CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 30: ZHOU LI’S FIRST BUSINESS DEAL

"What a blast!"

Huai Xu sat on Zhou Li’s bed, squinting his eyes as he clutched his stomach, leaning backward as if he wanted to fall over.

He used to live by stealing food. After meeting Zhou Li, he had someone to feed him, but the amount was very unstable. To eat carefree like today was also quite rare for him.

"Aunt Jiang made a lot of dishes today; she was probably planning to entertain your deskmate, right?"

"They think Brother Nan and I are dating."

"Just because of your brother’s fantasy?"

"Probably."

"Your deskmate is pretty nice, good-looking, and fun. You could also try chasing after him. If you succeed, great. If you fail, no big deal, I didn’t see the guy get hit, after all."

"I wouldn’t dare."

Zhou Li quickly waved his hands and then changed the subject, "I found another part-time job. I’m going to check it out soon and, if possible, I could do half a day’s work this afternoon."

"Another one?"

"The tutoring job is only four hours a week, and I haven’t found any other tutoring jobs yet, so I might as well."

"You’re really diligent!"

At one o’clock, Zhou Li and Huai Xu left the house.

Aunt Jiang escorted them to the door and insisted on giving Huai Xu a bag of dried beef. "Come over to Auntie’s place more during the summer break. Just tell Zhou Li what you want to eat, and Auntie will cook it for you."

"Thank you, Aunt Jiang."

After leaving the house, Huai Xu said to Zhou Li with pride, "Aunt Jiang seems to really like me."

Zhou Li smiled and said, "I’ve never brought classmates home before, and you’re handsome. Everyone in our family is a sucker for good looks."

「Half an hour later.」

Zhou Li held a deer antler headband in his hands, looking distressedly at a young woman. "Do I have to wear this?"

"You could also choose cat or rabbit ears."

"...All right."

"I’ll come to check on you. Don’t slack off too much. It’s paid daily, and this afternoon counts as half a day."

"Okay."

Zhou Li put on the antlers, took the flyers, and started distributing them in a shady spot.

Huai Xu followed behind him joyously. "You know, with that on, you actually look pretty nice, like a little demon... Hey, look, there’s a girl secretly taking pictures of you!"

Zhou Li didn’t respond. Upon seeing a woman in her late twenties approaching, he promptly bowed to hand her a flyer.

Huai Xu spied a chair nearby and took a seat, his gaze following Zhou Li.

An hour later, Zhou Li wiped his sweat and sat down beside him to rest.

"It’s so hot..."

"Is your job just to hand these out?" Huai Xu glanced at the flyer in Zhou Li’s hand; it was advertising some summer training class for children, all illustrated with adults playing with kids.

"Yeah."

"How much do you get paid a day?"

"100."

"So half a day is 50?"

"Right."

"How much did you make from the all-nighter the last time?"

"Around 10 yuan, I guess."

"Wouldn’t that mean standing here and handing out these papers for half a day is enough for five all-nighters?" Huai Xu’s eyes widened. "What are the requirements? I might as well do this job, too!"

"You need to be good-looking and appealing to both kids and adults." Zhou Li glanced at Huai Xu. "You’d definitely fit the bill."

"Forget it, I was just saying. Maintaining Manifesting Form for a day, with my current state, I’d need to save up for almost half a month." Huai Xu sighed. "You people of this era are really lucky; it’s like you’ll never go hungry."

"Have you remembered something else?"

"Just bits and pieces. In my memory, it seems like everyone in the world was starving."

"That’s how it was in ancient times."

"But in my memory, some eras were still pretty good. Even though people couldn’t eat their fill, they still had this thing..."

"What thing?"

"Pride."

Zhou Li pursed his lips and remained silent.

The Han Dynasty introduced the name ’Han people’. This name bestowed soul and pride upon the inhabitants of this land. That pride probably peaked during the Splendid Tang Dynasty, then began its decline.

Huai Xu must be referring to the Han and Tang dynasties.

How long he had lived remained a mystery!

At around four in the afternoon, a couple of old ladies took over the chairs, forcing Huai Xu to move to the edge of the flower bed.

Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and abruptly turned his head to stare in a certain direction.

At this moment, Zhou Li was dealing with a young couple. The couple was eagerly inquiring about the training class. Zhou Li could tell they were looking for a reliable place to leave their child while they went on a trip or something, but regrettably, he wasn’t very familiar with the training class either.

He was having such a tough time!

BANG! Huai Xu appeared beside him out of thin air, looking at him excitedly.

"Zhou Li, I think we’ve stumbled upon a big business opportunity!"

"For specific details, you can call the number." Zhou Li nodded to the young couple, saw them off, and then turned to Huai Xu.

"What big business?"

"Look across the street, at the man sitting in the car smoking. Does he have the aura of a Demon on him?"

"How would I know..."

"He does! I can’t be wrong!" Huai Xu declared confidently, then began his analysis. "Generally speaking, Demons don’t have much contact with people, so I deduce that this man must be in trouble."

"Based on your deduction, doesn’t that mean I’m..."

"Alright, alright, maybe not. Anyway, just go over and ask him!" Huai Xu said. "Look at the car he’s sitting in—it’s bigger than the others nearby. He must be wealthy! If it’s true, we’ll make a fortune. If not, then we’ll demand a protection fee. If he refuses, we’ll catch the Demon he’s in cahoots with and beat it up in the name of upholding the Demon People Agreement!"

"What if he’s not an ordinary person?"

"Then that’s even better!"

"But you..."

"Don’t worry, Demons and people have been at peace for many years, and besides, not many can beat me... Hehe!"

"I see."

Zhou Li, carrying flyers, walked across the street to a C-class car parked at the curbside. A middle-aged man sat inside, his brows slightly furrowed, as if troubled by work or something else.

Seeing his hesitation, Huai Xu hurriedly said, "Don’t just stand there. You have to start somewhere if we want to make the big bucks later on!"

"I’m thinking about what I should say."

"Say whatever. Masters are very casual; they don’t need to cater to mortals."

"Hmm."

Zhou Li then walked up to the car, knocked on the window, and said, "Sir, have you encountered anything strange recently?"

The man turned to look at him, bewildered for a long time, before finally asking, "Who are you?"

Then he saw the young man, his hands full of flyers and a deer antler headband on his head, saying sincerely, "Honestly, sir, I specialize in handling special matters for others. I noticed something amiss with you. You must have come into contact with some strange things."

The man was stunned, then clenched his fists—he showed no hint of doubt—

"Buddy, quick, get in the car, let’s talk inside!"

"I..." Zhou Li looked down at the flyers in his hand but ultimately got in the car, sitting in the back. "It seems, sir, you indeed have trouble."

"Yes, these past few days have been very upsetting."

The middle-aged man began to recount his experiences to Zhou Li.

He said the strange occurrences began half a month ago. For no apparent reason, items in his home kept getting knocked over. Even though nobody was in the living room, a cup set squarely in the center of the coffee table would fall to the floor.

The cup’s bizarre movements could be seen on the security footage.

He had consulted many experts, to no avail.

They even tried moving to another house, but that only brought peace for two days. These days, they dared not return home.

Zhou Li felt like he was listening to a ghost story.

After the middle-aged man finished, he looked at Zhou Li expectantly, "Did we offend something? Or is a rival trying to mess with me? How can we solve this problem? Is it easy to solve? How much will it cost?"

Huai Xu whispered to Zhou Li, "Sounds weak, probably just a little demon. Tell him it’s simple, and then ask for a lot of money!"

"May I know your surname, sir?" Zhou Li asked calmly.

"No need for formalities, my surname is Liu. Liu Cheng," Liu Cheng said. "I run a renovation company and am currently competing for a big project."

"Ohhh."

"Heavenly Masters are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns these days," Huai Xu prompted.

"Don’t worry, Mr. Liu. Whatever the reason, as I said before, I’m quite skilled at handling these issues," Zhou Li didn’t outright dismiss Liu Cheng’s speculations.

"Really?"

"Really, especially proficient!"

"How much money do you want? Name your price!"

"Ask for a thousand or eight hundred!" Huai Xu said.

"Mr. Liu, you can decide. Our main goal is to prevent Demons from causing chaos in the world. We don’t charge upfront. After I’ve sorted out the issue, it won’t be too late for you to pay!" Zhou Li spoke slowly; he was still inexperienced in this business.

"...Thank you so much!"

"If he dares not to pay, I’ll kill him!"