Zhang Tiantian stared at Zhou Ran for a long time, then whispered softly into Feng Ruotong's ear, 'It's really unbelievable that such a shop could be in such an inconspicuous place in the outer city.'
'Yes! Do you think I should tell the academy?' Feng Ruotong asked.
'I think we should. Let's go back and report it to the homeroom teacher first.' Zhang Tiantian said.
The two bowed deeply to Zhou Ran and turned to leave.
At that moment, Zhou Ran suddenly spoke up, "Just take it like that? Isn't there any way to show your gratitude?"
Zhou Ran smiled broadly, looking harmless as he watched the two.
The two felt a chill run down their spines and dared not move, for the man before them was too enigmatic.
'Haha! I have no ill intentions. I just want you to help me promote my business at the academy and bring in more customers.' Zhou Ran raised his eyebrows and laughed.
Promote his business? The two looked at Zhou Ran in astonishment. Such an extraordinary cultivation technique and yet no business?
Are you joking?
"Sir, as a reclusive master like you, how could you possibly be short on money…" Zhang Tiantian's attitude had changed drastically; he dared not shout at Zhou Ran like he had yesterday.
"I really am short on money. Look at this remote mountain village—where would the business come from?" Zhou Ran shook his head and sighed.
Seeing Zhou Ran's serious expression, the two finally believed it—even reclusive masters were so pragmatic!
"Here's what we'll do. These days are our academy's grade exams. I think I can achieve excellent results with this Ice Heaven Snow Woman Beast. When I'm on the podium receiving my award, I'll promote you in front of all the teachers and students." Feng Ruotong smiled.
"Great! Fantastic!" Zhou Ran couldn't stop smiling.
After all, promoting it in front of all the teachers and students would bring in a steady stream of business and wealth!
Feng Ruotong looked at the Ice and Snow Female Beast and nodded.
'Um... can I go to the academy to watch the competition?' Zhou Ran suddenly asked.
Feng Ruotong was taken aback. Was he going to promote it in person? My goodness, how pragmatic...
'If I have the honour of advancing to the semi-finals, I can invite family and friends to watch the match. You can come then,' Feng Ruotong said awkwardly.
Zhou Ran's face darkened. He had to wait until the semi-finals to get in? The academy was being too strict.
Although relying on the Ice Heaven Snow Woman Beast to advance to the semi-finals shouldn't be a problem, there could be unexpected circumstances.
No, I need to give her some advice.
'Alright, I'll wait for your good news. But I'll remind you—the Ice Maiden Beast's power is immense. You must fully trust it and learn more about its abilities. It will definitely surprise you,' Zhou Ran smiled.
He didn't directly tell her about the Ice Maiden Beast's soul-type ability, after all, it was too unbelievable, and he feared she wouldn't believe it, ha ha.
After that, the two bowed respectfully to Zhou Ran once more and left.
Watching them depart, Zhou Ran turned on his computer and began designing flyers, preparing to make a name for himself that day.
...
'This computer is so slow... what a piece of junk...'
Zhou Ran was nearly driven to the brink of collapse by the lagging computer, but fortunately, he finally finished the design and immediately printed out hundreds of copies.
'Thank goodness I had paper; otherwise, I'd have to spend more money...' Zhou Ran stretched lazily.
At this point, his points were completely depleted, and the Liu Ying Huan Yue Dog and Mie Shi Lei Hu in the breeding tank were sleeping soundly.
This was the last time; he had to figure out a way to make some money.
Before he knew it, it was noon. Zhou Ran had lunch and sat in meditation, cultivating his divine consciousness technique.
At that moment, a customer arrived at the door.
'Sir, can you treat loss of appetite here?'
Zhou Ran opened his eyes and saw a little boy wearing a yellow sweater, with a slightly plump build, followed by a small pig.
The pig had lifeless eyes, looking listless, with a pinkish-red body and a curly tail like a mosquito coil. If it weren't for the blue gemstone on its forehead, one might mistake it for an ordinary domestic pig.
"Sir, do you have any appetite-stimulating pig feed? My Baowen pig hasn't eaten anything in three days," Jiang Lin said anxiously.
"We do have appetite-stimulating exotic beast feed," Zhou Ran said, somewhat surprised.
After all, such exotic beasts typically have excellent appetites, so why hadn't it eaten for three days?
"Did it eat something wrong?" Zhou Ran asked.
Jiang Lin shook his head urgently and said, "It stopped eating after its last meal three days ago. We've consulted many exotic beast hospitals, but they couldn't find anything wrong. We heard from others that there's a good exotic beast shop here, so we came to take a look."
Zhou Ran nodded, took a careful look at the Baowen Pig, then turned around and took a bottle of 'Fruit Concentrate' from the shelf, saying, 'This should get it to eat.'
'Really?' Jiang Lin looked at Zhou Ran, who seemed confident, took the Fruit Concentrate, and said, 'What kind of exotic beast food is this? I've never seen it before.'
Zhou Ran felt a bit awkward and didn't know how to explain it. He couldn't just say it was from the Fenglin Haishan plane, could he?
"You can let it try some first. If it doesn't work, you don't have to pay." Zhou Ran was confident, after all, he had already quietly asked the system earlier.
It was just that it was used to living in luxury every day and had grown tired of ordinary food. Starving it for a few more days should fix it... .
Jiang Lin was also a beast tamer and had some knowledge of exotic beast food, but he still didn't know what this was. However, this was a legitimate exotic beast shop with a good reputation, so it shouldn't be a problem.
So he unscrewed the cap and poured out a blue, juicy fruit. The Baowen Pig suddenly let out a few pig squeals, biting Jiang Lin's trouser leg, its eyes fixed on the fruit.
'Hm?' Jiang Lin was startled at first, then became very excited, quickly lowering his hand to feed the fruit to the Baowen Pig.
The pig devoured it voraciously, as if it were a starving ghost reincarnated, swallowing it in a few bites. Its eyes curved into crescent moons, and it lay on the ground, thoroughly satisfied.
"It's so effective! How much is it, boss? Give me five bottles first!" Jiang Lin exclaimed excitedly.
Zhou Ran watched the pig's ecstatic expression and couldn't help but inwardly roll his eyes...
"This is a ning-fruit, a fruit that falls from the body of the Qianning Tree Spirit. It has an extremely strong attraction to water-type beasts. Currently, there's only one bottle left in the store. Each fruit costs 800 yuan, and there are a total of ten. Do you want them all?" Zhou Ran smiled.
"800 yuan per bottle? That's a bit pricey, but it's still acceptable..." Jiang Lin thought for a moment and decided it was manageable, but the next moment he suddenly froze.
"800 yuan per piece???"