Chapter 8: 008
Planet Aispu was having another windy day today.
Under the bright sunlight, yellow dust was swept up by the strong wind, forming a semi-transparent barrier.
The sand wall made of yellow soil morphed into irregular shapes, like an airtight net obscuring the sky.
The sunlight was perfectly fine, but unfortunately, it was completely covered by the wind and sand.
The sand blown by the wind hit the outer walls of the buildings, creating a continuous noise.
A continuous ‘clatter clatter’ sound without a moment’s pause.
Zhu Ran was awakened by this continuous noise.
The cheap house he lived in was made of very poor materials. It was good enough that the house was habitable and didn’t leak air; there was absolutely no thought given to soundproofing materials.
Zhu Ran massaged his temples with his knuckles, his brows slightly furrowed.
Without the sunlight, the indoor temperature had also plummeted, feeling slightly cold to the touch.
Zhu Ran draped the tattered blanket over himself, curling up into a ball for warmth.
His green eyes were covered by a shallow layer of mist, making him look somewhat listless.
Looking out the window at the weather where yellow sand blocked out the sun, he sighed.
Another sunless day…
This made Zhu Ran, who loved basking in the sun, feel quite down.
But the good news was that his shattered spiritual sea had healed a bit, about… 3%?
Worth celebrating.
At this rate, the spiritual sea should be fully repaired in less than half a year.
Once his spiritual power recovered a bit more, Zhu Ran could use other methods to promote the healing of his spiritual sea, so the entire process could be even faster.
After washing up as usual and drinking the colorless, tasteless nutrient solution, Zhu Ran opened the Xinggou APP.
As soon as he logged in, yesterday’s daily report popped up.
Shop [Zhuying Anxiang] December 27th Daily Report:
[Yesterday’s Foot Traffic]: 57 people [Yesterday’s Sales]: 4 items [Yesterday’s Turnover]: 96,000 Star Coins
[There are 3 items awaiting spatial delivery. Store owner, please contact Xinggou’s exclusive logistics immediately~]
[Since there are no items available for sale in the shop, it has been closed.]
[Store owner, please list new items as soon as possible.]
Zhu Ran tilted his head, somewhat in disbelief: “Sold out again? Are natural plants this popular?”
Zhu Ran then clicked on the buyer’s reviews.
The ID of the person who bought the second Freesia was the same as the one who bought the first; it was the same person.
The other party also left a five-star review for the second Freesia, reading: [I gave the flower to my male god, and my male god really likes it! But I showed off too much and posted a thread, causing a lot of people to rush to buy Freesias. Sob sob, I won’t be able to snag any natural plants in the future.]
So it was because of a forum post that the three Freesias in the shop sold out instantly.
Zhu Ran understood.
“Then I have to thank this buyer, otherwise the flowers wouldn’t have sold so well. Next time I grow a new variety, I’ll send him one as a gift.”
After making a mental note of this, Zhu Ran set out to arrange the shipments.
This time, Zhu Ran also snapped off a cutting and put it into a test tube to keep as a base.
Then he packaged the three Freesias.
Soon, Xinggou’s delivery personnel emerged from the spatial channel.
“Delivery person Liu Xu at your service!”
The delivery person who arrived this time stood ramrod straight, exuding righteousness, with a loud and clear voice, clearly fresh out of the military.
Zhu Ran handed the packaged three Freesias to him.
“Received!”
Liu Xu almost subconsciously tried to salute, but halfway up, his hand turned into a head-scratching motion.
It was a bit awkward.
“I will do my utmost to serve you! If you are sat-satisfied with my service, please give me a, a five-star review.”
Reciting these lines was somewhat embarrassing for the recently discharged Liu Xu, making him stumble over his words.
Zhu Ran smiled and replied: “Okay.”
The other party left through the spatial channel, blushing up to his neck, carefully guarding the three Freesias.
“What an interesting person. This delivery person is pretty good too.”
Zhu Ran didn’t skimp and gave the other party a five-star review.
“It seems that apart from a very small minority, Xinggou’s delivery personnel all have pretty good professional literacy. That Z was just an exception…”
Even though a few days had passed, whenever Zhu Ran thought of the first delivery person Z, he would subconsciously raise his guard.
That merciless aura and pressure… truly made it hard to breathe.
Why would someone like that be a delivery person? He would scare the store owners to death.
“Hello, your package is about to be airdropped, please prepare to receive it!”
Right at this moment, a notification sound from Xinggou pulled Zhu Ran’s drifting thoughts back.
It turned out the 3 vases Zhu Ran bought for 12 Star Coins were about to be delivered.
“The vases I bought have arrived, but… what does airdropped mean?”
While Zhu Ran was puzzled, he quickly understood the meaning of an airdrop.
Amidst the sky filled with yellow sand, an unmanned aircraft approached, making a ‘buzzing’ sound.
The aircraft drew closer and closer. When it flew above Zhu Ran’s house, the hatch beneath the aircraft opened, and a tightly wrapped package fell from the sky with a ‘thud’, landing on the ground.
Dust flew everywhere.
Afterwards, accompanied by Xinggou’s notification “Your package has been delivered”, the aircraft ‘buzzed’ away.
Air… drop.
It really was delivered by dropping it from the sky…
Zhu Ran was astonished by this method of delivering packages.
But…
!
Delivering packages like this… wouldn’t his newly bought vases be shattered!
Zhu Ran hurriedly draped his blanket and opened the door to retrieve the package.
As soon as the door opened, strong winds poured in from the entrance, and sand blew right into his face.
Zhu Ran was almost blown back inside.
He steadied his footing, struggling to reach the package, and after retrieving it, used its bulk to block the wind, managing to return indoors without serious mishap.
With a ‘thud’, Zhu Ran shut the door, heaving a sigh of relief.
“Cough, cough…”
Coughing sounds echoed in the room, rising and falling.
In just the brief time it took to retrieve the package, he was already covered in a layer of yellow sand. The skin on his face had several bloody scratches from the friction of the fierce wind and gravel.
At this moment, Zhu Ran looked utterly disheveled.
Fortunately, the scent of the Freesia was still present, which helped Zhu Ran, who had eaten a mouthful of sand, recover from the uncomfortable, suffocating feeling of being hit by the wind.
Zhu Ran washed himself off. The cold water piercing the wounds on his face brought waves of stinging pain.
It was very mild. The old Zhu Ran certainly wouldn’t have cared about such minor pain, but this body was excessively frail, magnifying the sense of pain.
Because of this, the corners of Zhu Ran’s eyes turned slightly red.
From the pain.
I definitely have to move in a few days!
Zhu Ran already had over 40,000 Star Coins, enough for him to move to the central district.
It was said that the central district was like spring all year round and didn’t have such massive sandstorms, making it more suitable for human habitation.
After taking a few minutes to recover from the sandstorm’s aftereffects, Zhu Ran began to unbox the package.
The package was wrapped very securely. Zhu Ran undid several layers of packaging before finally pulling out the three light green vases he had bought.
The special interstellar packing material ensured that even after enduring the torture of an airdrop, the vases remained perfectly intact.
The vases looked exactly the same as on the holographic network, about 25cm tall and as wide as two wrists.
The light green dye evenly coated the body of the vase, the color fresh, and the craftsmanship excellent without a single flaw.
Zhu Ran really liked these three vases; they were cheap and well-made.
He immediately catalyzed the Freesia cuttings and placed them into the vases.
Compared to the crude test tubes, this vase obviously suited the Freesia much better.
With an expanded growing space, the Freesias could also grow more freely.
With the Freesias finding suitable containers, Zhu Ran’s mood improved a bit.
He estimated that his spiritual power could still catalyze three cuttings, or catalyze one seed.
After thinking it over, Zhu Ran decided to catalyze a new seed and open a blind box.
Not only was he curious about what was inside the 20 seeds the original host had bought, but he also wanted to diversify the varieties in his flower shop.
So, he took out a shriveled, pitch-black seed from the pile.
Closing his eyes, he condensed his spiritual power to use his ability.
His spiritual power slowly enveloped the seed, like a gentle drizzle repeatedly nourishing the parched cells, driving away the pollution that had seeped into its core.
Gradually, the black color on the surface of the seed faded, turning into a light green.
Then, the shriveled seed gradually filled out, regaining its vitality.
With a ‘crack’, a tiny green shoot pushed open the seed shell, revealing a sharp tip.
A new seed was successfully catalyzed!
Zhu Ran still had some spiritual power left, so he continued to inject it, causing the newly sprouted plant to keep growing.
The main stem climbed upward, and branches sprouted outward.
Compared to the lush foliage of the Freesia, the small and sparse leaves of this new plant looked like mere embellishments on the bare stem.
The leaves were not shaped like ordinary water droplets, but rather resembled slender, ancient keys; a very unique shape.
As the main stem grew, flower buds soon appeared at the top, far more numerous than the flowers on the Freesia.
The buds bloomed, revealing red, circular stamens that looked somewhat fuzzy.
The small, densely packed petals clustered around the circular stamens, growing into round flowers about 3cm in diameter.
The flowers varied in height, creating a scattered yet orderly arrangement. Even though it was just a single stalk of flowers, it looked like a large bouquet, dense and lush.
The very faint fragrance that drifted to the tip of his nose gave a comfortable feeling of being in an open field.
Ordinary people would have to lean close to smell this scent, but for the Awakened, such a faint scent was just right, not pungent at all.
Zhu Ran withdrew his spiritual power, his gaze falling upon the newly catalyzed plant, his eyes full of smiles.
“It’s a Daisy~ Very nice.”
Daisies were not only prolific and easy to propagate, but more importantly, Daisies could be brewed into tea.
After drinking colorless, tasteless nutrient solution for several days, Zhu Ran could finally taste something with flavor.
Just as Zhu Ran catalyzed the new natural plant, the Freesias delivered via spatial transport sequentially arrived in the hands of their buyers.
They were immediately wrapped carefully, about to be gifted to those they had been longing for.
Lucius was a Major general belonging to the Interstellar Combat Division, serving as a battlefield analyst known for his analytical skills in the military.
He was 36 years old this year, which was not considered old in the interstellar era, where the average lifespan was 170 years.
His family background was not bad, he had a scholarly aura, was modest and polite, and had many friends.
However, surprisingly, such a handsome and promising young officer had never been in a relationship.
“Lucius, someone is interested in you. Do you want to get to know them?”
“No need, thank you.”
Lucius politely declined.
Lucius had a secret; he liked his childhood friend, holding a hidden, unrequited love for him from their youth until now.
Even though Lucius dreamed of his childhood friend day and night, and all the wallpapers on his optical computer and phone were photos of his childhood friend standing under the spotlight, he still didn’t want to confess.
He was afraid that if the confession failed, they wouldn’t even be able to remain friends.
Fortunately, his childhood friend didn’t seem to have any desire for romance in the short term. The other party was more dedicated to his career, so like him, he had remained single until now without seeking a partner.
Sigh… should I be braver and just go for it?
But, but what if he doesn’t like it? What if things get awkward after I confess, and then he distances himself from me?
Waking up from an amorous dream, Lucius took a cold shower while his mind wandered.
At this moment, the indoor communicator rang: “Lucius, Michel is looking for you in the reception room.”
Michel, the childhood friend Lucius had a crush on.
“Coming.”
Lucius replied hastily.
He was surprised that Michel had come to see him out of the blue. Did something happen?
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