Coffee of Love

This bastard...

"Alright, this child is called Kong. She's one of the children I adopted."

"Huh? That makes a lot more sense."

Guinaifen skipped over to Kong.

"I'm Guinaifen, your big sister~~ How old are you this year, Xiao Kong?"

Watching Guinaifen immediately stick herself to Kong, Natasha started to raise a hand to stop her, but Guinaifen had already introduced herself.

"Huh? I... I'm sixteen this year."

"...Huh?"

Guinaifen glanced at Natasha in confusion.

"What are you looking at me for?" Guinaifen's gaze made Natasha very uncomfortable. "She's sixteen."

"Uh... um..."

How should she put it? Guinaifen had wanted to praise Xiao Kong for not being shy around strangers—because she had instinctively assumed Xiao Kong was only eleven or twelve.

But who would have thought... she was actually sixteen?

How should she put this... Forget it. Maybe this was just the child's personality.

Guinaifen decided not to comment too much on someone else's family affairs.

"You're overprotective."

Liu Bai plopped down on the bed, then pulled out an Elixir of Love and poured it into his mouth.

It did not work on him anyway, and it happened to have the added effect of restoring energy.

"My name is Liu Bai. I'm your teacher's younger brother. Nice to meet you."

"Hey!"

Natasha called out.

But for a moment, she did not know whether to criticize Liu Bai's introduction or refute his harsh assessment of her parenting.

"My name is Kong... Nice to meet you, Teacher Liu Bai."

This time, Kong spoke much more smoothly—though that might have been thanks to Natasha.

"...Don't go grooming children."

After thinking it over, Natasha decided to warn Liu Bai.

That likable face of his was still far too dangerous for a sheltered child like Kong.

"Even if the law can't judge you, I will."

This person should stop using the codename Raven. She ought to rename herself "the mother hen who protects her chicks."

"Compared to me, doesn't someone else have a much bigger overprotection problem?"

Liu Bai curled his lip.

Forget it. There was nothing worth discussing with a mother hen who protected her chicks.

"Um... Teacher, do you and Teacher Liu Bai not get along?"

"I... Uh, ahem, how could we not get along?"

"Be good, Xiao Kong. Adult matters are very complicated. Besides, you know, right? Your teacher, my sister, has always been this awkward."

Liu Bai reached behind him and patted Xiao Kong's head.

Although she was already a sixteen-year-old "big girl," there was nothing strange about treating her like an eleven- or twelve-year-old loli.

"Little Gui, you're in charge of cooking today." Even though Liu Bai had taken an energy potion, he still did not feel like moving. "So, sis, why did you bring this child here?"

Now was not a good time to bring someone over.

"...I'm preparing to settle the children in a new home. As for Xiao Kong, she wanted to come out with me for a walk."

"A new home?"

Liu Bai raised an eyebrow.

This flag?

"Yeah. Thanks to the money you gave me before, adding it in means I have almost enough money now."

"...Specifically?"

"An island. An island that can serve as a paradise away from the world."

I knew it...

So Raven's little island had not gone boom yet?

"You've been saving up for this long?"

"Not really. Buying an island itself isn't that expensive, but construction and renovations from scratch are the major expense. Then there's the shipping cost for building materials, all of which comes out of my pocket."

Natasha wore a gloomy expression.

"But with your money, the last bit should be enough to start construction."

"An island... Sister Natasha, have you considered accidents like rising sea levels?"

"Isn't sea-level rise a slow process? Even if it sped up, it would take at least ten years, right?"

"What if Honkai caused the sea level to rise abruptly?"

"...?" Natasha was suddenly stunned by Liu Bai's angle.

But Liu Bai did not stop. "Mm, although Honkai has virus-like properties, getting an island could isolate it effectively—after all, Greenland is the light of humanity—but Honkai also has monster-like properties. You know, giant monsters. On a small island, one AOE brushing past would... Well, even setting that aside, there are natural disasters. The sea is nowhere near as beautiful as ordinary people imagine. She is a mother, but she is also a demon."

Natasha fell silent again.

"Mm... That's true. When a real disaster strikes, the vast majority of people have no way to escape it."

Guinaifen remembered her home planet.

"My home planet was completely destroyed. Even though preparations had been made long ago, very few people were ultimately able to escape the planet. The range and speed of those things spreading were completely unreasonable."

Natasha was not an idiot. She immediately realized that Liu Bai and Guinaifen's words made a great deal of sense.

And Guinaifen had even used her own home planet as an example.

An alien was especially convincing at a time like this.

Kong tilted her head nearby, seeming unable to understand things like "home planet" and "escaping the planet."

"Wait!"

Natasha suddenly interrupted Liu Bai and Guinaifen, who were about to continue persuading her.

"If things are really as you two say... didn't I spend all that money for nothing?"

"...?"

This time, Liu Bai and Guinaifen both froze.

So that was what she cared about?

"I've already paid for it all!" Natasha's expression began to twist. "I put my entire life savings into it!"

If Xiao Kong had not been there, Natasha probably would have gone completely crazy on the spot.

"Ah... Can't you get a refund?"

"It's not some little toy you bought at the supermarket!"

Chapter 58: Coffee of Love

"Good afternoon, Mr. Liu Bai... Why do you look like you just woke up?"

"...I stayed up late yesterday and slept until noon."

Liu Bai could not exactly say that after Natasha got Kong to sleep, she had dragged him, Guinaifen, and Eden from downstairs into crying with her all night.

Mm, it rather felt like discovering that the goal she had worked toward her entire life was a lie.

But Eden was the most pitiful one. She had been dragged over to listen to someone wail without knowing what had happened.

It was not like they had been dry-crying, either. Liu Bai figured this counted as the first gathering for everyone in their building, so he ordered a small hotpot in the middle of the night. They had drinks, snacks, and hotpot, mechanically comforted Natasha while stuffing themselves...

After Natasha wailed until morning, Eden, who was slightly tipsy and had stayed up all night to the point she could barely open her eyes, directly said that they could find somewhere quieter for their next gathering, then lay down on the sofa and fell asleep.

Liu Bai was a little mentally exhausted too. After explaining Rita's situation to Natasha, he went home and lay down.

And Natasha? She went back to work like nothing had happened...

What a damn bastard.

"Staying up late harms your body, Mr. Liu Bai. You must take care of yourself. Um." Rita, dressed in casual clothes, wore a concerned expression.

"Mm, I will." Liu Bai nodded helplessly. "Let's go. Shencheng Pharmaceuticals is right ahead."

"Have you been here before?"

"I live so close by, of course I have. But..."

Liu Bai shrugged, and Rita showed an expression of general understanding.

"By the way, Rita, do you have a way to get inside? Shencheng Pharmaceuticals isn't some public area that anyone can enter, is it?"

"Of course. Since I invited you here, I naturally arranged everything. You only need to follow behind me."

Rita led Liu Bai to the entrance of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals.

The security robot at the entrance scanned Rita.

"Beep. Unregistered individual detected. Searching... Welcome to Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, esteemed Ms. Rita. Please wait on the first floor with your accompanying personnel. The consultant will arrive shortly."

"Thank you very much."

Even though the other party was a robot, Rita maintained her manners.

As for Liu Bai, although he wore a wristband, he was still identified as "accompanying personnel."

Clearly, this security robot had been specially adjusted.

"Schicksal has always maintained a partnership with Shencheng Pharmaceuticals."

Rita thoughtfully explained this to Liu Bai.

"As for the consultant... that should be your sister. Let's wait here."

Rita brought Liu Bai to sit in the lounge area of the lobby.

Hopefully this meeting would be a little smoother...

Liu Bai's premonition that things would "go off the rails" was growing stronger and stronger.

"You can relax."

Rita had clearly misunderstood the source of Liu Bai's nervousness.

Liu Bai nodded a little stiffly.

Less than two minutes later, Natasha appeared alone in the first-floor lobby.

"...You crossed the line."

Seeing Rita and Liu Bai sitting side by side in the lounge area, Natasha immediately sounded to be in a very bad mood, her words loaded with gunpowder.

Mm, no one would be in a good mood after having an investment worth tens of millions go down the drain and get stuck in their hands.

Natasha had checked the market and discovered that this island would most likely become an unsellable burden...

Thinking about how excited she had been when she bought the island back then... the salesperson had probably treated her like some stupid rich sucker.

She wanted to kill someone. She really wanted to kill someone.

Well, perhaps the only consolation was that, now that she no longer needed the island, Natasha's need for money had greatly decreased?

She had no money left, but she no longer needed to care about money either. Maybe that was good news?

—Like hell it was!