Chapter 15: 015
Z’s appearance had left Zhu Ran in a bit of a low mood. He had originally wanted to browse the Xinggou holographic streets, but now he had lost interest. Just then, a message arrived on his optical computer.
[Xiuna]: Officer Vier asked me to remind you not to forget to apply the medicine.
[Zhu Ran]: Okay.
It took Zhu Ran a moment to react. He definitely wouldn’t admit that if Xiuna hadn’t reminded him, he truly would have forgotten to apply the medicine to his face.
The ointment Xiuna gave him was a semi-transparent jelly, colorless and odorless. Zhu Ran faced the mirror and applied the ointment to his face. As soon as the finger dipped in the ointment brushed past, in less than a few seconds, the marks on his cheeks where the wind had broken the skin vanished without a trace.
The skin became smooth and fair, without a single scar, looking as if he had never been injured at all.
“So miraculous,” Zhu Ran marveled.
He dipped more ointment and applied it to all the small wounds on his face. Within a few minutes, his face showed no signs of having been injured. After applying the medicine, Zhu Ran replied to Xiuna.
[Zhu Ran]: It healed after just one application; the ointment is very useful.
[Xiuna]: So you only just used it? If I hadn’t reminded you, would you have forgotten?
Zhu Ran, caught red-handed, sent a [Cat Rolling Around] emoji and then guiltily closed the chat interface.
“Even though their auras feel similar, Officer Vier is much more reliable than Z.”
Being cared for made Zhu Ran’s low mood vanish. After resting for a bit, he used his spiritual power to continue separating the daisy. The peaceful and natural spiritual power expanded and retracted; under Zhu Ran’s operation, the 4 daisies in his hands turned into 12.
Thus, 17 natural plants were currently placed on the originally empty balcony. Each fresh green leaf, paired with small white or red flowers, emitted a shallow fragrance—leisurely and comfortable, making one inadvertently relax and become immersed.
Full of vitality.
“In the future, I want to fill the entire balcony with greenery and build a small garden that’s like spring all year round. I’ll need more plant varieties, so it becomes very lively. I also want to keep cats—a Ragdoll, a Persian, and a big orange cat.”
“I just wonder if the cats in the stars have mutated; I hope they haven’t turned into big tigers…”
Zhu Ran sat on the balcony, drinking the hot fruit milk he had just bought today, his expression gentle. The night wind was blocked outside the sunroom window; through the transparent glass, one could see the stars falling across the night sky. There were pale red ones, pure white ones, some twinkling… dazzling and colorful.
The shimmering starlight fell into Zhu Ran’s eyes, adding a bright spark to the deep green, like a sparkler bursting with beautiful starlight. Glowing faintly.
[Jialan Comprehensive University]
Late at night, Qin Ke, who usually played games online with other classmates every night, had unexpectedly not played any games today, or even opened his optical computer. Every three minutes, he checked his optical computer to confirm messages, his expression anxious and restless.
This look of anxiously waiting for something was remarkably like someone in the throes of a passionate love. But of course, Qin Ke was not in love.
His male god Mu Qingzhou hadn’t contacted him since they had a meal together a few days ago. Their last chat message stayed on the transfer Mu Qingzhou had sent him. Clearly, Qin Ke still had a long way to go to win Mu Qingzhou over.
But today, Qin Ke wasn’t waiting for a text from Mu Qingzhou; he had even briefly forgotten about him. Qin Ke was waiting for the spatial express from [Zhuying Anxiang].
“The owner said it was shipped, so why isn’t it here yet… It’s been almost an hour. Doesn’t Xinggou’s spatial delivery promotion say it’s instant? This is too slow, not reliable at all.”
Qin Ke was pacing with his hands behind his back, muttering.
“The package couldn’t have been ruined during spatial transport, could it? No… I’d really cry.”
Just as Qin Ke was about to put on a crying face, a push notification made his expression instantly turn from cloudy to sunny.
[The package sent by ‘Zhu’ has arrived at the spatial delivery station. Please collect it as soon as possible~]
“YES! It’s here.”
Qin Ke couldn’t wait to use his spiritual power to open his exclusive storage point, and then, a pot of blooming natural plant appeared in his hands. The rush of greenery and the fresh fragrance made Qin Ke daze for a moment. He looked as if he were seeing a natural plant for the first time, his face full of disbelief.
“A na… natural plant? And a new variety?!”
“The owner of Zhuying Anxiang actually sent me a pot of such beautiful natural plant?!”
“By Suoye, I must be dreaming!”
Qin Ke observed the new natural plant in his hands. If he were to describe its appearance abstractly, it was very similar to the Freesia. For example… the leaves were green, and for example… the petals were white.
Of course, Qin Ke naturally wouldn’t think it was the same variety as the Freesia. Whether it was its faint natural fragrance, as if one were in the wild, its key-shaped leaves, or its round, small flowers that looked like shy, blushing cheeks… everything expressed that it was a completely different variety from the Freesia.
This new bouquet was a bit cute.
“So it’s called a Daisy; it’s so pretty.”
Qin Ke learned the name of this natural plant from the certificate. He toyed with the leaves lovingly and poked the flowers; his fingers were soon stained with a shallow layer of fragrance. This kind of scent was completely different from synthetic plants; even someone with a sharp sense of smell like him didn’t feel uncomfortable.
If he weren’t worried that the delicate natural plant couldn’t handle too much force, Qin Ke would have wanted to bury his face in this plant and take a deep breath, and then another. Natural plants were both beautiful and fragrant… genetically synthesized plants couldn’t compare.
“But is this really for me? Did the owner send the wrong item?!”
Although Qin Ke liked this plant very much, he still sent a message to the owner of ‘Zhuying Anxiang’. Natural plants in the stars were not only expensive but also had a market but no supply; he felt unworthy of the owner sending him such a rare plant.
[Qin Ke is Very Reliable]: Owner, owner! I received a super beautiful natural plant Daisy. I never bought it; did you send the wrong item? [Plant Photo]
Quickly, the other party replied.
[Zhu]: It’s a gift for you. Thank you for bringing traffic to the shop on the forum. This is a new variety in the shop; it will be listed tomorrow as well. I hope you like it.
[Qin Ke is Very Reliable]: Thank you, owner! I absolutely love it!
After receiving the owner’s certain reply, Qin Ke cradled the Daisy with a silly grin. “The owner is such a good person, and generous too. Tomorrow I must buy two more natural plants to support the owner.”
“But… Mu Qingzhou seems to really like natural plants too. Should I give this pot to him to gain some favor?”
Qin Ke hesitated. If it were before, Qin Ke would have definitely given what he thought was the best thing to Mu Qingzhou at the first opportunity. Except…
Qin Ke looked at the little round flowers with red centers and white petals, feeling reluctant. He suddenly felt that such round, cute flowers didn’t seem to suit Mu Qingzhou’s plain and indifferent style. Since it didn’t suit Mu Qingzhou, then it was better if he kept it himself.
See, the pure white Freesia suited Mu Qingzhou very well, so I gave it to him. But this Daisy is clearly more suitable for me than Mu Qingzhou, so there’s no problem with me keeping it for myself~
Worse comes to worst, after [Zhuying Anxiang] lists the new items tomorrow, he would buy another pot of natural plant to give to Mu Qingzhou! The owner said several pots of natural plants would be listed tomorrow; surely he, a top student of Jialan Comprehensive University, wouldn’t fail to snag even one pot?
With that thought, Qin Ke had no psychological burden and placed this pot of Daisy by his bedside. At the same time, he used the VIP function to have Xinggou remind him the moment [Zhuying Anxiang] listed the items.
Then, amidst the faint fragrance, Qin Ke soon fell asleep. He slept even more soundly than usual. In his dream, he seemed to have turned into a little bee, collecting flowers with red centers and white petals one by one. As he collected, he probably grew tired, so he slept on a stamen. Before long, he was snoring.
Zzz… zzz…
Suddenly, a yellow chick chirped as it barged into the flower cluster, “Cheep, cheep, cheep!” The chirping grew closer and closer, as if wailing in the bee’s ear.
The little bee woke up angrily; it turned around, ready to sting the annoying “cheep” with its stinger. It took flight. It dove. It fell to the ground with a “thud,” and its butt hurt.
“Ouch… it hurts, it hurts…”
Waking from the dream, Qin Ke realized he had actually rolled off the bed, no wonder he felt some pain. While rubbing his butt, he drowsily turned off the set alarm. It turned out the annoying chirping in his dream was his own alarm sound.
“So noisy, it stopped me from sleeping on the stamen.”
Qin Ke was unhappy. He just wanted to continue wrapping himself in the blanket and lie back down to sleep in.
The next moment, he was startled awake.
“Buy flowers! I need to buy flowers!”
Qin Ke had only set one alarm today, which was to remind him that [Zhuying Anxiang] had listed items and it was time for him to buy natural plants. Qin Ke hurriedly logged into the Xinggou app, then used the store transport function to go straight to the [Zhuying Anxiang] shop entrance.
However… what he saw was the shop door slowly closing.
The metal roller blind in the virtual street descended, completely isolating the worlds inside and outside the shop. With a “clank,” the cold sound struck his heart. Accompanied by the green data flow waves, “Whoosh,” “whoosh,” several figures were teleported out—at a rough count, there were over 30 people.
They were the people who were just in the [Zhuying Anxiang] shop preparing to buy natural plants. Who knew that just because they were that bit slower, they hadn’t bought anything and were then heartlessly teleported out by the system.
“What a pity, I was clearly about to snag a Freesia! Just a tiny bit too slow.”
“Do the others really not have cheats? I don’t believe that with my A-grade spiritual power, I couldn’t beat them.”
“First time being hired by an employer to buy plants on Xinggou. But a total of 10 pots! 10 pots! I didn’t even snag one; what a humiliation!”
“Ugh, the flowers I was going to use for my confession, ugh… gone.”
Qin Ke was using his broad-shouldered virtual avatar, blinking his confused eyes. Was he still not awake?
From the other people’s chat, he analyzed the following information:
[Zhuying Anxiang] indeed opened and listed 10 pots of flowers. But… currently, it was only 3 minutes past opening time, and 10 pots of flowers were sold out? All sold out? Not a single pot left?
Qin Ke was in a daze, finding this reality a bit hard to accept. He patted a brother beside him. “Brother, did you guys come to camp out early this morning? Is this shop that popular?”
“Isn’t it? This shop is so hot on the forum! It’s said that if you give a Freesia, you can be with your crush. Those who can’t buy Freesias were going to buy Daisies, but who knew someone just bought 5 pots of Daisies at once. Now even the Daisies can’t be bought, so we have to leave empty-handed.”
“[Zhuying Anxiang] has become the NO. 1 shop for improving romantic relationships!”
Saying that, this brother kindly showed Qin Ke the forum screenshots.
[I bought a Freesia for my crush of over twenty years, and then we got together.]
[Director of the Political Department’s eldest daughter Jian Xia: I like the Freesia very much.]
[Natural plant Freesia—Flower language: Happiness.]
The relationship section of the forum was almost entirely taken over by the three words ‘Freesia,’ and the replies to all the popular threads exceeded 1,000.
Qin Ke’s mouth twitched. He naturally knew this forum; he often browsed and posted there himself. Qin Ke had once posted in this section saying ‘he used a natural plant to make his male god treat him to dinner.’ Because that thread’s popularity suddenly spiked and there was a risk of being doxxed, he had deleted it.
But who knew… in just the one day he hadn’t paid attention to the forum, it had already developed into a state he couldn’t understand. ‘Freesia’ had actually become a trending “Holy Grail” for chasing love?! [Zhuying Anxiang] had also become a hit store because of it?!
This prosperity was finally as he wished. Heh.
Zhou Zheng, the owner of ‘Ye Zhao Merchandise Store,’ was currently in the Xinggou app’s holographic street, leisurely eating the internet’s most popular “Sizzling Spicy Mutated Beast Meat.”
Although eating in the holographic world didn’t fill one up, people only had to spend 10 or 20 Star Coins to taste dishes worth thousands or tens of thousands to satisfy their cravings. Many people were willing to pay this small amount for the novelty. And some who tasted it once couldn’t stop, so they spent large amounts of money to taste the real thing in reality, which also indirectly promoted food consumption.
In short, this “good smell and taste but doesn’t fill you up” virtual food was a win-win.
“First place on the leaderboard is secure. For today and tomorrow, I just need to wait for the leaderboard to settle.” Zhou Zheng was eating the spicy meat and drinking a fizzy drink, feeling the wind in his sails. Having taken first place on the newbie leaderboard, he had secured a free promotion slot almost at zero cost, and on the largest shopping platform in the stars at that.
Such a promotion method was truly unprecedented; Zhou Zheng was about to give himself a hundred likes for his idea. He was such a smart guy.
While daydreaming about the future, Zhou Zheng finished a plate of food. “Let me see how much turnover I’ve pulled ahead of the second place.”
He opened the December Xinggou newbie leaderboard like a wolf patrolling its territory—head high, chest out, full of confidence. Except… the moment Zhou Zheng saw the leaderboard, his eyes widened and his mouth hung open in an ‘O’ shape.
Zhou Zheng blinked, then rubbed his eyes with his hands, and then blinked again, completely unable to accept the fact he was seeing. “This… how is this possible? How am I second?”
“This is impossible!”
The current situation of the December newbie store leaderboard was as follows:
[First Place] Store Name: Zhuying Anxiang Cumulative Turnover: 444,000 Star Coins
[Second Place] Store Name: Ye Zhao Merchandise Store Cumulative Turnover: 262,000 Star Coins
The Ye Zhao Merchandise Store had not only fallen from the top spot to second place, but Zhuying Anxiang, which only had a 170,000 turnover yesterday, now had 444,000.
“Zhuying Anxiang didn’t even open yesterday! It only listed new items today, which means… it earned nearly 300,000 in half a day?” Zhou Zheng was in disbelief. Heavens! How on earth did it do that?
Zhou Zheng naturally wouldn’t think Zhuying Anxiang used a bot to cheat; in the interstellar era, Star Network management was even stricter than reality—anyone who violated Star Network security regulations would be in jail! He also didn’t think Zhuying Anxiang achieved this turnover spike through promotions or sales.
Whose unknown shop could grow its turnover by 300,000 in a day? He certainly couldn’t do it.
“Just what kind of shop is this?” Zhou Zheng admitted he had slightly underestimated the enemy, thinking that with Ye Zhao’s reputation and the gimmick of limited-edition merchandise, first place was a given.
As things stood, unless Zhou Zheng heavily promoted the shop in Ye Zhao’s fan groups, it would be difficult for ‘Ye Zhao Merchandise Store’ to regain first place.
Sigh… life is truly unpredictable. Who could have thought that a sure win would encounter such a failure.
Zhou Zheng quickly adjusted his mindset, preparing to see what kind of shop Zhuying Anxiang was. It was said they sold plants, but how could selling genetically synthesized plants alone achieve such high turnover?
Mengxin Street was only so long; even if Zhou Zheng didn’t know where the [Zhuying Anxiang] shop was, he could find it after spending a dozen minutes browsing the street. Soon, he stopped in front of a shop with a very plain decoration. The shopfront was completely white without any decoration, appearing very crude—much worse than his ‘Ye Zhao Merchandise Store’.
Yet, quite a few people were sitting in front of this shop, seemingly waiting for it to open. And the shop name was [Zhuying Anxiang].
Whoa, it’s closed due to being sold out again. Business was great.
Zhou Zheng pretended to be a curious passerby and asked a brother waiting at the shop door. “Brother, are you waiting for the shop to open? What does this shop sell that so many people are waiting?”
The older brother gave Zhou Zheng a look that said ‘how could you not know this’.
“This shop sells natural plants. Many wealthy customers specifically want this shop’s Freesia. The Freesia has become the NO. 1 chasing-love item in the stars; you can’t even get it if you want to. Brother, you’re not well-informed~”
Saying that, the older brother showed Zhou Zheng a forum screenshot. Zhou Zheng saw that more than half of the relationship section was flooded with the words ‘Freesia’.
Zhou Zheng was full of confusion: ?
Relationship section? Chasing-love item? Freesia? Zhou Zheng had several question marks in a row. He, an upright star assistant, constantly monitored the star entertainment section; who had time to follow the relationship section?! And a chasing-love item? He wished his Ye Zhao would break off all emotions and focus on his career!
One false step leading to eternal regret… If he had known earlier, he should have looked at the relationship section a few more times. If he had known [Zhuying Anxiang] was selling natural plants and had so much hype, Zhou Zheng would have absolutely been on high alert.
Sigh… you can’t buy “knowing earlier” with all the money in the world.
With that thought, Zhou Zheng returned to reality dejectedly. He prepared to tell Ye Zhao that they couldn’t get the first place for the free promotion on Xinggou and could only take second.
Just as Zhou Zheng entered Ye Zhao’s room, he saw Ye Zhao holding a pot of small flowers with red centers and white petals, a joyful smile on his face. Currently, Ye Zhao still had on the smoky makeup from a promotional shoot and was wearing a leather jacket covered in metal studs, looking sharp and rebellious. However, probably because of this pot of flowers, Ye Zhao’s aggression was softened.
Zhou Zheng casually asked: “Newly bought or a fan gift? It looks a bit more pleasing than other synthetic plants.”
Ye Zhao: “Bought it myself. Got up early this morning to snag it; it’s said to have very high heat on the forum.”
Zhou Zheng suddenly felt something was wrong.
Ye Zhao continued: “It’s a natural plant, very fragrant, and its looks fit my aesthetic perfectly. Everyone else was fighting for the Freesia; I managed to buy 5 pots of Daisies.”
Zhou Zheng: …
Ye Zhao pondered seriously: “Do you think I should use Daisies for my new song release event? I think it fits my new song’s theme perfectly.”
Freesia… Zhuying Anxiang’s star product.
Who could have thought that his own star would personally buy flowers from [Zhuying Anxiang], preventing them from taking first place!
Zhou Zheng was too angry to speak: You “Old Six”!
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