New Times, New Hell

Chapter 81 - Getting On the Wrong Bus

Due to the perseverance of Luofeng and the two kinnaras, and because Xu Hui really wanted to sign this band, he ultimately couldn’t help taking a step back and agreeing to let the male kinnara debut with a horse mask. Additionally, he listened to Yu Zhengdu’s suggestion and decided to name their band “Sagittarius.”

The details of the collaboration between Star Path and the band also needed to follow Luofeng’s requests. The kinnaras’ labor contracts were signed with Luofeng; the record label contract with Star Path would proceed in a production sharing manner. The songs’ copyrights would be divided between their creators. Songs produced by Star Path would belong to Star Path, whereas the songs written by the kinnaras would belong to Luofeng.

After reaching an agreement to collaborate, all they needed to do was hand all the legal issues over to the professionals. However, Xu Hui couldn’t bear to leave so soon. He asked to have a private discussion with the kinnaras about their music.

This discussion lasted all morning. When Xu Hui exited the guest conference room, his expression seemed dazed. He grabbed onto Qin Yuejian’s hands and refused to let go. “This is the music of bliss! I feel like I’m seeing Heaven……”

“We used to value money and returns too much. How worldly and terrible. Music should be like theirs, pure……”

Qin Yuejian: “……”

How come even Luofeng’s band was so strange?

Xu Hui was one of the best music producers in the industry. How come he had gone crazy in the blink of an eye?

While Xu Hui communicated with the kinnaras, Qin Yuejian also sneakily pulled Yu Zhengdu into the corner to say, “CEO Yu, since I’m already here, let me make a call to Keji.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

In order to preserve the balance between the Underworld and mortal realm, even Luofeng’s VIP annual package customers had strict regulations about the number of times they could call and how long their calls to the Underworld could be. However, though Qin Yuejian and Zhan Keji were already separated by death, they still had endless things to say to each other. Qin Yuejian would often come up with new excuses to make calls to Zhan Keji.

For example, this time, Qin Yuejian had technically helped Luofeng out. Yu Zhengdu couldn’t reject him so resolutely. After a brief pause, he said, “I’ll let you text him.”

Qin Yuejian: “……Okay.”

Qin Yuejian was just about to find Luofeng’s VIP customer service representative to help him send a text message when Yu Zhengdu tugged him back again on second thought. “Oh right, I have a question I want to ask you.”

Qin Yuejian took two steps back. “What?”

Yu Zhengdu looked around and, after confirming that no one else was present, quietly asked, “Don’t you have experience about being pursued by a male friend? I want to ask – how would you clarify things with them if you’re not planning on dating them but also don’t want them to feel sad?”

“I’ve actually never thought about that question.” Qin Yuejian rubbed his chin. “You know, too. When Keji and I confessed to each other, he was already dead. Right now, we want to date each other, but can’t……”

Yu Zhengdu: “……I mean theoretically.”

Qin Yuejian looked at him curiously. “Could it be that you have a male friend who’s currently pursuing you?”

Yu Zhengdu muttered, “You could say that.”

Though the other believed that Yu Zhengdu was pursuing him, Shang Que’s behavior made things very obvious. Even if Yu Zhengdu was a rock, he would still understand Shang Que’s feelings.

Qin Yuejian pondered for a moment before asking, “You want to reject him? But also don’t want to hurt him?”

Yu Zhengdu fell silent. He neither confirmed nor denied this, only adding, “One more thing. He’s one of my best friends. I don’t want to ruin our relationship because of this incident……”

Qin Yuejian’s gaze became meaningful as he looked over. “Why do I feel like you’re not super intent on rejecting him?”

Yu Zhengdu was confused. “Why do you say that?”

Qin Yuejian waved his hands around. “These situations are quite normal in the entertainment industry. From what I know, if a normal straight person found out a gay person liked them, their first response would definitely be to avoid them. Even if they had a good relationship in the past, he would still slowly distance himself. It’s very rare that anyone would try to preserve their original relationship.”

“If you know he likes you, but your first response isn’t to get as far away as possible from him and instead is to worry about how not to harm him, which implies you’re looking out for him……” Qin Yuejian raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Most likely, you’re not straight either.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……How come I’ve suddenly become gay during this conversation with you?”

“I’m only sharing my experience,” Qin Yuejian said. “If you’re sure that you’re straight, then just clearly tell him. There will always be some harm, more or less, when you reject someone……”

He gazed at Yu Zhengdu deeply. “Of course, if you’re completely unwilling to harm him, might as well simply accept his advances.”

Yu Zhendu: “……Thanks for your suggestion.”

Though Qin Yuejian’s logical reasoning was strange, he had been right about one thing. Only now did Yu Zhengdu realize that since finding out about Shang Que’s feelings, he had only been preoccupied with finding out a way to reject Shang Que without hurting his feelings. He had never felt uncomfortable because of this incident, or felt a desire to distance himself and avoid Shang Que.

Except, this incident had occurred too suddenly. He couldn’t tell at this moment if he was only used to being in such close proximity to Shang Que all the time or if he actually wasn’t that straight.

Yu Zhengdu rubbed his face. By now, he himself was bewildered.

But no matter how bewildered he was, this conflict was a personal matter. Before he could straighten out his thoughts, he absolutely didn’t want Shang Que to keep misunderstanding.

Yu Zhengdu inhaled deeply. If he was going to be a scumbag, he was going to be a straightforward and deliberate scumbag.

He pieced together his speech and courageously opened the door to Shang Que’s office. “Boss, let’s have a heart-to-heart discussion.”

Only to see Shang Que, who had been excitedly planning how to raise a daughter just this morning, peek his head out from behind his computer monitor, expression slightly sorrowful and wronged. Angrily, he said, “No!”

Yu Zhengdu blanked for a moment. It must be known that Shang Que had never spoken to him in this tone of voice before.

He was temporarily confused. Dazed, he asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Shang Que glared straight at him, eyes filled with the complaint one felt towards a boyfriend. “I hadn’t expected that you would do such a thing behind my back!”

Yu Zhengdu’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Shang Que already knew what he was thinking?

But he hadn’t even done anything yet?!

Yu Zhengdu facepalmed and took a step forward. “Boss, listen to me……”

“I refuse to listen!” Shang Que stood up and pushed him out of the office. “Right now, I’m one-sidedly announcing that I’m in a cold war with you!”

With a slam, the office door got closed.

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

He stood outside the door, dazed, before heaving out a long exhale. The situation he was most unwilling to see had ultimately occurred. Perhaps his relationship with Shang Que would become ice-cold from now on. He didn’t know if there was even a possibility of them returning to the way things were before……

Yu Zhengdu tiredly rubbed the spot between his eyebrows, then dragged his heavy feet towards his desk.

At this moment, Kang Jin cautiously scooted up next to him. Guiltily, he said, “Xiao Yu, I’m truly sorry……”

Yu Zhengdu slowly turned around. Confused, he asked, “Why are you apologizing to me?”

Kang Jin twiddled his fingers. “Just, you know, I caused you to get scolded by Boss……”

Yu Zhengdu: “What happened?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I just accidentally switched to the wrong group chat.” Kang Jin covered his head while quickly running away. “Take a look in the company group chat for yourself!”

Yu Zhengdu: “???”

He furrowed his brows and realized that this incident wasn’t so simple. He hurriedly returned to his desk and opened the company group chat. Instantly, he went: “……”

He scrolled up the chat history and saw that shortly after he had left to discuss the collaboration with Star Path, Shang Que had happily uploaded a picture of a big white goose wearing a dress:【Isn’t this dress very cute?】

Because Kang Jin had clicked into the wrong group, and also because he probably hadn’t looked at the username closely, he quickly replied:【Hahahahaha, isn’t this the same kind as in Boss’s changing game?】

Not only this, he also immediately sent over a screenshot:【Look, a similarly cute Boss!】

Yu Zhengdu looked at the screenshot Kang Jin had sent. Only to feel his vision go black.

That was clearly the stress-relieving mini program he had created in a bout of passion just after joining Luofeng because he had been experiencing too much work stress and was also constantly faced with Boss’s strange ideas——the Ghost King changing game.

Later on, this mini game had accidentally gotten discovered by his coworkers. And after that, it had spread like wildfire among them.

Because the main character’s image was so familiar and well-directed, this game was extremely popular among Luofeng employees. Additionally, it was quite enduring: as the creator, Yu Zhengdu was forced to regularly upgrade the game.

Until now, this game had already been upgraded five times. The Ghost King had over two hundred sets of clothes, much more than the actual Shang Que.

There were a multitude of clothing styles too, including but not limited to uniforms, dresses, swimwear, etc. Among these, a pink maid outfit received lots of compliments. It was currently the most collected style by players.

And the screenshot Kang Jin had sent was exactly the Ghost King wearing a maid uniform while making finger hearts.

After Kang Jin sent his messages, the group chat welcomed a message-less period of two minutes.

Two minutes later, Shang Que sent again:【?】

Only now did Kang Jin belatedly recognize Boss’s ID.

Kang Jin:【……】

Kang Jin:【Boss, I don’t want my salary for this month anymore!】

Shang Que:【What is that?】

The chat fell into a suffocating bout of silence, until Shang Que used his ultimate move:【Explain, one by one. Those who refuse, put chopped scallion and cumin on yourself and come to my office】

What followed after was a large-scale betrayal.

His coworkers quickly uploaded their precious screenshots – various swimwear Ghost Kings, sailor Ghost Kings, and evening gown Ghost Kings spammed the chat. Among them, there was also a special outfit, Cleopatra, that had been a limited release collectible to celebrate the Life and Death Accounts system being released online.

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

It had to be said that Shang Que probably truly liked him, because he had only announced a cold war instead of eating him on the spot.

Shang Que was extremely resolute this time. He said he wanted a cold war, so really did start a cold war. For the whole day, he didn’t say a word to Yu Zhengdu.

Yu Zhengdu was in a pretty bad mood for the rest of the day. Part of the reason was because he was stressed about their “romance”. He wanted to clear things up with Shang Que, but Shang Que was in the midst of anger. Bringing this topic up would be the equivalent of adding oil to a fire. Additionally, Shang Que refused to speak to him, so he honestly couldn’t find an opportunity to talk to him.

Another reason was that he felt that he ought to apologize to Shang Que first, to dispel Shang Que’s anger before speaking about anything else. However, there was a similar problem with this scenario……He couldn’t even enter Shang Que’s office. His WeChat messages had all been blocked too.

Since Yu Zhengdu had started working at Luofeng, there hadn’t been a single day that had been so awkward. After finally surviving to the end of the work day, Shang Que’s office door was still closed shut.

He specially worked overtime for a bit, but Shang Que’s office door was very resolute too. It didn’t budge at all. It seemed likely that it wouldn’t open for him again today.

With no other option, Yu Zhengdu could only put his phone in his pocket and leave the company. He planned on carefully coming up with a plan after getting home to get Boss to stop being so angry.

Yu Zhengdu exited the technology park. By now, it was already rather late. There were a lot of people who worked overtime in the technology park, making it difficult to get a taxi at night. He was too lazy to fight other people for one too. In a daze, he walked up to the bus stop and waited.

He had pretty good luck. Only a few moments after he got to the bus stop, a bus arrived. Yu Zhengdu was stressed about stuff, so only casually scanned the bus number; upon noticing that it didn’t seem wrong, he got on the bus.

As soon as he did so, a chilling gust of cold air ambushed him, causing him to shiver.

Yu Zhengdu instantly realized something was wrong. He came back to his senses and looked over the people on the bus. Shortly thereafter, he went: “……”

By now, the bus doors had already closed and the bus had already started driving again.

Yu Zhengdu calmly told the driver, “Shifu, I apologize. I’m going to have to trouble you to stop for a moment. I got on the wrong bus.”

The driver turned around, revealing a greenish-black face. With a terrifying smile, he said, “Young man, if you accidentally get on this bus, it isn’t so easy to get off.”

While the driver spoke, the other people on the bus turned around to look at Yu Zhengdu too. Only to see that everybody on this bus had greenish, pale faces and chilling smiles.

Yu Zhengdu had clearly gotten on a ghost bus.

The driver’s smile became even scarier. “Young man, do you know what bus you’ve gotten on?”

“Of course.” Yu Zhengdu calmly handed the driver a business card. “I’m an employee at Luofeng. If you keep trying to scare me, I’m going to report you when I get back to the company.”

Driver: “……”

The other ghosts on the bus: “……”

After the driver looked at the business card, he became so frightened that tears formed in his eyes. “So it’s Boss Y-Yu, ah! I was wrong! I just wanted to play a joke earlier. Please don’t report me!”

“I was only joking with you too,” Yu Zhengdu drawled out. “Hurry and stop the bus to let me off.”

“No need, no need,” the driver said ingratiatingly. “Just take a seat. I’ll circle around and send you directly home.”

The other ghosts on the bus instantly nodded. “We’re not in a rush. We can send you back first.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……There’s no need.”

“There is a need.” With an expression close to crying, the driver said, “We have rules too. In order to avoid disrupting the order of mortal society, we aren’t allowed to make random stops.”

Yu Zhengdu rubbed his forehead. “Then I’ll get off at the next stop.”

Driver: “……The next stop is the suburban cemetery site.”

Yu Zhengdu: “But stopping at my house isn’t breaking the rules?”

The driver laughed, slightly embarrassed. “It is, but I’ve heard that if it’s done for CEO Yu, the Ghost King normally won’t get angry.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

How come the entire Underworld knew that Shang Que treated him well?

He waved his hands, fatigued. “Okay, then just drive to my house, I guess.”

“Alrighty.” As if he had been forgiven, the driver stepped on the gas pedal and sped off.

Yu Zhengdu was treating a bus like a taxi. He felt extremely conflicted too. While squeezing through the bus full of ghosts to the back of the bus – he originally intended to sit next to the back door – he was stopped halfway by an old man who reached out and grabbed him. “Young man, there’s a seat next to me. Sit here.”

Yu Zhengdu froze. The old man who had grabbed onto him was clearly a living person.

At the same time, a ghost sidled up to Yu Zhengdu’s ear and said, “Boss Yu, our bus originally wasn’t going to stop at the technology park, but for some reason, this old man accidentally got on the wrong bus. That’s why we risked breaking regulation to stop over there, because we wanted him to get off. In the end, though, he refused to get off no matter what. Instead, you got on.”

Yu Zhengdu reached a realization. It turned out that a total of two living people had gotten onto this ghost bus. Only, the spirits on the bus knew when to stop joking around. At least they hadn’t scared this elderly man, instead doing their best to pretend to be normal humans.

That spirit lowly said, “Boss Yu, when we get to your house in a bit, I’ll have to trouble you to get this elderly man off with you.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded. As if nothing was wrong, he sat down next to the old man. Just as he was about to find a topic to start a conversation with the old man, that old man leaned over first. He lowered his voice and seriously stated, “Young man, don’t make a sound. Calmly listen to me. The bus you’ve just gotten on is a ghost bus.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

And the ghosts on the bus were acting so diligently. Turns out the old man had already discovered long ago?

The old man nodded his head, pleased, after noticing that Yu Zhengdu truly didn’t make a sound. He continued, “I was going to get off the bus just now, but noticed that you accidentally got on. I was scared that you would get harmed by these ghosts, so could only get back on too. Don’t be frightened. We just need to pretend like we don’t know anything. In a bit, follow my lead. We’ll find an opportunity to jump off……”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

Though the old man had good intentions, he still needed to say Grandpa, you absolutely need to remain calm. Thinking about jumping out of the bus at such an age. I fear that you’ll immediately be able to get back on this bus after you jump off……

The author has something to say:

The mysterious Ghost King tours the Underworld! (If you’ve forgotten the Ghost King changing game, please reread chapter 12)