Chapter 299
Chapter 299
Giselle was on a live stream when Casper went to her hostel. When she saw Casper, she ended the live stream by singing a song for her viewers.
Casper sat on one side couch as he listened to Giselle sing. The live stream channel was more popular than he thought. Within a short period, the viewers had lavished Giselle with more than two thousand dollars. Furthermore, this was excluding rewards from the big shots. If they visited her live stream channel, Giselle could easily get more than ten thousand in a minute.
Since Giselle loved singing, and she did not have to reveal her face to the public during the live stream, Casper was more than happy to let her sing to her viewers. Giselle had a good singing voice, having undergone vocal training. Her voice was comparable to that of professional singers.
“Giselle, why don’t you become a professional singer? You are so pretty, and you have such a beautiful voice. I’m sure you can become an international superstar overnight,” Casper suggested as he rested his arm around her waist.
Giselle scoffed, “What are you talking about? I sing because I like to sing, not because I want to become famous.”
“Did you drink the soup I made for you this afternoon?” Casper pinched Giselle’s ear lightly.
“I finished all of them. The soup is very rich. I’m sure to put on weight after drinking it. What am I going to do?” Giselle punched Casper lightly with her fist.
Casper looked at her with wide-eyed innocence. “The tomato beef soup is very light and healthy. It looks like you can only drink chicken noodle soup or potato and leek soup next time.”
Casper suddenly thought of something. He stood up immediately and dashed into the kitchen.
“What’s wrong? I’ve just eaten this afternoon. Are you going to cook again?” Despite saying that, Giselle’s stomach started to rumble.
“You need to lose some weight. Otherwise, you’ll soon grow into a pig,” Casper joked as he took out a potato.
Potato and leek soup was a classic dish. It had a very mild flavor and was a good source of nutrients.
Casper took the kitchen knife and wiped it clean. He was about to cut the potato when Giselle stopped him. “Wait a minute. I just bought a very sharp kitchen knife yesterday. You should be able to put it to good use.”
Giselle took out a triangular-shaped kitchen knife. She then took out a tomato and used the knife to slice it. The tomato was easily slit into two.
“Look, isn’t this knife sharp? It can even be used to chop up bones and other stuff.” Giselle’s lips curled into a smile, waiting for words of praise from Casper. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
The latter sighed as he touched his forehead. “This is a knife with a laser edge. It cuts very fast, but it will become blunt after a month. You’re a teacher. Haven’t you come across such sales tactics?”
“Ah!” Giselle opened her mouth wide in shock before lowering her head in embarrassment. Casper tapped her nose affectionately. “The best knife for a chef is the one that they’re most comfortable with. I’ve used your kitchen knife more than ten times, and I’ve gotten used to it. It’s good enough for cooking potatoes and leek.”
Giselle puffed up her cheeks and retorted, “It’s potatoes and leek. I can make that too. How can anyone not know how to cook them?”
Casper shook his head. “On the contrary, it’s a very difficult dish to master. Everyone knows that it is easy to cook a dish with potato and leek. However, few people know that it takes a lot of effort and thought to whip up a good dish with these simple ingredients.”
Casper took his knife and sliced the potatoes thinly.
He then took out a bunch of leeks and picked out a few stalks that were the most tender. After washing the leeks, he sprinkled some salt on them and placed them on a plate. He steamed the leeks until they were seventy percent cooked before taking them out. At the same time, he took out the potatoes that he had cut earlier.
Casper poured out the soup base from the plate of leek into a bowl. Brandishing his knife over the potatoes, he then added them to the soup.
Giselle stared closely at the soup but did not find anything special about it. “What’s so extraordinary about this? It looks like a bowl of ordinary potato and leek soup.”
Casper smiled. “Try this ordinary potato and leek soup then.” He handed the bowl of soup to Giselle. On closer look, she noticed that the potatoes had blended perfectly into the soup.
“Wow, that’s so clever of you. How did you do it?” Giselle could not wait to taste the soup and quickly drank a spoonful. To her surprise, she found that the potato and the leek complemented each other perfectly. It was so delicious that the taste continued to linger after she had finished drinking the soup.
“It’s so tasty,” Giselle started praising Casper. From then on, she would not dare to pick on Casper’s cooking again. A simple potato and leek soup tasted so much better than any food she had prepared.
Giselle lamented, “You’re such a good cook. I can never compare to you. I can never learn how to make these dishes in my lifetime.”
Casper burst out laughing. “That’s not true. As long as you know how to cook, your culinary skills will improve over time. Let me tell you this; this soup can still be improved. If the main ingredients of this dish, the potatoes and leeks, are fresher, the taste will be even better.”
Giselle was baffled. “Did you come from outer space? How did you learn how to cook so well?”
“Hehe, did you say it tastes good? I can make it for you every day.”
“It’s delicious.”
Both of them then went to the living room and chatted for a while. Casper suddenly thought of Giselle’s family and wondered if she knew about her mother’s story. He tried to sound her out.
“Giselle, I’ve never heard you mention your parents. Can you tell me something about them? I should pay them a visit one day.”
Giselle’s eyes shifted uneasily when she heard that. She answered slowly, “There’s not much to talk about my parents. They’re ordinary working…”
Casper was puzzled. Giselle did not seem to know that her father’s debts had been cleared. She was under the impression that her father was still heavily in debt and hence, did not want to talk much about him.
Since Giselle was unwilling to talk about him, Casper decided not to disclose the truth to her. As it was already eight o’clock in the evening, Casper decided to check out Horington food street.
He wanted to bring Giselle along, but she turned him down, giving the excuse that she was not feeling well. Casper figured that she must be thinking of her father’s debts. Seeing how troubled Giselle looked, Casper had the urge to tell Giselle that Terrence had already quit gambling and that he was now an ordinary person.
Forget it. I’ll leave it to Mrs. Clauder to tell her. I shouldn’t have brought up this topic tonight. Besides, Giselle doesn’t look like she’s skilled in combat arts. Her mother must have left the Yach family after giving birth to her.
After drawing this conclusion, Casper left the campus and made his way to Horington food street in a taxi. Half of the vendors in Horington food street had already started their business. The highlight of the street was the unique concept of the haunted house, which was located in the middle of the street. There were many customers eating along the street that night.
Casper walked along the street twice and thought that the decoration of the place looked creepy. However, the design of the area was only a novelty. Casper was aware that for the food and beverage business to be profitable in the long run, the safety and reputation of the place were critical. Without these two key factors, the place would, at most, pique the customers’ curiosity for a while.
“I need to find a way to make this business flourish and then sell it for a quick buck.”
As Casper was not hungry and could not find anything he wanted to eat in the food street, he decided to visit the haunted house.
The entrance fee to the haunted house was reasonable at fifty at night and twenty during the day.
“Sir, please be careful. Our haunted house is not like any other place. It’s very eerie. Some people have come out of it crying,” the employee warned Casper, who merely pursed his lips.
He was not one to be frightened easily. However, a few young men who were going into the haunted house with him looked worried.
When Casper entered the haunted house, there was a long and narrow tunnel. The place was so dark that he could not even see his fingers. However, Casper’s eyesight had always been excellent. The
dramas on TV would usually feature soldiers in special forces wearing dark sunglasses. In actual fact, the shades were not meant to make them look cool. Instead, it was meant to prevent the soldiers from coming into contact with sudden blinding light while in combat. The shades allowed them to adapt to the dark surrounding easily.
Casper’s eyes were sharp like a hawk, and his vision was not any different during the day or at night.
Casper led the way, and the young men followed behind, trying to find courage behind him.
The tactics used to scare the customers in this haunted house were the same ones used in the other haunted houses. Occasionally, something would be tossed out from nowhere to scare the crowd. There were also actors dressed up as ghosts to frighten the people.
What’s so creepy about this place? Casper thought that the employee was exaggerating when he said that some people had been so frightened that they cried.
Just then, a white silhouette appeared. It looked different from the other ghosts which appeared earlier. Casper sensed that the silhouette looked more like a human and had a ghostly aura.
“Now, this feels more like a haunted house.” Frowning, Casper took a step forward. The silhouette did not move. The young men behind him stopped in their tracks. Fear had rooted them to the ground.
“Boss, you’re really bold. Let’s take a different route.”
Casper rolled his eyes when he heard the young man address him as ‘Boss.’ They were most probably older than him.
Just then, the white silhouette moved. He suddenly turned around and stared at Casper and the young men.
As he turned, they realized that it was a long-haired female ghost. Her hair was all white, and it looked exceptionally creepy in the dark, haunted house.
As the ghost peeled her hair away from her face, Casper gave a little shudder in shock. When the men saw Casper’s body shaking, they thought he must have seen something very frightening. Without looking at the face of the ghost, they quickly fled the scene.
However, Casper had not trembled out of fear. He was merely taken by surprise as he found the face familiar. The ghost looked forbidding and aloof. There was a thick layer of foundation on his face. On closer look, Casper realized that it was a man in disguise. He was no other than the successor of the Hunter family, Jake.
Casper waited for Jake to knock off from work behind the haunted house. The latter had already removed his wig and wiped off the makeup on his face. The expression on his face was still distant and icy.
Casper now knew why the employee said the haunted house was different. Jake had been digging tombs with his father since he was young. He had come into contact with more dead people than live humans. His ghostly aura complemented the haunted house perfectly. Any ordinary person would be freaked out if they saw him. It was not surprising that his appearance had driven many to tears.
“Why are you working here?” Casper asked.
“To earn a living.”
After the Antique Fair, Darian decided not to let his son follow in his footsteps. He vowed not to dig tombs going forward. Hence, he made Jake look for a job outside to make a living for himself.
With such a ghostly aura and his white hair, no one dared to hire Jake for any regular job. The owner of the haunted house was drawn to his aura. Coincidentally, the color on one of the wigs in the haunted
house had faded, and Jake’s white hair came in handy. Within two days, he had made a number of their customers cry.