"Lu Chukong, I'm here. Where are you?" Zhao Zhao rushed from the small apartment to the demon realm. Following the route Lu Chukong gave her, she arrived at the entrance of a restaurant.
This restaurant clearly wasn't ordinary. Just from the decoration, it screamed "I'm expensive."
"Already here? That was fast! I've booked a private room. Just go in and tell the waiter my name. They'll lead you here. I'll wait for you." Lu Chukong sounded quite excited, eager as if he couldn't wait.
"Okay." Zhao Zhao's arms were aching. She put Taotie, who had returned to his original form, on the ground and let him walk by himself.
It wasn't that Zhao Zhao doted on her spiritual pet and insisted on carrying it everywhere. It was just that Taotie was starting his live - eating show tonight. He was so excited that he was a bit out of control. On the way here, he kept scurrying around uncontrollably, so Zhao Zhao had no choice.
Sometimes she wanted to throw the spiritual pet into the mustard seed space, but Taotie refused. He disliked the stuffy air inside...
"By the way, did you bring all the equipment for the live - stream?" Lu Chukong's voice came from the phone again.
Zhao Zhao squinted her eyes, blinded by a golden signboard at the restaurant entrance. "I brought them. I have a good memory."
Lu Chukong laughed twice and then said, "Okay, as long as you brought them."
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Zhao kicked the little Taotie on the ground. "Let's go. It's time to pursue your great cause."
Taotie was clearly very confident in himself. He plopped down on the ground, patted his chest with one paw, and said, "Just wait. I'll be able to support you soon. Let's see if you'll still complain about me eating too much!"
"..." Zhao Zhao didn't really want to comment on this kind of blind confidence because it reminded her of herself.
When she was on her way to find Su Yuan with the lunch box, she was just as confident. She even thought for a while about what pose to use to accept Su Yuan's embrace. But in the end, she failed and ran away embarrassedly...
She had a bit of post - traumatic stress disorder now. She didn't really want to see Taotie's same kind of mysterious confidence. She always felt it wouldn't end well.
Oh, forget it. They had an important thing to do later. Stop thinking about Su Yuan!
Zhao Zhao patted her forehead and then took Taotie to the private room Lu Chukong mentioned.
In the private room, Lu Chukong was holding his phone, taking pictures of a table full of delicious and mouth - watering dishes from various angles. From time to time, he would give himself some sincere compliments.
"Wow..." Taotie was drooling at the sight of the table full of food. He shamefully wiped his mouth with his paw, then tugged at Zhao Zhao's pant leg a couple of times, using his eyes to signal that he wanted to feast.
He had improved. Now when he wanted to eat outside, he knew to ask his master's permission first. Zhao Zhao thought with a bit of relief.
But even though Taotie had made such great progress and was so eager for food, Zhao Zhao wouldn't let him eat now.
Because these were the things they would use for the live - eating show later.
"Wait a bit. If you eat now, there won't be any left later." Zhao Zhao stroked Taotie's fur and persuaded him.
However, Taotie was a fierce beast that wasn't easily able to resist temptation. He stared straight at the food on the table and asked, "Can't we order another portion?"
"..." Zhao Zhao regretfully informed him, "No. We need to save some money now."
Taotie had to force himself to look away, eagerly waiting for the live - stream time to arrive.
Lu Chukong took a lot of photos in a row. Zhao Zhao curiously leaned over and asked, "Are these photos for later?"
"No," Lu Chukong shook his head. "I spent so much money on this. Of course, I have to take pictures to commemorate it."
"… Oh."
"Alright, let's assemble the equipment now. I've invited some big names in the live - streaming world to co - host with you today. I'll definitely make sure, no, definitely make sure Taotie stands out." Lu Chukong was full of energy, looking more enthusiastic than if he was making money himself.
The more Zhao Zhao listened, the more she felt that this was different from what they had discussed before. While taking out the live - streaming equipment from her mustard seed space, she curiously asked for details, "What big names co - hosting?"
To fully showcase Taotie's majestic appearance as an ancient divine beast (actually, it was the stubborn request of this face - conscious ancient fierce beast), Lu Chukong had specially taken Zhao Zhao to pick out very high - end, elegant, and useful lighting lamps.
But he had never used this stuff before. Now he was studying the instruction manual on how to set it up.
Taking a break from his busy work to answer Zhao Zhao's question, he said, "Actually, it's not really co - hosting. When Taotie and I went to catch the Taishui last time, we accidentally found some precious ingredients. By chance, we met a few food bloggers who were out looking for those things. I thought that you and Taotie would be doing live - streams in the future, so it would be good to do them a favor and ask them to take care of you. So I gave them the ingredients."
"Give me the screw." Lu Chukong took the screw Zhao Zhao handed him and tightened it, then continued, "Then, those food bloggers jointly launched a live - stream challenge called 'Who is the Big Eater'. There's no one in this world who can eat more than Taotie, so I mentioned it to them and arranged for you two to join this popular event."
After listening to Lu Chukong's words, Zhao Zhao was both impressed and touched. She looked at Lu Chukong with star - filled eyes and sincerely thanked him, "Thank you so much, Lu Chukong. You're such a good person."
Tsk, giving out the good - guy card again, sis?
Lu Chukong held the screwdriver in his mouth and smiled like a fox. "Of course you should thank me. I've put in a lot of effort running around."
"Okay, I understand. How about sharing the money we earn with you later?"
Zhao Zhao naturally proposed this solution. In her eyes, money was a good thing, and Lu Chukong had also said that one of his hobbies was making money. She thought this proposal would definitely be to his liking and would show her sincere gratitude.
However, to her surprise, Lu Chukong refused.
Originally, he did have this idea, but now he had found something better than direct dividends.
He said, "After you finish your work at the Demon Administration Bureau every week, you have to draw fifty talismans for me like the ones you gave me last time."
Zhao Zhao: "..." Actually, she didn't really want to thank Lu Chukong anymore.
Fifty talismans. Lu Chukong was really asking for too much.
"What? Are you reluctant?" Seeing Zhao Zhao's expression, the greedy guy thought he might have asked for too much. Just as he was about to change the number, Zhao Zhao spoke up.
"Those talismans are very difficult to draw. I have to refine them every time I draw them, which takes a long time. And actually, I don't have much time. I have a lot of homework to do."
After saying this, Zhao Zhao secretly glanced at Lu Chukong's expression. She had a bold idea. "But there's also a solution."
Lu Chukong raised his eyebrows. "Tell me."
"If you can help me with a little bit of my homework every day, I think I'll have time to draw the talismans for you." After saying that, she was afraid Lu Chukong wouldn't agree, so she held out her little finger. "It's really just a little bit."
Lu Chukong didn't know how much "a little bit" was, but he knew one thing.
Zhao Zhao was forced to do homework and go to school because of Song Yao's arrangement. If Song Yao found out that he was doing Zhao Zhao's homework for her one day... Eek! He didn't even dare to think about it. Miss Song's hot temper would probably eat him alive.
"This won't work. Think of something else?" He didn't want to die young.
"Then there's nothing else. I really can't finish my homework! It's so difficult..." Writing homework was making her develop a rebellious attitude. Zhao Zhao rubbed her head in distress.
Homework is difficult? Lu Chukong caught the key information and decided to teach this innocent Second Miss Song some homework - doing secrets. "Actually, you can finish your homework quickly. You just need to use some great functions on your phone."
Zhao Zhao listened attentively. "What?"
Lu Chukong said, "There are various question - searching apps on the phone. They have everything." Saying that, he took Zhao Zhao's phone and quickly downloaded a bunch of question - searching apps for her. He also explained how to use them.
The little tree demon, once again deeply shocked by human technology, had her eyes shining. She looked at Lu Chukong as if he was a shining hero.
"Now do you have time to draw the talismans for me?" Lu Chukong asked confidently.
Zhao Zhao nodded repeatedly. "Fifty talismans? Don't worry. I can do it!"
"Okay, then quickly set up the stuff. You go and set up the camera, and I'll handle the lights. If we wait any longer, your spiritual pet will rush up without thinking."
Zhao Zhao looked back at Taotie not far away, couldn't help smiling, and started working with Lu Chukong.
The two were working feverishly. Finally, after they finished setting up everything, Lu Chukong rubbed his sore shoulder and joked, "I've worked so hard. You should compensate me more."
He was referring to the talismans, and Zhao Zhao knew it well. She silently calculated that she would draw a few more for him later.
Seeing that everything was ready, Taotie couldn't wait to run to the dining table and sit down, ready to start eating.
Lu Chukong walked to the camera, connected it to his phone, and was about to start the live - stream. "Are you ready, Taotie? Three, two -!"
Bang!
The remaining "one" in the countdown wasn't said because it was interrupted by a loud noise at the door. The private room fell silent for a moment, and everyone looked towards the door in unison.
To their surprise, Su Yuan was standing at the door with a cold face. His gaze towards Lu Chukong clearly showed that he wanted to kill him at any moment.
Lu Chukong inexplicably felt a chill on his neck. He took two steps back and very cowardly and consciously stood behind Zhao Zhao.
Oh no! Why did the Dragon Lord look at him as if he wanted to kill someone? Had he done something unforgivable?
Little did he know that this backward movement of his further irritated the not - so - calm heart of the Dragon Lord. Now, not only did his eyes show the intention to kill, but he had also raised his hand.