Chapter 10: Insults are welcome, but each insult costs 10,000 star coins.

The wolf hurriedly explained, "You might have forgotten, but I lived next door to you back then. That place collapsed, didn't it? So I escaped. Speaking of which, I should thank you for that..."

"Shut up." Lu Xiao suddenly interrupted him rudely, his beautifully shaped thin lips tightening slightly with tension. He said in a deep voice, "You'd better keep your mouth shut. If you accidentally let the females inside know, I'll cut your tongue out and feed it to the hyenas."

The wolf shuddered and hurriedly shook its head, saying, "I won't say anything, I promise I won't say anything."

A nearby orc asked curiously, "What's going on? What are you whispering about?"

The wolf beast answered first, "No, it's nothing, just chatting for a bit."

Three hours later, the moving and renovation work was finally completed, and Nan Jiao changed the sign at the door to "Open for Business".

Without much advertising, customers from the surrounding area flocked in. They were all loyal customers of the store, and soon the store was full. When customers outside heard that the dishes were unlimited today, a long queue formed in front of the store.

The store's business was several times better than usual. Fortunately, Nan Jiao had the foresight to hire several employees in advance to keep the store running.

Everyone was busy from head to toe, and Nan Jiao was no exception; she went wherever there was a shortage of people to help.

She took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Nan Jiao's fair cheeks were flushed red from the heat and fatigue, making her look like an apple.

Lu Xiao suddenly grabbed her hand, took out a bag of ice packs from who-knows-where, and placed it on her forehead: "Go and rest."

"The store is so busy right now, how can I take a break?" Nan Jiao waved her hand. "I'm used to this workload, you don't need to worry about me."

"What about those new wild...males you found? Are they just going to watch you get so tired?"

His gaze became complex and profound, revealing emotions that Nan Jiao could not fathom.

Nan Jiao thought he was referring to Qi Han, but after opening her mouth, she felt there was no need to explain.

After all, she had already completely separated them from her life. She didn't want to get involved in the relationship between the male and female leads, nor did she want her plans to be disrupted.

Once Lu Xiao achieves his goal, he will leave on his own, right?

Nan Jiao's gaze was complex and heavy. She turned slightly to the side, trying to make her voice sound calmer:

"It's useless to rely on anyone; I can do it very well on my own."

Lu Xiao looked at her for a few seconds, a hint of barely perceptible heartache in his eyes: "I remember opening a restaurant was your dream, but rest is also very important. Can you leave this to me?"

Seeing that Nan Jiao remained unmoved, Lu Xiao had no choice but to try another approach. He went outside, lit a cigarette, and then called a recruitment company, hiring ten highly qualified employees.

Seeing the extra employees in the store, Nan Jiao quickly realized something and subconsciously looked in Lu Xiao's direction.

Not far away, Lu Xiao was handing menus to customers. Because Nan Jiao had emphasized to him that he should pay attention to his attitude, he had almost completely shed his hostility while working, and even became unlike himself.

A flicker of emotion crossed Nan Jiao's beautiful eyes, and she immediately clenched her fist.

How could I fall for his tenderness again? Absolutely not...

*

After a long day of hard work, Nan Jiao turned on the electronic screen to calculate her earnings for the day.

The catering industry is already a highly profitable industry in interstellar space. Today, she earned a total of 23,000 star coins, and after deducting costs, her net income was 12,000 star coins, which is ten times her usual income.

Looking at the string of numbers on the electronic screen, Nan Jiao couldn't help but smile.

Lu Xiao leaned against the cabinet next to him, staring at her for a long time without realizing it, and subconsciously followed her with a smile.

He had never seen Nan Jiao like this before. If she was like a greenhouse lily that could easily arouse a man's protective instincts before, she was now more like a rose blooming vigorously in a garden, making people want to water and fertilize her, hoping that she could grow even more freely.

*

In the following days, business got better and better, and Nan Jiao was counting so many Star Coins that her hands were almost sore.

That day, the vehicle sent by Liu Yuan to deliver natural food ran into trouble en route. Nan Jiao wanted to stay at the store to guard it, so she arranged for Lu Xiao to go and meet them.

As usual, Nan Jiao sat at the table helping customers pay their bills. Her fingers quickly tapped a few times on the screen: "The total is three hundred and twenty star coins."

The customer paid the bill promptly.

Nan Jiao handed over the receipt and heard the other party's gossipy voice: "The shop across from your house has been under renovation for several days. Boss, do you know what kind of shop it is? It's strange, your location is so remote, yet someone built such a big shop nearby."

Nan Jiao looked up at the store across the street, about to answer that she didn't know, when she saw several workers installing a signboard: Sang Sang Le.

Sang Sang Le is the restaurant brand name of the Sang family, and it is very famous throughout the Ninth Star.

"Sang Sang Le? Isn't their store positioned for high-income people in the city center? Why did they open here? And right across from your house, are they deliberately trying to annoy you?" the customer said with a smile. After saying that, he realized that his joke was inappropriate, so he took the receipt and left in a hurry.

Nan Jiao's gaze swept over "Sang Sang Le" across from her, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Hello, what would you like to order?"

"I won't order food. I don't care about the food in this shabby place. My stomach is delicate, and eating cheap food will upset my stomach."

The arguing coming from the doorway caught Nan Jiao's attention. She looked over and saw Sang Lin swaying as she walked in, heading straight for Nan Jiao.

Nan Jiao pointed to the door: "If you're not going to dine, please don't disturb our business."

Sang Lin smiled and gestured for Nan Jiao to look across the street: "Nan Jiao, do you see that? That's our family's newly opened chain store. The reason I opened it here is to annoy you and make it impossible for you to survive."

She casually fiddled with her exquisite nails: "You know I'm very concerned about my image. Blame it on you for your foul mouth that publicly humiliated me and my beastly husband at the banquet last time." She snorted coldly: "This is the price you pay for your ignorance."

"Finished? If you're done, please come outside. If you want to continue cursing, that's fine too, but it's 10,000 star coins per sentence. Credit card payment is accepted, no discounts or credit."

Sang Lin paused, her eyes widening slightly. "You're really desperate for money!" She suddenly smiled, a hint of something in her eyes. "I heard you've been hanging out with a porter lately. Looks like you're really starving; you don't even mind such a lowly male. Maybe Klin's right, ever since you were dumped by your former beastmen, your brain hasn't been working properly. But..."

She smiled and said, "You two are really a perfect match. Two of the lowest-class orcs living together, spending their whole lives in the slums, and then they can have many useless offspring to inherit your stupidity and poverty..."

As if caught in a beautiful dream, the smile on her lips grew wider and wider.

"What mover?"

"Are you still pretending to be stupid? Because it's too embarrassing to admit it? It's that weirdo who always wears a mask, probably an ugly thing that's not comfortable to be seen in public, huh? Isn't that your good beast husband? He's not even as good as a single hair of Klin's."

Nan Jiao paused, suddenly realizing that the mover she was referring to was Lu Xiao, who was wearing a mask.