Qin Shaotian had mingled with the crowd. The hoodie covered up his hair and most of his forehead. It was a hot day, and yet he was wearing a scarf that covered up his mouth. With the addition of sunglasses, his straight nose was the only thing revealed from his face. It seemed that his “disguise” was thorough.
But Su Ping had managed to recognize Qin Shaotian by his energy. Su Ping was certain that it was him.
What…?
Su Ping’s mouth twitched as he looked at the way Qin Shaotian had dressed up.
He had the idea that the young master of the Qin Family was a cool, distant guy. But at the moment, Su Ping was picking up a silly feeling coming out of this scion.
Su Ping did not try to expose Qin Shaotian’s tricks. Su Ping took his eyes off of him and attended the nearest customers. “Sir, is Su Lingyue’s dragon being trained in your store for real?”
The first person in line was a repeated customer but not a student from the academy. His first time there had been because of Mu Shuangwan’s advertisement.
That man went there for the sake of his “imaginary wife” Mu Shuangwan. However, after his first try of the service in Su Ping’s store, he could not stop coming back again and again and he had become one of Su Ping’s hardcore fans.
It was true that there was some unhappiness when Mu Shuangwan canceled the contract with Su Ping’s store. Most of Mu Shuangwan’s fans left the store before they had even gotten to experience the services.
Before they left, those fans had spread some rumors about the store. They thought that the innocent Mu Shuangwan had only canceled the contract because Su Ping’s store was a dirty one.
Still, this man didn’t abandon the store along with the other fans. He tried to defend Su Ping’s store on the internet and even defended Su Ping in Mu Shuangwan’s fans chat group.
The result was just like what he had expected.
He had been banned from the group chat.
Therefore, he was a fan of Mu Shuangwan that no fan group would accept. His mind was still filled with thoughts of Mu Shuangwan while he was physically in Su Ping’s store. He had become a loyal customer of the store.
He didn’t become a customer at the very beginning. But better late than never!
“Yes.”
Su Ping nodded to the question.
The man was excited. He said in haste, “Sir, what kind of training did that dragon take? Something better than professional training? How much? Money is not an issue. Can I buy that service?”
Wait, what??
Su Ping sized the man up and down a bit.
The man seemed to be in his forties, chubby, sporting a golden necklace and a golden tooth inserted. His look was quite tacky, and he seemed… to be a fourth-rank battle pet warrior.
Su Ping raised his eyebrows. Given his age and current rank, there was no potential to squeeze out of this loser battle pet warrior. He was one of the “amateur” battle pet warriors.
That being said, the words “money is not an issue” had added quite the glamour to the man. Su Ping immediately changed his view of the man for the better.
“If you want to buy it, sure, you can. It also falls into professional training.”
Su Ping noticed the doubt in the man’s eyes and continued his explanation, “But to reach that level and quality, you will have to pay much more, even going over the ten million mark.”
“I see!”
The middle-aged man smiled brightly, “Money, that is not a problem for me. I will just open up a few more coal mines. That should do it.”
Coal mining?
Su Ping sniffed and picked up a smell of coal from this man. So, this is a coal mogul, huh?
In this world, coal mining was a dangerous thing. There could be collapses in the mines. Besides, the coal mines were usually located outside the base cities and would be frequented by beasts. “Sure. Summon your pet and pay the bill first,” Su Ping said.
The middle-aged man nodded and summoned his pet at once. The battle pet had a ninth-rank bloodline but was of the plant family, a special one that would grow slowly. Currently, this battle pet had merely grown up to the fifth-rank.
Most battle pet warriors would prefer to have fast growing pets. At the same time, another group favored such battle pet warriors, people like this coal tycoon. They weren’t as talented, and their own development was also slow.
If those people were to sign contracts with dragons which would reach adulthood, i.e. the seventh-rank, in seven or eight years, while they remained at the fourth or fifth-rank, they would eventually have to change to other pets. Otherwise, the dragons could exhaust the spiritual power of their masters or lose control.
Su Ping didn’t remember the coal boss well, but the pet left some impression on him. Su Ping took a glance at the pet and then asked for money from the coal boss.
One round of professional training was one million coins, which could be converted into ten thousand energy points.
“Liu Shufen?” Su Ping read the coal boss’s name, which sounded like a girl’s name. Surprised, Su Ping darted an inquisitive look at the man.
Sensing his look, the coal boss blushed. He cleared his throat. “My parents thought they were going to have a girl, and they decided the name in advance. And then, I came. They didn’t bother to change the name, so they just used it on me.”
Su Ping curled his lips. Didn’t bother to change the name… How lazy would they have to be?
But Su Ping didn’t comment on the name. It was the man’s right to have any name he wanted. There was no distinction between poor or noble when it came to names, only people themselves.
“Okay. Thank you for coming.” Su Ping nodded to the man and told Tang Ruyan to take the pet to Joanna. “Thank you, sir. I’ll come back tomorrow.” Liu Shufen smiled, revealing two glistening golden front teeth.
Su Ping smiled and asked Tang Ruyan to see the man out.
Su Ping continued to receive other customers.
There were students from the Phoenix Peak Academy and some new faces that had shown up, attracted by the store’s fame.
Su Ping had become familiar with the process. He took care of each customer’s needs confidently and without haste.
In the queue.
Qin Shaotian was still in line while being quiet. However, there was astonishment in the eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.
He was looking at the store assistant receiving orders for the boss… She? How?
Qin Shaotian had thought that the store’s dragon was shocking enough. Little did he know that he would go to the store and witness something which was even more stunning.
The future family head of the Tang family was there!
She was working there.
As a store assistant!
She was running to and fro, tending to the customers.
Qin Shaotian could not believe this. He kept asking himself, Is there anything wrong with my eyes? Is that her for real?
At first, he did question the possibility and thought that this was just a girl who bore a striking resemblance to Tang Ruyan. Then, Qin Shaotian used his spiritual energy to check the girl’s strength, only to find that he couldn’t see through the girl at all!
He could only pick up a sense. He was sure that the girl was a battle pet warrior, but he could not tell her rank.
That was to say, she was at a rank higher than his!
That look, her strength, and age…
The only conclusion he arrived at was that the waitress… oh, no, the lady, was the Tang Family heir!
The Tang family… That was an influential family in one of the four major base cities!
Why would she come here?
Qin Shaotian’s mind was in a mess.
Then, he noticed that the lady of the Tang family, while busy with the customers, cast him a glance, intentionally or unintentionally.
That was a strange glance.
So strange that he couldn’t understand.
Was she… warning him?
Warning him not to say anything?
Qin Shaotian thought he had figured something out.
He took his eyes off her and pretended he had seen nothing. He even wanted to leave right away, but that would appear to be too sudden.
Besides, leaving abruptly would lead to more misunderstandings.
Qin Shaotian stood in line and took his eyes off the lady from the Tang family. He shifted his focus back to the store. He had heard that there were titled battle pet warriors there. For the general public, titled battle pet warriors were not something they would see daily. But for him, titled battle pet warriors were a common part of his life.
He was standing there, and his head was not moving, but his eyes were looking to the sides.
To his surprise, he was unable to see through the closed rooms in the store!
There seemed to be some seals that were able to block any probing means.
As if something horrifying was hiding in the rooms.
He put on a stern expression. He looked away in case he would offend the big potatoes in the store. After all, he had not gone there to make trouble.
More and more customers came and left. Su Ping had written down many names. When he looked up again, the eye-catching figure with the hoodie and sunglasses leaped into his sight.
The others standing behind him were curious and were talking about that person as well.
Su Ping was speechless for a moment. He understood that Qin Shaotian would not want to be surrounded by onlookers. Still, that was not a proper disguise. It made him look more like a star undercover.
“Hi,” Su Ping said.
Qin Shaotian looked at this young man who seemed to be younger than he was. Qin Shaotian read some information before he came. It was said that the young man was a powerful battle pet warrior.
Qin Shaotian sized the young man up, only to notice that the latter was hiding his energy as well. Even with the special skill from his family, Qin Shaotian was unable to tell the store owner’s rank either.
This person…
Qin Shaotian frowned. This store was unfathomable.