Chapter 6 At first, the guest's gaze didn't bother He Zhao at all; all she...
At first, the customer's gaze didn't bother He Zhao; her entire focus was on her phone. The importance of a qualifying match for a gamer is self-evident. Especially after Qiao Yanyu's team was wiped out due to her poor performance, the initial advantage turned into an even or even slightly disadvantageous situation, forcing He Zhao to exert 120% concentration and focus on her gameplay.
Unfortunately, she couldn't turn the tide and lost. Not only did she lose, but her teammates in the game also berated her, bringing up past grievances and saying that if it weren't for He Zhao's team wipe, they would definitely have won the game.
In the past, He Zhao would have definitely started hurling insults and exchanging barbs with the other person, using his years of experience as an online troll to verbally abuse them until they were utterly defeated. But today, He Zhao held back.
The most important reason is that Qiao Yanyu is there.
Qiao Yanyu was He Zhao's first choice. Although her divination wasn't very effective and she didn't know if the other person was a lesbian, she wanted to leave a good impression. So He Zhao pouted, didn't turn on her microphone, and just typed a few insults at the other person.
After the game ended, He Zhao stopped playing and put his phone away.
She sat on the stool in a daze for a while, then thought—it would be better to play games.
Once there's nothing to do, other people's stares become particularly noticeable, especially from the male ghost across from him who's eaten most of a bowl of rice and dared to lift his head from the bowl to "gaze affectionately" at He Zhao. To He Zhao, that look was truly disgusting.
He Zhao felt that she was like a dish in the other person's eyes.
Yesterday, it was because of that look in the other person's eyes that she discussed things with the system and learned that the system couldn't guarantee her safety at all. Yesterday, she was trembling with fear, but today—hey, it's different! She has someone protecting her!
He Zhao raised her buttocks slightly, gripping the plastic stool with her hands. The stool was still pressed against her buttocks and she didn't put it down. In this position, He Zhao moved to the side and moved to a position slightly behind and to the side of Qiao Yanyu.
She hid behind Qiao Yanyu.
Meanwhile, He Zhao also subtly remarked, "Sister Qiao, look at that guy's eyes. What kind of good eyes could they be? They're terrifying. You have to protect me."
She said something that sounded a bit like a manipulative woman, but Qiao Yanyu was a kind person and didn't catch the manipulative tone in her words. Instead, she nodded with a strong sense of justice: "Don't worry, I will definitely protect you."
He Zhao's heart skipped a beat at Qiao Yanyu's words. She felt her ears must be burning hot at that moment. Qiao Yanyu, who seemed so proper, would actually say such a thing.
Qiao Yanyu also noticed that the guest opposite her was indeed giving her an uncomfortable look. Originally, that gaze was only directed at He Zhao, and although Qiao Yanyu felt the gaze was unpleasant, she didn't have a direct experience of it. Now that He Zhao was sitting behind her, when that gaze came over, it inevitably passed over Qiao Yanyu as well.
Now, Qiao Yanyu was essentially making eye contact with the male ghost. The ghost's gaze immediately made Qiao Yanyu frown. Its eyes seemed to be fixed on a dish on the table, with a hint of determination, as if He Zhao were its prey.
But until the other person finished eating, placed 10 yuan in ghost money under their rice bowl, and then left, they didn't do anything strange. Therefore, Qiao Yanyu could only categorize the other person as "somewhat threatening but without any actual action."
Qiao Yanyu reached out and patted He Zhao's shoulder reassuringly: "Don't be afraid, it's gone."
"What if it really comes looking for trouble?"
Without even thinking, Qiao Yanyu took out her phone: "Let's add each other as friends. Save my phone number. My phone is on 24/7. If you have any problems, you can call me anytime."
"Okay." He Zhao was satisfied; her eyes crinkled with joy. Qiao Yanyu had no suspicions, assuming He Zhao was only happy because her safety was assured.
After that guest left, many more guests arrived.
By 2 o'clock, eight ghosts had come to He Zhao's stall, all of whom were unrecorded. Qiao Yanyu sat behind He Zhao's stall and began recording the names of the unfamiliar ghosts.
At 2:30, the ghost that Qiao Yanyu had been longing for finally arrived. Its face was drooping, and judging from its shape, it was female, but because the skin was hanging on its face so loosely, its specific features were not discernible.
It slowly sat down in front of the stall, its clothes tattered and barely hanging on. Previously, the investigators had only caught a glimpse of it and hadn't had a chance to observe it closely. Yesterday, due to the angle of view, Qiao Yanyu hadn't been able to see the ghost directly.
But at this moment, it was sitting right across from her, and Qiao Yanyu could see its appearance clearly. It looked even more terrifying from the front; the skin and cartilage on its nose were gone, revealing only its empty skeleton.
Even where there was skin, it looked terrible—red and somewhat festering.
This skin looked quite terrifying; He Zhao felt a chill run down his spine just looking at it. But rationally speaking, He Zhao felt that this ghost was much better than the male ghost with the disgusting eyes from before, because it was only scary in appearance, but its eyes were normal.
The ghost's appearance was nothing special to Qiao Yanyu, who had seen far too many ghosts. She had seen plenty of ghosts, not just those with skin hanging halfway off, but also those without skin or even more disgusting ones.
Qiao Yanyu remained relatively calm about the ghost. Although some ordinary citizens had been affected by the ghost and suffered from poor health, based on the available information, the ghost was merely sitting quietly and had been seen by others; it had not actively engaged in any behavior that could harm the citizens.
The ghost sat down, and its speech was much clearer than that of the other ghosts: "Please give me a bowl of rice."
They were actually quite polite.
He Zhao stood up, ladled a bowl of rice for the ghost, and placed it in front of it. The ghost picked up its chopsticks and began to eat. Putting everything else aside, it seemed to be thoroughly enjoying its meal. Its satisfied expression made He Zhao unable to resist asking, "Is it really that delicious?"
She asked the question subconsciously, partly because although the ghost looked fierce, its attitude was quite nice. Its voice was neither male nor female, and it was exceptionally hoarse; it seemed to have exerted a great deal of effort to say that last sentence.
After He Zhao asked the question, she didn't really expect to get an answer, but the ghost was stunned and even stopped eating. After a while of silence, it answered He Zhao in its particularly unpleasant voice: "It's delicious, especially delicious. Although it's white rice, it tastes like osmanthus rice cake to me. This is my favorite."
Its voice was truly awful, hoarse and strained, sounding a bit like fingernails scratching a blackboard, easily giving you goosebumps. Yet, its words were exceptionally sincere.
"Like Osmanthus Rice Cake?" He Zhao frowned. She had eaten the rice she made herself before. Although she called herself the Rice Immortal and thought her rice was really delicious, it wasn't to the point that people would mistake it for other foods.
"Hmm." The ghost opposite nodded, but although it was articulate and spoke a lot, it was prone to repeating itself. It couldn't solve He Zhao's confusion, and just kept saying, "It's really delicious. It tastes like Osmanthus Flower Rice Cake. It's my favorite. I haven't had Osmanthus Flower Rice Cake in a long time. My mother used to make it for me all the time."
It repeated itself several times, then seemed to forget that He Zhao was still talking to her, picked up its chopsticks again, and started eating. It ate with great satisfaction and happiness, finishing the rice bit by bit, and then prepared to leave. At this moment, Qiao Yanyu spoke up: "Can I ask you a question?"
The ghost ignored him and planned to leave immediately.
Qiao Yanyu was somewhat annoyed. She was about to chase after him, but she couldn't bear to leave He Zhao behind. She turned back to look at He Zhao, as if she wanted to say something to him, such as telling him to stay where he was and not move.
But He Zhao didn't want Qiao Yanyu to leave. At this moment, Qiao Yanyu was He Zhao's guarantee of safety. What if the next guest who came after Qiao Yanyu left was the kind who would flip the table? For his own life, He Zhao wanted Qiao Yanyu to stay.
So He Zhao said directly, "Don't go, I'll treat you to another bowl of rice. You can eat it if you answer a few questions."
Actually, He Zhao was just trying it out, but he didn't expect that the temptation of food for the dead was so strong for a ghost. The ghost, who had already left his seat, immediately sat back down upon hearing He Zhao's words, staring intently at him: "Really? Can I have another bowl of rice?"
"..." He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu looked at each other in bewilderment. At this moment, Qiao Yanyu had to believe that the white rice He Zhao made was indeed very attractive to ghosts.
Once he was sure Qiao Yanyu wouldn't leave, He Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the ghost opposite him: "Yes, that's fine, and it's free, it's on me."
[Host, this operation is against the rules; you cannot do this.]
He Zhao mentally blocked out the system's voice. She didn't care at all. She even retorted to the system, "Is this your stall or mine? If I, as a boss, can't even treat someone to a meal, then you might as well set up this lousy stall. Anyway, I'm going to treat you. If you don't like me, just give me an electric shock."
The system solemnly explained: "The system will not electrocute its host! That's something only wild or malicious systems do. This system is a legitimate system certified by the Time and Space Management Committee and will not do such a thing!"
"Then shut up."
In fact, when He Zhao realized that even if it betrayed him, it couldn't do anything to him, He Zhao understood: This little system is easy to manipulate.
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