The Ghost Market—
A nondescript, thin, and tall ghost, resembling a monkey, wound his way through a maze of alleys until he reached the entrance of a dark lane.
He glanced left and right.
Then, he darted inside.
After making two turns within, he arrived before a small wooden cabin.
Recalling the words of the introducer, he knocked on the door.
Knock, knock! Knock, knock!
After two knocks, a voice from inside the door asked, "A jasmine flower."
The man outside quickly replied, "Two narcissus flowers."
As soon as he finished speaking, a crack appeared in the door.
A hand reached out and pulled the man inside.
Bang!
The wooden door closed.
Inside the house.
A plump, sharp-eyed female ghost asked, "Introduced by Granny Wang?"
The tall, thin man nodded, "Yes!"
The female ghost raised her hand, rubbing her index finger and thumb together, "The tuition fee is this much."
The man was startled, "So expensive? This is not what Granny Wang said."
"The market is so tight right now, where else can you find something this good?"
The female ghost crossed her arms, "The tuition fee will definitely increase later. If it weren't for Granny Wang introducing you, it would be even more than this!"
"This..." The man clasped his hands together, nervously rubbing them.
The price was simply too high.
The female ghost rolled her eyes, "Think about it carefully. Our class is almost full, and we don't lack you."
"If you come back in a couple of days, you might not get a spot."
After speaking, she swayed her voluptuous body and turned to go into the inner room.
"Wait! Wait!"
The man was anxious and quickly said, "I'll sign up! I'll sign up now!"
"Alright, come over here and register."
The female ghost sat on a small stool nearby, sliding the notebook and pen on the table towards the man.
The man paid the money and nervously wrote his information on it.
The thought of handing over so much money made his hands tremble slightly.
The female ghost quickly counted the money and tucked it into her chest.
"Don't be too reluctant to part with this little bit of money. Once your cultivation improves and you find a better job, get a promotion or something, will this little bit of money still matter?"
"That's true, that's true."
The man nodded and smiled sheepishly.
"Let's go."
The female ghost twisted her body and led him towards the inner room.
As soon as the partition door opened, a burst of firelight illuminated their faces.
Inside, sounds of clanging and banging were incessant.
...
The space inside the house didn't look large, but it was filled with numerous cooking stations.
In front of each station stood serious and enthusiastic ghost students.
At a glance, there were at least a dozen cooking stations.
Because they were close together, the entire space appeared small and crowded.
In the aisles, a middle-aged male ghost in a chef's uniform walked back and forth.
He occasionally offered guidance to the ghost students.
"Old Wei, we have a new ghost."
The female ghost knocked on the door and called out.
Old Wei, upon hearing this, instructed the student beside him and then came to the door.
He looked the new man up and down and asked, "Have you ever cooked anything before?"
The man shook his head and nervously swallowed, "I heard from Granny Wang that we can start learning from the very basics here."
"That's correct," Old Wei nodded.
"But if you've never cooked, it will definitely be harder to learn..."
"I'm not afraid of hardship!" the man quickly said, "As long as I can learn well, any hardship is worth it!!"
"Your mindset is very good. Keep it up."
Old Wei patted his shoulder, "Find a spot in the back and familiarize yourself with the cleaver first."
"Okay."
While they were talking, the voluptuous female ghost had already closed the door again and returned to the living room.
Then, she took out some spirit money from her chest and happily counted it again and again.
Her heart bloomed with joy.
She used to think Old Wei's profession as a chef had no future and didn't earn much money.
Who would have thought that the tide would turn so suddenly?
Because of those captains, the culinary profession had suddenly become popular.
Old Wei, with his slow mind, hadn't realized it yet and still wanted to earn a meager salary at his old shop.
It was she who smelled the business opportunity, promptly asked Old Wei to resign and return, and started a training class herself.
Look, each student brought in this much money.
Isn't this better than a meager salary?
Moreover, ghosts don't need to sleep.
They could run two or three classes a day in shifts, with over a dozen students per class...
"Hehehe... Hehehe..."
The female ghost couldn't help but laugh out loud, already envisioning a small mountain made of spirit money.
The future was promising!
"Sister, Sister!"
Beside her, a little ghost, about seven or eight years old, entered from outside the door.
He tugged at the female ghost's sleeve, "Sister, they don't have ghost artifacts like knives, and they can't project their ghost qi, so what's the use of learning this?"
The two were not biological siblings.
But he knew that calling the female ghost this way would make her very happy.
If she was happy, she might give him a little more tip or say a few more words to him.
The female ghost, in a good mood, casually said:
"What do you know? Have you heard a saying?
—Opportunity only favors the prepared ghost.
If they learn well now, they will have opportunities to use it in the future."
"This is called building a solid foundation in advance and winning at the starting line!"
She chattered on while counting money:
"Now, many positions ask when hiring: Can you cook?
Listen, listen. With these demands, there will be supply and demand.
Do you think they are really stupid? They are thinking that maybe in the future, they can become ghost officers!
Life, you know, needs something to look forward to!"
While saying this, the female ghost secretly thought with glee:
Actually, they are quite foolish. Who knows what the future holds?
And perhaps, after a while, this wave of culinary learning will disappear.
And by then,
She would have already earned enough money to 'retire with honor'.
Ideally, more such foolish ghosts would come!
Thinking of this, she glared at the little ghost beside her, "Why are you still standing here? Go recruit some ghosts!"
"Do you still want your commission?"
"Yes, yes!"
The little ghost immediately sprang into action, "Sister, I'm going now!"
Just as he reached the door, the female ghost suddenly called out:
"Wait, did you record what I just said?"
The little ghost nodded, "I've written it all down."
Female ghost: "Good. Be smart. Everything I just said can be used as promotional slogans."
"Okay, Sister!"
The little ghost ran out.
The wooden cabin door closed again.
The female ghost looked at the money in her hand, "Where did I finish counting? Never mind, I'll start over~"
She never tired of counting money!
"10, 20, 30..."
From the inner room came the sounds of enthusiastic stir-frying.
...
[Mini Theater]
Eighteenth Hall—
When the ghost officers finally completed their day's task—making a dish and submitting it for the captain's inspection—
Jiang Lin glanced at it but made no comment.
He simply said, "Finished? Then eat it, don't waste it."
"Ah?"
The ghost officers were all stunned.
They still had to eat it...
They looked at the dishes in front of them.
Some were of varying sizes, and they couldn't even remember if they had added salt.
Some were dark lumps, almost indistinguishable from coal.
Even more so, some were a muddy yellow!
Perhaps the "urge to update" button had been accidentally pressed.
Could this really be eaten?!
The team members fell into existential doubt.
Afterward, Jiang Lin said, "Stir-frying is also part of the practice."
Don't think that just because you've chopped it, you can just stir-fry it carelessly and get away with it.
Who are you fooling?
If your strength doesn't improve, who will be the one suffering in the end?
...