Star Park was the park next to the main street on Yun Manman's way home.
It was filled with beautiful blue star flowers, hence its name.
Yun Manman thought for a moment, then nodded: "But I pass by that park every day."
As she spoke, she saw the beautiful woman pull out a familiar-looking box from somewhere, with an even more familiar holographic sticker on it.
The beautiful lady asked, "This is from your shop, right?"
Yun Manman nodded: "Yes, it is."
Oh no, had her desserts made someone sick and they'd come to complain?
Just as she was starting to panic, the beautiful lady suddenly leaned in close, reaching across the counter to grasp Yun Manman's hand!
Yun Manman and Lu Qi, who was watching from the side: !
Lu Qi instinctively straightened up, keeping a close eye on this feline beastkin, ready to prevent her from doing anything harmful to Yun Manman.
But they only saw the cool, beautiful lady say excitedly: "Thank you so much! If it weren't for the pudding you gave me that day, I would have died!"
Yun Manman, overwhelmed by the suddenly magnified beauty and the lady's pleasant scent, felt dizzy and couldn't react immediately: "...What?"
The beautiful lady spoke again: "It was your kindness that night that kept me from becoming a Beastfiend. I don't know how to thank you, you're my lifesaver..."
What Beastfiend? What pudding?
What was she talking about?
Yun Manman's little head was filled with confusion, becoming more and more puzzled as she listened to the cool big sister's words.
After the two sat face to face and the beautiful lady finally finished explaining, Yun Manman had a sudden realization: "Oh, so you were the guy I kicked that night!"
Realizing she had misspoken, she quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I couldn't see clearly that night and I made a mistake..."
Damn! How could she have mistaken such a beautiful woman for a man!
These eyes needed to go!
The beautiful lady clearly didn't mind at all. She even reached out to brush the short hair at her forehead, her thin lips curling up slightly, her brown eyes quickly winking at Yun Manman: "It's alright."
Yun Manman instantly clutched her chest, looking as if she'd been struck.
So cool! It felt like being flirted with by a handsome guy!
The beautiful lady was amused by her reaction: "You're so cute."
With a small face and big eyes, cat ears and a fluffy tail on top of her head, she looked soft and cuddly, perfect for hugging.
Do men like this type of girl?
Yun Manman sensed her mood drop and quieted down, carefully asking: "Um, beautiful lady... I mean..."
Oops, she still didn't know how to address her.
The beautiful lady smiled: "My name is Yuan Qing."
Before Yun Manman could ask further, she had already continued.
"Hmm... something not so good happened that day. My mental energy purity was already low, and during that time my mental energy was unstable, I felt a bit dazed."
"After the bad thing happened that day, I just felt like life was meaningless, I wanted to kill everyone and then commit suicide."
"I was planning to kill myself. But my head hurt so much, so I rested under a tree. That's when I met you, and almost tripped you."
Yuan Qing smiled at Yun Manman, her eyes crinkling: "You said eating something sweet would improve my mood."
"At that time, I felt life was so tiring and bitter, but for some reason, I ate the pudding you gave me. I don't remember much after that, but the security guard who picked me up said I almost turned into a Beastfiend."
Lu Qi, listening intently on the side, tilted his head.
So the darkening beastkin he sensed that night was her.
Yun Manman was shocked and worried.
She had never seen a Beastfiend or a darkening beastkin, so naturally, she didn't know that Yuan Qing lying under the tree that night was in the process of darkening.
She asked: "Are you feeling better now?"
Yuan Qing saw the concern in the girl's emerald eyes and felt a warmth in her heart: "I've been injected with a stabilizer now, my mental energy purity is maintained at 30%. Although I still have mental energy disorders, it's much better now."
"The doctor said I was on the edge of darkening, but for some unknown reason, the process was interrupted, so I had the chance to be discovered and sent to the hospital for the stabilizer injection."
"But I know in my heart, if it weren't for the pudding you gave me and your kindness, I might have turned into a Beastfiend and been killed by now."
Speaking of pudding, Yuan Qing's eyes sparkled as she looked at the desserts behind the glass: "The pudding you make is really sweet and delicious, it really does improve one's mood. That night, after eating your pudding, I felt my mood wasn't as bad and my head didn't hurt as much, it was like it could stabilize my mental energy."
Hearing this, Yun Manman smiled, very pleased: "That's wonderful! Although my cakes can't work like stabilizers, they can help improve your mood!"
She felt that Yuan Qing's ability to pull through was due to her own strong will, and her pudding had only given Yuan Qing a little motivation, hardly qualifying her as a lifesaver.
Lu Qi watched the two chatting happily with a thoughtful look, his thoughts contrary to Yun Manman's.
He was a bit shocked and found it incredible. It seemed that the pudding Yun Manman gave to Yuan Qing had a stabilizing effect, interrupting her darkening process.
Why would Yun Manman's desserts have the effect of a stabilizer? Was it because of her mental energy?
If Yun Manman's mental energy having a stabilizing effect was rare, her ability to imbue food with this effect was unheard of! And it seemed quite effective!
If she could make more food with stabilizing effects, it would undoubtedly be a lifesaver for the military and for Kashida.
And it would cause a sensation across the entire Lingyi Continent.
Lu Qi was very aware of Yun Manman's value and was considering how to persuade her to serve Kashida, how to hide her from other countries, especially the despicable Blood Clan.
Tch, why haven't Lu Xi and the others come looking yet?
If they came, he could negotiate with her.
As Lu Qi flicked his tail tip, pondering the future of the empire, a warm hand suddenly appeared on top of his head.
His body stiffened, and Yun Manman's voice sounded from above: "What are you thinking about, Qiqi? Why are you spacing out?"
Yun Manman quickly stroked the little snake from head to tail, only to see it shoot off like a bullet, retreating to the shadows of the cabinet, glaring at her angrily.
She sheepishly rubbed her nose and turned to walk towards Yuan Qing, carrying a freshly cut honeydew melon jasmine tea jelly cake.
General Lu, who had been groped again, stared at her retreating figure, so angry that the scales on his body were about to bristle.
He thought expressionlessly that he might as well turn into a Beastfiend and swallow her in one gulp.
Yun Manman swayed her tail as she placed the cake in front of Yuan Qing, smiling brightly, "I'd like to treat you to some cake! It's a new product, would you like to try it?"
Yuan Qing put down her communicator, exclaiming with delight, "Really? May I?"
Seeing Yun Manman nod, Yuan Qing said happily, "Thank you so much!"
"You can call me Manman." Yun Manman felt odd hearing such formal address.
"Alright, Manman."
Yun Manman rested her chin on her hand, watching Yuan Qing eat the cake, "How is it? Delicious?"
Yuan Qing nodded vigorously, her cat ears on top of her head bouncing up and down, "It's delicious!"
The soft, fragrant cake base paired with the sweet but not cloying cream, along with the jasmine-scented filling and the sweet honeydew, made Yuan Qing feel as if she were drowning in sweetness.
She had never known that jasmine could be used in food!
Yun Manman explained, "It's jasmine tea bags. I couldn't find fresh jasmine flowers, otherwise, they could have been used for decoration."
When she saw the blissful smile on Yuan Qing's face, her heart quietly sighed in relief.
Yuan Qing herself might not have noticed, but when she was looking at her communicator earlier, her face had been unable to hide her sadness and anger.
Yun Manman didn't want to see such a beautiful face marred by such sorrow.
How awful! Who would dare to make this beauty angry!
The cat-like Yun clenched her little fists under the table, wishing she could punch the culprit.
When Yuan Qing looked over, Yun Manman smiled sweetly, "If it's good, have some more~"
Thankfully, her desserts could make the beauty happy again~
Yuan Qing left the dessert shop carrying a large bag of sweets as if she were carrying a bag of good mood. She walked out of the shop and looked back at the sign of the "Perfect Sweets Shop" gleaming in the sunlight.
She couldn't help but marvel at what a lovely little shop it was.
She hadn't taken more than a few steps when her communicator chimed with a "ding".
A new message had come in.
[Qingqing, can we meet?]
Yuan Qing stared at this message, feeling her good mood instantly shatter.