Chapter 33 - Invitation 1 [OW]
Please don’t retranslate from my English version and don’t repost in Wattpad for your ‘offline’ reading pleasure.
Nalu stopped the crowd at the door and said, "Sorry, our shop has not opened yet, and non-staff are not allowed to enter."
Xiao Bian and the waiters who just arrived rushed up and blocked the door with Nalu. A reporter saw that Nalu seemed to be the person in charge and quickly interviewed, "Is Redthorn Ball really in your store?"
Nalu: "Yes," he said straightforwardly, "No need to ask more, we are not selling it."
The reporter got choked by his directness, and a person next to him asked loudly, "Can we take a look?"
Nalu: "I can't make a decision about this. I'm sorry, we have to prepare for the opening, please don't affect our work."
At this moment, the rest of the staff have arrived, so Nalu simply locks the main door altogether.
"Manager, is there really a Grade A spiritual plant in our store? Many people were asking me about it today."
"Me too, the people who know that I work here also asked me about, but I have never seen it."
The staff asked Nalu curiously.
Nalu: "Yes, but it's the owner's personal belonging, not the store's property," he waved, "Go and get ready, there must be a lot of guests tonight."
Xiao Bian walked to the back of the bar. While arranging the glasses, he asked, "Where is our boss? Can we see the Grade A spiritual plant?"
The rest of the waiters chirped in, "Yeah, I haven't seen Grade A spiritual plant in person before!"
Su Ling heard those words the moment he came in from the backyard. Earlier when Nalu opened the door, he saw from the surveillance that many people were waiting outside. Nalu afraid that he might get injured should a commotion break out, so he didn’t let Su Ling come out. Hence, Su Ling watched the surveillance in the backyard, only going to the front hall after the door was closed.
"Eh, boss!" A staff noticed him and exclaimed.
Su Ling stopped to said hello and smiled, "Want to see it? Wait for a moment, I'll take it out."
"Yay!"
"Boss is so nice!" The staffs cheered and started ‘blowing rainbow farts’ (flatter).
Su Ling moved the Redthorn Ball from the greenhouse to the bar table. The weight of the Redthorn Ball was not light. His breathing became heavy after he put the Redthorn Ball down.
"Wow! Looks so special." The staffs gathered around the plant.
Xiao Bian reached out to touch the bouncy-looking red ball, "This ball looks like it's filled with water. Is it soft to touch?"
"Don't!" Su Ling and Nalu shouted at the same time.
However, it was too late. Xiao Bian was standing inside the bar earlier, with his left hand supporting himself at the bar table. That’s why he can touch the red ball easily with just a stretch of his right hand. The soft filaments hanging on the red ball suddenly erected and pierced a small hole the size of a needle hole in his hand.
"Hiss..." Xiao Bian shrank back, holding his hand and gasping.
Nalu immediately checked him, "Let me see."
Xiao Bian stretched out his hand, his ring finger and middle finger were pierced. When he retracted his hand just now, the movement caused the blood drops to scatter everywhere. Hence, his fingertips looked bloody at first glance, which was a bit miserable.
Nalu observed the wound for a while and then breathed a sigh of relief, "It's not poisonous, just a skin injury." He asked someone to take the treatment device, which he first washed Xiao Bian's wound with alcohol. After using the treatment device, Xiao Bian’s injury soon recovered. The rest of the staffs only dared to look, and not to reach out.
"Grade A spiritual plant is so fierce ah!" Someone sighed.
Su Ling lightly squeezed the red ball upon hearing the words, and the branches and leaves of Redthorn Ball immediately stick nearer, rubbing against the back of his hand. He lightly gestured with his chin and said with a smile, "See, it is not fierce, but very vigilant."
Nalu: "That's because you are an Omega and also the owner it recognizes," he reminded the rest of the staffs, "Don't touch any high-level spiritual plant casually, you are not an Omega."
"I am envious all of a sudden!" a young staff said.
The waiter next to him bumped his arm, "Would you like to become an Omega?"
"Forget it, although they smell delicious, I prefer not to be bound by pheromones."
Nalu pointed at the bar and instructed, "Alright, all of you have seen Redthorn Ball so go back to work."
Feeling satisfied, the staffs went to make preparations to open the shop. Nalu and Su Ling didn't move from their seat at the bar. Nalu pointed to the Redthorn Ball sticking itself against Su Ling and said, "A lot of people will definitely come tonight. I'm afraid they won't give up as long as they don't see the Redthorn Ball."
Su Ling nodded in agreement and glanced over the various fragrance products hanging in the hall.
"Why not put Redthorn Ball in the hall? Its scent is much better than ordinary fragrance products."
But Nalu shook his head and said, "It will affect normal guests."
Indeed, if the spiritual plant is really placed in the hall, a lot of people might come over just to see a Grade A spiritual plant. Thinking for a while, Su Ling smiled, "Take pictures of the plant, 360 degrees without blind spots, and post the photos on the fragrance bar official website. Then the reporters can use the photos when they need it."
Nalu thought it is a good idea and tapped his bracelet, "I'll take it." He took a lot of photos around the bar, then passed them to Su Ling to let him choose the one with the best lighting from different angles.
While choosing, Su Ling said, "With these photos, there will probably be fewer reporters, but there will definitely be people who want to see the Grade A spiritual plant with their own eyes."
A lightbulb flashed in Su Ling’s mind, he turned to Nalu, "Add this sentence as well when you posted the photo - Redthorn Ball is not for sale. The ball liquid will be auctioned and has already been placed in the auction house."
Nalu nodded: "Okay, so no one will specially come to the store to look at Redthorn Ball. Which auction house do you want to work with?"
Su Ling: "En, the Gu Family's auction house."
This afternoon, Su Ling was reading a book while browsing Boyan periodically. Gu Liheng’s Boyan has very few posts, all of them were posts shared from the Gu Company’s account. He even suspects that the account is not Gu Liheng's personal account at all. On the other hand, he learned from Gu Company's Boyan that the Gu Family is involved in many industries; in addition to conventional sectors such as entertainment, real estate, and electronics, there are mercenary group and auction house.
Auction house often auctions rare treasures, which are mostly obtained by the mercenary group. At present, the high-end fragrance product Cold Moon Sachet on the market, which its main ingredient is the Golden Baby's breath, was obtained by their mercenary group during exploration on other planets. He then found out that the Cold Moon Sachets belonged to the Gu Family, which are expensive and limited in quantity.
Nalu looked at him and sighed, "I shouldn't have asked, since everything you do is related to President Gu." He lowered his voice and said with worry, "I can't persuade you to change your mind, but Xiao Ling, you have to know that first love always fails. If you don't get a response, don't be sad."
Su Ling was touched because Nalu is really worried about him.
"Don't worry, Uncle Nalu," he transferred the selected photos to Nalu, "I know very well that there are many things that I can't force." He raised his head and laughed, "But before that, one has to do their best to know the result, or one will regret it."
At first, he just wanted to save Gu Liheng from his unfortunate ending as per written in the novel because Gu Liheng is his 2D male god. But now, not only he(GLH) is his male god, Gu Liheng fits his taste too much. If he missed this man, he would regret it.
Then Nalu remembered Gu Liheng's reaction when he learned that Su Ling had gone missing, and patted him on the shoulder, "Good luck, you still have a chance, but I don't know if he will treat you as a kid, just like I did."
Su Ling immediately replied, "No," his eyes curled up as he continued, "Even if he used to think that, he won’t be from now." He made a declaration to chase him(GLH) after all.
Thinking of this, he propped his chin to think, what method should he use to chase the man? Modern methods of chasing girls came to his mind. Then he palmed his forehead. If he really acted according to those advice, his male god will surely run away whenever he sees him!
Nalu glanced at him and shook his head after watching Su Ling zoning out to space. He posted the photos to the fragrance bar website and added the sentence Su Ling said just now. After a while, the site received many comments.
"Wow, Redthorn Ball looks so good!"
"It looks bouncy, I really want to poke it~ Will it break?"
"Want to raise one, what to do?!"
Nalu stared at it for a while, then let Su Ling look, "Do you want to reply?"
After a glance, Su Ling laughed and said, "When you have time, you can bring up the surveillance and post the part where Xiao Bian was pierced."
As Su Ling was talking, his bracelet rang. He glanced at it, and got up to connect the call, "En, wait, please come in through the back door." After hanging up the call, he told Nalu, "Doctor Ni An is here, I’m going to the back door."
Nalu nodded, "Call me if you need something, and take Redthorn Ball back to the greenhouse."
Su Ling nodded and moved the Redthorn Ball out of the hall.
When Doctor Ni An appeared at the back door, the reporter who was standing by the side of the road immediately snapped a photo. Then he stepped forward, wanting to interview Doctor Ni An, but was stopped by his driver. At that moment, Su Ling opened the back door. He looked at the driver and reporter and looked at Ni An questioningly.
Ni An smiled calmly, "Let’s go in, he will handle it."
After entering the door, Ni An’s eyes swept across the courtyard wall and nodded, "The security is done well, being careful is necessary. By the way, have you registered the ownership of your spiritual plants?"
Su Ling led him to the fragrance-making room, "When I took the Grade A spiritual plants from the security company, I went through the ownership transfer procedures. But I haven’t done it for Xian Mo Yu."
Ni An reminded: "Do it as soon as possible. Grade S spiritual plant can easily provoke bad thoughts from other people. I have an acquaintance with the spiritual plant association. I will forward his contact to you."
Su Ling laughed, "Thank you, I will do it tomorrow. But in my opinion, if someone really has bad thoughts for Xian Mo Yu, their consequences will be miserable unless they can completely eliminate Xian Mo Yu."
Ni An was about to ask why when the two reached the room, then all his attention was placed on Xian Mo Yu instead.
Xian Mo Yu wasn’t sleeping at the moment, and the petals on its flower were opened widely. Some of its roots were soaking in the nutrient solution, while the rest waving randomly in a circle. Xian Mo Yu can actually create a scene of wild dancing just by itself.
Su Ling: "..." You really know how to amuse yourself, are you pretending to be an aquatic plant?
As soon as Su Ling entered, two of the swaying roots rushed towards him, and he voiced out to remind Xian Moyu, "Don't touch Doctor Ni An!"
Doctor Ni An is much older than Nalu. He is worried that Xian Mo Yu would act casual as it did with Nalu, using its roots to flick his forehead or something. One root skillfully wrapped itself around Su Ling’s wrist, while the one stood in front of Ni An and shook, then moved to Su Ling.
Ni An praised, "As expected from a Grade S spiritual plant with a high IQ."
Immediately, Su Ling sensed Xian Mo Yu's joyful emotions, and the roots in front of him swayed arrogantly. Su Ling stretched out his hand and squeezed amusedly, then walked to the raw material rack. He took out 2 bottles of liquid, one black and one red, and handed them to Ni An.
"This is the raw material it provides. The black liquid is highly corrosive. No matter what container is used, a layer of red liquid must be applied to the inner surface; otherwise, it will melt."
He gestured to the container in his hand, "These have been coated; however, it is best to apply some red liquid on your hand first since it might be dangerous."
Ni An carefully received the bottles and asked him about the harvesting process. After listening carefully, he approached Xian Mo Yu and observed the stamens and petals. Su Ling followed behind him all the time, worried that Xian Mo Yu would hurt him. Ni An watched for a while, then observed the roots with interest. Finally, after Su Ling and Xian Mo Yu discussed it, Doctor Ni An gets to squeeze the root with his hands.
Ni An let go of the roots and noted, "Very peculiar." He told Su Ling, "No matter which part of it falls off naturally, you must keep it. It may be of great use."
Su Ling nodded, "Okay."
Ni An couldn't wait to study the two liquids. He didn't wait much and was about to leave, "After I study it, I will determine its value. Then I will transfer the money for the raw material at that price."
"No need," Su Ling sincerely refused. "Having the value determined is also good for me, and you have helped me a lot."
Ni An didn’t insist, "Alright, I will give you the contact information of the director of the spiritual plant registration association later, and you can find him directly tomorrow."
Su Ling thanked him, Ni An said goodbye, and he sent the person out.
Raw word count: 6191 (entire chapter)
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