Chapter 158 In the following days, Qiao Yanyu did indeed become busy, and He Zhao would occasionally take her along...
In the following days, Qiao Yanyu did indeed become very busy, and He Zhao would occasionally bring homemade lunches to the Countermeasures Bureau. Qiao Yanyu spent far more time at the Countermeasures Bureau than at home. When she did manage to go home, she would only chat with He Zhao for a few words before drifting off to sleep.
If He Zhao hadn't been home, Qiao Yanyu, given her personality, would probably have just found a place in the Countermeasures Bureau to curl up and take a nap.
So, the only companion He Zhao had at his stall was Little Black. It usually sat next to He Zhao, and from a customer's perspective, it shouldn't be visible. However, Little Black's presence was so strong that every customer who came to eat felt uneasy.
During this time, they encountered one or two ghosts who tried to cause trouble or freeload, but Xiao Hei was not as easy to talk to as Qiao Yanyu or Wang Yu. It didn't even take out gloves from its pocket, but instead transformed back into its true form, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed the two ghosts whole.
He Zhao was actually quite curious: "Xiao Hei, what do ghosts taste like?"
Xiao Hei licked its lips and shook its head. He Zhao didn't know if it meant the food was bad or tasteless, but it was definitely something Xiao Hei didn't like.
He Zhao also made some snacks for Xiao Hei to take with him. She had tested it; Xiao Hei wasn't interested in any of the snacks she bought, like meat sticks or duck jerky. Instead, he especially liked the pork jerky He Zhao made. It was originally for Qiao Yanyu, but Xiao Hei had already stolen most of it and eaten it shortly after it was made.
Enraged, He Zhao reached out and grabbed Xiao Hei, then slapped its rear end several times.
As a descendant of the mighty Howling Celestial Dog, Little Black let out an embarrassing whimper for the first time. It then got angry, ran to a corner, and ignored He Zhao. He Zhao ignored it too, but after a while, Little Black tiptoed back into He Zhao's room, wagging its tail ingratiatingly.
This dog needs to be disciplined.
If a dog isn't properly trained, it will think it's the leader of the pack and start to overpower people. Back in the Countermeasures Bureau, the investigators pampered it every day, which made it a bit unruly. Now that it's in He Zhao's hands, things have finally been set right.
Getting back to the main point, even though Xiao Hei has been with He Zhao for several days, regular customers are still afraid of it; it's an innate sense of superiority.
The woman in the red wedding dress came today too. This was her first visit since we last met. When she saw Little Black, she couldn't help but shiver, looking timid and hesitant. However, she was much better than the other ghosts who saw Little Black for the first time; she quickly returned to normal.
Perhaps it's because the red wedding dress ghost is much more powerful than other ghosts, and its yin energy is more abundant.
As an ordinary person, He Zhao couldn't really tell how strong a ghost was; he could only judge from their words. But since the Red Wedding Dress was designated as strong by Wang Yu, He Zhao quietly asked Xiao Hei, "Can you handle it?"
Little Black grunted, meaning: You underestimate me!
He Zhao finally calmed down. As long as he could handle it, he had nothing to fear. It was also clear that Xiao Hei was much more capable than Wang Yu.
When the woman in the red wedding dress saw Xiao Hei, her smile became somewhat forced: "What is this thing? It looks terrifying."
"Its name is Xiao Hei. It's said to have the bloodline of the Celestial Hound, and it's very effective at suppressing ghosts. My regular customers are all afraid of it." He Zhao reached out and patted Xiao Hei's head. Xiao Hei seemed to enjoy He Zhao's touch, snuggling against her and letting her pet it as much as she wanted.
At this moment, no matter how He Zhao looked at it, he didn't find Xiao Hei to be anything scary. It was only when it revealed its true form that it became frightening. But the ghosts seemed to be able to see Xiao Hei's uniqueness at a glance, and even in its current cute appearance, they were still very afraid.
The woman in the red wedding dress said "Oh," her eyes still showing some curiosity.
"This is the first time I've ever seen a Celestial Dog... So this is what it looks like. It doesn't look much different from an ordinary puppy."
"Haha, that's what I think too."
The human and the ghost chatted for a while. The woman in red ordered rice, and He Zhao casually promoted her extra-spicy version. The woman in red became interested and ordered one too. He Zhao gave her two; every extra ten yuan counted, as she still owed the system money.
In addition, with so many things going on lately, He Zhao felt that she would have to borrow money from the system again sooner or later. So she worked very hard recently, hoping that the system would see how hard she was working and not make things difficult for her when the time came.
Her hard work in promoting the product has caused a lot of suffering for customers. For example, the extra-spicy version of the red wedding dress in front of her is something that neither ordinary people nor ghosts can accept; it's a real, soul-crushing pain. One bite, and the spiciness goes straight from your mouth to the top of your head.
The woman in the red wedding dress immediately began to breathe in fresh air. For a ghost that couldn't breathe, to breathe so vigorously was simply unbelievable. However, it turned out that this breathing was completely useless, because they truly couldn't get any air at all.
With a series of panting sounds, something seemed amiss on the red wedding dress's face; two lines of bloody tears silently streamed down its face. Although He Zhao knew ghosts didn't cry, it clearly looked like tears in that scene.
It's almost as good as the stitched-up water ghost.
The sutured water ghost, having been thrown into the water, possesses some water control abilities and can make water flow from its eyes, appearing as if it's truly crying. Aside from that, the tears of other ghosts that simulate tears look rather fake.
For example, the mud ghost and the child ghost, one sheds mud and the other sheds paper scraps, and people can tell at a glance that they are fake.
Its depiction of blood and tears is almost indistinguishable from reality.
Despite his complaints, He Zhao still sent over the non-spicy rice noodles when he heard Hong Jiayi exclaiming, "It's so spicy!" After eating the non-spicy version, Hong Jiayi felt much better and thanked He Zhao.
However, they also avoid the extra spicy rice like the plague and probably won't order it again. Unless they're extremely tall, He Zhao hasn't had any customers who consistently order two servings of rice. It seems unlikely that this will continue in the future.
Perhaps because she ate the extra spicy rice, Hong Jiayi wasn't very talkative today and barely said a word. Even after finishing the regular rice, the spicy taste probably still lingered in her mouth, and she made a few "hissing" sounds as she walked away.
Once he was sure the woman in the red wedding dress was out of sight, He Zhao picked up Xiao Hei and gently stroked it on his lap, while also pondering some questions.
That ghost in the red wedding dress seems to have let something slip.
He Zhao astutely noticed this.
Upon seeing Xiao Hei and learning that Xiao Hei was actually Xiao Tianquan, the correct course of action would have been like that of the Mud Demon. Although several days had passed, He Zhao still clearly remembered the Mud Demon's reaction: "So there really is a Xiao Tianquan."
But what did that woman in the red wedding dress just say? She said: "So this is what the Celestial Dog looks like."
The saying "a small mistake can lead to a huge difference" highlights the problem. Normally, whether human or ghost, the reaction would be similar to that of a mud ghost, including He Zhao's. Upon seeing Xiao Hei and learning its identity, their first thought was: "So there really is a Celestial Hound in this world." Only then would they pay attention to what the Celestial Hound looks like.
But the woman in the red wedding dress skipped the first step and went straight to the second.
Of course, we can't directly criticize Red Wedding Dress based on this alone. It's possible that Red Wedding Dress is just making assumptions; for example, it might believe that if ghosts exist, then perhaps other strange creatures also exist. Furthermore, the Celestial Hound is a very common character in various works, and some scholars even believe it's actually a greyhound.
So it's possible that people might think: "Oh, so the Celestial Dog isn't like that, it's like this."
But what it had just said still made He Zhao feel a little uneasy. Furthermore, even Li Xia hadn't been able to find out the origin of the red wedding dress, and didn't know what was going on with it, which made He Zhao even more puzzled. She sent a message to Qiao Yanyu explaining the situation before putting down her phone.
Regardless of whether there's a problem or not, let's talk about it first and then consider other things.
He Zhao didn't think that since Qiao Yanyu was busy, she shouldn't bother her with her own thoughts. She was the kind of person who thought having a mouth was extremely important, and she would tell Qiao Yanyu every little thing in detail. Moreover, Hong Jiayi was a key person to observe, and if she had already noticed something unusual and didn't say anything, wouldn't that be stupid?
After sending the message, He Zhao calmly petted the dog for a while longer. When it was time to pack up and go home, her days were incredibly fulfilling. She seemed normal every day, except that she did have more customers than before. A few days later, a queue even appeared in front of He Zhao's stall.
The first three seats were already full, and customers who wanted to eat had to stand patiently in line. Some newcomers, not quite understanding the situation, even tried to cut in line. Elsewhere, cutting in line might only get you a few words of criticism, but here it was different.
Trying to cut in line will incur public outrage and may even result in being beaten up by other ghosts.
If Little Black sees them, it'll be even worse; he'll swallow them whole. Their lives will truly be in danger. Don't try to reason with the puppies, saying they were just cutting in line and didn't harm anyone, that they're not guilty of anything serious. The puppies don't understand that; they only know that the puppies are bad guys and will make Mommy unhappy.
Under Xiao Hei's patrol, the ghosts became noticeably more obedient, and at least they stopped disturbing the group.
Even so, He Zhao was still very irritable. Who on earth likes having long lines of customers?! Can't they just stay in their original small and charming state?! That Tonghuan Club is so annoying, why did they have to put up such a monstrosity here?! Annoying, so annoying!
He Zhao wanted to quit, but knowing she'd eventually have to borrow money from the system anyway, she forced herself to endure it. Unexpectedly, the system saw this as proof of her significant growth. It was very pleased and even confided its thoughts to He Zhao:
[Host, you've almost mastered the basic home-style cooking, and you're taking your street vending very seriously. I think it's time for us to part ways. The time we spent together was short, but very enjoyable.]
"Huh?" He Zhao was stunned.
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