Chapter 20 Acting Skills
The man in black finished his meal quietly, and the fight Ye Xu had worried about never happened. But he had a really big appetite, eating a lot of food over and over again.
Ye Xu retrieved the bill for that table from the back and found it totaled over nine hundred copper coins, even though the other party had deliberately chosen the cheaper skewers. No wonder they try so hard to save money; if they had only taken the expensive skewers, no amount of money would have been enough.
It's said that an adventurer's appetite is directly proportional to their strength; the more powerful the adventurer, the more they can eat. I suppose this one is no exception.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the man in black left quietly, and the shop returned to its lively atmosphere. The conversation about him on the first floor had long since ended, but the customers on the second floor, who had been holding back for a while, finally had a chance to start discussing it.
Ye Xu was curious about the customer's situation and couldn't resist going upstairs to listen to the gossip for a long time. He was busy with shop matters every day, and his only source of amusement was the entertainment section of the system; he was feeling a bit stifled.
When Ye Xu used to work part-time, he loved listening to gossip and trivial family matters. Strictly speaking, this kind of behavior wasn't very good, but generally no one cared.
There were many people like him who were listening intently to gossip, but in such a large city as Biyue, not everyone knew that person.
The man in black was named Han Yingchen. He was said to be of mixed race, and his mother was an "overseas person," whom Ye Xu guessed might be a time traveler from the East. That's why he, a child with black hair and black eyes, was ostracized by other children from a young age.
There are black-haired people on the continent of Transi, but black eyes are extremely rare. Those who are different are always targeted, even though mixed-race people are generally more handsome or beautiful than pure-blooded people.
Han Yingchen's parents died relatively early, around the age of ten, when they encountered a dangerous magical beast. By then, he already possessed a certain level of combat ability, and although he had no relatives or friends to support him, he earned a living by hunting small prey.
Perhaps due to his exceptional talent, Han Yingchen's growth rate was extremely fast. Within a few years, he became a formidable adventurer, successfully completing many challenging missions. Before the cold wave arrived, Han Yingchen's life was quite comfortable. Apart from the occasional foolish individuals trying to provoke him, everything went smoothly.
The contradictions in the fragmented conversations Ye Xu had overheard earlier all stemmed from these people deliberately picking fights. Some had intentionally stolen his prey and gotten beaten up, while others had challenged him to a duel, which he ignored and then attacked, resulting in further beatings.
In short, none of them came out on good terms. Among those defeated by Han Yingchen, there were always a few petty individuals who deliberately spread rumors to smear him. Gradually, everyone became somewhat afraid of him and dared not associate with him anymore. Some even said that his black hair and black eyes were "cursed by a demon."
Hearing this, Ye Xu couldn't help but touch his hair.
Fortunately, the system did something human and helped him conceal his appearance; otherwise, he probably would have been ostracized because of the "demon's curse." In that case, probably no one would dare to come to his hot pot restaurant, and how would he earn points?
That's pretty much the story of Han Yingchen. As mentioned before, things got tough for adventurers after the cold wave hit, so he simply headed south to escape it. Given his appetite, it would be difficult for him to earn enough for three meals a day in the cold wave region, so going south to eat was a last resort.
As a result, Han Yingchen headed south, and the cold wave followed. Now that the whole world was covered, he simply returned to his hometown.
Ye Xu had reason to believe that Han Yingchen's experience in the South must not have been very good either.
In Biyue City, people will say that Han Yingchen is cursed, and there will probably be other people spouting nonsense elsewhere as well. In addition, he is heading south, and the cold tide is also heading south, so it's hard to guarantee that some idiots won't slap the label on him, saying that he is a plague god who brings the cold tide wherever he goes.
Thinking about it, it really was quite tragic, Ye Xu couldn't help but sigh. He lost interest in listening to gossip and turned back to the kitchen.
The group's conversation had shifted to Han Yingchen's infamous reputation. Ye Xu overheard a few claims as he went downstairs, and each one seemed utterly absurd; they couldn't even be more serious about making things up. Yet, everyone believed them, demonstrating that people in this world and this era were still somewhat uneducated and generally had a low level of cultural literacy.
It's pointless.
Ye Xu went back to the kitchen to continue watching variety shows and refresh the gacha pool. But he didn't know if UR cards were really rare, because he refreshed all morning without getting one. Instead, he got a few trash SSR cards. Even though he wanted the 10 experience points from an SSR, Ye Xu didn't want to hire them and just let them go.
After refreshing the gacha pool for most of the day without getting anything, Ye Xu couldn't help but start questioning its drop rate. He didn't know if the system could hear him, but he just kept complaining to the gacha page.
"This is outrageous! They don't even disclose the drop rates for the cards. I'm going to file a complaint with the Industry and Commerce Bureau!"
The system dismissed this, thinking, "What kind of industry and commerce bureau can regulate interdimensional shops?"
"Manager, I think acting pitiful and coquettish is more effective." Shuangshuang came over at some point and offered a bad suggestion.
Ye Xu: "??"
Seeing that the store manager didn't understand, Shuangshuang could only put it more bluntly: "I heard from the seniors that the system responds better to gentle persuasion than force."
I never expected you to be this kind of system.
Ye Xu's gaze at the system interface instantly changed, but for the sake of a good UR card, even if he couldn't act cute, he could still swallow his pride and pretend to be pitiful. He tried to recall how others had pretended to be pitiful, then looked at the panel with puppy-dog eyes, appearing as wronged as could be.
She added a complaint: "I've already spent hundreds of points, and I haven't gotten a single good card!"
Shuangshuang was amazed; it was a real shame the shop manager didn't go into acting.
To everyone's surprise, the system actually cooperated, silently adjusting the next set of cards. When Ye Xu tentatively clicked to refresh the card draw again, a purple-bordered SSR card appeared. Unfortunately, it wasn't an employee, but a pet.
"SSR Finger Fairy Luna"
Dimension: Western Fantasy;
Salary: 1000 points;
Category: Support Pet;
Skill: [Life Resurrection];
Ye Xu's first notice was her petite figure, estimating she was about the same size as Shuangshuang. Then he noticed the skill bar; [Life Revival] sounded like a healing skill.
Did I just draw a healer? Could it be that I drew something like Shuangshuang? But isn't Shuangshuang a system spirit?
Ye Xu clicked "hire" with some suspicion. Even if it weren't for the skill, he would have hired a healer anyway, let alone the rarity of healers. Having a little sprite as a playmate for Shuangshuang was a great idea for Ye Xu, so he wouldn't skimp on the employee vouchers, especially since it was a rare opportunity to get a useful SSR.
At this moment, Manager Ye had already forgotten how he managed to get the good card. The system waited patiently for a long time but no one thanked him, so he could only sulk to the side.
Nobody cared about its thoughts. After Luna appeared, Ye Xu excitedly placed the two little sprites on the table together to compare their sizes, and they were indeed the same size.
However, the wings on their backs were different; one had oval, multi-layered wings like a dragonfly's, while the other had a pair of transparent butterfly wings. Ye Xu thought both were beautiful and probably very much to the liking of girls.
"So you're from the same clan?" Ye Xu asked curiously.
Shuangshuang shook her head: "No, the system sprite is a creation of the system. It may have taken into account the data of the fingertip sprite when it created me."
Ye Xu nodded, "So that's how it is."
The newcomer, Luna, is a somewhat old-fashioned and serious lady. She prefers to be addressed as Miss Luna, a more formal form of address. Despite her petite stature, she is actually a senior member of the elven clan, having previously been responsible for teaching the mischievous young elves.
Ye Xu felt the pressure of being watched by the head teacher, and instantly understood why Miss Luna had such a personality. If she wasn't so serious, she probably wouldn't be able to keep those mischievous kids in check.
"So, Miss Luna is a respectable priest?" Ye Xu asked.
Luna nodded and explained, "Elves are skilled in life magic. My life revival can heal normal injuries, including organ failure and missing limbs. However, I am powerless against poisoning or curses. The former requires detoxification, which cannot be solved by increasing life force, while the latter requires the removal of the curse. Life magic can only temporarily suppress the curse."
"That's already amazing," Ye Xu said sincerely. "And you can also help look after the naughty children."
Luna asked curiously, "Manager, are there any children here who need my care?"
Ye Xu coughed lightly: "Not for now, but who knows about the future."
Right now, only Tangtang is a little mischievous, so she doesn't need to be disciplined yet. But looking at the wide variety of pets available in the gacha interface, it's hard to guarantee that there won't be any troublesome little brats that need to be kept an eye on.
Luna understood: "If there are any in the future, you can leave them all to me. I'm small and can't help with anything else, but I can try my best to share the store manager's burden."
Both little sprites were very responsible shop assistants, which made Manager Ye very gratified. Even if the two sprites were too small to be of much help, it didn't matter, as the shop wasn't short-staffed anymore.
With a new member joining, it's natural to provide them with a private space in the pet park as their residence. Since the system itself will provide a complete set of furniture and decorations that match the pet's preferences, there's no need to spend extra money on decorations, and Ye Xu is happy to save money.
After buying the toys, I saw Tangtang playing on the playground equipment in her own space again, and I felt sorry for Big Jelly, who was all alone in there without any playmates. Now that Shuangshuang has friends, Tangtang needs one too.
At this moment, Ye Xu finally remembered the system he had completely forgotten about. He glanced guiltily at the panel, but it seemed that no reproachful words had popped up. No one said anything, so he wasn't angry... right?
Ye Xu quickly tried to salvage the situation, repeatedly thanking the system interface and feigning excitement, expressing his extreme satisfaction with Miss Luna's arrival. Even though the aloof system remained silent and offered no response, he didn't care.
After a string of nice words, the true intentions were revealed. Once again, the puppy-dog eyes were shown, and the speaker began to plead for Tangtang's well-being, saying that it was incredibly lonely as a jelly, and asked if it could get a companion. The request wasn't high; it didn't need to be SSR, SR would be fine too.
System: Hmph, dream on.
After humming, a cursor appeared on the interface, guiding Ye Xu to the dimensional filter window. He selected "Modern" and then clicked "Refresh".
"That won't do." Ye Xu immediately withdrew his hand. "I haven't hired the UR writer sister yet. If I refresh, this good card will be gone."
The system paused, then adjusted its instructions. It was too lazy to get angry with this miser; that would only annoy it.
The new guide selects all planes, which can be refreshed.
Ye Xu had already guessed what the system was up to. It wasn't very willing to meet the store manager's demands, but it was also really susceptible to playing the victim. So the system decided to strike a balance between the two: satisfying the store manager's request while making the store manager spend an extra coupon, thus venting its anger.
Ye Xu hesitated a bit. It was a waste to exchange two coupons for an SR pet. He had never been willing to spend so much on his writer sister.
Seemingly sensing Ye Xu's thoughts, the system turned its cursor a bright red, a color signifying anger, as if to say, "If you don't spend this coupon today, we're not done yet." Ye Xu immediately backed down; going against the system would definitely not end well.
Three cards were flipped over. Ignoring the other two cards that were just there for show, the last one to appear was an SR cat card. Behind the cat was a small, faintly visible silver tree with crystal-clear leaves, which was very beautiful.
It's called a cat, but upon closer inspection, it doesn't quite look like one; it's more like a white fur ball with limbs, eyes, and a nose. Because its fur is exceptionally fluffy and perfectly trimmed, it looks like a fluffy ball.
“SR Time-Space Tree Sapling”
Dimension: Modern;
Salary: At least one spacetime turbulence per day;
Category: Guardian Deity;
Skills: [Time Flow] [Spatial Transfer]
It's not a cat, it's a tree. But why would a tree look like a cat? And what's a Guardian? How much does a Time-Space Turbulence skill cost? Those two skills look pretty awesome...
Before Ye Xu could even finish processing the thoughts in his head, Shuangshuang excitedly rushed over: "Shopkeeper! Quickly form a contract! This is a guardian deity!"
His body reacted faster than his brain, and by the time Ye Xu came to his senses, the contract was already complete. But he didn't feel any regret; a guardian deity was clearly more precious than a UR, even if it was only an SR.
"So what exactly is a guardian deity?" Ye Xu asked.
Shuangshuang's emotions hadn't calmed down yet, her cheeks flushed: "It's a divine object that can protect the shop."
The exceptionally pragmatic store manager wasn't blinded by the hype: "So what exactly is the effect of this protection?"
"This means that customers who come to dine in the restaurant will be affected, with a significant reduction in negative emotions and a greater likelihood of generating positive emotions."
That's really great.
The former can reduce the likelihood of customer conflicts, and should also decrease the frustration and impatience caused by queuing. The latter can directly increase the store's points revenue, since points are essentially tokens of positive emotions.
"System Daddy still loves me, Daddy is so good." Ye Xu praised the system interface without changing his expression, completely forgetting how many times he had secretly cursed the system before.
A note from the author:
Shuangshuang: Where's your integrity??
Shocking! How could anyone think Shuangshuang is like the main character and Yeye is like a plot device? Little angels who just got to know me should check out my author page; you might discover something new!
And cherish the days when Shuangshuang has a lot of screen time; once Sister Xuan and the others arrive, she'll hardly have any presence left.
Chapter 21 Seafood
Ye Xu realized that the system was stubborn but soft-hearted, and very easy to coax when angry. Even though he remembered how it had forced him to spend money on the shop, Ye Xu's conscience still ached a little.
But his attention was quickly diverted by the newly appeared little furball; his heartache was worthless.