But Huo Xiaoxiao looked at Shi Tou with a sympathetic expression.
Although Stone had been in this other world for eight years, she still possessed a civilized and law-abiding heart. She would never understand the other world's people's pursuit of violence. Therefore, she misunderstood the little boy's fear as stemming from an admiration for force, rather than simple fear.
It wasn't until three days later, when Grandpa Huo kindly called Shi Tou over and asked her what she thought of Lin An, that she realized how wrong she had been!
Well, watching Huo Xiaoxiao's antics is one thing, but when it came to his own turn, Shi Tou realized just how ridiculous blind dates really are!
"Grandpa, I'm only 8 years old!" Even though this might not work, Stone couldn't help but complain. Seriously, she's only 8?! Even child brides have to wait until they grow up!
"It's okay, we'll keep it as a promise. We can talk about marriage when you're older, Xiaoyi."
-----
Well, the pan-fried buns are helping the stone grow bigger!
As for the male lead, childhood sweethearts usually end in tragedy \(^o^)/
...
☆, Chapter 148: Flattening the Blacksmith Association
"Gaga, Master is getting married~~~" Inside the ring space, Stone numbly carried out her great work of forging divine artifacts, while Baozi spun around and shouted beside her.
"Baozi, if I really get married, I will definitely serve steamed buns at the wedding banquet..." Shi Tou said solemnly.
Suddenly, Baozi froze, timidly moving far away from the stone: "Hehe, Baozi helped its master bring the big bell over! And the big bell almost punctured Baozi's chrysanthemum!"
Stone paused for a moment, but then acted as if nothing had happened and continued fiddling with the things in her hands.
Ever since the day Baozi brought the clock back, Shi Tou began her disassembly and reassembly project. Two days later, Shi Tou understood the principle of the otherworldly clock and successfully made a small clock. But before she could be happy for long, bad news came.
Is this engagement coming too fast?
Most importantly, what exactly did the little boy's family do wrong? Wasn't this matchmaking event specifically for Huo Xiaoxiao?
Although Shi Tou really wanted to emulate Huo Xiaoxiao and fiercely declare to Grandpa Huo, "I won't marry him," she ultimately didn't have the courage...
After all, she wasn't actually the second young lady of the Huo family. Shi Tou had no intention of testing Grandpa Huo's patience, especially since she already knew when she became the second young lady that she was merely a tool for the Huo family's political alliances. However, there was another reason that ultimately made Shi Tou grit her teeth and agree. Grandpa Huo told her that she wouldn't get married before she turned twenty.
Okay. Twenty years old. If this were in her previous life, a girl who got married at twenty would definitely be considered an oddity. But who told her to be in another world now? Twenty years old it is. Stone figured that twelve years was enough time for her to run away.
~\(≧▽≦)/~
Hopefully, twelve years from now, when that poor little boy discovers his fiancée has run away, he won't be too heartbroken.
"Giggle, Master! Baozi has a question for you!" Seeing Shi Tou's expression shifting between frowning and grinning, Baozi wasn't sure if its master's brain had suffered another blow. After hesitating for a long time, it couldn't help but ask, "What does Master want to do with so many clocks?"
"Sell it for money!" Stone answered readily.
Baozi was stunned for a moment, then looked at the stone in disbelief: "Gah? A bell? To sell for money? Oh no, oh no, the owner is obsessed with money!"
Stone grabbed a hammer and smashed it at Baozi: "Oh right, I almost forgot, where has MiFen gone lately?" As the first non-dwarf creature Stone had encountered, MiFen held a certain place in Stone's heart.
"Gah? Wasn't Rice Noodles chased into the woods by its owner?" Baozi twisted its body in confusion: "It's in the red maple forest in the Huo family's inner courtyard!"
When Baozi spoke her first words, Shi Tou was quite surprised. For a moment, she thought that because of her oversight, Mi Fen'er had returned to the Crimson Forest! But thankfully, the Red Maple Forest wasn't far away: "Okay, I'll go find Mi Fen'er."
Before Baozi could ask another question, the stone vanished from its spot. Baozi understood, of course, that the stone had teleported out of the space. In fact, as part of the ring, Baozi could also leave at any time, but this would consume most of its energy. Therefore, since the stone had been able to perfectly control its mental power, it had never entered or left the space on its own.
"Hehe, Master has become so strange! You clearly have such high spiritual power, why don't you want to learn magic? And you've become so greedy!" In the empty ring space, Baozi lay listlessly on the ground, looking up at the high ceiling: "Your Highness, Baozi may not be able to complete the task you gave me, what should I do?"
Despite the pitch-black ceiling, Baozi vaguely imagined his enormous ancestor, the steamed bun, baring its teeth at him. Instantly, Baozi shuddered and jumped up, yelling, "Hehe! Baozi won't do it again! Baozi will definitely fulfill His Highness's orders, he definitely will!!!"
"What will happen?" Just then, Stone brought Rice Noodles into the ring space and overheard Baozi's last words, "It definitely will." Stone looked at Baozi with great puzzlement: "You silly Baozi, what are you planning to do now?"
"Gaga, I'll do whatever Master tells me to do! I'm definitely a good bun who listens to Master!" Baozi shakily looked up at the ceiling, and after confirming that it was still pitch black, he let out a long sigh.
Your Highness, please don't scare your timid little dumpling anymore! When the dumpling has time, I'll definitely offer you three sticks of incense morning and night!
Shi Tou didn't believe Bao Zi's words at all, but she had important things to do right now, so she didn't bother arguing with Bao Zi: "Rice Noodles, look here. Yes, this is it. Let me demonstrate first!"
Baozi's eyes widened, his whole body radiating disbelief. What on earth were those two doing?!
Actually, what Stone asked Rice Noodles to do was very simple: to set the diamonds by hand. You see, the reason why those famous brand watches in the previous life could sell for such high prices was not because of the watch's core components, but because of its outer casing.
Setting various precious gems and diamonds onto a completed clock is a seemingly simple task, but in reality, it's a job that can drive anyone crazy. Stone itself wouldn't have the patience to do this, and while Baozi is quite intelligent, it has no hands or feet; you can't expect it to swallow the entire clock whole, can you?
So, this glorious yet arduous task was assigned to Rice Noodles, who had been freeloading ever since she followed Stone. Aren't elves supposed to be elegant beings? Even if Rice Noodles is a little ugly, it doesn't matter, as long as she has good taste, that's enough.
"Giggle, Master, you've been...shameless again!" Baozi finally managed to utter this after a long pause, then collapsed onto the ground, utterly disheveled. It's all over, this time it's really over. While his previous master was also unreliable, at least he was cunning, ruthless, and despicable...
But no matter what, the previous owner wasn't the kind of greedy person whose eyes would light up at the sight of a few gold coins!
Your Highness, you show-off! Why has your master become like this? Is it really because you're not here?
Baozi suddenly felt that its life was over. It remembered very clearly that before it fell into a deep sleep, the flamboyant prince had told it very seriously that unless it could cooperate with its master to rebuild its glory, otherwise...
Let it be a steamed bun for life, oo ...
Stone turned around and looked at Baozi in surprise, not understanding what was going on with the guy pounding the ground and wailing.
Ignoring the intermittent tantrums of Baozi, Shi Tou's attention was now focused on the pile of clocks in the space. With the clock cores forged by Shi Tou and the clock cases handmade by Mi Fen'er, the space was soon filled with finely crafted clocks.
Looking at these clocks, which require little initial investment but can clearly generate thousands of times the profit, Stone felt incredibly satisfied!
Alright, now it's time to acquire the shops.
But where should she open the watch shop? That was a serious question. Ultimately, Stone decided on the street where the Blacksmiths' Association was located. Stone felt that if she was going to do it, she had to do something big!
She's going to buy up the entire street where the Blacksmiths' Association is located!
"You're crazy." That was Huo Xiaoxiao's assessment after learning of Shi Tou's decision.
"Yeah, I'm going crazy! I've been driven crazy by your brother An'an!!!" Shi Tou glared at Huo Xiaoxiao through gritted teeth. If it weren't for this girl causing trouble, would she have been so unlucky as to be forced to have an extra fiancé?
An An brother or something, just hearing that name makes him sound like a submissive guy!
Mentioning this made Huo Xiaoxiao feel a little guilty. Grandpa Huo had already told Shi Tou, so naturally he wouldn't hide it from her. Although Huo Xiaoxiao was very glad she had gotten rid of Lin An, Shi Tou had ultimately taken the blame for her! "Alright, I do bear some responsibility for that. How about this? Since you want that garbage street, I'll just buy it for you as compensation. Of course, I have one condition: whatever happens between you and Lin An in the future, it's none of my business. Okay?"
Great! That's definitely a good idea!
Stone had already planned to run away within twelve years, so fiancés and such were irrelevant: "Deal!"
Shi Tou originally thought that the Blacksmiths' Association wouldn't easily sell the entire street, after all, it was their foundation passed down for thousands of years, and their last remaining assets. But unexpectedly, only two days later, Huo Xiaoxiao handed Shi Tou a stack of house deeds and land deeds, and kindly reminded him, "The houses on that street are very old, and many are about to collapse. So, if you want to open a shop there, you'd better repair the houses first."
Repairing a house? That's so lame!
With a wave of his little hand, Stone shoveled it all up! What? No bulldozers in this other world? That's easy! No bulldozers? We've got the Blazing Rocket Launcher! The Huo family hasn't been able to unleash their power for a long time due to the lack of their divine weapon, the Blazing Rocket Launcher. After obtaining Grandpa Huo's permission, Stone used his self-forged, disposable Blazing Rocket Launcher to give Garbage Street a thorough cleaning.
So, Stone was satisfied; she had successfully swept away the garbage street.
As a result, Grandpa Huo was awe-inspiring, because the other prominent families believed it was the power of the Huo family's divine artifact.
So, Baozi went lewd, and its master actually blew up the blacksmith association in that incompetent concentration camp?! Wahahaha, master is mighty!
What will we do after we flatten the garbage street? You say we'll build buildings? Are you kidding me?! If we're not going to build anything, we'll build a super city that combines leisure, entertainment, shopping, and gourmet food!
As for the name...
Keep it a secret for now!
☆, Chapter 149 Ironforge, Oh Ironforge
Ironforge?!
Huo Xiaoxiao stood in the wide square paved with pure white marble, looking up blankly at the three flamboyant characters on the huge archway.
Stone grinned broadly, gazing at the bustling square with delight: "Xiaoxiao, isn't that a grand name? Tsk tsk, Ironforge, it sounds like a magical place."
That's right, it's Ironforge. The name comes from a classic online game that Stone played in his previous life. He remembers that when he first started playing that game, it was the dead of winter. It was the dead of winter, and although there was heating inside, and he had a hot water bottle and hand warmers, Stone still felt chilly.
Ironforge was great! Back then, it was Stone's favorite place to wander around. I don't know what the architecture was like, but just the steaming furnace fire made me feel warm all over. So, when Stone decided to carry on the forging skills taught by Steel Hammer Papa, he knew he would definitely use this name!
Ironforge, oh Ironforge, warm and cozy Ironforge, Ironforge that belongs to the dwarves!
"Xiao Yi, are you sure you said 'amazing' and not 'weird'?" Huo Xiaoxiao took a while to come to her senses, then pointed to the three large characters on the archway and asked, "What do you plan to turn this into? A blacksmith shop?"
I have absolutely no love for blacksmith shops!
Stone curled his lip dismissively: "Just you wait and see. I'm confident that within three years, I can turn this place into the number one brothel in the Fallen Nether Empire!"
"A den of iniquity..." Huo Xiaoxiao felt her mind was completely unable to keep up with the stone. Why did this "den of iniquity" give her such an ominous feeling? Was it because her thoughts were impure, or did the stone actually have another meaning?
Today is Ironforge's opening day. As the owner of Ironforge, and also the second young lady of the Huo family, Huo Yi, Stone is a must-show. However, she doesn't intend to go up and say a bunch of nonsense like those leaders in her previous life who cut ribbons.
Hehe, ribbon-cutting and stuff like that don't suit her at all!
"Xiaoxiao, I've saved you a good spot, hurry up and go!" The so-called good spot, of course, wasn't in the square, but inside Ironforge.
Huo Xiaoxiao hurried after the stone, a sense of foreboding lingering in her heart; she felt as if something bad was going to happen today. However, despite this, as she slowly ventured deeper into Ironforge, Huo Xiaoxiao's mind went completely blank.
The now-vanished Blacksmiths' Guild was originally a large professional association. Therefore, the street where the guild was located was once an extremely prosperous one. The street was over two thousand meters long and three meters wide.
Of course, this is just the measurement taken under the condition that there is a building.
After the stones brutally bombarded the garbage street, the entire street was finally exposed to the public.
It is 2,756 meters long and 395 meters wide. These are the exact figures Huo Xiaoxiao obtained from Shi Tou. But don't think that's all. Shi Tou was not satisfied with the fact that he had taken over a piece of land with such a large difference in length and width, so he spent his own money to buy shops on two adjacent streets.
Those two streets were unlucky, really. They were adjacent to Garbage Street, where the land wasn't expensive, and most of the residents were poor. Stone's bombardment of Garbage Street directly caused numerous cracks to appear in the houses on the adjacent streets. Unfortunately, there were no environmental monitoring stations in this other world. And because the residents were all poor, no one dared to challenge the second young lady of the Huo family. Therefore, when Stone offered to buy the land at a high price, everyone agreed.
Stone was overjoyed that there were no holdouts like those in other worlds. In her joy, she also realized that Ironforge would require a large number of workers during and after its construction. With the intention of doing good deeds, Stone readily signed labor contracts with those people. The benefits were so good that people from neighboring streets came to the Huo family to inquire if they needed any more land.
After the land was expanded, although it was still rectangular in shape, at least the length and width ratios were no longer so outrageous. After several months of intense construction, Ironforge was finally completed.
Ironforge is shaped like a concave character, perched on what was once a garbage-strewn street. The concave part is a plaza paved with pure white marble. At the very front of the plaza, the stone shamelessly copied the design of the Arc de Triomphe from its previous life, and even wrote the three huge characters "Ironforge" in regular script above the arch.
Of course, these three characters weren't written by Stone; her scrawled handwriting wouldn't stand for such an embarrassing display. After thinking for a minute, Stone decisively had Baozi access its internal memories. Because Stone clearly remembered that the girl possessed countless languages within her.
Actually, Shi Tou would prefer to have the seal script carved on it, but unfortunately, many people already don't recognize the regular script. If she really had someone carve the seal script on it, even the six major families of the East would probably be completely baffled.
"Xiao Yi, what exactly do you want to do with this place? Why do I suddenly feel so uneasy?" Huo Xiaoxiao asked fearfully, following behind Shi Tou.