New Times, New Hell-Chapter 119 - Red Sleeves Add Fragrance

Chapter 119 - Red Sleeves Add Fragrance

T/N: “Red sleeves add fragrance” is a Chinese saying that refers to beautiful women during historical times who used to accompany scholars studying for the national exams as a form of moral support/encouragement.

User s13j was a student at Fu City’s Technology Institute named Pan Xuehai. He had a baby face, which actually matched his naive online personality quite well.

Upon seeing Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que at the entrance of the school, Pan Xuehai suffered a fright. Jaw dropped, he said, “Wow, your company values post-sales service so much. They’ve actually made CEO and Senior personally come bring the replacement?”

Yu Zhengdu temporarily didn’t know how to explain. He could only familiarly pull out his Underworld phone, open the Underworld energy detector, and scan Pan Xuehai up and down. After confirming that there was no Underworld energy surrounding the other, he finally handed the new jade stone to him and said, “Let us take a look at the problematic jade.”

“Oh oh.” Pan Xuehai hurriedly pulled out the box containing the jade and handed it to him.

When Yu Zhengdu accepted it and opened the box, he saw a tiny jade piece resting on the black velvet bottom. After a few improvements, Luofeng’s jade craftsmen could now form the jade into different shapes. Additionally, they could make jade pendants, bracelets, etc. based on customers’ requests.

The stone Pan Xuehai’s friend had bought had been made into a bracelet. It had originally been polished so that the surface was gleaming and smooth. But now, in the middle of the jade, a crack had started forming from the top. Very soon, the entire jade would break completely in half. The jade itself didn’t look as bright as before either; it had become dull.

Pan Xuehai said, “Ey, I’m not trying to say anything, but Senior, you guys need to improve the quality control of your products. Not only did your jade crack naturally, even its color has changed. Though we didn’t buy this product in the hopes that its value would stay the same, it still can’t be like this……”

Yu Zhengdu glanced at Shang Que. Shang Que picked up the jade and rubbed it. “There’s a hint of demonic energy……”

Yu Zhengdu was a bit shocked. “Demonic?”

Shang Que nodded.

Demons were different from ghosts. They were still technically living beings. Because of this, they carried no Underworld energy; instead, they carried demonic energy.

The power of Luofeng Mountain formerly imprinted on the jade had been very weak. After encountering something and cracking, the jade could no longer be used for its original purpose. Right now, the object before their eyes was only a normal stone.

Only Shang Que could still sense a hint of demonic energy on this stone.

Shang Que: “However, I can’t tell the specificities of the situation based on this stone alone.”

Yu Zhengdu looked up and asked Pan Xuehai, “Where’s your friend?”

“Oh, him……” Pan Xuehai started. “He’s been having relationship problems these past few days, so has been in a poor mood. He didn’t answer my calls.”

He thought that Yu Zhengdu was worried about the post-sales problem. “However, you guys don’t need to worry. He just needs a replacement. I’ll give it to him later. We won’t leave a bad review.”

“No.” Yu Zhengdu waved his hands around and seriously said, “We still hope to be able to meet him.”

Pan Xuehai: “There’s no need, right……”

Yu Zhengdu, with a righteous expression: “No. We’re a responsible business. We must get a clear understanding of every problem our products have.”

Pan Xuehai was shocked by Yu Zhengdu’s dedication. He revealed an impressed expression. “Then I’ll call him again.”

A while later, he set down his phone. “He still hasn’t picked up……”

Yu Zhengdu was slightly nervous. “Nothing bad happened, right?”

“It’s not that serious. These past few days, he’s been either gaming or drinking. He probably just hasn’t checked his phone.” Pan Xuehai scratched his head. He felt a bit worried too. “However, his apartment isn’t far from here. If you’re willing to, you can come with me.”

Yu Zhengdu: “Okay.”

Pan Xuehai’s friend was named Zhao Shuxin. He was also a fourth year at the Technology Institute. Because he was preparing to take the national civil servant exam, he had rented a small apartment next to school for himself. The apartment was only one block away from the school. Yu Zhengdu and them reached their destination very quickly.

“Shuxin, open the door,” Pan Xuehai yelled while knocking on the door. He didn’t forget to turn around and lowly remind Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que, “Ey, he’s been in a pretty bad mood these past few days. Be more tolerant, please…… But I can understand him too. You guys don’t know, but his girlfriend was truly very beautiful. It’s not strange at all that he became so invested……”

Just as he was speaking, the door to the apartment opened. A man with unkempt facial hair stood at the door while in his slippers. “How come you’re here?”

After, he glanced at Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que who were standing next to Pan Xuehai. “These two are?”

Zhao Shuxin was a homebody. He didn’t pay too much attention to male celebrities on Weibo, so he didn’t recognize CEO and Senior.

Pan Xuehai hurriedly introduced them to each other. He offhandedly stuffed the box containing the new jade into Zhao Shuxin’s hands too. “CEO and Senior are here to resolve the jade’s quality problems……”

“Oh, that……” Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Shuxin had already interrupted him. “I was just meaning to tell you that there’s no need to get a replacement for that jade anymore. I’ve already given up on taking the exam.”

Upon hearing this, Pan Xuehai gasped in shock. “Why are you giving up all of a sudden?”

“Broke up with my girlfriend,” Zhao Shuxin pitifully said. “I originally didn’t want to take the exam that much either. I only persevered because she kept encouraging me. Now that we’ve broken up, I don’t want to keep wasting my time any longer.”

“You guys can head back. There’s no need to give me a replacement.” Zhao Shuxin looked like he had seen past all worldly things. He casually made to stuff the box back into Pan Xuehai’s hands.

Coincidentally, someone passed by the hallway. Pan Xuehai moved out of the way and failed to hold onto the box. The box instantly fell on the ground. The jade inside rolled out.

“Ey, be careful!” Zhao Shuxin hurriedly bent down to pick up the jade. “It didn’t break, right……”

Halfway through his question, his eyes suddenly widened. After a long pause, he continued to ask, “What’s going on?”

Only to see that the brightness of the gleaming jade stone was visibly lowering after being held in his hand.

At this time, Pan Xuehai noticed too. He exclaimed, “CEO, aren’t your guys’ products of too poor quality? How come this one has changed color too?!”

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help turning around to look at him. “Think about it more carefully. Is this a quality problem?”

Pan Xuehai truly thought about it carefully. Then, he revealed an astonished look similar to Zhao Shuxin’s. “What’s going on?

Shang Que, who had been standing off to the side and remaining silent, suddenly pushed the door open. Zhao Shuxin was renting a small studio apartment. As soon as the door opened, everything inside could be seen.

Shang Que glanced in and calmly said, “Demonic energy is off the charts.”

Zhao Shuxin furrowed his brows. “What does that mean?”

Yu Zhengdu pointed at the jade before finally saying, “Classmate, we suspect that you’ve been targeted by a demon.”

If he had said this previously, Zhao Shuxin probably would’ve simply chased them off. But looking at the dull jade now, he couldn’t help feeling a bit hesitant.

“Wait!” Pan Xuehai abruptly glared at Yu Zhengdu and said, “This isn’t what you told me before!”

Yu Zhengdu: “……Un, I was scared that you wouldn’t bring us over, so I lied.”

Pan Xuehai: “……”

Zhao Shuxin wasn’t as easy to fool as Pan Xuehai. In addition to the jade stone that had strangely cracked, these phenomena had clearly surpassed the scope of what he could explain. He hesitated for a moment before allowing Yu Zhengdu and them into the room. At the very least, he needed to figure out how those two jades had suddenly changed.

The four of them sat down. Pan Xuehai was still hung up over the fact that he had been lied to. “I hadn’t expected that you guys would be superstitious!”

Yu Zhengdu felt very astounded by his thought process. “If you aren’t superstitious, why did you buy our jade?”

Pan Xuehai: “I was thinking that you guys were using some magnetic field principles?”

Yu Zhengdu was a bit speechless. “Do you really think that a magnetic field sounds more scientific?”

“Well, no.” Pan Xuehai said, “But I believe that there are many mysteries in the natural world. Perhaps there are certain intricacies that we can’t imagine.”

“This is an intricacy that you can’t imagine,” Yu Zhengdu calmly replied. He stopped speaking to Pan Xuehai and turned around to ask Zhao Shuxin, “Classmate Zhao, may I ask if anything weird has happened around you recently? Or if you’ve met any strange people?”

“No.” Zhao Shuxin shook his head. “This past period of time, I’ve been preparing to take the national civil servant exam. I haven’t even left the house.”

Yu Zhengdu could only look at Shang Que. Shang Que continued to inquire, “Which people have you interacted with?”

“Only my classmates and girlfriend……But she’s my ex-girlfriend now.” While speaking of his girlfriend, Zhao Shuxin’s mood instantly became glum.

Shang Que continued to ask, “Among those people, has anyone been acting unusual?”

“No.” Zhao Shuxin furrowed his brows. “You’re not trying to say that my friends are demons, right?”

“Well you can’t really say that there hasn’t been anything unusual, right?” Pan Xuehai suddenly interrupted. “Your girlfriend is pretty unusual……”

Zhao Shuxin looked at him, bewildered. “How is she unusual?”

Pan Xuehai had spoken up without using his brain to mouth filter. Upon being questioned by Zhao Shuxin, he finally realized what he had said. He hurriedly turned his face away and pretended to look out at the view. “Ah, nothing.”

But he had already said it. How could the others let him get out of explaining? Thus, as multiple eyes watched, Pan Xuehai could only guiltily say, “As a disclaimer, I didn’t say these things. Someone else did……”

He widened his eyes and sincerely stared at Zhao Shuxin. “You must absolutely believe in our friendship.”

The more he acted this way, the more weirded out Zhao Shuxin felt. With great impatience, he hit the other. “Enough. Hurry and speak.”

“Just……” Pan Xuehai lowered his head and fiddled with his fingers. “Actually, everyone has always thought that the fact that your girlfriend pursued you first is pretty strange……”

The vein in Zhao Shuxin’s forehead throbbed. “……What does that mean?”

“I didn’t say it. I only heard others say it!” Pan Xuehai’s survival instinct urged him to continue fiddling with his fingers. “Everyone thinks that since your girlfriend is so pretty, she could find any kind of boyfriend she wants. They don’t understand why she would pursue you……”

Yu Zhengdu instantly understood what was going on after hearing Pan Xuehai’s words. So Zhao Shuxin’s girlfriend had pursued him.

He scanned Zhao Shuxin up and down once more. He truly did look average when it came to his outer appearance: basically, if you threw him into a crowd, he would easily get lost. From the information they had previously gotten, his family was also only middle class. He didn’t have generational wealth and, from the progress he had made on his studying, he wasn’t a genius either.

Summed up in one sentence, he was just an extremely ordinary male college student. And, it sounded like his girlfriend’s outer appearance was very above average. As such, no wonder people would start discussing what Pan Xuehai had just said. A lot of other guys probably felt a bit unimpressed.

However, it was still too much to say that his girlfriend was abnormal based on only this.

As expected, Zhao Shuxin himself was very unimpressed too. He laughed coldly and stated, pleased, “So jealous. I’ll say it straight. I asked Xiaoyue this question in the past too. Can you guess what reason she gave?”

Pan Xuehai: “What?”

“She thinks that I work very hard and have great potential to become a civil servant.”

“Ah?” Pan Xuehai blinked. “Is that the reason?”

But Yu Zhengdu had suddenly caught onto the main point. He inquired, “She only pursued you because she felt like you had the potential to become a civil servant? Then you guys haven’t been together for too long, right?”

Zhao Shuxin made a noise of acknowledgement. “We met in the national civil servant exam group chat and have been together for a little over two months.”

He furrowed his brows and looked at Yu Zhengdu. “What are you trying to say?”

Pan Xuehai added from off to the side, “I think he’s trying to say that he suspects your girlfriend is a demon.”

Yu Zhengdu side-eyed Pan Xuehai. Just as he was about to explain, Zhao Shuxin exploded first. “A load of bullshit. My girlfriend is as normal as normal can be.”

Pan Xuehai felt like lamenting. “Here we go again. Failed relationship syndrome.”

“She’s a very, very wonderful girl. I refuse to allow you guys to slander her!” Zhao Shuxin angrily said. “She wasn’t trying to get anything out of me by being my girlfriend. All she did was encourage me daily and urge me to study well. She would also frequently come over and cook for me or give me a massage so I could relax…… Have you guys ever met such a kind demon?”

Yu Zhengdu originally hadn’t thought that there was anything strange about his girlfriend pursuing him. Hearing this, though, he really felt a bit confused. He asked, “Since she’s so nice, why did you guys break up?”

Zhao Shuxin’s expression, which had originally been passionate, instantly became awkward. For a long time, he didn’t respond.

The atmosphere in the room was a bit dismal. An extended pause later, Pan Xuehai couldn’t help breaking the silence. “Why?”

Zhao Shuxin turned his head away. His face looked green. “I discovered that……she cheated.”

No wonder he felt so awkward. The scene fell silent once more.

Yu Zhengdu was in the midst of coming up with something to change the topic to, but Zhao Shuxin had probably been holding this in for too long. After finally getting the opportunity to say it out loud, he immediately suffered an emotional breakdown and suddenly started wailing. “I unintentionally saw her WeChat that day and finally discovered that she had ac-ac-actually……”

He sobbed for quite some time before finally continuing, “She had actually added all the men in the civil servant exam group. She encouraged everyone everyday. All those words of encouragement were copy and pasted. She also took turns cooking for each boyfriend and giving each boyfriend a massage. Wuwuwu——”

The other three people: “……”

Pan Xuehai’s entire being was shocked. “Your girlfriend……is too badass?!”

Just as he finished speaking, he realized that he had said the wrong thing. He hurriedly said instead, “She’s already done all those things. Why are you still defending her? It doesn’t seem like she’s a nice girl from what I’m hearing……”

“That’s not it. She’s great!” Zhao Shuxin retorted while sobbing. “She didn’t want anything from me. She only wanted me to study well…… Sh-she’s only a bit easily distracted……”

Zhao Shuxin was still submerged in the memories of how wonderful his ex-girlfriend had been. The more they heard, though, the stranger the others thought things were. Pan Xuehai stared at Zhao Shuxin and seriously asked, “You really don’t think there’s anything weird about that?”

“She didn’t want anything, but simultaneously had so many boyfriends……” Pan Xuehai, who had been criticizing superstitious people in the beginning, now instantly thought of various drama plots. “She’s not taking male energy to strengthen her female energy, right?!”

Zhao Shuxin’s sobbing instantly halted.

But Yu Zhengdu shook his head. “If she were taking male energy to strengthen her female energy, there wouldn’t be a need to specially target those taking the civil servant exam……”

He glanced at Zhao Shuxin. “Can you bring us to see her?”

No matter what, they could only make a judgement after seeing her in person.

Zhao Shuxin was still unwilling to believe that there was something wrong with his ex-girlfriend. But upon thinking things over in detail, he also truly felt that she was a bit unnatural. In addition to the fact that he still couldn’t completely let her go and had originally been yearning to contact her, he thought about it and said, “Then I’ll tell her to come over.”

Pan Xuehai was confused. “You’ve already broken up. Can you still get her to come?”

“She’s a very gentle girl.” While speaking, Zhao Shuxin’s expression became sweet once more. “During our breakup, she said that as long as I continue to take the civil servant exam and don’t mind that she has other boyfriends, we can get back together at any time.”

The others: “……”

Zhao Shuxin’s ex-girlfriend was named Hu Xiaoyue. Just like he said, as soon as Hu Xiaoyue heard Zhao Shuxin say that he was going to continue taking the exam and wanted to get back together with her, she instantly agreed to come over and cook him a late night snack.

After putting down the phone, Zhao Shuxin felt like he was back in the honeymoon phase. “She’s truly really nice, right?”

The others: ……More like truly really strange!

Hu Xiaoyue arrived very quickly. Less than half an hour later, they heard a knocking at the door. Then, a sweet female voice called out, “Shuxin, I’m here.”

Zhao Shuxin stood up to open the door. The other people in the room’s eyes instantly brightened.

Yu Zhengdu immediately understood why Zhao Shuxin couldn’t forget his ex-girlfriend. She was an extremely beautiful girl. Her eyebrows and eyes were like silk. Her figure was slim. She was the type of girl who could make numerous men willing to follow her every command with a simple gaze.

That girl also saw Shang Que who was in the room.

Not all demons recognized the Ghost King. However, instinct allowed them to realize that the being in front of them was extremely powerful.

In only an instant, Hu Xiaoyue’s entire person had frozen. Her legs started shaking uncontrollably; she couldn’t take a step forward at all.

“What’s wrong with you?” Zhao Shuxin noticed her abnormal behavior and followed her gaze. Only to see that she was staring straight at the handsomest youth in the room.

!! Zhao Shuxin immediately felt like danger was in the air. Thus, he wanted to reach out to tug at her. “Xiaoyue……”

At the same time, Shang Que calmly spoke up: “Show your true form.”

Zhao Shuxin’s arm had been halfway there. The beautiful girl in front of him suddenly shrank in a blur. When he lowered his head to look again, he only saw an animal that was white and had pointy ears. It looked like a dog, but wasn’t.

Zhao Shuxin: !!!

“Ao——” Pan Xuehai held onto his face in terror. “D-demon——”

Demons actually existed!!

Shang Que apathetically stared down at that tiny animal. “So you’re a fox demon.”

The little fox knelt and bowed very respectfully at Shang Que. “This little one g-greets the G-Great……”

Yu Zhengdu feared that she would yell Great King on the spot. Thus, he hurriedly butted in, “Great Boss!”

The little fox smoothly transitioned, “This little one greets the Great Boss!”

Pan Xuehai glanced at Yu Zhengdu, speechless. This nickname was quite embarrassing.

Zhao Shuxin and Pan Xuehai had originally still been a bit disbelieving. Unexpectedly, the plot was very exhilarating. They had actually directly managed to witness the scene of a demon showing her true form. The two of them almost fainted out of fear on the spot. They only slowly regained their wits after realizing that the little fox looked even more frightened than they did.

Only now did Yu Zhengdu start interrogating the fox demon. “Why did you harm a human?”

“I didn’t.” The fox demon immediately announced that she had been wronged. She pointed at Zhao Shuxin with her paw and said, “I really didn’t. If you don’t trust me, ask him!”

Zhao Shuxin was still submerged in the shock that his girlfriend was a demon. Upon hearing this, he robotically nodded. “She didn’t……Wu——”

Yu Zhengdu asked in confusion, “Then what was your purpose in entering into a relationship with him?”

“Because he’s going to take the national civil servant exam.” The little fox blinked her long, thin eyes. “Isn’t this how all those stories go? After a fox becomes a demon, she encounters a scholar travelling to the capital for the imperial exams. It’s love at first sight. Thus, her red sleeves add fragrance for the scholar as she urges him to study diligently. She aids him in successfully placing in the exams……”

It turned out that Hu Xiaoyue was a fox who had become a demon after the founding of the new China. Subsequently, she had used a phone to read several legends about her ancestors. Among them, the romantic relationship between a demon and human that involved a fox demon helping a scholar on his way to the imperial exams deeply touched her young heart. Because of this, after she gained a human form, she very quickly started imitating her predecessors by trying to date scholars on their way to the imperial exams.

Of course, these days, nobody called it “taking the imperial exams” anymore. Now, they called it “taking the national civil servant exam.”

Hu Xiaoyue, who was familiar with the Internet, thus joined the local national civil servant exam group chat and started dating the scholars in there.

Following the fox demon’s recounting, the others slowly: “……”

So, this was a fox demon who had gone down the wrong path after being influenced by love stories?

Most importantly, there were also a lot of fox demon ancestors who had done some great things. Hu Xiaoyue had only read love stories?

“I read some other stories too, but didn’t dare to copy them.” Hu Xiaoyue had her own reasons. “Like my predecessor, Su Daji. What she did was too great. We’re currently in a lawful society. I’ve finally managed to become a demon. I don’t want to get arrested and have to go to prison.”

She held out her paws. “Dating is pretty nice. It also really fits the nature of us fox demons.”

Yu Zhengdu temporarily had no response. Instead, Zhao Shuxin complained in sorrow from off to the side, “Date if you want, but why did you have to date so many people?”

“Just in case.” Hu Xiaoyue listed the evidence, “It’s written in the stories of my predecessors. Many scholars directly married princesses to become royal son-in-laws after placing in the exams. How could I know which examinee would marry the daughter of a department director or section chief to climb the ranks in the future? It’s obviously safer to have more backups. Besides, what if there are some who don’t pass the exam……”

Yu Zhengdu criticized, “Then why not just directly date someone who’s already become a civil servant?”

“That won’t do either. If he’s already succeeded, how am I supposed to use my red sleeves to add fragrance for him and ensure that he studies?” Hu Xiaoyue added, “It’s the process that I want to enjoy!”

At this time, Zhao Shuxin honestly couldn’t keep it in anymore. He burst into tears and pointed at the little fox while crying, “So everything you’ve done was only to satisfy your own desires. They weren’t out of consideration for me at all……”

Upon noticing that things had turned into a soap opera, Yu Zhengdu rubbed his forehead and told Hu Xiaoyue, “You should know that humans and demons have separate paths. Even if you weren’t intentionally trying to harm anyone, the act of dating was already harmful.”

“I know.” The little fox blinked. “So I switch a group of examinees from time to time.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

Zhao Shuxin: “Did you guys hear that? She actually switches group by group. Wuwuwu——”

This was his first time encountering a demon. Yu Zhengdu was slightly unsure of how to take care of the situation. He could only turn to look at Shang Que. Shang Que said, “We’ll talk about it after taking her back to the company.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded and told Hu Xiaoyue, “We’re going to arrest you now. However, you don’t need to worry. We’ll make a judgement based on the actual circumstances. The sentence won’t be too heavy.”

How could Hu Xiaoyue dare to resist? However, given the latter half of Yu Zhengdu’s speech, she slightly relaxed and obediently nodded.

Pan Xuehai was astonished. “Senior, your guys’ company is so badass?”

Catching demons is easier than police catching robbers?

Yu Zhengdu nodded with a smile. “Otherwise, how would we dare to charge such expensive rates?”

Pan Xuehai fell deep into thought. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Wait a moment, so the nightmare you guys helped me take care of last time was also?”

Yu Zhengdu only gave him a meaningful look. “Think about it yourself.”

Pan Xuehai: !!!

Here, everything had technically been completely taken care of. Yu Zhengdu bade farewell to Pan Xuehai and Zhao Shuxin and stood up to leave with Shang Que. After brief thought, he realized that they might be reported for bringing a fox outside. Thus, he told Hu Xiaoyue to return to her human form once again.

Before they even reached the door, though, Zhao Shuxin’s shouts sounded out from behind. “Xiaoyue, don’t leave. I can continue to take the civil servant exam. After I pass, I’ll also promise that I won’t pursue the department director’s daughter. Can you please stay……”

Pan Xuehai hurriedly held him back. “Calm down. That’s a fox demon!”

“I know, but she’s a pretty and gentle fox demon!” Zhao Shuxin bawled.

Hu Xiaoyue had probably felt touched. She turned around and looked at him, then said, “We really can’t be together. However, there’s one thing I want to ask you to help me with……”

Zhao Shuxin pitifully looked at her. “What?”

Hu Xiaoyue: “I won’t be able to continue dating examinees in the future. Please help me log in to my WeChat and break up with my thirteen boyfriends. Don’t let them wait for naught for too long.”

Zhao Shuxin: “……”

The author has something to say:

Zhao Shuxin: Which ones are your boyfriends?

Hu Xiaoyue: They have numbers, like Boyfriend 1, Boyfriend 2, etc…… You’re Boyfriend 9 oh!