Chapter 32 Li Xiao's Independent Side Story - Obsession (Seventeen)
"What...the time is almost up?"
Lin An stared blankly at Yu Qingzhou, a sense of foreboding in his heart making him forget to cry.
"Yes, it means I'm going to die soon."
Yu Qingzhou answered calmly, her nonchalant attitude making it seem more like she was discussing the weather.
This time, unusually, there was no ambiguity whatsoever.
Lin An, however, preferred that the other party be even more ambiguous.
At least that way, he could still fool himself.
"But...but why?"
"Yes, why is that?"
Compared to the helplessness and pain that Lin An exuded, Yu Qingzhou remained incredibly calm, even smiling slightly when she met his gaze.
"Because the real Yu Qingzhou has already died."
The man murmured softly, as if in a dream, his words piercing Lin An's heart like ice picks, leaving him speechless as if frozen in place.
After Yu Qingzhou finished speaking, she turned to look at the window.
"The snowstorm seems to have stopped," he remarked softly, as if he had suddenly noticed something.
Lin An looked up at the sound, but could not see anything outside the room through the window.
The windows were tightly shut.
It left no room for wind and snow to invade.
In any case, Li Xiao is indeed a skilled carpenter.
“I guess it will be a sunny day,” Yu Qingzhou added.
Lin An loathed the other person's nonchalant tone.
It seems like the topic involves the life or death of some completely unrelated person, but that's not the case.
—They all know that's not true.
"What does that mean?"
After a long while, Lin An finally found his voice and asked with some difficulty.
"But aren't you Yu Qingzhou? So where does this 'real' thing come from? And what did you just say... that Yu Qingzhou is dead? What's that all about?"
Lin An looked earnestly at the man, trying to find any sign that the latter was just joking.
Still, nothing was gained.
—It's so quiet.
The wind and snow had probably really stopped. Lin An looked at the burning charcoal fire, his eyes burning with anxiety. He felt as if he himself was being burned.
The man's soft voice echoed again from beside the bed.
“I am indeed Yu Qingzhou, but Yu Qingzhou is not just me.”
As if noticing the boy's puzzled look, the man smiled gently, leaned back, and revealed a reminiscing expression.
"As for me, I can only be considered a remnant of his soul left in the world."
Even after a person dies, there are still unresolved karmic debts and unfulfilled wishes.
Most people just let it pass by like that.
After going through the cycle of reincarnation, who remembers whom, and who remembers who they are?
However, Yu Qingzhou did not want to live such a muddled life.
Or perhaps he's simply tired of this endless cycle.
Debt, repayment, and then incurring additional debt on the way to repayment... A person's life, and all their lifetimes, are trapped in this cage.
There was never a true beginning, nor did it ever find true peace.
This is only natural, but Yu Qingzhou didn't like it.
He didn't want to be bound by things he had no memory of and forced to like someone, nor did he want to influence someone's crucial future choices because of himself.
Therefore, among the many career options available, Yu Qingzhou ultimately chose to become a businesswoman.
Everything is clearly priced.
When you use money to weigh the pros and cons, all the complexities of life are reduced to the gains and losses of a series of business transactions.
Yu Qingzhou was not greedy and always knew when to stop.
We will never embezzle a single penny of the profits that are due, and as for the debts that are due, even if a person is dead, buried, and their body has rotted, we will dig up the bones and make the most of them...
Of course, some people have also expressed their disdain for this, accusing him of being blinded by greed, not only driving people to their deaths, but also being so depraved as to not even spare a dead person.
Yu Qingzhou didn't think she had gone too far; she simply believed in fairness in everything.
If you don't want your grave to be dug up, pay off your debts sooner rather than later.
And those gossipy fellows, all so reasonable and humane, why didn't any of them jump out and scramble to pay off the debts while the person was still alive?
After hearing it so many times, Yu Qingzhou also became a little annoyed.
So, after a moment's thought, he openly proposed a solution.
If some people are really bored and bursting with a sense of justice, wanting to rush up and fuss, Yu Qingzhou doesn't mind listening patiently.
However, as the price for listening, one must cut off that person's tongue as payment for one's labor.
It can be considered a mutually agreeable business deal.
After the list was posted, even more people criticized Yu Qingzhou, but significantly fewer people actually went to Yu Qingzhou to stand up for justice.
It's not that there's none at all.
In that situation, Yu Qingzhou would assume that the other party already clearly understands the rules of the transaction.
But strangely enough, those people act as if it's perfectly natural to hurl insults while exercising their power, but become terrified when their hands and feet are restrained and they are paid.
Yu Qingzhou didn't understand.
If you say you didn't inform them in advance, isn't that exactly what they've been cursing you about?
Regardless of the slight twists and turns in the process, the result is always the same... Yu Qingzhou always manages to collect the rewards she deserves.
After collecting and processing the severed tongues, Yu Qingzhou displayed them along with some bone artifacts to demonstrate his excellent business ethics.
Over time, fewer and fewer people came to this business, and eventually it almost disappeared.
Although it's a bit of a pity, at least it's peaceful now, and besides, Yu Qingzhou wasn't really that interested in cutting out other people's tongues...
Yu Qingzhou strives to maintain a good reputation as a businesswoman and is very popular in the industry.
However, once a business grows large and involves many people, mistakes are bound to occur in the intermediate links—delegation is necessary, but supervision cannot be relaxed.
So he would occasionally go around to different places and conduct some simple surprise inspections.
Rewards and punishments should be given where appropriate, with the main approach being to strike unexpectedly and make an example of someone.
It was during one of her visits that Yu Qingzhou encountered a half-demon boy on the verge of death in the ruins.
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