Chapter 9 - The First Celestial Teahouse

…

The door of the old teahouse's entrance was pasted with commercials from several advertising companies, with one rather special one piece sticking out like a sore thumb.

'Available for leasing, for more information, contact Liu Mang at 123-xxx-xxx'

It was evident that Old Liu was trying to lease out his old teahouse.

Unfortunately or fortunately, it was apparent that no one had taken up his offer as there was no sign of anyone having the intention to renovate or clean up the place.

Only now, had Li Qu been most probably the first one to take an interest in this rundown teahouse.

As they walked in, they could see that the wooden floorboards at the dining area was stained with water marks. Presumably from the tea accidentally spilled by the people here previously.

"Uh, as you can see… It's not that tidy right now. A-ahaha… But I bet you could give this place a new life!"

Xia Qiu stated with the confidence of an athlete that sprained his ankle in a 500m run halfway through with the intention to get first place. Even she herself did not honestly think that it was too feasible after taking a quick look.

Li Qu looked at her with a mysterious gaze, but Xia Qiu thought that he was silently mocking her with that gaze for bringing him to this semi-deserted street with a rundown teahouse.

"I-I'm sorry… it's just that Old Liu was my father's good friend! I just wanted to try and see if you would consider it and try to help Old Liu… Forget it, let me call someone and find out if there's a better suited location for you."

Xia Qiu inwardly sighed and thought that, as expected, coincidences would not be so far-fetched and go smoothly every time.

"Hold on, I have taken an interest in this rather dilapidated teahouse. Since you are so honest to tell me about your circumstances. I will take you up on your offer."

Li Qu said with a generous smile.

Right now, in Xia Qiu's eyes, he looked like he was absolutely glowing with the aura of a Saint.

"R-really? That's great!! I'll inform Old Liu right away. Thank you so much for trusting me! You're a really good guy, hehe~"

Xia Qiu's eyes glimmered, as she said with delight.

'I'm a good guy? Heh… I have never heard of anyone calling me a good guy before.'

Li Qu thought of the horror that he caused to the people throughout his past life and gave a deprecating laugh.

This life was truly different.

"Alright, calm down. I will settle these things myself. You don't need to get involved; you have been a great help already."

"Ok… If you need any help just let me know! O-oh, I have a phone call, I'll be right back!"

As Xia Qiu was offering her assistance to Li Qu, the phone in her bag started ringing with her ringtone of a song from a famous internet singer.

*'What else is there to wait for~ What other sorrows are there~ The people in this story aren't too exciting~'

Xia Qiu walked away to pick up her call while Li Qu started chatting with his system.

"Hey, System, if you renovate this place overnight, how can you handle Xia Qiu if she discovers that the teahouse was magically renovated by tomorrow?"

[Host, the system would not touch the people that has karmic fate with you, as such, you would need to handle Xia Qiu yourself.]

"Interesting… Karmic fate. I did not notice before but now that I look at it closely, I can see her lines of karma from the Karmic World weaving around me. Haha! This is truly interesting!"

Li Qu gave a laugh as he saw some things. He proceeded to sit down on one of the chairs around the dining room and spread out his spiritual sense.

Voooom!

He spread it out just enough to cover the whole Hua Town and observed calmly to detect any unusualness.

'That guy in the restaurant? Hmm… Trying to keep track of me? I would have to give you a little punishment. If you have any evil intentions, then… You can't blame me.'

Trrrak Trrak Trrak!

A devilish smirk appeared on Li Qu's face, and he strummed his fingers on the table with apparent interest in Mike and perhaps, the unknown organization behind him.

Just as he was in deep thought, he noticed at the corner of his eyes, that Xia Qiu was back with a heavy countenance.

"I'm back… My dad called me and said that his people found Ying unconscious among the rubbish bags beside the restaurant just now."

"Hmm… Who's targeting you?"

Li Qu pretended not to know of anything and asked.

"I don't know, but my dad said everything's fine and not to worry. But if I find out who is the one targeting me with evil intentions, I'll not let him have an easy life. I know I have no powers, but I don't think people will be so stupid as to mess with me."

Xia Qiu switched to her cold emotionless side. It was truly fascinating how fast she can switch her mood.

After a short while with the intense atmosphere surrounding Xia Qu, she snapped back and asked Li Qu.

"Will you be alright by yourself? My dad asked me to go home first. I hope to see you again… C-can I have your W-WeTalk?"

Xia Qiu's mood was like a rollercoaster. The ups and downs were quite unpredictable, but one thing was for sure;

She was extremely daring, but not while still remaining a little reservation as compared to the conservative Hua Country girl counterparts.

It was most probably because of the fact that she grew up in the Mei Country where people here were more open-minded.

Li Qu was perplexed at the term, 'WeTalk'. It seemed like he had a lot to learn in regards to Earth's culture.

'System, what is this 'WeTalk' that she asked for? I do not think I have this so called 'WeTalk', or is it perhaps some sort of special ritual for mortals on Earth?'

Li Qu asked his system internally while still maintaining a calm demeanor.

[Host, in the terms of Black Heaven Realm, it can be explained that Xia Qiu is asking for your communication talisman.]

'My communication talisman…! The last one that I gave out was about 20,000 years ago to my disciple, it seems like an old man like me is still pretty well received, no?'

Li Qu chuckled at his own thoughts and shook his head lightly, his fist clenched and a badge with the shape of short sword with two chains intersecting that wrapped around the blade started appearing in his fists.

"Here, this is something for you to find me with. If you need to contact me, just hold it in your hands, clench it up in your fists and talk to it. I do not have this thing called 'WeTalk' that you speak of."

He opened up his fist and threw the badge over to Xia Qiu and he gave her a simple introduction on how to use the badge.

"What's that? This material feels like… Is it obsidian?! That's quite a valuable material! Where did you get it? Anyway, the way to use it is so weird… Are you sure it even works…?"

Xia Qiu was skeptical of what Li Qu said, but she still caught the badge and observed it while unleashing a barrage of questions in the meantime, but Li Qu just smiled and did not bother to explain anymore.

"Take it or leave it, that is all I have right now. That material is not obsidian, you will know soon."

Li Qu said with a cryptic tone.

"Ok ok, I'll take it! You didn't bring your phone with you right? You don't need to act so eccentric you know? It's pretty funny, hehehe. I needa go, I-I'll write my WeTalk ID on a piece of paper and if you want to, just add me next time. Bye~!"

Xia Qiu giggled and left quickly as she secretly admired her own courage by giving Li Qu her WeTalk ID despite what seemed like him rejecting her with a vague reason.

…

After Xia Qiu left, Li Qu was all alone in the soon-to-be renovated teahouse.

He finally had time for himself as he prompted the system with a hint of enthusiasm for the upcoming reward.

"System, the mission should be completed by now, no?"

[…]

[Mission Accomplished!]

[ Mission: Find a suitable place to establish the first Celestial Teahouse on Earth! 1/1]

[Renovation starting in – 5h:16m]

[Reward: Box containing Jade Agarwood Incense Sticks x2 will be placed in Host's inventory.]

…

* It’s a real song called Qu Nian Xia Tian, or 去年夏天, you can search for it~ If you want the link of the song, let me know in the comments!