Chapter 37 Hearing He Zhao's answer, Wang Yu felt a little better; at least she had an answer...
Hearing He Zhao's answer, Wang Yu felt a little better. At least she had an answer, and she just needed to wait quietly. She sat obediently in the chair, her posture very proper, her hands on her thighs, not daring to relax for a moment, her eyes fixed intently ahead, afraid of missing any guest.
Every now and then, he would raise his hand to check the time on his watch, waiting for 12 o'clock to arrive.
However, He Zhao is quite wicked. She said that after 12 o'clock, but that was based on past experience. It can't be said to be a lie, but some regular customers will come earlier, such as Lan Ni Gui.
When the Mud Demon, brandishing his trident, scurried over, Wang Yu's pupils dilated in shock. She couldn't understand—was it already midnight? She quickly raised her wrist to check the time, even more confused: it wasn't midnight yet.
However, He Zhao's reaction was very indifferent, as if he was already used to this kind of thing. Wang Yu could only think that perhaps some guests just arrived earlier. She composed herself and began to carefully observe the mud-covered ghost.
To be honest, the original image of the Mud Demon was quite terrifying, inspiring fear in those who beheld it. Imagine a puddle of molten mud slowly approaching you; anyone who could resist running away would be this one (thumbs up). But the Mud Demon of today is somewhat comical.
In any case, Wang Yu had never seen a ghost that wore a cloak, a magic hat, and carried a cartoon version of a trident.
At that moment, Wang Yu, who has a rather lively personality, wanted to laugh. But she held it back.
Wang Yu was afraid that her impolite behavior would anger the Mud Demon, causing the seemingly cute Mud Demon to shed its disguise and attack He Zhao. Wang Yu secretly compared the Mud Demon's strength in her mind and felt she could handle it.
However, if Wang Yu caused a conflict between a guest and He Zhao because of his own reasons, especially if it was the first guest, he would definitely feel guilty.
So Wang Yu suppressed the urge to laugh out loud and the urge to tense up and attack at any moment, and sat obediently next to He Zhao, watching the Mud Demon come over and climb onto the stool. The Mud Demon was relatively short, after all, it was a lump of mud, but even sitting on the stool, it could still see Wang Yu standing upright.
It looked at Wang Yu, then at He Zhao: "Where's the other employee? Why was someone else replaced today?"
"The other one isn't an employee either; she had something come up and couldn't come, so this person is here to fill in."
When she spoke of herself, Wang Yu straightened her back even more.
After He Zhao finished speaking, the Mud Demon twisted its body, looked at Wang Yu, and then drawled out "Oh," and said, "Give me a bowl of rice."
As usual, He Zhao served rice to the Mud Demon, then took out two chopsticks and stuck them straight into the rice before handing it to the Mud Demon. This scene made Wang Yu, who was sitting next to him, blink, clearly finding the scene amusing.
The bureau chief had given her a general overview, but not in detail about how He Zhao interacted with the guests, much less how He Zhao prepared the meal for the dead. Now that she actually saw it, it was hard not to find it somewhat unbelievable. Especially when the mud ghost stretched out a small paw, picked up chopsticks, and actually ate, she found it even more interesting.
So ghosts really do eat the food of the dead, and they seem to enjoy it.
After watching for a while, Wang Yu stopped. Worried that her interested gaze might be presumptuous and anger the Mud Demon, she looked away. Now, she saw He Zhao playing on his phone, completely ignoring the Mud Demon opposite him.
She couldn't help but think to herself: The boss is pretty shrewd; he doesn't seem to care about those ghost customers at all.
After finishing his meal and paying, the Mud Demon didn't leave immediately. Instead, he greeted Wang Yu, "Hey, do you like spicy food?"
Wang Yu, who was suddenly called upon, was taken aback for a moment, then nodded: "It's alright, I quite like hot pot." The Mud Demon nodded. Actually, Wang Yu didn't know where its head was, but the hat on its head nodded, and Wang Yu realized that it was nodding.
After that, the Mud Demon continued, "I know a place that makes really delicious red oil wontons, I recommend you try it. But it's authentic Sichuan style, people who can't handle spicy food will definitely be terribly burned, so don't go if you can't handle spicy food."
Wang Yu never dreamed that one day she would be recommended food by a ghost. She also never imagined that a ghost would look down on her, thinking she couldn't handle spicy food. This feeling was novel, and she wanted to try the spicy wontons the Mud Ghost had mentioned.
"I'd like to try it, but where can I get it?"
"Downstairs from my house." The Mud Demon seemed to straighten up a bit, clearly very proud that it could eat such delicious red oil wontons right downstairs. But when it said that, Wang Yu was completely baffled... Wait, where is downstairs from its house?
Although Wang Yu didn't understand, she knew that many ghosts didn't remember much about their past lives, so it was inappropriate to ask questions like, "Oh, where is your home?"
So she simply nodded: "Okay, I'll try it if I have the chance."
This answer did not satisfy the Mud Demon. Its previously cheerful demeanor ceased. It seemed to be sizing up Wang Yu before saying after a while, "Boss, this replacement isn't good enough. He's not as good-looking as the original person. You should hurry up and bring the original person back."
"..."
At this moment, both He Zhao and Wang Yu fell silent.
Even if He Zhao himself felt that his personality was not good, he was still a human being at least, and it would be difficult for him to say such things to others; as for Wang Yu's silence, it was because he had never been spoken to like that by anyone before... of course, he had never been spoken to like that by a ghost either. Being suddenly told such things, Wang Yu's silence was completely reasonable.
The Mud Demon ignored everything, and after stirring up the fire, it simply ran away. It carried its trident far away, the way it swung it upwards making it seem like a master of stirring up trouble.
After a moment of silence, He Zhao touched his nose and finally broke the silence first: "Actually, don't take what it says to heart. It's just a ghost, what does it know?"
Before she could finish her words of comfort, Wang Yu was deeply moved, her eyes welling up with tears, looking incredibly moist: "Waaah, He Zhao, you're so kind, you even spoke up for me..."
Wang Yu is too kind-hearted, making it impossible for He Zhao to act coldly anymore. However, it's impossible for him to treat Wang Yu the same way he treated Qiao Yanyu. After being provoked by the Mud Demon, the atmosphere between the two actually improved somewhat.
Wang Yu relaxed a bit and wasn't as nervous as before when she saw the ghostly guests.
However, compared to Qiao Yanyu, she was still a little lacking. Especially when she saw the big ghost, her whole body stiffened. He Zhao also understood that from Qiao Yanyu's attitude towards the big ghost, it was clear that the big ghost was no ordinary character. And since Wang Yu's strength was inferior to Qiao Yanyu's, she would naturally be more wary of such a ghost.
Even after the ghost left, she didn't calm down. After the ghost left, she kept saying to He Zhao, "He Zhao, that ghost is pretty powerful. You have to be careful! I might not be able to handle it. If necessary, I'll take over. You run first!"
"It's okay, it's okay. It's come several times already. It's always very quiet and runs away after it finishes eating."
Wang Yu was deeply moved. She hadn't expected He Zhao, an ordinary person, to be so calm and even comfort her. She pulled He Zhao aside and told him what was on her mind: "He Zhao, you are such a good person!"
Having been inexplicably given the "friend zone" card, He Zhao had absolutely no idea what Wang Yu was thinking. She was simply lost in thought, contemplating: "It really is so hard to get along with people, especially someone as unpredictable as this. It's much better to be with Qiao Yanyu; she knows exactly what Qiao Yanyu is thinking."
In short, He Zhao felt extremely tired after setting up her stall tonight. Exhausted both physically and mentally, she didn't even say goodbye to Wang Yu before heading straight back to her rented apartment. She even seemed a little like she left early.
Exhausted, He Zhao finally reached his soft bed at home. But staring at his phone, he couldn't sleep. His gaze lingered on his chat with Qiao Yanyu. More than ten hours had passed since their last conversation, and 24 hours were almost up, yet Qiao Yanyu still hadn't sent him a message.
He Zhao wasn't the type to insist on waiting for Qiao Yanyu to send the first message, especially since she had been so proactive with Qiao Yanyu. Logically, it would have been normal for her to send the message first. But she was afraid.
That's how it's always portrayed in TV dramas and movies. The protagonist, currently on a mission and under immense pressure, might be hiding in some dark, secluded corner, plotting to ambush the unsuspecting boss. Then, suddenly, their phone rings, alerting the boss to the protagonist's presence.
Every time He Zhao sees this kind of scene, he feels inexplicably angry at his incompetent teammate who calls: Why did he have to call now of all times?!
Now that she's in a different role, she can understand those incompetent teammates. She desperately wants to post this, so desperately wants to know where the protagonist, who's drifted away and who knows what they're doing now, is.
However, He Zhao still didn't want to be a bad teammate, so she just kept tapping her phone, wondering when Qiao Yanyu would send her a message, especially after spending the whole night setting up a stall with Wang Yu.
Wang Yu is a nice person, but she's not a good match for me. He Zhao suggested several times that Wang Yu rest for a while, or even just lie down and take a nap, as long as she doesn't focus her attention on me or the guests.
He Zhao didn't want to chat with her if it were about himself, and as a ghost hunter, Wang Yu would only make the guests nervous. The old lady who came for dinner today was quite frightened.
Thinking of this, He Zhao sighed again. Qiao Yanyu was much better off. Although she was also a ghost hunter, she didn't frighten her guests because she was too straightforward. Her thoughts were written all over her face, and even clueless ghosts could sense that Qiao Yanyu was wary of them but would quickly relax and show no hostility. Therefore, ghosts could have a much easier time with her.
The first day I thought about Qiao Yanyu was so painful.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com