As Bian Yu was leaving, he said to Yun Manman: "When I went to the dessert shop this morning, I found many beastmen waiting outside. Have you considered creating an account to post when you're not open?"
Yun Manman hadn't thought of that, but hearing it made sense.
"Good idea! I'll set one up right away."
In the future, she could post about new products and promotions there too.
After seeing off Officer Bian Yu, Yun Manman prepared to continue dealing with the few remaining hard cocoa fruits.
But when she turned around, she found that all the cocoa fruits left on the table had already split open.
And beside them, a small snake was lazily yawning while sprawled on top of Nini's head.
It was clearly the work of the hardworking and adorable Qiqi, who never asked for anything in return.
"Qiqi, you're so wonderful! Thank you so much for your help!"
Yun Manman was overjoyed and touched, her tail wagging happily behind her.
Whose pet could be so thoughtful?
And so beautiful and cute too!
Qiqi must have come to repay a debt of gratitude!
Lu Qi raised his tail to block the cat-girl's forehead as she tried to nuzzle him again, looking at her rapidly wagging tail behind her with disdain.
Are you a cat or a dog?
Yun Manman wasn't upset at being rejected for affection. She just giggled a few times and happily went to process the cocoa fruits.
By the time she had dug out all the fruit from inside the cocoa pods and packed them tightly in wooden boxes, the sun was already setting.
The evening light tinted the clouds on the horizon a beautiful pink-orange. Birds flew hurriedly across the sky like falling musical notes, disappearing after a brief chirp.
On the rooftop terrace, the cucumber plants had sprouted pale yellow flowers that swayed gently in the warm evening breeze.
Yun Manman, wearing a floral top and denim shorts, bent down to walk under the cucumber trellis, looking for ripe cucumbers. Nini followed behind with a basket, catching the vegetables she picked.
The path in the vegetable garden was paved with pebbles, making the robot walk with an unsteady gait. This caused the small snake sitting on Nini's head to nearly fall off several times.
Lu Qi grumbled internally while taking in the scenery before him. A rare sense of calm settled over him, as if a gentle breeze had blown across his turbulent mental sea, smoothing out the surging waves.
His tail swayed lazily from side to side behind him as he watched the similarly swaying tail of the figure walking ahead with half-lidded eyes.
He felt peacefully sleepy.
In his drowsy state, he thought the fluffy light orange tail looked familiar, as if he'd seen it somewhere before...
Just as he was about to doze off, Yun Manman's slightly teasing voice rang out.
"Oh, Qiqi, look - this is the bucket you fell into back then."
Lu Qi snapped awake with a start!
He raised his head to look in Yun Manman's direction. Her light brown hair was braided into a plait hanging over her chest, the ears on top of her head twitching. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat, but her jewel-like eyes sparkled with liveliness.
She looked like an adorable little sprite.
The sprite-like Manman was enthusiastically pointing at a yellow bucket beside her: "This must be the fertilizer bucket you fell into back then. It made such a loud 'bang' sound, it really startled me!"
Lu Qi: ...
Yun Manman didn't notice the petrified little snake as she continued to vividly reenact "how mommy picked you up from the trash can".
"You were covered in fertilizer then, and you crawled up my ankle..."
Lu Qi cursed his excellent memory, which allowed him to recall everything clearly even from when his psychic powers were sealed.
Now, following Yun Manman's description, the scene from that time played vividly in his mind.
General Lu shut down.
All that talk of peaceful times was a lie.
He just wanted to move to another planet.
Let it all be destroyed!!!
Thanks to Lu Xi's timely arrangements, all links related to Perfect Sweets Shop "channeling psychic power" had disappeared from the internet.
There was no further fermentation of the topic.
Only some related positive entries remained.
This series of operations left netizens who had been following the drama from beginning to end somewhat confused.
So was this suppressed by the shop owner paying money? Or was it all fake to begin with?
Some sharp-eyed netizens sensed the underlying stakes involved.
They heard that the streamer called Youcai who was present at the time had been taken to the police station.
And now all related negative information online had been cleared.
Could it be that this dessert shop had someone powerful backing them?
In any case, the dizzying array of information online made Perfect Sweets Shop seem increasingly mysterious.
Many beastmen were also repeatedly bouncing around under photos of the desserts, excitedly howling.
"So pretty and delicate!"
"Looks so delicious!"
"Desserts! I want to try them so badly!"
The beastmen had never seen such exquisite and cute sweets before.
Yun Manman's desserts had instantly hit the beastmen's soft spot.
Perfect Sweets Shop had gained a bit of online fame.
The weather was getting increasingly hot, with even the early mornings feeling stuffy.
Yun Manman, who had rested for a day, was preparing to head to the dessert shop with high spirits when she stepped out and was immediately struck by a wave of heat.
She pressed her dry lips together and frowned, muttering: "Does it never rain here? It's so hot I could die..."
She hadn't seen a single drop of rain since coming to the Lingyi Continent.
Every day was clear skies, with the sun working overtime.
Even the grass by the roadside looked wilted.
On such a hot day, surely no beastmen would come buy desserts.
Could she slack off and take another day off?
Yun Manman thought sadly as she walked towards the dessert shop under a parasol.
Lu Qi, hiding in Yun Manman's handbag, was momentarily speechless when he heard her muttering.
It's as if this cat had never experienced summer before.
I'm afraid when it does rain, you'll be just as unhappy.
Kashida's summers were always this hot, though this year was even more scorching.
The rainy season would be coming soon.
Lu Qi flicked out his snake tongue, tasting the moisture in the air.
The Lingyi Continent's summers were long, lasting a full four months.
Of those four months, half the time was dry and rainless, while the other half it rained boiling water.
Lu Qi knew that feline beastmen generally disliked water.
Now, seeing Yun Manman's troubled expression at the dryness, he felt a bit of schadenfreude.
Heh, soon you'll be even less willing to go out.
Just as Yun Manman reached the dessert shop's entrance, she suddenly heard a bird's "chirp chirp" call.
It seemed to come from very close by.
Then she heard the fluttering sound of wings flapping, and the wind chimes on the shop door began to tinkle.
Yun Manman quickly looked up and saw an incredibly cute scene.
Perched on the wind chime's rod was a bird about the size of two palms. Its head to belly was snow white, with dark brown wings folded tightly behind it and a long tail that bobbed up and down.
Its eyes were like small beans, darting about. Its body was plump, looking like a fuzzy white ball from the front.
A long-tailed tit!
Yun Manman's cat eyes widened as she immediately recognized this adorably plump bird.
In her past life, she had seen so many videos of this little bird online that she recognized it right away.
Yun Manman's tail stood straight up in excitement, her eyes sparkling with heart shapes.
So cute! Although the fluffy ball before her was twice the size she expected, it was no less adorable!
At this size, it looked even better for hugging and petting!
Lu Qi raised his head in the bag, glancing at the bird crouched on the wind chime, then at Yun Manman's highly raised tail behind her.
This was a sign that the cat was very happy and in high spirits.
Lu Qi was momentarily speechless.
This cat really had no standards, liking everything indiscriminately.
She had liked the sugar glider and leopard cat they met before, she liked him as a snake, and now she looked ready to pounce on one of his soldiers too.
Yes, the long-tailed tit before them was one of Lu Qi's subordinates.
Lu Xi had brought him over the other day to carry out the mission of watching over Yun Manman.
The long-tailed tit looked at Yun Manman in front of him and tilted his head: "Chirp, are you open yet?"
The human words coming from the slightly open beak instantly sobered Yun Manman.
No good, this is a beastman, I can't just pet him randomly.
While inwardly crying "wuwuwu, why did you have to speak!"
Wait a minute, this young-sounding voice seems familiar?