Monster Manicure Shop Operation Guide 28

Chapter 28

A red three-wheeled vehicle pulled up to the courtyard, and the tearful pleas for mercy instantly stopped.

The administrators looked over, tears in their eyes: “Oh? What’s this?”

Audrow lazily opened his eyes, a spark of interest finally appearing in his usually listless gaze. He pushed his two subordinates aside and turned around.

An old man with a QR code sign got out of the vehicle. The back was filled with colorful, old-fashioned thermoses.

Ning Zhixia knew these thermoses well. Some were warm, some were cold, filled with peanut milk, mung bean soup, peach gum dessert… each one delicious. He had often had them as a child.

Five minutes later, the administrators, their faces filled with relief, left with two stacks of takeaway boxes.

Audrow didn’t leave immediately. After paying, he saw Ning Zhixia setting up a folding lounge chair, and walked over to sit beside him.

The eaves blocked the harsh sunlight, the doors and windows were open, and a gentle breeze blew through.

Ning Zhixia and Audrow each held a cup of iced peach gum dessert, eating it with small plastic spoons.

This was the local name for a dessert made of peach gum, cleaned and simmered with rock sugar. It was soft, translucent, and refreshing, delicious even at room temperature, but even better chilled in this season.

The vendors selling this dessert didn’t have a fixed location, always moving between hot pot and barbecue restaurants, so it wasn’t always easy to find.

Ning Zhixia finished most of his cup and smacked his lips contentedly: “Audrow, how did you know the dessert vendor would come here?”

Audrow’s cup was already empty. He leaned back in the chair, the newly hung pearl wind chimes tinkling gently in the breeze, his eyes half-closed.

Only when his sleeve was tugged, creating wrinkles, did he turn his head and look over, his voice slightly lazy: “Hmm? What?”

Ning Zhixia obediently asked again.

“I downloaded a new food review app, it has recommendations.” Audrow showed him his phone, a hint of pride in his voice, clearly having mastered this human smart tool.

Ning Zhixia then noticed that his phone was the latest model, top-of-the-line, and examined it excitedly: “You got a new phone!”

“From Yin Fuliu…” Audrow paused, then said concisely, “She gave it to me.”

Ning Zhixia was suspicious: “Really?” He still remembered Yin Fuliu struggling to untangle her tail.

“Really.” Audrow thought for a moment and emphasized, “She insisted.”

Ning Zhixia sighed: “She’s so generous.”

He took a sip of his peach gum dessert, then asked, “But why did she give it to you?”

“I don’t know, maybe because I’m prettier than her, captivated by my beauty, perhaps.”

One lie led to another. He didn’t care whether the young man believed him or not, Audrow simply made something up.

The slanting sunlight gently outlined his handsome profile.

Ning Zhixia stared, mesmerized, finding it very convincing, and nodded repeatedly: “Oh, oh, I see!”

He actually believed it?

His light-colored eyes widened slightly. Audrow stared at him for a while, and the young man blinked, tilting his head in confusion: “?”

Audrow paused and gently ruffled his soft hair.

Smart human, occasionally stupid, but…

Quite often, actually.

They threw their empty plastic cups into the trash can inside. This was for general waste and could be thrown in the living room trash can. If they threw it in the wrong bin, Qu Banqing would lecture them and knock their heads.

Audrow hadn’t been here for a while and curiously touched the new bottles and jars on the shelves.

Beside him was the display case with pearl jewelry, and some unfinished materials scattered on the table.

“Pearls from the sirens?” Audrow picked one up and examined it, then held it up to the bright sunlight.

Ning Zhixia came over after throwing away the trash: “Yes, they gave me a whole bag.”

The young man’s slightly puzzled face and the pearl appeared in his vision simultaneously. Audrow compared them, placed the pearl back on the table, and said faintly, “It’s not shiny enough.”

“Hmm? This isn’t shiny enough? It’s even shinier than the pearls from our sea. The jewelry made from them is very popular.” Ning Zhixia took a pendant from the top of the display stand.

It was a small octopus pendant made of a slightly pinkish baroque pearl, newly finished by Qu Banqing.

Ning Zhixia said proudly: “Cute, right? It looks like a mini Popokula, I love it!”

Audrow stared at the pink octopus pendant for a long time, his lips pressed into a thin line, his voice cold and disapproving: “Not cute, not pretty.”

Ning Zhixia: “Huh?”

Just as he was about to retort, Audrow picked up the baroque pearl and started working on it with the tools on the table, silently.

“What are you making?” Ning Zhixia leaned closer, intrigued.

Audrow stopped, his light-colored eyes cold as he looked down and pushed him away mercilessly.

Ning Zhixia pouted, feeling snubbed. It seemed he wouldn’t get to see it until it was finished.

“Here.”

Not long after, Audrow gestured for him to extend his hand, and a small fish pendant appeared in his palm.

The cream-colored baroque pearl was inlaid with small fan-shaped pieces as fins, the eyes perfectly placed, making it look quite lively.

Ning Zhixia touched it lovingly, then heard a casual voice from above: “Compared to the octopus, which one is prettier?”

“Both—” Ning Zhixia had just uttered one syllable when a heavy gaze fell upon him.

Audrow pinched his chin, tilting it upwards, his light-colored eyes gleaming with amusement as he asked, “Both what? Tell me, I won’t be angry.”

“Both are mesmerizingly beautiful…”

Ning Zhixia quickly added before his chin turned red, “But I like the little fish more!”

“Thank you, you have good taste.”

Audrow blinked, his fingers releasing his chin. He picked up the little fish pendant, went to the display case, and unceremoniously pushed the octopus pendant aside, placing his little fish at the top.

Ning Zhixia rubbed his chin, his expression complicated. What was this strange competitiveness?

Audrow admired his work for a while, then prepared to leave. Just as he was about to go, he seemed to remember something, turned around, and said, “Your popularity is high recently, and there might be new planes connecting. If anything happens, have Qu Banqing contact Lu Huai.”

“Contact Lu Huai?” Ning Zhixia paused and asked, “Are you going somewhere?”

“Vacation.” Audrow glanced at him and added, “Not for long.”

“Eh? Who made this ugly fish?”

Qu Banqing returned with his shopping basket, stood in front of the display case, his brow furrowed, and muttered disapprovingly, “Why is it in the most prominent spot?”

Ning Zhixia was waiting for a customer and replied casually, “Audrow made it.”

Qu Banqing immediately retracted his finger, which had been about to flick the little fish away.

He gave the octopus pendants on either side a meaningful look, shook his head, humming a tune, and went into the kitchen with his basket.

Ning Zhixia silently scratched his face, took the little fish pendant from the display case, and put it in his pocket.

Just as he patted his pocket, the new customer arrived on time.

“Mrs. Li, what design are you looking for today?” This wealthy lady was a regular customer introduced by He Mingzhu. She lived in the affluent district of Yucheng and often came to get a new manicure and enjoy the ocean mud hand mask.

“I’m going to a charity gala tomorrow, choose something suitable.” Mrs. Li put down her bag, sat down, and continued, “And the usual hand mask afterwards, with extra gold dried flowers. You wouldn’t believe it, my luck at mahjong has been incredible every time I get it done!”

“Your hands are so beautiful, everyone’s too busy admiring them and your nails to even count the tiles.” Ning Zhixia thought to himself that the fox cubs’ dried flower metaphysics was too powerful, and quickly complimented her to change the subject.

“You’re such a sweet talker.” The wealthy ladies in her mahjong circle had indeed asked her about her hand care routine more than once, and now, with Ning Zhixia’s compliments, Mrs. Li was very pleased.

She showed him a picture of her dress and asked him to create a special design. Money wasn’t an issue, the important thing was to subtly… outshine everyone!

Ning Zhixia gulped and looked down at the picture of the evening gown.

It was a moonlight silk dress, elegant, simple, and clean, very much in line with the recent “old money” trend among the wealthy.

Ning Zhixia quickly sketched a design and asked, “How about this?”

The nail art he designed used a translucent, moon-white base with pearlescent watercolor accents, and instead of Swarovski crystals, he used pearls as decorations.

“Hmm?” Mrs. Li put on her reading glasses, squinted at the design, and hesitated, “Why pearls?”

“Your dress is simple and elegant, Swarovski crystals would be too flashy…” Ning Zhixia patiently explained that pearls, whether paired with simple or extravagant outfits, always enhanced a woman’s elegance with their natural, gentle luster.

“Of course I understand.” Mrs. Li smiled and shook her head, then said to him, “But if you’re going to use cheap freshwater pearls or plastic beads on my nails, tsk, tsk… that would only backfire.”

Ning Zhixia blinked: “I wouldn’t waste any customer’s time, especially a VIP client like you who can afford the best.”

Mrs. Li was amused, but still requested to replace the decorations on one hand with her own crystals, leaving the other hand to Ning Zhixia’s design.

Ning Zhixia naturally prioritized her wishes and started working.

The base coat and pearlescent watercolor blend weren’t the main focus. This was like preparing the canvas, and the real artistry came next.

The dress had no other colors, so besides the jewelry Mrs. Li would be wearing, the remaining colors had to be showcased on her nails.

He dipped a striping brush in gold sculpting gel and drew a crescent moon on her thumb, then added two curves extending upwards, like a necklace.

There were still many small baroque pearls from the sirens that he hadn’t used. Ning Zhixia took out the box, picked a slightly flat, silver-colored pearl, and carefully placed it in the center of the gold crescent moon.

Mrs. Li was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Ning Zhixia to use real pearls.

Many baroque pearl decorations in nail art were made of sculpting gel and aurora powder. They were shinier than plastic beads but more time-consuming to make and couldn’t compare to real pearls, and there was even a risk of them looking like a giant oyster.

Ning Zhixia continued working on the design, but Mrs. Li stared at the jar of pearls, speechless.

She had a discerning eye. Baroque pearls usually had small pits or cracks, and finding one as flawless as the one in Ning Zhixia’s hand wasn’t easy.

She couldn’t believe he had a whole box of them, hoarding so many expensive materials. No wonder he had been so confident earlier.

As she marveled at it, Ning Zhixia moved on to the other fingers, carefully selecting petal-shaped pearls from the box and arranging them into lilac flowers of different sizes on her nails, adding gold glitter to the centers.

Because the baroque petal pearls were already quite dynamic, only three were needed to create the natural blooming posture of a lilac flower.

“Where did you get these baroque pearls?” Mrs. Li asked excitedly, looking at the finished product.

Ning Zhixia, of course, couldn’t say they were the sirens’ discarded trinkets, so he used his prepared excuse: “A friend from abroad gave them to me, I don’t have many left, they might be gone after this batch.”

“What, then wait…”

Hearing that it was a limited item, Mrs. Li quickly changed her mind. “Don’t use crystals on the other hand, use pearls for all of them, just like your design!”

“Sure, no problem.”

Ning Zhixia did the same for the index and ring fingers of her other hand, but the remaining fingers couldn’t be too complex.

He chose to create folds with builder gel, applying it diagonally and trimming the excess, repeating the process twice, creating delicate, translucent ribbons on the nails.

This meticulous work was time-consuming. Qu Banqing, having finished preparing dinner, saw that it was almost seven o’clock and quickly came to help.

When they finished, Mrs. Li had completely forgotten about her own crystals, admiring her hands excitedly like a child about to go on a field trip, impatiently waiting for the gala.

Because of the lilac flowers made of assembled pearls, he had used twenty baroque pearls in total. Ning Zhixia charged her the highest price for Swarovski crystals, fifty yuan per pearl, plus other fees, for a total of 1500 yuan.

Mrs. Li paid readily, muttering that Xiao Ning should raise his prices.

Ning Zhixia’s heart skipped a beat. Damn, did I charge too little?!

After a busy afternoon, Ning Zhixia saw off the customer just as the plane passage opened, and he and Qu Banqing brought the still-warm dinner to the coffee table in the living room.

“I wonder if the fox cubs and Popo are coming tonight…” Dinner was simple tonight, just braised beef short ribs and loofah with shrimp paste soup. Ning Zhixia kept looking at the window, wondering if he should add another bowl of rice.

“Just eat, no need to save any.”

Qu Banqing waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine if the fox cubs come, there are still some leftover chicken legs and turkey noodles in the kitchen, enough for a snack.”

As for Popokula… it was probably happier watching the kittens eat than having a feast itself.

“Okay.”

Ning Zhixia relaxed and started eating heartily.

After dinner and washing the dishes, he and Qu Banqing exchanged a look and rubbed their hands together mischievously.

“Done with work.”

“Yes!”

“No one else is here…” Ning Zhixia said excitedly, “Why don’t we watch something interesting?”

“Sure!”

Qu Banqing understood and turned on the TV.

The light from the screen flickered on their happy faces, neither of them noticing the changes outside the window.

Soon, a cheerful melody filled the room—

“My Little Pony—”

The two of them swayed happily: “Ahh, ahh, ahh…”

“Boom!!!”

With a deafening explosion, cracks appeared on the white wall like a spiderweb, and the front door was kicked down.

Ning Zhixia: “My house!”

Why so much disaster?!

A white, eerie mist filled the air outside, and the crisp sound of hooves echoed nearby.

The kittens, frightened, burrowed into their arms, only their little heads peeking out, trembling along with their terrified owners.

As the sound of hooves drew closer, Qu Banqing seemed to realize something, his eyes narrowing, the metal wings on the sides of his head gleaming, and he pulled his friend behind him with his tail.

Ning Zhixia coughed and waved away the smoke. Just as he could almost make out the blurry figure in the white mist, his eyes widened—

Not My Little Pony, but My Little Pony… Violence!