The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 545 Anti-fraud Publicity
Qin Huai made a special trip to the hospital, not only to bring Zhao Cheng'an a change of clothes, but also to video call Master Zhou on his phone to help Zhao Cheng'an prove that his sick note from that morning was true, and that the sick note he made up was not as serious as his actual condition.

To prove he wasn't just an extra, Zhou Hu, in the next bed, weakly greeted Master Zhou.

The overly realistic scenes left Master Zhou speechless.

As Zhao Cheng'an's own master, Master Zhou knew his little apprentice all too well. The excuse about having a stomachache and needing to go to the hospital was definitely a fabrication; he might even have Qin Huai cover for him, and then use a medical record image from the internet with someone else's name photoshopped onto his own.

Master Zhou was still pondering whether to turn a blind eye to Zhao Cheng'an's fraudulent behavior or to investigate it thoroughly, when Qin Huai called him via video to tell him that it was true.

Moreover, according to the doctor's diagnosis, Zhao Cheng'an will probably not be able to return to Zhiweiju on September 20th. If nothing unexpected happens, Zhao Cheng'an will not be able to be discharged from the hospital on September 20th.

Master Zhou could only reluctantly offer some concern for his apprentice before hanging up and reflecting on whether he had been judging his apprentice with a petty mind. Even if he knew his apprentice well, he shouldn't have made such malicious assumptions; he had almost wronged his young apprentice. What to do? When Zhao Cheng'an was discharged from the hospital and returned to Zhiweiju, should he cook him something delicious to comfort him?

Less than two minutes after Master Zhou hung up the phone, Tan Wei'an called via video. Zhao Cheng'an, taking advantage of his double room and the fact that Zhou Hu was playing music from the next bed, was amazed by Tan Wei'an's voice throughout the ward.

"What? You only got gastroenteritis after riding 15 roller coasters, and it was all because of riding roller coasters? That's amazing! I didn't know you were so capable before. Oh right, you didn't seem to go to amusement parks very often."

"Are you alright now? Are you dizzy? Are your eyes blurry? Are you hallucinating? Are you seeing double?"

"Nothing? That's great. Tell me quickly what Qin Huai has figured out. I don't know who Qin Huai learned it from, he just shows off and then disappears. I sent him so many messages the other day and he didn't reply to a single one."

"What? He had another epiphany at the amusement park, not the one he had last time?!"

"He has a comprehensive understanding of everything!"

"He's finished his apprenticeship?!"

Tan Weian hung up the phone.

He is autistic.

Qin Huai, who witnessed the whole thing: ...

You two made a pointless call. Qin Huai is afraid that if Tan Weian gets agitated, she might go to the amusement park to ride the roller coaster tomorrow and end up in the hospital.

For some reason, Qin Huai felt that Tan Weian was capable of doing this.

With that, Qin Huai's visits to Zhao Cheng'an in the hospital were all over. Given the relationship between Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an, there wasn't much to say in the hospital room.

Qin Huai only needed to deliver a change of clothes to Zhao Cheng'an to confirm his mental state. As long as he was in good condition and not suddenly acting out of his ephemeral nature, that was enough. Zhao Cheng'an was currently in an awakened state; putting everything else aside, his physical abilities were definitely far superior to those of ordinary humans.

Zhou Hu, who was in the next bed, had been hospitalized for a day and still looked pale and weak. Zhao Cheng'an, on the other hand, had just been admitted today. If he weren't on an IV drip, people would have thought he was Zhou Hu's caregiver. He had a rosy and radiant complexion and was full of energy. He ate five out of the six bowls of fresh meat wontons that Qin Huai had brought him in one go.

In his words, Qin Huai's gift of wontons was very thoughtful; he threw up all the shaved ice, fried chicken, and glutinous rice balls he ate at the amusement park, and now his stomach was very empty. He wanted to binge eat, but the doctor wouldn't allow it, so thankfully Qin Huai gave him the opportunity.

When Qin Huai heard Zhao Cheng'an say this, he had already eaten his fifth bowl of wontons and it was too late to stop him.

Zhao Cheng'an's visit to the sick has ended, but Zhou Hu's visit has just begun.

Qin Huai put away his worries about whether he would be scolded to death on the spot if the nurse found out that five of the six bowls of wontons he brought had been eaten by Zhao Cheng'an, and whether he would become the prime suspect if Zhao Cheng'an's reckless nature went out and he died. Instead, he began to fuss over Zhou Hu.

Qin Huai checked the encyclopedia last night and found that Zhou Hu's encyclopedia entry had been unlocked, and Zhou Hu's status was somewhat special.

Name: Zhou Hu

Species: Nine-tailed fox
Status: Awakening pending

Dream: 0/?

Recipe: None
Gifts: None
Gong Liang and the others told Qin Huai that they didn't have nine-tailed foxes in the traditional sense in their area, and that Zhou Hu was actually a fox. However, the encyclopedia defined Zhou Hu as a nine-tailed fox, indicating that Zhou Hu's original species must have been much stronger than a fox, making him undoubtedly an auspicious beast.

The "awaiting awakening" status shown in this document is worth exploring in depth.

The fact that Luo Jun and the others didn't recognize Zhou Hu as a spirit upon their first meeting is enough to show that Zhou Hu isn't in his final incarnation, but rather in an intermediate one. Similar to Gong Liang and Wang Gensheng, other spirits in this intermediate state, the ones Qin Huai observed were all in good condition, either awakening or undergoing accelerated awakening.

Only the spirits in their final incarnations were in a poor state, such as Qu Jing, who was completely amnesiac at that time. Qin Huai, Chen Huihong, and Luo Jun all agreed that if Qu Jing was left unattended, she would most likely be reincarnated before Luo Jun.

No, that can't be called reincarnation. If you die in your last life, you're dead. You don't even have the chance to be reincarnated.

As a spirit from the intermediate world, Zhou Hu's current state of being awaiting awakening is enough to show that his situation is not good. It is almost certain that he will be reincarnated until his last life, a preparatory role to fight for that last straw given by heaven.

As an auspicious beast, it's quite unlucky.

The Qinhuai Pictorial Collection features many auspicious beasts, and these beasts generally have good luck. We won't go into the case of the stubborn Wenyao fish, but even someone as stubborn as it is managed to encounter a wonderful boss like Han Guishan who helped it successfully overcome its tribulation; this shows how lucky these auspicious beasts are.

Needless to say, Kang also failed his tribulation in a muddle and succeeded in a muddle as well, making him the epitome of muddle-headedness.

Compared to these two, the nine-tailed fox seems to have been punished by heaven.

Actually, Zhao Cheng'an's hospitalization today was an accident. Even if Zhao Cheng'an hadn't gone to the hospital, Qin Huai was planning to visit Zhou Hu after get off work, to get to know the Nine-Tailed Fox better, and to open his heart to hear the story behind Master Zhou.

Qin Huai hasn't taken on this kind of rush order in a long time.

Qin Huai had been wondering if it was a bit abrupt for him to visit Zhou Hu in the hospital, but Zhao Cheng'an had so thoughtfully provided the opportunity. Touched, Qin Huai packed six servings of wontons to bring over. He had originally planned for two servings for Zhou Hu, four for Zhao Cheng'an—two for Zhao Cheng'an that evening, and two for a late-night snack—but…

Never mind, I won't say anything more. Luckily, the nurses aren't in the ward.

Qin Huai began to follow the normal procedure of visiting a patient in a gentle and soft voice. He first expressed his concern, then expressed his guilt for neglecting to pay attention to Zhou Hu's condition yesterday. At the same time, he promised that even if Zhou Hu forgot to renew his medical insurance and could not get a penny of the hospitalization expenses reimbursed, Qin Huai would reimburse the hospitalization expenses to the fullest extent. He also mentioned that he had persuaded Luo Jun to give Zhou Hu a 25% deposit.

After this series of punches, the impoverished Zhou Hu almost shed tears of excitement.

Zhou Hu was genuinely poor.

As the person who paid the final installment for the large order, Zhou Hu originally didn't want to accept Qin Huai's medical expenses. Once the funeral was over and Qin Huai's final payment was settled, Zhou Hu would be rolling in money; what was a mere medical expense for gastroenteritis?

But the funeral hasn't even started yet, the mortgage still needs to be paid every month, and the employees' salaries still need to be paid.

Zhou Hu was afraid that if he paid for medical expenses this month, he wouldn't have enough money to pay his mortgage next month, and he would have to go back to his old business of selling talismans. As a somewhat famous Master Zhou, Zhou Hu truly hated his side business; if he weren't forced to do it to make a living, he really wouldn't want to do it.

It's rare for Zhou Hu to find a customer he can open up to, and once he starts talking, he just can't stop. In Zhou Hu's words, he's actually quite confident in his business skills. If his side hustle isn't for money and is just purely for socializing and telling friends for fun, he's happy to treat it as a source of amusement for everyone.

But Zhou Hu really disliked anything related to money. He knew he was an oddball in this industry; people either genuinely believed him or were just pure swindlers. He didn't believe in the scams but was confident in his abilities, yet he didn't want to be a conman. Sometimes, Zhou Hu was overwhelmed by guilt and inner turmoil in the middle of the night. If it weren't for his outstanding mortgage, he sometimes wouldn't want to live anymore.

Qin Huai listened quietly to Zhou Hu's account and could tell that Zhou Hu's mental state was indeed not very good.

If nothing unexpected happens, it should be the third incarnation, because Zhou Hu said that when he was a child, he was learning feng shui with his father. He would often dream about learning feng shui at night, and he would wake up and suddenly understand it. His father exclaimed that he was simply a genius in this industry.

It's not like suddenly understanding, it's like not having forgotten.

You know what, that's actually quite auspicious.

When Qu Jing was reborn, she was tormented by memories of her previous lives, causing her to go insane and ultimately commit suicide. When Zhou Hu was reborn, influenced by memories of his previous lives, he achieved great success in his side business, even surpassing the results of a mayfly that had already awakened.

After confiding his feelings, Zhou Hu felt that his relationship with Qin Huai had become much closer. The two were no longer just a client and a supplier paying the final payment; they also shared a bond as fellow patients.

Zhou Hu had always felt that his mental state was not very good until he met Qin Huai at the amusement park.

Yesterday, after taking Zhou Hu to the hospital, Ouyang spent almost the entire day with him. Out of boredom, Ouyang enthusiastically explained to Zhou Hu Qin Huai's glorious achievements at the Cloud Cafeteria recently. Unlike Xu Tuqiang, a die-hard fan who only talks about the good and never the bad, Ouyang even said that Qin Huai is universally acknowledged to be mentally ill.

Qin Huai has believed he has a system since he was a child. He not only deceived himself, but also deceived his younger sister.

In the past two years, Qin Huai's cooking skills have become increasingly refined, but his mental state has become increasingly poor. Not only has that game system been activated, but it has also issued tasks and skills. Qin Huai spends every day in the kitchen grinding for proficiency, and he even said that he was going crazy a while ago.

Ouyang is actually a chatterbox.

Zhou Hu greatly admired Qin Huai's candid madness; he knew he couldn't do it himself.

Zhou Hu could only silently pretend to be a normal person, but he admired Qin Huai's honesty and extremely beautiful mental state.

All of the above words were spoken by Zhou Hu when he was being frank with Qin Huai.

Qin Huai: ...

Honestly, I really do have a game system!
However, if this allows Zhou Hu to find a sense of camaraderie among fellow sufferers, Qin Huai wouldn't mind playing the lunatic again, since it wouldn't be the first time anyway.

Qin Huai smiled easily, as if to say, "This is nothing, you'll get used to it. Even a lunatic can be carefree." He said in a relaxed tone, "Just now, Planner Zhou, you said that besides being good at Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, Feng Shui, divination, and face reading, you also know a little bit of character divination. We should be considered friends now, so how about we play around a bit?"

"Okay, okay!" Zhao Cheng'an responded enthusiastically from the next bed. In his words, although he didn't like working, he disliked being hospitalized even more. Because being hospitalized was just too boring, he had liked every single post on his WeChat Moments that he could during the time Qin Huai wasn't there.

"Can I go first? I want to go first!" Zhao Cheng'an excitedly raised his hand.

Zhou Hu nodded slightly: "Then I'll trouble you, Master Zhao, to give me a single character, anything will do."

“Jie, the Jie with the female radical.” Zhao Cheng’an said without hesitation, “My mother used this character to make a divination before, and she said it was not accurate at all.”

Zhou Hu pondered for a moment, then looked up, his entire demeanor completely different from before.

When Zhou Hu was planning the event that week, he was generally obsequious, after all, the customer is king. He was usually quite normal, though he occasionally showed signs of being a little emo, probably because he wasn't in a good mental state and was under a lot of pressure due to his mortgage not being paid off.

But at this moment, Zhou Hu exuded a powerful aura, displaying an air of self-confidence that made him the best in the world.

"You like to travel."

Zhao Cheng'an was stunned.

"Traveling alone, traveling light, you want to travel all the time, but you are bound by some things in life."

"Master Zhou... Master Zhou!"

Qin Huai was also dumbfounded. He looked at Zhou Hu and asked, "How did you figure that out?"

Zhou Hu explained in a serious tone: "You can break down a character either by its shape or its sound. Jie is a homophone for Jie, which naturally evokes the idea of ​​speed and travel light."

"As for the rest, it's more about feeling and judgment; practice makes perfect."

Zhao Cheng'an's eyes were already shining. If he didn't still have an IV drip in his hand, he would have loved to push Qin Huai out and sit in front of Zhou Hu.

"Master Zhou," Zhao Cheng'an's voice became devout, "Can you calculate my fund and stock holdings? Will I ever have a chance to liquidate my positions in this lifetime? Could you please calculate for me some of the stocks I'm currently optimistic about? I think these stocks have a very high probability of going up."

"What's your usual price for a ride? 1000? 2000? I can accept anything under 5000!" Zhao Cheng'an, who was taking the discounted shuttle bus to the amusement park, seemed very generous at this moment, clearly a good candidate to be scammed.

Zhou Hu did not answer Zhao Cheng'an's question, but continued with a serious expression: "Under normal circumstances, people in our line of work would say the same thing."

"There are techniques to deconstructing characters. If you master the techniques, add a little talent, and use some linguistic artistry, as long as you speak with enough confidence and a strong enough aura, you can usually make your statement very accurate and convince the person you're being deceived."

Zhao Cheng'an was taken aback.

"By exploiting the victims' desire to change their luck and get something for nothing, it is easy to swindle a lot of money."

Zhao Cheng'an: ...

"Actually, the reason I was able to speak so accurately just now is because I added you on WeChat before, Master Zhao, have you forgotten?"

"I judged it based on your WeChat Moments."

Zhao Cheng'an: ...

"Gathering information is the most crucial step in our line of work. If you want to set up a trap to catch big fish, this step is of paramount importance."

"Therefore," Zhou Hu emphasized, "never believe in these things. It's okay for friends to play around if it doesn't cost money, but never believe anything that costs money."

"I've been feeling guilty all these years for cheating so many old customers in order to make a living. I always thought that once I pay off my mortgage, I could do something to repay everyone."

As he spoke, Zhou Hu sighed.

"Even during holidays, it would be nice to give people some rare or unusual foods and fruits."

Qin Huai's eyes lit up.

(End of this chapter)