"Back in the day, I was just as stubborn as you are now, sigh..." The shopkeeper sighed deeply. "No matter who's wrong, everyone should just sit down calmly and talk it through, and face it together... no matter what you choose, there will be regrets, then you might as well choose the one you won't regret."
"I see... Thank you."
Ye Qingfeng walked aimlessly down the street with two bags of groceries, suddenly letting out a heavy sigh. He gazed at the vast, cloudless azure sky, sinking deep into a state of confusion.
He couldn't say he was that upset about Nekomata's departure. After all, they had only just met.
At the same time, he couldn't say he felt good about it either. It was like meeting a very cute cat you felt a strong connection with, planning to take it in and live together, only to find out the cat already had a family...
A strange feeling rose in his heart; it wouldn't be too long until he and Nekomata met again. Before that, he should focus on living well in the present!
[Ding! Nekomata's favorability has increased by 10%. Current favorability: 40%]
[Obtained 2 lottery draws!]
A notification suddenly sounded in Ye Qingfeng's mind, and he smiled helplessly.
Ye Qingfeng knew that Nekomata was also looking forward to their next meeting! And that was enough...
Come to think of it... Nicole and the others should be in the Hollow by now. He wondered if they were having any trouble...
And with so many cans of mackerel, he wondered if Nekomata would be able to eat them before they expired...
Compared to the now-empty Cunning Hares residence, it was better to head to Phaethon's place first. Ye Qingfeng glanced at the two shopping bags in his hands, full to the brim, and hailed a cab on the street.
After telling the driver the address, he found the most comfortable position to rest his eyes.
He should have bought less food. Compared to carrying all this stuff to Sixth Street, getting exhausted or getting a little carsick was the better deal. If he didn't have these two bags, he'd rather die than take a taxi!
Wait! Ye Qingfeng remembered something and sat up abruptly, his mouth slightly agape, frozen in place. Didn't he have a spatial backpack?! How could he have forgotten!!
"Um... is something wrong, sir?" The driver was startled by Ye Qingfeng's sudden movement.
"It's nothing, just remembered something," Ye Qingfeng said, suppressing the urge to vomit. "How much longer?"
"We're almost there," the driver said, probably noticing Ye Qingfeng's pale face in the rearview mirror and seeing he was severely carsick. He said flatly, "It's twenty thousand Dennies to puke in the car."
"Please... hurry up, sir..."
Perhaps from living with Nicole for so long, Ye Qingfeng wasn't overly greedy for Dennies, but he'd certainly never turn them down.
In Nicole's words, if you don't have to spend Dennies, don't.
He silently rolled down the window, feeling the cold wind on his face, which made him feel much better, at least his stomach wasn't churning anymore.
They soon arrived at the destination. After paying the driver, Ye Qingfeng carried the two large bags towards the video store. He finally made it to the door, only to see a "Closed for Business" sign hanging up.
"Is anyone there?" Since he was already there, Ye Qingfeng raised his hand and knocked on the door. After waiting a while with no response, he knocked again. He was about to take out his phone to send a message when he heard light footsteps from inside the door.
Wise was in a bad mood due to the current mess. Hearing the knock, he didn't want to bother at first, but when it sounded again a moment later, he had to ask Belle to wait while he went to deal with the visitor at the door.
"Sorry, we're closed for today. Please come back tomorrow..." Wise walked quickly to the door and pulled it open, launching into his standard professional spiel. He stopped mid-sentence when he saw it was Ye Qingfeng standing there.
Wise was a bit confused by the two large bags on the ground, but seeing the sweaty Ye Qingfeng, he quickly opened the door wider and helped carry one of the bags. "It's Qingfeng! Come on in, why did you buy so much stuff?"
"It's a long story... I bought too much food..." Ye Qingfeng lifted the ingredients from the bag and waved them in front of Wise. "When Nicole and the others get back, you can come back to the Cunning Hares residence with us, and I'll cook a big meal for you all!"
"We can talk about that later..." Normally, Wise would have agreed immediately, but his expression was very serious as he said: "There was a bit of an incident just now... we've lost contact with Nicole..."
"What?" Ye Qingfeng's hands went limp, and a large bag of mackerel cans scattered across the floor, making a continuous, jarring noise. Although he often said he disliked them, the moment he heard they were in trouble, all he felt was worry and panic. He suppressed the panic in his heart, trying to stay calm as he asked Wise in a slightly trembling voice, "Wh-what's the situation now?"
"Qingfeng, calm down. Nicole and the others aren't in danger for now," Wise patted Ye Qingfeng's shoulder, seeing how worried he was for them. He pushed open the door next to the front desk and turned to look at him. "Come in first, I'll explain."
Ye Qingfeng followed Wise into the room and immediately saw Belle sitting at the computer desk, looking at him.
Belle had faintly heard Ye Qingfeng's voice shortly after Wise left. She immediately perked up to confirm the situation, but when no more talking came from outside, only two sets of footsteps approaching her direction, she quickly turned around and stared wide-eyed at the door.
"Qingfeng, you're back!"
The moment she saw Ye Qingfeng come in, she shot up from her seat and waved at him with a lovestruck expression.
Seeing Belle's infatuated smile, Wise sighed softly. Having lived with his sister for so long, he knew very well that she was hopelessly in love with Ye Qingfeng.
At first, he thought Ye Qingfeng had fed his sister some kind of love potion. He even found a chance to secretly check his sister's phone, but their chat history was relatively normal, aside from the occasional outrageous messages from his sister.
He figured it out: it was just a one-sided crush from Belle. Although he didn't know why his sister had suddenly fallen for him, he had spent a large sum of money asking Nicole for information. Tricked and deceived by Nicole, he paid a huge sum for all the information she knew. Combining what Nicole said about Ye Qingfeng with his own observations from their conversations, Wise was generally at ease with him and didn't plan to interfere too much with their relationship.
However! At the very least, he couldn't let Belle give herself away too easily! Of course, he would still have to help his sister from time to time!
After all...
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