A Guest in a Ghost House Chapter 76 The Poor Boss

He spoke quietly, as though afraid of being heard, and I detected a tremble in his voice. I shook myself to clear my head and said, "No, I'm waiting for my…"

I wanted to say that I was waiting for my friends, but then I realized the reality of the situation. I was waiting for ghosts, and the boss was probably shocked by my conversation with Xiao Lingdang just now. However, I'd also invited Sister Hua to eat with us.

To be honest, I'd rather risk offending the boss than Sister Hua. I considered what to say to the boss so that he wouldn't close the stall. Besides, maybe Xiao Lingdang would return and say the others decided not to come.

The boss saw that I wasn't moving, and although he didn't say anything in response, I saw fear in his eyes.

At that moment, a customer appeared to pick up a delivery. The little boy ran over to get the boss' attention. As he grabbed the boy, the boss turned and gave me a pleading look. He then took the boy to the back of the shop, despite the customer waiting up front. The customer threw up his hands and left the stall.

I decided to call after the boss and explain. "Boss, please don't worry. We are good people. Well, good ghosts. No. Some of us are good people and some of us are good ghosts. We will not harm you. We just want barbecue."

I had thought of lying, but I really didn't know how to explain all the food that Xiao Lingdang ordered.

The boss`s face changed, and his eyes filled with tears: "Big brother, I don't do this kind of business, okay? Not anymore."

In the distance, I saw a huge group of people floating behind Xiao Lingdang. I turned to the boss again and said, "Boss, if you don't do business with the ghosts, they might seek you out in the future. If you do feed them well, they'll take care of your business in the future. If something were to happen to you one day, they would be on your side to handle it."

As I spoke, I felt like a gangster. The boss had tears streaming down his face now. I watched the ghosts get closer and said, "Has an elder in your family passed away? Maybe they can explain."

The boss lit up a bit and he said, "Really?"

"Really, really, don't worry. But it's too late tonight to track them down. What about next time? I can be sure they come along to explain."

The boss tentatively nodded his head and said, "Okay, I'll cook for you all tonight. But can I let the child leave first?"

"If that's what you're comfortable with. The ghosts won't hurt you or the child. If any ghosts try to in the future, these ones will protect you." The more I spoke, the more I felt like a gangster, but then the ghosts arrived, and I was just a man pushing tables around so my friends could eat dinner together.

The boss looked in our direction for a long time, holding the little boy's hand tightly. He went to the grill, then crouched to talk with the child. The little boy was obviously uncomfortable, but I had no time to pay attention to them as I rushed to greet Sister Hua and seat her at the table.

Many people from the Ghost House came—Xiao Lingdang, Sister Hua, Yan'er, beautiful women, and people wearing long shirts. It seemed everyone in the Ghost House was excited to eat barbecue.

I realized one was missing and asked Xiao Lingdang strangely, "Where's Lulu?"

"I'm right here."

I turned my head to find Lulu directly behind me. Strange, I hadn't seen her come up.

Everyone sat down, and I went to the boss. He had not yet started preparing our food.

"Come on, boss!" I said loudly.

The boss looked up, glanced at the enormous table that to him was mostly empty, and said, "The child won't leave."

"I'm not leaving. I'm staying with my dad," the kid said with a pout. He was a good son.

I put a hand on the little boy's head: "Don't worry. Just prepare the food. After taking care of them, they will take care of you."

The boss nodded, told the boy to stay by his side, and began to prepare the food. I headed back to the table.

Sister Hua looked at me with a fake smile and said, "So this is that good barbecue, huh? The service is great!"

I awkwardly said, "Uh, Sister Hua, the boss is scared at the moment. But now that he knows the situation, we'll have this place as a dinner option in the future."

Sister Hua nodded in understanding, and I saw Xiao Lingdang cheer up as well. The other beautiful women around the table looked pleased.

"Buuut…" Sister Hua dragged out the word. "This stall does not accept our money here." She squinted her eyes and looked at me devilishly.

I said with a bitter smile, "I'll pay the bill. But Sister Hua, I'm not rich. Do you know of anything good buried in the ground that I could sell?"

Hearing the first half of my sentence, Sister Hua was satisfied, and she had already turned to talk with another girl before she heard my question.

I can't afford to buy this group too many meals, I thought. My poor savings…

While I moped over my finances, the boss quietly got my attention, then waved his hand to call me over.

I walked over and the boss handed me a bunch of kebabs. "Please."

Well, looks like I'm the waiter for the evening.

I brought the kebabs to the table and my hands were instantly emptied. Each person at the table held a full kebab for a moment, and a second later had swallowed the meat right off. They were so fast that I didn't realize until I got to my seat that there was no food for me.

Well, the boss has his work cut out for him tonight.

Everyone laughed as they ate barbecue and drank beer. I took this opportunity to tell Sister Hua about recent events and ask her about the Jiang family and the parallel universe situation I'd experienced. Sister Hua continued to happily drink beer and eat barbecue, including what had been on my plate, but her lips stayed sealed otherwise. She simply said, "That's the secret of the ghosts."

I tried for an answer that would've been second best. "Sister Hua, what did Jiang Mingming mean by "former lover"?"

"A former lover is a person who was loved in the past. Simple." Sister Hua looked pleased with herself, both hands filled with kebabs and wine. She was certainly charming, but her answer was less than satisfying.

Yan'er, who had been listening to our conversation, leaned over and said, "You can go and check. You still have your two friends. Maybe they can tell you whose former lover died."

I picked up a glass of wine and offered a toast to Yan'er. She was right. Whoever Jiang Mingming mentioned likely wasn't human. If I found out that a former lover of Wu Jian or Huang Xiaolong had had an accident, I might have my answer. However, secret love is not easy to learn about from the source. I'd ask the people around them first. Of course, my knowledge of love was all second-hand. I'd never been in love.

I didn't know why I suddenly had the impulse to burst into tears.

Chapter end