Chapter 108
The next morning, Xia Zhi woke from his dream, staring at the invisible ceiling above with confused gray eyes for several seconds.
After the haziness from dream wandering faded, he rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed.
Opening his inventory, he checked his gains from last night's dream world:
31 Twilight Mushrooms, 7 Sweet Dream Flowers, and 1 Nightmare Fruit.
After converting them, he received 39 points.
Adding this to the points earned from crafting [Joy Incense] these past few days, his available points became 103.
This was enough to purchase a golden item from the shop.
Finally passing through the difficult newbie phase, his points were gradually becoming abundant.
Xia Zhi sighed and opened the [Shop], finding the silver [Corpse Pearl] he had looked at before, spending 30 points to purchase it.
A cool, snow-white round pearl appeared in his hand.
Effect: When worn by a zombie, maintains body coldness and complete consciousness.
Tomorrow was the Fleeting Colors in Flight festival, and Xia Zhi planned to give this [Corpse Pearl] to Qiqi.
With this pearl, Qiqi would no longer lose her memories or dislike hot weather, allowing her to live like a normal person.
Xia Zhi played with the pearl before storing it away along with the [Dream Pillow]. He changed clothes and went downstairs.
By this time, Shenhe and Zhu Zi were already up and cleaning the shop. Ganyu was also awake and helping wipe tables, probably feeling awkward just sitting and watching.
"Good morning, Boss!"
"Good morning, Boss."
"Good morning, Mr. Xia."
Seeing Xia Zhi, the three girls greeted him in unison.
Xia Zhi nodded and smiled in response: "Good morning everyone. Miss Ganyu, did you sleep well last night?"
"Yes, Mr. Xia's massage was very effective, I slept very comfortably. Also, I haven't spent much time with my junior sister Shenhe before, so we talked a lot last night while sharing a room, and our relationship has grown closer."
"That's good. I'll go freshen up, then we can go out for breakfast together."
Ganyu paused, asking involuntarily: "We're eating out?"
Zhu Zi smiled and said: "Yes, we usually eat out. For breakfast, we just find any shop, and for lunch and dinner, we go to Wanmin Restaurant."
"Oh, I thought with Mr. Xia's excellent cooking skills, he would prefer to cook for himself..."
"Maybe the boss finds it troublesome. Come to think of it, last night was the first time the boss cooked in the shop. Thanks to Miss Ganyu, we got to taste that delicious mushroom noodle dish."
Zhu Zi recalled the taste of last night's noodles and couldn't help but smack her lips.
"I want to eat it again."
Ganyu also pressed her lips together.
She wanted to eat those noodles again too.
After a while, Xia Zhi came out from the back of the shop and led them outside.
As usual, there was a long queue of waiting customers outside the shop.
Xia Zhi politely thanked these customers, and after leaving, they hadn't walked far when they met Madame Ping and Yaoyao at the intersection.
After exchanging greetings, Xia Zhi smiled and asked: "Madame Ping came specially to find Miss Ganyu, right?"
"Yes."
Madame Ping nodded and looked at Ganyu.
"Last night I went to Yuehai Pavilion and asked Tianquan Ningguang carefully. Things aren't as you imagined."
Madame Ping paused, then told Ganyu what Ningguang had said last night.
Ganyu remained silent for a moment after listening, then said softly: "I really overthought things... thank you, Streetward..."
"No need to be polite, and don't rush to go back to work. I've already spoken with Ningguang. Take a good rest these two days, and after the Fleeting Colors in Flight festival, when you're feeling better, you can return then."
"...Alright."
"You're going for breakfast, right? Go ahead, this old lady won't keep you."
"Have Madame Ping and Yaoyao eaten?"
"Yaoyao already ate! And already practiced a set of spear techniques!"
"Is that so? Yaoyao is so hardworking."
"Mm!"
The little girl lifted her head, showing a sweet smile.
It really melted one's heart.
After bidding farewell to Madame Ping and Yaoyao, they arrived at an old noodle shop in Chihu Rock.
Three bowls of signature braised noodles, one bowl of vegetable noodles.
Xia Zhi found the taste acceptable, but the three girls seemed to lack appetite.
Perhaps their palates had been spoiled by his cooking, making them look down on these non-glowing dishes.
"Eat up. Tomorrow's the festival and the shop will be closed. I'll cook a proper meal for you all."
"Really?"
"Yes, I'm planning to invite some friends over too. Miss Ganyu, are you free tomorrow?"
"I am!"
"Perfect."
The girls' eyes lit up, and their appetites suddenly returned.
After finishing their noodles, they returned to the shop to start today's business.
With nothing to do, Ganyu could only sit in the shop ordering juice like a customer, quietly reading alone.
For someone usually so busy with work, this was a rare moment of leisure.
At some point, Zhu Zi suddenly came to the counter and lowered her voice.
"Boss, that customer is here."
"Hm?"
"You know, yesterday's cross-dressing customer. You asked me to tell you when they came."
"Oh."
"They're sitting over there, though you can't see them, boss."
"It's fine."
Xia Zhi silently glanced over, noticing the customer had delicate features and a slender build, no wonder they could pass so well when cross-dressing.
Quite talented indeed.
If their voice was good too, they could develop in the direction of Liyue opera, learn feminine singing techniques, and possibly become a big star like Miss Yun Jin.
Xia Zhi was only slightly curious about this customer, and once he saw them in person, that curiosity was satisfied and he lost interest.
After all, in his original world, cross-dressers weren't uncommon.
Xia Zhi lowered his head, suddenly remembering the ticket Xingqiu had given him.
The auction at Mingxing Jewelry should have started by now, right?
Wonder how lively it is?
--
"The final item, our shop's treasure - the Glass Lily! Starting price 1 million Mora! Minimum increment 100,000 Mora!"
"Such an exquisite item! 2 million!"
"3 million!"
"I bid 5 million!"
"8 million! Please give our Northland Bank some face!"
"Lord Sangemahabad doesn't recognize any Northland Bank. Good items naturally go to the highest bidder - 10 million!"
"12 million!"
"13 million!"
"30 million."
???
...
The entire venue fell silent, everyone turning to look at the woman who had just bid.
She wore a gold-red dress suit with black stockings and high heels, giving off a very capable aura.
But she had heavy dark circles under her eyes and kept yawning, looking completely exhausted.
"That's Lady Ningguang's private secretary, Baixiao..."
----
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