Lu Chu has a habit of eating light meals in the morning, which are good for the stomach and easier to digest.
Therefore, today’s breakfast for several people was also prepared this way. Fragrant sticky rice porridge, buns with different fillings, and several small dishes were made quickly.
Breakfast was leisurely, and Yuan Kejie, who had been acting unusual all morning, finally became somewhat serious at this time. She asked Lu Chu with a serious face, “After you and the big guy left the ‘bureau,’ has there been any abnormality affecting your daily life?”
Lu Chu shook his head, “Not for now. We just see a bit more than ordinary people.”
“Then what about the ‘crying sound’ you mentioned on the phone before?”
“Regarding that, I suspect it’s a lingering spirit of an unborn child causing trouble.”
“A lingering spirit of an unborn child?” Yuan Kejie put down her chopsticks, “Where?”
Seeing her reaction, Lu Chu was puzzled, “In this community, on the sixth floor of that nearby building. From your tone, have you encountered a lingering spirit before?”
If it was encountered in the ‘bureau,’ that would be quite normal.
Sure enough, Yuan Kejie nodded, “Yes, there was a task before that involved a lingering spirit. Thinking about it still gives me the creeps.”
Lu Chu: “Is it easy to deal with?”
Yuan Kejie tilted her head and thought, “I think leaving it alone is definitely not an option. Just the fact that it’s so close to home is not a good thing, so we should take the initiative.”
As soon as she finished, Luo Qi mercilessly despised her, “The question was whether it’s easy to deal with, not whether we should deal with it. ‘Deciding to solve the problem’ is already the premise of our discussion. It’s like you’re living in a parallel universe.”
“That’s because you interrupted me before I finished!” Yuan Kejie protested.
At this moment, 7 suddenly spoke, “Continue.”
Yuan Kejie immediately sat upright, “Dealing with this thing can be easy or difficult. It’s easy if we just need to help it, or them, rest in peace and reincarnate successfully. But it’s difficult because lingering spirits are formed from the souls of unborn children. Children can’t distinguish right from wrong and act on whims. It’s hard to communicate with them, so making them listen isn’t easy.”
Luo Qi asked in return, “Since it’s formed from resentment, there must be a source of the resentment. Knowing why they linger should solve the problem.”
Yuan Kejie clicked her tongue and shook her head, “Qiqi, you’re still too young, thinking eliminating resentment is simple. Isn’t the source of the resentment obvious? Since we know it’s a lingering spirit, the resentment must come from their parents not choosing to let them be born. But it is pitiful. Why do some people keep getting pregnant and then aborting? If they don’t want to take responsibility for a life, they should take precautions in the first place. They only care about momentary pleasure, how are they different from beasts?”
“You think you know everything.”
Lu Chu: “…”
After a moment of silence, Lu Chu said, “Luo Qi is still young. Be more tactful when talking about these things.” But Yuan Kejie’s words were indeed reasonable. The biggest difference between humans and beasts is that humans should have a basic sense of responsibility and not just follow their instincts and desires.
Yuan Kejie didn’t mind, “Don’t worry about Qiqi. She understands everything.” Luo Qi remained noncommittal.
“Alright, now that we have a general idea of the situation, we can come up with a plan. Let’s…” Yuan Kejie rubbed her hands, her eyebrows raised mischievously, “How about we eat seriously? I’m starving…”
Lu Chu laughed, “Stop chatting and eat quickly.”
With Yuan Kejie’s boisterous call to “Eat!”, she and Luo Qi, both seemingly hungry, started eating in earnest. After three bowls, Yuan Kejie, rubbing her stomach, burped contentedly, “That was great! I want to eat roast duck now!”
Luo Qi, wiping her mouth, looked at Lu Chu, “I want roast duck too.”
Luo Qi rarely made requests or expressed her preferences. Hearing her suddenly say she wanted roast duck, Lu Chu immediately decided, “Alright, I’ll take you to Yulin Family for roast duck at noon.”
Despite her young age, in battle, everyone treated Luo Qi as a reliable teammate. But in daily life, they saw her as a younger junior who they hoped could retain some innocence and a bit of youthful pride. Unfortunately, she was too mature, knowledgeable, and skilled, often appearing jaded and uninterested, unlike a typical twelve or thirteen-year-old girl.
This concern weighed on the older members. Therefore, they usually agreed to and satisfied her occasional requests.
Yuan Kejie also patted Luo Qi’s head, “That’s right, Qiqi, start being a good kid with opinions from now on!”
Luo Qi sneered, swatting her hand away, “This isn’t called having opinions, it’s called having preferences.”
“Same thing,” Yuan Kejie stubbornly insisted, pinching Luo Qi’s slightly chubby cheeks, “Our Qiqi is getting cuter.”
Luo Qi snorted, turning away, not wanting to engage. She stood up, collected the dishes, and went to the kitchen to wash them.
Yuan Kejie laughed heartily, “Qiqi, don’t hide it, I saw it. You definitely blushed just now!”
Saying this, she ran over to help with the dishes.
Lu Chu followed them into the kitchen and placed the dishes in the sink, “I’ll handle this. You two just got here and must be tired from the journey. Take a good rest. The guest room is always ready.”
“Okay,” Yuan Kejie stretched, “Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit tired, but I might not be able to sleep.”
Luo Qi asked Lu Chu, “Are you going to work?”
“Yes,” Lu Chu replied, “but not right now. We’ll leave around seven.”
Luo Qi nodded, “Alright, I’ll nap for a bit and go with you.”
“Don’t you want to sleep more?”
“I want to play with Radish.”
Hearing her name, Radish wagged her tail and walked over to Luo Qi, sniffing her and then rubbing her head against Luo Qi’s pant leg.
Lu Chu ran a pet shop named Radish. He chose to open a pet shop partly because he liked animals and partly to spend more time with Radish—after all, most jobs don’t allow pets.
Moreover, running his own shop gave him more flexibility. He hired a few staff members, and the manpower was usually sufficient. The extremely smart Radish had become the shop’s guardian and mascot. Every customer loved playing with her, though most often it was Radish playing with them. Many regulars would come in and jokingly say, “Radish, you’re breaking the rules. Didn’t they say no animals were allowed to become spirits after the founding of the country?”
Over time, people began calling Radish “the dog deity.”
Word spread, and Radish became famous in the city for her intelligence. When Lu Chu went to work, Radish followed. If he worked late, she would sit at the door like a statue, looking out for him. The staff would joke, “Our dog deity is working overtime again!”
This shows Radish’s popularity.
Luo Qi and Radish unexpectedly got along well. Yuan Kejie joked it was because their names both started with “Luo,” which earned her a stern look from Luo Qi.
Now, hearing Luo Qi wanted to follow Radish, Lu Chu nodded, “Alright, I’ll call you when I go to the pet shop. Rest for now.”
Yuan Kejie raised her hand, “Me too! Call me as well!”
Lu Chu smiled, “Okay.”