Chapter 129

The next morning, Xia Zhi came downstairs to find the shop empty, both girls gone.

They must have gone out together to buy groceries.

After washing up, Xia Zhi went to the kitchen and checked the cupboard, finding plenty of leftover rice.

Zhu Zi, the foodie, had deliberately cooked extra rice last night, hoping to have golden egg fried rice again this morning.

Xia Zhi took out the leftover rice, separated the grains, and set aside several eggs.

Then he sat in the front hall, took out a piece of snow cream jade and carving knives, and carved while waiting.

About half an hour later, Zhu Zi and Shenhe returned from shopping.

"Good morning, Boss! What are you carving?"

"Look, a little white rabbit."

"So cute!"

Xia Zhi smiled and put down his work.

"What vegetables did you buy?"

"We got eggplant! And cucumber! And lotus root, Chinese cabbage..."

"Why so many vegetables?"

"I thought Senior Sister might come visit today, so I bought extra vegetables just in case."

"Makes sense."

"We also bought some meat and fish."

"Mm, put them in the kitchen first. I'll make braised eggplant and braised fish for lunch."

"Okay!"

Zhu Zi put the vegetables in the kitchen, saw the leftover rice and eggs on the cutting board, her eyes lit up, and she immediately ran to tend the stove fire.

Xia Zhi came in, washed his hands, and started making golden egg fried rice.

Cooking required both hands, and Culinary Master was classified as a two-handed skill by the system, so it received the hidden effect boost from [Shadow Hands] (two-handed skill effects +100%).

Xia Zhi could feel that cooking had become more natural for him.

However, the deliciousness of the dishes hadn't increased significantly.

Perhaps only when he became a true Culinary Grandmaster would the taste of his dishes undergo a qualitative change.

After breakfast, Shenhe went to wash dishes.

This was her tacit agreement with Zhu Zi - one tended the fire, the other washed dishes.

Xia Zhi sat in the front hall, picked up the unfinished jade piece, and continued carving.

Zhu Zi sat at the table, chin propped on her hands, watching with interest.

"Boss, is this a gift for someone?"

"Mm."

"Who for?"

"Guess."

"Let me think... since it's a white rabbit, and Yaoyao's Osmanthus has a rabbit, is Boss making it for Yaoyao?"

"You guessed right."

"Hehe."

After a while, Shenhe finished washing dishes and came out, also sitting quietly to watch him carve.

The two girls had different focuses though.

Zhu Zi started by watching the jade carving, but later her gaze was involuntarily drawn to Xia Zhi's slender fingers, unable to look away.

Last night in the dim light she couldn't see clearly, but now in daylight, she thought Boss's fingers were really beautiful.

Shenhe, on the other hand, remained single-minded, purely watching the jade carving take shape.

Xia Zhi concentrated on carving, and soon completed the white rabbit, smiling as he handed it to Zhu Zi.

"It's done, take a look."

"Oh!"

Their fingers touched as Zhu Zi reached to take it.

Zhu Zi suddenly blushed.

Xia Zhi didn't know what was wrong with her and lowered his head to clean up the jade scraps on the table.

At that moment, Xingqiu's voice came from outside.

"Mr. Xia! I've brought the reeds!"

"Coming!"

The three got up and went outside to see Xingqiu standing by the street, next to a cargo cart. Besides being full of goods, the cart had several bundles of neatly trimmed reeds.

Two strong workers were helping unload all the reeds.

"The goods just arrived in Liyue today."

"Young Master Xingqiu said they'd arrive in these couple of days, and indeed they have."

"The cart was passing by Mr. Xia's shop anyway, so we unloaded the reeds first, saves making an extra trip later."

The reeds looked like a lot but weren't very heavy.

Shenhe carried them all into the shop, while Zhu Zi paid the transportation fee to the manager.

"Young Master Xingqiu, please come in for a drink of juice."

"Alright."

The manager said quietly: "Second Young Master, then we'll head back to the guild first."

Xingqiu nodded: "Mm, for the goods handover, just find Xun directly."

The cart slowly drove away.

Xingqiu followed Xia Zhi into the shop and sat down at a table, his attention immediately drawn to the jade rabbit on the table.

"Such an exquisite piece... there's jade dust nearby, was this just carved?"

"Mm! Boss just carved it!"

"Mr. Xia can even carve?"

"Just a little bit, please excuse my poor skills."

Xingqiu looked at the lifelike jade rabbit on the table, expression stunned.

You call this 'just a little bit'?

This is already better than the masters at Mingxing Jewelry!

Xia Zhi brought over four glasses of juice and asked with a smile: "Young Master Xingqiu, are you free this morning?"

Xingqiu nodded: "Yes, I have nothing planned today. I was going to visit Wanwen Bookhouse to read, why do you ask?"

"Well, we're planning to play a card game, but we're one person short. If Young Master Xingqiu is interested, why not stay and play?"

"Playing cards? Sure, I usually enjoy playing Seven Saints with friends."

"This is quite different from Seven Saints."

Shenhe brought out the mahjong tiles and neatly stacked them on the table.

Xingqiu looked at these square white jade tiles curiously and asked: "How do you play?"

Zhu Zi enthusiastically taught him: "It's simple, there's chow, pong, and win..."

A moment later, Xingqiu nodded in understanding: "I see, this game is interesting. It seems to rely on luck, but there's actually various strategies involved."

So the four sat down and started playing mahjong with the clattering of tiles, just for fun without betting money.

The morning passed leisurely.

"Young Master Xingqiu, why not stay for a simple meal?"

"Sure."

With an extra guest, Xia Zhi made lunch a bit more elaborate, adding two more dishes.

After lunch and sitting for a while, Xingqiu glanced at the mahjong table and reluctantly got up to leave.

Xia Zhi also stood up and walked him to the door: "Take care, Young Master Xingqiu."

Zhu Zi waved at him, calling out: "Come back to play mahjong again!"

Xingqiu smiled and nodded: "I will!"

After seeing Xingqiu off, the three of them carefully washed the morning's delivery of reeds, dried them, and cut them to appropriate lengths.

The first batch of straws for takeout was ready.

"Boss, what do we do next?"

"Nothing much, you two can go shopping if you like."

"Are you coming?"

"I'll pass."

"That's no fun."

"Then what would be fun?"

"Making mooncakes is fun! There are lots of people! It's entertaining! And the mooncakes we make are delicious!"

Xia Zhi smiled gently.

"In that case, let's make dumplings. You bought lots of vegetables, we can make vegetarian dumplings and have Shenhe freeze them for Miss Ganyu. That way, if she gets hungry while working late, she can just boil some for a tasty meal."

"Okay (Okay)!"

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