When Amalia returned to her apartment, she saw a message from Carlos, asking her why she had suddenly closed her shop. It then occurred to him that she had forgotten to cancel it, and Carlos sent another urgent message.
"Shopkeeper, don't you know your store is quite popular now? My friend wants to buy the defensive artifacts displayed in your store. He's worried they'll be snatched up as soon as the shop opens."
"Was the customer who bought the artifacts this morning someone you recommended?" Amalia thought she was lucky to have another customer who wasn't afraid of rumors.
"He happened to be looking for artifacts, so I introduced him. He has more money than I do."
"Thank you, but you didn't need to do this," Amalia replied. As she checked the feedback on her store's backend, she noticed the person had a high rank on the Red Espiritual Net. When the review came in, it counteracted the negative effects of Héctor's defamation, and her store's traffic went from a dozen to several hundred.
"It was just a small favor he asked for."
"What request did he make?"
"He wants to meet the shopkeeper in person."
Amalia wasn't surprised, but she declined, saying, "Meeting in person is unnecessary. Let him join the Red Espiritual Net, and I'll open the shop."
As expected, Carlos relayed this response to Samuel.
Samuel replied quickly, expressing some regret that the person didn't agree to a meeting. "Since she's not willing, let it be."
As soon as he logged onto the Red Espiritual Net, Amalia's shop, "Number One Artificer in the World", indeed reopened. Without hesitation, he placed an order for the defensive artifact.
Unbeknownst to them, someone had been monitoring Amalia's shop, planning to place an order as soon as it reopened. However, they weren't quick enough.
Not long after Samuel placed the order, his friend Francisco called him.
"Did you place an order at that Ashe store?"
"How did you know?" Samuel was surprised by his friend's speed.
"I just happened to check the Red Espiritual Net and saw that the store had reopened. The defensive artifact is already sold. I guessed it might be you. Did the person agree to meet?"
Samuel replied, "No, and she seemed quite cautious."
Francisco scoffed, "Can she afford not to be cautious? If she really has such a big supply chain backing her, she definitely wants to keep it a secret from others. What do you think? Should we try to find out who she is? She's in Apple City; it's only a matter of time for us."
Samuel shook his head, "Forget it. We still don't know who this person really is. Let's visit her store more often and consider it as making a new friend. It's better than making an enemy."
Cutting off someone's income stream is like holding a grudge as deep as patricide.
Francisco didn't take it seriously. Samuel could tell, so he cautioned him not to have ulterior motives and explained the potential consequences. Francisco nodded repeatedly, but whether he truly heeded the warning remained to be seen.
Amalia placed the defensive artifact in a box in the ground floor lobby and arranged for a courier to pick it up.
Before going to bed, she sorted through her belongings and took out the note. Besides a string of numbers, there was a name with sharp handwriting, different from the man's smiling demeanor. It seemed like this is his true personality.
Should she add his contact number? Amalia couldn't stop replaying the first meeting in her mind. Honestly, she didn't quite understand why a tall man like him wanted to eat milk candy, and only the White Rabbit brand at that. Was there a particular story behind White Rabbit that she didn't know?
Amalia compared the man and the rabbit side by side but still couldn't believe that this man was someone who would care for small animals. She tossed the note aside.
...