Jingliu opened the forum and made a post, asking the online surfing netizens.
One netizen replied in seconds, sounding especially excited.
[Of course you can give flowers to a man! Most men never receive them while they're alive, only at their funerals do they get a bouquet!]
[Flowers aren't exclusive to women. We must reject stereotypes. What's wrong with giving flowers to a man? If someone likes you, no matter what you give him, he'll be happy! Just a bouquet of flowers, that's all…]
[If after receiving flowers he feels embarrassed walking down the street with them, then you might as well give up early! Just a scumbag, not worth your effort. Here, add my account.]
The more she read, the more it made sense. On impulse, Jingliu added the person.
The netizen's username was "AAA Luofu Flowers 24h Delivery."
The netizen instantly accepted her friend request, then sent over a dozen pictures of bouquets in a row, introducing the flower language of each.
[Star-Cutter: Budget 10. How many can I buy?]
For some reason, the other party's tone suddenly turned cold, and they only sent back a photo of a sunflower.
Jingliu knew nothing about flower prices. Before this, she always thought they were useless.
After reading the message, she couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Dan Feng had been right, with a budget of 100,000 credits, she could only buy a single flower.
She asked the netizen again.
[Star-Cutter: 100,000 can only buy this one flower? Are there other kinds?]
The other party sent a line of question marks, then bombarded her with messages.
[Wait what? Did I see that right?!]
[100,000?! Are you talking credits or jade?]
[Star-Cutter: With 100,000 jade, what kind can I buy?]
[￥%#￥%#￥]
[Rich lady, don't get stuck on gender, think of the children TAT. I don't need you to buy flowers, just 10,000 and you can take me home…]
[Damn it, that man had better be more handsome than the Pure Beauty Knight! What virtue does he have, to make Big Sister Rich Lady go to such lengths!]
Jingliu, "..."
Facing this stranger, for once she actually felt like chatting more.
[Star-Cutter: In my eyes, he far surpasses the Pure Beauty Knight.]
Jingliu never thought of herself as someone who would be blinded by love and lose all reason.
Objectively speaking, Zero's face was flawless.
But what had first attracted her wasn't his looks, it was his personality.
He would instinctively take care of women and children. When facing unexpected events, he stayed calm and organized, seemingly never showing negative emotions.
Even when drunk Baiheng splashed a cup of wine on him, Zero only smiled, took off his soaked jacket, draped it over his arm, and said, "What a shame about the wine, guess I'll just have to drink it next time."
One time, Baiheng piloted a star skiff to drag Jingliu along to drink with Zero, but ended up in an accident.
Back then, Zero had not yet learned of Baiheng's terrifying "star skiff killer" reputation. When he heard what happened, he rushed over, confirmed they weren't hurt, sighed in relief, and then comforted them, "As long as you're okay, it's not a big deal. Wait for the Sky-Faring Commission to handle it."
Then, out of nowhere, he asked, "Do you guys want something to eat?"
So, for the first time, Baiheng, who had crashed countless star skiffs, and Jingliu, who had seen the Sky-Faring Commission work countless times, ended up eating snacks right at the accident scene.
Holding milk tea in one hand and snacks in the other, Zero stayed with them until everything was handled before parting.
Baiheng took a dazed sip of milk tea, then shouted, "Zero is so reliable and considerate!"
As a foxian pilot who had crashed so many times she was blacklisted by the Commission, hardly anyone cared about her feelings anymore. She was utterly shaken.
"Of course, a pilot or Sword Master wouldn't really fear accidents. But Zero didn't know that… Yet he instantly put himself in our shoes, worried we'd feel upset, and even distracted us on purpose…"
"Like some elder who's lived a thousand years, seen all sorts of storms."
That's what Baiheng said.
When Jingliu later found out Zero was only twenty years old, she, "..."
The Sword Master thought of her disciple Jing Yuan, always bickering with Yingxing.
They were around the same age, so why such a huge gap in personality?
For Zero to be so steady and thoughtful, maybe he'd already been through a lot.
Looking back now, she felt thankful the Xianzhou allowed long-lives over twenty to marry.
If the limit had been "no relationships under two hundred," then she, a full adult, would probably have ended up in prison.
Expressionless, Jingliu thought of this, then looked down at her jade messenger.
[Big Sister Rich Lady, if you choose common roses, 100,000 jade would be enough for you to send one bouquet every day for a whole year TAT]
With the netizen's explanations, Jingliu got a rough idea of flower prices.
After weighing quantity and variety, she made her choice.
[Star-Cutter: What about uncommon kinds?]
[A bouquet would be about 1,000 jade QAQ]
Jingliu frowned slightly.
She usually saved whenever she could, with very little daily spending. Clothes only needed to be wearable. Meals were almost always at the Cloud Knights' cafeteria.
Her monthly stipend, part of it always went toward her troublesome two friends.
Baiheng, the pilot with the most fines and the most accidents.
She probably didn't even know herself how many star skiffs she'd wrecked. She earned fast, but crashed faster, absolutely a "moonlight clan" who burned through money, relying every month on borrowing from others to pay debts.
Yingxing, the blacksmith who poured all his own money into Luofu's crafts. Any capitalist would be thrilled; anyone else would cry seeing his workaholic dedication.
As a short-lifer, Yingxing had faced cold treatment in the Artisanship Commission. Whenever he filed reimbursements, staff dragged their feet and refused to approve.
Overtime pay was a joke, before his promotion, he got nothing. Only afterward did he finally receive proper treatment.
He'd held on entirely through sheer passion.
Once he became a Starforger, Yingxing gained access to rarer materials, and then it was all downhill.
Too embarrassed to borrow money, he sometimes nearly starved.
As for the free meals the Commission's cafeteria provided, he always missed them, thanks to his insane work hours.
The long-lifers panicked at this, worried their rising craftsman might starve to death in their territory.
Jing Yuan first ruled out Baiheng, the hopeless moonlighter, then approached Dan Feng and Jingliu, suggesting they help Yingxing.
The wealthy Lord of Drinks, Yuque, declared he'd cover all expenses and even hire eight caretakers for Yingxing. When Jing Yuan objected, he grudgingly reduced it to four.
Jing Yuan, "This isn't about numbers! What? Two people? Doesn't matter how many, it's still not right!"
Under Jing Yuan's reasoning, Yuque reluctantly gave up on hiring anyone.
Listening to her disciple chatter away, Jingliu realized that proud Yingxing would never accept direct help from friends. So she suggested, "Talk to the Artisanship Commission's cafeteria staff."
At least save him some meals. Don't let a short-lifer starve to death.
Dan Feng paid most of the cost, Jing Yuan and Jingliu chipped in, and they quietly bribed the cooks. The cooks took the money and kept silent, never letting Yingxing know. Besides saving meals for him, they sometimes even cooked him something extra.
In their spare time, Dan Feng would find excuses to invite the group of five to dinner, improving the diets of the two moonlighters along the way.
Unlike Dan Feng, Jingliu had no interest in trendy clothes or expensive jewelry. Her Luofu stipend, aside from helping friends, was all saved. By local standards, she was fairly wealthy.
In the past, she always thought Dan Feng overly particular, nothing but the finest food, clothing, and goods.
But yesterday, after seeing bouquets of all colors, she finally, faintly understood the Dragon Lord.
[Star-Cutter: Is there anything more expensive?]
[Most flowers on the market are around this price. If Rich Lady wants pricier ones, then only proposal sets of 999 roses or 9,999 roses. Any color, prices are 10,000 and 100,000 respectively.]
Proposal… To think of proposing now was far too early.
According to Luofu romance tales, it was usually the man who led the relationship forward, and proposals were almost always done by men…
Her thoughts churned. By the time Jingliu came back to her senses, she looked down at her jade token, she had already sent the money.
Jingliu, "..."
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