Chapter 16: 016
The next day, Zhu Ran woke up naturally. After just waking up, his cheeks were rosy, and his entire being radiated a warm and gentle aura, soft and subtly fragrant. After washing up and drinking a tube of nutrient solution, Zhu Ran checked the shop’s sales from yesterday.
Shop [Zhuying Anxiang] Dec 30th Report: [Yesterday’s Foot Traffic]: 89 people [Yesterday’s Sales]: 10 items [Yesterday’s Turnover]: 270,000 Star Coins
There are 10 items awaiting special delivery; please contact the Xinggou exclusive logistics immediately~ Since there are no items available for sale in the shop, it has been closed. Please list new items as soon as possible.
“Sold out again… I thought the Daisies would linger.”
He checked the purchase records. The records showed that in less than 20 seconds, the 5 pots of Freesia were sold out. After another 2 minutes, the 5 pots of the new Daisy were also gone.
From the sales in previous days, Zhu Ran had thought his plants would sell well and that 10 pots of plants would probably be sold out in 2 days. Who knew… it didn’t take 2 days; it only took 2 minutes and 20 seconds for 10 natural plants to be completely sold out.
Even though Zhu Ran knew the popularity of the Freesia on the forum played a part, he was still surprised by the purchasing power of interstellar citizens. These were natural plants costing 20,000 to 30,000 each, not 20 or 30 Star Coin trinkets. They actually sold out in seconds.
“The demand for Freesia is high, but rare things are precious, so for now, I’ll still list 5 pots a day. I’ll also list 5 pots of Daisies a day, and at the same time, prepare to list Daisy tea to see the effect.”
While planning, Zhu Ran used his spiritual power to prepare today’s cuttings and watered them with water infused with his spiritual power. At the same time, he also picked all the flowers from his own 7 pots of Daisies, obtaining about 50 flowers in total, which he dehydrated and dried using spiritual power.
And so, the dried Daisy flowers were ready.
Zhu Ran kept these 7 pots of Daisies in the nutrient water and injected spiritual power into the stems and leaves where the flowers had been picked to speed up their growth.
“This way, they can continue to bloom tomorrow, and these Daisy plants can be reused.”
He took out three dried daisies to brew tea with hot water. The scent was sweet, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. It tasted very good. Zhu Ran personally liked the taste of flower tea. If he could grow plants of the Camellia genus in the future, he could drink tea leaves that were fragrant and slightly bitter. He just didn’t know if interstellar people could accept such a beverage.
Zhu Ran gazed at the Daisy tea in his hand, which was giving off curls of steam. After pondering for a moment, he sent a message to Xiuna.
[Zhu Ran]: I’ve made some dried flower tea; I’d like to send some for you to try.
After a few minutes, Xiuna replied.
[Xiuna]: Address: Central Street, District 5… [It’s Officer Vier’s address; you can just send it there. I’ll be at his house tonight.]
Although he didn’t know why it had to be sent to someone else, Zhu Ran did as requested. Just as he was about to call for delivery, Zhu Ran suddenly remembered that where he now lived was only 3 streets away from Officer Vier’s house, very close. It happened that he hadn’t been out since arriving in the interstellar era, so why not deliver it personally?
[Zhu Ran]: It’s not far; I’ll deliver it myself. If no one’s home, I’ll leave it at the door.
It took Xiuna a long time to reply with a single word.
[Xiuna]: Okay.
What Zhu Ran didn’t know was that when he sent the message, Xiuna and Zefaer were together. Zefaer was currently pushing a tube of cold liquid into his vein. At this moment, the greyish-blue veins at his temples, side of the neck, and arms were bulging, making that cold and handsome face appear ruthless and fierce.
Cold sweat had soaked his golden hair, his complexion was unnaturally pale, and those blue and gold heterochromatic eyes were glowing with a scarlet light, filled with a violent force that couldn’t be calmed.
After finishing the injection, Zefaer expressionlessly pulled out the needle and continued with a second injection. It wasn’t until three injections were finished that Zefaer’s chaotic breathing slightly calmed. Fresh red blood seeped from the needle holes on his arm.
Xiuna breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Zefaer calm down. He worriedly said, “Your Majesty, your spiritual sea…”
Zefaer was cold. “I won’t die for now.”
Zefaer’s spiritual sea was violent and couldn’t be cured, so he had to inject a special medicine at intervals to control it. The medicine had been somewhat effective for Zefaer in previous years, but as drug resistance increased, its effect had recently diminished. Sometimes he had to give three or four injections in a row to calm his spiritual sea.
And the regulation dose for this special medicine was no more than one injection every six months.
Zefaer closed his eyes and then opened them again; the ruthlessness in his eyes had faded, but he was still commanding. “What were you saying about Zhu Ran just now?”
“Zhu Ran said he’s sending some dried flower tea to Officer Vier in a bit.”
Zefaer tidied his clothes and slowly put on his black gloves. His pale and handsome face instantly became ordinary. “Understood. I’m going back now.”
Xiuna opened his mouth to ask something, but in the end, he said nothing. “Yes, then I’ll help Your Majesty and Zhu Ran order lunch.”
Once Xiuna had retreated from Zefaer’s sight, Zefaer’s undisguised heterochromatic eyes grew deep—one a deep blue like a silent ocean abyss, one a molten gold like burning lava. He turned on the disguise device and then adjusted his hat brim.
This wasn’t the hat he had once given Zhu Ran to wear; that hat was kept carefully in his room. Zefaer had kept all the other items Zhu Ran had used. Just like a fierce beast guarding its treasure, he only wanted to possess them exclusively, refusing anyone else’s gaze.
Zhu Ran changed into the light blue hoodie and jeans he had bought from the neighboring supermarket and set out for Officer Vier’s house. The clothes weren’t thick, roughly the thickness of a hoodie, but because the central district automatically controlled the temperature, even in winter it was around 15°C. Zhu Ran, wearing only a single layer, didn’t feel cold.
After walking for 10 minutes from the residential complex to the exit, Zhu Ran arrived at the Second Avenue of the central district. The entire road was about 8 lanes wide, paved with synthetic metal materials that gave off a cold sheen under the sunlight.
The ground-level streets didn’t have any decorations or shops, nor a single person, appearing very empty. However, as long as one looked up, they could see shops suspended in mid-air and hovercars speeding past, making ‘whoosh’ engine sounds from time to time.
The population of Planet Aispu wasn’t large to begin with, and most people living here were spaceport workers. They rarely walked and were usually more accustomed to using hovercars for transport. Thus, for their convenience, the shops were set up three stories above the ground.
After walking for about 25 minutes, Zhu Ran arrived at Vier’s residential complex as promised.
[Visitor confirmed. Entry permitted.]
The AI security robot at the gate scanned Zhu Ran’s face and quickly let him in.
As he walked through the complex, Zhu Ran felt quite a few gazes falling on him. Their observation was very subtle, yet it was still caught by the highly sensitive Zhu Ran. The other party’s scrutiny wasn’t malicious, but they were watching very closely. Zhu Ran felt as if he had entered a heavily guarded fortress, with surveillance and precautions everywhere.
Zhu Ran uncomfortably endured the scrutiny as he arrived at the central building of the complex. He rang the doorbell to Vier’s house. After a moment, the door was opened.
Zhu Ran: “I’ve come to deliver something.”
Zefaer: “Come in.”
Zhu Ran and Zefaer spoke almost at the same time.
“No need, I…”
Zhu Ran didn’t finish his words before Zefaer had already turned to enter, leaving Zhu Ran with only a broad back. He hadn’t originally intended to visit, just to drop off the items and leave, but the other party had finished speaking and directly turned into the house without giving Zhu Ran any chance to refuse.
He had no choice but to follow him inside.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
Zefaer currently had off his uniform jacket and was only wearing a thin black shirt. The shirt’s cut was snug, accentuating his perfect physique. His brown hair was combed back, revealing a full and smooth forehead, and beneath those few stray strands, those sea-blue eyes—like pure blue sapphires—were clear and cold.
It wasn’t until his hair was all swept up that Zhu Ran realized this cold-faced but warm-hearted officer had eyes that were somewhat narrow and long, with the outer corners slightly upturned, very captivating. However, because of his deep eye sockets and sharp gaze, this captivation turned into a silent pressure.
Rather than a beautiful Ragdoll cat, Officer Vier was perhaps more like a majestic lion. Zhu Ran silently apologized for comparing Vier to a Ragdoll cat the other day.
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