“…” The village entrepreneur, Fatty Huang, said enviously, “Hello, Zhou Yi, I’m your brother, my name is Zhou Ri.”
Fatty Huang wanted to find Boss Chu to complain together, but when he turned around, he saw Chu He hurrying out. He immediately became anxious: “Where are you going? These bastards are going to cut us off! Get back here and hold the fort!”
Chu He turned back to him, his jaw clenched tightly, his whole face looking a bit off: “I’ll go first. You can call me later if you need anything.”
Mayor Huang grabbed him and wouldn’t let go: “What’s going on?”
Chu He tried to break free, but the grip of a three-hundred-catty fatty wasn’t easy to escape. If they continued to struggle, even the provincial officials would notice them. In desperation, Chu He had to press down on Mayor Huang and whispered: “That guy surnamed Zhou and I are old acquaintances…”
“What? Do you two have a feud?”
“I once cast a spell on him. When we meet again, for the duration of one stick of incense, as long as I don’t call him, he won’t notice me. This time is for me to run away. I’m going home first. Tomorrow, after you send these provincial people off, come find me.”
Mayor Huang was utterly bewildered. He watched as Chu He quickly broke free and strode out.
“I heard someone just jumped off a building here, oh, it took us quite a while to find them—what, the police are already here?” Zhou Yi’s enthusiastic voice carried from afar: “Oh, next time if you have trouble, just find me directly! Me! I love trouble the most!”
Aida: “…”
“You don’t know, being cooped up in the office all day is really suffocating me. I finally get to go out on a field assignment, and I wish I could stay out here for a few more days! Oh right, little beauty, since I met you as soon as I came out, isn’t it fate between us?”
Yan Lanyu: “…Mr. Zhou is joking.”
“No joke, no joke,” Zhou Yi said with a smile, “You don’t know, I’m a man of my word and I’m especially accurate. If I say it’s fate, it’s definitely fate. As for good fate or bad fate, we’ll talk about that later—Hey, Mayor Huang! What are you standing there for! Didn’t you say we needed to choose a project site? Has this site been chosen?”
Mayor Huang’s mouth twitched, “…No.”
Zhou Yi followed Mayor Huang’s gaze towards the construction site gate, “Then what are you standing there for? Come choose.”
—Right in the direction his gaze was fixed, Chu He was striding towards a Hongqi car parked not far away.
Zhou Yi seemed not to notice him, turning his head indifferently.
However, at this moment, the police car that was about to leave in the distance suddenly stopped. The squadron leader ran down in a hurry with his phone: “Mr. Chu—”
To outsiders, this must have been a very comical scene: Zhou Yi, Aida, and Yan Lanyu stood in a three-way standoff, facing each other. Not far away, Chu He was hurrying away without looking back, while Mayor Huang stood at the midpoint of the straight line between Zhou Yi and Chu He, desperately trying to block Zhou Yi’s gaze from discovering Chu He with his massive body. On the other side, the city police squadron leader was panting as he ran and called “Mr. Chu,” as if his backside was on fire. His commotion was so loud that everyone else, including Director Li from the provincial foreign affairs reception office, uniformly turned their heads to look in Chu He’s direction.
“Mr. Chu!” The squadron leader finally grabbed Chu He, completely oblivious to the latter’s suddenly somewhat pale face: “There’s an urgent matter, Mr. Chu. Just now the sub-bureau received a call, your home…”
Chu He interrupted him while still walking towards the car, “I’m on my way home now.”
“Your house is on fire!” The squadron leader said earnestly: “The city fire department has already been dispatched to your home. It seems there are no casualties yet, so you don’t need to worry!”
Chu He finally couldn’t help but say sharply, “I said I’m on my way back!”
—At this very moment, as if an invisible timer in the void, there was a click and the second hand reset to zero.
Zhou Yi turned his head, as if he had just noticed the commotion over there.
“What’s going on? Who’s over there?”
Chu He pushed the squadron leader away with one hand and reached for the Hongqi car door with the other; however, Zhou Yi behind him frowned, seeming to sense something unusual from this familiar back.
“—Who’s that over there?”
Chu He’s hand was already on the car door.
“Stop for a moment!”
Chu He’s movement froze in mid-air. A hand was already resting on his shoulder. He turned back to see Zhou Yi standing behind him.
Zhou Yi’s face, seen up close, was even more startlingly handsome. Beneath his high, almost Western-like brow bones were deep, bright eyes, truly captivating and profound as the sea—if it were a young woman in love, being stared at so intently for a few seconds by him, without a word spoken, she would probably already be deeply entangled in love and offering herself.
But Chu He was very calm, not only calm but also innocent: “May I ask you…”
Zhou Yi stared at his face without blinking, as if he intended not only to see through his skin but also to dig out the marrow from his bones.
His intense focus even made Mayor Huang a little scared. Just as he was wondering if this pretty boy from the province had some strange fetish, Zhou Yi smiled, released Chu He, and said, “Excuse me, from behind, you look particularly like an old acquaintance of mine. I got a little excited and mistook you. My apologies, my apologies.”
Mayor Huang relaxed and couldn’t help but add, “What old acquaintance?”
Zhou Yi said with deep affection: “My ex-wife.”
Mayor Huang: “…”
Chu He: “…”
Mayor Huang’s mouth twitched suspiciously: “Xiao Zhou, don’t mind my bluntness, but although this Mr. Chu is a bit thin, he’s still a big man. For your ex-wife’s build to be similar to his, isn’t that a bit too…”
“You don’t understand, Old Huang!” Zhou Yi said seriously, “My ex-wife, she’s the cinnabar mole on my heart that never fades, the white lotus that never withers! No matter who she looks like now, even if she looked like you, I’d still love her!”
Mayor Huang fell silent. From the expression on his chubby face, he was already so utterly bewildered that he couldn’t utter a single word.
Chu He couldn’t listen anymore, stepped back two paces, turned, and got into the car: “You two chat, my house is on fire, I need to go home first.”
Zhou Yi immediately grabbed the car door: “Where’s your house?”
“…Mr. Zhou, please let go.”
“Hey—no, no, no, where’s your house? Meeting is fate, such a big deal with your house on fire, how can we not go watch the excitement?”
Instantly, everyone’s expressions became as bewildered as Mayor Huang’s. Even Chu He’s eye twitched repeatedly, and he couldn’t help but point at Yan Lanyu: “Isn’t Mr. Zhou’s fate supposed to be there?”
“Oh, Mr. Chu, you don’t understand this! Fate has its depths and heights! You can look like my ex-wife—though only about three or four percent, but our fate is deep. Though it’s not as high as a mountain or as deep as the sea, at least it’s… hey! Don’t go!”
The Hongqi car sped away, its exhaust fumes blowing onto Zhou Yi’s face.
“…” Zhou Yi wiped his face, helpless: “I just wanted to ask him, if his car broke down…”
Before he finished speaking, the Hongqi in front let out a loud “Bang!” followed by a puff of white smoke from the hood, and stopped moving.
“…If he would be willing to ride in our car,” Zhou Yi said innocently.
Mayor Huang had no choice but to get into the incredibly flashy black Mulsanne with Chu He. As for Aida and the Japanese group, they made an excuse that it was late and took their leave, agreeing to discuss the project drawings at the Development Center tomorrow.
Mayor Huang was utterly puzzled: “How could my car have broken down?!”
No one in the car spoke, and even the subordinates from their provincial foreign guest reception office all became silent as gourds. Only Zhou Yi suddenly leaned forward and asked excitedly, “Does Mr. Chu have any preference for Hongqi cars?”
Chu He: “…”
“Then, Mr. Chu, can you still get used to riding in my car?”
Chu He turned his head, resting his chin on one hand, not wanting to talk to him at all.
His subordinates were probably already used to Zhou Yi’s occasional eccentricities, their faces as expressionless as underground workers. However, Fatty Huang, with his loose tongue, couldn’t help but mock: “No matter how good a Hongqi is, it’s still assigned by the city. It can’t compare to your province’s wealth, where even the foreign affairs office is equipped with luxury cars worth nearly ten million. How can our seventh or eighth-tier small city compare?”
Zhou Yi smiled brightly: “Ah—you’re being too polite. Even if our province is rich, we can’t be so extravagant. To be honest, I bought this car myself and spent some money on modifications, then I just left it there and forgot to drive it. It’s already an old car from several years ago…”
“Is Xiao Zhou’s family also in business?” Mayor Huang, a stout man satisfied with two chickens a day, felt his heart ache at this moment.
“What business? Just saving money and living off old capital, our family fortune might not even be as thick as that little Japanese guy’s.” Zhou Yi smiled and turned to Chu He, seemingly completely unbothered that Chu He was ignoring him: “Men have hard lives, ah, we have to work hard, save money to support our wives and children, and if we’re not careful, our wives even become ex-wives—I’m not saying, but why don’t we just kidnap that little Japanese guy and extort him? I think the Aida family has a very deep background, maybe we can extort a few hundred billion for my ex-wife as alimony…”
Mayor Huang’s mouth twitched for a long while, then he turned to Li Hu, his face covered in black lines: “Director Li…”
“Shh,” Li Hu seemingly inadvertently shifted her butt, sitting a little further from Zhou Yi, then whispered, “I know what you want to ask, don’t ask. Yes, just assume he’s not normal…”
While they were talking, the car had already arrived at the entrance of the Zhang family villa. This area was quite a distance from the city, with sparsely located villas occupying large plots of land, so no neighbors came out to watch the commotion. Only two fire trucks were parked in front of the smoke-emitting bricks and tiles, and the ground was covered with white foamy water.
The villa’s facade was still relatively intact, but the southeast corner bedroom had completely burned down, and it looked like it wouldn’t be rebuilt for three to five months.
Several young maids huddled on the steps, trembling. Those two little rascals, Zhang Shun and Huang Pian, were doing their best to comfort them. Hearing the car horn, they turned around: “Hey—! Brother!”
Chu He strode forward, raising his palm to strike.
Zhang Shun immediately turned his head to dodge: “Brother! You want to hit me?!”
“Mr. Chu! Mr. Chu! Misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding!” Huang Pian, seeing the bad situation, rushed up to intervene: “This really has nothing to do with Zhang Shun! Oh, it’s all that Master Fang—hey? Uncle?”
Mayor Huang rushed over frantically, truly wanting to kick his good-for-nothing nephew to the ends of the earth: “Why the hell are you here again?!”
“Uncle, listen to me explain…”
Mayor Huang immediately clapped a hand over his nephew’s mouth and pulled him aside: “Don’t you know you only became a spirit after the founding of the nation?! If you don’t keep a low profile, are you trying to die?!”
Huang Pian said with a tear-streaked face, “It’s really not my fault, it’s that Master Fang who was asking for trouble…”
It turned out that as soon as Huang Pian heard about the haunting at the Zhang family, he became excited. Little Weasel was born knowing he was a demon, so he didn’t fear ghosts like ordinary humans. Instead of helping Zhang Shun, he was more interested in watching the show, so he immediately invited Master Fang, who was quite famous in the city recently, to the Zhang family.
That Master Fang was quite renowned in Hong Kong and Guangdong. He reportedly came to H City to travel around and refine magical artifacts. There’s no need to mention those mystical things, but he did have a knack for fortune-telling and exorcism. Several local rich families had successively invited him to examine their feng shui. The Zhang family was probably the only wealthy family in H City that had never invited Master Fang.
Although Master Fang claimed to be an enlightened recluse, he still needed to eat in the mundane world and had long coveted establishing a connection with the Zhang family. Unfortunately, while the master was interested, Boss Chu was as hard-hearted as iron. If it weren’t for Young Master Zhang’s unfortunate encounter this time, Master Fang would still not have gained entry to the Zhang family’s door.
When Zhang Shun recounted his “encountering ghosts” story, Master Fang thought it would be easy to handle. The Zhang family used to be miners, and it was said that many people died when the mine collapsed. This was clearly a case of a wronged ghost coming to collect a debt, and all it needed was a proper ritual for deliverance.
So the Master grandly entered the Zhang family mansion, and after walking around, cold sweat soaked his back.
—The feng shui of the Zhang family was a corpse-raising array!
Generally, business families would set up a feng shui array to gather wealth and ensure family prosperity, which is an expected thing. But when this Zhang family villa was built, the front window faced the back window, like a “sword piercing the main hall,” and a narrow crack was deliberately opened in the ceiling, forming both a “heavenly cut” and directly facing north to create “light malevolence.” It was practically designed to be as ominous as possible. What was especially terrifying was that the bedroom of Young Master Zhang’s elder brother happened to be located at the core of the array. An ordinary person living here for two or three years would have already been wiped out. How could they still run a company and do business?
Master Fang wiped away cold sweat and asked: “Second Young Master, is your elder brother in poor health?”
Zhang Shun was overjoyed: “Master is truly a Master, he knows even this! I’ve been saying he looks kidney-deficient all day, and recently he’s even shown signs of overindulgence…”
If it were Zhou Yi, this formation wouldn’t even be called a corpse-raising array; he could simply set up a recliner and sunbathe in the “light malevolence.” If it were Yan Lanyu, he might wonder if the owner of this family deliberately set up this formation, if there was any deeper meaning, and then quietly retreat as if he knew nothing.
But this Master Fang, firstly, didn’t expect Young Master Zhang’s brother to be so ruthless as to sacrifice himself to become a demon, using his own heart’s blood to worship the Demon Lord; secondly, he was dazzled by the gleaming check in Young Master Zhang’s hand and just wanted to show off his abilities.
—And then things went wrong.
“The, the Master had just taken out the copper coins, paper figures, and rooster’s blood, and the paper figures caught fire… Zhang Shun and I quickly fetched water to pour, but no matter how much water we poured, the fire only burned hotter and hotter, and finally the entire bedroom just, just, just burned to ashes…”
Chu He asked, “You burned it in my bedroom?”
Huang Pian nodded timidly.
Chu He took a deep breath, feeling he barely suppressed the urge to punch this little weasel, then turned and walked towards his bedroom, which had become charred bricks and tiles, and sat alone on the ruins.
Zhang Shun hesitated repeatedly, then cautiously walked over: “Bro… Brother.”
His brother ignored him.
“Brother, just hit me, I didn’t mean to…”
Chu He turned his head away.
This made Zhang Shun feel even worse. Although he did hate this half-brother when he was young and ignorant, and felt unacceptable when his dad left the inheritance, after so many years, it was false to say he had no feelings for his brother.
Besides, his brother was very good to him, giving him money if he needed it, cars if he needed them. Although his attitude was a bit cold, he actually granted every request and never left him dissatisfied. The year his dad passed away, he fell ill, and his brother took care of him without resting, not even leaving the house for half a month; when he was young and heartbroken, drowning his sorrows in drink, his brother searched him out from every bar on the bar street in the middle of the night, not minding being covered in his vomit. A several-million-dollar Ferrari was given simply because he asked for it, his brother himself didn’t drive such an expensive car; he enjoyed his daily pleasures with women, while his brother was so busy with business that he didn’t even find a girlfriend…
“Brother, I really won’t dare next time!” Zhang Shun raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face. Just as he was about to slap himself a second time, his brother sharply yelled, “Stop that!”
Zhang Shun looked at his brother piteously, his expression much like an abandoned husky.
Chu He had a strange expression, feeling a bit helpless and a bit dumbfounded. After a moment, he kicked his brother away: “Go, go, get out of here!”
Zhang Shun clutched his backside and ran, running for over ten meters before looking back and letting out a sigh of relief when he saw his brother hadn’t chased after him.
Young Master Zhang touched his face, confirming that it was neither swollen nor disfigured, then slowly walked around the ruins towards the villa gate—the butler was directing servants to move things back and forth and take inventory of property damage.
Mayor Huang and his nephew Huang Pian stood in the open space, looking at the steps with strange expressions.
Sitting on the steps was a handsome young man, surrounded by several delicate young maids, seriously reading their palms: “Your love line is very chaotic, which means your love life will be full of twists and turns, perhaps even separation by life or death. But don’t worry, you won’t be separated for many years. You are destined to marry into nobility, and in the future, you will certainly not worry about food and drink, and will have two children in three years… What? Boys or girls? Oh, let me tell you, these days daughters are better. Having a daughter is like having a warm little cotton jacket, having a son means you’re in debt, having two sons means your life is already at its end…”
Zhang Shun’s mouth twitched, “…Who is this person?”
The handsome man looked up and accurately spotted Zhang Shun in the crowd. In an instant, like a Red Army soldier seeing the Party organization, he excitedly rushed over, taking three steps in two: “Dear! Dear, your yin tang (space between eyebrows) is dark, indicating a bloody disaster! Come buy a peace talisman from me! Since we’re so fated, I’ll give you a five percent discount!”
“Are you f***ing sick?” Zhang Shun turned to leave. Then, for some reason, he tripped over his own feet on flat ground and fell face down with a loud thud.
Everyone around: “…”
He fell really hard; even falling down stairs isn’t usually that bad. Zhang Shun struggled to raise his head from the ground, his face bleeding, and saw two streams of nosebleed mixed with snot flow down.
“Immortal,” Zhang Shun asked with tears streaming down his face, “May I ask for your esteemed name, and how much is a peace talisman?”
The handsome guy fumbled in his pocket for a crumpled tissue and handed it to him, sympathizing: “I’m your brother’s friend, my name is Zhou Yi. Our meeting is fated. This peace talisman, originally twelve thousand, you can take for eight thousand eight.”
“…Friend, you’re still charging eight thousand eight?!”
Zhou Yi knelt down and held Zhang Shun’s tear- and blood-streaked face, saying earnestly: “More than just a friend? Mr. Chu’s younger brother, that’s my own younger brother! No, even closer than a blood brother! Come on, close brothers settle accounts clearly. Are you paying by card or check? Card payments incur a two percent processing fee, you know.”
Zhang Shun got up and turned to leave.
Just then, a subordinate from the foreign affairs office drove by. Zhou Yi stood up quite dejectedly and let out a long sigh: “I’m really down on my luck now… Back in the day, the Nine Heavens and Ten Realms, all the gods and Buddhas, would cry and beg me to sell them two peace talismans, and if I charged too little, they wouldn’t even take them… Now, no one even wants one for eight thousand eight…”
The subordinate immediately got out of the car, knelt down, and hugged his leg: “Boss Zhou! Please sell me a peace talisman! Do you accept 880,000 via Alipay transfer?”
“What are you thinking? You and I have no fate. I wouldn’t even take 8.8 million.” Zhou Yi gently patted his head and ambled away.
Chu He sat on the charred rubble, his eye twitching when he saw his brother fall headfirst with a thud—but it was just a twitch. Then he turned his head, pretending not to have seen it.
“Don’t worry, Boss Zhou was just joking with him.” Li Hu walked gracefully, her red lips curving into a captivating smile, and she actively extended her hand to shake Chu He’s: “Hello, Mr. Chu. Boss Zhou is just such a whimsical person; please forgive him.”
Chu He suddenly became very gentle towards this beauty: “It’s fine, it’s good for people to have character… what do you mean by calling him Boss?”
Li Hu covered her mouth and chuckled: “That’s his nickname, we all call him that in our office. Actually, don’t let his smooth talk fool you, he’s a very reliable person when he’s serious, just a little glib.”
Chu He smiled at this: “No wonder his wife ran off with someone.”
Not far away, Zhou Yi happened to pass by, and whether he heard it or not, his back seemed to suddenly stiffen.
—It turns out that Boss Chu’s sore spot truly cannot be touched. Zhang Shun’s revenge for falling on flat ground was exacted in less than five minutes.
“No, no, it’s not what you think,” Li Hu, realizing her mistake, quickly corrected herself: “Boss Zhou had two children with his ex-wife, but they both met with accidents. He suffered repeated family misfortunes, which is why he…”
Chu He nodded understandingly: “Director Li seems to know her colleague very well.”
“Are you implying something?” Li Hu’s laughter was like trembling flowers: “Then absolutely not. Although both this Mr. Zhou and your younger brother are dashing and charming young men, in my opinion, a calm and steady man like Mr. Chu is far more attractive.”
Chu He turned his head to look at her.
In the sunset, his eyes were slightly narrowed. From his high nose bridge to his lips, and from his chin to his neck, a graceful and somewhat ambiguous curve was visible. That half-smiling, half-unsmiling expression seemed to give his seemingly ordinary face an indescribable change, even stunning Li Hu, who was used to seeing handsome men.
Just then, Zhang Shun, who had gone to wash his face and put a band-aid on his nose, ran over with a bruised and swollen face: “Brother—”
“Beauty,” Chu He extended his hand, wearing a Vacheron Constantin diamond watch, and politely asked Li Hu, “May I have the honor of inviting you for a late-night snack tonight?”
Li Hu: “…”
Zhang Shun: “…”
Zhou Yi, not far away: “…”
“Then it’s settled, beautiful,” Chu He smiled. “Tonight at nine, I’ll pick you up at your hotel.”
Author’s Note:
Little Theater:
Zhou Yi: “Mr. Chu, would you condescend to ride in my car? If not, I’ll have to summon an ancient divine beast to carry you. Do you prefer a flying dragon or the Western White Tiger?”
Chu He: “…Zhang Shun, call a taxi to pick me up, quickly.”
