Midnight Bookstore

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Zhou Ze took the couplet back. He was planning to nail it on both sides of the entrance. It did not matter which side which half of the couplet was on.

His neighbor Xu Qinglang was quite eager to lend a hand.

He was initially crouching in front of the restaurant while peeling garlic. He immediately went into the restaurant and returned with a hammer and some nails.

Zhou Ze thanked the man and picked up the hammer. The handle felt rather oily and heavy. Zhou Ze withheld the uncomfortable feeling in his heart and proceeded to nail the two wooden boards up on the wall.

After it was done, the two men took a few steps back. They looked at the signs, the door, and the bookstore.

Zhou Ze gave Xu Qinglang a cigarette as a token of gratitude. Xu Qinglang helped Zhou Ze light up his cigarette. They both took a draw on the cigarettes and exhaled the smoke in sync.

“Isn’t it better?” Zhou Ze said, trying to boast about his achievement.

Xu Qinglang shook his head, “If I’m not mistaken, the two lines are actually the title of a chapter in Notes on a Minutely Observed Thatched Hut, written by Ji Yun.”

Notes on a Minutely Observed Thatched Hut by Ji Yun, also known as Ji Xiaolan, was a book similar to the book Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, in which the author was using tales of ghosts, spirits, and demons to express his ideas.

The couplet basically meant, Here are the stories I have to tell, fellow readers, you can just listen to them as you please.

“Mm,” Zhou Ze nodded.

“It’s still too artistic, your bookstore is doomed to lose money,” Xu Qinglang said blatantly.

“Why is that?”

“There are many strange things happening in this world every day, but there aren’t many that grab people’s attention. Some stories are meaningless, some stories are forbidden to be told. Some stories won’t gather any attention without being modified. Some stories are too spooky to be told without being altered.”

Zhou Ze took a close look at Xu Qinglang.

Xu Qinglang lowered his head in embarrassment.

He already had a natural feminine appearance, but his reaction had made him look even more feminine.

Xu Qinglang added when he saw Zhou Ze remaining silent, “For example, that story about a demon fox, that’s obviously not going to happen in the real world, right?” Xu Qinglang yawned and continued, “How convincing would the ideas that the author is trying to express with fake stories be?”

Zhou Ze was still staring at Xu Qinglang in silence.

Xu Qinglang felt his scalp crawling from the stare, but Zhou Ze continued to stare at him.

Finally, Xu Qinglang waved his hand and told Zhou Ze that he was going back to the restaurant to prepare some stock for his soup. As he was walking back to his restaurant, he could feel something stabbing his back. He somehow felt like Zhou Ze was not looking at him just then. The man was looking at a laughingstock…

—

Zhou Ze ignored Xu Qinglang’s comments. Since the two were neighbors, it was better for both of them to mind their own business. Besides, it was not like they were competitors. Most importantly, Zhou Ze did not have the funds to relocate his business.

That afternoon, Zhou Ze gathered most of the study materials he could find in the bookstore and sold them to the recycling station.

He also bought some plastic chairs from the supermarket. He only left the books he thought were interesting on the shelves.

The place now looked more like a recreation space for old folks than a bookstore.

Zhou Ze stretched. He was not an expert at doing business, he was just messing around with the time he had. Besides, he was not feeling any pressure, as Xu Le was losing money to begin with.

Zhou Ze went upstairs and turned on the freezer. He set the temperature and smoked a cigarette while he waited. He reached his hand into the freezer to feel the temperature.

Zhou Ze laid down in the freezer after feeling that the temperature was right.

The freezer that he had spent more than ten thousand yuan on had a lot of functions. It even had a timer that Zhou Ze could use as an alarm clock.

He closed the freezer’s door and lay perfectly flat with his hands on his stomach, like he had passed away peacefully.

——

Late at night, a red sedan stopped in front of the bookstore. The street was completely empty. The only shops that were lit up were the noodles restaurant and the bookstore.

A well-dressed young woman was sitting inside the car. She was wearing a black down jacket with her hair draping over her shoulder. The girl was rather cute.

“Xiao Bo, you asshole, I have spent three days preparing for today, but you told me you are away for work. Go to Hell, piss off!”

The woman hung up the call and sat grumpily in the car.

The corgi on the front passenger seat hopped onto the girl’s legs. Its hair was graceful and bright-colored. The dog was obviously of a nice breed and well cared for.

“Good dog, at least you’re with me.”

The girl lit up a cigarette and reached her hand out to shake the butt off. She looked out the window and saw the bookstore. She could see the strange set-up inside the bookstore through the window. It did not have many shelves, but a few plastic stools instead.

The girl left the car and went over to the bookstore carrying the corgi in her arms. She did not want to drive aimlessly around during the evening of Valentine’s Day. She wanted to find somewhere quiet.

The door was not locked. She immediately felt the warmth of the heater as soon as she stepped inside.

She went to the shelves and randomly picked up a magazine. She then sat down on one of the plastic chairs.

She let go of the corgi. The little creature went on an adventure in the bookstore.

After finishing the magazine, the girl stretched and felt a little thirsty. She yelled, “Is anyone in? Do you have milk tea or coffee here?”

The girl stood up and put the magazine back on the shelf. She picked up the comic-version of A Dream of Red Mansions. She went back to her seat and yelled again, “Boss, did you die in the middle of the night? Is this how you serve your customers?”

A little sign written with We are Open, Welcome was hung on the door. The door was not locked and the heater was still on. It was quite obvious that the bookstore was still operating.

If the girl was a little more curious and went upstairs to take a look, she would definitely be surprised by how sharp her senses were.

There was indeed a ‘coffin’ on the second floor, and the owner of the bookstore was lying inside it like a dead person.

Hang on. The owner was already a dead man…

That being said, it might have scared the girl to death before she was impressed by herself. Wouldn’t it be quite thrilling to enter a bookstore late at night and saw the owner of the bookstore lying in a freezer?

The girl lit up another cigarette. She was starting to feel impatient. She took out her phone and played with it instead.

She finally heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Zhou Ze did not wake at the girl’s yell. He had woken up naturally.

Zhou Ze saw a little yellow creature sprinting between his legs as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, asking for a hug.

Zhou Ze leaned forward with a smile and picked up the corgi in his arms. The little creature was not afraid of strangers.

Zhou Ze then saw the young woman sitting in his bookstore.

-Oh, my first customer since the ‘grand opening’.-

He was not as excited as he first thought, since he had only changed the sign and the furnishings in the bookstore slightly. He had not decided how he was going to earn money.

“Boss, do you have coffee here?” the girl asked.

Zhou Ze pointed at a drinking station in the corner with disposable cups at the side.

The girl was left speechless. However, she still rose to her feet and got herself a cup of water before going back to her seat.

The owner of the bookstore and his customer stayed quiet for some time.

After half an hour of silence, the girl started browsing some video clips on Weibo. A clip, in particular, was played at a high volume, “Don’t miss it if you just happen to pass by! Limited supply of the paper money that I, Old Dao have enhanced. You can burn the paper money and use it when you go down there. It even has an interest, higher than the interest offered by Alibaba’s Yuebao! You can burn it for your relatives too. It’s easy and simple. This is not a scam, the envoys of the dead won’t harass you for it!”

The girl burst out laughing after watching the clip. It was human nature to share something amusing to others. She raised her head and said to the owner of the bookstore behind the counter, “Boss, have you seen this clip? This Old Dao’s live stream has been a hit lately. He is like an internet celebrity.”

“Oh, a live stream?” Zhou Ze was startled. He took out his phone. There were quite a few live stream apps on Xu Le’s phone. It was obvious that the man was living quite a boring life. He was either watching live streams or writing Bai Jie’s epilogue.

“Yeah, you can search for his ID, he’s pretty funny. I think he opened a shop selling joss money in Chengdu, but it’s been a while since he last went live.”

Zhou Ze opened the app and searched for Old Dao’s ID following the girl’s instructions, but the man was not broadcasting live.

Luckily, he was able to see the past broadcasts. He randomly selected the recording of a broadcast that happened around a month ago.

The man had placed his phone in a fixed position. He was swinging his fists in style. He seemed to have learned some martial arts before. There was a young man sitting in the video too. He was smiling and squinting, as if he was enjoying the show.

Zhou Ze fast-forwarded the clip. Another man had shown up. He was sitting behind a counter while holding a spoon. It seemed like he was eating porridge.

Old Dao was speaking confidently in the clip as he kept promoting himself and the joss money he was selling on Taobao, but Zhou Ze was placing his attention on the man sitting in the corner.

The man was frowning like he was suffering greatly.

He was struggling to eat the porridge. He ate another mouthful of porridge, but he looked as if he was being tortured.

Zhou Ze took a deep breath as he was watching the clip. Somehow, he could imagine what the man was going through.

He agreed that eating was definitely not an easy thing to do.

He was clueless about the identity of the man in the clip, but he was quite intrigued. Was the man suffering from anorexia? Or was his digestive system not working properly?

The clip ended. Zhou Ze navigated to Old Dao’s profile and sent a direct message with Xu Le’s account, “The man eating porridge in the background in this clip, who was it?”

“Hey, I’m leaving, how much do I have to pay?” the girl rose to her feet and stretched. “The others would seriously think I’m an idiot, spending my Valentine’s Day reading A Dream of Red Mansions in a bookstore.”

“Just pay as much as you please,” Zhou Ze said.

The girl had only read some books and got herself a cup of water.

The girl looked at Zhou Ze and said, “Boss, that’s actually very smart, like the masters whom people always ask for advice in the temples. There’s always a sign written with Free Advice beside their futon. When the visitors asked them for advice, the masters would then take out a red notebook with names and donations on it, and the lowest donation is a hundred yuan.”

Zhou Ze smiled. He refused to comment on it.

The girl took out a hundred yuan note and placed it on the chair she sat on, before leaving with the corgi.

Zhou Ze rose to his feet. He picked up the note and flicked it.

A crisp sound. It was one of the best sounds in the world!

When Zhou Ze went back to the counter, he saw the screen of his phone was lit up. Old Dao had responded to his private message. The reply was very simple, “He’s gone!”