to have something to do with him.
"However, these things have made the Confucian Temple popular again. It is said that more and more people have gone there to burn incense recently, and they all say that the place has become more spiritual." Xu Qinglang said with emotion.
"Haha." Zhou Ze was thinking about his own affairs.
"Logically speaking, it shouldn't be like this. The Confucian Temple is where all the Confucian saints are. It's impossible for any wandering ghosts to haunt there." Xu Qinglang said.
"There should be, but someone may have been looking after them in the past," Zhou Ze said.
"What about now? What happened to the people who were in charge of them?"
"I killed him."
“… …”Xu Qinglang.
———
As a last resort, Zhou Ze and Bai Yingying went to the Confucian Temple together after nightfall.
Last time, Zhou Ze beat the dwarf old man here so hard that he was scared to death. Then he patted his sleeves and left without taking any trace of the cloud with him.
But combined with some recent events, it is very clear that without the control of the dwarf old man, the souls of the scholars who previously served as the guard of honor have gradually become restless and started to let themselves go.
Zhou Ze is a ghost messenger, so this matter should be his responsibility, not to mention that he was the one who killed the dwarf old man, so it is indeed his responsibility to clean up this mess.
"Boss, these ghosts can't really make a difference. They will disappear in two months. In the past, they were only supported by the Confucian Temple system. They didn't cause any trouble, and the ghost messenger turned a blind eye and didn't bother to pay any attention.
Now that they have been freed from their restraints, after jumping around for a few days to vent out the resentment in their hearts, those who should be shattered will be shattered, and those who should go to hell will go to hell."
Bai Yingying has learned from Madam Bai's words and deeds, so she actually understands these matters of ghosts and gods more clearly than Zhou Ze.
"If I don't take a look at the situation here, I won't be able to let it go. It's better to collect them all if possible." Zhou Ze tilted his head slightly, looking for the ghost of the scholar lingering nearby.
Many of the souls of scholars throughout the ages who failed to pass the imperial examinations or committed suicide due to setbacks in their pursuit of knowledge came to the Confucian Temple with great resentment, and from then on were drawn by the qi and became the "guard of honor" of the Confucian Temple.
Of course, there must be other people who are just filling in the numbers, and they are definitely not all so-called scholars. After all, if the forest is big, there will be all kinds of birds.
Those scholars were just reciting poems and composing couplets, crying and sobbing. Li Baojia of the Qing Dynasty once wrote in the sixth chapter of his "A Brief History of Civilization":
"It will take three years for a scholar to rebel. No matter if they have done this or not, you don't need to pay attention to them."
But Zhou Ze was worried that if other things inside were also "free", some trouble might occur. If something really happened, he would definitely have to bear part of the responsibility in the end.
But it was very quiet tonight. Zhou Ze had smoked half a pack of cigarettes, and Bai Yingying simply lay on the grass with her eyes squinted, unable to see even a ghost.
Getting a little impatient waiting, Zhou Ze reached out and patted Bai Yingying's plump and round position, watching the waves of flesh rolling.
road:
"Shout twice to bring out those ghosts."
Bai Yingying rolled her eyes at Zhou Ze and obviously ignored him. After spending a long time together, Bai Yingying also figured out some of Zhou Ze's personality habits, and dared to control her attitude just right so that Zhou Ze would not be disgusted.
"The world is like a dream. I pour a cup of wine to the moon on the river, and wander in my hometown. It is really different from what it was before."
A man's voice came from behind the tree.
Soon after, a man wearing long boots and an official robe walked out. He had a long beard that represented majesty, a square face, and a straight body. He was obviously an official.
No, you can tell at first glance that he was an official during his lifetime.
And he had a long whip behind his head.
Bai Yingying stood up slowly, looked at the man in front of her, and said in surprise:
"Boss, I was wondering why I couldn't see the ghosts of those dead scholars tonight. It turns out that he swallowed them all!"
Zhou Ze also noticed that this man looked very impressive, but in his stomach, many small spots of light could be seen, which should be the souls of the scholars he swallowed.
"Haha, a prime minister has a big heart. I'm not a prime minister, but at least I was once a minister. I have enough space to accommodate these people who have failed the imperial examinations for generations."
"Okay, it's your turn, get off."
Zhou Ze was ready to open the gate of hell and catch this guy.
The other party has swallowed up a lot of souls of dead scholars, and he seems to be in good spirits, much better than those ordinary souls who often go to his bookstore to read.
But it really made Zhou Ze feel fearful.
They are all ghosts, whether they have a physical body or not is really two different matters.
And I have nails.
"Are you a local ghost messenger?" The man looked at Zhou Ze and said reservedly, "You are qualified to be on equal footing with me."
"Oh, you are so arrogant. Did the Qing Dynasty fall?"
Bai Yingying sneered.
"You are a woman and you have no right to interrupt a man when he is talking. Get out of here." The man shouted dignifiedly.
Bai Yingying pinched her knuckles, making a crisp sound.
The man looked at Zhou Ze who was about to open the gate of hell on the other side and said:
"My dear messenger, I have made great achievements and have held a leading position. Even if I am to be sent down, I should not be so casual, right
Moreover, when I was alive, I once met a judge from the underworld. The judge said that I would die on March 19th of the Jiashen year.
I was trembling with fear and anxiety all day long, and finally I survived that day, but after that day, I did not die.
It is enough to show that I have great luck. Even the rules of the underworld do not apply to me. Therefore, I advise you not to waste your efforts.
After I finish my tour of my homeland, if you want to go down, I will go down. Maybe after I go down, I can find a job as a supervisor in the underworld. If we meet in the future, you have to kneel down and salute me, and respectfully call me sir."
"You really deserve a beating." Bai Yingying said with a smile.
"No, this shows that the customs in his hometown are simple and honest, otherwise he would have been beaten to death before he even grew up."
"How can this be absurd? Humph. I am too lazy to argue with you. I have said nothing false. If you intend to forcibly escort me to hell, then be prepared to end this feud.
Even the judge of the underworld can't determine the date of my death, let alone a little ghost like you?"
Zhou Ze was not in a hurry to open the gate of hell. He just thought the man in front of him was quite interesting. Moreover, to be honest, modern ghosts were nothing special, but ancient ghosts were...
How rare.
People often say that precious cultural relics are records of history. The person in front of me is the true repeater of history.
"You have a braid on the back of your head, but you are not wearing the official uniform of the Qing Dynasty." Zhou Ze looked carefully for a while and continued: "It should be the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty.
No, you just said that you were once a minister, but this Ming Dynasty official uniform is not the same as that of a minister, but rather the uniform of a low-ranking official."
Hearing this, the man said proudly: "I have served in two dynasties, the former imperial censor and the latter minister. I have benefited the people and have a great reputation.
As for what I wear, who are you to comment on?"
Zhou Ze took out his phone, typed in "March 19, Jiashen Year" and checked, then smiled and said:
"The judge was right. You should have died on March 19th, Jiashen year."
"That's nonsense. I didn't die on that day. I died of old age and was given a good posthumous title!" the man said with disdain.
"You should have died that day, really." Zhou Ze repeated, and then a sarcastic smile appeared on his face, "But you were so thick-skinned that you didn't die."
"You are talking nonsense!" The man waved his sleeves, "You are talking nonsense!"
"Think again about what day March 19th of the Jiashen year is, and whether you should die!"
Zhou Ze raised his tone and scolded.
The man frowned slightly, as if he was thinking and recalling.
finally,
Suddenly,
He trembled and showed a look of shock.
Then I looked at the Confucian Temple behind me.
At this moment,
He finally understood why his soul was detained in this Confucian temple when it returned to his hometown after his death, and why he spent hundreds of years in a daze with those so-called imperial examination failures!
“This… this… this…”
The man sat down on the ground in despair.
On March 19, Jiashen Year,
This was the day when the Ming Dynasty fell, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, and all Ming officials followed him to his death.