Part 2
Mǐ Qiū found herself lying on Fù Róngqīng’s chest, having slept very soundly.
She only remembered that halfway through, after the hypnosis, she must have woken up once, put the isolation agent into the iron supplement, and then fallen asleep again due to dizziness.
At this moment, Fù Róngqīng also woke up. Seeing Mǐ Qiū, scenes overlapping in his mind made him feel a bit dazed.
It was an unshakeable rule that Sentinels needed to take iron supplements every day.
Mǐ Qiū checked the date on her light-brain; a day and a night had actually passed. She helped Fù Róngqīng up. Once he was sitting on the bed, Mǐ Qiū handed him the box of nutritional iron supplements.
Fù Róngqīng took it naturally and swallowed it.
Mǐ Qiū: “Commander Fù, do you feel a little better now? The wind and waves were strong, and you got seasick, so I performed hypnosis on you.”
After Fù Róngqīng finished the iron supplement, the fragmented scenes flashing in his brain suddenly vanished, leaving it empty.
Mǐ Qiū stayed there and said to him, “If you have any other discomfort, Commander Fù, I’ll stay here with you.”
Fù Róngqīng: “It’s gone. Guide Mǐ, you should go back to your cabin. I’m fine; you should conserve your energy.”
So Mǐ Qiū returned to her own cabin first. She slept soundly. After such a long time, the food she had originally planned to take out and eat had gone cold.
There was no way to heat it. Mǐ Qiū didn’t mind; eating something cold didn’t matter. Her mouth would warm the cold parts, and the food would be warm once swallowed into her stomach.
Afraid that Fù Róngqīng had nothing to eat, Mǐ Qiū hurriedly grabbed some canned food for him. Fù Róngqīng said to her, “I have some in my luggage. Guide Mǐ, don’t worry about me.”
Mǐ Qiū spread her hands and said helplessly, “Commander Fù, please don’t think I’m being meddlesome. I just didn’t expect your seasickness to be worse than mine.”
Fù Róngqīng: “Yes. If I didn’t get seasick, I would probably have a place in maritime combat as well.”
Mǐ Qiū realized then that he had weaknesses too; he wasn’t as tough as he appeared on the surface. Still, she left the canned food.
Mǐ Qiū: “The fish inside smells very fragrant, Commander Fù, you must try it! And this orange-flavored nutrient solution—I guarantee that after drinking it, you’ll have a clear head and won’t feel dizzy at all!”
Hearing her say this, Fù Róngqīng didn’t refuse her again.
Mǐ Qiū watched him eat. The fish in the can was dark yellow on the outside but pink inside; the meat looked very tender.
Fù Róngqīng: “Mǐ Qiū, you aren’t going to wait until I finish eating to go back, are you?”
“You slept through yesterday and didn’t eat on time. Your body won’t be able to handle it like that.”
Mǐ Qiū had her own logic. Fù Róngqīng: “Alright. I’ll finish it all. I definitely won’t waste it.”
Seeing him finish the meal completely, Mǐ Qiū went to the bow of the ship and asked Captain Shí if they were getting close.
Mǐ Qiū had almost forgotten that the fiber-optic boat ride usually took at least two days. Captain Shí said, “Guide Mǐ, about half a day more and we’ll arrive.”
Mǐ Qiū: “Shouldn’t it be another day?”
Captain Shí: “It won’t take that long. I don’t know what happened, but this storm is something you encounter maybe once in twenty years. It pushed my boat right along with the current, so you’ll actually reach your destination early.”
Such a thing was possible?
Didn’t that mean she could get there sooner? Mǐ Qiū realized she didn’t need to endure another day like this after all.
In her spare time, Mǐ Qiū chatted with Captain Shí, and the conversation eventually turned to the island.
“I wonder how everyone on the island is doing now? Captain Shí, you’re always in that area, do you know their situation?”
He answered Mǐ Qiū truthfully: “You don’t need to worry about them. With the follow-up evolved Xiao Meis, they can soothe the guests in their own way at any time. The current monitoring of their dynamic status shows they are all doing quite well. The signal is poor where you are, Guide Mǐ, so Officer Hè sometimes checks on your status through my messages.”
Mǐ Qiū: “That’s good.”
Captain Shí continued, “Guide Mǐ, in reality, the mood of the Sentinels on the island hasn’t been high since you left. I guess the reason they are maintaining their previous state is that they are looking forward to your return.”
Mǐ Qiū laughed softly. “Captain Shí, you’re overthinking it.”
“Guide Mǐ, don’t sell yourself short.”
At 6:00 PM sharp, Mǐ Qiū and Fù Róngqīng finally packed their things and got off the fiber-optic boat. Before taking the Star Field Vehicle for the next leg of the journey, they found this place wasn’t like the desolate, lifeless Field Zone; it had some life to it.
To put it bluntly, although there were Sentinels in the Field Zone, that terrifying aura of monsters would gradually spread. Mǐ Qiū had a keen nose and would unconsciously smell the scent of rot and death, which was completely different from this place.
Fù Róngqīng said to her, “There are many streets here. This is Yíng Quán Street in Star Sector 2, which is also Yíng Quán’s large wholesale mall. Guide Mǐ Qiū, if you want to buy clothes, it’s cheaper here.”
Right! Since it was a wholesale mall, things shouldn’t be too expensive.
Mǐ Qiū walked with him and finally arrived at that street. The street was full of a dazzling array of goods.
Besides clothes, there were many small items and gadgets she had never seen before. Mǐ Qiū could barely take it all in. There weren’t too many people shopping. Mǐ Qiū entered the small shops one by one; the decoration of each shop was excellent.
Mǐ Qiū saw some items she didn’t understand; they were very niche things in the interstellar world. Automatic spiral toy cars, chat robot dogs that could relieve depression, data models displaying human facial interactions…
The more Mǐ Qiū looked, the more curious she became. She couldn’t find these things on the StarNet at all. Such fun stuff existed? She picked one up and couldn’t help but fiddle with it, loving it too much to put it down.
Fù Róngqīng just stayed by her side. When she was completely bored with playing, he would accompany her to another small shop. Even though it took a lot of time and effort, Fù Róngqīng never showed any impatience with her from beginning to end.
Mǐ Qiū really felt these small commodities were too interesting, but she also knew the purpose of coming here.
However, the street stretched so far she couldn’t see the end. Mǐ Qiū looked at the route map on a light pillar in the middle and checked the zones. The clothing zone was in Zone T12.
Alright then. Mǐ Qiū clarified her next route and went to T12 with him.
Clothes for basically all four seasons were available here. As soon as Mǐ Qiū stepped into a shop, the proprietress greeted her very enthusiastically, asking what kind of clothes she needed.
Before Mǐ Qiū could speak, the woman introduced a whole string of items: “Look at our shop, we have thin ones and thick ones! Just try on whatever style you want. Miss, your face is so fair, you’d look especially good in warm-colored clothes. I’m telling you, you can’t go wrong with my shop’s clothes, they all look good! You won’t look bad in any of them!!”
Seeing her talking incessantly by her side, Mǐ Qiū wanted to look around by herself first. The proprietress said, “Okay, you look first. But I suggest—if you look by yourself, it’s easy to make errors in judgment. It doesn’t matter if you’re worried about my taste; isn’t your boyfriend right there beside you?”
Huh? Boyfriend?
When did Mǐ Qiū get a boyfriend? Before she could react, the proprietress leaned close and whispered in her ear, “I know girls are shy and don’t want me to say it! How about this? Just let him help you look later. Boyfriends usually know their girlfriend’s figure best.”
What a misunderstanding—how was Mǐ Qiū supposed to explain this…
The proprietress continued to barrage her with words. Mǐ Qiū shook her head and waved her hands, but the woman acted like she didn’t see. Forget it, Mǐ Qiū thought, finding suitable clothes to buy was the most urgent thing.
Actually, Mǐ Qiū’s taste in clothes was, in her own opinion, just average.
Basically, as long as it was comfortable to wear, she didn’t have many hard requirements.
So she picked a light blue, wide-sleeved woolen coat that suited her skin tone and looked in the full-length mirror. The proprietress wasn’t very satisfied with it and said to Mǐ Qiū, “The color suits you, but this outfit… it’s better to be a bit tighter. One way to keep a man is to be sexy.”
Ahhhhhh!! How could she tell the proprietress again that Fù Róngqīng wasn’t her boyfriend at all?!
Mǐ Qiū changed into another piece in the fitting room, not because she thought the proprietress was right, but mainly because that coat was indeed too large. When she put it on, she looked exactly like a chubby emperor penguin. Mǐ Qiū had to switch it out.
The proprietress gave her another piece of clothing of moderate thickness. The color was a pink gradient fading into orange-yellow. She said this could be worn as an inner layer. Mǐ Qiū changed into it. Fù Róngqīng had already finished buying all his clothes and returned to the shop.
To speed things up, they had split up to buy their own clothes. Fù Róngqīng picked his clothes very quickly and returned in fifteen minutes.
Just then, Mǐ Qiū was standing in front of the mirror, looking very seriously at the long-sleeved shirt she had changed into. The fabric felt fitted but not tight at all; it was very comfortable. Mǐ Qiū looked at herself in the mirror and suddenly started playing with her reflection, making a funny face now and then. Mm, the clothes are indeed not bad!
Mǐ Qiū decided to take this one. The proprietress tactfully asked Fù Róngqīng, “It looks good, right?”
Phew! Mǐ Qiū let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she didn’t say those three words (girlfriend/boyfriend). Then she listened to the proprietress and tried on another long-sleeved shirt that could be worn as an inner layer. She decided on that one too.
Then came three coats. For coats, judging by her own taste, Mǐ Qiū preferred plainer ones. She didn’t want coats decorated with too many patterns, and they had to be very warm.
These coats had quite a few clever little designs, putting effort into the material and drape. There were Star Stones embellishing the cuffs. Overall, Mǐ Qiū was very satisfied. For the remaining trousers, she generally picked dark blue and black tones—clean and sharp.
Mǐ Qiū felt a gaze looking at her. Apart from the proprietress, who else could the other gaze belong to?
Mǐ Qiū decided on all these clothes. Before this, in another clothing store, Mǐ Qiū hadn’t chosen many items. Now that she had basically picked everything, she didn’t need to waste time going to other shops.
When Mǐ Qiū paid, her heart was bleeding. Fortunately, the clothes here weren’t very expensive. Otherwise, with her living allowance cut in half this month, she really couldn’t support her consumption. After setting aside some Star Coins for food and daily necessities, she really didn’t have much left!!!
Sob~ Her heart was weeping…
Just as they were about to leave, the proprietress said directly to Fù Róngqīng, “Bring your girlfriend here again next time!”
Mǐ Qiū didn’t dare look at him. Who could verify that she had denied this to the proprietress?! She kept her head down, but heard Fù Róngqīng ask very softly:
“Girlfriend, is it?”
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