Witch Redemption

"That being said, I'm quite confident in my cooking skills. If we were the head chefs and you helped out, it might even be better."

Li Lan spoke politely, but inwardly she couldn't help but complain, "Della and I don't want to face a bunch of terrible food later. You guys think team building requires everyone to participate and show their attitude. But what we want more is delicious food than attitude, not to suffer with you."

Although witches can completely digest whatever they eat, this does not mean that witches have no sense of taste or are not picky about food.

Seeing how confident the two employees were, the boss, Zhang Lingyu, was somewhat self-aware and didn't argue too much. However, she did remind them to take it easy and not mess things up.

One hour later...

The impeccable skill and unbelievable deliciousness allowed the colleagues who came with them to witness for the first time what a true "virtuous wife and loving mother" really is.

This meal was delicious, but I still felt uneasy about it.

To put it simply, Li Lan and Li Dai were seen as extremely aloof and kept a certain distance from everyone, so people didn't know much about them and naturally didn't expect them to be so "talented".

At first, I thought that Li Lan and Li Dai might have personality issues, which was why they were always serious and unsmiling with everyone.

But now it seems that the reason why the two sides are unable to get close is because they are not on the same level from the beginning.

First of all, Li Lan and Li Dai are very strong, even exaggeratedly so.

Three young men chopped wood for a while and then felt exhausted and could hardly chop any more.

As a result, these two guys were very skilled and finished all the physical work that should have been theirs in less than a short time. This was simply too unfair.

In comparison, doesn't this make one feel somewhat inferior?

Next, judging from Li Lan and Li Dai's cooking skills and proficiency, it's clear that the two of them have practiced.

Compared to these clueless "second-generation" kids, they are many times stronger, which makes people even more puzzled.

"I need to figure out a way to catch up with those two!"

In modern society, it's not easy to find a wife who is a great cook. And these two in front of us are not only good cooks, but also top-notch in terms of looks.

That's what I think, but how exactly should I pursue it?

Trying to win them over with money? No way. If they were that rich, why would they need to work as waiters? Trying to win them over with sincerity? If sincerity really worked, where would all those seventy- or eighty-year-old magicians be?

The more I thought about it, the more desperate I felt. It was all just wishful thinking, and naturally, I felt terrible.

Of course, men and women naturally have different thoughts. The female colleague next to her and the shop owner's daughter were thinking, "I heard they're also from the countryside. It seems their parents don't love them much, otherwise they wouldn't have so much housework to do. Compared to them, our family is much better off. But I'm still envious. Maybe I should go back and learn how to do it?"

A girl who can cook seems like she'd be very popular.

In short, the midday picnic naturally ended with Li Lan and Li Dai forcefully intervening.

Although it was a bit puzzling in terms of team atmosphere, the result was far better than other picnic groups in the resort.

...... ...... ......

Liang Lengshan, the son of store manager Liang Qiuyong, is eighteen years old this year. He originally planned to go back to his hometown to help out during his summer vacation at university, but unexpectedly he met two beautiful women.

They are truly beautiful. At least in Liang Lengshan's opinion, these two women, who dress up as cosplayers every day, are really beautiful, top-tier beauties. Many men usually approach them because of their looks.

There was one thing that Liang Lengshan found strange: the presence of these two women was inexplicably low.

Once the distance between the two exceeds a certain level, the impression of these two beauties will become somewhat blurred, until they are gradually forgotten.

This was how it was when Liang Lengshan first met them. He was amazed by their beauty when he got close to them, but after a while, he would wonder inexplicably, "I just remembered which two beauties I met."

In any case, for him, these two women were not just beautiful, but more importantly, mysterious.

Yes, it's mysterious!

Although his father always said that the two girls came from a remote rural area in Lindong Town and were academic underachievers who couldn't get into university after graduating from high school, which is why they came here to work, Liang Lengshan never believed that was the case.

These two women didn't seem like naive young people with only a high school education; they seemed more like cunning and experienced adults, probably several years older than they appeared.

Perhaps attracted by their looks and mysterious charm, Liang Lengshan could be said to have a certain degree of affection for them and did have the desire to pursue them, but it seemed that there was no chance today.

His aloof and unapproachable attitude was only one reason; a more important reason was that Liang Lengshan always had the illusion that the two of them did not live in the same world.

"Hey......"

He couldn't understand why Li Lan and Li Dai had such great strength, but he knew that their cooking skills really touched his heart. So much so that he tried to talk to them many times afterward, but he never had the chance.

For example, during the zoo visit after 2 p.m., after walking for more than an hour, Liang Qiuyong originally wanted to find an opportunity to introduce some animals, but he didn't expect that these two guys knew more than he did. His sister could even ask these two guys for help with some things she didn't understand, and she could get an accurate answer from them.

"That's strange! Wasn't it agreed that we would only graduate from high school?"

How can someone who only graduated from high school possess such unconventional knowledge and emotional intelligence?

Liang Qiuyong was completely baffled.

Then, at the Happy Amusement Park after 4 p.m., after riding the "Roller Coaster" twice, Liang Qiuyong was surprised to find that Li Lan and Li Dai seemed to have no concept of fear. They were almost expressionless throughout the ride and even calmly talked about what they had just felt.

Compared to them, Liang Qiuyong and the others were so frightened they couldn't even breathe, feeling like they were about to die.

"Something's wrong! How can they be so calm? Aren't they afraid at all?"

I'm questioning life, I'm really questioning life.

When a boy develops feelings for a girl and decides to pursue her, but finds that the girl's behavior is illogical, what should he do?

What's even more puzzling is that the girl subconsciously avoided him, leaving no room for him to pursue her.

"What a pity, I never got a chance to talk to him."

My gaze lingered on the shorter woman, named Li Lan. Her greatest hobby was cosplaying as an elf. She dyed her long hair silver-white, which perfectly matched the aesthetic standards of the Chinese. It would have been even better if her eyes were red.

Li Lan is different from Li Dai. Li Dai gives people the feeling of being truly aloof and not wanting to pay attention to anyone.

Li Lan, on the other hand, would occasionally wear a smile, giving people the illusion that she was easy to talk to. Moreover, she was the one who led the cooking at the recent picnic, and her skills were even better than Li Dai's.

Therefore, now it's not just Liang Qiuyong; the other two male competitors have also set their sights on Li Lan.

I was trying to figure out if I could find even the slightest chance.

However, in the blink of an eye, the zoo visit was over, the fun at the park was over, and dinner was arranged, but these men still couldn't find an opportunity to strike up a conversation, and they were utterly desperate.

It wasn't that they couldn't find an opportunity to strike up a conversation, but the atmosphere was very awkward. Several times they tried to start a conversation, but Li Lan's casual remark would immediately kill the topic, making it impossible to start a conversation.

I don't know if this guy has low or high emotional intelligence, but he keeps trying to reject them indirectly.

"Oh no! This guy is even harder to woo than my classmates! What am I going to do?"

After much thought, it seems the only option is the upcoming haunted house trip. Rumor has it that girls are particularly timid, so many guys like to invite them to haunted houses. Maybe a scare will make the girl suddenly "throw herself into my arms," ​​and then there might be an opportunity.

Then I thought about how those two girls were practically expressionless after riding the roller coaster that afternoon. Could this haunted house really scare them?

Anyway, before heading to the haunted house at the amusement park, the three men in the group all had complicated expressions.

"Okay, next we'll go check out the haunted house, and after that we'll head to the city center to sing karaoke and party until dawn!"

Before uttering these bold words, the proprietress Zhang Lingyu gave her son a wink, as if to say, "You should give it a try!"

...... ...... ......

"A haunted house?"

Li Lan was also a corporate slave in her previous life, having worked for a fairly large company and naturally participated in many team-building activities.

For a typical couch potato, he might prefer "playing video games together in an internet cafe" to "team building parties," but unfortunately, a normal corporate culture wouldn't do that.

Whether it's a beach or a haunted house, Li Lan had actually been there a few times with his company team, so it wasn't a new experience for him.

He vaguely remembers the crowds on the beach and the great disappointment he felt at the time, as well as the sense of emptiness he felt after visiting the haunted house.

Yes, after visiting the haunted house, I felt a sense of emptiness, a really heartbreaking feeling.

Generally speaking, when a company organizes a visit to a haunted house, there will definitely be both men and women, right? Sometimes they might even be paired up, right?

It is said that this is the best way to enhance feelings. As a man, one should naturally show courage in front of women to win their favor and perhaps even win love.

Back then, Li Lan had absolutely no interest in so-called real-life romance. He was always engrossed in his work and wouldn't pay any attention to women.

Although a girl was arranged to be behind him that day, he wasn't moved at all. He kept a straight face the whole time, and even after they finished visiting the haunted house, the girl didn't tug at his clothes or anything. Afterwards, the girl even complained to him, "I feel like Brother Lan is scarier than those ghosts!"

What!

It's easy to imagine how hurtful those words were. Being a single, fat, and nerdy guy is bad enough, but then a girl in real life complained that he was too gloomy.

Even if Li Lan only displays a business-like smile when handling business, in order to attract business and earn performance, does that mean he is scarier than a ghost?

Li Lan forgot how long she had been withdrawn and how long she had been addicted to games before she could recover from this depressed state of mind.

"I kind of miss that kind of life!"

I felt a bit melancholy. I never thought that thinking about my past embarrassing history would not only not make me feel uncomfortable, but I would even want to experience that feeling of depression again.

Li Lan felt that he was not good at expressing himself. He was terrified when he visited the haunted house, and his body was stiff. Would it be the same this time?

Soon it was time for the much-anticipated pairing. Li Lan and Della stood together without hesitation, walking side by side, leaving the men behind them no chance to interfere.

“…”

There was no other way but to make do with the pairings. Two male colleagues stood together, store manager Zhang Lingyu brought her daughter, and her son could only be paired with another female employee.

"Okay, let's go!"

Tsk, are Li Lan and Li Dai really just high school graduates? Why do they seem so wary? As the older proprietress, Zhang Lingyu was starting to have an existential crisis.

Ignoring the gloom of others, Li Lan felt a strange unease as she stepped into the haunted house.

It's worth mentioning that modern haunted houses are not like the perfunctory depictions in Japanese anime. They occupy a huge area, divided into multiple zones and themes, with numerous connecting roads between each zone for visitors to traverse.

Li Lan vaguely remembers that the themes included "Resident Evil", "Far Cry", "Baby Grudge" and "Farewell My Concubine", more than a dozen in total, covering everything from Western to Eastern elements, from ancient times to the Republic of China to modern times.

This not only features numerous realistic props, but also a large number of staff members playing roles such as "zombies," "executioners," "serial killers," and "ghosts." Combined with the special atmosphere of the night, it's sure to scare the faint of heart, making it far more exaggerated than any so-called animation or movie.

I don't know if it's still like that now.

"Hmm? Fog?"

Li Lan muttered to herself, as if this wasn't just her imagination.

Chapter 12 First Steps into the Foggy World

The haunted houses at Happy Amusement Park are mostly open from 7 pm to 11 pm, and the tickets aren't too expensive, only 80 yuan.

For people gathered in the city, this attraction, which is only open at night, is quite popular, especially in the hot summer. Many people come to experience it because they have nothing else to do, and even if you have to queue, you can wait for about ten minutes.

While it's called a "haunted house," it's completely different from the haunted houses in anime and manga. It's basically a recreation of scenes from horror movies, complete with realistic props and sound effects, making for an outstanding experience.

Of course, since the witch's eyesight is a bit exaggerated, she can still tell which people are staff and which are props even in this dim environment.

Once you realize what's around you, the level of terror actually drops dramatically.