Chapter 81 He Zhao and Wang Yu stayed in Qiao Yanyu's hospital room for a long time, until the nurse came to ask them to leave...
He Zhao and Wang Yu stayed in Qiao Yanyu's ward for a long time, only reluctantly leaving when the nurses came to ask them to leave. When they arrived at the hospital, Wang Yu said in a particularly obsequious manner, "Boss, let me drive you there, it's rather cold tonight."
While Wang Yu was speaking, He Zhao had already fully armed himself, with a scarf, gloves, and hat all draped over his head. Faced with Wang Yu's attempt to ingratiate herself, He Zhao rolled his eyes: "No need, I came by electric scooter."
After taking a couple of steps, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to look at Wang Yu. Wang Yu walked up to her in small steps and asked He Zhao, "What's wrong, boss?"
At that moment, He Zhao's conscience actually awakened, not towards Wang Yu, but towards the sutured water ghosts: "Where are my group of ghosts, the ones who helped the Countermeasures Bureau the day before yesterday? Were they taken away by the Countermeasures Bureau to give statements afterward? Did they kill them all?"
He Zhao was genuinely worried about this.
There's a sense of guilt, like turning a blind eye to someone who helped you and then discarding them, as well as worry about what will happen if all the customers leave and you can't make any money when you set up your stall again.
Wang Yu was still naive. She hadn't considered the latter point at all. She only thought that He Zhao genuinely cared about his guest, so she replied foolishly, "It's alright. Most ghosts are left to their own devices because they are good ghosts and have never harmed ordinary people. The only one that was a bit tricky was the suture-thread water ghost, but since it turned itself in, showed remorse, and hadn't committed any serious offense, the chief made an exception and let it go."
At first, He Zhao didn't notice anything wrong, but when the last sentence was spoken, He Zhao realized something was amiss: "What do you mean by turning yourself in and having a good attitude in admitting your mistakes?"
Wang Yu smiled, seemingly still proud of the stitched-up water ghost: "It's about the time it sneaked into the Countermeasures Bureau. Yesterday, an investigator hosted it. Maybe because the investigator seemed particularly friendly and approachable, the stitched-up water ghost told the whole story. The investigator didn't make things difficult for it; she just gave it a little talking-to and that was it."
Seeing Wang Yu's smile, He Zhao felt a bit disappointed. She took a deep breath and said, "What are you laughing at, you good-for-nothing? He turned himself in and confessed. Doesn't the director know everything you've done? And you're still laughing? Do you expect me to tell you how the director will deal with you? You're so stupid."
When He Zhao saw Wang Yu's smile, he felt that she was disappointed in her. Even her standard Mandarin had an accent that came out of her mouth.
Upon hearing He Zhao's words, Wang Yu's smile froze; she had clearly forgotten this. He Zhao rolled his eyes at her: "You'd better watch yourself." He Zhao went down the steps to his electric scooter, got on, turned the key, and set off.
Wang Yu was left alone, bewildered in the wind. She swallowed hard, feeling a cold sweat break out just thinking about the bureau chief's face. She tried to console herself, thinking: "The bureau chief saw how hard I worked the day before yesterday; he should be able to make amends, right? After all, I didn't do anything wrong, hahaha..."
However, knowing that her guests were all safe and sound, He Zhao felt relieved. After all, among her guests, besides the kind of creature like the stitched-up water ghost who would betray her and wait for her to make a trident for it, there were also particularly kind ghosts like the old lady.
It was at this moment that He Zhao remembered that he seemed to have promised them a thank-you banquet. He Zhao thought about it for a moment, then immediately put the matter out of his mind again: Hey, what's the rush? Sister Qiao hasn't even been discharged from the hospital yet, how can we have a banquet without her?
When she got home, she had completely forgotten about the incident. But that night, as she slept, she dreamt again of the scene at the hospital that day, holding hands with Qiao Yanyu. In the dream, Qiao Yanyu seemed softer, even the lines of her features appeared much gentler.
The surrounding scene was filled with falling pink petals and floating pink bubbles, creating a particularly romantic atmosphere. In such a setting, it would be perfectly normal for He Zhao to be overcome with emotion and want to kiss Qiao Yanyu.
Originally, her hand was being held by Qiao Yanyu, but somehow, she ended up holding Qiao Yanyu's hand in return, and she stood up. The stool she was sitting on slid back a little, and she leaned forward, pressing one knee against the hospital bed. The injured Qiao Yanyu even looked somewhat frail.
Her brows, which were already prone to furrowing, were now even more tightly knitted together, making her look rather adorable. He Zhao couldn't resist and was about to lower her head to kiss her Sister Qiao. But just as she was disturbed in real life, she was also disturbed in her dream.
Disturbing those two people, who aren't even alive.
Instead, they were a group of ghosts.
He Zhao's guests stood neatly at the foot of the bed, each one whispering ominously like they were being pressured to their deaths: "Boss... Boss... you've deceived us so badly... Do you remember what you said? You said you'd treat us to a feast..."
The pink flowers and bubbles that were originally floating around disappeared at this moment, and instead took on the filter unique to ghost movies.
"Aaaaah!" He Zhao suddenly threw off the covers and sprang up from the bed, filled with rage. She wasn't startled by her guest, but rather the fact that her dream had been so vividly etched in her mind, about to blossom into intimacy, only to be interrupted—this feeling was truly unbearable!
He Zhao covered her face; she had a feeling that these ghosts were cursing her. If she didn't throw them a feast, maybe... her dreams would become even more outrageous.
He Zhao gritted his teeth: "I'll do it! It's just a banquet, I'll do it! I'll count the number of people tonight!"
She woke up, washed up, and the first thing she did wasn't thinking about hosting a feast. Instead, she ran to the market. Yesterday's chicken soup was just a trial run; today she needed to buy fresh chicken. However, He Zhao didn't just make clear chicken soup. Once you've mastered cooking, you usually start innovating.
Clear chicken soup is good, but you can add other things, like shiitake mushrooms or oyster mushrooms. He Zhaozhun, though, shouldn't add any shiitake mushrooms. She was also thinking that Qiao Yanyu couldn't just drink chicken soup every day while she was in the hospital. Even if chicken soup is delicious, drinking too much of it would get tiresome.
At this moment, the system popped up: [Host, I can provide other things...]
"Shut up!" He Zhao interrupted the system without any politeness, because she didn't want to be locked in the system space again and experience that endless time and torment. The system space was good, but there was no day or night there, only an unchanging system space, endless teaching aids, and teaching videos that were always playing on repeat.
He Zhao had never liked reading or studying before. As a rich girl, she was confident she could live well even without a diploma. She hadn't studied properly back then, so expecting her to study seriously now was truly asking the impossible. Therefore, He Zhao genuinely felt that being forced to study in the system space would really make her haggard.
Even if the body doesn't get tired, the mind will slowly break down under that kind of high-pressure environment. He Zhao thought that the system probably really doesn't understand human nature, otherwise, it wouldn't have created such a broken thing.
She couldn't help but complain to the system: "Can't you give me some simpler cheat codes, like just stuffing cooking skills into my brain, or giving me a magic pill so I can learn all kinds of cooking skills in an instant?"
Faced with He Zhao's idea, the system vehemently objected: [Please do not think about such unorthodox or evil things. I am a legitimate system, authorized by the Time and Space Administration, and I will absolutely not harm your body arbitrarily!]
I never expected the system to actually be such a good system.
He Zhao asked the community security guard for directions before finding the nearby farmers' market. However, after wandering around the market, she couldn't find any live chickens. It's actually quite difficult to buy live chickens in the market now, as they pose a risk of disease, so the government still promotes chilled chickens. Of course, with so many people in China who love fresh food, there's always a way to circumvent the policy.
He Zhao went to a mushroom stall and bought some shiitake mushrooms, as well as scallions, ginger, and garlic for seasoning. He casually asked the vendor, "Boss, do you know where I can buy live chickens?"
The shop owner was quite friendly to customers who bought his goods, and even gave He Zhao directions. She went to a street behind the market, and sure enough, there were all sorts of vendors. It's just… the smell wasn't very pleasant. He Zhao realized for the first time that stalls where live chickens and ducks were slaughtered could smell so awful.
It was very pungent, and there was also a bloody smell, but fortunately He Zhao had gotten used to it.
After all, she was a ruthless chicken killer trained in the system space.
After He Zhao chose her chicken, she wasn't planning to do it herself. However, the system added a comment: "[Host, you'd better do it yourself. Some unscrupulous vendors will replace it with a different chicken during the plucking process.]"
He Zhao raised her eyelids slightly, rolled up her sleeves, and stepped forward. She said to the vendor, "Boss, I can do it myself."
"ah?"
Before the shop owner could react, He Zhao had already grabbed a knife from the stall and started chopping at the chicken. The owner wanted to say something to He Zhao, but her expressionless face and swift movements made her seem even more skilled than he was. Moreover, she exuded a menacing aura, as if she disliked everyone.
The boss swallowed hard, fearing he too would become a victim of He Zhao's blade.
He Zhao easily cleaned the chicken and was about to put it in a bag and leave when someone handed him a chicken he had just picked out. He Zhao's face darkened: "I'm not the boss, don't bother me."
The elderly man said, "But young lady, I think you are much more efficient than the boss. This hair was removed by hand, which is more effective than the boss's machine."
That's right, don't you even know who killed the chicken?
He Zhao proudly raised his chin, but still pushed the old man's chicken over: "No matter how much you say nice things, I won't kill it for you. You'd better figure it out yourself." He Zhao took the chicken he had just killed, held his head high, and left.
She had prepared chicken soup at home and was taking it to the hospital. But before she even entered the ward, she heard Wang Yu's voice.
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