When Emiya and Wa Lord left the bookstore, passing men and women all turned their attention toward them.
Some seemed to have thought of the tragic heroine from the story. Seeing that Wa Lord could not walk and needed to be carried, they assumed she was a disabled girl and gave her little looks of comfort and encouragement. Others saw the handsome man and beautiful woman looking just like a novel's male and female leads, grew instantly excited, and shyly came forward to ask for photos with them.
Others simply offered them huge bouquets of flowers. Tucked into the flowers was a simple white card, bearing a famous German line by Hermann Hesse in elegant cursive: "All my wanderings were a path to you." (all mein irren war ein weg zu dir.)
At that moment, the whole world seemed to rush toward the two of them, offering wonderful kindness and fervent blessings.
The spectacle of being the center of everyone's attention nearly jolted Emiya to his core. Only in the next second did he come back to himself, inwardly marveling, Wow, is this the power of an atmosphere team? As for Wa Lord, Emiya could feel that she had remained silent on his back for a long time.
"Wa Lord?"
She answered in a low voice, "Mm, I'm fine. Hurry, let's go somewhere else." Her tone had become softer than ever before.
They switched to another beauty salon. When the owner and staff saw Wa Lord on Emiya's back, they indeed showed no unusual expressions. The owner even said joyfully that they had happened to catch the store's anniversary celebration, and the first couple to visit would receive a grand event gift package!
Emiya immediately sensed that this had all been arranged. When he casually asked what the package included, the owner said, "Oh, we offer fully customizable packages. Skincare, hairstyling, manicures, body treatments, makeup, spa services—we can arrange anything you need right away."
Emiya took the list and saw a long string of scalp-numbing service options. He hurriedly asked the owner for recommendations.
The owner smiled faintly and began chatting with Emiya.
"First, for hairstyling, we recommend a personalized design based on the customer's face shape, temperament, and needs. Your girlfriend has a youthful appearance, but her complexion is fair, her features are delicate, and she has an excellent aura. A somewhat longer hairstyle would suit her. We only need a little work: lightly curl the ends and add some layers, creating naturally curled medium-length hair. It will give her a romantic, gentle charm."
No sooner had they agreed than the other side sprang into action. Wa Lord sat in a luxurious reclining swivel chair while a crowd surrounded her to work on her hair. The little girl who usually made hundreds of people in the Zhou Family tremble at her every word seemed to be thinking about something now. She actually stayed quiet and obedient, like a finely carved little doll, cooperating with everyone.
Emiya watched Wa Lord eagerly, suspecting that she was still immersed in the earlier story and had not yet recovered. For some reason, he began to feel that the Chips team might have gone too far. Could there be even more major arrangements waiting ahead?
One or two hours slipped quietly away. During that time, the owner served Emiya tea and water, gave him a premium VIP card and high-value discount coupons, and offered auspicious blessings about having children soon and staying happily together for a hundred years. Emiya hurriedly waved his hands again and again. This was way too soon—they had not even begun!
Once the full beauty treatment was complete, Wa Lord, chair and all, was wheeled before Emiya. The little girl seemed to have suddenly grown older out of nowhere, instantly transforming into an elegant, tender young maiden.
Her naturally curled hair fell in beautiful arcs, drawing in the softness of her face and making it look more pointed. It truly seemed as though she had stepped out of the story beneath a ray of light shining toward him, the half-demon, snake-bodied young lady gracefully approaching before his eyes.
Several kilometers away, noisy voices echoed through a hall.
Chip Girl, whose real name was Su Enxi, wore wrinkled light-pink pajamas and looked like a listless female college student. Yet she was the commander of the several-hundred-person team in this hall.
No one dared underestimate Su Enxi because of how she dressed. After merely a few days of working around the clock, she had tightly united this temporary team through efficient management and command, successfully producing results and leaving everyone deeply impressed.
"The magazine carrying the serialized novel is selling explosively? Just notify the publisher directly about a reprint, don't use a dedicated line to file a report! Also, tell the illustrator to visit the author and confirm the direction of the new content! We need to ride this wave and release news about the next issue, then urge the merchandise production forward!"
"That side is finished?... Very good. The target's emotional state is excellent. Beauty team, wrap up! Hurry, hurry, hurry, next team! Clothing team, get moving! The target has already left the store in the prepared sports car. Open the ready-to-wear store and prepare to receive them. Lay out all backup plans for the clothing team!"
Su Enxi wore light makeup, naturally projecting the air of a female executive as she controlled the entire scene, a small glass of champagne still in her hand.
Under her meticulous command, experts from fields ranging from beauty and fashion to psychology worked together closely and methodically. They controlled the targets' psychological state and satisfaction with the services, monitored the effects and atmosphere added by every service, and operated like a precisely turning set of gears. With a scale comparable to a massive reality show, all for the sake of arranging one date for two people.
Nearby, the long-legged beauty Jiu De Mayi stretched and yawned. "This is really exhausting. We've invested so much for our little young hero and little snake girl. How much funding is this going to cost? chips, doesn't it hurt?"
Su Enxi, Jiu De Mayi's colleague, was Little Devil Lu Mingze's chief accountant. Jiu De Mayi was a stunningly built beautiful female enforcer, while Su Enxi was an office worker responsible for making money.
In financial circles, Su Enxi was known as the "Black Gold Swan." Her influence was enough to trigger a financial storm and mobilize tens of billions of dollars to force a country into bankruptcy. Yet now, she had to spend money and effort figuring out how to create a perfect date.
Well, calculating it carefully, the cost was not actually that high. With the booming serialization income from that novel, plus the rights, merchandise, and investment in the Legend of the White Snake film and television adaptation, they could recover some of it later. But Su Enxi now had to eat dog food while painstakingly playing matchmaker for two beautiful people.
Damn it, she would rather return to her familiar field and fight those financial tycoons.
"Get lost! If you're not working, don't come annoy me. Besides, these are the people the boss personally ordered us to entertain. What else can I do?"
Jiu De Mayi lowered her head and said quietly, "The person of destiny the boss asked us to entertain wasn't that Young Hero Emiya, was it? Why drag in Wa Lord, the Zhou Family head who is absolutely not easy to deal with?"
Su Enxi curled her lip. "You weren't listening when the psychology experts were analyzing them, and now you think to ask me?"
"They analyzed it already. Don't be fooled by how the Young Hero looks like a friendly, dependable nice guy. He's actually incredibly stubborn inside. You can't truly close the distance between him and us with money or women. He cares more about the companions around him, so we'll help him there. If he needs to repay a favor, he'll be more likely to sincerely open his heart to us."
"As for Wa Lord, she happens to be the opposite type from the Young Hero. The Young Hero is soft on the outside but strong within, while Wa Lord is strong on the outside but soft within. Most of the time, she is forceful, and she only reveals her inner feelings to those truly close to her. Then she becomes especially easy to handle. We analyzed the situation and concluded that Wa Lord genuinely has feelings for the Young Hero. She was actually looking forward to this outing."
"So we're going all out. This time, with the theme of the 'perfect love of a normal girl' that Wa Lord never got to experience in the past, we'll turn it directly into a magnificent, wonderful date—so beautiful that she thinks she has fallen into a dream."
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