Temporarily Closed

【Liang Shanbo vs. Pig】: He only said that all the beastmen are starving and it's very pitiful, and that we should join forces or something. He didn't mention anything else. I could feel that he wanted to tell me, but it seemed like something was preventing him from saying it.

What else could it be?

The system, obviously.

Cheng Shuili was speechless. Since the system's leaky-bucket NPC had already said so much, why keep up the charade of secrecy?

It might as well have just sent out a notification.

【Liang Shanbo vs. Pig】: That beastman said he took a liking to me and felt we were fated, which is why he told me these things. He even specifically warned me not to tell anyone else.

There was no guilt in Liang Shanbo's tone for breaking his promise, only pride in being able to attract Cheng Shuili's attention!

But he had indeed performed a service this time.

Cheng Shuili opened the refrigerator and rummaged for a while, only to find that the only drink left was Hao Su Su milk. She froze, hesitated for a moment, then turned her head and asked Su Rui in disbelief, "You finished the soda?"

Su Rui seemed a bit embarrassed. She lowered her head, scratched the back of her neck, and slowly held up one finger. "Cough, I only drank one bottle."

There was indeed only one bottle left.

Cheng Shuili didn't know what to say for a moment. She reached out, took a bottle of Hao Su Su milk, and handed it to Liang Shanbo before speaking solemnly: "I think we need to have a talk."

She was full of seriousness, sitting on the floor mat Su Rui had just laid out. Sitting cross-legged facing Su Rui, she had the air of someone about to hold a family meeting.

Su Rui was obviously feeling guilty. She admitted that she had been a bit indulgent over the past two days, especially today; not only had she used Cheng Shuili's water, but she had also finished a bottle of soda.

But that wasn't what Cheng Shuili cared about at all. No matter how you looked at it, an employee working diligently for you for twelve hours a day without asking for a salary, needing only for you to provide room and board—if you had even a shred of conscience, would you really have a problem with them drinking a few extra bottles of water?

Su Rui was a frugal person, the type who couldn't bear to throw away a plastic water bottle even after the water was gone.

This empty water bottle was now her teacup. Cheng Shuili had seen her use it to pour water from the kettle to drink.

The water inside was produced daily by the basic water condensation device. Cheng Shuili used to never be able to finish it all, but now with Su Rui, she finally didn't have to worry about it.

What Cheng Shuili cared about was: "You have your sense of taste back?"

Su Rui hadn't expected this question. She felt a wave of guilt—the kind of guilt that comes from measuring a noble heart with one's own petty thoughts.

She was very sincere and described her most intuitive feeling directly: "A little. But it feels like there's a layer of film in the way; I can only feel a tiny bit. I drank that soda because its stimulation was stronger, and I wanted to see if there was any difference from regular water."

Cheng Shuili raised an eyebrow: "Was there a difference?"

Su Rui shook her head, then frowned in thought. After a moment, she said, "It's very strange. There was a moment when my sense of taste was completely normal, but most of the time, there's a problem."

Fine.

Cheng Shuili felt a bit helpless. She had thought she could start providing meals; she was certainly willing to feed Su Rui.

She was now bringing in nearly four thousand game coins a day. Never mind one Su Rui, even if there were a few more people, it would be enough!

But this situation... Cheng Shuili was silent for a moment. Doesn't that sound just like a bad connection? Working sometimes and not others—could it be a bug?

Thinking of this, Cheng Shuili stood up and went to the refrigerator to grab a carton of milk. When she had first opened a whole case of Hao Su Su milk, she used to drink one every night for the sake of helping her sleep, but after forgetting one day, she hadn't touched it since.

The taste of milk wasn't bland; it was perfect for testing!

Cheng Shuili handed the milk to Su Rui, signaling her to drink it, then reached out and pressed down on her shoulders.

Su Rui's muscles twitched, and her body almost instinctively tried to give Cheng Shuili a shoulder throw. Although she didn't understand what was happening, she knew that if Cheng Shuili arranged it, there must be a reason. Even if Su Rui weren't a servant, she felt she would still trust Cheng Shuili.

She didn't hesitate, tore open the straw, and took a sip. The milk flowed into her mouth.

She opened her eyes wide and looked back at Cheng Shuili. She had actually tasted the flavor!

Cheng Shuili wasn't sure if this was effective. After all, the BUG Physique wasn't under her conscious control.

In fact, many times she might have already triggered a bug without even realizing it.

Take the energy stone, for example. She had previously guessed that it might have been something she opened using her BUG Physique, but after Liang Shanbo opened one from a chest, she had dismissed that theory.

But now, if her BUG Physique could even influence Su Rui, then influencing the gold supply crate the system rewarded her with through Liang Shanbo didn't seem entirely impossible.

But as Cheng Shuili had said, she couldn't consciously control the BUG Physique. After Su Rui took two sips, her sense of taste vanished again.

Cheng Shuili sighed. It seemed relying on a bug to help Su Rui recover completely was impossible.

Su Rui wasn't disappointed. She didn't understand the principle, but she could guess from Cheng Shuili's actions: this person had just been trying to help her recover her sense of taste!

That was enough.

She hadn't followed the wrong person. There was no need to think about leaving anymore. She was now wholeheartedly convinced; being bought by Cheng Shuili was her good fortune.

The night passed without dreams.

The third day of the famine.

Cheng Shuili opened her eyes to see a system notification.

【Due to certain unavoidable factors, your bread shop will be closed for a few days. The specific date for resuming operations will be notified later! We deeply apologize for the losses and inconvenience caused to you!】

Closed?

Cheng Shuili rubbed her eyes and read the notification carefully again.

Closed for a few days? And the resumption date needs to wait for notification?

Cheng Shuili: "!!!"

Is it because of the famine? Or because Bao Chi finally discovered that he only had a 1% share?

Both are actually possible.

Cheng Shuili got up silently and washed her face. After wiping it clean, she opened the cooperation page to check. Everything was as usual, except the words 【Temporarily Closed】 were written at the very bottom.

Temporarily closed.

Looking at it this way, it should be to make way for the famine.

According to Liang Shanbo's news, there would be drifters today. Come to think of it, with things in such a state, it would be unreasonable if her bread shop weren't affected.

Moreover, if Bao Chi were dissatisfied, their partnership should have been canceled outright, not just closed temporarily.

Cheng Shuili let out a sigh of relief and opened the regional channel to wait for breakfast in peace.

The regional channel was very lively today. Due to the flood of designated player duel cards, many people had met friends they hadn't seen in a long time. The regional channel could be described as thriving.