Uncle Zhang spoke with such heartfelt sincerity that even Huo Fu glanced at Zuo Zhu, only to turn his head away in disdain.
“I don’t want that.” He lowered his eyes. “Uncle Zhang, I won’t be able to live a whole lifetime.”
“Nonsense!” Uncle Zhang looked at him sternly. “Our young master has suffered for eleven years. From now on, you’ll surely live well for the rest of your life.”
When the conversation brushed against his greatest secret, Huo Fu ultimately remained silent and avoided the topic.
Seeing that he did not press further, Uncle Zhang assumed he had taken the advice to heart and would no longer entangle himself with those people. In high spirits, he went off to tidy the rooms.
Zuo Zhu followed behind him, chewing on a banana. “Uncle Zhang, is there a room for me?”
Before she could finish, Huo Fu grabbed her by the collar and dragged her back.
“What are you doing?”
He raised a brow at her. “Aren’t you curious about my past?”
“Wasn’t it you who said I talk too much?” Zuo Zhu showed no interest at all. “When are we eating? I’m starving.”
Huo Fu fell silent for a moment. “You might as well starve.”
Looking sullen, he let her go and went downstairs, curling up on the sofa.
Whenever he looked at Zuo Zhu now, he felt a complicated frustration, as though he were the only one desperately pushing the plot forward while his so-called ally loafed around doing nothing and waiting for death.
He could not make sense of her at all and had no idea why her nerves were so strong.
As food, she was merely cooperating with him to prolong her own life a little, yet she had completely relaxed, showing neither fear nor terror toward him, nor any attempt to escape from this evil ghost.
As a partner, she had no ambition whatsoever. She showed no interest in his affairs, not even attempting to probe for weaknesses for her own benefit.
A person ought to have some kind of emotion, whether it be fear that drove her to try every means of escape, or sympathy that brought her to tears as she vowed to save him.
Yet Zuo Zhu had none of that.
It left Huo Fu with nowhere to direct his energy.
The frustration even overshadowed his hatred of returning to A City.
At dinner, Huo Fu, as an evil ghost, no longer needed to eat.
Resting his chin in his hand, he poked at the rice and stared at Zuo Zhu.
Her eyes were nearly closed in bliss as she ate, cheeks puffed out like a hamster. “Uncle Zhang, your cooking is so delicious!”
Huo Fu was speechless.
Forget it. She was irritating.
After dinner, he decided to ignore Zuo Zhu entirely and returned to his room.
Once she finished eating, Zuo Zhu helped Uncle Zhang clear the table and wash the dishes, slipping in complaints as she worked. “Uncle Zhang, you need to train Huo Fu’s hands-on ability. He can’t just walk away after eating. At the very least, he should help tidy up.”
Uncle Zhang smiled as he washed the dishes. “It’s fine, it’s fine. The young master has never done such things since he was little. Before he returned, I was the only one living here, so there was no need to hire anyone else. Tomorrow I’ll hire a servant, and things will be much easier.”
Zuo Zhu’s eyes lit up. That sounded wonderful.
While she complained about Huo Fu, Uncle Zhang also wanted to learn about what had happened before the young master returned.
The experiences Huo Fu had described were too simple. He suspected much had been omitted.
“Miss Zuo, how did you and the young master meet?”
Zuo Zhu knew it was her turn to fabricate another story. “It happened like this. A few university classmates and I went on a graduation trip. We followed them to a small mountain village, and that’s where we met Huo Fu.”
“Only after meeting him did I learn he had been trafficked to that village.” She sighed sorrowfully. “The family who bought him kept a very close watch on him. Every time he tried to escape and was caught, they beat him. The village was surrounded by mountains, and he simply couldn’t get out, so he had no choice but to stay there all these years.”
“So my friends and I decided to help him leave that terrible place. After countless hardships, we finally escaped successfully and returned to A City.”
In her version of events, Huo Fu was weak and helpless, nothing like the evil ghost who had ruled the mountain village.
Uncle Zhang was moved to tears. “It was all my fault. I failed to protect the young master and caused him to suffer so much!”
Zuo Zhu hurriedly comforted him.
Only after everything was finally settled did she return to her room.
Yes, at her insistence, Uncle Zhang, who had originally intended for her to share a room with Huo Fu, had instead prepared a room next to his.
For the first time since entering this novel, Zuo Zhu could sleep alone.
After taking a bath in the luxurious bathroom, she stepped out wrapped in a towel and saw Huo Fu sitting on her bed.
“When did you come in?”
He smiled hungrily. “Why can’t I?”
Right, she had almost forgotten. At night, he was Demon Huo Fu.
Perhaps the evil ghost, having suddenly changed environments and finding that the late-night snack he had always kept was no longer beside him, had naturally followed her here.
If he were not an evil ghost, sneaking into a girl’s room at midnight would make him a pervert.
Zuo Zhu pointed at him. “Turn around. I need to get dressed.”
He tilted his head. “Why should I turn around? Can’t I watch?”
Clutching her towel defensively, she narrowed her eyes. “Tell me, are you the embodiment of Huo Fu’s dark desires? Has he always secretly wanted to watch me change?”
The evil ghost blinked at her.
Seeing the pure hunger in his gaze, she felt she had overthought it.
“You can’t watch. That means you can’t watch.” She walked over and pulled the quilt over his head. “And you’re not allowed to pull it down yourself.”
For some reason, he obediently stayed still once covered.
Zuo Zhu quickly took out her clothes. Just as she removed her towel to change, she felt something amiss and turned around, only to discover that the quilt had already slipped halfway down, revealing one eye that was rolling as it stared at her.
She fell silent.
Her sense of propriety was gone.
Numbly, she pulled on her dress and suddenly began to question her own intelligence. There was a bathroom attached to the bedroom, so why had she forgotten she could change in there?
It must have been the habits of poverty.
Who grew up with a bathroom attached to every bedroom?
At least she never had.
Well, she reasoned, the evil ghost probably could not appreciate the beauty of her figure anyway.
With that thought, she turned off the lights and climbed into bed without any burden.
The evil ghost immediately wrapped his arms around his late-night snack and inhaled deeply. “So hungry.”
With practiced ease, Zuo Zhu covered his mouth. “Go to sleep. Good night.”
Reluctantly, he lay there with his eyes open in the darkness, watching as she quickly drifted into dreams.
Half-asleep, Zuo Zhu felt a sinful hand cover her chest.
Her eyes flew open, and she calmly asked, “What are you doing?”
The evil ghost took her hand and pressed it against his own chest, his face full of curiosity.
“See? We’re not the same.”
Zuo Zhu was speechless.
“I’m starting to look forward to what expression Huo Fu will have when he faces me tomorrow,” she said.