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Chen Zhuzhu spent this week in a daze.

At first, after realizing that it was not a dream, she had difficulty falling asleep in the middle of the night. The next day, she could only accompany Mingyao through the daytime schedule with heavy dark circles under her eyes. The planned holiday trip out of the city felt like a last meal, leaving her feeling utterly bored.

Faced with her roommate Mingyao's concerned gaze, Chen Zhuzhu dared not tell the truth. She could only force herself to stay alert and attribute her erratic behavior in the early morning to the aftereffects of a nightmare, and made up a lie.

"I had a dream that my deceased grandmother came back and was talking in a strange way, trying to perform a spirit ritual for me, saying that our family lineage cannot be broken."

Chen Zhuzhu's words, though seemingly exaggerated, were actually spoken with genuine emotion; however, the grandmother in the story was not actually her grandmother.

She pulled at her eyelids with both hands, making her eyes widen so that they almost popped out. To an unsuspecting person, the sight was both terrifying and comical.

"I've told you before, my grandmother's generation came here as refugees. In order to survive, they believed in a lot of feudal superstitions, thinking that those things protected them and helped them survive."

"Is this the one you mentioned, who claimed to have foreseen her death, so despite being seriously ill, she left the hospital and disappeared for half a day, then came back saying she was burning incense and praying to the gods to continue protecting her one last time, so that she could have a good journey to the underworld and not be abducted by evil spirits along the way?"

Chen Zhuzhu nodded heavily. After that incident, her grandmother's health completely collapsed, and she passed away a week later.

"I was terrified in the dream. After the spiritual awakening, the whole world became eerie... It's like you think your room is spotless, but it's actually crawling with cockroaches in the corners. That dream was so real, it felt like I experienced it firsthand..."

This metaphor really hit a girl's sore spot. Mingyao tried to put herself in the shoes and immediately started trembling. She rubbed her arms and felt that she couldn't feel any goosebumps on them.

"That's terrifying enough."

After Chen Zhuzhu vividly described the psychological trauma her grandmother's superstitious practices had inflicted on her and how it seeped into her dreams, Mingyao was completely convinced. She wasn't someone who absolutely needed to have fun; although canceling the trip at the last minute would mean wasting money, Chen Zhuzhu's well-being was clearly more important.

This is a materialistic world, but there are some mysterious things that we have to believe in.

Afterwards, they returned to their original city, where Mingyao noticed that Chen Zhuzhu's mental state had worsened. Chen Zhuzhu had no one to confide in; she couldn't very well tell them that she now had a psychological aversion to enclosed long-distance transportation.

Throughout the journey, she was so terrified that her stomach churned, and she, who never gets carsick, almost vomited several times.

"Have some noodles to fill your stomach. Isn't this your favorite noodle shop?" Mingyao comforted her.

This is the most popular noodle shop around the school, hidden in a deep alley, but the taste is impeccable. It is said to have been open for more than 20 years, passed down from father to son and still in business today.

Chen Zhuzhu's record was eating it five times in a week.

When they arrived, it wasn't lunchtime yet, and the small shop was already mostly full, so they quickly grabbed the last seats.

The steaming hot noodles were served, sprinkled with some chopped green onions. The ordinary aroma of the noodles was incredibly tempting, and even Chen Zhuzhu, who didn't have much of an appetite, perked up considerably.

It smells so good.

She swept her hair behind her ears, unpacked the disposable chopsticks, and happily prepared to dig in.

Chen Zhuzhu suddenly remembered her ability and wondered what evaluation it would give.

[A Clever Way to Make Noodles: Children aren't necessarily the best culinary successors, and at least the heir to this noodle shop wasn't a particularly outstanding noodle chef. Fortunately, he had a sharp enough mind. Ordinary skills, coupled with a touch of poppy shells, ensured the restaurant's reputation continued to grow.]

"So the secret is poppy shells... Wait, poppy shells?!"

Mingyao stared blankly at Chen Zhuzhu, who had snatched the bowl of noodles from her.

"Stop eating, let's go."

Mingyao glanced at the bowl of noodles with lingering reluctance, and though she didn't understand why, she still paid and left.

This book was first published on 2020s.com, providing you with a reading experience free of errors and disordered chapters.

In her view, Chen Zhuzhu's subsequent behavior was even more perplexing. In broad daylight, she walked around furtively, as if afraid of being noticed.

Thinking back to the reaction just now...

Could it be that her grandmother really opened her third eye in her dream, allowing her to see something unclean?

The thought of the cockroach analogy earlier made the lingering craving vanish, replaced by a slight feeling of nausea.

"Hello, is this the Consumer Association? I want to report a store that illegally adds poppy shells to its food."

Minutes later, a group of police officers stormed into the noodle shop and, as if they had anticipated this, quickly found poppy shell residue. The case was closed with astonishing speed, as if the police had been lurking around Chen Zhuzhu from the beginning, deliberately waiting those few minutes to avoid arousing her suspicion before arresting the person she had reported.

Chen Zhuzhu was in a daze.

Once the practice of confirming item attributes through abilities was started, it was unstoppable.

Just like someone who's just started playing an online game, they'll tirelessly check out the descriptions of all sorts of interesting items, except Chen Zhuzhu has gone from playing online games to playing real-life office workers.

Normal spending habits have become difficult to pay for.

When ordering from her favorite brand of milk tea, she was ruthlessly told that the business was using fake products.

So-called healthy milk tea costing around 20 yuan actually uses non-dairy creamer, which is harmful to the human body, to stabilize the taste.

Chen Zhuzhu turned around and went to Mixue in the next district to buy a three-yuan lemonade.

At least, they actually cut lemon slices for her.

While shopping for clothes with my roommate, I couldn't help but notice the virtual screen next to me, even though I used to love ripped clothes.

[Ripped jeans: Claimed to be designed by a famous designer. The designer does exist, but his meticulously crafted designs are exclusively made for the upper class. These direct-sale styles are merely casual creations using his name. Would you be willing to spend over four hundred yuan on a pair of ripped jeans that the designer himself wouldn't even care about, costing less than ten yuan to make?]

Chen Zhuzhu couldn't hold back any longer. She looked around, trying to find something that wasn't too expensive.

After looking around, the most practical and reasonably priced item in the entire store was surprisingly a pair of socks that cost fifteen yuan.

Looking around, it seems as if the words "sucker" are faintly written next to the price tag of every item.

She thought to herself that she probably wouldn't be able to enjoy buying clothes offline anymore.

After browsing around without buying anything, I had barely walked a distance when I heard the salesperson mutter, "Pah, what are you two poor bastards doing browsing a women's clothing store? You should buy cheap, no-name brands online for around thirty yuan."

In addition, Chen Zhuzhu inadvertently identified several creatures that were neither human nor non-human.

She felt utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, and no longer wanted to go out.

She drifted aimlessly until Saturday, then told Mingyao, who looked worried, that she wouldn't be coming back that night. Finally, she would be able to see Ji Mo and Jiu Chonglou again.

"have not seen you for a long time."

For some reason, Chen Zhuzhu felt much more relaxed when she saw them.