Chapter 174 All good things must come to an end. He Zhao had long understood this; her life had always been...
There is no banquet that doesn't end. He Zhao understood this long ago. Her life has always been a journey of parting ways with certain people. She parted ways with Ge Sinian, with the stitched-up water ghost, with the tall guy, and further back, she also parted ways with her friends and her parents.
In the future, she will also part ways with the child ghost, the old woman, and the mud ghost.
She was certain that Qiao Yanyu would always be by her side on her future path. The only time they would part ways was when they were both old, their hair gray, and they would embrace each other as they bid farewell to the world. If there was a next life, she hoped to see Qiao Yanyu again.
Knowing that separation was inevitable, he was even stingy with feelings of reluctance and sorrow at parting. When he said goodbye to those people and those ghosts in the past, He Zhao didn't actually feel much reluctance. It was as if appearing nonchalant meant he truly felt no pain inside.
But now, the system is acting up, even breaking down a bit, insisting that she say she can't bear to part with it, so He Zhao has no choice but to tell the truth.
"Actually, at first, I didn't like you at all." Once the truth is out, there's no going back. Upon hearing He Zhao's words, the system immediately fell silent, because the system also knew that He Zhao was telling the truth.
"I was living a pretty good life, carefree, just waiting to die every day. I had no pressure, I was financially independent, and I lived a life that everyone would envy. Under these circumstances, you inexplicably dragged me into this situation, making me live a life of hardship and have to set up a stall in the middle of the night every day. It's hard not to hate this situation, isn't it?"
She's already being tactful with what she's saying. When she first clung to Qiao Yanyu's leg, she pointed at the system and called it a kidnapper, but now she's not cursing it like that anymore, which is already giving it a lot of face.
"But after I met Qiao Yanyu, I didn't have as many complaints about you anymore."
She recalled the time she met Qiao Yanyu, and also the little things that happened during that period. Her voice became much gentler, and even her eyes softened: "For the first time, I realized that my heart could beat because of another person. And for the first time, I discovered that the days I had just drifted through were meaningless."
"I want to be with Qiao Yanyu, and I want to stay in this world."
"Only from that moment did I feel a little gratitude towards you. Without you, I would not have met Qiao Yanyu. I would have died one day in loneliness and solitude. Back then, I didn't care what tomorrow would bring, whether it was windy or rainy, hot or cold. External things didn't matter much to me."
"To put it bluntly, I'm not much different from a walking corpse. But because I came here and met Qiao Yanyu, I'll start thinking about every tomorrow."
"So, we're even."
He Zhao looked at the empty system space, and couldn't even find the system's physical form. However, she was carefree and said to the system, "May your future be bright."
[...] The system remained silent for a moment, sensing from He Zhao an emotion completely different from her previous host. She had truly let go of her departure, showing no reluctance, only blessings and a carefree spirit. For He Zhao, her departure was like a neighbor saying, "I've moved, see you again someday," the same as...
Such a carefree person is a good host to himself.
The system replied: 【May you and Qiao Yanyu also have a smooth and peaceful journey. Goodbye.】
"goodbye."
Only after leaving the system space did He Zhao belatedly realize that the system was really gone. She stretched, looked at the beautiful weather outside the window, and got out of bed. The system's departure didn't mean anything to He Zhao; life went on as usual. In fact, that damned system hadn't even settled her debts after leaving.
We agreed to wipe the slate clean, but only I have truly let it go.
That awful system.
He Zhao got up, washed up, humming a song, and went to buy some pork ribs to make a winter melon and pork rib soup. As for the roasted lamb chops that Wang Yu and Xiao Hei were craving, they weren't available. What were those two thinking? They were just seriously injured, and they wanted to eat something so greasy? Dream on.
It's better to eat something light.
He Zhao finished his meal first, then packed all his belongings and drove his electric tricycle towards the hospital. When Qiao Yanyu was hospitalized before, He Zhao had visited so frequently that even the security guard at the entrance recognized him and jokingly asked, "Hey, here again?"
"Hehe..." He Zhao chuckled, brushed it off, and headed into the ward with the things in his hands.
Before I even got close, I could hear Wang Yu's voice coming from inside. This guy has a loud voice and doesn't know how to control his emotions at all. His loud shout of "Royal Flush!" even made the nurses frown.
He Zhao pushed open the door and saw the three of them gathered around Qiao Yanyu's bed, holding playing cards. Each of them had some tissues stuck to their face. Wang Yu had the most tissues on her face.
He Zhao thought to himself, "She's played her trump card, she should be able to win." But as soon as he got closer, he discovered that she had played a pair of threes and had a pair of fours left in her hand.
"..." No wonder Wang Yu had the most stickers on her face. Playing cards like that, how could she not lose?
Seeing He Zhao bring over food, the three of them stopped playing. Wang Yu immediately threw down her pair of fours and rushed over to help. She put her portion on the table on her bed, sat down obediently, and waited for her meal.
Li Xia was much more considerate than her; she not only took her own but also helped gather up the playing cards on Qiao Yanyu's table. Little Black also climbed out of its crib, whimpering several times.
He Zhao told them to start eating, then placed Xiao Hei's portion on the ground, picked up Xiao Hei, and took out pet wipes to begin cleaning it. She gently stroked Xiao Hei's head, wiping every part of its body clean, before finally putting it down and letting it join the meal.
Since he was free at the moment, He Zhao asked Qiao Yanyu, "There's something I need to say, but I don't know if I can."
During a break from eating, Qiao Yanyu glanced at He Zhao with a questioning look. He Zhao stretched out his finger and lightly twirled it against his temple. Qiao Yanyu understood what was going on, but Wang Yu said, "What's wrong? Has your concussion gotten worse? Boss, don't try to hide it from us, go see a doctor right away."
He Zhao took a breath, thankfully he didn't go up and kick Wang Yu like the person in charge of the monitoring room.
Qiao Yanyu didn't look at Wang Yu, but simply nodded: "Go ahead and say it, they probably both know by now."
He Zhao nodded and said, "It's the system. It said before that it might have to part ways with me, but after the Tonghuan Gathering incident, it didn't leave. Last night, the Tonghuan Gathering ended, and this morning when I woke up, the system said goodbye to me and said it was leaving."
Qiao Yanyu asked with some concern, "If it leaves, will the protection it provided to you still be there?"
He Zhao knew she was referring to protecting her from the influence of Yin energy. He Zhao nodded: "It's still there, it's just gone, but some things remain, including the fact that I can clean the tricycle myself in the system space, and I can continue learning to cook in there."
Learning to cook and riding the tricycle weren't that important to Qiao Yanyu, as long as the protection was still there. Hearing He Zhao's answer, Qiao Yanyu visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Xia guessed roughly, while Wang Yu was still out of it: "What system? The boss's system? The boss has a system? What does it do? Is it a cheat system? Can it be used for cultivation?"
"Teachers who teach cooking."
"..." Now that she understood what had happened, Wang Yu's face turned deathly pale. She suddenly screamed, "This is unacceptable! How can the cooking instructor leave?! Boss, are your cooking skills still there? Did they go with the system? How can you let a system like this leave? It's such a waste!"
He Zhao twitched the corner of his mouth: "You didn't find the food taste worse just now, did you? Although the system I have is a cooking system, it's something I learned properly. I can't just give it back just because my master left. You were eating quite well just now."
Unexpectedly, there's someone in this world who cares deeply about the system. Not its host, nor its girlfriend, but a passerby who has never even crossed paths with the system. If the system knew, it would probably be somewhat gratified.
They bickered and played around for a long time. In the days that followed, He Zhao continued to bring food to Qiao Yanyu, the two girls, and their dog, just as before. As for the regular customers, they could only wait.
Days passed peacefully, and the four of them were discharged from the hospital one after another. Xiao Hei was the first to be discharged. After all, it had the bloodline of the Howling Celestial Dog and hadn't suffered any serious injuries, so it was discharged quickly. However, it would still accompany He Zhao to the hospital to visit him every day.
Xiao Hei had a collar around its neck and a leash like a posture corrector on its body. Occasionally, it would wear a cute little outfit, or one of those quirky pet clothes. He Zhao had even dressed it in a bee-themed outfit, which actually matched its black fur quite well.
Xiao Hei didn't mind what He Zhao did at all; in fact, it held its head high, practically as if it had the words "I am a domesticated pet dog" embedded in its forehead.
Next up was Qiao Yanyu.
On the day Qiao Yanyu was discharged from the hospital, her pet dog, Xiao Hei, was temporarily entrusted to Wang Yu and Li Xia, who were still at the hospital. Only Qiao Yanyu and He Zhao went home. Xiao Hei was reluctant to leave and whimpered several times, hoping that He Zhao would turn back, but He Zhao would not allow it. Her heart and eyes were now completely occupied by Qiao Yanyu.
When they arrived at the entrance of the residential area and walked inside, He Zhao stood very close to Qiao Yanyu and said in a very soft voice, "I'm all ready, is it okay, Sister Qiao? If you... well, you can rest a bit and come back tomorrow."
But backing down at the last minute is not in Qiao Yanyu's nature. Although she had been a little nervous since she was discharged from the hospital, and even dared not make eye contact with He Zhao in the car, now that the die was cast, she would not back down.
Qiao Yanyu pursed her lips and said, "It's okay, I'm not very tired."
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