After quickly downing a piece of bread, Bo Ting donned his hood and headed out, discovering… there really was construction.
A milk tea shop was opening right outside their neighborhood!
And it was the same chain he’d tried at Tianxin Mall last time.
Bo Ting’s eyes lit up.
He hadn’t expected such good fortune.
Their remote little neighborhood finally had a place to spend money at the door!
He adjusted his shark head and approached the worker in renovation gear who was painting the wall, patting his shoulder.
“Bro, doing renovations?”
“When’s the opening about?”
The captain of the Fourth Ability User Squad stiffened, not expecting to be patted on the back out of nowhere.
He nearly turned to defend himself, but then recognized the voice of the one patting him as… that weird from Taiping Luxury Garden?
The Fourth Ability User Squad captain fought down his scalp-tingling fear and turned around.
Sure enough, there was the familiar plush shark head.
“Yeah.”
“New store opening, just painting the walls.”
“Business starts tomorrow, probably.”
Ah?
Opening so soon?
Bo Ting felt even happier.
Not only had his favorite milk tea shop opened a branch right at their doorstep, but he could drink it tomorrow.
“This won’t overload you guys, right?”
“You look busy. Let me help out.”
Bo Ting rarely helped others.
He spoke up now purely because these renovation bros seemed so dedicated.
Assembling a whole milk tea shop in a day—was this Mengjia City’s efficiency?
Meng Xiaokun choked a bit. He hadn’t expected this weird to offer help.
How could they let that happen?
God knew what chaos would ensue if It “helped.”
In a flash, he came up with a refusal.
“Thanks, sir, but the boss has rules—it’s all tied to wages.”
“We got it ourselves.”
“Oh, I see.” Bo Ting felt a bit regretful.
Watching the workers hustling with wood and materials, he pondered.
“I’ll go grab you some water then.”
As for why not buy from the nearby convenience store.
Bo Ting figured you save where you can and spend where you should. Home was right upstairs—filling water there was even thriftier, right?
Not like it was far.
After smiling at the crew’s Meng bro, Bo Ting went upstairs to fetch water.
Down below by Yunhe Convenience Store, Meng Xiaokun came back to himself and exhaled.
“Scared me to death.”
“Didn’t expect this weird to come supervise.”
“Got to report to Captain Zheng.”
The Fourth Ability User Squad members all nodded frantically.
To be honest, in that instant when the shark-head guy suddenly appeared, their hearts nearly stopped beating.
“Opening a shop at the entrance of [Taiping Luxury Garden]—that’s way too thrilling.”
A young team member muttered from behind.
They listened as Meng Xiaokun reported the situation upward.
The group muttered a few words and was just about to get back to work when the incident wasn’t over yet. Looking up, they saw that figure in the black hoodie emerging again.
And this time… he was actually carrying a big bucket of water?
Wait, no way it’s for them to drink, right?
The Fourth Esper Squad members’ faces stiffened.
Bo Ting had gone and returned. Upon coming back, he flexed his wrists and looked toward Captain Meng, who had just spoken.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“This is freshly fetched water—you can drink it right away.”
Nothing else to say, but their neighborhood’s water quality was top-notch, apparently some kind of mountain spring water.
Bo Ting glanced around and was even more satisfied upon seeing that the workers all had cups.
“Everyone, come one by one to fill up.”
“Don’t worry, one big bucket—enough for all of you.”
The air fell into an inexplicable silence.
After Bo Ting finished speaking, the Fourth Esper Squad members instantly didn’t know how to react.
Meng Xiaokun had been given a ton of instructions before arriving, but damn it, not a single one covered what to do in a situation like this?!
Too ridiculous.
The “helpful” weirdo had actually brought them water.
The question was: Could they drink it?
He tried to struggle a bit and politely refuse.
“Thank you, sir.”
“But we’re not thirsty yet—how about we leave it for now?”
As soon as he said it, he saw the shark-head guy across from him hesitate for a moment. Meng Xiaokun instantly got chills and quickly backpedaled:
“Uh, we can drink it now too.”
Bo Ting: …?
He was a bit baffled by this Meng guy’s inexplicable shift.
Still, drinking now was definitely better—after all, he wanted to take the bucket back.
In no time, Bo Ting had filled everyone’s cups.
Clear spring water poured into the cups.
The team member in charge of medical checked it.
No reaction from his ability.
Ordinary purified water? He breathed a slight sigh of relief and signaled to the front.
Only then did Meng Xiaokun relax a little. He gritted his teeth and took a sip.
“Not bad.”
“In this scorching heat, it’s instantly refreshing. Thanks a lot.”
Bo Ting quickly waved it off.
“No problem.”
“You’re welcome.”
Meng Xiaokun choked again. At this point, he could only dry laugh and point to the side.
“Then we’ll get back to work?”
“Go ahead.”
“I’m heading upstairs soon too.”
Bo Ting only took the bucket and left after watching the renovation workers resume their busy work.
As soon as he entered the neighborhood, he eagerly messaged Mr. Xu.
“Mr. Xu, good news!”
“A new milk tea shop just opened at our neighborhood entrance.”
“So happy.”
“Slackers are about to faint from joy.”
Xu Qinglai’s expression turned strange for a moment.
A milk tea shop at [Taiping Luxury Garden]’s entrance?
Doubt had just risen in his mind when he heard Bo Ting recount the encounter with the renovation team—especially that Captain Meng.
Surname Meng, somewhat sparse hair… so it was Meng Xiaokun from the Resurgence Management Office’s Fourth Squad.
The doubt was fully resolved, but what puzzled Xu Qinglai even more was: Why was the Resurgence Management Office opening a shop at [Taiping Luxury Garden]’s entrance?
To better observe Bo Ting, or something else?
The thought flashed through his mind and vanished.
When he looked back at the screen, Bo Ting was already snatching online milk tea double-cup coupons. Xu Qinglai couldn’t help but pause.
Bo Ting: “Mr. Xu, I’ll buy some now and bring you one tomorrow when I head out.”
All the thoughts in Xu Qinglai’s mind came to a weird halt at that sentence.
Xu Qinglai lowered his eyes, recalling the cloyingly sweet milk tea from their last time at Tianxin Cinema. He really wanted to say he didn’t like this stuff.
But seeing Bo Ting’s excited vibe on the other end of the phone, he inexplicably swallowed the words.
“Sure.”
“I like it too.”
As he typed the baffling reply, Xu Qinglai instinctively frowned—but after a moment, he slowly relaxed.
…
The next day, Bo Ting headed out in the morning and sure enough spotted the new milk tea shop next to Yunhe Convenience Store.
It was a small shop, only about twenty square meters, looking a bit deserted. At a glance inside, there were just two or three staff members, bored and sitting at the counter scrolling on their phones.
Bo Ting smiled and walked over, gently knocking on the counter.
“Hello, I’d like to buy some milk tea.”
Suddenly, the two milk tea shop staff snapped alert.
One of the girls glanced at the menu and tried to calmly ask:
“Hello, what can I get for you?”
Bo Ting looked a bit embarrassed.
“I snagged a double-cup coupon yesterday—can I use it?”
Double-cup coupon…
Hearing such an everyday term come out of [Taiping Luxury Garden]’s resident felt so weird.
Yan Qian froze for a second, then immediately reacted.
“Of course.”
“Our chain stores all accept them.”
Ah, good.
He’d been worried the new shop wouldn’t take it, or that it was a fake chain.
This kind of thing had happened before. Bo Ting had been concerned it was a knockoff at their entrance, but now it seemed legit.
He quickly verified the coupon and bought two cups of milk tea.
Bo Ting stood at the counter waiting.
Maybe because the new machine was a bit glitchy, but this shop was way slower than the ones on the commercial street before.
Clearly, he was the only customer, yet it felt like he’d waited through a line of thousands.
Bo Ting glanced inside—the staff were making ice, probably inexperienced, as the ice kept flying out of the cup every now and then, forcing them to remake it.
Bo Ting: …
The shop had opened so fast; the staff probably hadn’t had time for training.
Understandable.
Totally understandable.
Bo Ting waited patiently.
Ten minutes later, the backend staff finally finished one cup and handed it out through the glass.
“Careful not to spill.”
“Freshly made lemon tea—please drink it soon.”
Bo Ting nodded.
“Thanks.”
With the other cup still struggling in production, Bo Ting pulled out his phone to scroll some short videos.
But as soon as he opened it, his phone vibrated.
—The hacker he’d blacklisted yesterday had switched numbers to message him again, launching straight into a poetic recitation.
“You are… zzz… the eroding… abyss, malicious… performer, in the darkness… snickering… zzz… clown.”
Bo Ting: …???
What the hell?
Had the blacklist driven him completely insane?
Snickering clown? Made him sound like a villain.
He was a good AC unit!
Bo Ting frowned deeply.
Meanwhile, at the counter, Yan Qian accidentally caught a glimpse of the message with her peripheral vision. Her body stiffened instantly, eyes widening.
