In the eerily sinister kitchen, Niu An and her ghost husband worked together, soon finishing a meal and bringing it to the table.
Just like in the past, the "family" sat warmly around the same table and began to eat. No one touched the celery and beef pies. Niu An turned the dish toward her ghost husband and said, "Dear, I made these especially for you. Have some more."
The ghost husband was not picky, but preferred raw food to cooked. At Niu An's urging, it picked up a beef pie and brought it to its mouth. One bite revealed that the filling was not fully cooked, giving off a bloody scent irresistible to ghosts. Its pitch-black pupils rolled chaotically in their sockets, like little black balls trapped in large, transparent, water-filled spheres, drifting under the influence of buoyancy.
The ghost husband began to gorge itself.
It failed to notice the other three exchanging glances.
Keeping up their usual routine, Niu An placed food in both her son's and daughter-in-law's bowls, saying, "I made this especially for you two. Give it a try."
She did not know Lin Hanzhi was a clean freak, nor that he was extremely picky about food.
Looking at the food in his bowl, Lin Hanzhi hesitantly prodded it back and forth with his chopsticks. The movement caught the ghost husband's attention. It looked over at Lin Hanzhi, its gaze heavy, as though weighing something.
Qi Gu naturally reached over with his chopsticks and took the food from Lin Hanzhi's bowl. "Mom, he doesn't eat this. I like it. I'll have it."
Only then did the ghost husband withdraw its probing gaze, finding this consistent with their usual behavior.
Lin Hanzhi stared at his bowl and chopsticks, an indescribable emotion shifting in his alluring eyes.
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