Chapter 30 The extra-spicy rice originally prepared for the Mud Demon turned out to be something else entirely before the Mud Demon even arrived...

The extra-spicy rice was originally prepared for the Mud Demon, but unexpectedly, it was served to customers before the Mud Demon.

But the big guy in front of her was a glutton in her eyes, and He Zhao didn't want to lose this customer. So she rubbed her hands and said, "This is really spicy. If you can't handle spicy food, I suggest you don't eat it."

She herself had never tried this extra spicy version.

He Zhao wasn't the type to handle spicy food well, and besides, there was no one else around. He Zhao wasn't going to force himself to eat something so spicy it would kill him. So, after making it, He Zhao didn't even taste it himself.

But He Zhao knew it must be extremely spicy.

This extra spicy version of rice is actually just regular rice topped with the specially made chili sauce taught in the system, and then steamed together. It's not simply having the chili sauce on top of the rice. Because if it were just on top of the rice, only the small amount of chili sauce that's actually spicy would be there.

Using this method, even the water used for cooking rice is guaranteed to be spicy. The spiciness of the chili permeates every grain of rice. The system's official name for it is: Hellish, Invincible, Abnormally Spicy White Rice.

Just from the name, you can tell it's really perverted.

Despite He Zhao's attempts to dissuade him, the wealthy dog-like customer completely disregarded his advice and even began to confide in He Zhao: "Actually, I really can't handle spicy food. But I remember someone who is very important to me, and that person can handle a lot of spicy food. I'm very curious now, what's so delicious about spicy food, and what does it taste like?"

It said the person was very important, but didn't say who that person was; it seemed it had completely forgotten.

That's the downside of being a ghost; it's easy to forget everything, become confused, and even forget who you are. Those like Gossian are rare. They clearly know what their wishes are, who they are, and where they live.

Judging from the situation of the big ghost in front of him, there are different kinds of ghosts. The big ghost is obviously stronger than Gossian, but he doesn't remember the people who are very important to him.

Although I don't remember, I do know that the other person likes spicy food.

But... the past is like flowing water, it can be looked at but not chased, it can be remembered but not reached.

What's the use of remembering someone's favorite food when they're dead? Why couldn't you accompany them to do those things while you were still alive? He Zhao sighed inwardly, but didn't show it on his face. After all, this was a major client, and he couldn't afford to offend him.

Despite the big ghost's insistence, He Zhao didn't refuse and served it a bowl of extra spicy rice.

The extra spicy rice looks different from regular white rice. It sits in a white porcelain bowl, and under the light of the small lamp on the food cart, it reveals a pale red hue. It's a little deeper than pale red, but not quite red.

If you didn't know this thing was super spicy, it would look rather girly, pink and cute.

But beneath this pink hue lurks a life-threatening crisis for many ghosts. The large ghost, oblivious to this, reached out with its chopsticks as usual and began its attack. The chopsticks picked up the pink rice and then fed it to the large ghost's mouth.

It wasn't He Zhao's imagination; in that instant, the rings of pale, water-soaked fat on the ghost's body turned red.

This scene left He Zhao in awe.

At the same time, the big guy made a "hissing" sound as he exhaled, just like He Zhao had yesterday when he was burned by the spicy wontons. The only difference was that the big guy was much more exaggerated than He Zhao; he looked like he was really suffering from the spiciness.

It even stood up.

This action made Qiao Yanyu, who was already very vigilant, stiffen up again after finally relaxing.

Fortunately, the big guy didn't do anything else. He just hissed and breathed heavily while wandering around the stall. As he wandered, he couldn't help but stomp his foot because it was so spicy. He was really suffering from the spiciness, otherwise he wouldn't have done something like that.

It was so heavy that He Zhao felt the stool vibrate when it stomped its feet.

If you push harder, it might just be like an earthquake.

Seeing that it didn't come over and make any aggressive moves towards He Zhao, Qiao Yanyu felt a little relieved, but she was still on guard.

The big ghost circled around for a while, then came back to continue eating. As it ate, its eyes reddened. If He Zhao hadn't been watching closely, she wouldn't have noticed its eyes were red. However, ghosts can't cry like He Zhao; they don't get tears and snot from the spiciness.

He got burned by the spiciness, stood up, walked around to the side, then came back and sat down to continue eating. This behavior repeated itself endlessly. At first, He Zhao would watch for a while, but eventually, he got bored and stopped paying attention to the big ghost.

The big guy looked back and forth several times before he finally seemed to remember something and said to He Zhao, "Give me another serving of plain white rice."

He Zhao agreed and ladled out a bowl for him. The big guy picked up the bowl and, as if drinking soup, poured it into his mouth. Combined, it wasn't as spicy as before. But less spicy didn't mean it wasn't spicy at all; the big guy was still hissing and spitting out phlegm.

It ate quite quickly the previous two days, but today it ate very slowly, taking a long time to finish. Then, as usual, it placed 20 joss paper coins under the bowl before slowly getting up and leaving.

It ate so slowly, but still obediently finished the bowl of extra spicy rice. He Zhao thought it definitely wasn't because the extra spicy rice was delicious. Rather, it was because it was making up for the person in its heart.

Because of the other person, I endured the spiciness and still ate the bowl of rice.

The big ghost is gone, but Qiao Yanyu is very busy.

She was frantically typing on her phone, clearly looking for information about that big devil. After putting the dishes in the dishwasher, He Zhao tilted her head and watched Qiao Yanyu operate it. Qiao Yanyu didn't hide anything from her while doing this, letting He Zhao watch from the side.

Qiao Yanyu spent a long time comparing information in the database, using keywords like "male" and "obese," without even filtering by age. This is because it's actually quite difficult to guess the age of an obese person; the fat can obscure their face, making them appear older when they're young, and then younger when they're older.

Unfortunately, even after spending a long time comparing photos, Qiao Yanyu couldn't uncover the true identity of the "Big Ghost." Qiao Yanyu had actually taken photos of the "Big Ghost" without anyone noticing. Unlike He Zhao's method of practically shoving the phone camera right in front of someone's face, Qiao Yanyu's photos went unnoticed by the "Big Ghost," and even He Zhao was unaware of when she took them.

The problem was still that big guy; he was just too fat, especially his face, where layers of fat squeezed his features, making it difficult for Qiao Yanyu to capture his exact appearance in the photo. Looking at the picture, He Zhao also tried to recall what the big guy looked like.

The big guy's features are so obvious that they make people overlook his most important facial features.

He Zhao patted Qiao Yanyu on the shoulder: "Sister Qiao, give me your phone tomorrow. I'll take pictures when it comes." He Zhao volunteered and even brought up what happened yesterday: "It doesn't resist me taking pictures at all. I'm sure I can take clear pictures of it!"

Qiao Yanyu shook her head: "It has too much fat on its face. Even if you take a picture of it from the front, it would be hard to capture its appearance. I also looked at the men who died in the past year and had obese features, but none of them match it... Mainly, none of them are that fat. Maybe after it became a ghost, it only remembered that it was very strong, so as the time it spent as a ghost increased, it became more and more obese."

"You can do that?"

He Zhao looked surprised.

Qiao Yanyu nodded: "There's another ghost with this characteristic, which is your old customer, the Mud Ghost. Even if it dies from being splashed with asphalt, its whole body wouldn't melt into a puddle of mud. It's because after becoming a ghost, it felt that it would definitely become like this after it died, so day by day, it became more and more like mud."

"In the end, ghosts will all become the version of themselves they imagine, and they will continue to move in a bad direction. Until one day, they remember their true selves."

"I see..."

He Zhao pursed her lips. Faced with this answer, she said directly, "That ghost's aesthetic sense is quite strange. If I were to become a ghost one day, I would definitely hope to become more and more beautiful, or to become a big tree or a flower. I would rather not become mud or a fat person."

Qiao Yanyu couldn't help but laugh when she heard this. It was quite rare for He Zhao to say something like that. Most people would feel a little sentimental or saddened upon hearing this, and would feel sorry for the ghost. But He Zhao could just say that the ghost had a problem with its aesthetic sense.

While He Zhao was complaining about the Mud Demon's bizarre aesthetic sense, the Mud Demon arrived, slithering over. It sat on the stool and extended a small tentacle from its muddy body: "How about it? You said yesterday you'd give me something spicy today, and I've come early. I must be your first customer today, right? Quick, bring up your extra spicy version. Don't make excuses about not having any."

The Mud Demon is a stubborn one; he's determined to fight He Zhao to the bitter end.

Upon hearing the mud ghost's words, He Zhao crossed his arms, looking extremely smug: "Huh? What did you say? The first one here? The first one to eat the extra spicy version? I'm sorry to tell you, you're not the first one. Customers who want to eat at my stall can line up all the way to the next city. You have no idea how popular I am. If it weren't to teach you a lesson for your stubbornness, my extra spicy white rice would have sold out long ago. I specially saved it for you, so you absolutely have to finish it!"

"..." The Mud Demon fell silent. It wanted to refute He Zhao, but He Zhao's expression was too confident, as if a guest had really arrived early and eaten the extra spicy version. Even more unexpectedly, He Zhao actually made an extra spicy version of rice.

The Mud Demon wasn't actually a very good eater when it came to spicy food, but it firmly believed that He Zhao wasn't either, so the stubborn Mud Demon mustered its courage and stepped forward: "Come on, bring me your extra spicy version of white rice!"