Awakening Zhongli Template, Retiring on Terra

"Ah, well, that's all we can do. I'll go buy beer and barbecue, and you can order pizza. We'll meet up later, and then I'll drive you to Exusiai's place."

"No can do."

Shi Lei wagged his index finger and explained, "The religion I follow considers money the root of all evil, so I never carry any."

Croissant had never heard such a thing before and looked slightly surprised. "Then what about the over 300,000 you got from helping the Lungmen Guard Department crack down on that illegal organization last time? Didn't you collect it?"

"No, I entrusted all my money to Texas. You can ask her about ordering the pizza."

"Alright..."

After all, it was his belief, so Croissant had nothing more to say. In the end, it was her own fault. If her motorcycle hadn't been stolen, none of this would have happened.

She drove Shi Lei back to Penguin Logistics and then busied herself with buying beer and other things. Croissant didn't contact Texas; she could handle these things herself.

A little extra cost was fine, who was she to mess things up?

Shi Lei returned to the company but didn't rush upstairs. He turned and headed to the public library to collect the guaranteed 2 points of role-playing value first. He wouldn't let anything get in the way of his role-playing points.

At 4:30 PM, Shi Lei returned to the company. Exusiai and Texas were sitting at their workstations in the office area, waiting for 5 PM to clock out.

Only then did he realize the problem.

According to the original plan, he and Texas would invite Exusiai for drinks and a party. They'd stay out until past midnight before going home, just in time to sing "Happy Birthday" with the motorcycle.

But now the motorcycle was gone, and it had been replaced with beer, barbecue, and pizza. They were having one meal at night and another past midnight. Could they still eat?

Shi Lei quickly sent a message to Texas about the stolen motorcycle and the change of plans, discussing countermeasures.

Not long after, he received her reply:

"Eat something light after work, and don't eat too much. Then take her to the shooting range and the cinema. That should buy us a lot of time."

Right, movies really kill time.

They easily lasted 90 to 120 minutes. If they wanted to drag it out until midnight, this was the only way.

With the plan finalized, Shi Lei invited Exusiai to dinner after they clocked out at 5 PM. To make it less abrupt, he also invited Texas.

Exusiai readily agreed. The difference between eating out and eating at home was not having to do the dishes.

Shi Lei picked a hot pot restaurant. He ate slowly and deliberately, doing his best to drag out the time.

After dinner, it was 6:30 PM. Texas then called him to the shooting range. Exusiai wasn't very interested and easily hit the bullseye with every shot. Considering it was for the two of them to have fun, she didn't say much.

They left the shooting range at 7:30 PM, with a long time still left until midnight. Shi Lei mentioned a very popular movie that had recently been released and insisted on taking Exusiai to see it.

She figured she had nothing else to do, and with Texas accompanying them, she agreed. They chose an 8 PM showing of "The Legend of the Heavenly Silkworm."

After the movie ended at 10 PM, Shi Lei suggested watching another one. Exusiai finally caught on.

"Heh heh, fess up, are you guys hiding something from me?"

"Not at all, we just wanted to watch a movie. It's rare for us to come out, so watching two movies isn't too much, right?"

Seeing that he wouldn't admit it, Exusiai turned her gaze to Texas. But she was as expressionless as usual, making it impossible to tell anything.

"It's not too much. Just don't disappoint me later. If you want to watch another one, go ahead."

Damn, I think she's figured it out.

But Shi Lei really had no other choice and could only push forward with the act. He picked a 10:15 PM showing, and after it ended, they would return home right at midnight.

When the movie ended and everyone was leaving, Exusiai saw that Shi Lei was still following them, with no intention of saying goodbye and returning to the company. She finally understood. It was just her birthday, no need to make such a big fuss. The most important thing was that everyone could be happy every day.

However, when they returned to the residential complex and saw the motorcycle with her stickers parked downstairs, Exusiai still let out a surprised and delighted cry.

"Ahhhhhh, it's the latest model! I love it so much!"

Shi Lei and Texas exchanged glances, not knowing what to say. Hadn't it been stolen and unrecoverable?

Croissant, who had just come down from upstairs, was stunned to see the motorcycle miraculously returned.

052 Another Drink

"Who gave me this birthday present?"

"I love it!!!"

Exusiai straddled the motorcycle, stroking it repeatedly with affection. Then she turned her gaze to Texas.

Seeing her expressionless face, it probably wasn't her.

Zhongli? He wouldn't know she liked this, would he? Even if he had heard about it privately from colleagues, he shouldn't know this specific model.

Exusiai shifted her gaze away from the two of them and raised her hand to point at Croissant, who was coming down from upstairs, a smile on her face.

"You bought it, didn't you? Thank you!"

Croissant was a bit dazed; she hadn't known when the motorcycle was returned. Even if the Rat King had found it in the slums, it shouldn't have been delivered here.

For messengers like them, who easily made enemies, exposing their residence was often a dangerous affair.

But fortunately, the motorcycle was recovered, and the outcome was good.

Exusiai gave Croissant a big hug, continuously expressing her gratitude. Seeing her slightly stiff posture blocking the stairwell, the smile in Exusiai's eyes deepened:

"Hehe, is there another surprise? Come on, let me see!"

Without waiting for her to object, Exusiai excitedly ran upstairs. The door was ajar, so she could see inside at a glance.

Seeing boxes of beer piled on the floor, a table full of barbecue, and a giant pizza, she was like a monkey seeing bananas, letting out a delighted squeal of joy for her favorite food:

"Wow, you even prepared all this for a party! I'm so happy~"

After Exusiai rushed upstairs, the three of them followed her up the stairs. Shi Lei asked along the way:

"What's going on? Didn't you say it was stolen?"

"I don't know either," Croissant spread her hands, looking very helpless. "I figured if the motorcycle was gone, I'd at least make sure everything else was good for her. Then I came downstairs and found the motorcycle back, so I was wondering."

The priority now was the birthday party. They could only go with the flow and not dwell on how the motorcycle returned.

Texas and Exusiai were roommates, and Croissant had Texas's key, allowing her free access. Penguin Logistics originally had staff dormitories, but due to some special circumstances, everyone ended up living separately.

Just past midnight, Exusiai's phone rang.

"Exusiai, happy birthday!"

It was Miss Sora calling to offer birthday wishes. Although she wasn't an official employee of Penguin Logistics, she had a very good relationship with the messengers.

"Thanks, thanks! Are you free tonight? Want to come over to my place for a party? There's tons of food."

"No, I have a schedule tomorrow morning."

The trouble with being an idol, perhaps, was not being able to arrange one's time freely and at will.

"What a shame. Well, when you're done with your busy schedule, we can have a makeup party."

"Sure, we'll talk about it then."

After hanging up, Exusiai rolled up her sleeves, opened a bottle of beer, and patted the sofa next to her:

"Sit down, let's have a blast tonight!"

Croissant had also helped clean the house today. Now, she sat on the single sofa, not wanting to get up:

"You should park the motorcycle first, just in case someone envious steals it."

"Don't worry, the complex has surveillance. Who would steal a motorcycle here? Besides, if anyone dares to steal a gift you gave me, I'll hunt them down to the far north and get it back."

Despite saying that, she still obediently got up and cheerfully went downstairs to park the motorcycle.

Shi Lei had eaten dinner around five o'clock. After that, he'd gone shooting and watched two movies, so he was already hungry.

But today was Exusiai's birthday, and he needed to wait for the birthday girl to start eating before he did. Shi Lei didn't know if this was a custom on Terra, but he would consciously respect it.

Same apartment complex, rooftop.

Mostima stood by the railing, watching Exusiai's joyful smile through the window. As if infected, she too displayed an aunt-like smile.

"Are you done looking?"

Fiamma wasn't interested in Exusiai's birthday party. She just expressed her dissatisfaction with Mostima's prolonged presence on the rooftop, acting like a peeping tom.

"Look, what a heartwarming scene. Can't you wait a little longer? You're so hot-tempered."

The red-haired Liberi snorted impatiently, "Heartwarming? I don't think you're the type to crave warmth. Sometimes you're more ruthless than any of us can imagine, as if you don't care about loss at all."

Mostima continued to gaze at the lively birthday party scene through the window, her sight unwavering:

"What would it change if I cared? Things that are already lost cannot be regained. If they could be regained, they wouldn't be called lost, merely temporarily absent."

"So you're willing to break your vows? And bear a secret that even the Pontiff keeps silent about, all by yourself?"

Mentioning that matter, Mostima finally reluctantly shifted her gaze away from the window and looked at the red-haired Liberi before her:

"I'm not the lone, suffering hero you imagine. The reason I haven't spoken is simply because most people wouldn't gain anything even if they knew. If you're so interested, I can tell you the truth."

Fiamma pursed her lips and directly refused:

"Forget it. If even those old guys won't let me know, it means it's not time to know yet."

Mostima shrugged slightly and continued to look at the windowpane below. Her gaze seemed to say, 'It's your choice not to listen, not that I'm unwilling to speak.'

Croissant and Texas were familiar faces.

This man... I haven't seen him before.

Seeing that their seats weren't too close, he must be a new friend Xiao Le made, right?

Mostima quickly retreated, seemingly sensing someone's gaze.

Seeing Exusiai lean out the window to peer around, as if searching for something, Croissant looked too and asked, "What's up?"

She glanced at the rooftop of the residential building opposite, but there was no one in sight.

"Nothing, I probably just saw things. Whatever, come on, come on. Tonight, we drink heartily, eat heartily, there's plenty of pizza, let's have some fun together!"

Shi Lei, who had been chewing slowly, looked up at the mention of fun. "You don't even have music here, how can we have fun? Besides, playing music late at night will be considered disturbing the peace. Why don't we move to the safe house to continue?"

"Good idea, that's what I was thinking too."

The group didn't waste time. They packed up the remaining beer, barbecue, and pizza and loaded them onto Croissant's pickup truck.

Exusiai wanted to show off her motorcycle, but Croissant stopped her, saying it wasn't far to the company and she shouldn't ride her motorcycle, lest she fall into a ditch on the way home.

Exusiai was still willing to listen to advice. They all went to the safe house for round two and didn't get home until very late.

When Shi Lei woke up, it was already noon. He looked at the wall clock and sat up as if his backside had springs. He didn't even have time to eat breakfast or lunch before rushing upstairs to clock in for work.

To his surprise, Exusiai, Texas, and Croissant weren't there. He felt quite out of place alone in the office area.

But, it felt great.

053 Such a perky rear

On the workstation lay a bag of brand-new employee uniforms. The overall design was black and white, with exquisite workmanship and a well-tailored cut. Perhaps for ease of combat, the pant legs and cuffs were designed to be rather loose. The Penguin Logistics logo was on the left shoulder.