Hearing the girl’s refusal, Ling Zhanlou lowered his eyes, masking the dark swirl of emotion within them.
In truth, he didn’t quite know what had come over him. The moment he encountered that mutated guinea pig, his first thought had been to kill it and give it to her. But he couldn’t explain why he wanted to give it to her.
Later, when he felt thirsty, he remembered the thermos in his spatial storage and decided to treat it as a return gift. But now, that return gift had been rejected.
Qian Chuanchuan looked at the man before her. As he suddenly lowered his gaze, avoiding her eyes, she somehow sensed a trace of… aggrievedness?
Good heavens! Have I finally gone blind? she wondered. Am I going blind from making too many buns?!
Just as she was questioning her eyesight, the man looked up. His pitch-black eyes fixed on her as he asked, “Do other people have this thermos too?”
Qian Chuanchuan shook her head honestly.
“Only you have it,” she said.
The man froze for a moment. “Didn’t you say it was a customer benefit?”
Qian Chuanchuan nodded, responding righteously, “That’s right! But not every customer gets a benefit. Currently, only you have one.”
She was very precise with her wording. After all, it was only her second day in business. It was entirely possible that another Wealth God might appear in the future, and she would need to keep giving out thermoses!
“I ran out of water.”
The man shifted the topic so quickly that Qian Chuanchuan almost couldn’t keep up. She blinked, then realized—was he too embarrassed to ask for water directly, so he tried to give a gift first?
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Reaching out, she said, “Give me the cup, I’ll refill it for you. But really, the pig isn’t necessary…”
The man didn’t move. He remained still, staring at her with a stubborn look that clearly said—if you don’t take the pig, I won’t take the water.
Qian Chuanchuan: “…”
How can this man be as stubborn as a mule?
She sighed helplessly and finally said, “I don’t know how to process a pig like this.”
Upon hearing this, Ling Zhanlou’s eyes lit up. So, it wasn’t that she didn’t want the pig; she had only refused because she didn’t know how to handle it?
“I can process it,” he said immediately.
Qian Chuanchuan was choked for words. “…But how do you even eat this thing?”
“Roasted.”
Roasted? BBQ?!
Qian Chuanchuan’s taste buds were instantly awakened. Images of sizzling, oily grilled meat flashed through her mind, and she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
“Then… how about this,” she compromised, her eyes sparkling slightly. “You process it first, and later we can roast and eat it together?”
“Okay.”
The man agreed instantly and finally handed over the thermos. Qian Chuanchuan took it and turned back into the shop to fill it.
When she returned and handed him the cup, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Since you have a spatial item, why didn’t you stockpile more water?”
Ling Zhanlou pursed his lips. “I did, but I finished it all.”
Qian Chuanchuan nodded understandingly. It made sense; water was a consumable. Moreover, the man was tall and sturdy, exuding a natural pressure just by standing there—he clearly looked like a “heavy drinker” who could gulp down water by the gallon. No matter how much one stockpiled, there would come a day when it ran out.
She suddenly remembered she still didn’t know the Wealth God’s name and was about to ask.
The sound of tires grinding against the pavement interrupted her. She turned to see the group from this morning.
From their vehicles, the dozen or so people saw the little boss of the bun shop standing at the door, chatting with a tall, powerful man. A mutated animal lay at their feet.
As they got out and approached, they recognized the creature on the ground: a mutated guinea pig.
Immediately, they thought of the missions recently issued by the base. Several teams had accepted the task of hunting this creature but had failed to catch it. Now, it was here with this man.
Who is this guy? Is he here for buns too? He seems very close to the little boss. Could he be her lover?
While their gazes bounced between the two, Ling Zhanlou frowned and swept a cold look across them. The peaceful demeanor he had shown Qian Chuanchuan vanished, replaced by a bone-chilling frost in his dark eyes.
“!”
The group was startled. Before their brains could process the fear, their eyes had already darted away. The hair on the backs of their necks stood up. They came to an immediate conclusion:
This man is dangerous. Not someone to be provoked!
“Who are they?” Ling Zhanlou turned and asked Qian Chuanchuan.
“Oh, they’re from Dawn Base, here to buy buns,” she replied. She then turned to the crowd. “The buns aren’t ready yet; you’ll have to wait a few more minutes.”
“No problem, Boss. We’re staying in An City for two days, so we’ll be taking quite a few buns back with us then,” the woman with dreadlocks replied immediately, signaling they weren’t in a hurry.
Qian Chuanchuan nodded, then turned back to Ling Zhanlou. “Do you still want buns?” Since they were having BBQ later, she felt she had to ask.
As expected, the man shook his head.
“I won’t buy any for now. I’ll go process this first.” He pointed to the mutated guinea pig.
“Okay.”
Ling Zhanlou pulled the mutated guinea pig back into his spatial storage and turned to find a place to gut and clean it. Before leaving, he shot another warning glance at the people from Dawn Base. The look was laden with a clear message: Buy your stuff and get the hell out!
The crowd: “…”
Qian Chuanchuan, however, noticed none of this. Once the man left, she went back inside the shop, making sure to close the door. She sat by the small open window, waiting for the buns to finish.
A few minutes later, the buns were done.
To her surprise, the Dawn Base group didn’t swarm forward like they had this morning. Instead, four people stepped out of the crowd in a coordinated manner while the rest stayed put.
Qian Chuanchuan raised an eyebrow—it seemed they had discussed this privately.
The woman with dreadlocks stepped forward. “Boss, we’ll take all the buns. Could you please pack the different fillings separately and give us some small plastic bags?”
“Sure. I steamed three extra trays this afternoon, making it 105 buns in total. You want them all?”
“Yes!” The woman looked delighted. She certainly wouldn’t complain about having too many buns; the more, the better! There were over a dozen of them—everyone had a few crystal nuclei to spare.
“How many crystal nuclei do we owe you in total?”
“Three trays of meat buns and four trays of vegetable buns. That will be 27 Level 1 crystal nuclei.”
The woman paid, and Qian Chuanchuan began packing. Soon, the hundred-plus buns were sorted into six bags and handed over.
“Boss, we’ll head out now and come back tomorrow morning,” the woman said before leaving.
“Alright, see you tomorrow.”