Halloween Odd Jobs

Two days later, Ma Zhaodi still went to work at the restaurant, but this time he followed his supervisor's advice and bought a second modified wheelchair to commute to work.

When he arrived at the restaurant, he could feel his colleagues let out a collective sigh of relief when they noticed he hadn't driven his car to work.

Santos and the others saw him arrive and immediately waved, "Ma Zhaodi, did you see the news?"

He looked at the newspaper in Santos's hand and instinctively asked, "What's wrong? Did Richard Daniel's incident finally come out?"

Santos's previously beaming expression immediately drooped, "Huh? You already know?"

"On my way home from target practice over the weekend, I ran into some unlucky guy who had been shot full of holes. They even dragged him to the Gotham Police Department for questioning half the night. I also happened to learn the name of that unlucky ghost, the president of Gotham Bank."

"Wow, that's just like you." Santos's spirits immediately lifted, "You actually stumbled upon something like that? Did you see anything?"

"I wish I hadn't. No, besides a gun barrel sticking out of a window and a black car with tinted windows and no license plate, I didn't see anything." Ma Zhaodi shook his head, "They're ruthless enough to kill in broad daylight. Curiosity can kill the cat, and I don't have nine lives."

"Oh, that's true."

Castro chimed in at this point, "Instead of thinking about that, how about we consider something else, like how to spend Halloween?"

"Oh, speaking of which." Rick's eyes lit up, "Does anyone want to come to my Halloween party? The kind without supervisors or Donald."

Castro immediately responded, "Yay!"

Ma Zhaodi had never attended an American-style party before, but he knew that the parties thrown by gang members likely wouldn't attract any good people, and the refreshments would probably be more than just beer and pizza, likely involving orgies and drug binges.

"No need." He shook his head, "As you can see, I'm dirt poor, so I still have to work on Halloween night."

"Hey, don't be such a buzzkill!" Rick complained indignantly, "We finally get a little vacation, and someone still wants to pick up odd jobs at a time like this."

"I have to make a living." Ma Zhaodi sighed, "You know, I just bought a car recently..."

"Okay, okay." Castro immediately surrendered. Ma Zhaodi was very sure that all three of them shivered when he mentioned the car.

This is hilarious. We were just talking about the Halloween party, and as soon as I mentioned showing up in the Death Car, they all got scared. Typical 'Ye Gong loves dragons' situation.

However, saying I have work to do isn't entirely a lie. The System actually gave me three odd jobs.

[Halloween Pumpkin Lantern]
[Task Description: Don't overthink it, a customer just needs a pumpkin lantern. There's a reward for doing it well, and no punishment for doing it poorly.]
[Note: Low risk, high reward. This job is specifically for you.]
[Status: To Be Completed (0/1)]
[Reward: A portable pumpkin lantern that will never go out. Carrying it can scare away some weaker demons—don't worry, it's not a magical item from this world, and it doesn't require any sacrifices.]

[Halloween Heart Arsonist]
[Task Description: Mr. Harvey has some unscheduled work to do tonight, which means he won't have time to spend with his family. Perhaps you can take over this task?]
[Note: In Gotham City, some jobs are done for the thrill. Mr. Ma, do you want to be an unknown nobody? Or become famous?]
[Status: Not Completed (0%)]
[Reward: Settlement based on task completion. Every 1% is equivalent to $200 in asset points.]

[Halloween Delivery Service]
[Task Description: You might not believe it, but in Gotham City, there are people who have it worse than Gordon, Harvey, or even Batman. For these unfortunate souls, an extra-large Burger King delivery is like celebrating the New Year.]
[Note: Born on Monday, baptized on Tuesday, married on Wednesday, fell ill on Thursday, critically ill on Friday, died on Saturday, buried on Sunday. A life lived to the fullest—remember to wear a gas mask.]
[Status: Not Completed (0/1)]
[Reward: Intermediate Culinary Mastery and the client's friendship.]

Three jobs in one night, even the King of Hell would praise my good health.

But the rewards are really good. A never-extinguishing demon-repelling pumpkin lantern, up to $20,000 in asset points, and Intermediate Culinary Mastery—Intermediate Culinary Mastery costs a whopping $3,000 asset points in the mall, which is $500 more than Intermediate Driving Mastery.

"One delivery mission is worth half a month of hard labor—alas, there's a gap between jobs."

I'm doing it. Anyone who can resist this is a god.

So, during their work break, his colleagues at the restaurant noticed someone constantly fiddling with a pumpkin and a carving knife.

"Hey, Ma Zhaodi, where did you get that pumpkin?" Santos sat down next to him with an apple, "You didn't get it from the kitchen, did you?"

"This is my own. Isn't it against the rules to take ingredients from the kitchen?" Ma Zhaodi replied casually, his carving knife flying up and down, peeling off pieces of skin and flesh from the small pumpkin.

"Are you making a pumpkin lantern?"

"Yeah, it's Halloween today. Maybe someone will buy it if I make some pumpkin lanterns to sell."

"Uh..."

"What's wrong?"

Rick, who was passing by, glanced at the pumpkin in Ma Zhaodi's hand. As the carving knife continued to work, a grimacing, contorted face slowly appeared on it.

"Is this... your first time carving a pumpkin lantern?"

"Doesn't it look good? I think I did pretty well?"

Ma Zhaodi looked at the small pumpkin in his hand. The twisted, pained expression seemed to be mixed with a unique artistic flair, possessing a touch of Miller's Classicism, a hint of Monet's Impressionism, Matisse's Fauvism, Munch's Expressionism, Balla's Futurism, Picasso's Cubism, and Dali's Surrealism all seemed to be reflected in this little pumpkin. In short.

"It's an ugly pumpkin lantern," Rick commented mercilessly, "It's the ugliest pumpkin lantern I've ever seen."

Ma Zhaodi shrugged, "It's just a pumpkin lantern anyway. If it's funny, maybe more people will buy it. After all, there are so many good-looking pumpkin lanterns, but very few that are this ugly. Taking an unconventional approach can make it stand out."

"Alright, Gotham isn't short of weirdos anyway. Maybe there really are people who like this kind of pumpkin lantern. Speaking of which, have you considered carving a big pumpkin? A pumpkin head this ugly would surely be scary."

"Good idea. Then I'll wear this pumpkin head and steal candy from children."