Chapter Thirty: Yishen’s Business

"Long time no see." Zhu Qing greeted Yi Shen with a smile, showing none of the nervousness that Zhu You exhibited when interacting with him. Her bright red sweatshirt was clean and striking, and her high ponytail accentuated her sharp, capable demeanor.

"I didn't expect you to connect with Zhu You first—what a coincidence," Zhu Qing remarked. She remembered that her sister likely didn't have Yi Shen's contact information. Whenever she had messaged him herself, he rarely replied. So seeing Zhu You suddenly bring Yi Shen over today was a small surprise.

"It is quite the coincidence," Yi Shen replied, spreading his hands, offering no further explanation.

"How should I address you? Should I just call you 'Orange'?" Zhu Qing asked, only slightly aggrieved as she mentioned, "I've sent you messages a few times, but you must've been busy and didn't see them."

Yi Shen's communicator displayed the codename "Orange," a name he had casually chosen long ago. He had never revealed his real name to Zhu Qing and her sister, which explained Zhu Qing's confusion.

"My communicator’s been broken recently, so I haven’t seen your messages," he replied. "I'll get a new one when I have time and promise to reply to you first thing."

"I heard from your sister you had a skill book for Blink, so I came to ask about it. If you like, you can call me Orange," Yi Shen explained simply, quickly moving to the main topic.

Their conversation proceeded smoothly.

In the end, the skill book for Blink was sold to Yi Shen for the price of 5,000, which was indeed a friendly rate.

"So, Orange, what are your plans next? Want to do some other business in the shop?" Zhu Qing offered, "Don’t let the size of my shop fool you—I can actually handle a lot here." She poured Yi Shen a glass of water.

From Yi Shen's demeanor, it was clear he didn't belong to this neighborhood, so Zhu Qing was eager to seize the opportunity for further collaboration.

"Do you buy equipment here?" Yi Shen asked directly. After a few interactions, he knew Zhu Qing was straightforward, so he didn't bother with pleasantries.

"I have some equipment for levels 10 to 20. Many students from martial academies might like them."

"Do you have finished pieces? I need to see the stats first. If they're good, I'll definitely buy; if they're lacking, I'll still buy, but the price won't be as high."

Hearing Yi Shen discuss business, Zhu Qing's eyes brightened.

She had guessed earlier that Yi Shen was strong enough to hunt monsters alone and was probably the type to leave a wealthy family to start his own venture, too lazy to collect all his loot. She just hadn't expected him to make a deal with her so soon.

"I do," Yi Shen nodded. He reached into his backpack and took out several compact pieces of equipment, pouring out seven or eight E-grade items.

Since he'd already dismantled the junk weapons, what remained were all minor treasures.

Zhu Qing scanned the stats and her eyes shone. The equipment Yi Shen brought was excellent, all easily sellable.

"There are also some D-grade items," Yi Shen said, retrieving a few D-grade pieces from his inventory.

D-grade equipment mainly came from secret realms, so he kept them in his inventory for convenience.

Zhu Qing scanned them again, her gaze turning curious.

"Did you get all these solo?" Zhu Qing asked.

Based on her impression, Yi Shen was a lone young master from a prestigious family. Yet these pieces, especially the D-grade items, had clear markings from secret realms. Last time, he carried the same bag, filled with poison sacs and such; this time, it was equipment—meaning this was likely his loot from the last few days.

To obtain so much in so little time was truly impressive.

Zhu You watched in awe. She guessed the items were valuable, but hadn't expected Yi Shen to produce so many at once.

She vaguely remembered how, when her sister acquired her first E-grade item, the family celebrated with a grand meal. Now, Yi Shen casually dumped out several at once—it was remarkable.

"Do you care about this when buying equipment?" Yi Shen asked Zhu Qing, thoughtful.

"Sorry, I asked too much," Zhu Qing realized her slip and apologized repeatedly.

Yi Shen glanced at Zhu You, thought for a moment, and smiled, "It's fine. Zhu You probably already knows."

"I went to the Snowfield Desert these past few days. She helped me a lot outside."

"My main reason for coming today wasn’t just to buy a skill book. Zhu You mentioned you want to open an equipment shop. I should be able to supply equipment in bulk. We can collaborate—you handle sales, and we split the profits," Yi Shen said seriously, clearly considering the two sisters as potential allies.

For Yi Shen, the Jingmen Safe Zone was still dangerous. If he didn't leave, the best strategy would be to develop influence behind the scenes.

He had already figured out the personalities of the Zhu sisters: the elder was resolute, the younger obedient, both with spotless backgrounds.

Zhu Qing was experienced in dealing with various people, making her a suitable spokesperson. Zhu You, on the other hand, was perfect for a secretary role—she was diligent in gathering information and research.

Mentioning Zhu You made the discussion with Zhu Qing warmer and smoother.

After some consideration, Zhu Qing agreed to Yi Shen's proposal. The partnership posed no risk to her, and if Yi Shen truly had strong connections, their future would be much brighter.

Her only concern was that Zhu You seemed to be getting close to Yi Shen lately. Although she didn’t object to her sister being with him, when confronted with the issue as a guardian, she couldn’t help but worry. Both sisters had just come of age and understood little about the world; it was surprising they both found someone special at this time. All she could hope was that these young men had decent character—she would need to keep a watchful eye.

In the end, Yi Shen and Zhu Qing agreed on a 10:9 split, with Yi Shen providing all the equipment and Zhu Qing handling sales. Yi Shen also promised that if they needed to gather materials in the future, Zhu Qing would receive ten percent of the profits—a generous fee for her efforts.

After settling things with Zhu Qing, Yi Shen met with Zhu You, reminding her not to discuss the research he had asked her to do with outsiders.

Watching the innocent Zhu You, Yi Shen had other thoughts.

If he wanted to forge a deeper partnership with the sisters, pure monetary incentives wouldn’t suffice to win their loyalty.

He could tell Zhu You liked him; perhaps he could pursue a closer relationship with her.

That way, the Zhu sisters would see him as truly one of their own, and things would be much safer for everyone.