New Times, New Hell

Chapter 112 - Debt Collection Department

The Si Mountain Ridge incident temporarily came to a close. A long-term plan for what to do about the fact that the Great Emperor of Fengdu had awakened needed to be made. Nobody knew what was going to happen in the end. Out of caution, Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que decided to first keep this news a secret from everyone else.

The religious masters of the different sects all fought to invite Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que to have discussions with them. However, there was still a bunch of work waiting for them at the company. It was also obvious that Shang Que had no patience for socializing. In the end, it was Yu Zhengdu who acted as their company’s representative and politely declined the religious masters’ invitations. He and Shang Que went back to Fu City.

The Si Mountain Ridge incident had great repercussions; it also increased the pressure for Luofeng’s reincarnation management. Fortunately, long before they returned to the company, Shang Que had already formed a solution plan through a phone conference.

Because of this, when Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que returned to the company, though the company was very busy, it didn’t appear unorganized at all. Everything was progressing smoothly.

Only, for a long period of time, a lot of newbie posts frequently appeared on the Fengdu Forum:

Topic: My Goodness, People Actually Invite Others to Disco Parties at Their Graves?

Building Owner: Don’t you find this behavior unlucky?

Floor 1: Firstly, you need to use the accurate terms. It should be some “ghosts” who invite other “ghosts.”

Floor 2: Secondly, the building owner is from Si Mountain Ridge, right? Your village just got connected to the Internet?

Building Owner: How did you guys know that I’m from Si Mountain Ridge? And yes, we did just get connected to the Internet……

Floor 4: ……I’m not surprised at all.

Topic: Our Village Caught An Escaped Human Face Sore Evil Ghost!!

Building Owner: Has everyone heard about those evil ghosts who will possess people and turn into human face sores? They’re super disgusting and scary. When I was alive, I lived fearfully under their control. Now that I’m dead, I’m still super scared of them!!

Building Owner: Truly unexpected. Today, I actually witnessed the new employees Luofeng sent over catching an evil ghost. There was also a ghost who was there who had been possessed by that evil ghost in life and grown a human face sore. He stepped up and indicted the evil ghost. The entire time, that evil ghost had both hands on his head while squatting and facing the wall. He might even be charged with jail time or reform through labor. Either way, he looked really stupid……I’m starting to suspect why I used to fear them so much in the past?

Floor 2: ……Another post from Si Mountain Ridge.

Floor 3: Just……our modern Hell has always worked like this. We’re all good, law-abiding ghosts.

Building Owner: TuT So you guys aren’t scared of evil ghosts?

Floor 5: Somewhat. In the past, I was a bit scared, but now…… Building owner, you know that the Life Planning app has an [Emergency Services] function, right? You can press it and immediately call the police. It’ll also track your location……

Topic: I Never Even Shopped Online While Alive, But Unexpectedly, I Get to Shop Online in Death qaq

Building Owner: That’s right, I’m from Si Mountain Ridge. Everyone should already know that many of Si Mountain Ridge’s more isolated villages don’t get express delivery. Additionally, because of previous reasons, there weren’t a lot of people who shopped online. Unexpectedly, the Underworld got connected to the Internet first. And so, I just received the stuff Luofeng’s sacrificial goods burning company burned for me. Super exciting!

Floor 1: Pitiful affection

Floor 2: Speaking of, is Si Mountain Ridge hiring Underworld express deliverymen? My area has already reached capacity. I want to leave the city to work……

Floor 3: Upstairs has reminded me. Si Mountain Ridge is technically in its beginning stages of development, right? There are more opportunities there than elsewhere. How about everyone go there together?

Floor 4: Even if they’re hiring, they’re going to hire local Si Mountain Ridge ghosts first, right?

Floor 5: What are you scared of? We have work experience and a competitive advantage!

Floor 555: Why has this building turned into a discussion about career analysis?

Topic: Shock, I Can Actually See What Kind of Person I’m Going to Reincarnate Into in My Next Life?!!

Topic: Eating Sacrificial Goods In This Manner Will Ruin Your Good and Evil Scores! Seven Important Things to Remember While Eating Sacrificial Goods.

Topic: Nice Mountains, Fresh Water, and Beautiful Scenery; Si Mountain Ridge Welcomes You to Get Buried Here!

Topic: I Can’t Take It Anymore, the Ones Appearing From Si Mountain Ridge, Can’t You Carefully Read the Forum Rules and Recommended Posts Before Making New Posts?

Topic: Si Mountain Ridge-Only Building

Moderator: Due to the fact that there have been too many posts from Si Mountain Ridge recently, which has affected regular posting and discussions, we’ve specifically created a Si Mountain Ridge-only building. All discussions related to Si Mountain Ridge will be focused in this building only. Please don’t make any new posts. All the previous links: [Link][Link][Link][Link][Link]

After returning to the company, Yu Zhengdu immediately started discussing the problem of upgrading the Life and Death Accounts system with Zhao Ruola. This was to prevent another situation like Si Mountain Ridge, where someone could hide the actual number of Underworld spirits. Additionally, he used the excuse of being too busy with work to decline Shang Que’s invitations for storytelling.

……When a thousand year old single ghost started telling stories, he really took a long time. And, listening to these stories was really very tiring!

Thus, Zhao Ruola would often receive random threats from Boss:【You’re not allowed to work overtime today! You’ll turn into a chicken if you work overtime!】

Zhao Ruola, who didn’t know the truth, expressed that in all her years of working, this was her first time encountering such a kind capitalist.

A few days of working overtime later, Yu Zhengdu’s middle school classmate, Zou Weiqin, made a special trip to visit him. He came with gifts.

They had seen each other over the new year and had resolved a problem with a ghost of poverty together. After that, Yu Zhengdu had hurriedly rushed to Si Mountain Ridge to take care of the drought demon. He had accidentally forgotten about Zou Weiqin’s situation during that time. Seeing him now, he finally remembered.

The two of them met up in the company reception room. Zou Weiqin’s expression was full of gratitude. His tone was incredibly excited too. “Zhengdu, that shameless old man who scammed my mom took the initiative to return our money! Not only did he return my mom’s money, he also returned the money that he scammed from other elderly people.”

Yu Zhengdu had a general idea about what had happened in his heart, so wasn’t surprised at all. He only smiled. “That’s great.”

“Too amazing. How did you guys do it?” Zou Weiqin wasn’t able to stay as calm as him, though. While speaking, he couldn’t help expressing his awe, “You don’t know exactly how shameless that old guy is. In the past, an elderly person’s family member gathered a group of people to try and intimidate him into being reasonable. However, he ended up hiring a crowd of hooligans too and wasn’t scared at all. Also, he would often just randomly fall on the ground and try to scam people for hospital money……This mess has been going on for several months already. We truly couldn’t come up with any good plans. But how long have you guys been on the case? And that person actually took the initiative to come return the money?!”

Yu Zhengdu ambiguously said, “That’s our company secret. No matter what, though, it’s good that you were able to get the money back.”

Because Luofeng was using a special method, before the ghosts who had died tragically had been hired, Luofeng had specially trained them to warn the shameless old man that he needed to keep the dreams a secret.

That old man had been so scared that he had peed his bed even though he wasn’t a kid anymore. His mental state had also quickly deteriorated. He immediately returned all the money he had scammed. How could he dare to expose this secret? He truly had a sorrow that couldn’t be shared.

The shameless old man didn’t dare to tell the truth. In the eyes of those victims who had finally managed to get their money back, this was further proof that Zou Weiqin’s friend was really badass at collecting debt…… Of course, this was also the truth.

Zou Weiqin knew that Yu Zhengdu’s company had a special scope of business. He also knew about the honorable deeds Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que had done last Qingming in front of the Yu Clan’s ancestral temple. In actuality, he had a slight guess in his heart. Seeing that Yu Zhengdu wasn’t saying anything, though, he sensibly didn’t continue asking. He only handed the gifts he had brought along to the other. “These were crowdfunded by the victims. It’s their way of showing their gratitude.”

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help criticizing, “Crowdfunded again……”

Zou Weiqin hurriedly changed the term: “……A collaborative effort.” Having just experienced a crowdfunding scam, the word “crowdfunding” sounded too unlucky.

Yu Zhengdu wasn’t overly polite either. He accepted the gifts. The two of them chatted some more. Upon feeling that he had made enough preparation, Zou Weiqin finally hesitantly said, “Oh right, Zhengdu, I actually have something else I need to talk to you about this time.”

Yu Zhengdu was confused. “Huh?”

“It’s like this. I’ve been working at a bank since graduation, right? Our credit department also often has to deal with collecting debt……” Zou Weiqin started.

Just from hearing this beginning, Yu Zhengdu could already guess what he wanted to say. However, he didn’t tell the other this. Instead, he gestured for Zou Weiqin to continue speaking.

As expected, Zou Weiqin explained that a lot of people at his bank knew that his mom had been scammed by a shameless old man. Because this was too classic of scam, basically, the shameless old man would only get locked up for a few years. After, he could come out and continue living his carefree life. It was essentially impossible to get the money back.

Nobody had expected that right after the new year, Zou Weiqin’s family would be able to get the money back from the scammer. Not only so, but apparently, the other victims’ money had been returned to them too. In their industry, this was a rather big piece of news. Immediately, everyone started asking Zou Weiqin for the details of the situation.

Zou Weiqin ultimately hadn’t been able to handle it. In the end, he could only confess to everyone that his friend’s company had helped in the debt collection process. However, he emphasized the fact that they hadn’t used force or any illegal methods.

There was such a badass company on this earth? Super effective debt collection without using force or illegal methods?

At first, the people at the bank were still a bit in disbelief. However, some curious people looked into the matter in private and discovered that Zou Weiqin was actually telling the truth.

Because the old man had scammed a lot of people and a lot of his victims had ended up on the news while trying to protect their rights, reporters naturally interviewed them when they got their money back. In the end, surprisingly, nobody knew why that old shameless man had suddenly rediscovered his morals. However, after media investigations, it could be confirmed that the old man absolutely hadn’t been physically threatened at all. Apparently, nobody suspicious had ever approached him either.

Zou Weiqin instantly became popular at the bank. To people working with lending and credit, there was no need to explicitly say what a highly effective and legal debt collection company signified.

Zou Weiqin said, “Even though we normally get mortgages, guarantees, and other stuff when we lend out money, when we really encounter someone who’s purposely delaying paying us back, it’s still a waste of time and energy to collect their debt. Nobody wants to get to that step……”

He was slightly embarrassed. “However, I know that this isn’t the main service you guys offer. Which is why I still haven’t agreed to my coworkers’ requests. I wanted to come here first and ask for your opinion.”

Yu Zhengdu considered for a moment. With a smile, he said, “Our company doesn’t have a problem with it. We can collaborate.”

Delighted, Zou Weiqin asked, “Really?”

“Un,” Yu Zhengdu replied. “I’ll submit a request with my boss in a moment and give you a reply later. If things get settled, we’ll arrange for a specialized representative to talk with you guys.”

Zou Weiqin was ecstatic. “That’s great.”

“However……” Yu Zhengdu hesitated slightly. He seemed to be thinking about something.

Zou Weiqin thought that he was going to go back on his word. He couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous. “Is there another problem?”

Yu Zhengdu lowly said, “Isn’t the amount of business we can get from your bank a little low? Your bank’s risk management system is already very maturely developed. There probably aren’t too many situations where you’ll need a debt collection company, right?”

He looked at Zou Weiqin and slowly drawled out, “However, those in your field must know a lot of credit companies, financial platforms, and the like…… If it’s convenient, you can introduce these clients to us.”

Zou Weiqin hadn’t expected that Yu Zhengdu had already come up with a plan for expanding his client group. He blanked for a moment before stuttering out, “Um……Does your company have enough employees for this service?”

“We can hire more.” Yu Zhengdu smiled. “We have a very developed worker training system.”

Zou Weiqin: “……”

No wonder Yu Zhengdu had gotten to such a high position so soon after graduation. Look at his level of thinking!

After finishing his chat with Zou Weiqin, Yu Zhengdu walked into Shang Que’s office and told him about their expansion into the field of debt collection.

Shang Que solemnly waited for him to finish speaking before nodding. “Okay……Do you want to hear me tell a story?”

How was he so good at seizing every possible opportunity?

Yu Zhengdu expressionlessly said, “I’ve become deaf.”

Shang Que self-confidently replied, “It’s not like you need to use your ears to listen to stories!”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

He really, really wanted to forcefully shake Shang Que’s shoulders and have him carefully consider whether or not this sentence was logical!

Luofeng’s work rate was very high. Yu Zhengdu didn’t even leave Shang Que’s office; the two of them had a short storytelling session in the office.

After telling his story, Shang Que was in a great mood. He directly found the business development department and held a meeting with them. Lu Lingxi immediately sent out a hiring notification.

However, during the meeting, a strange smile would occasionally appear on Shang Que’s face. This garnered his employees’ attention. After the meeting, an employee curiously asked, “Boss Shang, has something good happened? You look to be in an exceptionally good mood today!”

Shang Que glanced at him, pleased. His tone was boastful: “Nothing much. I just told a story earlier.”

His employees were completely bewildered because of this. They stared at each other. Someone felt the need to support Boss. Thus, he very sincerely said, “What story has made you so happy? Can you tell it to us too?”

Shang Que: “……”

Shang Que angrily stood up. “You wish!”

Coworkers: “……”

Boss’s thoughts were too hard to understand.

The next morning, Yu Zhengdu walked into work with two dark bags under his eyes.

Kang Jin had never seen him so frail. Upon seeing this, he jumped in shock and asked, “How come you’re so tired?”

Yu Zhengdu yawned. Dazed, he offhandedly responded, “I listened to Boss tell stories last night.”

He honestly hadn’t thought that even though Shang Que had been single for a long time, he had actually spent a long time surfing the Internet too. These past few years, he had seen an unknown amount of misleading information online. Yu Zhengdu had originally thought that after he had listened to Shang Que tell a story in the office yesterday, the other would be able to calm down a bit. Unexpectedly, during a phone call that night, Shang Que had started getting excited again halfway through their conversation…… In the end, they had ended up having a storytelling session through the phone too.

Yu Zhengdu thought about it, then pulled out his phone, opened WeChat, and changed his nickname for Shang Que to Story King.

As soon as he finished changing this, he heard Kang Jin enviously say, “Boss’s boyfriend does get special treatment. Apparently, a few coworkers who attended the meeting yesterday wanted to hear Boss tell stories, but they got scolded by Boss. You have it easy, though. Boss even told you stories in the middle of the night.”

Yu Zhengdu looked at Kang Jin, shocked. In the end, he patted the other on the shoulder. “Boss has already been quite lenient in that he hasn’t forced everyone to die repeatedly.”

Kang Jin: ???

Yu Zhengdu walked over to his spot while yawning. He had barely sat down when Chen Yangli came looking for him. “Yu ge, we’ve encountered a problem and feel that we should tell you about it.”

Yu Zhengdu stared at him blankly. “What’s wrong?”

Previously, Chen Yangli had been transferred to be in charge of the “Fengdu Ghost Market” shopping platform’s online operations. Eventually, the platform’s sales had increased, so Luofeng had also opened their own store on the platform. This store sold their company’s luck-changing jades, detection packages, etc. It made a rather impressive amount of sales.

Chen Yangli opened the backend server of “Fengdu Ghost Market” and pointed at a chat with a certain customer. He explained, “This person is here to buy a jade stone, but the contents of his consultation are a bit strange.”

“Is there something wrong?” Yu Zhengdu asked while scanning the chat. He discovered that the client seemed to be a college student. The price of the jade stone wasn’t cheap for him, which was why he had asked a few detailed questions.

Chen Yangli said, “He’s buying the jade stone because recently, he’s been plagued by nightmares and his mental state has slightly deteriorated. He went to the hospital, but they couldn’t find a cause. Thus, he wants to try to see if our jade stones can help with sleep quality.”

Right now, Yu Zhengdu was much more perceptive regarding these matters. He instantly made a guess. “There’s something wrong with the contents of his dreams?”

Chen Yangli nodded. “Take a look.”

Thus, Yu Zhengdu carefully looked at the chat.

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Dear, if you’re worried, you can tell Little Tiantian what dreams you’ve had recently oh】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Little Tiantian will help you make a professional judgement da】

In the past, Yu Zhengdu had never really paid particular attention to the details of their purchasing platform. Now that he was seeing the nickname “Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian,” he couldn’t help glancing at Chen Yangli, who was big and heavily built. “Little Tiantian?”

Chen Yangli scratched his armpit. With a proud expression, he said, “I’m the customer service representative who gets the best reviews on the platform oh, dear.”

Yu Zhengdu pretended he hadn’t heard anything. He continued reading the chat.

User s13j: 【It’s actually nothing. I’ve just been continuously dreaming about someone telling me to extend his lifespan for him recently】

User s13j:【Though it’s not very scary, it honestly feels very strange】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Ah, is that so? It’s only a dream. There’s no need to be too worried, dear】

User s13j:【I wasn’t worried originally, but after having the same dream several days in a row, I’m truly a bit scared】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【You’ve had the same dream for several days in a row? Dear, you didn’t agree to the other’s request, right?】

User s13j:【That’s the reason I want to buy a jade. At first, I found it too strange, so didn’t agree. But eventually, I kept having the same dream and couldn’t take it anymore. Last night, I agreed. Unexpectedly, the other immediately pulled out a contract and told me to sign it】

User s13j:【That’s a bit too real, right? I was honestly a bit terrified】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Then may I ask if you signed the contract, dear?】

User s13j:【I did. I already agreed. How embarrassing if I refused to sign after agreeing】

User s13j:【This dream was too realistic. I fear that if I continue to have similar dreams in the future, I’m really going to have a mental breakdown】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【May I ask how long the other told you to extend his lifespan for?】

User s13j:【I think it was twenty years. This isn’t important, right?】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Un un, dear, Little Tiantian knows about your situation now. Next, I will help you conduct a detailed analysis. Please wait a moment oh】

Yu Zhengdu furrowed his brows. “Extending a lifespan?”

Chen Yangli nodded. “This probably isn’t a normal nightmare. Instead, someone has probably used an evil spell to invade his dream space and has utilized the fact that he’s unaware to trick him into signing a contract that’ll lend years of his life to someone else.”

Regarding the spells of the Underworld, Yu Zhengdu was always surprised by whatever new things he saw. Upon hearing this, he was a bit shocked. “You can do that?”

“Lifespan extension has existed since historical times,” Shang Que’s voice suddenly sounded out.

Yu Zhengdu turned around, only to see Shang Que carrying an intricate breakfast bag and looking very energetic. It was very obvious that he had gotten this take-out for his boyfriend.

As expected, Shang Que familiarly placed the breakfast on Yu Zhengdu’s desk. Then, he glanced at the chat. He continued, “However, regarding these evil spells, there are very specific requirements for both the party lending out years of life and the party asking for an extension. Their birth dates, times, five elements, auras, etc. must all be compatible. Finding a suitable person isn’t easy.”

It was very rare to see this evil spell in modern times. This was one of the reasons. Additionally, even if you were lucky enough to find a suitable person to lend you years of life, the other party needed to agree first. One couldn’t force someone into giving them years of life.

Unexpectedly, someone had actually invaded a dream and, while the other party had been unaware, had tricked him into signing the contract.

Yu Zhengdu asked, shocked, “But this is technically a scam, right?”

“It is a scam, but it’s also effective,” Shang Que explained. “Just like when people get tricked into signing unfair contracts these days. As long as the contract doesn’t include any illegal conditions and the victim can’t prove that they were scammed, the contract is effective.”

“Too despicable!” Yu Zhengdu angrily asked, “Isn’t there a solution?”

“Unless the other person destroys the contract,” Shang Que said, “the only thing this person can do is admit his misfortune.”

Because these were matters involving living humans, even the Life and Death Accounts’ backend server couldn’t check who the other person was. It couldn’t get involved.

Yu Zhengdu: “Ey.”

Chen Yangli: “Ey.”

Everyone looked at the chat on the purchasing platform. That client was still blindly waiting for Little Tiantian’s reply.

User s13j:【Little Tiantian, are you done analyzing?】

User s13j:【_(:3∠)_ It doesn’t need to be so troublesome, right? I just want to know if your jade can help me stop having nightmares】

He obviously didn’t know yet that right now, his true problem wasn’t the nightmare at all.

Yu Zhengdu gently knocked on the desk. He righteously said, “This won’t do. I can’t let the criminal just walk away.”

Shang Que glanced at him. “If you want it to happen, I can make him die on the spot.”

Yu Zhengdu hurriedly waved his hands. “Dont don’t don’t. We’re a legal company.”

Shang Que was apathetic.

Just as they fell silent, repetitive thuds could be heard from the conference room not far away. Chen Yangli furrowed his eyebrows. “What are they doing in there? It’s so noisy.”

Yu Zhengdu was a bit agitated in his heart too. Thus, he stood up and walked over. While opening the door to the conference room, he asked, “What are you guys doing……”

Only to see an object resembling a ball bouncing between the ground and walls of the conference room.

Yu Zhengdu was speechless. “Why are you playing ball during work?”

Before he could finish speaking, that ball shot in his direction. Yu Zhengdu instinctively reached out and caught it; he instantly realized that this ball felt wrong. He looked down. A decapitated head that was bleeding from all seven of its orifices politely greeted him. “Boss Yu, hello.”

Yu Zhengdu: !!!

Yu Zhengdu surprisingly didn’t scream. Instead, he calmly held up that head and forcefully chucked it. That head traveled in a parabolic nature and fell into the trash can in the corner of the room.

Cheery applause sounded out from the conference room. “Nice shot, Boss Yu!”

A headless corpse felt along the walls as it traveled in the direction of the trash can. It picked up its head and pitifully said, “Boss Yu, you threw it too forcefully.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……What are you guys doing?”

Lu Lingxi stood up and explained, “We’re in the middle of an interview. These are all the ghosts who have died tragically that are here to be debt collectors. I told them to give me a live demonstration.”

Yu Zhengdu scanned the Underworld spirits in the room…… As expected, they all looked like they had died very tragically.

He could feel something sticky under his feet. He looked down. It was actually a pool of blood. The ghost sitting across from Lu Lingxi had a few watermelon-cutting knives stuck in him. He said in embarrassment, “That’s from me. Don’t worry, it’s all an illusion. It’ll disappear soon.”

Yu Zhengdu inhaled deeply. He sincerely suggested, “I don’t think it’s necessary to have live demonstrations during the interview process. Everyone can simply consider making Powerpoints of their secret skills and show those instead.”

Lu Lingxi was struck with realization. “Makes sense.”

Yu Zhengdu rubbed his forehead. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped in place. He turned around again and said, “How about this. I’ll give you guys an additional test. As long as you can get a good review from our client, you’re hired.”

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Dear, our jade can help solve your problem oh. Additionally, in regards to your specific situation, we’re gifting you an extra “nightmare rescue” service. If you’re satisfied with this service, remember to give us a five star rating oh】

User s13j:【Huh???】

The author has something to say:

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian: Dears, give me a five star rating please

Story King: I heard that someone wants to hear me tell stories?