Xie Ning went on a massive shopping spree at the mall, completely draining the points from Xiao Lu, Xiao Gu, and Xiao Yu’s points cards!
She departed expressionlessly, leaving the mall manager to see her off with a strained smile, constantly wiping away his sweat.
This time, she had brought along the Space Ability User, Ji Erhuo, and made the mall settle the entire transaction that very day. They had practically emptied the mall’s warehouse!
After leaving the mall, she had planned to stop by the medical office to talk with Yu Tianfeng.
But she had barely taken a few steps when a still-childish boy’s voice called out from behind her, "Woman, stop right there!"
Xie Ning initially paid it no mind, but after hearing "woman, woman" repeated several times, Ji Taixian couldn’t resist turning to look.
He saw a blond-haired boy recklessly charging toward them.
"Ms. Ning." Ji Taixian quickly grabbed Xie Ning’s arm, pulling her aside just in time to avoid a direct collision with the blond boy.
Xie Ning turned and frowned.
"Woman! This young master has finally found you!" the blond boy snarled, glaring at her. He thrust out a hand. "Hand it over!"
"Young Master, Young Master." A butler in a white shirt ran up, panting. He nodded politely to Xie Ning and Ji Taixian. "Greetings. This is my young master, Cres."
"I’m not sure if you recall, miss, but we met once before at the docks."
Of course Xie Ning remembered the boy.
She also remembered having robbed a boat full of cakes that already had an owner.
But that had all happened over a week ago. Her expression remained blank as she thought, ’The details are already getting fuzzy.’
"Woman, this young master knows you took plenty! I saw it all, so don’t you deny it!" The blond boy gritted his teeth. "If you don’t give me some, I’ll tell everyone about your Spa—"
Before he could finish, Ji Erhuo rushed forward and clamped a hand tightly over his mouth.
"Take him," Xie Ning ordered with a flick of her hand, and Ji Erhuo immediately began to drag the boy away.
The butler froze for a moment before hurrying after them, apologizing politely. "My apologies, miss. My young master just loves to joke with people. In truth, he hasn’t said a word about you to anyone."
’In truth, it was that Mr. Gu who had used a mix of threats and persuasion to intimidate his young master...’
’...and then, under the guise of "caring for a foreigner," had basically placed him under house arrest in the office building.’
’If his sweets hadn’t completely run out in the last two days, the young master would never have risked his life climbing over the wall to get out.’
One hand clamped over the boy’s mouth and the other hauling him along, Ji Taixian dragged him into a side alley as if he were a baby chick.
The blond boy struggled with all his might, blurting out a panicked stream of words in the language of Country Y. "What do you want? Let go! Let go! Woman, are you trying to kill me to shut me up? Oof—"
Ji Taixian smacked him on the head. "Stop your yammering! What’s all the noise about?"
Xie Ning walked up to the boy, her face cold. She poked his forehead. "Hey. I hear you’re a Spiritual Ability User?"
"Of course," the blond boy said, tilting his head up with a smug expression. "I’m one of the rare..."
The Golden Needle that appeared at Xie Ning’s fingertip pressed against the boy’s neck. "So, can your Spiritual Ability save your life?"
Seeing this, the mustached butler’s jaw dropped. He quickly stepped forward, raising his hands. "Miss, please be merciful!" he said in surprisingly fluent Mandarin. "My young master... he just has a childish temper. He, he didn’t mean to offend you."
"Then tell me," Xie Ning said, "what did you see earlier? What were you going to tell people?"
The blond boy’s eyes, wide as a fawn’s, stared at Xie Ning for a long moment before he huffed, "I didn’t see anything."
"You... you... you’re with that Gu fellow, aren’t you?" The little boy looked indignant. "And that Lu, the one who seems so gentle! They’re all villains!"
"They promised me a month’s worth of desserts, but I didn’t even get ten days’ worth!"
"That’s because cake doesn’t keep. Even in a cold room, it’s only good for three to five days at most." Xie Ning retracted the Golden Needle and gave him an exasperated pat.
"Nonsense! Don’t... don’t you have a Space Ability User? Food stored in the Space won’t go bad!"
"Oh? So the kid knows about that, does he?" Ji Taixian chuckled.
Xie Ning shot him a look, and Ji Taixian immediately wiped the smug expression off his face, becoming prim and proper.
Xie Ning turned to leave, and Ji Taixian quickly trotted after her.
But the blond boy suddenly lunged forward.
Ji Taixian quickly blocked Xie Ning with his own body, taking the full force of the boy’s pounce.
"No, you can’t go! You have to take me with you! You have all my cakes! I have to follow you now. You have to give me cake, desserts, and coffee every day!" The boy wrapped his arms around Ji Taixian’s waist and refused to let go.
"Young Master, Young Master," the butler called out, then looked at the expressionless Xie Ning in embarrassment. "Miss, I’m terribly sorry. Please don’t be angry. You see, my young master... he’s a complete sugar addict."
"If the young master goes three days without eating something high in sugar, he’ll feel awful, his limbs will start to twitch, and then he’ll go berserk!" the mustached butler said with utmost sincerity.
But to Xie Ning and Ji Taixian, this sounded utterly ridiculous.
"Miss, would it be possible for you to..."
"No," Xie Ning cut him off before he could finish.
"No, no, no, please hear me out. We can stay with you and work for you! I’m proficient in cuisines from all over the world, including all eight major culinary traditions of your Country C!" The butler managed to deliver his speech perfectly, even when faced with Xie Ning’s icy expression.
"Furthermore, my young master doesn’t eat much. A single small slice of cake each day is enough to satisfy him."
Seeing Xie Ning turn to leave again, the butler hurriedly added, "We’re both Superpower Users! We can pay you in Crystal Cores!"
Ji Taixian’s mouth twitched. He watched as Ms. Ning, who had been about to storm off, abruptly turned back. With a perfectly straight and serious face, she asked, "How many?"
The butler pulled a large bag of Crystal Cores from his pocket, his mustache twitching as he broke into a very amicable smile...
Xie Ning crooked a finger at Ji Erhuo, pulling him close to whisper in his ear. "We’ll take them in for now. But don’t let your guard down. Watch them carefully. Under no circumstances can we let them tell anyone else about my Space."
"Don’t worry," Ji Erhuo told her with a solemn look, making a sharp throat-slitting gesture. "If they dare say a word, that’ll be their fate."
Xie Ning nodded and patted his shoulder, entrusting him with this great responsibility.
The blond boy, who had been watching them whisper, couldn’t help but roll his eyes. "Don’t you two know that Superpower Users have hearing far superior to normal people?"
’Are these two completely nuts?’
The mustached butler stood behind his young master, spine ramrod straight, hands folded before him, and maintained a polite smile.