Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 1128 - 544: Anti-Fraud Awareness Campaign (Part 2)

As a spirit in a transitional state, Zhou Hu is awaiting awakening, which indicates that his situation is not good at all. It's like he's destined to keep reincarnating until his last life, ready to grab the lifeline given by fate.

As an auspicious beast, that's pretty unlucky.

In Qin Huai's spirit guide, there are many auspicious beasts, and they generally have better luck. The Wen Yao Fish is an exception, being extremely stubborn, but even so, he had the fortune of meeting a legendary good boss like Han Guishan who helped him succeed in Crossing Tribulation. That shows the luck of auspicious beasts.

And as for Dang Kang, he muddled through a failed Crossing Tribulation, then muddled through a successful one, truly a master of muddling through.

Compared to these two, the Nine-tailed Fox seems like it's been cursed by heaven.

In fact, Zhao Cheng'an going to the hospital today was an accident. Even if Zhao Cheng'an hadn't gone to the hospital, Qin Huai was planning to visit Zhou Hu after work, to improve his relationship with the Nine-tailed Fox, open his heart, and listen to the stories behind Master Zhou.

Qin Huai hadn't handled such urgent matters for a long time.

Qin Huai was wondering if his running to the hospital to visit Zhou Hu would seem abrupt when Zhao Cheng'an gave him the perfect excuse. Touched, Qin Huai packed six servings of wontons, intending two for Zhou Hu and four for Zhao Cheng'an. Zhao Cheng'an could have two for dinner and another two as a midnight snack, but then…

Forget it, let's not talk about it. Thankfully, the nurse wasn't in the room.

Qin Huai began the usual routine of visiting a patient with a gentle voice, first expressing his care, then apologizing for not paying attention to Zhou Hu's status yesterday. He promised that even if Zhou Hu's medical insurance expired and couldn't cover the hospital costs, Qin Huai would be sure to pay them. He also mentioned that he'd persuaded Luo Jun to give Zhou Hu a 25% deposit.

This combination of actions nearly brought tears to the poor Zhou Hu's eyes.

Zhou Hu is truly poor.

As a final payer for big orders, Zhou Hu didn't originally want to accept Qin Huai's hospital fee. Once the funeral was done, the final payment from Qin Huai would make Zhou Hu quite rich, so the cost of a mere gastroenteritis hospitalization was no big deal.

But now that the funeral hasn't started, the mortgage needs to be paid each month, and employees' salaries must be covered.

Zhou Hu feared that paying for medical expenses this month would leave him without money for next month's mortgage, forcing him to resume his old business of selling talismans. As a somewhat renowned Master Zhou, Zhou Hu truly detests his sideline. If it wasn't for financial pressure, he wouldn't want to do it at all.

Zhou Hu rarely found a customer he could open up to, and once he started speaking, he couldn't stop. According to Zhou Hu, he was confident in his professional skills and would gladly offer his sideline services for fun with friends if he didn't have to charge. However, when it came to money, Zhou Hu felt uncomfortable.

Zhou Hu knew he was a rarity in this business, where people either genuinely believed or were outright frauds. He didn't believe, yet he was confident in his abilities, didn't want to be a con artist, and sometimes felt overwhelmed by guilt and conflict in the dead of night. If not for the unpaid mortgage, he sometimes felt he didn't want to live.

Qin Huai listened quietly to Zhou Hu's words, realizing that Zhou Hu's mental state was indeed not very good.

It's probably the third life, as Zhou Hu mentioned his childhood learning feng shui from his father and dreaming of studying feng shui at night. He would wake up enlightened, gaining admiration from his father as a genius in the field.

It didn't seem like enlightenment, more like he hadn't forgotten.

That does sound quite like an auspicious beast.

Qu Jing was driven mad in his intermediate stages by previous life memories and eventually committed suicide. Zhou Hu, in his intermediate stages, was influenced enough by past memories to excel in his sideline, surpassing even the awakened Mayfly.

After pouring out his heart, Zhou Hu felt that his relationship with Qin Huai had improved significantly. They were no longer just a contractor and client; they shared a bond as fellow patients.

Zhou Hu had always considered his mental state poor until he saw Qin Huai at an amusement park.

Yesterday, after sending Zhou Hu to the hospital, Ouyang stayed with him almost the entire day. Out of boredom, Ouyang eagerly told Zhou Hu about Qin Huai's recent glorious achievements at Yunzhong Restaurant, unlike Xu Tuqiang, who only highlighted the good and ignored the bad. Ouyang mentioned that Qin Huai was widely known for having a mental issue.

Since childhood, Qin Huai thought he had a system, convincing not only himself but his sister too.

Over the past two years, as Qin Huai's culinary skills improved, his mental state deteriorated. The game system not only activated but started issuing tasks, along with skills, driving Qin Huai crazy as he tried to increase his skill level in the kitchen.

Ouyang is truly a chatterbox.

Zhou Hu admired the honesty of Qin Huai's eccentricity, admitting he couldn't do it himself.

Zhou Hu would quietly pretend to be normal, but he admired Qin Huai's honesty and remarkably beautiful mental state.

All these words were spoken while Zhou Hu was genuinely opening up to Qin Huai.

Qin Huai: ...

Heaven help me, I truly have a game system!

But if this lets Zhou Hu feel a camaraderie between fellow patients, Qin Huai doesn't mind being seen as a lunatic once more, since it's not the first time anyway.