A Grand Appointment Facing the Sun

Emiya and the Wa Lord exited the bookstore, and the men and women passing by all turned their gazes toward the pair.

Some, perhaps reminded of the tragic heroine in the story's plot, saw that the Wa Lord couldn't walk and needed to be carried, assuming she was a disabled young girl, and shot her comforting, encouraging glances. Others, spotting the striking couple of Emiya and the Wa Lord—handsome man and beautiful woman resembling the novel's protagonists—got instantly excited and hesitantly approached to ask for photos and group shots.

Still others simply thrust a large bouquet of flowers at them. Tucked into the flowers was a small, simple white card, inscribed in elegant cursive with a famous German poem by Hermann Hesse: "All mein Irren war ein Weg zu dir." (All my wandering was a path to you.)

At that moment, the whole world seemed to rush toward them, offering up beautiful goodwill and fervent blessings.

Emiya was almost shaken by the spectacle of the crowd's attention, snapping back to reality a second later. He couldn't help but marvel inwardly, Wow, so this is the power of the crowd's atmosphere team? As for the Wa Lord, he felt her on his back, silent for a long time.

"Wa Lord?"

She replied in a low voice, "Mm, I'm fine. Hurry, let's go somewhere else." Her tone was unprecedentedly soft and pliant.

They switched to a beauty salon. The owner and staff saw the Wa Lord carried on Emiya's back and, true to form, showed no unusual expressions. The owner even cheerfully announced that today happened to coincide with the salon's anniversary event, and they'd be giving the first couple through the door a special event gift pack!

Emiya immediately sensed a whiff of pre-arrangement. When he asked what it included, the owner said, "Oh, we offer a full customizable package—skincare, hair, nails, body treatments, makeup, hydrotherapy—whatever you need, we can set it up right away."

So Emiya took the list and saw a dizzying array of service options, quickly asking the owner for recommendations.

The owner smiled faintly and chatted with him:

"First, for hair, I recommend a personalized style based on the customer's face shape, temperament, and needs. Your girlfriend has a youthful look, but her fair, delicate face and good aura suit a longer style. We'll just do a little work—slightly curl the ends, add some layered trimming for a natural inward-curving medium-length cut—to create a romantic, gentle vibe."

No sooner had the plan been set than the team sprang into action. The Wa Lord sat in a luxurious swivel recliner, surrounded by a crowd working on her hair. The young girl who usually made hundreds of people in the Zhou Family tremble with a single shout now, lost in thought, stayed obediently quiet, acting like a porcelain-doll child cooperating with everyone.

Emiya stared at the Wa Lord, suspecting she was still caught up in the earlier story and hadn't snapped out of it. He inwardly wondered if the Chip Girl's team had gone too far, and whether even bigger arrangements were waiting down the line.

An hour or two slipped by quietly. During that time, the owner served Emiya tea and water, handed him a premium VIP card and a stack of generous coupons, and even offered blessings like "May you have a child soon" and "A hundred years of harmony." Emiya quickly waved his hands—We're not even there yet, not even close!

When the full beauty treatment was done, the Wa Lord, still in her chair, was wheeled in front of Emiya. The little girl seemed to have aged in an instant, transformed into an elegant, tender young woman.

Her naturally inward-curving hair cascaded in beautiful arcs, drawing in the roundness of her face to make it sharper. It was as if a beam of light shone down on him, and she stepped out of a story, gracefully approaching—the half-demon, snake-bodied young lady.

In a hall several kilometers away, a clamor of voices echoed all around.

Chip Girl—whose real name was Su Enxi—a young woman in a rumpled pale pink pajama set, looked like a listless college student. Yet she was the commander of the several-hundred-person team in this hall.

No one dared underestimate Su Enxi because of her attire. After just a few days of burning the midnight oil, she had tightly bonded this temporary team with efficient management and command, delivering results and leaving a deep impression on everyone.

"The magazine featuring the serialized novel is selling like crazy? Just notify the publisher for reprints—don't use the dedicated line to report! Also, tell the artist to visit the author in person to confirm the new content direction! We need to ride this wave and release the next issue's news while kickstarting merchandise production!"

"Is that done?... Good, the target's emotional state is stable. Beauty team, wrap it up! Hurry, next team—wardrobe, move out! The target has left the shop and gotten into the prepared sports car. Get the boutique ready to welcome them, and list all the wardrobe team's backup plans!"

Su Enxi wore light makeup, exuding a natural leadership aura as she commanded the room, a small glass of champagne in hand.

Under her tight direction, experts from fields ranging from beauty and fashion to psychology worked seamlessly together, controlling the target's psychological state and service satisfaction, monitoring the effect and atmosphere of each service addition. Like a precisely meshed set of gears, they operated on the scale of a major reality show, all to pull off a single date.

Beside her, the long-legged beauty Jiu De Mayi stretched and yawned. "What a hassle. Throwing all this at our Young Hero and little snake girl—how much budget does that burn? Chip, you're not even a little upset?"

As Jiu De Mayi's colleague, Su Enxi was the head accountant under Little Devil Lu Mingze's command. Jiu De Mayi was a stunningly built female enforcer, while she was the desk jockey in charge of making money.

Su Enxi was known in the financial world as the "Black Gold Swan." Her power could stir up a financial storm, mobilizing tens of billions of dollars to drive a country to bankruptcy. Yet now, she was spending money and energy on crafting the perfect date.

Sigh, though when you really calculate it, this money isn't that much. With the hot serialization of that novel's revenue, plus the copyrights, merchandise, and investment in the Legend of the White Snake film and TV adaptations, we might recoup the costs later. But right now, Su Enxi had to choke down dog food while busting her ass to bring two lovers together.

Damn it, she'd rather go back to her familiar turf and duke it out with the financial sharks.

"Shoo, shoo! If you're not working, don't come bother me. Besides, the boss personally told us to entertain these people. What else can I do?"

Jiu De Mayi leaned in and whispered, "The fated person the boss told us to entertain—isn't that Young Hero Emiya? Why drag in that Zhou Family head, the Wa Lord, who's anything but easy to deal with?"

Su Enxi pursed her lips. "The psychology team analyzed it, but you weren't listening then. Now you're asking me?"

"They figured it out. Don't let the Young Hero's friendly, good-guy demeanor fool you—he's stubborn inside. You can't really get close to him with money or women. He cares more about the people around him, so we're giving him a hand. He'll open up to us more sincerely if he feels he owes a debt of gratitude."

"As for the Wa Lord, she's the opposite of the Young Hero. He's soft on the outside, hard within; she's hard on the outside, soft within. She's dominant in most situations, only showing her true feelings to those truly close to her, and then she becomes easy to handle. Our analysis suggests the Wa Lord has genuine feelings for the Young Hero—she's actually looking forward to this outing."

"So we're going all out. This time, with the theme of 'a normal girl's perfect love'—something the Wa Lord never got to experience—we're turning it into a grand, beautiful date. So stunning that she'll feel like she's stepped into a dream."

Thanks to @BookFriend20200127210121611 for the monthly ticket!