Monster Manicure Shop Operation Guide 11

Chapter 11

“Catch, catch them!”
“Such short legs, yet they run so fast!”
“Hey, you can’t climb on the windowsill!”

Fluffy fox cubs scurried around, turning the corridor of the Dimensional Management Bureau into a parkour course.

“Baizhu, keep up! (Looking back with tail in mouth) We can’t give up now!”
“Everyone! (Jumping off the windowsill) I’m coming! (Landing on front left paw)”
“Damn it, don’t underestimate the bond between us!”
“Hey, we’ll keep going, right?!”

They ran with tears streaming down their faces, creating a passionate atmosphere of never-say-die fox spirit.

“What on earth did Boss Ning show you?!”

Lu Huai’s hand split into countless vines, grabbing the cubs one by one, stuffing them into the office, and pushing them to the farthest corner of the room, exhausted. “Stay put, or I’ll spank you!”

The fox cubs lined up against the wall with red eyes, their tails huddled together like a patch of clover.

The administrator raised an eyebrow. Well, they were still designer cubs.

Ning Zhixia was practically a regular at the Bureau now. The administrators passing by, their robotic expressions instantly replaced with friendly smiles as if a new program had been installed, greeted him.

“Boss Ning is here?”
“Boss Ning, are you hungry?”
“Boss Ning, would you like a snack? The most popular slime jelly pie from the 78th plane!”

“No, no…” I value my life.

Ning Zhixia waved his hands like a triple-speed windshield wiper.

As he followed Audrow into the room, Baizhu was being squeezed between his sisters, his lips tightly pursed, tears welling up in his eyes.

The moment he saw the familiar young man, he couldn’t hold back anymore, his voice trembling as he choked out, “Gege, you’re finally here… I’m going to be made into a scarf… wuwuwu…”

With one starting the waterworks, the other cubs were like they’d been infected, raising their heads and wailing, filling the room with their cries. The administrators were at a loss, waving their hands and frantically explaining that they weren’t interested in their fur.

Seeing the sonic attack intensifying, Audrow slowly walked over and bent down towards the tearful cubs, opening his mouth at an angle Ning Zhixia couldn’t see.

“Burp!”

The crying stopped abruptly.

The fox cubs’ eyes widened, as if they had witnessed something terrifying. They all fell silent, not daring to move, and sniffed the air vigorously.

Ning Zhixia curiously leaned forward to see: “What are you doing?”

Audrow had already turned around, blinking at him with a normal expression, putting a finger to his lips to demonstrate: “Just shushed them.”

Ning Zhixia believed him without a doubt, nodding repeatedly: “Oh, oh.”

Audrow’s lips curled into a smile, and he looked at the quiet cubs again.

He extended a long finger, his eyes narrowed as if picking soldiers, moving back and forth over the trembling heads, finally stopping on top of Baizhu’s head.

Baizhu’s small hands trembled: “Eep!”

Audrow poked Baizhu’s back, pushing him out from the row of fluffy cubs.

Baizhu immediately pounced and hugged Ning Zhixia’s leg: “Ning gege!”

Ning Zhixia: “Ouch, ouch, be gentle! Didn’t you go back to your own plane?”

“N-no…” Baizhu lowered his head and confessed, “We snuck out when the time came… to teach that bad lady a lesson!”

What?

No wonder she had gone silent!

Ning Zhixia rubbed his hands excitedly: “What other surpri—”

The administrators, covered in paw prints, coughed dryly.

“…rises I don’t know about.” Ning Zhixia quickly changed his words.

The fox cubs hugged their tails and whimpered pitifully: “We wanted to avenge you.”

Audrow said slowly, “Every plane has its own rules. From the Bureau’s perspective, you can’t interfere across planes.”

Ning Zhixia tentatively added, “Then from your personal perspective…”

“Not thorough enough.” Audrow commented with interest.

It was as if, if he wasn’t the director of the Bureau, he would immediately show the fox cubs how it’s done.

His eager expression made the administrators clutch their chests and cough as if they had tuberculosis, closing their eyes in exhaustion.

Having you as our director is a blessing.

Ning Zhixia couldn’t help but ask, “What did you do to Mrs. Jin?”

The fox cubs looked at each other and gestured tearfully: “We didn’t do anything serious, just scared her with nightmares…”

They held back tears, hugging their tails and sobbing as they recounted what happened, then suddenly shook out a few chicken feathers.

Ning Zhixia picked them up, shaking them in confusion: “Where did you get these?”

Audrow added calmly, “She got lost from the residential area and ended up in the suburbs. When the administrators found her, she was having an all-you-can-eat buffet in a chicken coop.”

“Hee hee.” The fox cubs smacked their lips in reminiscence. “It was late, and since we were already there…”

Ning Zhixia was shocked: “You ate them without even plucking the feathers?!”

Everyone turned to look at him: “!”

Dude, is that the point?!

Remembering that they had snuck out through his connection point, Ning Zhixia quickly rubbed his hands sheepishly, “Sorry about that, my personal problems took up public resources…”

Lu Huai waved his hand quickly: “It’s fine, it’s just a small matter.”

In the end, it was Mrs. Jin who had provoked these vengeful creatures. Fortunately, the fox cubs weren’t that powerful, and apart from being scared, she wasn’t harmed.

Seeing the fox cubs obediently lining up and returning home through the passage Audrow opened, Ning Zhixia breathed a sigh of relief.

He left with Audrow, and when they reached the stairs and waited for the elevator, Ning Zhixia froze.

The elevator in front of him didn’t have any strange stickers. It looked normal, and even its location had changed…

Ning Zhixia tilted his head and looked at the previous location of the elevator, finding only a solid wall.

He paused and asked Audrow, “Where’s the old elevator?”

“It was too ugly, so it went into seclusion.” Audrow glanced at the white wall, a hint of regret in his voice.

Ning Zhixia: “…”

His intuition told him it was best not to ask what that thing was.

Soon, the black car stopped on Qingxi Road. Seeing Audrow get out of the car as well, Ning Zhixia felt that he was being too polite, scratching his head and saying embarrassedly, “I’ve caused you a lot of trouble today, you can just drop me off here.”

“I’m going to the bakery next to your house.” Audrow pointed in a direction by the road.

Ning Zhixia said dryly, “Your bluntness makes my politeness seem awkward.”

Audrow paused and asked seriously, “Want a do-over?”

Are you really playing a dating sim and reloading saves?!

Ning Zhixia mentally deducted half a point and said, “No.”

The trip to the Bureau hadn’t taken long. In the spring afternoon, the light and shadows swayed gently on their shoulders. As they approached number 19, Ning Zhixia tilted his head and sniffed, quickly picking up the aroma of baking, filled with the scent of cream and nuts.

As expected, the bakery’s glass display window was filled with freshly baked bread, and several couples sat leisurely by the window, chatting softly and eating small cakes.

Amidst the pink, bubbly atmosphere, Audrow walked straight in, then seemed to remember something and asked Ning Zhixia, “Want anything?”

Ning Zhixia didn’t want anything sweet at the moment, so he shook his head: “Don’t mind me, order what you want.”

“Okay.”

Audrow went to the counter and looked intently at the dessert menu.

Even in a simple, light-colored cardigan, his outstanding appearance still attracted glances.

The clerk recognized Ning Zhixia. Seeing them come in together, she quickly looked over, a warm smile on her face.

What a lovely time, what a lovely scene, sitting together under the fragrant trees, sharing a plate of small jam-filled cakes… You take a bite, I take a bite…

Hmm, so blissful!

Lost in her lighthearted fantasy, she heard the model-like young man with long hair slowly say—

“Three lava croissants, two strawberry donuts, one ice cream puff, one vanilla cream puff, one slice each of taro, mint chocolate, and matcha raspberry cakes, and a box of seaweed floss bread rolls… that’s all, all for takeaway.”

The clerk was bewildered: “?”

That’s all?

The clerk’s heart turned to ashes. What a bottomless pit, a spring date for two instantly turned into a competitive eating competition.

A moment later, Audrow walked out of the shop with a large bag of desserts and Ning Zhixia.

Ning Zhixia felt like he was surrounded by the sweet aroma and couldn’t help but ask, “You seem to really like sweets?”

“Yes.” Audrow nodded, thought for a moment, and said, “I haven’t had them before.”

“Ah… I see…”

No wonder he refused to talk about which plane he came from. It must be a very isolated and backward place. He didn’t know how much this person had suffered.

Ning Zhixia opened his mouth, feeling a sudden pang of sympathy, but still couldn’t help but say, “You should still practice moderation, you’ll gain weight if you eat too much.”

Audrow raised an eyebrow: “It’s fine, I exercise a lot.”

“…Okay.”

Ning Zhixia scratched his head. When they reached the wall outside number 19, he hesitated for a moment, then brought up Mrs. Jin’s good luck. “Um… if the little foxes hadn’t interfered, would it have been difficult to punish Mrs. Jin?”

“Your plane emphasizes luck. Her good luck has almost run out.”

Audrow blinked. “As for the future, you’ll find out soon.”

Ning Zhixia looked at him: “You know, your tone makes you sound like a fortune teller, a foreign fortune teller at that.”

Audrow: “During working hours, I need to adapt to your local style.”

“Hmm, why so cryptic…”

Ning Zhixia was confused, but the other party didn’t seem to want to continue the conversation, walking away slowly with his large bag of desserts as if returning from a market.

At this moment, Qu Banqing’s loud voice came from inside the house.

“Ning Zhixia, where have you been? Hurry up and come back for dinner!”

Qu Banqing, wearing a panda apron, stood at the door, waving a spatula and calling, “Meow, meow, meow…”

What, dinner’s ready!

Ning Zhixia stopped thinking and happily trotted back: “Coming, coming!”

After clarifying the situation on his account, many people liked the post and waited for updates. A few days later, Ning Zhixia finally understood what cryptic Xiao Ao meant.

As Audrow had said, after learning that the negative reviews on Ning Zhixia’s shop had been deleted, the owners of other shops on Qingxi Road compiled a list of Mrs. Jin’s freeloading exploits. Unfortunately, the amount wasn’t large, and the police only gave her a verbal warning.

However, someone seemed indignant and reported the incidents to the local media. Soon, reporters came knocking, and Mrs. Jin didn’t dare leave her house. Her son and daughter-in-law were embarrassed and, finding her muttering to herself with her ears covered all day, sent her back to her hometown and ignored her.

With the negative review incident over, the supportive fans left messages celebrating.

“I knew it, how could she claim to have an allergic reaction without any evidence? Definitely a freeloader!”
“That balm smells really good. I didn’t spend 500 yuan, but Boss Ning always puts some on my hands after my manicure!”
“The scent lasts so long, my wrists still smell fragrant the next day!”
“Stop talking about the price, the shop has a price list, it’s not expensive for Yucheng, and the quality is definitely worth the price!”
“[picture] I don’t know if it’s metaphysics, but I chose gold flowers for my dried flower manicure, and my luck has been inexplicably good lately!”
“Girl, that’s definitely attracting wealth! I’ll get one next time!”

The gossip thread instantly turned into a thread for sharing manicure photos, attracting many people to follow the shop. The dried flower series became very popular, especially the gold dried flowers.

The shop was now bustling. Daytime appointments were fully booked, and occasionally Su Qiushui would bring powerful Yokai for evening appointments. Ning Zhixia and Qu Banqing calculated their earnings, and in the past half month, without being too tired, they had actually earned fifty to sixty thousand yuan.

They hugged each other and cried tears of joy, determined to experience the high life with their hard-earned money.

Ning Zhixia slammed the table: “From now on, we’ll eat KFC every day except Thursdays!”

Qu Banqing followed suit: “I’m going to get a membership and never turn off auto-renewal!”

They both yelled triumphantly: “Muahahahaha—”