Yun Manman and her group spent two more days in Lanqi, fully immersing themselves in its breathtakingly beautiful natural scenery.
During this time, the City Lord's Wife enthusiastically invited Yun Manman to open a branch of her dessert shop in Lanqi. She had even selected a location for her. All that was needed was Yun Manman's approval to begin renovations.
Yun Manman was utterly flattered. How had her career suddenly taken off so dramatically? Initially, she had only wanted to fulfill her own dreams and passions.
Moreover, the two dessert shops within Kashida's borders weren't fully prepared yet, and Yun Manman wasn't ready to devote so much energy to management. Although the City Lord's Wife offered to help find managers, Yun Manman hesitated and ultimately declined for now.
"I'll definitely come to open a dessert shop in Lanqi in the future!" she promised.
The City Lord's Wife dramatically covered her face, pretending to weep. "You must! I'll keep the storefront reserved for you!"
She was incredibly enthusiastic, even arranging for many male elves to be their tour guides. The beauty of the elven race was undisputed, and the ones the City Lord's Wife had selected were particularly outstanding in both physique and appearance.
There were sunny and cheerful puppy-like types, gentle and considerate husband material types, athletic types with six-pack abs...
While Yun Manman hardly reacted, Lu Qi's expression darkened even more severely than when they had encountered the Loathsome Beasts.
He constantly stood around Yun Manman, like a great serpent guarding its treasure, ready to sink venomous fangs into anyone who dared covet what was his.
Fortunately, they were about to leave Lanqi.
Alice, of course, was staying in Lanqi, as she had her work as a counselor there.
At their parting, Yan Ye mustered up the courage to give Alice the gift he had been hiding for days.
It was a purple diamond bracelet. Silver filigree formed the shape of violet flowers, with dazzling purple diamonds embedded within. The large and small flowers were connected by a silver chain, creating an elegant yet lively piece.
Purple diamonds were rare to begin with, and crafting them into such lifelike flower shapes required meticulous handiwork. The amount of thought put into creating such a bracelet was immeasurable.
Alice fell in love with it at first sight. "Thank you! I love it."
She blinked and extended her hand toward Yan Ye, suddenly curving her lips into a smile. "Would you help me put it on?"
"Oh, of course!" Yan Ye fumbled to take the bracelet out of the box, his ears turning red as he carefully fastened it around Alice's wrist.
The purple sparkling flowers adorning her snow-white, slender wrist made it look even more delicate.
Yan Ye lowered his gaze to the soft, petite elf before him, his voice tentative yet earnest: "When I'm done with my busy period, I'd like to come back to Lanqi for another visit. I really like it here."
"At that time... could you be my guide?"
Alice paused for a moment, then looked up at Yan Ye and smiled brightly. "Of course I can."
"I'll be waiting for you."
Yun Manman sat in the hover car, craning her neck to watch the cat and elf saying goodbye not far away. Her ears were perked up high, trying to catch their conversation.
Tsk tsk tsk, the pink bubbles between these two were almost tangible. Was her brother about to confess? If not, he should be confessing soon! The elf lady's face was already flushed pink!
The big cat's tail behind him was wagging so fast it could almost become a propeller!
As Yun Manman was scratching her head and guessing, a cool tail suddenly wrapped around her waist.
Lu Qi's languid voice sounded beside her: "Still looking? Half your body is about to fall out."
Yun Manman pouted but obediently sat down, patting the "seatbelt" around her waist and skillfully grasping the tail to knead it.
"Hey Qi Qi, do you think my brother will end up with Alice?"
Lu Qi was a bit distracted by her kneading: "Who knows. The lifespan difference between elves and Beastmen is too great."
Elves could only live to just over a hundred years old, while Beastmen's lifespans were more than twice that of elves.
Having known Lu Qi for a while now, Yun Manman was aware that there was a somewhat pessimistic streak in his personality.
"You have a point," she said, but still seriously expressed her own view:
"But love can transcend race, so it should be able to transcend time too."
"If you never take that step because you're afraid, it will be a regret for both parties. The kind of regret you carry for life."
A spark seemed to ignite in the girl's round cat eyes: "It's precisely because time is fleeting that we should cherish the people around us even more."
Lu Qi was taken aback.
Before he could think of what to say, Yun Manman had already released his tail. "Let's go! My brother's coming, we can set off now!"
On the way back to Kashida, they encountered another attack from Loathsome Beasts, but with Kashida's formidable military power on the armored vehicle, they ultimately passed through the border region without incident.
Since they had already reached Siduo City, Yun Manman wanted to return to Lili Town to check on things and pack up some belongings.
Lu Qi, Yan Ye, and Lan Yuxiang had matters to attend to and needed to return to the capital first, so Yun Manman went back to Lili Town alone.
The rainy season in Kashida hadn't ended yet, and it was still drizzling constantly.
Yun Manman arrived at the dessert shop with an umbrella.
The sweet aroma of cake permeated the air inside the shop, along with laughter and cheerful voices.
Laughter and cheerful voices?
She remembered that Yin Qian had a quiet, introverted personality, and Bian Yan wasn't particularly lively either. How come the shop was so merry?
Yun Manman poked her head inside and exclaimed happily: "Qing Qing!"
Yuan Qing turned her head at the sound, her tail shooting straight up: "Manman!"
The two cats hugged each other joyfully, spinning around in circles.
Yuan Qing excitedly said, "Manman, you're back! I thought you'd be staying in the capital from now on and wouldn't come back!"
Yun Manman had told Yuan Qing about being recognized by the Yunzheng Clan.
Yun Manman's eyes crinkled with laughter: "How could that be? I have so many friends in Lili Town, and my beloved Qing Qing, how could I not come back?"
Yuan Qing's heart bubbled with warmth at her sweet words, and she couldn't help but pinch Yun Manman's soft cheeks. "How did you get so good with words..."
Just as they let go of each other, Yun Manman felt something hugging her leg. She looked down to find it was little Yuan Xing.
Yuan Xing lifted his chubby face: "Big Sister Manman, hug! Star missed you so much!"
"Why didn't Big Sister Manman come play with Star?"
Yun Manman's heart melted into a puddle at the sight of the adorable kitten. She quickly crouched down and hugged Yuan Xing. "I missed Star so much too!"
"Let sister give you some kisses!"
She then planted several quick kisses on Yuan Xing's soft, chubby cheeks.
Aww, kitten cubs are so soft and cute, with that sweet milky scent. She wanted to tuck him away in her arms and take him home.
Finally calming down, Yun Manman asked while holding Yuan Xing: "Why did you bring Yuan Xing to the dessert shop on such a rainy day?"
Yuan Qing looked past Yun Manman towards the kitchen area, resting her chin on her hand as she spoke: "Just bored, I guess. I quit my last job, and my brother wants me to do management at the family company. I'm still considering whether to go or not."
"Star keeps clinging to me, and since your apprentices are practicing making desserts anyway, I thought I'd bring Star here to play."
By this time, Yin Qian and Bian Yan had also heard Yun Manman's voice and came out to greet her.
Yin Qian brought out a new batch of cupcakes and placed them on the table, saying softly: "Bian Yan and I made these."
On the tray were cupcakes, half of which looked fairly decent – at least recognizable as cat and dog heads. The other half, however, were oddly shaped and rather unsightly.
Yun Manman stared at the unidentifiable, eye-searing objects on the cupcakes and heaved a deep sigh.
Seeing her reaction, Yuan Qing burst into uncontrollable laughter: "Manman, you should be grateful, haha! At least today you can tell which part is the eye and which is the mouth."
"A couple of days ago, the mouths on the cakes ended up where the eyes should be, hahaha..."
"This little bird chick you hired does have some skills, hahaha..."
Little bird chick · Yin Qian: ...
Frustrated, but unable to deny the truth of her words.
How infuriating!