Chapter 41: A Few Busybodies Jeer in Chorus
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“Open a shop together? That does sound like a fun way to pass the time.”
Feng Yanling was unpacking a parcel in the office. It had been sent by Ye Moxi and contained sweet soup she had simmered herself, along with all kinds of pastries.
“Would you like me to mention it to Mother and have her send someone over to help you coordinate everything?”
“Probably not. How big a shop could three students possibly open? It’s just a small venture. We may not even know how long it’ll last…”
Feng Yanling merely smiled.
Once the shop opened, Ye Moxi would discover just how irresistible, in her eyes, those utterly ordinary foods of hers truly were.
“Would you like me to apply for a chef robot for you? You don’t need to do everything personally…”
Feng Yanling offered Ye Moxi a few more reminders.
Ye Moxi agreed to every one of them. She was quite pleased that her fiancé cared about her.
After school that day, Lu Xue hurried back to the dormitory. Ye Moxi had said she wanted them to taste some of the things she thought would genuinely be suitable for selling in a shop.
For that reason, Lu Xue had even turned down an invitation from her classmates to visit her favorite high-heeled shoe store and see the latest styles.
“Wow! Moxi, you actually made all this?”
Ye Moxi nodded.
“Since this is only a tasting, I didn’t prepare very many portions or varieties…”
This wasn’t very many? There were more than ten kinds!
“Let’s start with the basics. This is pearl milk tea, and this is the upgraded charcoal-roasted pearl milk tea. Here we have an ordinary strawberry milkshake and an upgraded strawberry swirl milkshake. Strawberry More, Grape More, taro paste boba milk tea…”
Lu Xue and Xing Miao had thought they were already quite worldly. Yet Ye Moxi had once again shattered their understanding of the world.
“Moxi, accept my knees! How does your brain even work? How did you come up with so many delicious recipes?”
“Haha… You both know that in the Safe Zone we lack clothes and food. Naturally, we have to rack our brains over what can be eaten and what tastes good.”
Ye Moxi spoke unconcernedly. She and her roommates were not yet close enough for her to share her secrets. She had not even told Feng Yanling that she was a transmigrator.
Lu Xue and Xing Miao rushed over and embraced her.
“We really feel sorry for you! But at least you’ve finally come through all that hardship! No—that’s not it. Gold will always shine! Now it’s your time to shine and make a difference…”
It was her first time being so close to girls. As expected, they were soft and fragrant, and she did not find it unpleasant at all.
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“Then I must thank the two talent scouts who discovered this fine steed…”
“Hehehe!”
They went on to discuss the shop’s name and its decor.
The shop’s opening proceeded smoothly, though there was one minor incident along the way. Both Feng Yanling and Zuo Xi hoped to open a branch in the First Legion and the Third Legion.
Ye Tianjiao had also received a parcel from Ye Moxi, so he naturally had no objections to Feng Yanling’s proposal to open a branch on a planet where the First Legion was stationed.
Zuo Xi belonged neither to Legion Commander Xiong Sheng’s faction nor to Deputy Legion Commander Miao Qingtian’s. Yet his strength was something both sides wanted to win over. He threw himself into promoting his fiancée’s shop throughout the Third Legion, while both factions chose to watch and wait.
“I say, Captain Zuo, do you really think this shop of yours will work?”
A combat-team captain who was on fairly good terms with Zuo Xi came over and slung an arm around his shoulder. Together, they gazed at the decor, which was drenched in pink and purple and overflowing with girlish sentiment.
“Hmph! I’ll remember that. On opening day, don’t you dare show up. Even if you do, I won’t sell you anything.”
“Don’t be like that! We’re brothers who’ve faced life and death together. How can you treat me this way?”
Just then, a robot from Starry Sky Express arrived to deliver a parcel to Zuo Xi.
It was actually the tasting shipment Ye Moxi had prepared for the shop’s opening.
The parcel was enormous. Since such packages were folded internally through spatial technology, their capacity was naturally astonishing.
Zuo Xi watched as his adjutant unveiled the sign bearing the name “Star, Snow, and Ink,” then ordered, “Yue Tang, tell our people to come and collect a tasting set after training.”
“Hey, Zuo Xi, that’s not fair! All of us have been standing here watching, and you’re only giving them to your own people?”
Several troublemaking combat-team captains began jeering.
Zuo Xi looked at the message Lu Xue had sent him. Apart from the portion reserved specifically for him, there were roughly a thousand tasting sets. To be honest, even his Third Combat Team had more people than that. But each tasting set contained a cup of milk tea and two pastries. If they portioned them out carefully, there would still be enough for everyone to have a bite.
“There isn’t enough. Wait until the shop opens…”
“If you keep this up, we’re going to ask the Legion Commander to settle this!”
The men grabbed him by the clothes and dragged him toward the administrative building.
The Third Legion was known as the Legion of Rogues. When it came to seizing military merit or supplies, they were as fierce and aggressive as wolves. Their administrative building was magnificent enough to give newcomers the illusion that it was the grand estate of some great aristocratic family.
At that moment, Legion Commander Xiong Sheng was rubbing his temples. His head throbbed, and the berserk-level monitor on his wrist showed that his level had climbed to seventy-seven again.
He had to return to the Imperial Star and find Ye Moxi as soon as possible, but there was too much military business for him to get away.
“Legion Commander, you be the judge!”
Several combat-team captains dragged Zuo Xi inside.
Zuo Xi had achieved his goal and obediently listened as they denounced him.
Good heavens! They had even brought up that incident involving the seizure of military merit during their last operation. Frankly, this was the Third Legion. Wasn’t seizing military merit practically standard procedure? Whose hands among them were clean, anyway?
Xiong Sheng tapped his fingers on the desk.
“Zuo Xi, what do you have to say?”
The chef robot for the branch and the airship transporting its ingredients both required approval from Legion Commander Xiong Sheng. Zuo Xi had no desire to chase after Xiong Sheng every time an airship needed to make a trip.
He had made such a grand spectacle precisely so that these simple-minded men would shove him right in front of Xiong Sheng. Their legion commander was absolutely addicted to sweets.
“I reported to you a few days ago about opening a branch of my fiancée’s milk-tea shop here. Today, the shop’s renovations…”
“Get to the point!” Xiong Sheng interrupted impatiently.
Was this man trying to waste his time with nonsense?
“A shipment of tasting sets arrived, but there aren’t enough of them, so I planned to let my people taste them first. They refused…”
“Your fiancée is far too stingy! Couldn’t she have sent a little more?”
Zuo Xi laughed in exasperation.
“The cost of what I have here is already more than one hundred thousand interstellar credits!”
One hundred thousand interstellar credits was nothing in the eyes of these combat-team captains. But for an ordinary family of four on the Imperial Star, it was enough to live comfortably for an entire year…
One hundred thousand? A thousand tasting sets? And that was only the cost price? Did each set cost one hundred interstellar credits? What were they eating—precious metals?
The combat-team captains immediately imagined them as the tasting samples from the Imperial Star’s famous First-Class Pavilion.
Those tiny boxes, each no larger than a fingernail, held only four pieces—sometimes not even enough for a child to take one bite…
“Bring them here. Let’s have a look!”
Xiong Sheng spoke boldly.
Ye Moxi had actually anticipated this and prepared a separate batch of tasting sets for the officers of the Third Legion. But Zuo Xi was crafty. Lu Xue had fed him plenty of Ye Moxi’s cooking, so he naturally knew how impressive it was.
Besides, the three young girls were starting their first business venture. Of course they had to support it wholeheartedly! The First Legion had Feng Yanling, Long Mu, and Legion Commander Ye Tianjiao. The Third Legion had only him. Zuo Xi did not want the shop’s figures to look too embarrassing at the end of the month, so he had employed a little strategy.
Xiong Sheng loved sweets, but what he loved most was chocolate. In Ye Moxi’s words, he had a “chocolate brain.”
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Several combat-team captains hauled Zuo Xi inside.
Zuo Xi had accomplished his objective and obediently listened to them criticize him.
Good heavens! They had even escalated matters to the issue of stealing military merit during their previous operation. To be honest, this was the Third Legion. Wasn’t fighting over military merit their basic routine? Which of them had clean hands?
Xiong Sheng drummed his fingers on the desktop.
“Zuo Xi, what do you have to say?”
The branch’s chef robot and the airship carrying its supplies both required approval from Legion Commander Xiong Sheng. Zuo Xi certainly did not want to chase after Xiong Sheng every time the airship made a trip.
He had made such a grand production of things precisely so these simple-minded men would push him in front of Xiong Sheng. Their legion commander was, after all, utterly addicted to sweets.
“I reported to you a few days ago about opening a branch here for my fiancée’s milk-tea shop. Today, the shop’s renovations…”
“Just get to the point!” Xiong Sheng impatiently cut him off.
Was this fellow trying to pull his leg?
“A shipment of tasting sets arrived, but there aren’t enough, so I planned to let my own people taste them first. They refused…”
“Your fiancée is too stingy! Couldn’t she have sent more?”
Zuo Xi was laughing despite himself.
“The cost of the ones I have here is already over one hundred thousand interstellar credits!”
One hundred thousand interstellar credits meant little to these combat-team captains, but for an ordinary family of four on the Imperial Star, that sum was enough to live comfortably for an entire year…
One hundred thousand? A thousand tasting sets? And that was only the cost price? Did one set cost a hundred interstellar credits? Were they eating precious metals?
The combat-team captains immediately compared them to the tasting samples from the Imperial Star’s First-Class Pavilion.
Those tiny boxes, each no bigger than a fingernail, contained only four pieces—sometimes not even enough for a child to take a single bite…
“Bring them over. Let’s have a look!”
Xiong Sheng spoke in his usual straightforward manner.
Ye Moxi had actually taken this into consideration long ago and prepared a separate batch of tasting sets for the Third Legion’s officers. But Zuo Xi was shrewd. Lu Xue had fed him plenty of Ye Moxi’s creations, so he naturally knew how extraordinary they were.
Besides, this was the first business venture for the three girls. Naturally, they had to give it their full support! The First Legion had Feng Yanling, Long Mu, and Legion Commander Ye Tianjiao. The Third Legion had only him. Zuo Xi did not want the shop’s figures to look too miserable at the end of the month, so he had resorted to a little strategy.
Xiong Sheng loved sweets, but chocolate was his greatest weakness. As Ye Moxi put it, he had a “chocolate brain.”
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