Chapter 2575: A Day at the Amusement Park
The staff secretly said these things, and the little old man came out from the room behind, holding a small terminal instrument in his hand. He placed the instrument on the table, "Pick whatever you like!"
Xu Huo opened it and glanced at the catalog briefly, somewhat surprised, and asked, "You were involved in making the Super Instruments?"
"What’s so strange about that," the little old man said disdainfully, "instruments are all made by people."
"I’m starting to believe you’re a real master now," Xu Huo said.
The little old man said unhappily, "Do I need your belief?"
Xu Huo put away the terminal instrument, "Lend this to me for two days, I’ll decide afterward."
"You’re such a big person doing things so slowly." Although the little old man was complaining, his hands didn’t stop, "Take it, take it."
As Xu Huo and the others were about to leave, a few players in Law Enforcement Team uniforms came over, closed the shop door without saying a word, and placed a sealing device on each of the four sides of the door.
"Great! Can’t use the front door again!" The little old man shook his head and turned to walk back.
The staff member, accustomed to the scene, took off his work name tag and said to Xu Huo and the others, "You can go out the back door."
The so-called back door was actually using the path through the side shop, as their shop had no real back door, just a small door opened between two shops.
"Hey, Old Xi, sealed the door again?" An old man in the neighboring shop also noticed, both had a good relationship and could joke a bit, "Told you not to go to that exhibition, knowing those people were no good, you scold them a bit but it doesn’t relieve your anger, instead they find someone to lock your shop, now you can’t do business for a few days again! Do you think it’s worth it!"
"I like it!" The little old man left with a proud look.
The old man behind laughed and cursed, "Dare to slam your own door then."
Although the little old man said he didn’t care, once he left the street, his demeanor weakened, and he told Xu Huo and the others to do whatever they needed and gave the staff a few days off to find another job.
The staff member was efficient, "Alright, once I find one, I’ll quit, but you need to cover my salary."
The little old man nodded, hands behind his back, walked away slowly.
The staff was a young man barely in his twenties, looking at the little old man’s back, he sighed somewhat sadly.
You Xin couldn’t help but ask, "Mr. Xi was so famous in the past, with so many apprentices lining up to the outskirts of the city, why is it like this now? Is he being targeted? For such a great Artifact Maker, there should be many people trying to flatter him."
The staff helplessly shook his head, "You saw his bad temper, I don’t even dare say he’s the boss when doing business, for fear customers would just leave... but he’s truly a good person, anyway, it’s still early, I need to go find a temporary job."
Watching the person leave in a hurry, You Xin said incredulously, "I thought only we were poor, I didn’t expect Mr. Xi to have such a large shop and still be poor. He could sell any of those props and live comfortably forever!"
"Doesn’t District 001 have an Artifact Maker Association?" Xu Huo said, "Many lesser-known Artifact Makers get their orders from the association, but the old man seems at odds with other Artifact Makers, so he probably can’t get any orders."
Without the orders from the association, famous Artifact Makers can also do business on their own, but the old man even catches Outer Zone visitors and berates them, it’s no wonder business is slow.
"Why is it like this?" You Xin couldn’t understand, "If I had his craftsmanship, I’d have made a fortune long ago."
"Maybe it’s because he doesn’t want to," You Zhi said, "I think Mr. Xi doesn’t care much for business, opening a shop might just be to pass the time."
No matter what grudges Mr. Xi had with other Artifact Makers, it was still early, so the two sisters recommended a few fun places. Xu Huo covered their expenses, and they saw that the Girl in the painting truly enjoyed playing, so they reciprocated by taking care of her, trying to cater to her preferences to make sure she enjoyed herself.
There were too many projects in the amusement park, so Xu Huo didn’t follow each one, instead, he went to nearby small shops to buy some specialty snacks and sat outside waiting.
"Beep beep!" A staff member dressed in a cartoon outfit flew over from above, attracting a series of "wow" sounds as they landed steadily from more than ten meters high, blew a kiss to the onlookers, then drew attention to the amusement park team that followed.
Colorful streamers fluttered out, flying all over the sky, and those colored papers turned into brilliant bubbles before they landed, rising again and making the entire amusement park procession look dreamy and magical.
Xu Huo caught a piece of falling paper, turned it over, and saw it said that the amusement park team would hold a free city parade in the hometown of the park manager in five days. Besides watching performances, visitors could also receive random gifts, and tourists were welcome to join.
The You sisters and the Girl in the painting had already come out of the project and were now following the amusement park team over here. The Girl in the painting waved at Xu Huo from a distance, holding a deluxe version of "candied haws" in her hand, hmm, the candied haws were made from a fruit resembling an eyeball, which, when lightly squeezed, would ooze juice. The juice was red, and it looked quite bizarre.
Yet there were many such oddly-shaped things in the amusement park. Even little kids weren’t surprised by them anymore, and even if very young children saw them for the first time, they would soon be persuaded by their parents to bravely try them. Despite their ugly appearance, these items were indeed delicious, quickly conquering human taste buds and making people gradually forget their appearance.
Xu Huo grabbed two beans that emitted a strange smell and looked like insects, put them in his mouth, and with a crunchy sound, a rich flavor exploded.
It was quite good.
"Uncle, is this bean tasty?" A little child came over, looking greedily at him.
"Want to try one?" Xu Huo offered the bag, but the child shook his head, "I have parents, my parents have money, they will buy it for me. I wanted to ask if it bites the tongue?"
Xu Huo smiled, "Try one."
The child modestly indicated they could exchange snacks, then swapped a lollipop for a bean, prepared themselves, ate it, and then ran off shouting "Mom."
Xu Huo followed the amusement park team, and after reuniting with the Girl in the painting and the others, the contents in his hands naturally ended up in someone else’s hands.
"... Our ancestors have traditions of slaying evils, so many places have some evil symbols and sculptures. After evolution, some plants seem to have grown eyes and evolved with these things, resulting in grotesque fruits, eyeballs, insects are just child’s play. There are tongue and heart-shaped ones too; some, when they flower and bear fruit, hang all over the tree like nails, looking quite otherworldly."