The Passersby nearby listened to the three sisters' conversation and all agreed that they were right.
"Hehe." Li Haiyun smiled warmly and said nothing more.
When others praised you, staying humble was a way of showing mutual respect.
You couldn't exactly respond to someone praising your handsome looks with, "Ah, yes, yes, yes. You've got a good eye," or something like that. It would ruin their good impression of you.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries,
Ning Rongrong took out a delicate box and held it out to Li Haiyun.
She said gently, "Boss Li, we're leaving Suotuo City today to go on a long trip. It may be quite a while before we return."
"Before we leave, we wanted to come say goodbye."
"Since we're parting ways, the three of us thought we'd give you a gift."
"The gift is in this box!"
As Ning Rongrong spoke, Li Haiyun glanced at the box in her hands.
It was a finely crafted sandalwood box, tightly tied with a pink ribbon knotted into a bow. A faint fragrance wafted from it.
"Boss Li, the three of us chose this gift with great care. You have to accept it!" Xiao Wu said.
Zhu Zhuqing beside her nodded and added, "It's just a small token of our affection. There's also a letter inside with what we wanted to say. Please be sure to accept it, Boss Li!"
Li Haiyun was touched by their words.
He hadn't expected Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu to think of giving him a gift as they were leaving.
What kind, good-hearted girls.
Li Haiyun, who knew the contents of their quests, knew that the three sisters weren't giving him a present as part of a quest. They were giving it to him sincerely.
As it happened,
Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu truly did want to give him a farewell gift.
Boss Li Haiyun made them feel that he was gentle and handsome, a wonderful big brother—and the best boss in the whole world!
All three of them had gained tangible benefits from Li Haiyun.
They were grateful to him.
Besides, building a relationship with the mysterious and powerful Boss Li Haiyun could only be a good thing. Why not?
Getting on good terms with an important figure was only natural.
Still, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu were more sincere in their feelings toward Li Haiyun than most.
Li Haiyun preferred this to deliberate flattery and sycophancy.
"Thank you. I'll accept your gift!" Li Haiyun said with a gentle smile, taking the exquisite box from them.
"Boss Li, you can only open it after we've left!" Ning Rongrong said warmly, smiling.
Li Haiyun nodded and replied, "All right, I understand!"
Then,
Li Haiyun said goodbye to the three sisters: Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu.
After saying goodbye,
Boss Li Haiyun stayed at the Mission Card Shop.
The three sisters returned to Shanhaijian Hotel to collect the luggage they'd already packed. Then they climbed into the carriage they'd prepared and set off for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Ning Rongrong had only a little over seven hundred and eighty Gold Soul Coins left. She didn't have enough to buy a Mission Card, so staying in Suotuo City would be a waste of time.
Now she had to return to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and tell her father, Ning Fengzhi, and Bone Grandpa and Sword Grandpa the good news about how much stronger she'd become, as well as about the Mission Card Shop.
As Ning Rongrong's close friend, Zhu Zhuqing naturally stayed by her side. She also intended to complete her Purple Grade Quest to deliver a letter to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
As for Xiao Wu, she was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form.
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing thought that if she stayed in Suotuo City, she might well attract the attention of that powerful Clear Sky Sect Soul Master again.
To keep Xiao Wu safe, they brought her along!
Chapter 58: The City Lord's Mansion in Suotuo City Wants to Teach Ma Hongjun a Lesson
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing had made careful plans for Xiao Wu.
They intended to put her up in a safe, high-end hotel near the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Xiao Wu would stay at the hotel for the time being and wait for them to meet up.
Ning Rongrong was worried that if she rashly brought Xiao Wu back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect,
her father Ning Fengzhi, Sword Grandpa, and Bone Grandpa wouldn't be able to resist the temptation and would kill Xiao Wu, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. That would be bad!
Clever Ning Rongrong planned to go back to the sect first and sound them out.
That would be the safer approach.
Xiao Wu felt incredibly safe with Ning Rongrong's arrangements and trusted her completely.
As for why they didn't leave Xiao Wu at the Mission Card Shop for the time being,
they were all girls around twelve years old, and they weren't Boss Li Haiyun's relatives or girlfriends.
It wouldn't be right to bother Boss Li Haiyun.
Besides, Xiao Wu was a young girl, and being alone with Boss Li Haiyun might make them both uncomfortable and disrupt Boss Li's normal life.
After weighing the pros and cons, the best option was to have Xiao Wu stay for a few days at a high-end hotel close to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and wait for them to meet up!
And so,
Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu, the three sisters, left Suotuo City by carriage.
This was Douluo Continent, not Douluo Village.
It would still take them some time to reach the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Meanwhile,
back at the Mission Card Shop,
after accepting the gift box, Li Haiyun continued running the shop as usual.
Once again, nobody came to patronize the business that day.
By evening,
after closing the Mission Card Shop, Li Haiyun returned to his room.
Curious, he opened the gift box that Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu had given him.
He untied the pink ribbon knotted into a bow and opened the sandalwood box.
A fragrance wafted toward him.
Inside the wooden box lay an exquisite sachet embroidered in red and blue.
"It's a sachet? Could Rongrong, Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu have embroidered it together?"
Li Haiyun smiled faintly, unable to stop himself from wondering.
He picked up the delicate sachet and examined it carefully.
It felt smooth and soft in his hand. Clearly, they'd used good-quality fabric.
It was also embroidered with many little pictures: clouds in the sky, waves on the sea, and little radishes.
You could tell Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu had put a lot of thought into it.
"It's the same style as the new outfit Xiao Wu sewed for me yesterday!" Li Haiyun thought.
After he picked up the sachet,
he saw a letter beneath it.
Li Haiyun set down the sachet, opened the envelope, and read it carefully.
"May these words find you well, Boss Li Haiyun..."
"..."
The envelope was covered in neat, pretty writing. There was enough to rival an eight-hundred-character essay.
And it was easy to tell that the letter contained three different styles of handwriting.
Clearly, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu had each written what they wanted to say.
After reading it,
Li Haiyun felt a little moved.
The three sisters really had embroidered the sachet together as a farewell gift for him.
For the past three days, they had been learning sewing, embroidery, and other skills from the proprietress at Cloud Pavilion.
They'd spent time learning those skills, so of course they couldn't let that effort go to waste.
And so Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu had worked together to make this sachet as a gift.
"Thank you."
Li Haiyun murmured his thanks.
At the same time,
a thought crossed Li Haiyun's mind.
He remembered how, in the original story, Shrek Academy traveled to Heaven Dou Academy hoping to "borrow a chicken to lay eggs" and become exchange students there.
Back then, the people from Shrek Academy had spent a whole month on the road.
Now that Ning Rongrong and the others were returning to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect,
Li Haiyun calculated that it would probably take them one or two months to return.
"I wish you a safe journey!"
Li Haiyun murmured softly, offering them his blessing.
Time flew by like the sun and moon in the sky; moments slipped past as swiftly as a white steed glimpsed through a crack.
The next morning,
Solio, the eldest son of the City Lord's Mansion in Suotuo City, came looking for Li Haiyun in high spirits.
The day before, he had finally broken through his seal of silence and completed the Purple Grade Quest that required him to "not speak for ten days."
After his appearance improved by fifty percent, he felt much more confident and cheerful.
Although his appearance hadn't changed all that much, and his chubby face was still a little greasy,
compared with before, Solio had far fewer pimples, and his skin wasn't nearly as oily.
He was very satisfied with the Purple Grade Quest and the reward that had improved his appearance.
As for the five-hundred-year-old Jade Phosphorus Snake Head Bone he'd obtained last time,
Solio's father absolutely refused to let him fuse with it.
His father was worried that if Solio fused with the Jade Phosphorus Snake Head Bone, word would get out.
Then someone might set their sights on him, kill him, and take the bone.
That would cost him his life!
After thinking it over carefully, Solio decided his father had a point, so he suppressed his desire to fuse with the Spirit Bone.
Now he was back at the Mission Card Shop.
"Good morning, Boss Li!"