Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Compared to normal police like Huang Aiguo, Chen Zhenhua has a great advantage in solving cases, especially murder cases, because he can communicate with the underworld and even ask the victim directly. However, it was this case of Ruan Jiaolü that made him feel unlucky, as he thought asking Zhang Yuan's spirit would reveal the killer, but Hei Bai Wu Chang said he had amnesia.

  "What bad luck!" Chen Zhenhua put down his chopsticks and got up to fetch a pack of cigarettes from the bedroom, offering one to He Jucai and another to Bai Wuchang. Bai Wuchang waved his hand in refusal, but he and He Jucai had been working in the underworld for hundreds of years and were accustomed to smoking dry tobacco, so they took out their own pipes and began puffing away. In an instant, four plumes of smoke rose into the air, filling the room with a thick haze.

  After finishing his cigarette, Hei Bai Wu Chang left in a hurry due to some urgent matter, leaving only Huo Ju Cai and Chen Zhen Hua sitting silently opposite each other.

  Both of them had nothing to say, or perhaps they did but didn't know how to start, so the room was filled with an oppressive atmosphere, eerily quiet and suffocating.

  It wasn't until midnight, when the hustle and bustle of the streets gradually disappeared, that Huo Jucai lit another cigarette and bid farewell. He drove his car around the streets for a while, not to work like he did during the day, but simply to take in the cool autumn breeze.

  He wandered around in a circle before returning home, but the house with the same name no longer belonged to him.

  The Huo Mansion is located in the most beautiful and quiet northern part of Haizhen City, covering an area of over 1,000 square meters. It's a luxurious villa surrounded by lush trees, with a large lawn underneath. Although it's autumn now, the grass is still green, while some trees have shed their leaves and others remain verdant. Walking on the lawn makes one forget that it's already autumn.

  The exterior walls of the house are painted with latex paint, and the white buildings, emerald green lawns and dark green forests complement each other in color, making them look quiet, elegant and refined. The outside is so exquisite, let alone the inside, but unfortunately, the author's knowledge is too shallow to make a detailed description of this magnificent room with his pen, so he can only use the three words "most luxurious" to roughly summarize it.

  Huo Jucai's soul returned to his body, and he continued to live a carefree life in the Huo household. Only seven people, including Lan Jingqiu and Ouyang Qing, as well as the King of Hell, knew his true identity. Perhaps only the gods in heaven who could calculate fate and magic were also aware of it. His current father, Huo Yuqi, couldn't possibly see through it. All he knew was that his son had come back to life, which was the greatest blessing from heaven for their family. Therefore, he poured all his love and attention onto his son's physical body.

  Perhaps it was just a coincidence that the two Huo Jufa were both useless, so now Huo Jufa's various performances, Huo Yu Kui is hiding anxiety and helplessness in his heart, but he still loves his son dearly. Through his many years of interpersonal relationships, he found a job for Huo Jufa. Originally, to enter the Urban Management Bureau, one had to take an exam, but his father used money to smooth things over, and the leaders of the Urban Management Bureau gave Huo Jufa a test paper in advance, searched online for the correct answers, filled out the test paper, and found someone to draw a few red checks on it. He was then admitted. This simple exam, it's said that in the past it was also done this way, as long as you couldn't find anything else to do, you would run to the Urban Management Bureau. And the Urban Management Bureau, due to work needs, also needed those young people who were rough and had been mixed up in society for many years, and people understood it this way.

  Of course, there is another reason why the Urban Management Bureau recruited Huo Jucai. His father, Huo Yuquan, is a public figure in Haizhou City, with a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and has connections with government leaders and celebrities from all walks of life. Therefore, the Huo family also has some influence in Haizhou City. Although Huo Yuquan cannot interfere with the government's administration, he can still make things happen if he wants to, especially when it comes to personnel arrangements in certain departments. That's why many people think it's wise to curry favor with Huo Jucai, and even dream of doing so.

  Huo Jucai drives around the streets every day, disapproving of his colleagues' rough treatment of street vendors who set up stalls on the sidewalk. They work alone, wandering around like this every day. If he feels a bit guilty, he picks up the loudspeaker on his pickup truck and shouts loudly "Push it away, push it away".

  He knew in his heart that this job was almost a game, and he also knew that he had never been serious about it, but he just didn't want to be serious. Strangely enough, he still received praise from his superiors every month and was treated as a model for educating others.

  "Hao Shao," just as he entered the office, a colleague came up with a smile and said, "The director wants to see you in his office."

  "Do you know what he wants from me?" asked Huo Jucai politely after returning the greeting.

  "This, uh," a colleague said cautiously, "I'm sorry, I don't seem to be very clear, but you'll know when you go."

  Huo Jucai bid farewell to his colleagues and went to the director's office.

  Knock on the director's office, then open the door and politely ask for a good voice and walk in, standing in front of the desk waiting for the respectable owner to let him sit down.

  The master was a man in his forties, perhaps due to the worries of work, his hair had turned white and sparse, with only a slight thickness on the back of his head and the sides of his temples. He used a comb every day to brush his long hair from the right side to the left, trying to cover up the entire bald top. His face was quite fat, with small triangular eyes that were almost just slits, and his chubby cheeks squeezed his nose, which resembled a garlic head, in between. Below his nose were two thick lips. Originally not very tall, coupled with his stout build and protruding belly, at first glance he looked like a square-shaped person.

  When he saw He Juzhai come in, he put away the face that had been distorted by his earlier scolding of his subordinates and smiled at He Juzhai, getting up to hastily invite him to sit down and personally pouring a cup of tea for him.

  "Try some, this tea is really fragrant. It's the new Rain Before Dragon Well that my relative brought back from Hangzhou, Zhejiang a couple of days ago when he went on a business trip. The price isn't cheap, I wouldn't even take it out for ordinary people. Except for the director, only you are worthy. By the way, can you bring some back to your father on your way home after work? I know he loves drinking tea."

  Huo Jucai took a sip of tea, put the cup on the table, and smiled: "Director, I heard from colleagues that you called me to the office. I think it's not just for tasting tea? If there are any requirements, please feel free to say so. I know I'm new to urban management, and many aspects I'm not too familiar with. If there's anything I've done that's not enough, please point it out, and I'll learn from it."

  "You're too modest," said the director, sitting back in his seat with a very friendly expression. "Pointing out mistakes? It's not that serious. I called you to my office mainly because it's been a long time since we brothers had a good chat. Since we have such a good relationship, of course, we should talk heart-to-heart more often. By the way, your work has been outstanding, and I'm thinking of promoting you to team leader. What do you think?"

  "Absolutely not!" said Huo Jucai, "I've just started working for less than a month, if I'm promoted to team leader, my colleagues will be unhappy. Moreover, I'm careless with my work, let alone doing it well, even being serious is not possible." Originally he wanted to say "We haven't spoken before, how can you say we haven't chatted in a long time", but out of politeness, he held back and didn't say it.

  The director, hearing his firm disagreement with the promotion to team leader, seemed somewhat anxious. He stood up and said in an agitated tone: "I say you're capable, then you are; who dares not obey? Besides, as long as our leadership members unanimously emphasize at the meeting that your promotion is a decision made by the higher-level organization, who would dare disobey? This isn't the first time something like this has happened, it's settled."

  Huo Jucai saw that he was so determined, and didn't say anything else. Because he could see that the director must have had an ulterior motive for doing this. If he refused again, the director would not give up easily. It's better to agree for now and see what he wants to say.

  The director nodded in agreement, happily asked Huo Jucai to have another cup of tea, then rubbed his hands together in front of his chest, gritted his teeth, and finally spoke up: "I heard that your father is going to celebrate a big birthday in two days, the mayor and leaders from various departments will all go to congratulate him. I hope you can put in a good word for us in front of your respected father, and introduce our esteemed Mayor of Haizhen City to him in the evening."

  "This, ah," said Huo Jucai, "I'll give it a try." In fact, when he heard the director make this request, he silently cursed the director as an old fox more than once. But on his face, he still pretended to be very happy.

  The two of them made a deal in an ordinary conversation, although this deal brought no benefits to Huo Jucai, and he didn't expect such an inexplicable conversation. However, he finally understood one thing - the cunning director in front of him wanted to get promoted, and the only way to get promoted was to know higher-level leaders.

  He pretended to be very polite and chatted with the director until 9 am, when he was finally "let go". Even so, the director still seemed reluctant to part with him, his expression of reluctance almost like that of bidding farewell to his own elderly father. The smile on his face was as exaggerated as a blooming chrysanthemum, and it was clearly remembered by Huo Jucai that this kind of smile only appeared when meeting with the bureau chief or other leaders.

  He stood up, and with a natural air, as if admiring the director's office, he strolled towards the large door at the back, pretending to carefully examine the photos on the wall behind the door. He pointed at each person in the photos, asking questions with a serious expression. Only then did he walk out, getting into the pickup truck specially assigned to him by the City Management Bureau, and continuing his own mundane work, where the three words he said most often were: "Quickly move away!"