New Times, New Hell

Chapter 118 - Ghost King Learns to Drive

Because they had succeeded as fans, Mother and Father Yu’s trip to Fu City was meaningful and satisfactory. Two days later, Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que took them to the train station so they could go home.

Before they left, Shang Que seriously promised Father Yu, “I will buy a car as soon as possible.”

Father Yu kept feeling like something was off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He could only chuckle and say, “Then I’ll congratulate you in advance.”

Mother Yu said from off to the side, “Given Xiao Shang’s aura, only a luxury car could match him.”

Shang Que’s expression slightly froze. He slowly asked, “……Is a car worth two hundred thousand not okay?”

The Yu parents exchanged eye contact, bewildered. They felt temporarily lost because of Shang Que’s question. They had only been casually making small talk. Wasn’t Shang Que being too serious?

Yu Zhengdu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He hurriedly stepped in between them. “Okay okay, hurry and enter the station, you guys. Don’t be late.”

Father and Mother Yu glanced at the time before immediately waving goodbye at them. They dragged their suitcases into the station.

While watching them depart, Shang Que slowly exhaled. “Mother and father in law’s expectations for their son in law are too high.”

“Don’t you think you’re overthinking?” Yu Zhengdu burst into laughter. “They were only casually saying things.”

But Shang Que had a reason for everything. “They already have such expectations when they’re only casually saying things. If they know that I’m really their son in law, their expectations would only be higher.”

He slightly lamented, “This is the heart that all parents have.”

Yu Zhengdu sincerely suggested, “I think that you should stop reading so many posts about mother in law-daughter in law relationships.”

“Is that so?” Shang Que thought about it. “I think that human wisdom about life is quite interesting.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……I think that you should selectively learn about human wisdom.”

Shang Que’s depressed expression was honestly extremely amusing to him. He shook his head and pulled out his phone to open up the website for the lottery system. “Didn’t I tell you I was going to buy you a car? What’s your driver’s license number? I’ll get a number first. We can take our time choosing a car after getting a number.”

A long time passed after he had asked the question, but Shang Que still hadn’t responded. He couldn’t help looking up, only to see that Shang Que’s expression had become even more sorrowful. Yu Zhengdu: “Un?”

Shang Que: “I don’t have a driver’s license.”

“I always take taxis.”

“I know magic.”

Yu Zhengdu froze. He silently opened WeChat and pulled up the driving instructor he had taken classes from previously. “Then I’ll sign you up for a driving class first.”

Thus, Boss Shang, who finally had a boyfriend who was going to gift him a car, was forced to learn how to drive first. He experienced the strictness of human transportation.

During the time that Boss Shang learned how to drive, Luofeng and the Tang couple successfully entered into a few collaborations. The company’s business became even better.

Upon seeing the bigger and bigger numbers on their company’s financial reports, in addition to the greater and greater number of employees they had, Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que decided to officially add two matters to their immediate to-do list after serious discussion.

One was the matter of switching offices. The technology park that their company was currently located at was rather maturely developed. Almost all the offices had already been rented out. There weren’t any additional large collective office spaces that the technology park could rent out to them. As their company continued to increase in size, their offices were now located in varying different office buildings across the technology park. It wasn’t very convenient for communication. Additionally, the bigger their company got, the more serious this problem would become.

The best solution was to directly rent out an interconnected office in a different place and move all the current employees over.

However, switching offices was a big deal. They needed to consider their business registration, route planning for current employees when they went home after work, the office environment, future hiring plans, leasing costs, and other varying issues. Though Luofeng wasn’t in desperate need of money anymore, they also weren’t rich enough that they could casually spend a fortune. Because of this, it wasn’t very easy to resolve this problem.

After making this decision and creating a budget, this matter became Lu Lingxi and her team’s responsibility to resolve. Yu Zhengdu, Shang Que, and the other high-level administrators only mentioned a few essential requirements. The more detailed parts could be completely taken care of by professionals.

Of course, they still had dreams.

Yu Zhengdu:&#k3010;Next goal: buy land and build a storied building!&#k3011;

Story King:&#k3010;That means buying a car worth one hundred thousand is enough, right&#k3011;

Yu Zhengdu:&#k3010;&#k2026;&#k2026;You could, but there’s no need&#k3011;

The second matter was that they were about to start preparing for their company’s annual party. In the past, Luofeng had very few employees and they had all been ghosts. Everyone had gotten used to the fact that the mortal realm and Underworld were different; thus, they hadn’t had the tradition of holding annual parties. But now, Luofeng was technically one of the developmental district’s major taxpayers too. They were also a mystical goose owning company that numerous programmers in Fu City hoped to join. Their subsidiary company employed many humans. Naturally, they needed to hold an annual party as well.

One of Luofeng’s lines of business was to specially design and plan corporate culture-building activities and garden parties. Because of this, this matter wasn’t very difficult. Shang Que approved a budget and directly sent it to the activity planning employees to take care of.

And Boss Shang, who was a true elite white collar worker by day – reading finance reports and approving budgets – needed to punctually arrive at the practice driving field every day after work. He diligently practiced reversing, turning, starting the engine on a hill, and other driving skills. Very mortal of him.

As all aspects of work smoothly progressed, Yu Zhengdu and Zhao Ruola also upgraded the Life and Death Accounts system once more. In another regard, he and Shang Que started paying closer attention to the system stats too. The reason was naturally to find the reincarnated Great Emperor of Fengdu.

According to Shang Que, considering that the Great Emperor of Fengdu had the ability to escape the Six Paths of Reincarnation when the Heavens and Hell had already collapsed, he could absolutely also avoid being found by the Life and Death Accounts, becoming completely incognito.

And nobody knew what would happen after he awakened. They didn’t dare to ignore him either.

After work on this day, Yu Zhengdu continued to work overtime at the office. While writing code, he sent messages to Shang Que, who was in the middle of practicing.

As a competent boyfriend in the honeymoon phase, as long as Yu Zhengdu wasn’t busy with work, he would accompany Boss to practice driving at the end of each work day. If he needed to work overtime, he would finish working and then pick up Boss to head home together after the other finished practicing.

In the few days that Mother and Father Yu had temporarily stayed in Fu City, Shang Que had successfully convinced his boyfriend to move out of the apartment he had been renting before and had also succeeded in achieving premarital cohabitation. Very cunning.

Story King:【I successfully backed into the garage in one attempt. Very smooth.】

Yu Zhengdu:【Ah, my boyfriend is truly a genius!】

Story King:【I can go take my subject 2 test next week】

Yu Zhengdu:【Wow, you’re the best. Applause.gif】

Story King:【What a pity that the proctors are all electronic now. Otherwise, I would use magic to pass. I wouldn’t even need to practice driving】

Yu Zhengdu:【My boyfriend is still very badass even when he doesn’t use magic!】

Story King:【Sunglasses.jpg】

Story King:【!!!】

Story King:【The instructor is smoking. He’s dead】

Yu Zhengdu’s eyelid twitched. He hurriedly clicked open his chat with the instructor:【Instructor!!!】

This instructor had been his instructor when he had been learning to drive as a university student. He was a pretty good instructor and didn’t have as big a temper as many other instructors. However, the instructors of driving schools were all the same: this instructor had all the bad habits that all other instructors had. For example, he smoked in the car and would also occasionally scold students when he became agitated.

In order to save this instructor’s poor life, Yu Zhengdu had paid the instructor a private lesson fee in secret. He asked the other to do his best and find time for Shang Que to practice driving alone and also to control his temper, stop smoking, and refrain from pissing Boss off.

The instructor had accepted his money and was normally pretty good at following these requests. However, probably because Shang Que was extraordinarily talented and had finished practicing for subject 2 so quickly, the instructor had offhandedly lit a cigarette while he had been in a good mood. Unexpectedly, right after his first puff, he received a WeChat message from Yu Zhengdu.

Instructor:【What’s wrong?】

Yu Zhengdu:【Remember, don’t smoke!!!】

Instructor:【How did you know I was smoking?】

While typing, he took another puff of his cigarette.

Yu Zhengdu:【I didn’t know. I’m only reminding you.】

For quite some time after he sent the message, Yu Zhengdu still hadn’t received a reply from the instructor. He could only send another one:【Instructor, are you still alive?】

A long time later, the instructor finally slowly replied:【Yes, yes】

Instructor:【How strange. Maybe I was too tired just now, so I uncontrollably finished smoking the cigarette very quickly. I almost suffocated because of that】

Instructor:【Wait a moment. I haven’t finished spitting out this mouthful of smoke yet. A whole mouthful】

Yu Zhengdu:【No worries. As long as you’re still alive, take your time while spitting it out. Smile.jpg】

After confirming that the instructor was healthy and safe, Yu Zhengdu felt that the time was about right. Thus, he messaged Shang Que:【I’m done with work. I’ll go pick you up now?】

Story King:【Okay, I’ll practice another circle】

Yu Zhengdu turned off his computer and prepared to stand up. Chen Yangli from the platform operation department darted in while carrying his laptop. “Yu ge, there’s something I need you to help me figure out.”

Yu Zhengdu: “What’s wrong?”

Chen Yangli: “It’s about the university student who got tricked into signing a life lending contract in his dreams. Later, he bought a jade stone for his friend too. Just now, he sent me a message saying that the jade has quality issues. He wants to ask if it’s possible to get a replacement.”

Yu Zhengdu said, “If there are quality issues, just send him a replacement. However, we need to perform an investigation into why there are issues so as to perform quality control on later products.”

“That’s not the problem.” Chen Yangli shook his head and turned the computer screen toward the other. “Look at the picture he sent.”

Thus, Yu Zhengdu looked at Customer Representative Little Tiantian and User s13j’s chat history. That university student was an honest person; he had directly sent a large HD picture of the jade over. Only to see that there was a deep crack in the middle of the jade in his picture.

User si3j:【Little Tiantian, this should technically be considered a problem with the jade’s quality, right? I read the comments and it seems like nobody else has had this problem. Can I get a replacement?】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Dear, from the photo, we can’t confirm how the crack was made. Can you give me more details about the situation?】

User si3j:【Ey, I bought this for my friend. However, it really isn’t his problem……】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Don’t worry, Dear. We aren’t trying to avoid responsibility. We only need to get a more detailed understanding about our product’s problems】

User si3j:【Okay, this is what happened……】

According to User si3j’s explanation, originally, after he had bought the jade, he found it pretty effective and had stopped having nightmares. He had also become more alert. Thus, he had casually mentioned his strange experiences to a friend.

Coincidentally, he had a bro who was preparing to take the civil servant exam and was renting an apartment alone off campus to study. Perhaps because the pressure to study was too great, recently, he had been a little lethargic and dazed. Right now, the test date was getting closer and closer, so he was a bit anxious. After hearing about User si3j’s extremely magical experience, he felt slightly tempted. Though he himself didn’t really believe in these things that couldn’t be explained scientifically, he had probably exhausted all other options. In addition to the fact that he was rather comfortable financially, he asked s13j to help him buy a jade stone too.

Unexpectedly, only two days after the friend had received the jade, he had discovered that a crack had appeared on the surface of the jade. Additionally, the crack looked like it was growing bigger and bigger. This jade wasn’t cheap. Consequently, he asked s13j to help him get a replacement.

User si3j:【My friend said that he really didn’t drop this jade or bump it against anything. It really just broke by itself】

User si3j:【I think that given your asking price, this kind of quality problem shouldn’t be present with these jades】

User si3j:【I can get a replacement, right?】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Okay Dear. I’ve already mentioned your problem to our company. Please wait a moment oh】

For a long time, Yu Zhengdu carefully observed the picture the customer had sent over. With furrowed brows, he asked, “Under normal circumstances, a jade stone wouldn’t crack naturally like this, right?”

“No,” Chen Yangli said. “Additionally, all of our jades have been strengthened by the power of Luofeng Mountain. It should be even less likely for such a problem to occur.”

Yu Zhengdu suddenly thought of a saying. “This……Could it be because the jade prevented a disaster?”

In general, there were sayings that jade could prevent disasters. For example, one would often hear that someone fell over. Yet, though that person would be completely unharmed, the jade bracelet they had been wearing would be broken into pieces. Or, someone would get into a car crash and accidentally get stabbed by something. In the end, though, that sharp object would coincidentally end up exactly over the jade that person had been wearing. The jade would be broken, but the person would be fine. There were also many other similar stories. Normally, people assumed that this was because the jade they had been wearing had been spiritually charged and had helped its owner prevent a catastrophe.

Chen Yangli nodded. “That’s why I’m worried……But the customer said that they didn’t bump it into anything. It cracked naturally. If it really prevented a catastrophe, the situation would be very serious.”

Especially because Luofeng’s jades weren’t normal jades. What kind of catastrophe could’ve caused a jade to crack naturally?

Yu Zhengdu wasn’t familiar with these situations. After brief thought, he forwarded the picture to Shang Que.

Upon seeing this, Chen Yangli laughed slyly. “Boss definitely knows what’s going on.”

Yu Zhengdu side eyed him. “So why didn’t you simply ask Boss?”

“Then doesn’t that make me look like I’m bad at my job?” Chen Yangli smartly cocked an eyebrow. “Either way, asking you is the same as asking Boss.”

Yu Zhengdu: “Aren’t you a clever little thing.”

Shang Que replied very quickly:【This person probably encountered a situation. However, I can’t tell from the photo alone.】

Thus, Yu Zhengdu told Chen Yangli to continue getting a better understanding of the situation from the user. However, User si3j remained adamant about the fact that his friend was fine and that nothing had happened to him.

Chen Yangli and this user had interacted a few times in the past too. He knew that this user was a bit naive. The other really didn’t seem like the type to lie. Upon seeing that he was saying this, Chen Yangli was a bit lost too.

Yu Zhengdu stared at the crack in the jade. Recently, he had been preoccupied with checking the system data and searching for the location of the Great Emperor of Fengdu. His sensitivity towards these strange situations was at an unprecedented high.

Their company’s jade stones were all strengthened by the power of Luofeng Mountain. Though they couldn’t be compared to powerful magical instruments, they were enough to dispel normal Underworld creatures. Ghosts with ill intentions wouldn’t dare to approach these jades unless they had some prowess. What had this customer actually encountered?

He thought about it and asked Chen Yangli, “What’s this user’s address?”

Chen Yangli checked the backend system. “It’s Fu City’s Technology Institute. In the old school district.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded and typed using Chen Yangli’s computer.

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Hello User. May I ask if you have time tonight? My coworkers are coincidentally going to be making a trip to the Technology Institute. They can send your new jade over on the way.】

User si3j:【Wow, your service is so fast】

User si3j:【Shouldn’t be a problem】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【Okay. It’d be best if you could have your friend come too. My coworkers needs to get a better understanding of the jade’s quality problem】

User si3j:【Oh oh, I’ll ask him】

User si3j:【However, why aren’t you calling me “Dear” anymore】

User si3j:【Little Tiantian, you’ve changed】

Customer Service Representative Little Tiantian:【……】

After returning the computer to Chen Yangli, Yu Zhengdu sent Shang Que a message:【Dear, let’s make a trip to the Technology Institute and see what’s wrong with that jade】

Story King:【Kiss?】

Story King:【Okay =3=】

Yu Zhengdu:【……】

Boss, watch your image!