"Discount event? No need, no need. Miss Tingyun, you can earn a bit more this way." Stelle scratched her head and refused with a cheerful smile.
With her current assets, she was spending less than she was earning quickly, so there was no real need.
Hearing Stelle's words, even with Tingyun's temperament, she couldn't help but give the former a glance: This silly child, clearly the buyer yet still wanting to let her, the seller, earn more—truly... Sigh, this was the first time she'd seen such a generous little benefactor.
But thinking about it, she could understand. No wonder the girls around her were one after another.
"What event?"
But Stelle hadn't expected that after hearing this, Clara would lift her head and proactively ask Tingyun.
Stelle had no concept of money, but she did!
Clara had grown up saving bit by bit, so she naturally knew how hard-earned every credit point was. Plus, having Stelle buy her such an expensive pair of shoes already made her feel uneasy inside, so upon hearing there could be a discount, she agreed almost without a second thought.
"Family group purchase discount, ah." Tingyun curved her brows and said, "During the event period, as long as it's a family coming to shop at our store, they can enjoy a 9.9% discount off, oh~"
"And the criteria for family members is also very simple: parents, siblings, or... lovers, all can be included, hehe."
"Eh?" Stelle scratched her head somewhat troubled, "But we're not—"
Clara immediately covered Stelle's mouth, her gaze somewhat evasive, clearly lacking confidence as she said: "Um, we are family. I am, I am her little sister."
"Oh? Little sister?" Tingyun tilted her head with a smile, leaning a bit closer to Clara: "Aiya, although this young lady very much wants to do a favor for the two guests, we can't be too perfunctory about it, otherwise if the boss blames us, this young lady can't bear the responsibility either."
Stelle: ???
Aren't you the boss?
Clara was at a loss for words, lacking confidence: "We really are..."
Tingyun feigned confusion: "But, to be frank with this young lady, the two of you right now really don't have the look of 'family.' This young lady is truly in a difficult position..."
"Moreover, participating in our store's event requires leaving a 'family reunion photo' to be posted on the wall. If outsiders see it, I'm afraid there will be quite a few people with ill intentions who will take the opportunity to make an issue of it. Don't you think so?"
Clara clearly hesitated.
She knew Tingyun was right. Her appearance and features were too obvious and too distinctive; standing with Stelle, there absolutely wouldn't be any sense of family!
Although, although this so-called "family" was just a temporary disguise to fit the event, they still couldn't tell bald-faced lies with their eyes open.
Since a blood-related identity wouldn't work, then... then they'd have no choice but to do it this way!
After a bout of inner struggle, Clara finally yielded. She lowered her head and said, "Actually, actually we are..."
"What is it~"
"It's..."
At that moment, Stelle suddenly thought of something. She wrapped her arms around Clara's little waist from behind and lifted her up, holding her close like a kitten, and said, "Actually, we are blood sisters without blood ties, half-sisters from different fathers and mothers!"
Lifted up from behind by Stelle, Clara's little legs only symbolically struggled a couple of times before she quieted down.
But Clara felt her heart pounding hard.
Blood sisters without blood ties, half-sisters from different fathers and mothers... This title sounded so unreliable. Would Miss Tingyun agree?
Seeing this scene, Tingyun finally smiled in satisfaction. She took out her phone and said with a laugh, "Then, guests, please stand properly. This young lady will take a photo for the two of you."
"Three, two..."
"...One, alright, authentication passed. Congratulations to the two guests on enjoying the discount. Congratulations, congratulations (applause)."
"This, this is all it takes?" Clara asked somewhat depressed.
Hadn't Miss Tingyun been hinting at her just now? She had already decided to...
"Of course." Tingyun blinked her eyes and smiled, "The galaxy is vast, and the Astral Express links countless worlds together. Lives of various races come into contact with each other, get to know each other, fall in love... Among them, there are no shortage of people who have no name of kin but the reality of kin."
"This young lady's place welcomes every guest from the galaxy, so naturally, there are no such outdated conventions."
Tingyun had an innocent look on her face: "Could it be that the guest didn't notice? This young lady was hinting all along just now. Could it be that this young lady wasn't explicit enough and caused the guest to misunderstand?"
Clara lowered her head, her little face flushing hot. In all the time since her divine skills had reached great completion, this was the first time she felt a sense of defeat.
Even facing General Huaiyan, she believed she wouldn't fall behind, but in front of this foxian woman, she felt she had lost, and lost completely, convinced in both heart and mouth.
She had been perfectly read.
"By the way, Miss Tingyun, what you just mentioned about the complimentary little story, what is it?"
Stelle hadn't noticed the exchange between the two in their words and instead asked the question she'd been focused on all along.
A complimentary little story, told by Miss Tingyun herself... Mm, it sounded extraordinary just from that.
Tingyun opened the folding fan in her hand and lightly laughed behind it: "The guest is quite impatient... Alright then, please listen as this young lady tells it in detail."
"As everyone knows, General Huaiyan of Zhuming, the Xianzhou Luofu, is the foremost master craftsman of the Xianzhou. Any work from his hands is without exception a miracle of exquisite craftsmanship."
"It's said that hundreds of years ago, Zhuming had such a genius, but unfortunately, in the end, old General Huaiyan had to send off his black-haired loved one as a white-haired one—truly lamentable."
"And the pair of shoes the two of you selected is said to have been personally made by General Huaiyan to commemorate that genius disciple of his. Unfortunately, the person is gone, the shoes remain but the wearer does not, so in the end, that general, to avoid being reminded of the past by the sight of the object, decided to sell them off."
Stelle's mouth twitched: "But from what I know, that genius disciple was a man, and an adult man at that. What was Old General Huai's purpose in making this pair of women's children's shoes...?"
Tingyun pursed her lips in a smile: "Guest, not everything in this world conforms to 'normal logic.' Perhaps, in Old General Huai's heart, that genius disciple has always been a feminized image?"
Stelle subconsciously pictured Blade's face in her mind. At first, it felt extremely dissonant, but thinking of the latter's mother-hen-like personality, she suddenly understood.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"The Martial Exhibition Ceremony?"
Blade frowned as he looked at the black cat in front of him, extremely displeased as he said: "Has everyone in the Stellaron Hunters died off? Why is everything dumped on me? And it's not that I don't believe you—I just watched you write this yourself on that broken [script]. And now you tell me up to here it's destiny's arrangement?"
The black cat licked its paw and pushed over a note: This is Silver Wolf's job. Help her complete it.
Blade: "Why not have Firefly or Kafka go? Those two don't even have wanted posters on the Xianzhou, but I'm a real death row prisoner on the Xianzhou. If there's the slightest mishap, I'll be completely done for there. I heard before that life in the Shackling Prison isn't comfortable—it's said that that Ten-Lords Commission fighter chief Hoolay chose to commit suicide right there just to avoid being captured by the Xianzhou. And now you're having me go back for some inexplicable event. What are your intentions?"
The black cat pushed over another note: "Because XX wants to see."