NOVEL NEXT Chapter 182: Chapter 182
On a fine morning.
Qiqi placed the herbs she gathered last night in the backyard, returned to her room for a cool bath, washed and hung her clothes to dry, then headed alone to Summer's Shop.
She was no longer afraid of people like before, walking quietly on the street, occasionally making eye contact with passersby, her eyes now free of panic and timidity.
Arriving at the shop, she found the door locked.
Qiqi took out her newly made key and unlocked it.
The moment she walked in and saw the familiar interior, she suddenly felt a bit dazed.
Coming back here felt as comforting as returning home...
Miss Chi Yu came out from the room.
"Good morning, Qiqi."
"Good morning, Miss Chi Yu."
"It's a holiday today, everyone's still asleep."
"Mm, I'll wipe the tables first."
"I'll help you. Let me tell you, there are beans soaking in the kitchen..."
A while later, Zhu Zi and Diona came downstairs. After washing up, they went out to buy groceries.
Shortly after, Shenhe and Ganyu came down and washed up behind the shop.
Ganyu looked at her and suddenly asked, "Junior Sister Shenhe, are you still practicing cultivation?"
Shenhe shook her head and said softly, "I haven't been practicing lately, but my spiritual energy is growing faster than when I was training hard in the mountains."
Ganyu was stunned.
Shenhe looked down at her cool features reflected in the basin of clear water, suddenly feeling a bit dazed.
More than ten years of ascetic cultivation felt like a dream...
In the room upstairs, Xia Zhi bought two [Drumstick Mushrooms] and wrapped a handful of [Bliss Rice] in paper before heading downstairs.
"Boss, are we making tofu today?"
"Yes, fried tofu."
"What's this?"
"[Drumstick Mushrooms]. Remember I told you I had other mushroom varieties? This is one of them."
"It doesn't look like a drumstick though."
"It tastes like one. You'll know when you try it."
Xia Zhi first ground the [Bliss Rice] into powder using a stone mill, then mixed it into flour to make dough, and sliced the [Drumstick Mushrooms] into thin strips to make mushroom noodles.
The mushroom strands were tender and snow-white, with a smooth taste similar to shredded chicken.
Ganyu ate with great satisfaction.
Influenced by the special cuisine, she was in an extremely happy mood.
Her junior sister was living such a heavenly life every day.
With three such good meals daily, no wonder Zhu Zi gained weight.
In the morning, the girls gathered to play mahjong, while Xia Zhi sat at another table, slowly carving bracelets from the jade.
Miss Chi Yu suddenly remembered: "Boss, we had thieves in our shop last night."
The girls were shocked: "What?"
"Did they steal anything?"
"Of course not. I just sat on the stool eating snacks while watching them go in circles. It was hilarious."
"A confusion spell? That's amazing, Miss Chi Yu."
"Just a little trick."
"Then what happened?"
"They fainted from fright, so I threw them out."
"Hmm."
Xia Zhi, unconcerned with such minor matters, continued carving while asking:
"By the way, when are everyone's birthdays? I'll make a note for employee benefits. Zhu Zi?"
"May 9th!"
"That's already passed this year. Shenhe?"
"March 10th."
"Also have to wait till next year. Qiqi?"
"I... don't remember..."
"That's alright, you'll remember eventually."
"Mm..."
"Lady Ganyu?"
"December 2nd, but I'm not an employee."
"That's fine, it's September now, so it's coming up. Diona and Miss Chi Yu?"
"January 18th."
"Never mind mine, I'm already a ghost, what's the point of celebrating birthdays."
"...Alright."
"Boss, what about you? When's your birthday?"
"Mine is rather special."
"Special?"
"I was born on the summer solstice."
"Summer solstice?"
"It's a way of marking seasons in my hometown. That year, the summer solstice fell on June 22nd."
"Then that's also passed this year!"
"Yes, it has."
There was complexity in Xia Zhi's eyes. His name came from this – taking the sound of "xia zhi" (summer solstice), with "zhi" drawn from the Tao Te Ching's "Know contentment and avoid disgrace, know when to stop and avoid danger," meaning "moderation."
However, "Xia Zhi" sounds similar to "blind person" in Chinese, as if it were predestined in his fate.
After spending considerable time, Xia Zhi finished carving and polishing the two bracelets.
They were radiant and beautiful.
The girls' eyes sparkled seeing the perfect finished products.
Except for Shenhe.
Xia Zhi wrapped the bracelets in soft fabric and put them away.
"Zhu Zi, how many takeout cups do we have left?"
"Let me check... Boss, not many!"
"Then go to Chunxiang Kiln later and find Miss Ying'er, ask her to send another batch."
"Okay!"
Diona quickly said: "Boss, I want to go too!"
"Then you two go together, but don't stay out too long, remember to come back for meals."
"Okay!"
The two girls went out and arrived at Chunxiang Kiln to find Ying'er greeting customers at the entrance.
"Miss Ying'er!"
Ying'er turned around and smiled: "Oh, it's Miss Zhu Zi, and this is?... Miss Diona, hello... You have another day off today?"
"Yes, we're running low on cups at our shop, so we'd like you to send another batch."
"So soon! Your shop's business is really good! Thanks to your shop, my performance last month increased significantly, and I got more commission too. My salary was over 14,000 Mora."
"Congratulations."
"Ah, mine is all hard-earned money, unlike you all. You must have received your salaries too, right?"
"Yes! 22,000 Mora!"
"?"
Miss Ying'er's smile instantly froze.
"How much?"
"22,000."
"Wasn't your salary... 10,000?"
"Yes, base salary is 10,000, but the boss said we did well and gave us another 10,000 as bonus."
"...What about the other 2,000?"
"The boss said last month was too hot, so he gave us 2,000 as a heat allowance."
Miss Ying'er fell silent.
Someone else's boss...
How nice...
"Miss Ying'er, we'll be going now. Please help us with the cups."
"Ah... oh... sure, I'll arrange for the warehouse to pack and deliver them to your shop soon."
"Goodbye!"
"Goodbye."
Miss Ying'er watched their retreating figures and sighed softly.
Ah, she got her highest salary ever, but now she couldn't feel happy at all...
Her defenses were broken.
It was her first time hearing about something like a heat allowance.
She couldn't even imagine it.
With all the rain this month, they probably wouldn't get some kind of humidity allowance too, right?
If they did, she would really lose it.
--
At Mt. Aocang, the Mountain Shaper and the Moon Carver stood outside the locked immortal abode, looking puzzled.
"The door's closed and no one's answering inside. Has Cloud Retainer already gone to Ping's place?"
"Probably. We don't see Shenhe either, perhaps they've gone together."
"Why didn't they wait for us this year? Well, let's hurry over too."
"Mm."
The two adepti transformed into a crane and a deer respectively, and departed through the sky.
----
You can join my P@treon to read 40+ chapters early and support me and my work.
[email protected]/rivyura