Midnight Bookstore

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The sound of firecrackers said goodbye to the old year. As midnight arrived, more fireworks and firecrackers were set off, making for a lively, noisy scene. The initial few pops were soon joined by more explosions.

Zhou Ze blew at his fingernails. The noise outside had nothing much to do with him. He did not have a home to go back to. He did have a ‘home’ legally, but it was not somewhere he wanted to go back to.

Many people would think when they were alive about what they would do if their lives were to start all over again.

They could even write a long, motivational essay on it.

However, when one truly returned from death, they would realize how naive the things they once pursued were. It was like a teacher in kindergarten asking the kids what their ambitions were. The kids would then answer, “Scientist, doctor, astronauts, soldiers…” The ambitions were exciting, but the reality was never as thrilling, and a person would eventually lose their motivation.

Sometimes, being able to breathe, being able to hear, being able to slack off during a job and waste time on worthless activities were more than enough for a person.

Xu Qinglang was staying at his restaurant for the night. Zhou Ze heard him lock the door of his restaurant.

The man said he had more than twenty properties, but Zhou Ze knew that his parents were inside the restaurant.

A family was meant to stay together, especially during the New Year.

It started pouring outside the bookstore. Zhou Ze could smell the humidity in the air.

His phone started ringing. It was from his wife.

“Hello,” Zhou Ze picked up the call.

“Have you slept?” Doctor Lin asked.

Zhou Ze felt it was a very stupid question. –If I’m asleep, who’s talking to you on the phone now?

-A dead man…oh, a dead ghost?

-Hang on, something did not feel right…-

Zhou Ze leaned against the chair. His mind was occupied with the scene of Doctor Lin poking his chest softly with her finger and said, “You devil…”

{TL Note: the word ‘devil’ here can mean ‘dead ghost’, and is often used as an insult in Chinese.}

To be frank, it was his first time feeling that destiny could be so dazzling. Perhaps he was just too bored, his thoughts were wandering on their own. Perhaps he was overthinking it.

“I haven’t,” Zhou Ze replied.

Doctor Lin came in through the door with a red umbrella in hand. She was wearing leather pants and a white sweater. Her hair was draped over her shoulder.

Zhou Ze forgot to put the phone down.

The woman was indeed gorgeous. Her temperament, in particular, could easily stab a man’s heart, making him fall in love at first sight.

“Are you worried that I will feel too lonely on my own?” Zhou Ze went to get Doctor Lin a cup of water.

She was the wife of the owner of the bookstore. To be more precise, Xu Le had actually taken her family’s money to open the bookstore.

Doctor Lin accepted the cup of water. She shook her head and remained silent.

The two were meant to be husband and wife, yet it felt like they were merely acquaintances. Their relationship was even more awkward than closed friends that were ‘friendzoned’.

It was difficult for their relationship to improve, yet it was even harder to take a step back.

“Let’s go for a walk.” The atmosphere was a little heavy in the bookstore. Besides, it did not make sense for him to invite Doctor Lin to the upper floor.

Even if Doctor Lin was out of her mind and willing to feed herself to the tiger, she would most likely call the department responsible for mental disorder patients in her hospital immediately.

“It’s raining,” Doctor Lin said.

“It’s just a drizzle, it’s fine,” Zhou Ze waved his hand casually.

——

It was raining heavily, like really heavily.

Zhou Ze did not even bother taking an umbrella with him, as he was thinking of enjoying the spring rain a little. He ended up drenched in the rain. Doctor Lin was still holding her umbrella beside him. Zhou Ze rejected her offer to share the umbrella.

He was trying to act cool in the first place. He had to put up with it even if he was in tears.

He patted his wet hair and sneezed. He was not afraid of the cold. He was actually good at resisting it, but the woman beside him was shivering even though she was not wet since she had an umbrella.

The bus stop could block most of the rain for them, but the chilly wind was totally unstoppable.

It was a romantic scene in which a drenched man and a woman shivering with cold were standing close together.

It was supposed to be a perfect opportunity for the two to develop their relationship. Anything would have happened in spite of the circumstances, but the two remained silent.

Zhou Ze lit up a cigarette. Doctor Lin stood beside him.

One was trying to run away from the relationship. One had been resisting it since the very beginning. It was to be expected that the two were not meant to be together.

You can take a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. A forced relationship would never end well.

Zhou Ze was actually holding a grudge against Xu Le. If that coward had been bold enough after the two were married, he would not be in this awkward situation. Even if Doctor Lin had already borne a child, she would still be gorgeous, perhaps even more gorgeous.

He would gladly have taken advantage of the situation, instead of struggling to find a way out of it.

That being said, Zhou Ze’s complaint was unfair to Xu Le. If Zhou Ze had forced himself upon Doctor Lin the night they were sleeping in the same room, would Doctor Lin possibly have screamed for help and called the cops to accuse her husband of rape?

The rain was still pouring down. Zhou Ze threw the cigarette onto the floor.

“Did you drive?”

“I took a cab,” Doctor Lin answered.

“I’ll send you back.”

“Mm.”

It did not matter how the awkward walk on New Year’s Eve even started, at least they believed it was necessary to put a stop to their relationship once and for all.

The two hailed a ride with their phones and went inside the car.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at their destination. Zhou Ze went down with Doctor Lin. The car drove away after the fares were paid.

Doctor Lin’s home was just ahead, but the two stayed behind instead.

It felt like two middle schoolers going back home at night. It was time for them to say goodbye, yet they were reluctant to part ways.

However, the atmosphere was not as strong as the innocent love between middle schoolers. It was like a bowl of soup without salt or spices. It was tasteless, yet it would be a waste to throw it away.

“You’re not going up?” Doctor Lin asked.

“No, let’s talk again after some time and get on with it.”

Doctor Lin understood what Zhou Ze was trying to say. “I’m sorry.”

Zhou Ze smiled and reached out his hand to pat Doctor Lin on her shoulder. However, he suddenly felt an urge to tug the woman into his arms.

Doctor Lin stiffened, but she did not resist.

The two were somewhat close to one another, but it was far from an intimate action. It was actually far from crossing the line, considering the relationship between them.

The woman had a nice scent. He wondered what was the brand of shower gel she used. Either way, it smelt good.

“I have always been curious, are you in love with someone else?” Zhou Ze added, “It can be either a man or a woman.”

“Yes,” Doctor Lin answered honestly, without any hesitation.

Her husband had always been timid. She felt bad spilling the beans to him. However, her husband suddenly felt like a different person, and she gathered her courage to speak the truth.

“Mm,” Zhou Ze looked up to see if some specific color had just popped up on the top of his head.

He was quite disappointed. It was not like he was deeply in love with the woman. He was not even familiar with her, but either way, she was still his wife, and she was in love with someone else.

Well… as long as it was a man…

He believed anyone would feel unpleasant in his situation.

“I’m sorry,” the woman repeated.

Zhou Ze moved his hand away. The two slowly moved further apart.

“There’s no need to say sorry,” Zhou Ze sat down on a rock bench nearby. The rain was lighter. The bench was under a little shed, too.

“I will give you some money so you can open a bookstore somewhere else,” Doctor Lin added again, “Sorry.”

Zhou Ze was about to wave his hand and say, “Don’t worry about the money.”

However, he soon thought about the freezer and his life.

The words were soon stuck in his throat.

What if the woman actually listened to him and believed that giving him money was an insult, so she decided not to compensate him instead?

“We’ll talk again after a few days,” Zhou Ze shrugged. “So, what is the person like?”

“He’s very handsome, or so I think,” Doctor Lin replied.

It was a man. Another stab in the heart. He might feel better if it was a woman…

Zhou Ze suddenly felt like the glow on his head had grown a little stronger.

“I don’t have a chance anymore, do I?” Zhou Ze regretted as soon as he asked the stupid question. However, he immediately comforted himself by thinking that he was only asking for Xu Le’s sake.

He had occupied the man’s body. He could at least ask why his wife was cheating on him, right?

Mm, that was the main reason.

“You don’t,” Doctor Lin answered quickly and firmly.

The woman was a surgeon, too. She was very straightforward, as if she was operating on a patient decisively with a scalpel. Otherwise, the patient would have to suffer longer. The same principles applied in relationships!

“Alright, that’s fine. Don’t worry about it, we’ll continue on with our own lives. You should find a way to tell your parents about it instead.” Zhou Ze was slightly agitated.

Doctor Lin nodded. She turned and went into the building.

Zhou Ze rose to his feet and was about to hail a ride when he received a call from a strange number.

“Hello.”

“Sir, I’m on my way back.”

“So intelligent?” Zhou Ze was quite surprised. He could tell that it was the driver from before.

“You left a bag in my car. I’m bringing it back to you.”

“Oh, thanks.”

The car returned soon after. The driver handed Zhou Ze a woman’s bag.

“Check if it has everything.”

“Sure.”

Zhou Ze opened Doctor Lin’s bag and found a phone, a purse, a cable, and a few packs of facial tissues.

Zhou Ze took the purse out and was stunned as soon as he opened it.

A photograph in the purse caught his attention.

The woman in the photo was young, very young. She was wearing an ill-fitting white coat.

A man was standing beside the woman, who was oddly familiar to Zhou Ze.

It took him some time before Zhou Ze recognized the person. Wasn’t that himself?

The photo had been cut out. It used to be a group photo, but it was specifically cut out so only the two remained.

“Is there anything missing?” the driver urged.

“It’s fine, thank you. You may go now.”

The driver left.

Zhou Ze looked at the photo in the purse again. He completely forgot he was supposed to call Doctor Lin to come down so he could give her the bag.

Vague fragments of memories slowly surfaced in his mind. He remembered around five years ago, when he was in charge of a bunch of students that came to the hospital as interns. There was a girl with the surname Lin, and she did resemble the girl he was seeing in the photo.

The girl had grown a lot prettier over the years.

Zhou Ze smiled.

He did not think Doctor Lin once looked so endearingly silly a few years back, nor did he expect she would grow into such a gorgeous woman. He certainly overlooked her potential of becoming such a pretty lady back then.

Besides, he did not really put any attention on the students, as they were basically manual laborers that the hospital had assigned to him.

Zhou Ze waved the purse in his hand.

“Shit, no wonder you are still single when you are almost thirty.”

Surprisingly, Zhou Ze was not cursing Xu Le this time, he was cursing himself.

“How blind was I…” Zhou Ze spread his arms and stretched. It turned out that he was the one that had put the green hat on himself!

The rain had stopped. It was the first day of the year.

Zhou Ze looked up into the sky and patted his chest heavily. He paused for a moment before saying in a serious voice, “Xu Le, you are truly my best brother. I promise you I will take care of your wife, don’t you worry.”