Chapter 150: Contrasting Cuteness
"I saw the trending news on the Star Network," her grandfather said, taking a bite of barbecued meat. "You really put the Eldest Prince in a tight spot today."
He had just caught the scent and saw how heartily Hu Yan was eating, so he couldn’t resist grabbing some for himself.
Empress Leia, holding a plate of roasted beast meat, asked, "News? What news?"
Hu Yan’s grandfather managed to reply between bites, "You’ll know if you look on the Star Network."
A small smile touched Hu Yan’s lips. "He found all of that himself. It has nothing to do with me."
Empress Leia sensed there was more to the story and decided to check the Star Network later.
As the flavor of the barbecued meat spread through his mouth, the grandfather couldn’t help but nod repeatedly. "This tastes pretty good. Where did you order it from? Ask Zelda for me next time. I want to buy some to take back for your grandmother to try."
Hearing this, a flash of pride crossed Hu Yan’s eyes. "If you like it, you can take some back with you. There’s still plenty here."
Seeing them all eating with such relish, Empress Leia couldn’t help but ask, "Is it really that good?"
Her father looked at her. "You should try it. The flavor is actually quite nice."
Then, a thought occurred to him, and he added, "If you want to maintain your figure, you can eat a little less."
Empress Leia heard him, speared a piece, and put it in her mouth. She chewed a couple of times, feeling the juices burst from the meat.
She nodded as she chewed. It really was quite good. The sauce was well-seasoned, a flavor she had never tasted before. The person who grilled the meat was skilled, too—it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Even though it had sat out for a while and the texture wasn’t as perfect as when it was fresh off the grill, it was still excellent.
’No wonder Zelda had sent it to Father to bring into the palace. It was certainly worth the trip.’
’This child is quite thoughtful.’
Seeing that both his mother and grandfather enjoyed the food, Hu Yan beamed with pride. He then shared some of the barbecued meat with the staff in his mother’s palace.
He also saved some for his grandfather to take back to his grandmother.
Because they ate so much in the afternoon, the three of them had no appetite that evening. The Emperor, noticing this, thought the chef’s skills had declined and wondered if he should hire a new one.
That night, it was Lang Qiu’s turn to attend to her.
After dinner, Hu Yan went to Bai Zhi’s spirit sea to spend some time with her and told her about the day’s events.
Then, with a hint of a smile, he said, "The barbecued meat you made today was delicious. My mother and grandfather both loved it. Grandfather even said he wanted to ask Zelda where to buy it so he could get some for my grandmother."
"As long as you all like it, that’s what matters," Bai Zhi said after a moment’s thought. "If you do, I can make extra sauce tomorrow for you to send to them. It’s delicious on other grilled foods, too."
Hu Yan said, "Mm, we can talk about that later. I haven’t seen you all afternoon. Let me hold you. The Insect Clan has been restless lately, so I might be back late tomorrow."
Hu Yan had just pulled Bai Zhi into an embrace when he heard a knock on the door.
Hearing the sound, Bai Zhi immediately poked her head out from his arms. "I’ll go see who it is."
Bai Zhi quickly went to open the door and found Lang Qiu standing outside.
Seeing Lang Qiu, both Hu Yan and Bai Zhi paused for a moment in surprise.
Hu Yan had wanted to spend a little time with Bai Zhi before Lang Qiu arrived, but he hadn’t expected him to be so early.
Seeing her standing there stunned, Lang Qiu raised an eyebrow. "Not going to let me in?"
Bai Zhi quickly stepped aside to let him in.
Bai Zhi called out in her spirit sea, "Hu Yan?"
Hu Yan responded, "I know. I’m leaving."
He then left her spirit sea. Bai Zhi vaguely felt that his voice had sounded a little off just now, but his expression hadn’t seemed to change.
Bai Zhi couldn’t figure it out, and since Lang Qiu started talking to her, she didn’t dwell on it.
"Yue Junxiao said you like fluffy things..."
As he spoke, Lang Qiu revealed his ears. Perhaps because it was his first time doing something like this, they were a little red.
His serious face paired with those ears created a surprisingly cute contrast that made Bai Zhi instantly forget everything else.
’I can’t believe there’s this kind of benefit now that they know about my little quirk!’
Lang Qiu saw the change in Bai Zhi’s eyes and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. He had figured she liked this sort of thing, but he hadn’t realized she liked it *this* much.
Thanks to Lang Qiu’s actions, Bai Zhi’s experience that night was especially good.
Just as Hu Yan had predicted, it wasn’t two days before the Insect Clan grew restless and began launching continuous attacks along the border.
Because of this, Hu Yan came back very late for several days in a row.
Seeing this, Bai Zhi remembered the combat-type Mecha she had ordered should be nearly ready, so she contacted the shop owner.
Bai Zhi: [Are the Mecha ready?]
About ten minutes later, the other party replied: [Almost. There are still 10 units left. I’ve been pulling all-nighters, working on them for you whenever I’m not sleeping!]
Bai Zhi: [Thank you for your hard work. It’s a rather urgent order.]
Shop Owner: [Where do you plan on putting all this Battle Armor? If the place is too small, they won’t fit.]
Bai Zhi sent him the location of her Unowned Star System: [Deliver them here.]
The owner reminded her: [This is an Unowned Star System. You might run into some problems if you just leave them there.]
Bai Zhi: [It’s fine. The system is mine now.]
Shop Owner: [!!!]
Shop Owner: [How long has it been? You bought all this Battle Armor and now an Unowned Star System. Are you planning to carve out your own little kingdom and declare yourself queen?]
Bai Zhi: [You’re giving me too much credit, sir. I just happened to come across a suitable system and bought it on a whim. The combat Mecha are for someone else, not for me.]
Although Bai Zhi explained, the owner clearly didn’t believe her.
Shop Owner: [Alright, alright. If you don’t want to say, I get it. Still in the planning phase, keeping it secret, I understand. I’ll finish the combat Mecha for you as soon as possible and send them over.]
Knowing the owner hadn’t taken her words to heart, Bai Zhi didn’t bother explaining further. As long as the Mecha arrived quickly, that was all that mattered.
After thanking him, she logged off.
Thanks to Hu Yan, Doris Mall had been especially lively recently, with average daily foot traffic reaching the hundreds of thousands.
Even though the mall was huge, it was packed to capacity, and people even had to line up outside to get in.
As a result, the mall’s revenue saw a significant increase.
Furthermore, the leases for the two floors Zelda had her eye on were about to expire, which was why Bai Zhi had dared to agree so readily.
Over the past few days, Bai Zhi had been completing her basic tasks, adding many new things to their home and receiving several hundred million in cash. Her current cash on hand now totaled nearly one billion.
She was, without a doubt, a wealthy young woman.
She spent money every day, yet her stash of Star Coins only grew.
The shop owner was impressively efficient. Bai Zhi had contacted him in the morning, and by evening, he had already prepared the combat Mecha.
Shop Owner: [I’ll have someone deliver the combat Mecha to you now.]
Bai Zhi: [Okay.]
Bai Zhi and Lang Qiu then took a Starship to her Unowned Star System. This time, she didn’t bring anyone else.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to; it was just that it wasn’t yet time for too many people to know about this.
But Lang Qiu was tight-lipped and reliable, making him the perfect person for such a task.