“So do you guys still want to try any other rides?” Jin asked, but Lai Fu and the rest believed they had had their fill for the day even. Though they only had the chance to enjoy one ride, that particular WunderPanda event afterwards really tired them out.
Si Fang needed to catch a break from all that commotions and his fellow business store owners also needed some time to familiarise themselves with their boost in cultivation.
“Very well, please come back again.” Jin waved them goodbye, only to see a familiar face from the corner of his eye, standing in a shaded area. She bowed slightly when he turned to her and tilted her head sidewards, beckoning him to come to talk to her. Jin nodded in reply and walked towards her with Ku Wai as her bodyguard standing nearby.
“Hi Jin, it’s been a long time.” Yang Ling greeted him in a friendly manner when he got closer. “Shall we find somewhere more private to speak?”
“I know of a place, follow me,” Jin replied as he brought her to Hot Ice Café, a coffee shop staffed by penguins alongside the wyrm ants, where they sold beverages and simple snacks like Chilling Cold Ice Cream with Sizzling Hot Waffles. Anything that had to do with a combination of Ice and Heat, the menu had it all.
Their best seller though was undoubtedly their exceptional coffee. Instead of selling Black Ivory coffee which already had a unique taste to it, Lynn had taught her Peggies how to make other sorts to provide some variety, and Hot Ice Café chose to offer its customers the Blue Mountain Coffee which was extremely well balanced in flavour with a mild acidity to it.
The only downside was the coffee beans, which were quite expensive even on the System’s market. Fortunately, not too long ago the System found a way to circumvent it.
After Lynn’s budding experiments with the Jacks started to show some results, the System had assigned Ayse to assist the Chef in any way she could think of. The Orc Researcher herself did not really have any experience in that field.
Fortuitously, the research team happened to have one elf researcher who was adept with farming and the cultivation of food products. So, Ayse had tasked Melis, the Food Experimentation specialist, to spearhead the research on food science so Lynn would be able to better refine her products.
Melis started experimenting with monster faeces since they were all natural fertilisers ever since she found out about the Phoenix Dung, providing a lot of nutrients to aid the Living Armour’s growth. Furthermore, through some mix and match as well as a pinch of awfully good luck, Melis discovered that the Wyrm Ant faeces were compatible for growing Blue Mountain Beans.
Especially the younger generation’s manure had traces of an element that was vital for fertilising coffee beans in general. The System literally threw additional funding for Melis to have a proper understanding of how it worked and Voila~! This way they managed to circumvent the middle man in the System market and grew Blue Mountain Beans which were better than those bought from the market. (Most importantly, faster growth too!)
Needless to say, the price of that coffee was more expensive than the Black Ivory even though the latter was supposed to be the most expensive coffee in their world which Jin was selling at merely a fraction of its price. It was because only true coffee connoisseurs like Xiong Da would understand and appreciate the true flavour and authenticity of it.
Jin had also tagged the Black Ivory Coffee as Black Coffee from the start to misconstrue people’s conception. He couldn’t let people know that he was selling the Black Ivory Coffee Beans at such a cheap price, as that would have only led to people calling him a fraud, particularly when he just started out.
Besides, its unique taste was not to everyone’s liking, so it was not as popular as other drinks but compared to his reputation now and his drive for quality, the Blue Mountain Coffee could readily be sold with a steeper price tag. (The modern cultivators would always pay goodn money for quality coffee.)
Anybody who’s a coffee addict loved it very much after just tasting it. (Even Melis herself began to grow her own stash for the researchers and her personal use.) Thus, it was priced at 103 Yuan (~15USD) per cup. It was a premium drink, and the Customers who bought it never regretted a single bit — even more so when it was brewed with Mr Hot’s flames, and the penguins’ inner chi.
On a separate note, Hot Ice Café, the store in WunderPanda was on the premium side in terms of prices; thus the interior design was more spacious and partitioned too. Similar to the rides, customers needed to queue outside to try out the coffee and snacks which were all under Chef Lynn’s control instead of the System.
She had been extremely busy pulling a couple of all nighters these past few days to prepare everything after Jin approached her the moment he had thought up the concept of the Christmas instance. This instance literally allowed her to showcase all her creativity as well as creating a chain of food stores/carts that were manned by the more competent peggies themselves.
“Ooh, I adore the interior design of the place! Classy!” Yang Ling said as she took a picture of the dining hall. It was an 80’s kind of diner car theme experience Hot Ice Café was presenting, and the partitions were well decorated with pictures from the 20th century including images of Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe’s infamous flying dress scene. “Ku Wai, mind stepping aside for the moment?” Yang Ling asked her bodyguard when she sat down with Jin.
“But Miss, I cannot- “
“You can and you will. Jin is strong enough to protect me. Besides, I believe I am at one of the safest places in the whole region. Go get a coffee, you desperately need it. Jin, please help me put his bill on my tab.” Yang Ling commanded and Ku Wai had no chance to rebut. He quietly accepted his mistress’ orders with reluctance.
“Wow, I think he must be scarred for life ever since that assassination incident,” Jin mentioned as he ordered two Blue Mountain iced coffee and a Sizzling Hot Waffles with Ice Cream which surprised Yang Ling quite a fair bit.
“Why, what’s wrong? You don’t drink coffee?” Jin asked the moment he returned the menu to Mr Hot, the Fire Wyrm Ant who personally attended to them.
“No! Erm…I erm…” Yang Ling was suddenly at a loss for words when she realised that she was now all alone with Jin. “…I just did not expect you to order food.”
“You are asking for a chat, I figured it would be nice to have some food as well. Besides, it’s just waffles.” Jin replied and far from the store was Kraft and Kiyu peeking via the System’s footage. His Original Bellator sighed at how thick headed Jin could sometimes be, but Kiyu did not understand what was wrong.
“The tiger girl likes him a lot, similar to how Lynn likes him,” Kraft commented and Kiyu looked at him with a weird face, since she had been released not too long ago, and did not have too much time to familiarise herself with Jin and his ‘girls’.
“Are you serious? Don’t you mean Qiu Yue?” Kiyu questioned and Kraft sighed once more.
“Not really. Despite all her physical touches and initiative towards Jin, Qiu Yue appears to want to grow and be something like Jin right now. A new upcoming powerhouse. She admires him, but at the same time she’s jealous that Lynn has taken quite a fancy for him.” Kraft explained and Kiyu nodded in acknowledgement. “You could say she is going through the ‘I am an independent woman’ phase right now.”
No one could hide any motives from this particular Bellator, especially when he had personally sworn to protect Jin even without the System making him do so. “I also believe Jin is quite aware of Qiu Yue’s temperament and her slightly touchy tendency. Her language of appreciation. That’s the reason why he doesn’t respond to her that much.”
“What about that incident when he and Qiu Yue were interrupted by the Ruby Rats attacks?” Kiyu asked and Kraft smirked with a grin.
“You should know what kind of needs young girls and boys have…” It did not take much for Kiyu to understand that meaning and she finally comprehended why Pei called Jin a lecher.
“Oh well, at least he did fend off Milk’s advances…” Kiyu meekly tried to defend her master, but she could feel that Pei would scornfully snicker at her remark.
“Well, I’d consider Milk more of a tease. But maybe that might change in the future. Regardless, aside from Qiu Yue, both Lynn and Yang Ling have clearly shown an interest in him. Jin did quite a number on both of them, even if he may not have intended it. ” Kraft explained while zooming into the System’s footage.
“Saving Lynn from being betrayed is one thing. Jin also sacrificed and assisted her reconciliation with her father. But on top of that, he has granted her a Sub System, and she has powers others can only dream off.” Kraft remembered how fun it was to see Jin’s panicked face.
“Saving Yang Ling’s Dad, herself, helping with her deal and giving her back the ability to walk. Even Jin schemingly knew that they are going to want to repay his kindness. Just not the way he thought it would be. Quite a shame our master has the heart of a maiden and will only choose one.” Kraft laughed to himself.
“Anyways, we shouldn’t intervene in his love life and let him do his own choices and mistakes. Though we both know, that the System expects him to sire an heir sooner rather than later…” Kraft elaborated to keep his long time companion up to date when suddenly the phone he was holding spoke back in retaliation.
“Many Heirs.” The System corrected the original bellator and made the two of them laugh hysterically.
“Looks like the System does not care who he ends up with as long as Jin reproduces.” Kiyu was still giggling as she leaned casually on Kraft to watch the interaction between Jin and Yang Ling.
“So, what brings you here? It’s rare for you to come here unannounced.” Jin treated her to the coffee and waffles as a friendly gesture. He knew that there was a high probability she would bring up the matter of the military army exercises which he and Hou Fei had discussed previously. However, Yang Ling was perceiving the friendly gesture as something else entirely, especially when she had been treated coldly by him on several occasions. This was the first time he had openly offered her a treat even though she knew what Jin was thinking about. Yet, she could not help but think that maybe, just maybe that Jin might have developed some interest in her.
“Just wondering how my father’s saviour is doing. Ever since that attack, he has been actively erm… in a covert manner trying to find the other assassins, and if possible, the organisation as well.” Yang Ling whispered as Jin was serving her a piece of waffle.
“You do not think it’s a solitary attack? And don’t mention it, it was my duty to try my best to save him. How’s your father’s recovery by the way?” Jin asked as he had his hunch about a secret organisation too. The System did hint about it, but it had not many details to follow. To the System, Jin’s business growth was more important right now since Jin started to reach what the System regarded as a ‘decent’ cultivation level and not to mention, sufficient bodyguards around him.
“Nope, for someone to infiltrate so deeply into a military vendor company with their clearance showing no records of such possible activities…it’s a bit concerning.” Yang Ling replied as she savoured the sizzling hot waffles that were melting in her mouth with the blueberry ice cream.
“Oh yes, I did hear that you have signed a contract with the local police station to protect yourself from the Ruby Rats.” Yang Ling showed some concern to Jin, and he immediately thanked her.
“Mmhmm. I too have heard that you played a part in me getting some business from them too. The sales of both lethal and non lethal weapons have drastically increased for the month of November. It would give my supplier…some confidence to push higher tier goods to me.” Jin revealed and Yang Ling suddenly realised that maybe she could help.
“Do you need me to assist you in any way? I am sure the supplier would be even friendlier to you if they know you have the backing of the Royal Tiger Zodiac family. I owe you at least that much. Especially after you helped me extensively with the sales of the Gearboxes. They have proven to be a hit and are selling like hotcakes. Although a lot of them…preferred the one you custom made for me.” Yang Ling admitted in a slightly playful tone.
“Hahaha, I bet they do. But I’m sorry I cannot help you with that since the gearbox I made was somewhat special. I had a good reason to assemble it just for you. Besides, some rare materials in it are nearly unobtainable through regular methods.” Jin tried to deflect any possible custom made orders from this world. At this point, he believed he had done enough for her.
Yang Ling, on the other hand, felt her heart beating quickly. Good reason? Just for her? Nearly unobtainable? Was Jin very concerned of her well being from the start? But why was he acting so cold towards her? To play cool? To play tough? There were so many questions in her mind after Jin’s reply, and she could not keep her head levelled.
“Ahhhhhhhh, I noticed too when I tried to reverse engineer the gearbox you gave me instead of the improved blueprint versions that you sent me. Oh well. Still, it’s a pity because those customers were willing to buy that gearbox version for five times the price.” Yang Ling sighed as she made an excuse up though it nearly made Jin spit out the coffee he was drinking to the point he was coughing.
Yang Ling reacted quickly by leaning forward to pet his back and taking a piece of tissue by the table. She did not know why she was acting like this and feeling very flustered too, but Yang Ling decided to press on with her actions.
While Jin was preoccupied with the fact that her customers were willing to pay five times the price, he could see how fast she had adapted with the new gearbox that was under her half dress.
There was no standing issues nor sensory feedback issues such that her movements were so natural with it. Jin felt like boasting that the gearbox he made on the fly was nearly flawless. “What? Why are you looking at me like you are stunned about it?” Yang Ling asked with a little blush on her face.
“No, I just saw how seamless you are walking right now as compared to uhh a month ago?” Jin replied while thanking her for the tissue paper. From afar, the two of them looked very natural with each other that Kraft and Kiyu were having fun filming them secretly.
“Anyway, where were we? Ah yes, I would like to talk about the military deal.” Yang Ling who was all smiles and giggles became serious when it came to business. (but she cannot deny her pounding heart and this was the only way to distract herself for now before he noticed something else.)
In the meantime, Jin was at all ears and made sure that the System covered the partition they were in properly before they initiated the conversation.
