Tang Shu had no idea someone was keeping an eye on her; after leaving the residential complex, she strolled leisurely along the street toward the commercial district.
A pair of cool eyes flitted over the signs of the shops on both sides of the street, and amidst the numerous damaged and incomplete characters, a shop with the traditional Chinese characters "Herbal Hall" written on its signboard stood out conspicuously.
"A medicine shop?"
Tang Shu, with the original owner's entire cash stash in her washed-out jeans, felt for it and paused for a moment before heading straight there.
"Welcome!"
The moment her slender legs stepped inside, a delicate voice from the small monkey on the doorknob uttered four words.
Tang Shu halted, her beautiful eyes glancing at the red little monkey, with a flicker of interest in her gaze.
At the sound of the doorbell, a sleepy-looking young man emerged from under the counter. He pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, showing no sign of customer service initiative.
"Beauty, are you here for a consultation or to get medicine?"
Before Tang Shu could explain her purpose, he spoke again, "If it's for a consultation, the on-duty physician isn't in today, and I'm the only one here. Please come back another day. If you're here for medicine, you'll need a prescription."
The young man's eyes were half-closed and half awake, speaking in quick succession, his expression clearly screaming "I couldn't care less about anyone."
Tang Shu extended her slender finger towards the curtain on the east side, her delicate eyebrows slightly raised, conveying a hint of coolness.
"Isn't there... a person behind there?"
"What?"
"I said, it's not just you in the shop."
Huh?
Hearing these words, Xie Yunzhen's sleepiness faded significantly, and for the first time, he really looked at the visitor.
Through his thick glasses, he finally noticed the stunning beauty who had entered—her fair skin as smooth and flawless as a peeled egg, exuding fullness of collagen. Her round-neck sweater combined with the jeans accentuated her slender and tall figure.
"How... how did you know there was someone there?"
Tang Shu replied indifferently, "Is that difficult?"
Listening for breath to identify someone's location is a basic skill for martial artists. Even though her own abilities had vanished, her experience still allowed her to sense it.
Xie Yunzhen was astounded by her assertive tone.
What does she mean 'is it difficult'? It's very difficult, okay!
The person behind the curtain was no ordinary individual; even he couldn't detect the other's breathing sounds, not to mention the curtain was a distance away from the entrance!
Tang Shu paid no heed to his shock, her gaze scanning the boxes of medicinal ingredients behind him.
"Stiff Silkworm, five cents, Rhubarb, Raw Southern Star, Cinnamon, three cents each, Frankincense, two cents, Sweet Pine, four cents, Fenugreek, five cents... just these for now, prepare the medicine."
Being new, she was unsure of the current prices for the herbs, so she simply listed the most basic ones.
Xie Yunzhen's attention was brought back to his senses by the string of herbal names and amounts, mumbling them as he mechanically measured out the medicine.
"Wait, that's not right. How come this recipe seems a bit strange? It's supposed to treat swelling and pain from insect stings, so why include those last few items?"
Even though his specialty wasn't traditional medicine, he sensed something unusual about the prescription.
But Tang Shu's patience was nearly worn thin, her eyes and brows exuding irritability, and her glance toward him carried a chill.
Why is this man dawdling so much? If he were a clerk at the Tang Sect's medicine shop, he would've been sent packing to fend for himself long ago.
That look was full of deterrence, making the person who was preparing the medicine shiver involuntarily and promptly hasten his actions.
"That'll be 165 yuan, but I'll round it down for you. 160 will do. Will you pay through WeChat or Alipay?"
"Cash."
"..."
Looking at the Grandpa Mao banknote passed over, Xie Yunzhen, who hadn't seen paper money in a long time, was momentarily stunned before accepting it with both hands.
"Have a good day."
Tang Shu received the packaged medicine but didn't hurry out. Her slender hand lifted once more, pointing towards the Big Horse Monkey hanging by the door.
"That monkey, is it for sale?"
"...What?!"
***
"Is this monkey for sale?"
Tang Shu mustered her patience and repeated the question she had just asked moments ago.
This young man had not only poor eyesight but also terrible hearing; whose troublesome grandchild was he?
Xie Yunzhen was still in a state of shock, his copper bell-like eyes, magnified by a pair of glasses, scanning back and forth over the Big Horse Monkey. Aside from greeting customers with "Welcome," what else could it do, and why was it more popular than me?!
This is unscientific!
"For sale, take it for 9.99."
A deep, magnetic voice rang out, capturing the attention of both of them.
Tang Shu was slightly startled and looked towards the source of the voice. She saw a man standing near the curtain with a cold and handsome face, exquisitely elegant, and a pair of deep eyes fixed on her, exuding an aura unlike that of ordinary people.
This man, what a strong presence; she hadn't even heard his footsteps approaching.
Jing Yu, wearing a white shirt with two buttons undone, exuded an air of lazy ease as if he had just woken up. However, this did not make him appear disheveled, but rather endowed him with an intense impact.
"In cash?"
The store seemed to have become his.
"In cash."
Since she wanted to buy and the store owner was willing to sell, it was natural to complete the cash transaction. Tang Shu reached into her jeans pocket again and pulled out a ten-yuan Grandpa Mao banknote.
Xie Yunzhen, who was in charge of handling the money behind the counter, finally came to his senses. However, faced with the ten yuan, he was troubled; he didn't have a dime to give as change!
Of all the numbers in the world, why did he say 9.99!?!
Jing Yu walked straight to the counter, taking Xie Yunzhen's place, took out his phone, and opened the Alipay interface, "The store doesn't have change, I'll transfer it to you."
"No need."
Thanks to the grand-scale operations of the Tang Sect, Tang Shu had formed a habit of giving tips because she disliked carrying copper coins and only brought banknotes and small change with her when she went out. This habit had naturally followed her to this place.
"The shop needs electronic entries, and if the accounts don't match up at the end of the month, we employees will inevitably get scolded. Please cooperate."
"..."
All right, this wasn't the Damo she was familiar with, but she understood the importance of blending in with the environment.
Tang Shu took out her phone and clumsily opened the Alipay interface, allowing the other person to operate. It wasn't long before her balance increased by one cent.
After the customer left the Herbal Hall, Xie Yunzhen was utterly stunned, looking at Jing Yu with a mix of shock and fear.
"Big Cousin, what's going on with you?!"
Setting aside the issue that his Big Horse Monkey, which cost 200 yuan at a brand-name boutique, was sold for 9.99, the fact that he had made a transfer for a dime under the pretext of needing change was enough to astonish onlookers, wasn't it?
Is one cent really worth haggling over? And what about those electronic entries, what kind of nonsense entries are you talking about? You're going to bring down the prestige of CEOs with actions like this.
Jing Yu held his phone, his slender fingers tapping on the Alipay interface of the other party, and saw the name "Tang Shu" inscribed, casually replying to him without much concern.
"Planted a tree in the forest, collected some energy."
"???"
So you treated such a beautiful girl as a tool? Won't your conscience hurt?
Xie Yunzhen fumed indignantly.
Serves you right for being single since birth!
Jing Yu had already put his phone away, his dark eyes glancing briefly at the diminishing figure outside, a hint of deep thought flashing through.
It was rare to find someone who could detect his presence. Was this girl exceptionally vigilant, or was it merely a coincidence?
"How's the search for the hacker who attacked the company website coming along?"
"It's done. The guy's got some serious skills. I stayed up the whole night before I could finally track him down. I'll send you his details."
Xie Yunzhen scratched at his bird-nest hairstyle and the dark circles under his glasses were apparent. His hands rapidly typed on the keyboard and before long he hit the enter key to send.
Jing Yu paused, his thin lips slightly parting, and his gaze sharp, "Who are you calling 'dad'?"
"I...I'm sorry, okay? Big Cousin, pretend you heard nothing!"
How could he have forgotten? There was a devil standing right next to him!