Chapter 8: Neither Fish Nor Fowl (Extra 56 for Huang Jin Meng @ Number One Ink Fan)

Nie Guangyi put his luggage into the trunk and then got into the car.

He felt a strong impulse to just drive away.

Firstly, seeing Xuan Shi and Bao'er getting all lovey-dovey made him want to put some distance between them, out of sight, out of mind.

Secondly, lingering in this place for too long could leave a psychological shadow that would impact his passion for design.

This building.

From the outside.

Even when he himself visited it in person.

He couldn't deny that there were many strikingly similar aspects.

But indeed, just as he had thought before.

It only had the form.

All its soul had been completely lost.

Not to mention, just one look at the studio on the ground floor from a distance, and there was no desire to go inside whatsoever.

He insisted on pushing the door and entering, not to appreciate, but to scorn everything for a quick exit.

It felt as if his own child had been raised all wrong by others.

And it was a surprisingly strong emotion that sprang out of nowhere, as if he hadn't even had a child.

Just as Nie Guangyi was hesitating whether to start the car or not, a large tour bus pulled up behind him.

It completely blocked the already small platform, creating a traffic jam.

Now, even if Nie Guangyi wanted to turn around and leave, there was no way he could get out.

A group of people got off the bus.

Sitting bored in the car, Nie Guangyi casually counted the newcomers using his peripheral vision.

There were a total of 24 people who got off, one after another.

The gender ratio was almost equal.

Most of them were relatively young.

The guy leading the group was holding a light sign.

It looked a bit like fan behavior for celebrities.

It was unclear whether idleness could trigger human observational skills or whether a genius architect had unique abilities.

Because the light sign wasn't on and it wasn't facing him directly, Nie Guangyi couldn't make out what was written on it.

However, he could clearly hear the conversation of the people who had just disembarked.

The guy with the light sign gathered everyone together and started teasing.

"You guys can't even imagine how genius the design of Nuojie's new coffee shop is."

A girl in a red outfit and a high ponytail said, "What's there to imagine? As long as Nuojie stands there, even without anything else, her coffee shop is already a landmark."

A girl in a little black dress standing beside the ponytailed girl chimed in, "Exactly, Nuojie's coffee shop, combined with genius design, when it opens for business, you might have to line up for a month and still not get to have a cup."

A guy wearing a baseball cap backwards responded, "Remove the words 'might not', I saw Nuojie's update and tried to book right away, you know what happened?"

The girl in the little black dress nudged the baseball cap contemptuously as if she didn't want to lose IQ just by standing next to him and said disdainfully, "Remove 'might not', and you get 'will definitely get to have a cup'."

Baseball Cap pulled the little black dress back into a hug, "Bao'er, it's just a way of speaking, everyone obviously understands."

Nie Guangyi felt a full body's worth of goosebumps.

How frightening, that sourness of love again.

And who knows how long they can be cloyingly sweet before they sour?

With the passage of time and changing world, those who feed PDA will sooner or later face retribution.

A girl in a JK uniform, who, like Nie Guangyi, didn't want to see Baseball and Little Black Dress's flirtation, brought the topic back, asking the guy with the light sign, "You couldn't get a booking, right? It's fully booked for the next month, isn't it?"

"Exactly, limited to 24 people daily, it really is outrageous, the slots disappeared in seconds, harder to get than Jay Chou concert tickets."

It was now basically confirmed that the guy with the light sign was a star-chaser.

And indeed, the light sign guy seemed to know some of the details.

"This place only opens for a month, and if we wait until it's officially open for business, most of us here will never experience this coffee shop," said the light sign guy.

A girl in a floral dress timely expressed her doubt, "What if Nuojie decides not to make coffee today?"

"Hey, you're thinking about it all wrong. We're here to help tidy up the studio, what does it have to do with coffee?" the light sign guy already had his excuses ready.

"Yeah, if we help out with such enthusiasm, would Nuojie really not personally make us a cup of coffee to show her appreciation?"

"..."

More and more people joined the conversation, and Nie Guangyi, genius as he was, sitting in the car could no longer keep track of any distinctive features of the people speaking.

His mood plunged well below absolute zero.

He figured out what this group was planning.

They couldn't get in through the official booking channels, so they came during the "trial opening" to try their luck.