Chapter 144 Although He Zhao said "no credit allowed," she could already tell from Wang Yu's expression...

Although He Zhao said "no credit allowed," she could tell from Wang Yu's expression that she was probably powerless against this customer. In this situation, a little credit was acceptable. But once Qiao Yanyu returned, all the debts this guy owed her would have to be collected.

The woman in the red wedding dress smiled, revealing her teeth: "Okay, give me a bowl."

It was clear that this guest wasn't unreasonable, which reassured He Zhao. She got the food and placed it in front of the woman in the red wedding dress. Unexpectedly, this woman in the red wedding dress was quite talkative. She didn't say much at first, but after a few bites, her appetite and chatterbox suddenly opened up, and she started talking non-stop.

"Sigh, to be honest, I'm really unlucky."

She even put down her chopsticks, looked up at He Zhao, and began to ramble on: "Don't let my appearance fool you, this is all photoshopped by the on-site retoucher. My real face is actually quite different from this one." At this point, Wang Yu's ears perked up. Another person whose face didn't look like their real appearance, which piqued Wang Yu's interest.

He Zhao also sighed, saying that it was really easy for these strange ghosts to come to her stall.

"Actually, I'm already over thirty, and my family is pressuring me to go on blind dates, but I really don't want to get married. But even though I don't want to get married, I still want to take wedding photos. A while ago, solo wedding photos were all the rage, so I went alone. I thought this Hanfu was especially beautiful, so I got it for my outdoor shoot too. It was a sunny day, with dark clouds everywhere, but then, out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck, and I was struck dead..."

"Before I died, I discussed with the wedding photographer how to retouch the photos on the spot, and had someone make a version for me. I had already paid in full, and now that I'm gone, I guess that shop won't continue to retouch them for me."

To be honest, the way the ghost in the red wedding dress died was indeed quite unlucky. If she became a ghost because of resentment and bitterness, then that's understandable.

He Zhao was still a little curious: "Did you become any stronger after dying while wearing red clothes?"

The ghost in the red wedding dress shook her head: "No, absolutely not."

After it finished complaining, it shook its head and sighed for a long time. It ate two more bites and then started complaining again: "I wonder if that store will compensate me. If they do, they can send the money to my family. At least my mom won't have such a miserable life." These words were so heartbreaking that anyone who heard them would want to cry. However, He Zhao didn't react much. Perhaps it was because the way the ghost died sounded unlucky, but it wasn't tragic enough.

Speaking of tragic deaths, wasn't the original Gossian the most tragic? It was burned to death, its entire skin melted away – that was truly horrific. And what about the sutured water ghost? It was targeted for no reason and died a gruesome death, its face no longer its own. Then there's the child ghost, whose fate was entirely undeserved. Even the closest of friends, the mud ghost, was an unlucky fellow, dying an even more gruesome death – covered in asphalt.

Having experienced so many things, He Zhao had become somewhat numb to the various ways these ghosts died, and could only say, "Please accept my condolences."

He Zhao was genuinely curious about the question he had asked earlier. In many films, television shows, and literary works, people who die tragically while wearing red have a high chance of becoming vengeful ghosts—there's even a specific term for it: "red-clad vengeful ghost." Now that a ghost in a red wedding dress had appeared before him, He Zhao was curious whether this was truly true.

Furthermore, Wang Yu thought this Red Wedding Dress Ghost was very strong, so perhaps the red dress provided some kind of buff. However, the Red Wedding Dress Ghost herself denied this, so it seems the red dress really wasn't very useful.

"You're quite strong," He Zhao said casually.

"So-so."

Although the Red Wedding Dress Ghost was very strong, she was quite easy to talk to. Her only problems were that she couldn't remember her own wishes and she was too talkative, even more so than Wang Yu. After finishing her meal, she didn't leave immediately but talked for a long time before getting off her chair, waving goodbye to He Zhao, paying the bill, and leaving.

Looking at its back, you can still see the embroidered shoes faintly visible under its wedding dress.

After the ghost in the red wedding dress left, Wang Yu began searching for information about her. The ghost's death was unusual, so finding information should have been easy. However, after searching high and low, she couldn't find any corresponding cases.

He Zhao, on the other hand, found some similar news while searching online—people being struck by lightning and dying while taking wedding photos. However, the locations and people, or their clothing, didn't match. Some were of people wearing wedding dresses, some were of grooms who died, and some were of people in high-altitude areas. There were all sorts of stories, including some fake news from marketing accounts. Truth and falsehood were mixed together, and He Zhao quickly grew tired of scrolling through them.

Wang Yu gave up after searching for a while, and then said to He Zhao, "Forget it, I'll go back and ask Li Xia to look up the information. There's too much stuff, it's giving me a headache." When it comes to getting things done, you really can't trust Wang Yu too much.

"And what it says might not be true. Some ghosts have changed their appearance and, before they have fully recovered their memories, they still have false memories. The child ghost before was particularly convinced that he was a child. This ghost might be the same, just believing what's in his head, which actually has nothing to do with it at all."

He Zhao nodded; she wasn't really bothered by these things anyway.

Wang Yu still had to report the matter, because the ghost in the red wedding dress was another ghost whose identity didn't match her previous one. The higher-ups were currently investigating the matter, and Wang Yu couldn't possibly pretend not to know about it. If she did, it wouldn't just be unreliable; it would be utterly irresponsible.

Because the ghost in the red wedding dress was stronger than Wang Yu, Wang Yu didn't take out her phone to film it. Ghosts have all sorts of taboos, many of them afraid of seeing their current appearance, especially hating things like mirrors. With the advancement of technology, they also hate cameras, fearing that something will record their faces.

Knowing she was no match for him, Wang Yu naturally wouldn't act rashly. But she remembered what the red-dressed ghost looked like, so she immediately called a forensic artist and asked them to start drawing the ghost's face right away.

While Wang Yu was dealing with these matters, the child ghost arrived. It happened to bump into the old woman today, and the two ghosts sat opposite He Zhao at the same time. Faced with the much more obedient child ghost, He Zhao no longer had the idea of ​​insisting that it pay before eating, and instead, as usual, served one ghost a bowl of rice.

While the child ghost was eating, He Zhao asked it if it remembered who the person it wanted to see was.

The child ghost paused in its eating motion, putting the rice back into the bowl, its expression still somewhat blank. Clearly, it didn't remember who the other person was. But He Zhao already knew the answer. When he heard Wang Yu mention the accident, He Zhao knew who it wanted to see.

Undoubtedly, the girl who was pushed away by it and luckily escaped with her life was also the child ghost's good friend.

He Zhao had a feeling that the child ghost and the mud ghost would be the targets of the investigation team's investigation this time. And that ghost named Jiu Qing was really annoying. He Zhao was a little afraid that the two ghosts would be affected, so he was a little anxious and wanted to send both ghosts away as soon as possible.

The mud ghost she most wanted to get rid of had no wishes and she didn't want it to be forcibly sent away, so she could only turn her attention to the child ghost first. She didn't mind forcing things to happen, so He Zhao directly asked, "Do you remember how you died?"

The few words they exchanged had already drawn Wang Yu's attention, but she didn't stop them. Instead, she took her phone and moved aside, not intending to affect He Zhao.

Faced with He Zhao's question, the child ghost became even more confused. Several fragments flashed through its mind, but they all involved another girl, and none of them showed scenes of its own tragic death. The old woman also noticed He Zhao's actions and guessed that He Zhao wanted to help the child ghost, so she sat down beside him silently and even stopped eating.

It was somewhat wary, its eyes fixed on the child ghost, afraid that the ghost might remember something and go astray, harming He Zhao. He Zhao was good to it, so of course it would protect him. That Wang Yu was clearly unreliable; at this crucial moment, she ran to the side.

The little ghost thought for a long time, but still shook his head.

Indeed, it's still too weak. It hasn't been a ghost for long, so it won't remember things so easily. He Zhao pressed on, offering more hints: "Think about it, didn't you die in the downtown area? When you died, wasn't the person who was very important to you by your side? Did you... did you die to protect her?"

He Zhao's hint was too obvious; some sealed memories broke free of their shackles and entered the child ghost's mind. Its expression twisted and changed rapidly, extremely complex, as if it couldn't accept the memories that had just flooded into its mind.

It took quite a while for it to slowly flatten out.

Looking at He Zhao, its first words were: "I remember now."

The child ghost's current behavior is completely different from when it first arrived at the stall; it no longer shows any trace of childish innocence. It whispered, "I was crushed to death. I was walking with her when I heard people around me shouting, and I felt the lights above my head dim inexplicably. I also heard some sounds, and when I looked up, I saw that rapidly falling figure."

Its voice was calm as it spoke, but its hands trembled uncontrollably. Its behavior was so moving that the old woman beside it couldn't help but place her cold hand on itss. The two ghosts, with their icy hands and feet, seemed to be warming each other.

It was the old woman's hand that gave the child ghost some courage, allowing it to continue: "It was too late then. I wasn't thinking about anything; I just felt that we couldn't die together. Instinctively, I pushed her out from beside me."

Then the child ghost died, right after the art exam, at the height of his glory.

But at this moment, the child ghost's only wish is: "I want to see her, to know if she got into university. That's a place we both wanted to go, but now I can't go. I hope she can. I want to see her at university, continuing to draw what she wants to draw."