Jin spent most of the afternoon handling Xiong Da. With each dungeon, Xiong Da managed to learn something new from Milk and in total, he did five dungeon instances. During the downtime between each dungeon instance, Xiong Da got to savour the store’s only specialty, the Tonkatsu Curry Rice. To him, delicious food cured every wound.
Not only did Xiong Da think that the curry rice was the best food he had ever eaten for a long time, the Panda soda he bought was also exceptionally tasty. Where did the soda came from? Upon completing the mission to master Lazy Panda Swipe, Yun had unlocked the bar shelves in the middle of the bar counter island, allowing Jin to stock drinks on the first floor.
The system stocked the bar with two types of drinks unique to the store and in the food menu, they were labelled as Panda Soda and Bamboo Juice. Jin knew that whatever the store put up, it would definitely be of a good quality…and something related to pandas.
Jin took one of each type from the bar shelves and he realised that the cans were already cold. He later found out that the bar shelves had some kind of refrigeration technology which kept the cans cool for consumption.
The aluminium can of soda displayed a picture of a panda holding a glass bottle and blowing cold air out from its mouth. The taste of the carbonated soda had a citrus flavour that Jin had never tasted before.
“The Panda Soda’s flavour was created with a blend of the natural citrus which originated from Yunnan in Southwest China, the Himalayas foothills and Northern Myanmar. The sweetener in Panda Soda also uses a mixture of top quality brown and maple sugar to enhance the flavour.”
Next to try was the bamboo juice. The Bamboo Juice came in a can as well but the can was shaped like an internode of a bamboo stem. When stacked together, it looked like an artificial bamboo plant was growing beside the bar shelves.
Jin tried the juice and Yun explained to him the origins of the bamboo. “The bamboo used originated from the Sakhalin islands in Russia. The juice was cold pressed immediately after they were harvested. Only new bamboo shoots that emerged a golden yellow culm with red margins surrounding it were harvested in order to have the best quality of juice.”
“The juice itself is cold and sweet, making it refreshing to drink since it also helps to clear the meridians in the lungs, heart and stomach,” Yun added.
Xiong Da finally stopped for the day and thanked Jin. “Boss, I really did learn a lot today! I will be sure to come back tomorrow for more training. Please help me thank Milk sensei too.” Xiong Da bowed a little and took his small luggage with him home.
——-
“Hey Bin Yong, I found a place that might be of an interest to you. This could possibly be the best upcoming hangout place for us.” Shi Zuo said with excitement after he came back from his lunch break at around 2.30 pm.
“What did you find this time? The previous time, you introduced a cabaret club style bar and you guaranteed it would be a hit too. In the end, the whole night was filled with disaster. I do not need any more of your weird recommendations.” Bin Yong said with disgust as he vividly remembered the incident he had in the bar.
“This time I can vouch for Shi Zuo! This will be a good one!” Luo Bo held onto Shi Zuo shoulders as she came to Bin Yong’s cubicle. She was giggling around with Shi Zuo, which made Bin Yong feel a little awkward.
Bin Yong sighed and placed his digital pen down on his drawing tablet and spun his chair, facing towards Shi Zuo and Luo Bo. “For your girlfriend’s sake. I will listen. This is the last time if this place is a failure, I am not going out with you two for the next month.”
Of course, he would listen to Luo Bo. That short bubbly girl with deep dimples was his love crush until his best friend Shi Zuo decided to chase after her. Obviously, Bin Yong did not let his non-blood related brother down and even helped him get Luo Bo.
“You know Tiangong Shopping District, there was once a burnt pachinko building?” Shi Zuo started his recount of the area.
“Yea, who in this area does not know about the story of that building?” Bin Yong had crossed his legs and folded his arms to listen.
“Well, someone actually had the guts to buy the land and he set up shop there.” Luo Bo continued.
“What kind of shop, a restaurant? Did you guys try it yet?” Bin queried.
“No no, do not jump the gun bro…well technically I think the shop owner has food services too but that is not the main point.” Shi Zuo started to digress from the main point like he always did.
“Then what is it? Stop beating around the bush.” Bin Yong replied.
“It’s a dungeon supplier!” Luo Bo smile nearly melted Bin Yong’s heart. Ah, how could he ever forget? The three of them went to a dungeon supplier and Shi Zuo actually confessed his feelings to her when they were in the most dangerous zone of the dungeon.
While the confession happened, Bin Yong was taking all the heat from the boss monster “You could have confessed AFTER you guys help me kill the monster!” That was what he thought when he was being attacked in the dungeon instance. In the end, all of them died horribly but the two hitched off well from the encounter, while Bin Yong was left in the dumps.
Regardless, it was the worst memory to date and he did not wish to relive it. His brother seemed to be quite oblivious to Bin Yong’s feeling too.
“I guess I will take a pass, the director asked me to hand him the first drafts of the character drawing for the new animation by tomorrow.”
“Aww, come on it’s been a long time since all three of us played together and this dungeon supplier is different! Trust me!” Shi Zuo was confident about that fact and Luo Bo nodded furiously.
“Yes Bin Yong, we also saw Bu Dong getting a team together to pit against the new dungeon supplier’s monsters. It was exhilarating! I felt my heart nearly drop out when he faced the boss!” Luo Bo could not contain the excitement she felt during Bu Dong’s match.
“What? You mean that Bu Dong? The local champion of King’s Monster for two consecutive years?” Bin Yong was really surprised.
“Yea and rumours said that the dungeon run he did with his team was the second run. He apparently lost the first.” Shi Zuo remembered the livid crowd gossiping all around when they questioned Bu Dong.
“Okay, then this dungeon supplier is worth checking out.” Bin Yong realised what he actually said and suddenly felt a wave of regret coming in. “Shit, I got caught in their trap!”
On the other hand, Luo Bo and Shi Zuo were ecstatic that they managed to convince their friend after so long. “This will be the first outing we have had together for this year!” Luo Bo high fived Shi Zuo and the couple waved Bin Yong goodbye.
Bin Yong confirmed that the couple disappeared and waited for silence to return to his cubicle. He then started to bang his head softly on the table.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
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