On the jade token, Jing Yuan kept sending messages one after another, trying to help Zero analyze the person's identity.
[Jing Yuan: To actually bring an Abundance Spawn into Luofu… and then openly mail it to the Divination Commission…]
[Zero: Wait wait, how do you know it was sent to the Divination Commission?]
[Jing Yuan: ?]
[Jing Yuan: Don't I know you? Back in school you used to game the grading, scrape through exams, probably even if the house collapsed and you barely didn't get crushed, you'd still roll over and keep sleeping]
[Jing Yuan: If it wasn't mailed to your workplace, just giving you a chance to slack off, you probably wouldn't have even asked.]
Zero suddenly remembered the dozens of unopened delivery boxes piled up at home, and felt genuine respect toward Jing Yuan.
[Zero: …Legend, worthy of being the famous brains of the Cloud Cavalry Army]
Jing Yuan sent over a meme.
This was one of those ancient Path-memes that had been circulating the cosmos for ages, with picture quality as bad as pixelated mosaics, no one knew how many Amber Eras it had been passed down.
[Jing Yuan: The person you've offended, their identity probably isn't normal… think carefully, do you have any suspects?]
Zero, 'No need to suspect, it's your master… what am I even supposed to say to that?'
He could only throw out a classic vague line, the universal cover-up of the student years, to try to steer the topic away.
[Jing Yuan: …Classic you, not even worried when being threatened.]
[Jing Yuan: Fine fine, no point advising you. But if you do have someone in mind, tell me right away.]
Zero felt a pang of emotion.
If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't want to get involved in this kind of trouble. But Jing Yuan still wanted to help.
He didn't get to feel touched for long before another message came.
[Jing Yuan: Don't worry, when the time comes I'll ask my master for help.]
Zero, '…Good brother, your starting point is good, but please don't start.'
He was going numb.
If Jing Yuan went full righteous indignation tattletale, what kind of face would Jingliu make?
How was this any different from gossiping behind someone's back and then getting caught red-handed by the person themselves?
Even someone with the thickest skin would have to claw an entire Luofu Xianzhou out of the floor with their toes, right?
And Jingliu? Wouldn't her mouth twitch down two pixels at least?
And then what? His good brother Jing Yuan would shave a few hundred years off his life path and get extra training from Jingliu.
Holding onto his humanitarian spirit, Zero started trying to stop Jing Yuan.
Zero: Jing Yuan, you're still young, the water here is too deep, you can't handle it…]
[Jing Yuan: ?]
[Jing Yuan: Don't imitate General Teng Xiao]
Afraid Jing Yuan would fall into the hell of endless training, Zero quickly sped up his typing, making things up.
[Zero: Don't worry, it's not a big deal. I just did a divination, the other side has no bad intentions, it'll be resolved soon]
[Jing Yuan: You'd better be right]
[Jing Yuan: Break's over, Master's calling me to practice sword]
They traded memes as goodbyes.
Just as Zero was about to put down his phone and actually do some work, another message popped up.
[Baizhu: Zero, can you come dive in the sea tonight~]
Right after that came a picture of Baizhu poking her head out from behind a wall, captioned "Fox peeking in."
This person… strictly speaking, this fox.
The woman named Baizhu was a fox-folk with fox ears on her head and countless suitors.
Her fur color was about the same as Baiheng's. Both of them had big fluffy snow-white tails that would make any fluff lover ecstatic.
But compared to Baizhu, Zero preferred to spend time with Baiheng.
Reason was simple, Baizhu's scent… was too strong.
Maybe it was her fur oil?
Every time he met Baizhu, he could smell this sticky sweet scent, making him think involuntarily of the gooey feeling after eating cotton candy.
But everyone's aesthetics differ. Zero didn't comment much, so when faced with her invitations, he generally avoided them if he could.
Before he could even type a rejection, another message came.
[Baizhu: You've already turned me down twice, this time you have to come~]
Along with it came a short video.
She twitched her snow-white fox ears, swayed her big tail behind her, winked at the camera, and whispered something.
'What was she saying? Couldn't hear a thing…'
He considered himself, aside from slacking off, quite a qualified employee. No way he could play a video with sound outside the office.
He didn't dig further into what she said, and could only agree to her invitation.
If it had been someone else, he'd have ghosted for sure.
He sighed, adulthood really has no "easy" word in it.
Who could have thought his original goal was just craving hotpot?
Unfortunately, Baizhu was his profit-sharing partner, and cutting ties wasn't an option.
Her family had been merchants for generations, and as the only daughter, Baizhu had inherited her late mother's talent, investing in shops across different Xianzhou, pulling in money every day too much to count.
Among them, one hotpot restaurant was under her name.
Service there was attentive, and it resembled a certain hotpot chain from his past life, even the name was similar, "Sea-bottom Net."
That place, from soup base down to dipping sauce, everything was authentic and high quality.
The owner was straightforward too, afraid customers wouldn't get full, constantly rounding down bills, throwing in free snacks, making people worry about the shop's profits, fearing it might close.
Every time Zero went, he ate with the thought of "this might be the last meal."
Until one day, Baizhu, as a shareholder, finally remembered this restaurant under her name.
Checking its revenue, she found it lagging far behind other shops in similar areas, and thought about pulling out. So she contacted the shopkeeper.
As a businesswoman, she always left room in conversations, never cut things off, just asked about operations and then said no more.
But the shopkeeper had done business for decades. He could hear the hidden meaning in a shareholder's words. Yet he really had no clue how to make money, so he fretted for days.
Customers saw this and were shocked, was this hidden-gem hotpot shop about to close?
They began visiting more often, even spreading the word themselves.
Even Zero, usually a shut-in, couldn't sit still at the bad news, and for once started eating out frequently, getting familiar with the shopkeeper.
Maybe they clicked, the shopkeeper ended up pouring out his sorrows to him.
A burly middle-aged man, drinking gloomily, almost tearing up when he got emotional.
Zero felt guilty.
He tried rummaging through his fragmented past-life memories for useful ideas.
Like writing cost price and sale price directly on the menu…
After all, for someone who had held on for decades, raising prices suddenly was impossible, he had to find another way.
Or maybe launch a new flavor of soup base…
Had to try, dead horse as living horse doctor.
The shopkeeper nodded eagerly, clapped him hard on the shoulder, eyes practically glowing green, wanting to etch every word into his bones.
The next day, the menu with cost prices was already out.
Zero hadn't thought the shopkeeper would believe him, but he did. So Zero went around, contacting the few friends he had, recommending the place.
In the end, the shop, with its plain unprofitable style and unique "Fermented Bean Juice" soup base, suddenly became a new trending hotspot in Luofu, packed with customers daily.
The shopkeeper's face was splitting with laughter.
Zero, '"Fermented Bean Juice" soup base was not something I expected…'
When Baizhu heard the hotpot restaurant was booming, she came again.
The shopkeeper had no thought of claiming credit, and instead praised Zero endlessly in front of the golden shareholder, putting all the merit on him.
Baizhu grew interested in this Zero who had, so easily, turned the tide and boosted profits, and asked the shopkeeper to arrange a meal together.
When he arrived, Zero stared at the unfamiliar fox-woman, totally confused, and somehow, muddled by the shopkeeper, ended up as a shareholder of Sea-bottom Net, getting a nice annual dividend.
A windfall from heaven, Zero only felt unworthy.
In his free time, he would think up new tricks for the hotpot shop.
Even after several rejections, she didn't give up, inviting him again and again.
Zero was amazed, s'o this was what it was like to max out social points?'
She could make tons of money and not be jealous, and still make the effort to keep ties with someone as ordinary as him.
Zero, 'A shut-in like me could never… if I had to socialize with strangers, I'd throw myself into Abundance right away…'
He put away his jade token, sometimes slacking, sometimes working, skillfully finishing his tasks right before the end of the day.
As soon as it was time, he stood up, carrying the package Jingliu had sent, and left the Divination Commission.
When he reached an empty corner, Zero willed it into his system backpack.
The system popped up a note.
[Why was she compelled to bring this item into Luofu? What feelings did she hold while wrapping up this gift?]
[No one knows. This gift, guarded against by all, hides the unknowing affection of a flower on the high peak.]
Zero raised an eyebrow and kept scrolling down.
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