Chapter 85
Qi’s official Weibo: I’m used to it. Last time it was a hairpin, this time it was a handkerchief. These people who want to take shortcuts have never considered moving me with actual actions, but only want to use public opinion to force me to submit.
Shopkeeper Lu: If you ask me, you might as well just dress up as a man like me, and it will save you some trouble.
Qi’s official Weibo: Don’t be silly, they are not interested in me, they are interested in my restaurant and menu.
Shopkeeper Lu: ...No way, our beauty is unparalleled in the world, so there is no man who is tempted by her?
Qi's official Weibo: Being attracted by beauty is not necessarily stronger than being attracted by money. Besides, it is impossible for us to be with the natives.
Shopkeeper Lu: That’s right. So what are you going to do?
Qi's official Weibo account: Today we'll find the thief and turn him over to the government, and tomorrow we'll go to the Earth God Temple to pray. It's so hard to find a place with such good feng shui as Qingtian City.
Shopkeeper Lu: Okay, if you ever feel unsafe living here, don’t forget to come find me. I’ll provide you with enough rooms.
Qi’s official Weibo: Don’t worry, I won’t be polite with you.
"Hey, are you going to the night market?" After chatting with Qi Guanwei, the shopkeeper returned to the counter and happened to see Bei Qiao walking downstairs: "If you like delicious food, you can go to the bell tower. There are many varieties of food there and the prices are affordable. If you want to eat something good, I suggest you go to Wuweilou in the south of the city. The taste there is amazing!" Whenever the shopkeeper met a customer with good character, he would recommend Wuweilou to the other party, which was also considered to help Qi Guanwei attract customers.
"Okay, thank you, boss." Bei Qiao nodded, asked the direction of the Drum Tower, and walked towards the Drum Tower with a small bag of copper coins in his sleeve.
"You're welcome, have fun." The shopkeeper waved his hand with a smile: "Is there anything wrong with advertising for my childhood friend? Of course not! Wuweilou is worthy of its name. I just don't want outsiders to miss out on delicious food."
The Drum Tower in Qingtian City is hundreds of years old. Due to years of disrepair, the wooden door downstairs has been sealed, and access to the second floor requires a light-lifting technique from the outside. To attract tourists, the tower is cleaned daily, and the eaves of the second floor are hung with lanterns, creating a brightly lit scene.
The streets flanking the Drum Tower are famous for their snacks. They're lined with food stalls, and the roads are so narrow that only one carriage can pass at a time. Besides the stalls, nearby shops also sell food. There are four or five Mahua (fried dough twist) shops alone, each claiming to be a time-honored brand. Not only are their appearance and flavors similar, but even their prices are similar.
Bei Qiao bought some sugarcane juice from a stall and put it in a water bag. Then he walked along the snack street. The snacks here were indeed rich in variety, but the variety was not very new. For Bei Qiao, who was a collector of Chinese delicacies, at first glance, there was no surprise.
Walking to the end of the snack street, Bei Qiao discovered a very popular land temple. Enshrined in the temple was an official hat with a crescent pattern on it.
"My God..." Bei Qiao put away his water bag and watched others kneeling in the temple. There were no temple priests here, and ordinary incense was free, so people could light their own incense from the nearby incense burner. He didn't know how often the incense burner was cleaned, but the ash inside was so thick that he didn't have to worry about the incense falling over when he inserted it.
Before leaving, Bei Qiao searched the forums for travel guides for Qingtian City. Among them, the Earth God Temple was a must-visit destination recommended by all players. While some players believed in feng shui, others didn't, they all agreed that if you made a wish at Qingtian City's Earth God Temple, it was almost guaranteed to come true. This was especially true for wishes seeking blessings, which had a near-perfect success rate.
Players: I almost suspect that there is some organization that takes turns squatting on the beams of the land temple day and night just to help everyone realize their wishes.
What is my wish... Beiqiao took three incense sticks, lit them, and put them into the incense burner after paying homage several times: I wish my family good health, good luck in everything... and prosperity.
Although I don’t know whether the land temple is in charge of making me rich, I’ll pray for it first. What if it comes true?
After visiting the Earth God Temple, Bei Qiao ignored the marriage tree festooned with red strings. Turning to walk out, he passed a woman in a green gauze dress at the entrance. Noticing Bei Qiao's gaze, the woman turned and smiled at him. The street lights reflected in her eyes, like a sky full of stars falling into a lake, shimmering and sparkling. Meanwhile, countless envious, jealous, and hateful glances swept across Bei Qiao's face like laser guns.
Bei Qiao smiled back at the woman, then stared blankly back at all the jealous eyes, then straightened her back without a word and walked through the crowd with a square step. As expected, the men who looked at her with envy were not only less handsome than her, but also shorter than her.
Some people who inexplicably feel looked down upon:...Damn pretty boy, he’s actually taller than me!
Bei Qiao: I checked in at the Earth God Temple and witnessed the true beauty of a smile, as well as a group of cowards who overestimated their own abilities and did not know how to reflect on themselves.
"Sister Weiwei!" After Bei Qiao left, a little girl holding a candied haws squeezed out of the crowd with difficulty and ran towards the land temple.
"It's Doudou." The beautiful woman who had just entered the land temple squatted down and picked up the little girl: "It's so late, why are you running around outside alone?"
"I am……"
"Hey, how come you're back so soon?" The innkeeper, who had just finished checking the bill, was a little surprised to see Bei Qiao coming back. "Did you find the snacks in the food court unpalatable?"
"No, I just met a beautiful woman in the land temple. She smiled at me, and then all the men there started trying to kill me with their eyes." Bei Qiao shrugged: The lethality is not great, but it does affect my mood.
"It's understandable. It's normal for people to be jealous of such a handsome guest." The shopkeeper nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, the woman you met is probably the owner of Wuwei Tower. Her surname is Qi Guan, and she's a famous beauty in our Qingtian City."
"oh?"
"But please don't tell anyone about this for the next few days." The innkeeper looked around, beckoned Bei Qiao to come closer, and whispered in her ear, "Shortly after you checked in, another group of guests arrived. The young master in charge told the innkeeper Qi Guan... you know."
"I understand. Thank you, boss." Bei Qiao nodded and replied in a low voice: "Your beard is sticking up a little."
"Ah?" The shopkeeper took out a bronze mirror from under the counter and looked at his face: "Fuck, thank you!" He didn't wipe his sweat off in time, and the glue on his face was a little less sticky when it came into contact with water. Fortunately, this appearance was not noticed by anyone other than the inn staff.
"You are welcome."
Back in the room, it was already late when Bei Qiao logged off. Today was Sunday, and his parents had to go to work tomorrow. To avoid waking them up, Bei Qiao tried to be as quiet as possible when he went out to wash up, but he still woke Qiao Lin.
"Mom, you didn't sleep?"
"Aren't you asleep yet?"
"I'm going to bed now, good night."
"Good night, go to bed early." Qiao Lin yawned while holding the door. "There are many ways to make money, and you won't starve at home. You don't have to work so hard."
"I know, I didn't work hard, really." Bei Qiao returned to the bed after washing up, and sat down while pounding his legs and recalling: Apart from working basically all year round, from 8 am to 10 pm, and having unstable meal times... well, it seems that I did have a hard time.
Since I've already worked so hard, why not go online and take a look? This Qingtian City seems quite interesting.
Thinking of this, Bei Qiao quietly climbed out of bed, sat on the yoga mat, put on the holographic glasses again, and climbed out of the bed in the inn room. The nightlife outside had not yet ended, and the lanterns in the distance were still bright, but the inn was relatively quiet. I don't know if the guests have not returned yet or have already gone to bed.
Sitting at the table, Bei Qiao opened the Chamber of Commerce quest interface, intending to see if there were any local quests. After eliminating the thankless tasks, Bei Qiao found a warning quest for help. The player who posted the quest claimed that because of their similar appearance to a certain woman, they had been nearly kidnapped and used as a scapegoat several times. They wanted to find a makeup artist to create a face that was visibly different, yet somewhat similar. To this end, she created a group for everyone to discuss, with no limit on the number of people who could join.
Players have denounced the kidnapper's viciousness, but at the same time they also feel that the task she issued is a bit embarrassing. The standard of being neither similar nor dissimilar seems too mysterious and is even more difficult than the colorful black. Since she was almost used as a scapegoat, why not just use a completely different face?
To this, the person responded: "It's not my face that's wrong, it's the people who want me to be the scapegoat. Why should I give up my face and identity because of someone else's fault? I'm just posting this task to try it out. If it doesn't work, I'll fight to the death. Anyway, I can come back as the king in a few years."
Other players: Maybe you can take over their identity? That's a great idea, and they're a big player!
Task Poster: What's so great about this? A bunch of family members who always look for someone else to be their scapegoat. Whoever wants one can have one, but I don't want any of them.
Other players: Hey, we don’t want that either!
A new player in the group: ...Are we off topic?
After being reminded, the quest poster finally realized that the most urgent task now was to find a makeup artist, not to criticize those unruly people: "Is there any makeup artist online? The quest reward can be increased. By the way, a reminder: I'm 1.63 meters tall and weigh 120 kilograms. Female players who live in the same city or nearby and have similar figures and are considered reclusive by outsiders must pay attention to their personal safety. Who knows, one day these people may not be picky about appearance and just find someone with a similar figure and disfigure them to replace them."
"Oh, by the way, I live in Lordan."
"Luodan City? Sounds familiar." Bei Qiao opened the official map: "Sure enough, it's not far from Qingtian City. It can be reached in half a day."
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