Chapter 34: Hospitality!
Ye Zhibai not only crossed the street safely—
But she crossed it with a level of safety beyond imagination!
Ye Zhijun admired, “You see, with her natural beauty, walking among the sparse crowd on the crosswalk, she was the most dazzling sight on the entire street.”
Regardless of whether the light was red or not, as soon as the drivers spotted Ye Zhibai crossing the street from afar, they instinctively slammed on the brakes.
They could wait until she passed.
Otherwise, it would be dangerous!
This girl was so stunning, she was blinding!
It was like someone had placed a giant reflector in the middle of the road, making the drivers want to shout, “Who the hell is driving with their high beams on in broad daylight?!”
Ye Zhibai didn’t glow; she was just like a rare panda walking in the street.
Nobody dared to hit a panda, and the same went for Ye Zhibai.
After reaching the other side of the street, Ye Zhibai let out a long breath.
Though she was still a bit shaken, she wasn’t overly anxious as she looked back at the road she had just crossed.
A sense of accomplishment filled her heart.
Suddenly, she remembered a riddle and wanted to ask Guang Yu.
“Thanks for bringing me across, Guang Yu… Let me reward you with a riddle.* Cool Sister asked me this one when I was little.”
[*”脑筋急转弯 (*nǎo jīn jí zhuǎn wān*)” – “Brain teaser” or “riddle,” a type of puzzle that often has a simple or unexpected answer.]
Guang Yu inquired, “A riddle…? Does that mean I have to twist my head to the ground and turn?”
Ye Zhibai explained, “It’s a riddle, not a head-twisting contest. It’s just a question. So here’s the question: Why was Little Red in such a hurry to cross the street?”
“?”
What kind of question is that?!
Who is Little Red?!
Guang Yu slowly let go of Ye Zhibai’s hand, propping her chin up with her small palm, deep in thought.
From her time in the human world, Guang Yu learned that human thought and creativity were formidable.
Without using divine power, it was hard to predict.
So the answer to this riddle—obviously couldn’t be too simple.
But how could this stump a clever deity like her?
Guang Yu snapped her fingers, though no sound came from it, and after a quick mental calculation, she responded with wit!
“It’s because Little Red had something urgent to deal with! Maybe she was late for work or school, or perhaps she had to help an old lady cross the street—either way, she was in a hurry! That’s why she had to rush across the road!”
Ye Zhibai said, “Wrong.”
Guang Yu questioned, “Then why?!”
Ye Zhibai spoke, “Little Red was crossing the street because… she wanted to get to the other side. Alright, Guang Yu, you’re so silly. Let’s keep going.”
Guang Yu screamed, “I’m furious!! That answer is cheating!”
“Damn it, Little Red!!”
Ye Zhibai retorted, “The point was crossing the street, not being in a hurry to do it!”
Guang Yu continued, “So this is what a riddle is, huh?!”
“Ye Zhibai, you should’ve just made me spin my head on the ground!”
In the heat of the day, Guang Yu looked at Ye Zhibai, whose face was like a block of ice, telling such a cold joke.
The little fox could only feel a mix of anger, trembling, and cold.
But what could she do?
After all, Ye Zhibai had held her hand so tightly when crossing the street, displaying an unusual bit of cuteness.
A great deity is magnanimous.
She thought, Today, I won’t hold it against you!
On this same land, there is both fertile soil and barren ground.
The road they had just crossed, to the south, was lined with towering skyscrapers in a luxurious urban shopping district, filled with massive shopping centers and sky-high rent.
But the northern side of the street where they stood now was a stark contrast.
Not run-down, but like stepping from the heart of a first-tier city into the street-side shops of a third-tier city—the difference was quite striking.
Ye Zhibai looked ahead. Along the road, separated by a row of street trees and a wide sidewalk, the entire stretch was lined with tightly packed shopfronts.
There were no tall buildings, just two- or three-story structures, all uniform in appearance.
The foot traffic here was much less compared to the southern side, but the rent was surely much cheaper.
Ye Zhibai took a few more steps forward.
And then Treacherous Maps[1] voiced its final treacherous message of the day.
[Treacherous map: Approaching your destination. Navigation has ended.]“……”
Treacherous Maps, do you think I’m blind?
My destination, Qingxin Flower Shop, is indeed visible—but it’s still nearly a hundred meters away, at the far end of the road!
You’ve guided me this far, and now you’re too lazy to cover the last hundred meters? In a rush to clock out, are we? Good thing the sign is big.
Otherwise, with all these densely packed shops, I’d have to wander around twice before finding it.
Closing the Treacherous Maps app, Ye Zhibai opened her QQ chat with Lin Zihan.
It would’ve been fine if she had just walked over directly.
But Lin Zihan had asked her to send a message when she arrived.
She also mentioned… that her mom wasn’t too fond of customers who just browsed and didn’t buy anything.
She thought, Well, how do you expect to do good business then? Isn’t the whole point of flowers to browse and buy the ones you like?
Ye Zhibai wasn’t too sure about these things, but she still followed the agreement with Lin Zihan and sent the message over first.
[Ye Zhibai: I’m here. I saw the sign on your side. Are you inside the flower shop?]Next to her was Mi Yu Bing Cheng (Honey Rain Ice City, a popular Chinese drink store). Ye Zhibai inadvertently turned her head and saw it.
She clicked her tongue immediately!
Tsk.
No surprise here.
Guang Yu’s next line will surely be:
“Ye Zhibai! Buy a drink!”
Ye Zhibai responded I knew it!
“Fine… You did a good job just now, so consider it a reward. See if there’s anything new on the menu, uh… wait, hold on, I’ll get it later.”
Guang Yu asked, “What? What’s more important than a drink?”
Ye Zhibai answered, “Anything is more important than a drink. Over there.”
Both their gazes shifted northward.
They saw a girl running out from the flower shop, shining brighter than the flowers!
From about 100 meters away, her naturally eye-catching golden hair made her stand out.
But unfortunately… after Lin Zihan stepped out, she kept looking north, searching for Ye Zhibai’s whereabouts.
Turn around already!!
Don’t you know the importance of looking around?!
Ye Zhibai was just about to send another message to remind her, but then Lin Zihan’s voice call came through.
“Ye Zhibai, are you here yet? I don’t see you.”
Ye Zhibai responded, “Turn around.”
“Turn around and look. I haven’t gone far.”
Lin Zihan suddenly turned her head, and Ye Zhibai finally saw her excitedly waving her hand high in the air!
“Got it! I see you! Ye Zhibai, stay right there! I’ll come over right now!”
Beep beep.
As the call ended, Ye Zhibai watched as the golden-haired girl ran towards her with a bright smile.
When she was about 50 meters away, Ye Zhibai could finally see her outfit.
It was different from usual.
This was the first time Ye Zhibai saw Lin Zihan in anything other than her school uniform.
Cough cough, though to be fair, they’d only met a few times, and those were all at school.
Today, Lin Zihan was wearing a brown plaid skirt set.
The top and skirt were divided at the waist by a small brown women’s belt, and the skirt fell below her knees.
She paired it with black knee socks and low-top white sneakers, a classic British style that suited her well.
Looking closely, she had even clipped a blue butterfly hairpin onto her golden locks today.
No wonder, as a mixed-race beauty, she could effortlessly pull off different styles.
Though it was only a hundred meters, running it was still tiring.
Ye Zhibai stepped forward a bit, so Lin Zihan wouldn’t have to run as far.
Finally, when she reached Ye Zhibai, Lin Zihan skidded to a stop, bending over with her hands on her knees, gasping to catch her breath!
“Huff…! Sorry, Ye Zhibai, how did you show up from that side? You’re like a ghost, popping up out of nowhere!”
So this is what she considers “popping up like a ghost,”* huh?
[*” Popping up like a ghost (神出鬼没)”: An idiomatic expression meaning to appear and disappear unpredictably.]
I didn’t even use my hide-and-seek skills! Ye Zhibai thought.
After listening to Lin Zihan’s explanation, Ye Zhibai understood why she had been looking north just now.
The flower shop was part of the business district to the north, while the tall buildings in the south belonged to another commercial area.
But that wasn’t important.
Lin Zihan, still trying to catch her breath, flashed a brief look of helplessness in her eyes, but it was quickly covered by her sunny, enthusiastic smile.
“Huff ha… Huff, Ye Zhibai, you must be tired after coming all this way, huh? I… I don’t have much to offer, how about a drink? Hold on a sec!”
Guang Yu was thrilled.
Ye Zhibai said, “You get it!”
A drink is the noblest form of hospitality!
