Chapter 70: This is Worse than Toilet Paper!
Xu Xiaofeng had a goal in mind when she designed the affection meter, especially when she deliberately set the first threshold to 70 points.
New players in the main city only needed to complete her daily quests for seven days to reach it. Here, they got a bit of a bargain, only needing six days—but hey, six days, seven days, it’s all close enough.
In about three or four days, the Sunfruits outside the city would respawn, and minus the one or two days for maturation, players could go directly for the harvest.
Of course, the quality of their self-harvested fruits would be questionable, yielding effects far inferior to those bought from her.
And guess what? Her first-stage affection shop had Sunfruits for sale!
Xu Xiaofeng wasn’t being entirely heartless. In the end, they could choose to pick or buy, and where to buy from was entirely up to them.
For players wanting to break through in the coming days? Well, they either had to scramble something together from Fiery Conflict Across the Sky or find a way to unlock her first-stage store.
As for pre-ordering? Good luck with that; she wasn’t about to release any goods during this time.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for players to discover the Sunfruits hiding at the very end of the first row in her affection store.
Mm, the front was filled with common materials and consumables, and you had to scroll through dozens of items sideways before finally spotting the Sunfruits.
Hehe… Just a bit of game!
Meanwhile, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky had levelled up! He had reached the first stage and could now preview the second-stage shop.
Seeing the first item, he almost lost it.
This oval-shaped, little doohickey with a pull tab looked so familiar!
He had three of these stashed in his bag, just sitting there unused.
Looks like it was time to try one out—he could always buy more. However, at fifty gold coins a pop, it didn’t seem too overpriced.
As he glanced over the remaining items, they were various materials again, not immediately useful.
Then he scrolled all the way to the right and—bam—another hidden item popped up.
“This is… Whoa! A skill book?!”
Fiery Conflict Across the Sky was taken aback.
He didn’t expect to find a skill book on the second row.
But unfortunately, he couldn’t check the details.
However, judging by its color, it seemed to be just a green quality book, likely not that powerful.
But to buy or not to buy? Naturally, you buy it! Strong or not, you’ve gotta have it!
He secretly scanned the other players around him. They looked happy, sure, but not particularly excited. This meant they could only see the first column.
Great! He was still way ahead.
Xu Xiaofeng figured it was time to dash in for a chat with the store manager.
First up, she needed to settle today’s sales commission.
The manager was quite reasonable, handing over half of the sales revenue as commission. Plus, she got an extra five hundred gold coins as a bonus and an invitation to come back next time.
She didn’t hesitate to pocket the over a thousand gold coins, chatted a bit, and then left.
Next on the agenda… time for some torture…
Sigh. In front of players, she could assert her authority and demand things, but in front of high-status NPCs, she was just a punching bag, free for all to bully.
There’s no justice in this world!
Xu Xiaofeng swung by home to grab the useless Steven and then retraced her steps to the inner city.
As she stepped out of the teleportation array, a maid rushed up to greet her.
“Good afternoon, Miss Wind. And this is…”
Steven nodded and smiled, “Miss Amelia, nice to see you again.”
Hearing this, Amelia paused and sighed, “Alright, Mr. Steven, nice to see you too.”
No need to pretend anymore, I guess.
“Huh? Steven and the maid know each other? Didn’t you say you didn’t know anyone yesterday?”
“I don’t know which Steven you’re talking about; I know this Mr. Steven Mortley.”
Makes sense, there are hundreds, if not thousands of Stevens in the Imperial Capital.
“Please follow me,” Amelia said, leading the way.
The trio turned left and right until they arrived at a luxurious courtyard. While grand, it was clearly not the same place as yesterday.
“Princess Elia has different meeting spots each time. Miss Wind, if you need to contact her, please reach out to me first.”
“So how do I contact you, Sister Amelia?”
“I can assist you on behalf of the young lady.”
Fine…
Xu Xiaofeng sighed inwardly.
Dealing with royalty is such a hassle; even meeting someone requires a maze. But she understood—if royalty could meet freely, the door would burst at the seams!
Upon entering, Xu Xiaofeng felt a bit more familiar since it was her second visit.
But when actually seeing the princess, she started to get nervous again.
“Um… Princess Elia… I…”
“Hmm? Why the sudden formality? You were calling me sister yesterday!”
“I…”
Xu Xiaofeng was in anguish; could anyone just call someone sister like that?
“Just be like yesterday; relax.”
Oh, just calling her sister casually like that.
“Alright… Sister Elia.”
“Come, sit down. Amelia, bring some snacks! I prepared so much for us; we can take our time eating.”
Talk about that, Xu Xiaofeng suddenly wasn’t sleepy anymore.
She hopped into the seat… and… ouch, what’s up with this book?
Annoyed, she shot Steven a glare.
Steven was completely confused. What just happened?
Elia also noticed their peculiar interaction, “What’s wrong with Little Wind?”
“N-no… nothing. We are…”
Halfway through, she sprang up from her seat.
“Little Sister?”
“Nothing! I just suddenly can’t get used to sitting. I’ll just stand.”
Elia turned her questioning gaze toward Steven.
Steven could only shrug.
Not his place to say anything; he was just a babysitter.
“Sister, did you want to see me for something?”
Xu Xiaofeng suddenly piped up.
Her hands were lightly placed at her sides, as if holding something.
After sitting awkwardly, the book was close to slipping out…
Elia looked perplexed but replied seriously, “Oh, nothing in particular! I just wanted to chat and enjoy some snacks with you. I feel like we really hit it off. I even prepared all this for you; it’s definitely enough.”
“Huh? So, you’re not mad at me for being rude yesterday?”
“Why would I be? I just thought you were really cute!”
Alright, she had underestimated the princess’s ability to judge character.
“Sister Elia, I want to gather some flowers.”
“Amelia, take Little Wind with you.”
Having rushed to the restroom, Xu Xiaofeng swiftly pulled out the book she had stuffed there.
Book title: Five Shortcuts to Success.
What the heck! Of all the cr*p Steven could find, he picked this useless book! It’s rock hard and so thick! It’s worse than toilet paper!
Author? Handsome Young Master of Flower City?
You’d better not let me run into you, or you’ll surely regret it!
