CHAPTER 275: CHAPTER 275: HOW TO ENCOUNTER

"Xiao Hui."

In Ben Gang City, in Kowloon Park during the wee hours, Du Liwei stepped on patches of warm light fragmented by tree leaves and walked up to the stone bench. He crouched down to see the girl with wine-red hair seated there. Her face, hidden in her hair, was tear-stained like a pear blossom in the rain.

"Xiao Hui?" Du Liwei greeted, but the girl turned her face away, refusing to look at him.

"How about we... go get a room?"

Xiao Hui snorted with laughter, wiped the tears from her face, and punched him playfully. "What’s with you, wanting to take me to get a room as soon as we meet?"

"Heh, you definitely don’t want to go home, and there are people at my place, so getting a room it is. We can’t sleep on the streets, right?"

Seeing Xiao Hui finally react, Du Liwei shrugged. He sat down beside her, leaning against her. "You really aren’t scared at all. The security here is decent, I mean, but you’re a girl out alone at night. What if something happened? What would I do?"

"Nothing’s gonna happen," Xiao Hui argued. "There’s a security booth right by the entrance."

"Don’t let it happen again," Du Liwei said sternly. "If you really want to come out for a walk, you have to call me. You must!"

Noticing that Du Liwei wasn’t joking, Xiao Hui pouted. "It’s all because of my dad..."

"Uncle Huang is just looking out for your best interests."

"Looking out for what?" Xiao Hui retorted with a sneer. "I don’t want to be a Pastry Chef, yet he insists on shoving me into an apprenticeship..."

"He also said to get on good terms with that young Pastry Chef. Humph, he’s just looking down on you! I didn’t agree, and he yelled at me!"

Du Liwei smiled. "It’s Gan Ga. I’m a Mechanic, my parents died young, and I had to start working after middle school to make ends meet. It’s normal for him to look down on me. Parents always want what’s best for their children..."

"What are you talking about!" exclaimed Xiao Hui angrily, smacking Du Liwei on the head. "What, you want me to chase after guys too?"

"Of course not!" Du Liwei quickly hugged Xiao Hui and kissed her forehead. "What I mean is, don’t have too much of a falling out with Uncle Huang. You know he has a heart condition."

"And when Uncle Huang said to get on good terms, maybe he really just meant that. After all, when you ran away from home and turned off your phone, he immediately thought of me to look for you—Uncle Huang acknowledges my relationship with you too."

Although he might still hope his daughter could find someone better... But that was something Du Liwei knew better than to say out loud.

Xiao Hui murmured, burying her head in Du Liwei’s chest. Du Liwei stroked her hair and asked, "So what do you plan to do in the future? It’s okay to reject the arrangement, but if you don’t have a goal, Uncle Huang will definitely nag you."

The girl in his arms was silent for a long time before she slowly said, "...I want to continue studying painting."

"Painting, huh..." Du Liwei echoed without thinking, and they fell into silence. The light from the streetlight illuminated them, as if draping them in warm armor.

After a while, Xiao Hui raised her head, no longer showing any traces of tears.

"Actually, being a Pastry Chef might not be so bad."

Xiao Hui stood up, stretched, turned around, and bent down to look at Du Liwei. "Let’s just walk around. I’ve never strolled through the park at night before. After that, I’ll go home."

Du Liwei nodded, and Xiao Hui linked her arm with his, and they strolled along the main path.

"The park feels really different at night," Xiao Hui said, resting her head on Du Liwei’s shoulder. "I’m glad you’re here; otherwise, I’d be scared for sure. I heard when they tore down the Kowloon Walled City, a lot of lives were lost, and there are many bodies buried here..."

"Stop it. I’m actually pretty scared myself. If something happens, I’ll be the first to run away."

Xiao Hui pinched the flesh around Du Liwei’s waist. "What about me?"

"Of course, I’d run away carrying you," Du Liwei said with a chuckle.

While walking deeper into the park, Du Liwei suddenly said, "Just continue studying painting."

Xiao Hui was caught off guard. "But my dad, he..."

"I’ll support you."

Xiao Hui snickered. "You can barely support yourself, let alone me. It’s more like I should be supporting you. Doesn’t a Pastry Chef earn more than a Mechanic?"

"Actually, I’m about to switch to a government job," Du Liwei revealed. "The benefits are good, the pay is decent, and they even offer a housing allowance. Once I dye my hair back, supporting you with your studies won’t be a problem."

"Why dye it back? The golden looks nice," Xiao Hui complained. "Are you serious? You’re not just teasing me, are you?"

"For real!"

"What job is it? Tell me."

"You’ll find out soon enough. Just behave and think about where you want to study painting," he replied.

"Is it something really dangerous?" Xiao Hui suddenly became wary. "I’ve known you for a long time, and aside from fixing cars, you don’t have many skills. Or is some Rich Lady keeping you now?"

"No Rich Lady would have taste as poor as yours," Du Liwei scoffed playfully, wrapping his arms around Xiao Hui to tease her.

"Ah, we’re outside! Are you getting fresh with me?"

Xiao Hui blushed and struggled, momentarily forgetting to press Du Liwei for answers as they playfully scuffled without paying attention to their path. They inadvertently strayed from the main road onto a deserted path.

"Hey, is that the Ghost Stall?"

Xiao Hui noticed a food stall truck parked by the roadside, steam rising under the hanging incandescent lamp. The subtle scent of food wafted through the air, prompting a rumble in her stomach. A man wearing a jacket seemed to have just finished eating; he left something behind as he departed.

"Speaking of which, I haven’t had dinner yet..." Xiao Hui muttered.

Du Liwei touched his stomach. "I’ve been running through two parks looking for you. I’ve digested that plate of hand-pulled chicken rice I had for dinner. Let’s go for a late-night snack, shall we?"

"I didn’t bring any money."

"I said I’d support you, so naturally, it starts now," Du Liwei proclaimed grandly, taking out his lean wallet. "Hmm... I’ve only got a hundred bucks left... but that should be enough for two servings of Barbecued Pork Rice, right?"

They walked over and saw the beautiful girl in an apron inside the Ghost Stall.

"Well, the lady boss is quite a looker, huh?"

"Du Liwei, what did you just say!" Xiao Hui again fiercely twisted the flesh around Du Liwei’s waist.

Wincing from the pain, Du Liwei’s smile twisted. "I love you the most, Xiao Hui. Don’t be jealous. Let’s have some late-night snacks."

At that moment, Du Liwei noticed a white cup on the next table and curiously tapped it. "Where did you buy this?"

"What do you want to eat?" The proprietress ignored his question and asked directly.

"Let me see... Boss, you didn’t put any prices," Du Liwei said.

He found that the menu had no prices listed, and there were only a few food options. At the bottom, there was a line:

"Whatever you want to eat, just order it."

"Liwei, look over there. You can get a free meal just by telling a story," Xiao Hui said, noticing the Ghost Stall’s sign written in eight different languages on the side, and clicked her tongue in amazement.

Thinking it was some kind of gimmick, Du Liwei took out his wallet. "One hundred bucks, two servings of Barbecued Pork Rice. Is that enough?"

The proprietress nodded, and Du Liwei continued to tease Xiao Hui to distract her from her previous displeasure.

When he turned his head, he saw an old man with a cane, wearing a cotton-padded jacket, walking down the path, clearly headed towards the Ghost Stall.

This old man, coming for late-night snacks so late?

At the same time, not far from Ben Gang City, in Lianjiang City’s Heavenly Lotus Academy, someone wearing Ren Suo’s clothing and looking very much like Ren Suo walked into Ren Suo’s home carrying a pile of takeout. He turned on the light as he entered and said to Ren Suo, "I’m back."

"Hmm, go do the laundry," Ren Suo, who was playing a game, said without looking up. "Anything happen?"

"No."

The clone went to do the housework while Ren Suo kept his eyes on the TV screen, jotting down notes on his phone and computer.

He was still playing "Midnight Walker."

Because he had discovered a serious problem—even if he knew the exact location of the Ghost Stall, he might still not be able to find it.

In Shenhai and Tokyo, large-scale search parties were clearly out. However, Ren Suo didn’t encounter them in the game at all. This showed just how powerful the Ghost Stall’s "Let the game proceed smoothly" Barrier was.

So, what assurance did Ren Suo have that he would encounter the Ghost Stall?

Therefore, he chose to replay certain days because, on those days, Ren Suo had encountered regular people who had benefited normally from the Ghost Stall.

He listened to the conversations the proprietress had with them, trying to find what these regular people had in common to ascertain how an encounter with the Ghost Stall was triggered.

If only those ’unaware of the Ghost Stall’ could encounter it, then I’m out of luck, Ren Suo thought. However, he felt this was unlikely because Dai Yuxing and Red Armor knew about the Ghost Stall and had managed to find it.

Then, Ren Suo discovered a common trait among the lucky few who encountered the Ghost Stall: without exception, they all had the habit of eating late at night. Even if they weren’t night owls, they might suddenly get up in the middle of the night to cook themselves a midnight snack. Simply put, they were genuinely hungry when they encountered the Ghost Stall.

If this is the Key to an encounter with the Ghost Stall, then I’m definitely fine.

He took this chance seriously. If he couldn’t summon a Food Goddess who knew how to make food with Desire Seasoning in the future, then these ten days of Ghost Walking were his only opportunity. Miss it, and he would never taste the Food Goddess’s delicacies.

It’s already decided that I’ll search for the Ghost Stall on the tenth day. What I’m considering now is how to share this benefit.

I need to develop the habit of eating late-night snacks... They probably don’t have this habit...

After thinking for a while, Ren Suo called Dong Chengling.

No response whatsoever.

It was 3 A.M., so it was normal for the phone in sleep mode not to ring. Dong Chengling always had a regular routine and wouldn’t allow messages to disturb her sleep.

Ren Suo then tried calling Gu Yueyan. After all, he had given her the powerful "Ear Fetters" Skill, and Ren Suo was generous to anyone who benefited him.

The call connected.

"What’s up so late?"

"Want to come over for late-night snacks? I just bought some."

There was silence on the other end.

It’s not surprising, Ren Suo thought. If someone suddenly calls at 3 A.M. for a late-night snack, not hanging up shows consideration for the relationship.

"Just you and me?"

Hearing this response, Ren Suo was slightly taken aback. I expected Gu Yueyan to decline immediately. Her asking this question gives me pause.

"Yeah, just you and me," he replied.

Ren Suo looked at the late-night snacks. This won’t be enough for three people, he felt. I’ll have my clone buy more next time.

After hanging up, Ren Suo called out loudly, "Did you do the laundry?"

"Yes!" the clone replied. "I’m cleaning the dirt in the crevices next to the washing machine!"

"How much longer?"

"I’ve finished!"

"Then put everything away and place the laundry on top of the washing machine," Ren Suo instructed.

After a while, the clone said, "I’ve done as you asked."

"Then I’ll see you next time. Thanks for your hard work tonight!"