Chapter 21: 021
“However… the shop sign is quite well-made.”
Yan You’s gaze lingered on the [Zhuying Anxiang] sign for a moment. The carved patterns around the edges were very special. The patterns seemed to simulate the growth of grass and leaves—curling leaves, soft and unfolding veins—overall, they were small and beautiful.
Since the decorative patterns on the sign were so ingenious, the four carved characters for [Zhuying Anxiang] were also extraordinary. The script used was different from the hard metallic style favored in the stars; it was both orderly and unrestrained, natural and smooth. The strokes were flexible and the flow was seamless, making it easy to see the relaxed and free state of mind of the writer.
As a painter, Yan You also understood some calligraphy and artistic design. Whether it was the script or the carved patterns, he felt the sign was quite artistic. In an age of burgeoning technology, practitioners of ancient arts were declining day by day. Encountering someone who could produce such a sign, Yan You couldn’t help but want to communicate with them.
“Could it be a shop opened by a designer or calligrapher? I should go in and take a look!” With that, he stepped into the shop.
When Yan You was outside, all his attention had been caught by the sign, and he hadn’t noticed that the flowers pasted on the large glass window were completely different from synthetic plants. It wasn’t until he entered the shop and saw the small eco-zone at the entrance that he was suddenly stunned.
Before him, vibrant green plants grew from deep brown soil—thriving, prosperous, and overflowing with vitality. The stems were straight, the branches were lush, and at the tips of the stems, pure white or red-centered white flowers were in full bloom. The flowers were flawless and pure, small and adorable, exuding a fresh beauty. At the same time, he smelled a faint, elegant fragrance—sweet, with a hint of woody scent.
Such a fragrance was different from any synthetic plant scent he had ever encountered; it was purely aromatic and intoxicating.
“Natural… plants?”
Yan You realized within moments that the fragrance came from the flowers before him—natural plants he had never seen before. The combination of the rich scent and the delicate plants made Yan You lose himself for a moment. He felt he wasn’t in a virtual shop on Xinggou, but was fortunate enough to have come to a magnificent treasure land kissed by God. He felt like a wanderer who had accidentally entered a divine realm, obsessed with a gift left behind by a deity.
Under the gentle fragrance, unknown plants were blooming one by one, composing art named vitality.
“So beautiful…” Yan You marveled.
His heart was pounding fast, his blood was flowing quickly with excitement, and fireworks seemed to be exploding in the depths of his soul. Yan You had never had a moment where he could so little restrain his emotions; the resonance from the depths of his soul made his withered inspiration stir.
The dried-up source flowed with a clear stream upon seeing this small eco-zone. The gurgling water became rapid, turned into a tributary, and became a waterfall crashing down from mid-air, sounding so loudly it couldn’t be stopped. He wanted… he wanted to paint. He wanted to paint life, the green breaking through darkness, and the flowers in full bloom. He had never, at any moment, wanted to take up his brush and record this bit of beauty as much as he did right now.
Yan You immediately sat on the floor and began painting the small eco-zone of [Zhuying Anxiang]. Painting in the holographic world was very convenient; with a thought, the brush and canvas were ready. Thus, in less than an hour, a painting of greenery blooming from darkness was finished.
On the canvas, amidst a heavy black background, a splash of light green leaped out from a silent dead end. The red-centered white flowers blooming at its tips seemed to tear through the dawn in the darkness, imbuing the entire heavy color scheme with vitality and hope. The flowers weren’t grand or strong—they could even be called fragile. But such a small flower, under Yan You’s brush, possessed a power comparable to an interstellar battleship. No, it was more powerful than a battleship! This was power derived from natural life.
After painting immersively in the holographic world, Yan You, who had worked late and then painted with high intensity, felt exhausted. But his mood was excited, his eyes were bright, and he couldn’t stop the smile on his face. Seeing his completed painting, this excitement grew even more.
“So, painting can be this enjoyable.”
Yan You had been suffering from his paintings “missing something,” and he could spend a whole day staring at a blank canvas with a brush in his hand, unable to make a stroke. He hadn’t been able to produce a satisfactory painting for nearly three years, stuck in a bottleneck. Many said he was finished, and he felt he was finished too.
Until today, upon completing this painting, Yan You suddenly understood. What he lacked wasn’t painting skill, but emotion, impulse—an irrepressible sensibility.
“I have to thank this shop for making me realize this.”
“But… these plants seem to be natural plants. Does this shop sell… natural plants?” After painting, Yan You realized that this shop he thought sold genetically synthesized plants seemed to be selling rare natural plants.
Yan You, who had intended to go offline and rest, perked up and began to tour the shop. The shop wasn’t big—only ten square meters—and its style was a rare, realistic wooden one, which felt very comfortable and warm. One wall of the shop was a cabinet, but there were no goods on it. Occupying more than half of the shop’s space were three multi-tiered floor stands, which held natural plants.
At a quick count, there were as many as ten pots.
“Ten pots of natural plants? That many?” Yan You was surprised.
Approaching the display stands, Yan You found that the natural plants on them were the same varieties as those in the eco-zone by the door. The certificates on the plants listed their names: ‘Freesia’ and ‘Daisy’.
“A Freesia is 30,000 Star Coins, and a Daisy is on sale for 24,000. This price isn’t expensive.”
“I still have some savings. How about… I grit my teeth and buy them all!”
[Zhuying Anxiang] had given him inspiration, allowing him to create a completely different work; he should thank the shop owner. Furthermore, natural plants circulating on the market were rare and hard to come by. Perhaps he could buy natural plants today, but tomorrow they might be impossible to find because of cultivation difficulties or because they were bought up by research institutes.
Buying natural plants was definitely not a loss. Without much thought, Yan You filled in his delivery address and bought all ten pots of natural plants on display. It cost 270,000 Star Coins, which was almost all of Yan You’s savings. He had intended to save the money to host his own art exhibition, but… spending this money on the natural plants that let him break through his bottleneck was not a loss.
“I also need to tell the owner about me using his natural plants as a reference for my painting.” Yan You had painted the daisies, and his inspiration also came from the owner’s small eco-zone. In the interstellar era, where copyright was highly emphasized, Yan You needed the owner’s consent if he wanted to publish this work.
So he left a message for the owner:
[Yan You]: Hello, shop owner. I gained inspiration from your eco-zone and created a painting…
After explaining the situation and leaving his contact information, Yan You went offline in a good mood. The sky over District 19 was half-light; the deep blue firmament was waiting for the first ray of dawn to descend. Daylight had arrived.
[Jialan Comprehensive University]
Qin Ke had specifically set an alarm for 6:00 AM today to get up early just to buy natural plants from [Zhuying Anxiang].
Cheep, cheep, cheep…
As soon as the alarm rang, Qin Ke jumped out of bed and hurriedly logged into Xinggou, entering the [Zhuying Anxiang] shop through his ‘Purchased Shops’ list. To facilitate returning customers, Xinggou had a function allowing them to teleport to a shop from their order history. This allowed Qin Ke to enter the shop quickly.
Teleported to the shop entrance, Qin Ke realized that [Zhuying Anxiang] had moved to a different street. “Eh, it actually moved to District 19. District 19 is great; it fits the shop’s aura so well.”
After a quick glance around, Qin Ke hurried into the shop to buy natural plants. He didn’t want to miss the chance to buy them by wasting even a few seconds.
But as soon as he entered the shop, the empty display stands made Qin Ke think he was having a hallucination. “Huh… why are the shelves empty?! My plants? The shop update clearly said ten pots were listed.”
“Where did all my plants go?”
After confirming several times that there wasn’t a single pot of natural plant in the shop, Qin Ke knew he was late again. He pouted. “Why is it so hard to buy a single pot of natural plant…”
“But since it’s not closed, is there something else for sale?”
Qin Ke walked around the shop and finally found a jar containing many dried daisies on the wall cabinet.
- Item Name: Daisy Flower Tea
- Serving Suggestion: Take 3-5 dried daisies and steep in about 300g of boiling water for 3 minutes.
- Price: Original Price 150,000, New Product Promo 120,000.
“Daisy Flower Tea? It’s a new product! There seem to be about fifty daisies in there; the cost alone must be more than 150,000!”
“Buy, buy, buy! I must have it!”
Holding onto his trust in [Zhuying Anxiang], Qin Ke bought the jar of Daisy tea without blinking. This finally somewhat soothed his disappointed and hurt heart.
“Dammit, I’ll definitely come even earlier next time!” With that thought, Qin Ke went back to sleep.
Because he had worked until the middle of the night yesterday, Zhu Ran didn’t wake up until noon. It was another sunny day in the central district of Planet Aispu. The sunlight poured over Zhu Ran, its warmth making his whole body feel soft. Having just opened his eyes, he squinted again, as if he might fall back asleep the next second.
Growl. His stomach unhelpfully let out a sound. Hunger forced the groggy Zhu Ran out of bed.
Zhu Ran opened his optical computer to order an expensive food delivery, but a notification from the Xinggou app instantly drove away his sleepiness.
[System]: The items in your shop “Zhuying Anxiang” are sold out. Please ship the orders and restock as soon as possible~
Zhu Ran tilted his head and blinked his emerald eyes in confusion. If he remembered correctly… he had listed ten pots of natural plants and a jar of Daisy tea at around 3:00 AM last night. And after moving the shop, he was too tired to post a notice or reveal the new address. Zhu Ran had thought sales wouldn’t be ideal because customers wouldn’t be able to find his shop.
And now, the app was telling him the goods were sold out again?
“Did I sleep for two days?” Zhu Ran was completely bewildered.
Translator’s Note:
Hey everyone! Hope you’re enjoying the story. Things are moving fast for Zhu Ran’s shop! Here’s a quick look at some of the terms and themes from these chapters:
- District 19 & High-End Luxury: In many Chinese web novels, especially those with a futuristic or interstellar setting, cities or platforms are often divided into numbered districts. The higher the number (or sometimes the lower, depending on the world-building), the more exclusive the district. District 19 here is the “Beverly Hills” of the Star Network.
- Rinceau/Scroll-grass patterns (卷草紋): This is a classic decorative motif. In the story, it’s used to highlight the “ancient” and “artistic” nature of Zhu Ran’s shop, contrasting with the cold, metallic aesthetics of the interstellar era.
- The “Old Six” (老六) Recap: Poor Zhou Zheng from the previous chapters is still fuming about Ye Zhao being an “Old Six” (sabotaging the team by buying from the competitor). In this batch, we see the consequences of that—Zhu Ran has moved on to bigger and better things in District 19!
- Mutated Beast Meat (異獸肉): A staple of the “Interstellar/System” genre. It’s not just food; it’s a source of energy that helps characters level up or, in Zhu Ran’s case, heal their Spiritual Sea.
Happy reading!
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