When she came out of the Public Security Bureau, the fountain at Lumina Square was refracting a faint rainbow in the sunlight.
Fu Hua adjusted her monocle.
The stitched seam on her cuff was neat and tight, reflecting a quiet texture in the sunlight.
The application form Zhu Yuan had given her was folded neatly and placed in the inner compartment of her backpack along with the note containing her contact information.
And now, she still had a very important thing to do!
That was, the bundles of “chunbulao” she bought this morning were still in her backpack, and she needed to return to Random Play immediately to make them shine with a new “brilliance.”
She walked along Sixth Street, passing by the market where she had bought band-aids this morning, and couldn’t help but want to go back in to see if there was any more “chunbulao.”
But unfortunately, the shopkeeper from earlier was no longer there, and the stall seemed to be surrounded by quite a few shouting and cursing people who looked very angry…
Walking to the entrance of Random Play, she pushed open the door.
Once inside, she realized the shop was several times noisier than usual, if measured by decibels.
At this moment, Nicole was lying on the counter catching up on sleep, her oversized toolbox placed at her feet; Anby was leaning against a shelf flipping through videotapes, murmuring lines from some movie; Billy was crouching in the corner, telling Eous the plot of “starlight knight.”
Belle was lying on the counter, her short blue hair messy from her posture, one of her orange-and-cyan earrings caught near her ear and the other crooked on her outer ear; Wise sat behind the counter, smiling at his phone, seemingly having found a good commission on the Inter-Knot; Eous was squatting on the small platform dedicated to Bangboos, his round body covered with half a piece of aether crystal debris brought back from the Hollow.
It looked like the Cunning Hares and the Phaethon siblings had gone into the Hollow together today to retrieve the safe.
And yesterday, Belle and Wise probably sent her away because they were afraid she would want to follow them into the Hollow out of curiosity (Hua’s narcissism.jpg).
Belle jumped up from behind the counter and rushed over, cupping Fu Hua’s cheeks with both hands and squeezing them together.
“A-Hua!
What took you so long?
Does getting a residency permit take a whole day?
My brother and I were about to go to the Public Security Bureau to look for you!”
Fu Hua’s face was squeezed into a bunch, and her red-framed glasses went askew.
“On the way…
I ran into a minor accident, but it’s fine.
The permit is processed, and I can pick it up in seven working days.”
“A minor accident?” Belle’s hands didn’t let go as her eyes scanned her up and down, noticing the stitched seam on the cuff of her beige coat, which was darker than the original fabric.
The distribution of aether crystal debris on her coat was very uneven, with a significantly higher density on the front and cuffs, a typical deposition pattern from all-around exposure to a Hollow environment.
Furthermore, a finger-sized piece of the beige fabric on Fu Hua’s shoulder blade had been torn off, and there were several scratches of varying depths on her coat.
Two were on the outside of her cuffs, one on the inside of her elbow, and the left cuff was also worn.
The trajectory directions indicated they weren’t scratched in the same spot, but rather from repeatedly brushing against crystalline vines while moving.
Her gaze paused for a moment.
“A-Hua, did you go into a Hollow?!”
“I passed by a newly formed companion Hollow and helped someone out.
It just tore my cuffs a bit.
Don’t worry, I’m not hurt.”
Belle stared at her for a few seconds, let go of her face, and grabbed her hands to check them carefully instead.
After confirming that, aside from the sewn cuffs, being a bit dirty, and having a few scratches on her coat, she wasn’t injured, Belle’s expression relaxed slightly.
Still, she reached out and carefully straightened Fu Hua’s crooked glasses, her fingertips smoothing out the thin frame around the lenses.
“Next time you see a Hollow, walk around it.
You’re a girl who doesn’t even know how to fight.
Going into a Hollow is too dangerous.”
Fu Hua nodded obediently.
“Okay, I’ll remember.”
[AAA Building Materials Brother Rat: Look at that, look at that!
Here it is again!
Those lying skills!
She doesn’t even draft her lies!]
[Big Cards Big Life: Maybe Bird Mama isn’t lying?]
[I Yao Verify Cards!: Don’t make Boss Yao laugh.
The little Ethereal in that Hollow might even be crying right now.]
[Thick Milk Man: Can it even cry?
Still too light.]
Looking at her expression, which was so obedient that she didn’t have the heart to keep nagging, Belle finally cupped her face again and rubbed it twice.
“Anyway, safety first.
If you dare to get hurt, I’ll ignore you.”
“Yeah, they won’t pose a threat to me.”
Belle was stunned for a moment, then gave her back a slap.
“You blockhead, you’re quite proud, aren’t you!
Go hang up your coat quickly.
Nicole came over early this afternoon, saying she’d treat us to dinner, but she ended up falling asleep on the counter, and Anby leaned against the shelf reading manga all afternoon.”
Nicole is treating again???
Fu Hua’s eyes were filled with deep suspicion.
“It’s fine.
I happened to buy some new vegetables.
I’ll go cook.”
She then took the newly bought “chunbulao” out of her Red Kite bag and walked toward the kitchen.
A rustling sound came from the kitchen, waking up the sleeping Nicole.
Nicole’s voice carried the hoarseness of someone who had just woken up.
“Eh~ Is someone cooking?”
“Yeah, someone said they were treating, but in the end, we still had to wait for Fu Hua to come back with vegetables from the morning market to cook~~”
Belle’s voice drifted over from the side.
“Hehehe, it’s all the same, all the same.”
“No!
Wait!”
“Are you saying she bought some vegetables at the Lumina Square market this morning?
The slender ones, with wrinkled leaf edges?”
Nicole suddenly sprang up from her seat, her tone becoming excited.
At this moment, Fu Hua took the three bundles of chunbulao wrapped in cloth out of the newspaper and placed them on the counter.
Once opened, the emerald-green leaves shimmered slightly under the light.
She picked up the water basin nearby, preparing to wash the vegetables, but was suddenly stopped by Nicole, who rushed in.
Nicole stood still in front of Fu Hua, staring at her with a serious expression for several seconds.
She leaned close to Fu Hua, walked half a circle around her, and after seeing Fu Hua’s azure eyes behind her red-framed glasses and her gray-white hair tied in a high ponytail up close, her entire mind lagged for a moment.
She let out a terrified—
“Ah!”
“Y-You—you had this hairstyle this morning?!” Nicole’s hand, pointing at Fu Hua, hesitated in mid-air.
“Why did you change your clothes?!
Weren’t you always wearing that blue-and-white martial arts uniform before!”
“I bought this set online, and today is the first time I’m wearing it.” Fu Hua blinked.
“Nicole, do you think it doesn’t look good?”
Fu Hua looked curiously at the nervous Nicole, but she had no intention of stopping what she was doing.
Nicole slumped against the wall, her arms supporting her on the edge of the sink, looking flustered but still trying to act calm.
“Wait!
Wait!
Stop for a second.
Did you say you’re going to use these vegetables to make dinner?”
“Yes,” Fu Hua rolled up the cuffs of her beige coat, revealing the neatly stitched seams.
“Stir-fried minced meat with chunbulao.
I’m already washing the vegetables.”