Late Night Bookstore - Chapter 6

Zhou Ze’s outburst— “Damn!”— left the two nurses flustered and even Dr. Lin, his wife, was momentarily stunned. The reaction had been so blunt and crude.

Zhou Ze didn’t bother to explain. He immediately reached out and pulled back the white sheet covering the girl’s body. As he feared, it was her. No wonder she had no visible injuries earlier. She wasn’t “lucky” for sitting in the back row of the bus. In fact, she had been the most severely injured child. The doctors had been fighting to save her life.

Her soul had already drifted away, yet she remained unaware. She had been warning Zhou Ze not to smoke in the hospital and comforting her classmates, unaware that none of the other children could actually see her.

In the entire hospital, the only person who could see her was Zhou Ze!

“Is she dead?” Zhou Ze asked while scanning the surroundings.

“Xu Le?” Dr. Lin looked at her husband, not wanting to pay attention to his crude language. She was more concerned that he seemed unhinged.

“She’s not dead yet! Keep trying to resuscitate her!” Zhou Ze suddenly grabbed Dr. Lin’s arm and shouted, “The time for resuscitation isn’t up yet! She still has a chance to wake up! Keep saving her!”

“Sir, please!” The two nurses hurried to intervene, trying to pull Zhou Ze away from Dr. Lin. To them, her husband seemed irrational, even violent.

Zhou Ze pushed the two nurses aside and released his grip, muttering under his breath, “Where are you? Where did you go? Where exactly are you!”

He ran out of the room, searching frantically. Just moments ago, the girl’s soul had been among the other children, comforting them. Now, she was nowhere to be found.

Has she already passed on to the afterlife? She is already dead. Is it too late? 

Zhou Ze felt lost. He didn’t understand why he was so agitated or why he felt such urgency. Perhaps it was because of his profession. It was his duty to save any patient who had a chance of survival and the brief connection he’d shared with the brave, kind girl made it all the more urgent.

“Uncle, are you looking for me?”

The familiar voice of the little girl spoke behind him. Zhou Ze spun around to see her again, but now her body was no longer as solid as before—she was translucent, fading.

“Uncle, I feel so cold.” The little girl hugged herself and squatted down. “I went to find the nurse to borrow a piece of clothing but the nurses didn’t pay attention to me. Do they dislike me? Am I annoying them?”

Flecks of light continuously spilled from the little girl. Zhou Ze had seen this before, it had happened to him when he was on the verge of death.

“Xu Le, come back with me!”

Dr. Lin approached at that moment.

The little girl turned her head toward the sound.

“Don’t look!” Zhou Ze shouted, stepping forward to cover the girl’s eyes. No one could predict what would happen if she saw her own lifeless body on the hospital bed. Would she panic? Realize she was dead and vanish entirely?

When Zhou Ze touched her, his nails began to heat up, not turning black or elongating like before but they grew warm. Her body started to distort and a ring of light swirled around Zhou Ze’s fingertips, invisible to everyone else.

“Step aside! She can still be saved!” Zhou Ze rushed towards the hospital bed again.

“Xu Le!” Dr. Lin’s chest heaved. The child had passed away and she didn’t understand what her husband was babbling about. Moreover, her husband studied civil engineering, which had nothing to do with medicine.

This time, the nurses didn’t try to stop Zhou Ze. He lifted the white cloth and placed his hands on the girl’s chest.

Yes, this was how I had come back to life. 

Your soul left your body, but it could return. You can live! 

As the light from his fingers merged into her body, Zhou Ze began performing CPR, pressing down on her chest.

“Wake up!”

“Come on, wake up!”

The nurses exchanged nervous glances and looked toward Dr. Lin.

“She’s dead.” Dr. Lin said as she walked over to Zhou Ze.

“The golden hour¹ for rescue hasn’t passed yet! I’ve been keeping track of the time!” Zhou Ze shouted as he continued to press down. “She can live, she can still make it!”

Dr. Lin bit her lip, then pushed Zhou Ze aside. Without missing a beat, she began performing chest compressions herself. “Your pressure was too hard. She’s injured. Ah Chun, reconnect the equipment. We’re resuming resuscitation.”

Zhou Ze didn’t protest. He just continued to stare at the little girl on the hospital bed. Fortunately, the parents were still being held outside by the traffic officers and the noise from the other children was so distracting that no one noticed what was happening inside.

Dr. Lin continued to apply pressure; beads of sweat had formed on her forehead. She wasn’t sure why she was going along with this madness, but something in her husband’s eyes had made her believe, if only for a moment.

This man was her husband, yet today, she found him somewhat inscrutable.

The equipment was reconnected but the display still showed a straight line.

Two young nurses stood by, looking somewhat at a loss.

Is there no way to save her?

Even after returning her soul, I couldn’t save her?

A sense of deep loss welled up inside him.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

The flatline turned into a faint rhythm. Dr. Lin stared at the screen in disbelief.

Is this a medical miracle?

……………

It was already evening by the time they left the hospital and headed home. Zhou Ze sat silently in the passenger seat while Dr. Lin drove. The atmosphere between them remained quiet, just as it always had. However, today, for the first time, it wasn’t Zhou Ze who broke the silence—it was Dr. Lin.

“Have you studied medicine?”

“No.”

“The technique you used earlier was very professional,” Dr. Lin observed.

“I learned a bit while getting my driver’s license,” Zhou Ze lied, trying to cover up his actions.

“But you don’t have a driver’s license,” Dr. Lin frowned slightly.

“……” Zhou Ze was speechless, silently cursing Xu Le once again.

Dr. Lin didn’t intend to delve deeper into the matter, she simply said, “Thank you for your persistence today.”

“No need to thank me.” Zhou Ze waved his hand. Deep down, he still saw himself as a doctor—saving lives didn’t require thanks.

The girl had not yet woken up and remained in a coma, but at least there was hope now.

“I’ll thank you on behalf of that girl.” Dr. Lin said, glancing at her phone. “It’s almost 8 o’clock. My parents are waiting for us to come home for dinner.”

Parents?

Zhou Ze’s heart sank.

So, I’m meeting the in-laws now?

The car drove into a high-end residential area. Tongcheng was close to Shanghai, geographically positioned at opposite ends of the Yangtze River. Although the housing prices here weren’t as extreme as Shanghai’s, they were still not cheap.

Dr. Lin parked the car and walked inside, with Zhou Ze following behind her. They entered the elevator together and exited on the same floor. Dr. Lin used her key to open a door.

The apartment was nicely decorated, a duplex-style layout. From the look of things, it was clear that the Lin family was well-off. The fact that Zhou Ze was now living as a “live-in son-in-law” further confirmed that the Lin family had some status. After all, a family without money and backing wouldn’t be able to attract a son-in-law.

In the living room, an older man with graying hair wearing a sweater sat on the couch watching the evening news. He barely glanced up when his daughter and son-in-law entered.

“Wanqiu, you’re back.”

The kitchen door was pushed open and his mother-in-law leaned out. She was tall, like her daughters, with a slightly fuller figure, but still had the kind of presence that could attract countless old men at the “Sunset Red²” square.

Finally, I know my wife’s full name—Lin Wanqiu, Zhou Ze thought, making a mental note.

His mother-in-law’s gaze swept over Zhou Ze and it noticeably darkened for a moment.

“Dinner’s ready, old man. Wanqiu is home.”

“Finally, time to eat.” His sister-in-law walked out of the study, waved her fist at Zhou Ze and gesturing with her head toward their parents, as if to warn him to be cautious. Despite her tough exterior, this small gesture hinted that she wasn’t entirely hostile.

Zhou Ze went to wash his hands in the bathroom and Lin Wanqiu joined him. They silently scrubbed their hands with soap, both meticulously thorough in their washing.

Lin Wanqiu glanced at Zhou Ze a couple more times, then rinsed her hands and walked into the living room. Zhou Ze followed after drying his hands with a paper towel.

Everyone had gathered around the dining table and Zhou Ze sat beside Lin Wanqiu.

His mother-in-law served the rice with a bit more force than necessary when she placed his bowl in front of him. At least she didn’t skip serving me, Zhou Ze thought to himself.

“Zhou Ze, do you think we treat you poorly?” His mother-in-law spoke up before they even started eating.

“Not at all,” Zhou Ze replied.

“Then why didn’t you come home last night? Were you trying to make a point?”

“Mom, let’s eat. He had some things to deal with at his shop and told me about it,” Lin Wanqiu interjected.

Her parents exchanged surprised glances. It was unusual for their eldest daughter to stand up for her husband like this and it left them momentarily unsure of how to continue their criticism.

Even Lin Wanqiu’s sister was taken aback. Her sister had always been indifferent toward her husband. Was the sun rising in the west today?

“Let’s eat,” his father-in-law said, picking up his chopsticks to signal. “You eat too.” He specifically pointed his chopsticks at Zhou Ze. A bit impolite, Zhou Ze noted, but the message was clear—the matter of last night’s incident was being brushed aside.

“Wanqiu, have some braised pork. I’ve been stewing it for a while,” her mother said, placing a piece in both her daughters’ bowls. After hesitating for a moment, she added a piece to Zhou Ze’s bowl as well.

Only then did Zhou Ze realize that he hadn’t eaten all day. From the moment he had taken over Xu Le’s body, he hadn’t had a bite to eat.

He didn’t hold back, picking up the meat and putting it in his mouth.

Instantly, his face froze. An overwhelming sense of nausea swept over him and his stomach began to convulse violently.

“Ugh…” Zhou Ze retched, as if what he was eating was poison.

“……” Mother-in-law.

“……” Father-in-law.

The atmosphere at the dinner table plummeted into an icy silence.

TL Notes:

1. The “golden hour” is a medical term that refers to the first 60 minutes after a traumatic injury or critical illness, when prompt medical care can significantly improve a patient’s chances of survival.

2. Sunset Red – A term associated with activities for senior citizens, often dance or social gatherings in parks.