Chapter 62

Xia Zhi sat at his desk, holding a quill pen, writing.

At some point, he heard Zhu Zi's footsteps coming up the stairs, followed by the sound of a door closing.

Hmm?

Today Miss Zhu Zi didn't lock her door?

Has she finally begun to trust me?

How reassuring.

Xia Zhi smiled and continued writing.

The book he was currently writing was positioned as a long series, like the original, and would be divided into many volumes.

The first volume was almost complete.

In two days, he would take it to Wan Wen Ji She to submit it, and it should go on sale next month.

By then, he'd place a copy of his book on every table in the shop.

He'd also include a summer shop in the story, with the shop owner being set up as a powerful cultivator in hiding, maximizing the marketing potential.

After finishing a major plot point, Xia Zhi put down his pen, preparing to rest.

He had run out of calming incense, so tonight he'd make do with regular incense. No need to spoil that female ghost.

He lit the incense burner, letting the smoke drift.

Xia Zhi got into bed, closed his eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

At some point, Chi Yu phased through from next door. She first sniffed the air, and not detecting any delicious scent, couldn't help but pout.

Then she stood by the bed, carefully studying Xia Zhi's face.

This person is actually blind?

You really can't tell at all.

At this moment, Xia Zhi was once again awakened from his dream by that sudden feeling of unease.

Indeed, without the calming incense, it just wouldn't do.

Xia Zhi kept his eyes closed, using his detection ability to scan around, and saw the familiar white figure by the bed.

Hmm?

Wait a minute?

Why does she now have a golden progress bar above her?

[Progress: 0%]

It wasn't there before.

Xia Zhi was quite surprised by the sudden appearance of the golden progress bar above her, completely unable to understand why it had appeared.

But it didn't matter if he couldn't understand. The most important thing now was figuring out how to fill up that progress bar.

Xia Zhi felt somewhat troubled.

Because she was constantly trying to avoid being discovered by him, while he had to pretend not to know of her existence.

The two of them couldn't generate any interaction.

Chi Yu stood by the bed, watched Xia Zhi for a while, then turned to the desk and picked up the stack of manuscripts.

Though the handwriting wasn't particularly beautiful, it was very neat. It was impossible to imagine this was written by a blind person.

Could it be that his personality was extremely competitive, refusing to admit defeat, and even though he couldn't see, he had persistently practiced until he gained the ability to write without using his eyes?

That was quite possible.

She pondered for a moment, then stopped thinking about it and began reading the latest update.

Today's plot was quite good, just a bit too normal in style.

She felt somewhat unsatisfied after reading it, so she flipped back to earlier parts to revisit some of the classic scenes.

At this moment, Xia Zhi suddenly turned over in bed.

Chi Yu immediately looked up, but seeing that he hadn't woken up, she relaxed and went back to being immersed in the story.

This was still better, more engaging.

Until she suddenly heard clear footsteps near her ear.

???

Chi Yu's spirit went cold, startled by the sudden sound.

She looked up and saw that Xia Zhi had somehow gotten out of bed and was slowly walking towards her.

Had she been discovered?

She clutched the manuscript, unsure what to do.

Xia Zhi walked up to her, reached for the cup on the table, took a sip of water, then put the cup down and slowly walked back to bed, continuing to sleep.

Throughout the entire process, he didn't look at her once, as if she didn't exist at all.

Chi Yu stared blankly at Xia Zhi, who had gone back to sleep on the bed, recalling those lifeless gray eyes she had just seen.

So he really is blind.

That scared me to death, I thought I'd been discovered.

But even though his eyes can't see, he still persisted in writing such a work. That's truly admirable dedication despite his disability.

When the book goes on sale, she must definitely get Hu Tao to support him by buying lots of copies from the bookstore!

Xia Zhi lay in bed, silently "watching" as she breathed a sigh of relief and continued reading the manuscript in her hands.

Very good, the first step was complete.

The seed had been planted. This way, she would gradually lower her guard around him, and once she completely got used to him being blind, she would progress from only daring to appear when he was asleep to being willing to appear in front of him at any time.

Then there would be many more opportunities for interaction between them.

This process couldn't be rushed.

Just like dealing with Guoba, take it slow.

Tomorrow night he'd use the calming incense again. After all, she had a treasure chest, so he had to spoil her a bit.

With these thoughts, Xia Zhi gradually fell asleep.

The next morning, Xia Zhi woke up and stretched.

She had already gone back.

He opened the windows, changed his clothes, put away the manuscript, and went downstairs to wash up.

Miss Zhu Zi had gotten up earlier than him and was diligently wiping tables in the shop.

"Boss, good morning!"

"Zhu Zi, morning. Is your foot better?"

"It's fine now!"

"That's good."

"Boss..."

"What is it?"

"There are lots of people standing outside our shop! I didn't dare open the door."

"Oh?"

"I asked through the door, they're all customers who visited our shop yesterday."

"So, they're here to get seats?"

"Yes!"

"It's only eight o'clock now, didn't you tell them we don't open until nine?"

"I did! But they won't leave!"

"..."

The business seemed to be a bit too popular.

It was only the second day, and there were already so many returning customers.

The Geo Archon really knew how to handle things!

Xia Zhi nodded and said, "Don't mind them, let's go have breakfast first. We'll open at the usual time."

"Okay, Boss!"

"The half-price poster on the wall can be taken down now."

"I already took it down!"

"Let's go."

"Mm!"

Zhu Zi carefully opened the shop door.

A chorus of excited voices immediately came from outside: "The door's open! The door's open!"

Zhu Zi quickly explained, "Not yet! We don't open until nine!"

Xia Zhi walked out and saw that a long line had already formed outside.

The people of Liyue were really well-mannered!

Most people in the queue were familiar faces, and those unfamiliar ones were probably brought along by the regulars.

Xia Zhi stood at the shop entrance, facing everyone, and spoke.

"Good morning, dear customers. Thank you very much for your support of our summer shop. We're very touched that you've all come to queue so early, but our business hours were set long ago and won't be changed for now. However, to thank you all for your patronage, today's juice will still be half-price. Welcome everyone to come and taste it."

"The boss is generous!"

Xia Zhi smiled and nodded: "We're going to have breakfast now, but of course, we'll hurry back and try to open early to serve you all."

"Go ahead, Boss! We'll wait for you!"

"Boss, my family runs a breakfast shop. How about I bring you some packed breakfast tomorrow? Just tell me what you'd like!"

"Boss..."

The people of Liyue were truly warm-hearted!