Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Don't they know that money can't actually replace a life? In fact, they understand this better than anyone.

From the moment they followed the yin emissary to the underworld in a daze, and the underworld officials settled their life accounts, deducing the unfulfilled years of their lives, they realized it.

That seemingly kind and benevolent Mr. Zhao was not a charitable philanthropist at all, but a malicious businessman who looked down on them.

They loathe such a fraudulent pseudo-philanthropist, but if given the chance again, they might still be willing to accept it.

It's not for any other reason; Zhao Qingyun is very skilled at choosing whom to help.

He doesn't choose patients from big cities, and he even deliberates carefully when it comes to those from small towns. The vast majority of his choices are impoverished families from rural areas, with no property or cars, relying on a few acres of meager farmland to survive—families that would be pushed over the edge by hundreds of thousands, the final straw that breaks the camel's back.

This Mr. Zhao views them from on high, seeing them as mere ants that provide years of life. But what does it matter? Even "ants" have loved ones they care for and wish to protect.

Even if the way they protect them seems ridiculous, worthless, foolish, and stubborn to outsiders, as long as they can immediately get the money needed to treat their children the moment they fell critically ill, it's enough.

Zhao Qingyun looked at Wu Heng and continued, "I once helped a little girl. Her parents managed to gather 500,000 yuan in just two years. Do you know why it was so fast? If they had the means to earn that money, why did they come to me for help in the first place?"

Wu Heng chewed on a piece of candy and ignored him. With a confident smile, Zhao Qingyun said, "Because it was me, I personally visited their dilapidated home and ate the steamed buns made by the little girl's mother. I guided them to open a steamed bun shop in the town, and it was my enormous influence that made their shop the most popular one in town, giving them a direction for their future life."

He considered it a fair trade and even helped them find a new way of life, significantly improving their standard of living.

Later, he heard that the couple who made steamed buns had passed away. He never intended to take anyone's life, just to share some of their lifespan. It was just that their lifespan was running out, and their fate had always been unfortunate.

Zhao Qingyun deeply acknowledged himself as a philanthropist.

Li Juan, with tears of anger, tightly gripped her phone and shouted, "Nonsense! My parents' steamed bun shop became the most popular one in town because my parents made delicious food, and it was the goodwill of countless kind-hearted people that supported us!"

It was clearly her parents' excellent craftsmanship and the kindness of countless people that made their steamed bun shop successful.

She didn't deny that Mr. Zhao's high-profile donations brought social attention to her family, but in today's internet terms, he was at most a publicity-seeking marketing account, yet he attributed all the credit to himself.

It was shameless to the extreme!

This hypocritical villain!

At this moment, Li Juan only wanted to expose this hypocrite but didn't want to waste the opportunity. She quickly changed her ID name.

"Li Juan: Mom and Dad, are you doing well? I'm fine, I got into college, and my professors have been very caring towards me."

Other netizens, seeing this barrage, immediately followed suit, writing barrages. These were people they had been longing to see. If they could chat for just one sentence, even just one, it would be enough.

However, they didn't receive any response in the barrages; it was as if they couldn't see the live barrages from living people.

Li Juan stood there, tears streaming down her face.

Wu Heng looked around and saw that Chen Zhao seemed deep in thought, as if he had been swayed by Zhao Qingyun's words. Indeed, those who work in the underworld need to have a certain level of education; otherwise, they'd all be legal illiterates.

Wu Heng sincerely suggested, "Old Mr. Zhao, I really recommend that you ask for a metaphysics degree certificate from a master before hiring them. Otherwise, you might end up violating underworld regulations without even knowing it, and you could be a wanted criminal."

Wu Heng felt confident saying this since he had a shaman certificate issued by the Heavenly Dao itself.

Some of the masters present were startled. Was this not allowed? They really didn't know.

Xu Qian, hearing Wu Heng's words, felt her eyes suddenly light up.

Looking at Zhao Qingyun's smug appearance, the way he seemed to have control over others, she felt a discomfort that made her want to vomit.

This old man prides himself on having manipulated those desperate patient families into reluctantly agreeing to his transactions. His smug expression made Xu Qian feel extremely disgusted.

But she, after all, wasn’t in this profession. She was dissatisfied to the core but didn’t know if it was lawful. Now that Wu Heng had mentioned it, she understood.

The world above and the underworld are actually quite similar.

She knew that if there were truly heavenly justice and retribution from the underworld, how could such transactions be allowed?

If money could buy lifespan, then by that logic, should a woman's womb be legally sold? Should the organs of the poor become commodities for the wealthy?

According to Old Mr. Zhao’s logic, they are all willing participants! Isn’t forced consent still considered consent?

Then everyone would become prey for those few wealthy individuals. Everyone would become cattle in their eyes, waiting to be slaughtered.

Exploited relentlessly, both in life and after death.

Wouldn’t the world descend into chaos? Those who commit murder and arson wear gold belts in glory, while those who build bridges and pave roads end up as nameless corpses. It’s utterly ironic and ridiculous.

What a damn hypocrite of a philanthropist. It turns out, from the underworld's perspective, this guy is running an underground black business without even knowing he’s an escaped criminal! Heaven’s law cannot tolerate this!

Wu Heng said, "Since you're so confident that what you're doing is charity, why not try to see if they'll return the goods and refund the money when they learn the truth?"

Zhao Qingyun's expression gradually changed. Wu Heng continued, "By the way, do you know why you can't buy lifespan now?"

"You've been reported. A group of ghosts and demons are suing you in the Underworld Court for using charity as a pretext to steal people's lifespan. You're in the underworld’s sights, old man. You should hurry home and pick out a coffin you prefer."

Zhao Qingyun's face shifted dramatically. He looked towards those Daoist Physicians and village doctors for help.

Is what this kid saying true? Is what he’s doing illegal?

He had been following the cases of Lu Guoliang and the shoe tycoon Yang Xing. Wu Heng indeed had some skills, which was why he made an exception by sending an invitation to an intern Daoist Physician.

The group of masters were equally uncertain, and meeting Zhao Qingyun's gaze, they quickly lowered their heads. Who could know about this?

Zhao Qingyun didn’t know if Wu Heng was bluffing, but he was indeed somewhat panicked. He hurriedly said, "No, I can’t leave now, I can’t die. My grandson is still so young."

Li Juan and the others saw a group of IDs with birth and death years commenting in the live chat:

"Haha, your grandson is a human. But are our sons and daughters in the mortal world not humans just because they are suffering alone?"

"Old Mr. Zhao, why don’t you come down and join us? We'll have a good discussion in the Underworld Court. We’re waiting for you to stand trial."

"Exactly, my daughter was critically ill and needed the money, so I held my nose and agreed. But you failed to inform me about the lifespan. I wasn’t prepared to leave this world, and I still had many things to tell my child. Am I supposed to be deceived?"

"+1"

Their willingness and hatred towards Zhao Qingyun were not contradictory. The overwhelming resentment caused the gray live chat characters to turn blood red.

Faced with such an eerie scene, instead of feeling fear, Li Juan and the others could do nothing but hug their phones and cry uncontrollably, their bodies shaking.

Meanwhile, all Zhao Qingyun could think about was staying alive.

If what Wu Heng said was true, then he needed to stay alive even more to avoid being taken to court in the underworld.

Zhao Qingyun looked towards everyone, clasped his hands, and said, "I am willing to offer 200 million in exchange. Please help me live for another five years, esteemed masters and doctors. For the sake of my weak and defenseless grandson."

Two hundred million!

The expressions of everyone present changed slightly, and some of the masters were tempted.

Even someone like He Yunxiao, a rich kid, couldn't help but glance at the money.

Chen Zhao exclaimed, "Two hundred million, that's a lot! With this money, we could buy the entire metaphysical community, don't you think?"

Li Hao asked, "Dr. Chen, do you want to get those two hundred million?"

Chen Zhao chuckled, "Everyone would want two hundred million. If I had that kind of money, I'd make my clueless master work for me! But my master taught me from a young age that I shouldn't earn money that's not rightfully mine."

If he were to break the law, he definitely couldn't let people know he was Chen Zhao's master in the future. His master definitely wouldn't bail him out if he got into trouble.

Besides, his master really didn't have that kind of ability.

Since even the dark arts of trading money for lifespan had become useless, what tricks could he possibly have left? He wasn't some kind of heavenly king.

Letting slip two hundred million, Chen Zhao painfully muttered to himself, "Am I destined to be poor for life? Can't money just fall from the sky and hit me on the head?"

Li Hao and the others were a bit wild, but if they dared to break the law, their parents would kill them. Dr. Chen was temporarily staying at his place. If Dr. Chen had any wrong ideas, his father would kick him out. It looked like he could continue staying now.

Chen Zhao hadn't expected that he'd ended up with free public housing.

Xu Qian wasn't very affected; fifty thousand might impress her, and one hundred thousand might make her envious, but two hundred million was too far out of reach for her to even consider.

When Wu Heng caught Zhao Qingyun's pleading gaze, he asked the others, "Do I look like someone who's desperate for money?"

Was Old Mr. Zhao trying to tempt him with two hundred million?

He Yunxiao forced a dry laugh. Fans knew that Wu Heng would go to great lengths for a five thousand yuan reward for a hundred-day live-stream check-in. He'd even spam the live streams with filler content just to get it.

Shi Xuan, who had been silent until now, shifted his gaze from the gloomy stock market app to Wu Heng and said, "I'll earn even more than that."

Wu Heng smiled faintly as he looked away and stood up to say to Xu Qian, "Let's head to your place."

Xu Qian picked up her empty bag and hurried after Wu Heng, afraid that Zhao Qingyun would forcefully stuff twenty thousand yuan into her hands.

Li Hao and the others were laughing until it hurt, tugging at He Yunxiao's sleeve and laughing until their cheeks hurt. "Bragging that he can earn more money in front of Dr. Wu. This is hilarious!"

He Yunxiao looked at them like they were idiots. "?"

No wonder he was the only admin in the live-stream room. Otherwise, the Chengde Medical Hall's live-stream room probably would have been destroyed long ago.

"Dr. Wu, should we call the cops? Should we report this?" Xu Qian asked as she followed Wu Heng out of the conference hall.

"This is out of the police's hands. A special department will handle it," Wu Heng explained.

But Xu Qian didn't know how to report it to the special department and felt frustrated sitting in the car. "Can't something be done about people like him? How can he get away with it?"

"He probably won't get away with it," Wu Heng said with a smile as he looked out the window.

The car headed toward Capital City Science and Technology University. This area was a university town with many universities around. Wu Heng noticed that Capital City Medical University was quite close to Capital City Science and Technology University. Fan Xuan and Han Ye were studying there.

As Wu Heng was thinking, a small gray snake slithered out from his right sleeve. Xi Xi, looking out the window as she watched her second godfather Shi Xuan drive into Capital City Science and Technology University, asked, "Godfather, can we record a video? We can send it to Teacher Yang later."

Xi Xi always remembered that Yang Xing's biggest dream was to be admitted to Capital City Science and Technology University. Even though he had received an admission letter, he had never set foot on the land of the capital city in his life, nor had he ever walked into the campus of the science and technology university.

The little white snake also emerged and wrapped its tail around Wu Heng's phone, excitedly saying, "Xi Xi, you tell me where to take the photo, and I'll take it. My photography skills are super amazing."

Xi Xi looked at the results in shock. "Big White brother, why are all the photos blurry? Don't you understand composition?"

The little white snake was also surprised when it saw the blurry photos. It had secretly observed the villagers taking photos by just tapping the middle circle. Why were its photos like this? What was composition anyway?

Xi Xi didn't understand composition at first, but the He Family's grandmother, who often took photos of her and posted them on WeChat Moments to show off her grandchild, would talk about things like composition and posing, so she gradually picked it up through exposure.

The little white snake immediately deflected the blame, saying, ‘It's because Dr. Wu's phone is low quality with bad pixels.’

Wu Heng: “This phone was given to me by Uncle He.”

It was the latest flagship model of the season, given by the He Family after treating He Yunxiao for the snake fetus.

The little white snake saw He Yunxiao on another private car, his hand resting on the window as he kept glancing their way.

The little white snake: ‘……’

After a moment, the little white snake said, ‘The problem is my photography skills, not the phone's performance.’

Xu Qian, sitting in the back, was somewhat surprised to see the two snakes taking photos and videos. These pet snakes were incredibly intelligent, weren't they?

However, Xu Qian's mind was entirely on her mother, so she didn’t think much about it.

Several luxury cars stopped steadily downstairs at the teachers' apartment building. Xu Qian immediately guided Wu Heng and the others upstairs.

Students who had received the news were already frequently glancing over. Wu Heng was now well-known in Capital City Science and Technology University. Even their principal had gone to burn the admission letter for the class of '94 alumnus.

"Is it true that Old Mr. Zhao is faking charity to scam people out of their lifespans, as rumored online?"

"I've also heard that Counselor Xu's mother is suffering from a strange illness. Is it because Zhao Qingyun took her lifespan?"

"That old man is already ninety and still not satisfied? Does he want to live forever? What a sickness."

The surrounding students whispered among themselves as Wu Heng and the others quickly went upstairs.

The school-arranged teacher's apartment for Xu Qian wasn't large, only about forty square meters, but it was suitable for two women to live in.

As soon as they entered, they saw Wang Lang's pregnant wife, Wu Ting, holding her belly as she helped Xu's mother by offering her water. Seeing this, Xu Qian quickly stepped forward to take over, saying, "Thank you so much. You should sit down since you're pregnant."

Wu Ting, seeing so many people arriving, hurriedly explained on behalf of her husband, "Professor Zhao suddenly needed to return to the school for some matters, so Wang Lang went to assist him. He didn't mean to leave me behind. I'm still very agile."

Xu Qian was startled. "Professor Zhao? But he was supposed to..."

Xu Qian paused before continuing, "Professor Zhao lent me a significant amount of money. I should go visit him later."

If not for Professor Zhao's 80,000 yuan, she wouldn't have been able to gather 200,000 yuan so quickly.

Wu Heng, while feeling Xu's mother's pulse, said, "Turn on the live stream."

He Yunxiao said, "An hour of check-in is enough for today."

Wu Heng: “……Open it.”

"I went to check, and the live stream was live again. Dr. Wu, come out and explain. Was the talk about buying lifespan real or fake? Aren't you afraid of being sued?"

"It's real! Wuwuwu... Zhao Qingyun traded my father's life, the beast. I saw him in the live stream just now."

"Don't scare me. My family received donations from Zhao Qingyun, and my mother's health has been poor recently. I don't want anything to happen to her. What should I do? I'm really scared now."

"Was the live stream on just now? No way, when did it go live? Are you guys seeing ghosts?"

Looking at the elderly face of Xu's mother, Wu Heng smiled and reassured her, "It's not a serious illness. I'll write a prescription and have Fan Xuan help with the medicine."

Wu Heng looked into the camera and said, "First, return the money donated by Zhao Qingyun."

"Now I'll show you all how to write the seven-year no-reason return and refund registration card. Those who need it can learn how."

Wu Heng took out a piece of old-fashioned yellow paper and instructed Xu Qian, "You need old-fashioned yellow paper and cinnabar to write vertically from right to left in the traditional style."

Seeing her mother's hand tremble, Xu Qian took hold of it and guided her hand to write, all the while consoling her, "Mom, I've already repaid the money to Old Man Zhao. Don't worry, I'll work hard to repay the money I owe to the professor's friends and colleagues."

"What is this supposed to teach? A seven-year no-reason return and refund? Isn't the after-sales service only seven days?"

"Damn, Wu Heng is actually demanding the money back, it must be serious. I'm making this clear: if anyone can't borrow money to repay Zhao Qingyun in time, come to me. I'll lend you the money interest-free!"

"The big shot upstairs is so domineering! I'm stunned, Zhao Qingyun is actually this kind of person? Isn't he taking advantage of my situation to rob me of my life? He's exploiting the psychological vulnerability of patients' parents."

"Dr. Wu, slow down, I'm recording this to teach my dad later. I'm recording the screen."

"At the beginning, write your mother's birth details, and for the order number, write the date when the donation was received. For the return reason, write 'seven-year no-reason return and refund, no questions asked,' and for the return cause, write 'the seller offered free goods but scammed the buyer into paying with lifespan, and then cheated them further.'"

"My dear Wu Heng uses a resale platform too? This is a 'butcher's knife' situation! Others use the buyer's butcher's knife, but he uses the seller's butcher's knife, cutting off the donor's lifespan after receiving the money."

"Ahhh, damn this underworld ZFB! This kind of disguised low-credit user shouldn't be allowed to trade!"

"What nonsense is the upstairs saying? This kind of gray industry can't be traded, right? It's against heaven's law. It must be stopped."

"If lifespan can be traded, all of us poor people will be exploited to the bone, both before and after death. I can't even bear to think about it. If this is allowed, life and death will both be desperate."

"Wuwuwu, if it weren't for this patient, would many people still be in the dark about their shortened lifespans? Zhao Qingyun deserves to die!"

Xu Qian held her mother's trembling hand and took ten minutes to finish writing the return card.

Wu Heng then said, "Use cinnabar to press a fingerprint at the signature, and then take it to the City God Temple to burn it."

As soon as Xu Qian finished everything, she was about to take the return card to the City God Temple, but Wu Heng reached out and said, "I'll burn this for you."

Wu Heng took a red candle out of his backpack, went to the balcony, saw a group of students watching below, and with a gentle touch, the wick lit up. The yellow paper burned easily, and in the blink of an eye, it was carried away by the wind.

"Why did Dr. Wu use a red candle?" Wang Dong asked curiously from the sofa.

He had only seen him use white candles before.

Wu Heng explained, "Things burned with a red candle can be sent quickly."

"I knew it, Wu Heng really has a ghostly aura. He can burn it directly, while others have to go to the nearest City God Temple to burn it. You get the picture."

"Thank you, streamer. I'm going to the City God Temple to prepare according to your instructions. My parents are still fine for now, but I'm really afraid they'll have their lifespan shortened by Old Man Zhao!"

"But I don't have any parents anymore, who will let me return and refund? Should I blame my parents for being short-lived?"

"Urgent+1, I can borrow the money to repay that jerk Zhao Qingyun immediately, but what if the streamer has already passed the seven-year limit? Will your method still work?"

The comments were flooding in, with over twenty million viewers online and countless onlookers.

It's hard to tell if this is real or just scripted drama by the streamer.

After watching the barrage for a while, Wu Heng said, "For those who have exceeded seven years, you can also burn a Wang Gao, a ritual notice. Write 'illegal telecom fraud' as the return reason. If you can't gather the money to repay the philanthropist immediately, you can first write the repayment deadline on the return card."

A group of recipients were really scared. If this was true, had they unknowingly lost so many years of their lifespan? The key issue is that Zhao Qingyun scammed them.

Some families who were ready to repay the money were sternly rejected by Old Mr. Zhao years ago and had to give up. Now seeing this situation, they immediately went to the bank to transfer the money to Zhao Qingyun's charitable foundation.

Some recipients thought that since the philanthropist had donated the money, they didn't need to repay it. But seeing the current situation, they had to quickly borrow money to repay that money.

Indeed, if not for a critically ill child in desperate need of money, no one would truly be willing to sell their lifespan!

We've got to return the money right away.

Old Mr. Zhao's charitable endeavors are vast, and netizens can't really figure out who he has exchanged lifespans with using his own assets, and who genuinely benefits from his charity.

Everyone is afraid of being the unlucky ones picked by Zhao Qingyun, and the number of people rushing to return the money is skyrocketing.

Zhao's charitable enterprise suffered a massive blow within just a few hours, reaching a point where everyone was attacking it.

Countless beneficiaries, after returning the money, rushed to the city god temple near their homes with the return cards, hastily burning the return cards with red candles. Some, fearing it was too late, burned hundreds of cards in a row.

Xu Qian watched as Dr. Wu directed Shi Xuan in boiling the medicine. It seemed different from the usual way of preparing medicine, and she couldn't help but ask, "Dr. Wu, I'm an 88vip member. Can I get an expedited refund?"

She only got the 88vip membership because the orange shopping app offered annual membership coupons and a year of Youku membership. She had heard that this year's Singles' Day was already gearing up, but she didn't feel like participating.

"I'm also a prestigious 88vip member. Can you ensure my mother gets an instant refund? I'm really scared now."

"I just checked out Zhao's shares. I was absolutely stunned. I originally guessed that a certain luxury brand like Louis Vuitton would have the highest return rate this Singles' Day, but I didn't expect such a dark horse to emerge!"

"Hats off to Old Mr. Zhao for achieving hundreds of millions in sales, but the return rate is a staggering 99%!"

"Huh? Does the underworld recognize 88vip? Has the orange app become that influential? I, as a Jingdong Plus and Pinduoduo dual member, am not having it!"

Dr. Wu immediately realized he didn't have these shopping apps' memberships. He said, "We don't offer this kind of service here, but it should be processed within twenty-four hours. Don't worry."

Especially since he had marked Xu Qian's mother's file as a high-priority one with the red candle, it would be processed even faster.

Shi Xuan finished boiling the medicine and handed it to Xu Qian. She helped her mother lean up and fed her the medicine.

Though it was bitter, her heart was filled with sweetness. Her mother quickly finished the medicine and soon felt drowsy. Xu Qian immediately helped her mother undress and get into bed, covering her with a blanket.

Seeing that Xu Qian was still worried, Dr. Wu reassured her, "She'll feel better after a good night's sleep."

Grateful, Xu Qian looked at Dr. Wu. She had never imagined that her mother's strange illness was caused by this. If not for Dr. Wu, she might never have known what happened to her mother.

Since Dr. Wu didn't seem to be leaving, Xu Qian naturally wouldn't tell him to leave. The house was already full of young men, and the pregnant Wu Ting, fearing she might get bumped into, had already left. The creepy young man had gone out to the balcony.

Xu Qian went next door to borrow some stools. While she was handing out the stools, she asked, "If the return and refund are successful, what will happen to that old man?"

Dr. Wu replied, "Of course, he'll drop dead on the spot."

The lifespan he bought only had a few months left, and now that everyone is returning the lifespan and refunding the money, it's impossible for him to survive.

"Really? If Old Man Zhao dies in the next few days, I'll doubt whether Dr. Wu is a fake shaman and take my own life first."

"Let's see if Old Man Zhao dies. If he does, it'll prove my dear Dr. Wu's legitimacy."

"San Shui Zhenren: Dr. Wu, it might not be that simple. I heard a master from Southeast Asia is planning to intervene with the 'sky lantern' technique."

"Those aiding evil will meet a bad end. Can foreigners not interfere? Do they even understand what lighting the sky lantern means?"

Dr. Wu felt things were about to get lively downstairs. He could introduce another money-making side job to Teacher Yang, so he closed the livestream for now and handed his phone to Shi Xuan to connect a hotspot.

It must be said, Shi Xuan's free mobile Wi-Fi was indeed incredibly useful.

Seeing that Shi Xuan had been standing outside on the balcony and hadn't gone inside, Dr. Wu threw his phone to his two snakes and half-closed the balcony window.

Yang Xing didn’t have a phone, and it was said that a version of the Monkey Search app from the underworld officially gave him a teaching tool, so it was still convenient to contact him.

The little white snake was so afraid of Yang Xing, who had a deathly pale face, that it shrank in fear and dared not speak.

The small gray snake chimed in, ‘Teacher Yang, we are at Capital City Science and Technology University now. My older white brother and I have taken many photos and videos of you. I’ll ask my godfather to send them to you later.’

Yang Xing felt that choosing Xi Xi as the class leader was the right decision and nodded approvingly, ‘Good, good, good.’

"Why aren’t you going in?" Shaman Wu Heng asked, shrugging his shoulders, feeling the cold in the capital city. As a southerner, he wasn’t quite used to the cold.

Shi Xuan turned back and softly said, “My mother died during a difficult birth giving me life. My father thinks I am a ghost fetus.”

He had never felt family love all his life, and seeing what parents do for their children left him puzzled. He couldn’t be touched by watching Xu Qian take care of her mother because he had never experienced it himself.

Wu Heng looked up slightly, feeling a touch of emotion as he looked at Shi Xuan’s sharp, cold jawline.

Before coming to this world, in ancient times, he too was a feared shaman with no parents, with no origin, carrying an aura of misfortune.

"Not everyone needs familial love. Friendship and love can help fill that void."

Wu Heng knew that some people were indeed born with weak family ties, but other forms of love would appear to fill that gap.

Before Wu Heng appeared, Shi Xuan had neither friendship nor did he care about love.

"Let’s go in." Wu Heng gently pulled Shi Xuan’s sleeve and led him inside the building.

However, Wu Heng heard Shi Xuan softly say from behind him, “You are my only friend.”

Neither He Yunxiao nor Li Hao could ever be my only friend.

Wu Heng was startled, and just as he sat down, he heard Yang Xing’s somewhat frustrated voice from the phone, asking, ‘Han Ye’s godson burned a copy of a pure love novel for me, and I read it. It’s really well-written, but… but…’

‘Is the main character a woman disguised as a man? Why are the two men kissing? Do you know why, Dr. Wu?’