Chapter 75: So It’s Happily Decided
Back at the rented apartment, Shen Lu only needed to do some simple tidying up. While she was waiting for Wang Daguo, Cai Su had not only washed the dishes but had also wiped all the kitchenware sparkling clean.
Shen Lu went to the public bathhouse to take a shower, then returned to change Fu Cheng’s dressing.
Before changing his dressing, Shen Lu started a pot of rice, dried her hands, took out the gauze and medicinal powder, and poured a basin of clean water to wipe the wound with later.
Fu Cheng watched her bustle about, his heart filled with a deep sense of guilt.
’He’d been so useless today, letting Mrs. Shen slap Shen Lu.’
Shen Lu’s hand, which was unwrapping the gauze, was suddenly held gently. Looking at the large, scar-crossed palm, she raised her eyes in confusion.
"What’s wrong?"
Fu Cheng’s lips moved a few times, but he gave up. He tapped her Light Brain with his finger, a hopeful look in his eyes.
Shen Lu understood. "You want to watch videos, right? I’ll turn it on for you."
A Light Brain’s screen could be shared with others if the privacy mode was disabled. Shen Lu didn’t know what Fu Cheng liked to watch, so she found a comedy and played it.
Fu Cheng was speechless. ’That wasn’t what he wanted to see.’
The man held onto Shen Lu’s hand, refusing to let go, his lips pressed into a displeased line.
"You don’t like comedies? How about DouDou, then?"
"You don’t like that either? Then what do you want to watch?"
Shen Lu went through a list of options, and just before her patience ran out, she finally figured out what Fu Cheng wanted.
In theory, a Light Brain was bound to a single person. Once bound, no one else could use it.
However, it could also be shared temporarily.
In other words, as long as Shen Lu gave her authorization, the Light Brain could connect to another person’s biological brainwaves.
The flashy pages on the screen closed one by one, leaving only a blank document.
With some difficulty, Fu Cheng used his brainwaves to write on the document.
Fu Cheng: I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect you today.
After writing that line, beads of sweat broke out on Fu Cheng’s forehead.
The strength of one’s biological brainwaves was closely related to their Spiritual Sea. His Spiritual Sea had been severely damaged, making it even weaker than that of an ordinary person. Even writing on the screen was a struggle for him.
Shen Lu found it rather baffling.
"Are you talking about what happened with Mrs. Shen?"
Fu Cheng: Yes.
"You’re injured. Your job is to focus on getting better. I can protect myself." Shen Lu realized her words sounded a bit hurtful and quickly added, "I don’t mean you’re meddling."
The light in Fu Cheng’s eyes dimmed.
’He could tell. Shen Lu had never expected his protection. In her mind, he was probably the one who needed protecting.’
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy. Shen Lu could only close the document and randomly play a video, hoping the sound would ease the tension.
After changing the dressing, Shen Lu washed her hands again.
"How about I buy you a Light Brain? You can use it to pass the time when you’re bored."
Fu Cheng closed his eyes, his posture a clear rejection.
’A Light Brain cost at least eight or nine thousand Star Coins. He knew Shen Lu was earning a lot now, but he didn’t want her to keep spending money on him.’
’Her Lucky Cat didn’t look very happy.’
Shen Lu stuck her tongue out slightly. ’He’s a little too sensitive,’ she thought.
The rice cooker BEEPED softly; the rice was ready. Shen Lu went to scoop it out and then started a second pot.
While waiting for the rice to cook, Shen Lu tallied up her income for the day. It came to a total of 19,360 Star Coins. Just a little over 600 more and she would have made 20,000 in a single day!
Her popularity value broke through 6,000, rising to 6,411.
’What a pity,’ Shen Lu thought. ’If only her popularity value could increase as fast as her Star Coins.’
Adding the unused Lottery Ticket from yesterday, Shen Lu could draw twice today.
[Congratulations, Host, for drawing the prize from Blind Box No. 93: one Nanometer Super Realistic Mask.]
[Nanometer Super Realistic Mask: After putting it on, you can disguise yourself as anyone you wish to be. Skin tone, facial features, gender, height, and more can all be changed. A flawless 360° disguise, absolutely realistic!]
[Note: This item has a limited number of uses. Each use cannot exceed twelve hours. Please be advised, Host.]
[Congratulations, Host, for drawing the prize from Blind Box No. 95: one Twenty-four-hour Promotion Traffic Accelerator.]
[Twenty-four-hour Promotion Traffic Accelerator: Using promotional methods known to the Host, including but not limited to videos, illustrated guides, and livestreams, this item will maximize the exposure of "Little Deer Cuisine."]
[Note: Effective for twenty-four hours. This is a single-use item.]
Shen Lu was lost in thought. ’This mask is probably to help me with a hidden quest. And this accelerator... I could probably use it on the new shop’s opening day?’
Speaking of promotional methods, Shen Lu hadn’t given them much thought in the past two days.
She couldn’t come up with anything new, just the same old tricks that had been used a thousand times before.
Moreover, Shen Lu’s biggest headache was how to promote her small shop to the Upper City District. The upper class’s sense of superiority was ingrained in their very bones; most of them wouldn’t be willing to come to Gold Street just for a bite to eat.
But no matter what, she was determined to open the shop. After all, she had already bought the building. Once the living quarters were renovated, she would pick a time to set up the first-floor shop and open for business.
’Speaking of the living quarters, I still need to buy furniture.’
Shen Lu planned to find time tomorrow to go look. It was better to buy them sooner rather than later; she was afraid some furniture might not be in stock, and waiting for it would delay her progress.
After making a plan for tomorrow, the second pot of rice was nearly done. She scooped it out and started making the braised dishes.
After putting the chicken legs and dried tofu in to braise, Shen Lu added over a hundred hard-boiled eggs.
The food cart had limited space, so it was difficult to add new items, but making the existing food offerings more abundant was no problem.
By the time she finished all this, it was past ten o’clock at night.
Shen Lu stretched and let out a long sigh.
’This rental is just too small. I’m really looking forward to my new place. It’ll be so spacious! I won’t have to cook where I sleep anymore. The spaces will be completely separate, and I won’t have to squeeze into a tiny bed with Fu Cheng every day.’
’In the new living quarters, she had set aside a 20-square-meter bedroom for herself. She could fit a 1.8-meter-wide bed in there. Then she could lie on it and sleep however she wanted—total freedom.’
Shen Lu lay down next to Fu Cheng and pulled up her Light Brain’s screen to browse the web for a while.
She first browsed online news about pharmaceutical companies, as well as their corporate websites. Unsurprisingly, every piece of information was positive, exuding the high-tech, cutting-edge aura of the pharmaceutical industry.
’No doubt about it, the government must have this under control. There was no way any negative news would be allowed to appear.’
Losing interest, Shen Lu closed those pages and went to look at videos and articles with the keyword "gourmet food."
’If I’m going to do marketing, I can’t avoid this stuff. I need to get a general idea of how people here do promotions.’
After looking around, Shen Lu discovered that there weren’t any dedicated food bloggers who did store reviews here. Most of the content was personally-shot, share-style videos.
’It made sense when she thought about it. Most people were just struggling to fill their stomachs, so who had the time or spare money to go hunting for gourmet food?’
Shen Lu turned off her Light Brain and propped her hands behind her head.
’I could probably start by shooting some videos and posting them online. It might not bring in customers from the Upper City District right away, but at least I can get some name recognition.’
’Alright, that’s settled then.’