Chapter 3

Yukong nodded. "Then let's leave it at that for now. I have some matters to attend to, so we'll stop here."

With that, Yukong terminated the transmission.

"Miss Tingyun, Miss Tingyun, something's wrong, something's wrong!"

Just as Tingyun had closed her communicator and sat down, her secretary—a lovely fox-girl—rushed in from outside the Minghuo Merchant Guild and pushed open the door to Tingyun's office.

"How serious could it be?"

Seeing the fox-girl's frantic behavior, Tingyun could only sigh helplessly. "You've been with me for so long; can't you be a bit more composed? What exactly happened to make you so flustered?"

If she keeps acting this panicked, it simply won't do.

What major crisis could possibly arise within the Minghuo Merchant Guild nowadays? If something truly grave had occurred, someone would have notified her immediately.

Having served her for so long and handled numerous affairs, why was she still so rash and impulsive?

"It's bad, Miss Tingyun! We've been swindled!"

The fox-girl hastily handed a bill to Tingyun. "Look, this is the invoice sent from the Sleepless Earl."

"An invoice from the Sleepless Earl?"

Hearing this, Tingyun's expression shifted to surprise. "Is this really such a big deal? And why would the Sleepless Earl send us a bill in the first place?"

There was no reason for the Sleepless Earl to send an invoice out of the blue.

"A waitress from the Sleepless Earl said that a guest consultant of our Minghuo Merchant Guild consumed there and charged it to our account, demanding we settle the bill. Looking at the total, it amounts to four million credit points."

The fox-girl's face flushed crimson as she spoke. "Someone has directly swindled our Minghuo Merchant Guild! Since when do we even have a guest consultant?"

After all, four million credit points was an astronomical sum.

She did not recall the Minghuo Merchant Guild ever having a position called 'guest consultant'!

Therefore, someone had swindled their guild, and moreover, they had shifted the blame onto them!

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Tingyun, who had merely been surprised a moment ago, now looked utterly shocked. "How is this possible?"

After all, although the Sleepless Earl was located on the bustling XuanYe Avenue, it was ultimately just a teahouse.

How high could a teahouse's consumption possibly go?

It was merely a place for drinking tea and listening to storytelling, affordable to almost every person on the Xianzhou, and shouldn't cost much.

Some of their teas even allowed refills; how could anyone rack up such an astronomical bill there!

Even going to those pleasure quarters to listen to songs wouldn't cost this much!

Yet, the Sleepless Earl surely wouldn't dare deceive the Minghuo Merchant Guild!

Immediately, Tingyun hurriedly took the bill to examine it.

Upon reading the line items, Tingyun's face instantly turned green.

That fellow, how dare he!

She had only intended to arrange a nominal guest consultant title for him temporarily, yet in the blink of an eye, this fellow had gifted her such a 'surprise'!

[Seven cups of Life Tea, fifty thousand credit points per cup, totaling three hundred and fifty thousand credit points.]

Staring at the first item on the bill, Tingyun's eyes went wide, and her face flushed bright red.

Life Tea—wasn't that the Sleepless Earl's signature treasure tea?

She herself couldn't bear to drink that tea, yet this fellow had downed seven cups straight???

She looked further down.

[Six platters of Pan-Fried Yellow Pistil Tea Cakes, fifty thousand per platter, totaling three hundred thousand credit points.]

Seeing the entry for the tea cakes, Tingyun felt as though she were about to faint.

These tea cakes were indeed famous, but others ate them piece by piece; this fellow had ordered them by the entire platter?

Was this fellow a pig? How could he possibly eat so much!

Glancing at the scattered miscellaneous items below, Tingyun felt as though she were about to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage.

She hadn't even earned much this month, yet this fellow had instantly spent so much in a single teahouse!

"Miss Tingyun, have we encountered a scammer?"

Seeing the change in Tingyun's expression, the young maid of the Minghuo Merchant Guild quickly spoke up. "I'll immediately notify the Cloud Knights to arrest that fellow."

"No, let's go find this fellow first."

Tingyun angrily slapped the table. "He is indeed a guest consultant of our Minghuo Merchant Guild, appointed only recently."

With that, Tingyun strode outward.

She intended to see for herself how this fellow had managed to consume so much!

Meanwhile, the maid from the Minghuo Merchant Guild standing nearby froze in shock. That fellow was truly a guest consultant of their guild?

And personally appointed by Chief Tingyun herself?

How had she not known about this?

Immediately, the fox-girl maid hurriedly followed after her. "Wait for me, Miss Tingyun!"

Xuanye Boulevard.

Buyehou Teahouse.

Even Mr. Xi Yan, the storyteller, fell silent, his gaze fixed on Lin Mo sitting not far away.

Everyone around was staring at Lin Mo; many, having heard the tales of this place, looked at him with sheer adoration.

A big shot is a big shot; even though the little maid of Buyehou Teahouse had already run off with the bill to the Minghuo Chamber of Commerce, this big shot remained as steady as Mount Tai.

"Amazing, so calm. I think he might actually be from the Minghuo Chamber of Commerce."

"Impossible. If he were from the Minghuo Chamber of Commerce, he wouldn't lack their insignia; every style of clothing they wear bears the Minghuo mark."

"Heh, I don't know if you've noticed, but some Cloud Knights are approaching."

"Miss Tingyun has arrived."

Just as everyone was discussing this, someone suddenly exclaimed: "Miss Tingyun of the Minghuo Chamber of Commerce is here!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's attention was instantly drawn over.

There, a petite fox-girl young lady was walking over with a somewhat unnatural expression, followed by the little maid of Buyehou Teahouse and a maid from the Minghuo Chamber of Commerce.

"It's Miss Tingyun. Miss Tingyun is so beautiful; every time I see her, it feels refreshing."

"Every time I see Miss Tingyun, it feels like falling in love."

"Ahem, I think you need to calm down. If you meet a certain fox-person who makes your heart pound and love at first sight strike, perhaps take a cold shower to cool off first; fox-people naturally emit a certain aura that can be deceptive."

"This guy is done for. Did you notice Miss Tingyun's expression? So unnatural, clearly angry. This guy has no connection to the Minghuo Chamber of Commerce!"

Some were discussing Tingyun, while those with sharp eyes noticed her unnatural complexion and immediately wore expressions of schadenfreude.

It seemed that handsome young man was not from the Minghuo Chamber of Commerce; otherwise, why would Tingyun look so terrible?

This realization spread to most people, and one by one, they began to gloat.

This freeloader eating a meal without paying even wanted the bill sent to the Minghuo Chamber of Commerce; this was simply compounding his crime!

His life is finished; he can only go become an interstellar black slave.

While the crowd gloated, Tingyun had already reached Lin Mo. Looking at his leisurely face, she gritted her teeth: "My benefactor, pray tell, how did you manage to consume so much in a teahouse?!"

Seeing Lin Mo like this, Tingyun, who had already arrived fuming, felt even more anger welling up; this fellow didn't seem to realize in the slightest just how huge a sum of money this was.

"It tasted good, so I naturally drank a bit more."

Lin Mo spoke softly: "Isn't tea meant for drinking?"

"This tea is truly excellent; would you like a cup as well?"

Saying this, Lin Mo raised the cup in his hand and toasted toward Tingyun.

Tingyun: !!!!

Hearing Lin Mo's words and seeing his gesture, Tingyun slammed the table in anger: "Drink my big head! Couldn't you just drink something ordinary?! Four million credit points, do you know what a massive number that is?!"

A full four million credit points, and he had even drunk the teahouse's treasured masterpiece that she herself could not bear to drink; Tingyun felt nothing but heartache.

"I'm not sure."

Hearing Tingyun's words, Lin Mo pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

He did not know the price levels here on the Xianzhou.