Ch74 - Are You Okay?

Noon. The sun blazed in the sky.

Hot days in Dongcheng carried a stifling humidity. Even if one only went outside for a walk, one would feel like barbeque meat on a grill.

In this kind of weather, very few people would choose outdoor activities. No matter what street, the presence of people was a rarity. But there were always more people and cars in front of the hospital, from the start to the end of the street.

The person in the car was bored, looking in all directions. He coincidentally noticed the ‘Life’s End Service Terminal’ on the corner of the street. It had to be said that funeral stores were quite interesting nowadays; this name was quite innovative.

As he thought about this, he suddenly saw someone push open the door and walk inside.

The man could only feel that this handsome face with curly hair and almost perfect body proportions was very familiar. After thinking about it for a long time, he realised, wasn’t that the trainee his girlfriend told him to vote for every day?

He immediately sent a message to his girlfriend, saying that he had seen Lu Xu at the entrance of a store.

“Don’t be dumb, our son Xu is still in a closed-door training camp. He’s too busy training so he can’t come out, okay?”

Hai, she actually didn’t believe him.

“Why would I trick you, I really did see him. Wait for a moment for me, I’ll go confirm it for you.” The man’s stubbornness rose and he rushed towards ‘Life’s End Service Terminal’ the moment he got out of the car.

He just wanted to get an autograph for his girlfriend after seeing Lu Xu; it wasn’t a big deal if he recognised the wrong person.

But when he pulled open the entrance of ‘Life’s End Service Terminal’, he discovered that there was actually no one inside. The small doorway was stuffed with yellow talismans, flower wreaths, and various other funeral items. The inside was filled with the scent of incense.

Although it was the afternoon, the lighting inside the room at the door seemed rather strange.

“Is anyone here?” The man called out in question, but there was absolutely no response. One could see the entirety of the little room at a glance, how could there be any people?

“Weird.” The man couldn’t help but frown. He had clearly seen that person walk in. There was only this door, and he didn’t see him walk out.

He really had seen ghosts.

As soon as this thought surfaced, the man’s spirit was struck by a quick blow. A funeral shop near a hospital seemed like a frequent scene in horror novels.

As he thought about this, his expression became more and more complex as he retreated. He felt strange as if he had encountered something unclean, and completely forgot the fact that he had seen Lu Xu earlier.

Lu Xu, who had arrived and left in a hurry, naturally had no idea someone had come to find him.

He was originally in the dorm rooms getting ready for the recording of the fourth episode, when he suddenly received a call from the Grim Reaper Bureau’s Anti-Corruption Investigation Team.

“Your colleague Xie An is suspected of being involved in a stowaway case. We would like to know if you are involved in it. If there is a summons, we hope you will cooperate with the investigation…”

Xie An…

Stowaway case…

Lu Xu instinctively felt like this couldn’t be possible, and immediately asked, “May I ask what stowaway case this is? Where is Xie An? Can I see him?”

“My apologies, Xie An is currently being investigated, no one can visit him until the results of the investigation are released…”

No matter how Lu Xu asked, the investigation group refused to reveal any information.

Lu Xu’s role was suddenly passive, and he couldn’t help but worry for Xie An.

To find out what was going on, he first gave the excuse that he was going to the bathroom, then immediately went nearby the common hospital. When he pushed the door open and didn’t see Xie An there, Lu Xu’s heart set on fire and he was even more convinced that this situation was not as simple as it seemed.

Having no time to think about it, Lu Xu immediately called his department head, wanting to clearly understand what was going on.

“Hello, Xiao Lu…”

“Department head, did you hear about Xie An’s situation? What exactly happened, how could he be involved in a stowaway case?”

“Well, now that you mention it I’m also quite surprised.” The department head was obviously also quite troubled, after all, a staff member being involved in a stowaway case wasn’t a very glamorous situation. First he sighed, then he explained it to Lu Xu simply. “Someone made a report stating they suspected that your east district was being shady, and this kind of thing should be fine after an investigation, right? That person reported you, but in the end, there wasn’t any problem with you, and it was Xie An who got caught…”

Lu Xu felt melancholic, thinking that the situation wasn’t actually that simple. “So, what exactly did Xie An do?”

“The investigation team scrutinised his work records and discovered a flaw. There was one file missing from Xie An’s client information, so they suspected that he had kept it and helped a stowaway stay in the human world…”

“Impossible.” Lu Xu immediately denied this. His feelings were complicated as he said, “Department head, Xie An has been working with us for more than 50 years, you know what he’s like. He’s worn the same work uniform for dozens of years, even if it doesn’t fit him, he can’t bear to not wear it. He even lives in a single-person dorm room, even the food he gets for himself is all old-fashioned.”

If Xie An was the kind of grim reaper who did those things for profit, then how could he make himself so pitiful like this?

“Of course I know what Xiao Xie is like, but now the problem is that something serious has happened in his work. If he cooperates with the investigation, perhaps they can figure out what happened, but he’s refusing to answer the question during the investigation, it’s a classic form of resistance.”

“Xie An is refusing to cooperate?” Lu Xu unconsciously frowned as he spoke, not knowing why Xie An was acting like that. It was pointless for him to guess any further, if he wanted to figure this out then he could only go and ask Xie An himself.

Lu Xu composed his expression, calming himself down first. “Sir, can I see Xie An?”

“In theory, no, but I’ll see what I can do.” Xie An was considered a very serious worker, although he didn’t talk much, when he received an assignment he would wordlessly go and do it, and his results were pretty good.

The other districts had several grim reapers, but the east district only had Lu Xu and Xie An holding it up. If possible, the department head also hoped that nothing would happen to him.

Lu Xu had just completed a large ‘Devil’s Bay’ contribution. With so many spirits, their Dongcheng’s performance was among the top within the country. Along with the fact that Xie An was very hardworking, the eastern district was a top player this season and likely the performance king of this year.

As their direct supervisor, the department head also received glory from this.

But at this moment, now that Xie An had been implicated in a stowaway case, there was no future prospect for promotion at the moment.

In considering this very practical issue, the department head immediately told Lu Xu, “Xie An’s grim reaper license has been temporarily suspended. You are currently the only grim reaper in the eastern district. Considering that you’re participating in a competition show in the mortal realm right now, the organisation is concerned you’ll be too overwhelmed and we will pull over grim reapers from other districts to help you with your work.”

He called it help, but it was actually just rezoning the divisions.

The eastern district’s performance was always first every year; many other districts felt envious of this.

Now that the eastern district’s grim reapers had tripped and fallen, this was the best chance for them to fight over territorial control.

How could the department head not understand the inner feud in this situation? However, the reality made it that he could not say anything, and could only coax Lu Xu. “It’s only a temporary takeover, when Xie An comes back or we have a new colleague to assign you, the eastern district will still be yours…”

Lu Xu let out a long sigh of relief, and spoke after a moment of pondering. “Sir, which district has been arranged to come over?”

“Mm… The colleagues in the Southwest Bureau took the initiative to accept the assignment, look…”

“It’s the Southwest Bureau that Lai Chengshan was in, or is it the Southwest Bureau that dumped a bunch of wandering souls on me?”

“Tsk…”

Lu Xu’s words were not nice at all, but they were true. The department head of course knew of those cases, because Lu Xu had gone over to accept them, and the Southwest Bureau had reacted several times by saying that Lu Xu was trespassing, and their complaints had all been suppressed.

When thinking about those people from the Southwest Bureau, Lu Xu suddenly had a thought. “Did they take the initiative to come over and help me, or did they actively report Xie An?”

“Xiao Lu, you can’t say things like that. After all, there did end up being a problem with Xie An, otherwise, why would he get caught if you were the one who was being investigated…”

“I’m not saying Xie An hasn’t done anything wrong, of course, we’re currently not clear about the situation right now. I can’t convict my colleague without a final decision. Whatever Xie An has done, it’s true that what the Southwest Bureau has done is unreasonable. I’ve always been in charge of the eastern district; I don’t want people without the ability to take over.”

“But you’re currently recording the show and have to watch Ji Xiunian, can you handle all of it? Previously Xie An helped you and he ran the entire district by himself. Can you do that in your current situation?”

Lu Xu wasn’t in a hurry to respond whether or not he was capable. He merely suddenly said softly, “Department head, last year, in the entire Dongcheng city, a total of 12378 people died. The death rate is 5.32%. Within our Dongcheng district was 7240 of these deaths, averaging around 20 deaths per day. This year, just counting Devil’s Bay, I’ve already harvested 4579 people, do you think I’m capable?”

Lu Xu didn’t like boasting, and he didn’t like using feelings to decide on things. He only used facts to speak.

“You little brat…” The department head was stunned by his calculations, and wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “Okay okay, since you’ve already put it this  way, I won’t place people in the eastern district for now. But it has to be said, even if the number of clients increase, you must maintain quality of service. If you feel like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew in the future, tell me at any time, okay?”

“Mn.” Even though Lu Xu knew this situation wouldn’t occur, he still agreed out of politeness. “Department head, Xie An’s situation…”

“Go participate in the contest without worrying. I’ll go see on my end. If there’s any situation, I’ll immediately tell you. As for the meeting issue, don’t worry. After I set it up I’ll let you know. At the earliest it’ll be in a few days.” As the department head spoke, he smiled helplessly. Everyone else says you’re the one with the least feelings in the grim reaper bureau, but see, you really do have quite some attachment to human feelings.”

“Okay department head, I’m going to work.”

Lu Xu hung up the phone, his countenance rather pale. He heard a movement outside and flushed the toilet, then opened the bathroom door to walk out. “Nian ge?”

The moment he left the door, he saw Ji Xiunian standing at the entrance looking around, as if he were searching for someone.

“Hai!” After hearing from Tao Yingbo that Lu Xu had left in a hurry after taking a call, he felt like something had happened. In his worry, he had called Lu Xu, but for some reason, he was unable to answer the call.

The staff members had said Lu Xu had gone to the bathroom, so Ji Xiunian had subconsciously made his way there. “That…are you okay?”