After the dragon spirit was captured, Hu Chenrui quickly contacted the Kongsang Bureau, finally relieving Director Huang's urgent predicament.
Both parties agreed on a transfer plan to send one-eighth of the dragon spirit back to Kongsang, to be re-suppressed beneath the Observation Department.
On the phone, Director Huang was deeply moved, his voice thick with emotion, sounding on the verge of tears: "Old Hu, I knew you were the most reliable, you never let me down in critical moments!"
"Back then, you risked your life to go to Huaijiang, and now you still uphold the revolutionary spirit. Your selection was indeed the people's choice."
Hu Chenrui: "…Say something that makes me happy."
Since the dragon spirit was captured by the Huaijiang Bureau, Hu Chenrui negotiated several compensation terms with the Kongsang Bureau, including prioritizing the transfer of plant spirit criminals to Huaijiang, long-term cooperation for future Kongsang Bureau specialties, and the distribution of Observation Bureau products in the Kongsang region.
In the office, Chu Zhishui learned of this and couldn't help but comment: "Director Hu really cares about our business."
"It's not like that dragon is any good, its only use is for making uniforms and suppressing furnaces," Xin Yunmao scoffed. "Hu Chenrui couldn't even peel off a scale, so he had to use it to negotiate terms. You think everyone is like me, both powerful and good at making money."
The dragon spirit is the foundation of the Observation Bureau, primarily used for forging Demon Suppression Robes and suppressing the fires of the Observation Department. Spirits gained power from ancient gods, gradually forming small organizations to handle human-spirit and spirit-spirit disputes, to prevent another calamity like the great war of the past.
If considered purely from a practical standpoint, plant spirits are indeed more useful than animal spirits, with more pacifists and meticulous workers.
Chu Zhishui hesitated: "Although what you said is true, it just doesn't sound right. This isn't something someone else should say, how can you praise yourself?"
Xin Yunmao complained resentfully: "It's all because you, as a human, never want to praise me."
"…"
Chu Zhishui reluctantly clapped, saying weakly: "The Godly Lord is truly great, the model student in kindergarten."
"I've always been a model," Xin Yunmao ignored her context, extracting only the key words, then snorted lightly, "Luckily, the vegetable garden wasn't damaged, otherwise peeling off that dragon's scales probably wouldn't be enough to compensate."
This was his biggest concern. If the bureau was smashed to pieces, the Economic Development Department would have to raise funds to rebuild, and she would be even busier.
The dragon spirit matter was left to Miao Li and other spirits to handle. Before Chen Zhuhui went back to school, the Economic Development Department organized a team-building trip to the city.
Chu Zhishui drove them to the city, spending a whole day in the bustling commercial district eating, drinking, and having fun, and even strolling through the night market at night.
The night market was brightly lit, with various small shops, some selling snacks, others selling handmade jewelry. Not far away, there was the enchanting sound of singing, with some dancers in elaborate costumes attracting customers by the square, creating a lively atmosphere.
Chen Zhuhui was overwhelmed by the sights, having never seen such a night market before, she couldn't even bear to blink.
The two humans and two spirits bought a lot of snacks and tasted freshly squeezed juice from the night market. Although not as delicious as the fruits from the bureau, the containers were more creative, even the straws were beautifully twisted.
"I was deceived by the appearance again, I said you can't just look at the shape," Chu Zhishui stirred the drink, studying it, "This is just a space below with dry ice making it emit white smoke, then using a pretty straw. If Brother Niu buys a batch of new cups, they probably wouldn't be worse than this."
Chen Zhuhui pondered for a few seconds, honestly saying: "It feels like the cafeteria's functions are increasing."
With the bureau's funding becoming more abundant, Niu Shi clearly had more leisure, recently researching baking and successfully trying out cakes, not only applying cream himself but also decorating with colorful fresh fruits, just like in cake shops.
If this continues, perhaps not only will there be cake vouchers for employees' birthdays, but fresh fruit cakes could also be directly collected from the cafeteria.
The night market trip was quite enjoyable, making them eat again after dinner, nibbling on snacks and chatting intermittently.
The only downside was that Jin Yu, upon seeing a goldfish catching stall, exclaimed in horror at the cruelty, eventually buying the entire basin of goldfish to prevent them from being toyed with by humans.
But what about these little fish?" Jin Yu held the basin, her eyes blinking in confusion, looking at Chu Zhishui, "Your house just finished renovating, isn't it good feng shui to raise some goldfish?"
Chu Zhishui whispered: "I thought you were so indignant, you wouldn't allow humans to raise goldfish."
Jin Yu couldn't accept using small nets to catch goldfish, insisting on buying the whole basin of fish, fortunately, the price wasn't too high. With her salary rising, she naturally had the ability to pay.
Jin Yu: "Raising fish and playing with fish are different. If they live in your home, the little fish would definitely be happy..."
Xin Yunmao's face darkened, he glanced at Jin Yu sideways, coldly saying: "What?"
She hadn't even built enough dormitories for this fish, and now she wanted to move in.
Jin Yu realized her mistake, her heart skipped a beat, quickly smartly shutting up: "…"
Chen Zhuhui laughed and smoothed things over: "Let Brother Niu raise them at the bureau, didn't they just finish renovating the pond?"
Before leaving, the Economic Development Department took a group photo at the night market square. Chu Zhishui put the photo in the group chat, feeling it was well-taken, satisfied: "Not bad, Zhuhui also got to the night market before school starts, the next time we go out to play will have to wait until winter vacation."
"Um," Chen Zhuhui softly responded, looking at the group photo on the screen, adding it to a special album collection, where she kept the photos from her time at the bureau.
On the screen, the clear and tangible night market group photo completely covered the vague fragments in her mind. This was her first time at the night market, experiencing everything fresh firsthand.
No ancient costumes, no lantern riddles, just Chen Zhuhui's night market memories.
When early autumn arrived, the vegetable garden had fresh produce every day. Chen Zhuhui only caught the first harvest wave before hurrying back to school.
As autumn deepened, okra and wax gourd in the fields became edible, and the lotus flowers by the pond withered, revealing tender lotus roots, washed and blanched for a refreshing, sweet taste.
When Chu Zhishui bought her new home, she had once fantasized about planting in the yard, now realizing that dream at the bureau.
Niu Shi was obviously more experienced, arranging cafeteria meals with seasonal vegetables from the garden every day, rarely repeating ingredients. He also occasionally gave Chu Zhishui some vegetables to take home and cook, even Xie Yan and Chu Xiaohe praised them.
She recently developed a liking for eating vegetable leaves, not chili, pumpkin, or loofah, but chili leaves, pumpkin leaves, and loofah leaves, which are less common in supermarkets.
Autumn rains drizzled, ripening the vegetables in the fields and washing the bamboo forest at home. The fine raindrops fell on the green bamboo leaves, making them tremble and drip water drop by drop.
The courtyard flowers revealed a golden autumn color, only the green bamboo remained tall and evergreen, decorating the new home with lush greenery.
The accumulated rainwater on the eaves flowed down, creating ripples but not soaking the nearby furniture.
Xin Yunmao, wearing a deep green ancient robe, now with disheveled hair, lay lazily on a rocking chair, leisurely closing his eyes for a nap. His deep black eyelashes drooped, falling asleep under the rain's lullaby, looking peaceful and defenseless.
When Chu Zhishui pushed open the courtyard gate, a cool breeze with moist rain greeted her, making her shiver instinctively. She wanted to persuade Xin Yunmao not to sleep in the courtyard during the rain, but thinking that bamboo grows outdoors all year round, she felt maybe she didn't understand the species differences.
Xin Yunmao seemed to hear the door opening, causing the rocking chair to sway.
"Let's have hot pot for lunch?"
Chu Zhishui saw his eyelashes tremble and knew he was already awake, just resting with his eyes closed. He never needed sleep, coming to the courtyard to feel nature.
Sure enough, Xin Yunmao opened his eyes, his voice slightly hoarse: "Okay."
Chu Zhishui saw him disheveled, his hair messy, glancing at the collar slipping down, revealing a large expanse of skin and smooth muscle lines, couldn't help but remind: "Although you have the freedom to dress, I still don't recommend you lying like this outside."
Xin Yunmao was puzzled: "Why?"
Chu Zhishui blurted out, "One moment it's short hair and modern clothes, the next it's long hair and ancient attire. Others might think I have two boyfriends, and that could damage my reputation."
"..."
Xin Yunmao huffed softly, reluctantly getting up and changing back to his short hair style without even snapping his fingers. Today, he wore light-colored home clothes, looking much softer than usual. He went to the kitchen to prepare ingredients for the hot pot.
Preparing hot pot ingredients wasn't difficult. Chu Zhishui set up the double-sided hot pot in the living room, poured two different hot pot bases into the pot, and started boiling water. She also mixed up some dipping sauces.
Before she finished, Xin Yunmao returned from the kitchen with a plate of frozen mutton slices and a mixed vegetable platter, the leaves glistening with crystal droplets. There were slices of white raw lotus root, golden potato slices, translucent winter melon slices, paired with pea sprouts, baby bok choy, lettuce, and other leafy greens, along with soaked sweet potato noodles, making for a quite complete spread.
"You used magic again, that was too fast," Chu Zhishui exclaimed. "I haven't even boiled the water yet."
Xin Yunmao poked at the hard mutton slices with his chopsticks. "Then I'll wait a bit to defrost them. We can play a game for now."
The two of them turned on the TV screen. They didn't often watch TV, but now that a game console was connected, they could pass the time.
It was funny that Chu Zhishui and Xin Yunmao, who farmed and sold vegetables at the Observation Bureau, still farmed and sold vegetables in the game, collecting materials to sell for money and then spending it to build houses. Having a plant spirit boyfriend meant even in games, they were always farming.
The game allowed for multiplayer. Chu Zhishui was always focused on making money, while Xin Yunmao spent his days researching decoration. Since his spirit energy had no effect on the vegetable plots in the game, the indignant deity roamed around looking for bamboo, starting a bamboo forest greening project.
Whenever Chu Zhishui returned from selling goods, she found the manor a bit greener, the green bamboo expanding wildly while she was busy, completely turning into eye-protection mode, showing he cared about her eyesight.
The hot pot bubbled and gurgled, releasing its aroma.
Chu Zhishui smelled the fragrance, quickly put down the controller, lifted the lid of the hot pot, and felt the thick, steamy scent. "The water's boiling, time to eat."
The double-sided hot pot was red and inviting, one side spicy and stimulating, the other tomato-flavored and fresh, both very appetizing. Xin Yunmao poured the mutton slices into the pot, slowly stirring with chopsticks, then adjusted the heat to the right level.
Chu Zhishui looked around the full table of ingredients and suddenly said, "It seems like something's missing."
"What else do you want to eat?"
"No, we should have something to drink." Chu Zhishui got up and headed to the kitchen, "I'll go find some."
In the kitchen, upon opening the fridge, there were no drinks. The coconut water was all gone, and they had been getting vegetables from the bureau recently, so they hadn't been to the supermarket to restock.
Chu Zhishui pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and quickly opened the lower cabinet, pulling out a green bamboo wine. After settling into the new home, she had brought the bamboo container over but hadn't had a chance to taste it.
"Let's drink this," Chu Zhishui said, bringing the bamboo wine and cups back.
Xin Yunmao saw the bamboo container he had given her and was stunned. "You want to drink during the day?"
"I tasted it that day, it doesn't have a strong alcohol flavor, it's as light as coconut water," Chu Zhishui blinked. "You didn't want me to share it with others, so when will I ever finish it?"
Usually, she ate alone and wouldn't ceremoniously drink, but with him, she felt more inclined.
Xin Yunmao, hearing this, naturally had no objections and joined her in a light sip.
Chu Zhishui poured the bamboo wine into the cups, took a light sip, and it was still fragrant with the scent of plants, a faint fruitiness, and a refreshing aftertaste, without the harshness of alcohol, gently flowing down the throat, making one unable to stop after just one sip.
She looked at the clear liquid in the cup, then at the green bamboo container, and continued to taste it, praising, "Did you use this kind of bamboo to brew it? The taste is really good."
It was unclear what kind of bamboo could brew such a fine wine.
Xin Yunmao calmly said, "No, I brewed it myself and just used it to hold the wine."
"Pfft—" Chu Zhishui, hearing this, still had a mouthful of wine and almost spat it out.
