Chapter 128 Under He Zhao's threat, "You don't want to eat tomorrow?", the Mud Demon could only remain silent...

Under He Zhao's threat, "You don't want to eat tomorrow," the Mud Demon could only remain silent. He Zhao was truly a despicable and sore loser; all she did was mock her a couple of times, and he had to threaten her.

When He Zhao said, "I'm not eating, you can eat it yourself," the little ghost could only reluctantly withdraw his hand and continue eating the rice.

Both ghosts were defeated in front of He Zhao. He Zhao was satisfied again, hummed twice, and sat back down in his seat.

After that, everything calmed down, and neither side caused any trouble. The little ghost finally finished eating the rice in his hand, even licking his fingers to savor the taste. After doing this, He Zhao quickly put away the bowl and chopsticks. The little ghost looked at the empty table in front of him and was a little unhappy, even his mouth pursed.

However, neither He Zhao nor the Mud Ghost were the type to feel sorry for children. The Mud Ghost had treated it to a meal earlier, and it wasn't about to be a sucker and eat a second bowl. He Zhao waved to the Mud Ghost, instructing it to return the child ghost it had brought from where it had been.

The Mud Demon had picked up a big problem and couldn't stay there any longer to cause trouble for He Zhao. So, he could only sigh and urge He Zhao, "You two, pay attention! It's just a little kid, and it's not very bright yet. Hurry up and fulfill its wish so it can be reincarnated."

Although He Zhao said that the child ghost might only look like a child, and might actually be bigger than the mud ghost inside, the mud ghost looked at it from all angles and felt that the child ghost was the same size as it looked, inside and out, so it couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

He Zhao waved his hand: "Understood."

After the two ghosts left, Qiao Yanyu spoke up: "It might have originally looked different from what it looks like now."

Unlike the Mud Ghost, Qiao Yanyu didn't believe the Child Ghost was acting as it did. She had a complete database, but after comparing appearances, she found no information about the Child Ghost; she couldn't find anyone matching the photos she took.

In other words, there is no such person as "Child Ghost" within the city limits.

She had considered the possibility of the child being from another city, but given how much importance every family places on their children these days, they should be able to find relevant clues soon. However, after searching around, Qiao Yanyu found nothing, so she was more inclined to believe that the child ghost's appearance was a transformation on its own.

Compared to Qiao Yanyu's concern, He Zhao was much more nonchalant: "Sister Qiao, don't worry about this. Anyway, you've already entrusted it to your colleagues in the information processing department. If they can find it, they will find it soon. If they can't find it, it just means it looks different now, and the clue can only be found out from its mouth. There's no use worrying about this now."

Compared to the clue about the child ghost, He Zhao was more concerned about: "Do you want to eat spicy strips? Let's go back and buy some. If they're not good, I'll learn how to make them for you from the system later."

"……good."

To be honest, Qiao Yanyu was actually a little tempted.

After resting well the next day, He Zhao went out to buy groceries. Following online recommendations, she went to a snack shop and bought a little of each of the various spicy snack brands. She herself wasn't a fan of these spicy snacks, feeling they were too spicy to enjoy, but Qiao Yanyu liked spicy food, so perhaps she would like them.

He Zhao was delighted and took the spicy strips back home. However, she didn't buy too many, since Qiao Yanyu was currently injured and still recovering. Eating too many spicy strips would upset her stomach, so she decided to just have a little to satisfy her craving.

After returning home, He Zhao went to the kitchen to cook, placed the spicy strips on the living room table, and called for Qiao Yanyu to come out and eat. Qiao Yanyu came out in her wheelchair by herself, and was somewhat surprised when she saw the spicy strips on the table: "You bought so many kinds?"

He Zhao poked his head out of the kitchen: "You haven't tried it before, so I bought a few more flavors, but they're all in small packages. Try them out, but don't eat too much at once, just a little to taste. If you like it, I'll buy you more later."

Sometimes, He Zhao seems to have more of a "motherly" quality than Qiao Yanyu, especially during the time Qiao Yanyu was injured. Her care for Qiao Yanyu was meticulous, even thinking of things like spicy strips.

Qiao Yanyu had never been treated like this before, and she immediately felt a sweet warmth in her heart.

Qiao Yanyu responded and opened one of the packages. To be honest, the spicy strips smelled really good; it was an aroma created by a huge amount of seasonings. Just smelling it made your mouth water, much like instant noodles.

Even Qiao Yanyu, who had never tried this kind of snack before, was captivated by its aroma and subconsciously felt that it couldn't be too bad. She squeezed out a little spicy strip from the package she had torn open, took a bite, and ate it.

Qiao Yanyu chewed a couple of times and suddenly felt—it was a bit hard to put into words.

It wouldn't be that bad, considering the large amount of additives in it; with such a high dosage, nothing would taste too bad. But it wouldn't be that delicious either, since it's mostly just the taste of additives, far inferior to what He Zhao makes.

Speaking of seasonings, Qiao Yanyu had only recently tasted the cold pig's head meat made by Zhang Shuyao's mother, which was truly exceptional. Even after being kept in the refrigerator, it didn't taste stale or unappetizing when taken out and eaten. Although the texture was slightly different, it was still delicious.

Moreover, the flavor of the seasonings will not overpower the main flavor of the food, nor will they mask its original taste.

Spicy strips, however, were a different story. Qiao Yanyu rarely ate such pure junk food. So after a couple of bites, she found them rather tasteless.

Her first thought was: maybe this brand just doesn't taste good; other spicy snacks might be better. But after opening two or three packs, Qiao Yanyu found that although the flavors were slightly different, the texture was almost the same. It was that... chewy, tough gluten texture, which left Qiao Yanyu feeling somewhat frustrated.

It really doesn't taste good.

However, handmade spicy strips should be different.

He Zhao came out once in the middle and saw three or four packets of spicy strips in the trash can. She knew that Qiao Yanyu had already tasted them, so she couldn't help but ask, "Sister Qiao, how did it taste?"

Qiao Yanyu looked up at He Zhao. She didn't actually want to complain about the spicy snacks, but before she could speak, she made He Zhao laugh. Qiao Yanyu's face couldn't hide her expression; He Zhao knew exactly what she was thinking. Seeing her expression, He Zhao understood: they weren't good.

However, Qiao Yanyu didn't say that. Instead, she said, "Handmade spicy strips should be different, right?"

He Zhao laughed: "Doesn't the mall downstairs sell handmade spicy strips? Let's go buy some and try them later. They should have a non-spicy version, I'd like to try that too." If it weren't for the fact that he had to wait until tomorrow to learn how to make handmade spicy strips, and that He Zhao had searched online and found that it was quite difficult to make, he might have made a copy for Qiao Yanyu today.

Hearing what He Zhao said, Qiao Yanyu nodded. She had never cared so much about food before, but now that He Zhao was by her side, she felt that she couldn't wait even a moment longer to enjoy delicious food.

After dinner, He Zhao pushed Qiao Yanyu's wheelchair out the door. Fortunately, the mall was indeed close to their neighborhood, and they arrived in no time. Once at the mall, the two went to the basement level and finally found the handmade spicy snack shop.

The restaurant also offered free samples; a small plate contained some small pieces of spicy strips, with toothpicks next to them, for customers to try. He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu each tried one, naturally one was non-spicy and the other was spicy.

Handmade spicy strips definitely taste better than store-bought ones, and the texture is also better. Besides handmade spicy strips, there are also pork jerky and other snacks. While they might not be considered particularly delicious, they're certainly decent snacks to satisfy cravings.

After asking the price, He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu both bought some items. However, when the waiter announced the bill, He Zhao was suddenly stunned, and her voice involuntarily rose: "How much?!"

The waiter's smile remained unchanged as he patiently repeated, "The total is three hundred and twenty-one yuan. Thank you for your patronage." He Zhao took a deep breath and looked at the items in the waiter's hands. Most of the items had just been quoted at forty or fifty yuan per jin (500g), so these couldn't possibly weigh five or six jin.

They only picked out a few, not many.

If it were the old He Zhao, she wouldn't have even glanced at a mere three hundred-odd yuan; she would have just paid and left. But not now. The current He Zhao is poor, and she cares a lot about money. She muttered to herself, "How can there be so much? It doesn't look like there are five or six pounds in here. Weigh some more for me."

At this point, the waitress understood why He Zhao thought it was expensive. She explained again, "Sir, the price here is not forty or fifty yuan per catty, but forty or fifty yuan per tael. You can see it written on the price tag."

He Zhao looked over and saw that it said: 40 yuan/50 grams.

That's outrageous.

He Zhao took a deep breath. She hadn't expected to encounter the legendary spicy snack assassin. He Zhao could indeed afford it, but she wasn't willing to. Did she look like a sucker? Besides, He Zhao wasn't the type to be overly shy. She simply said, "It's too expensive, I don't want it."

The waitress was stunned. Her first reaction was, "No, sir, it's already been weighed. You can't refuse it."

"Why don't you just put it back? You used clips to take it out, so just use clips to put it back. 40 yuan a tael of something, anyone who buys it is a sucker. Do you know how many spicy strips you can buy online for 40 yuan? You think you can rip me off? No way."

He Zhao was ruthless in her speech, ignoring the waiter's warnings that "our spicy strips are handmade and different from those sold online." She would have bought them if the price hadn't been so outrageous.

Seeing that she couldn't explain to He Zhao, the waiter turned to Qiao Yanyu and said, "Miss, I noticed you liked it when you tried it. To be honest, it's not too expensive. You can see the ingredients we use. We've already picked it up for you, so it wouldn't be appropriate to put it back."