"Why the price hike on the small ones?" Su Feng pointed at the miniatures on the counter.
Xiao Die glanced at them and shrugged. "Turns out, making small ones takes just as much effort as big ones. The only difference is material cost—hence the extra 200."
Su Feng: "..."
She wasn't wrong. Her miniatures were exact replicas, down to the tiniest detail. If anything, the smaller pieces felt more intricate.
"Where's Skitty?" Su Feng scanned the shop.
"Upstairs, napping." Xiao Die flopped back onto her lounge chair, only her lips moving. Then, recalling Su Feng's livestream announcement, she bolted upright. "Wait! That Pokémon Academy thing—can I join?"
"You can," Su Feng said slowly. (She was already on his list.) "But... do you have time?" He eyed the empty shop. This place must bleed money unattended.
Xiao Die waved a hand. "You think I rely on this? I'd starve."
Her "Leblanc" was tucked away in a dead-end alley, never meant to turn a profit. It existed solely because her sister needed to keep her busy.
Su Feng nodded. Every visit, the shop was deserted. But then—
"How do you afford anything with no sales?"
"By mooching!" Xiao Die declared proudly, then paused. "Well, 'mooching' isn't right. My sis is only in her twenties..."
"So... leeching?"
Su Feng: "..."
"Don't you two have guardians?"
Xiao Die blinked. "Did Sis not tell you? We're from an orphanage."
Her tone was eerily casual. "I got bullied as a kid. Sis protected me. Later, she aced her way into her current job, moved out, and took me with her."
Su Feng's expression tightened. "...Sorry."
"For what?" Xiao Die snorted. "If it's about the bullying, don't bother—I'm doing better than those losers now. If it's about being orphans?" She smirked. "The sperm and egg donors missed out on geniuses. Their loss."
"Damn. That's cold."
Yet true. The Cheng sisters thrived where others crumbled. Meng was a rising star in the research institute. Die, if she ever ditched her slacker phase, could dominate the art world with those hands.
"You're thinking something rude," Xiao Die accused.
"Nope!" Su Feng coughed. "Anyway, tell your sis to join the academy if she's free."
Weird. Meng hasn't replied to my texts lately.
"Won't work." Xiao Die popped a lollipop into her mouth. "She's buried in some project. Won't even take my calls."
A sly grin crept in. "But you could waltz into the institute. No one stops the Su Feng."
Su Feng nodded. Chen Lao's clearance guaranteed that.
"Guess I'll drop by." He sighed. So much for killing two birds with one stone.
As he left, Xiao Die called after him, "Tell Sis to take a break!"
Research Institute
Stepping out of the taxi, Su Feng realized how long it'd been since his last visit. Wonder how Meng's Berry cultivation is going.
Then he spotted a familiar figure near the gates and nearly facepalmed.
Still here?!
"Madam, your aura foretells calamity!" The scammy old man wagged a finger at a girl with a Misdreavus perched on her shoulder.
The girl frowned. "Psycho."
"Meee~ (Psycho.)" Misdreavus parroted.
Scam Grandpa: "..."
Su Feng: "..."
Sir, diversify your script.
"Old timer," Su Feng said gently, "maybe try a farmer's market? More... receptive crowds."
Scientific hubs weren't exactly hotbeds for fortune-telling.
"Ah, too far for these old bones." The man chuckled.
"Then how do you make ends meet?"
The man's eyes lit up. Leaning in, he whipped out a fresh sheet from his grimy satchel—overlaying his divination chart with a new sign:
"MATCHMAKING • APARTMENT RENTALS • ROOF REPAIRS • YOU NAME IT!"
Su Feng's eye twitched. Where to even begin...
"Roof repairs? At your age?"
"My age? I'm spry!" To prove it, the man thumped his chest—then wheezed violently.
Su Feng: "..."
"Right. Good talk."
As Su Feng walked off, the old man smiled faintly. Unseen beneath the junk in his bag: a research institute ID.
Title: Vice Director
Name: Wang Zhengyu