Nicole thoughtfully saved the contact information of everyone from Hare's House, as well as the video store siblings, into Sam Li's new phone.
to prevent Soldier 11 from trying to poach again, Nicole simply ignored Soldier 11's contact information.
Trying to steal talent right in front of her? It was already generous enough not to block her number.
The night passed without incident.
In the blink of an eye, it was the next day.
Sam Li got up early as usual, carrying his birdcage to Sixth Street.
After having breakfast—with the bill sent to Hare's House—he sat down outside Master Tingman's coffee shop.
He ordered a New Eridu Special.
Thus began his day... no, his "work."
He had just sat down for a moment when—
Sam Li pulled it out and opened Knock Knock Chat.
It was a message from Billy:
"Go, Sam Li! Let's land another big commission today! Boss Nicole said that once we save up a million Dennies, she'll take us to New Eridu's city center to have fun. It's a rich district with lots of awesome stuff!"
Sam Li simply replied:
He had just put down the phone when it rang again.
"By the way, Sam Li, you know how to do math, right?"
"Do the math for me. Yesterday, we earned 550,000 Dennies from Soldier 11, spent 40,000 on dinner, and paid 350,000 to settle debts and buy a phone. So there should still be 160,000 Dennies left, right?"
"But when I accidentally saw Nicole's phone this morning, there were only 30,000 Dennies left. That's 130,000 missing! Nicole didn't fall for some phone scam, right? I heard there are tons of scammers lately."
"Report it to the police."
"I'm too scared... Nicole would kill me."
"After discussing it with Anby, we decided you should go and ask her."
Sam Li glanced at the message and put the phone away.
He knew Nicole wasn't the type to get scammed—she was craftier than most scammers out there.
As for where the missing Dennies went and what she was up to,
he didn't care to get involved.
"Master Tingman, another New Eridu Special."
"Mr. Sam Li, would you like to try the Cream Latte?"
Sam Li sat there quietly all morning.
Near noon, his phone rang again.
It was a message from Belle at the video store:
"Wow, it's Sam Li! Is this your Knock Knock account? Nicole finally bought you a phone?"
"Just bought it last night."
"Are you at Sixth Street today? I have something I want to ask you."
"I'm at Master Tingman's coffee shop."
"Wait for me, I'll be right there..."
Inside the video store,
Belle sat on the sofa, smiling at her phone.
"Brother, I'm heading out for a bit."
"Master Tingman's coffee shop. Don't worry, I'll bring you back a coffee."
Belle quickly put away her phone and rushed out.
she arrived at Master Tingman's and spotted Sam Li enjoying his coffee while waiting for a client.
Belle walked up and sat across from him.
"Sam Li, Master Tingman's is practically your office now. Aren't you worried the security bureau will catch you?"
"They're my clients too."
"No wonder! Your business range is even wider than ours. By the way, did you get any commissions today?"
Sam Li replied, taking a sip of coffee.
After waiting so long without a single client showing up to cover his tab, he was ready to write it off as a loss for the day.
Instead, Belle showed up.
"Master Tingman, a Moonsoil Mocha for Miss Belle."
"Thank you, Sam Li. You're so nice."
When Master Tingman brought the coffee over,
"Belle, you said earlier you had something to ask me?"
Belle suddenly remembered,
"Right! I almost forgot. I wanted to ask if you could fly up into the sky again."
Belle said excitedly,
"Last time, my body stayed in the video store, so I only experienced flying through Eous's perspective. Could you use that giant golden pillar again and take me up into the sky, just like yesterday?"
Sam Li thought for a moment.
"There will be opportunities in the future."
Belle beamed with happiness.
their coffees were finished, and noon had arrived.
Sam Li slowly stood up.
"I should head back. Goodbye."
Belle also stood up, smiling.
"See you next time. Master Tingman, the check, please."
Master Tingman came out holding the account book.
"Miss Belle, that'll be 8,000 Dennies."
Belle jumped in surprise.
"What?! 8,000 Dennies? Master Tingman, is your coffee made of gold or silver? Why did the price shoot up?"
Master Tingman explained,
"It's not for one cup—it's five cups total. I already gave you a discount..."
He had gotten used to other people covering Sam Li's bill every day, so he automatically charged it all to Belle.
Belle looked at Master Tingman, then at Sam Li.
It didn't take long for her to understand.
So that's what happened.
"Um... here's 8,000 Dennies, Master Tingman."
Belle turned back to Sam Li.
"Goodbye. Thanks for the treat."
Sam Li didn't receive a single commission.
And in the next two days,
he didn't meet a client either.
Without a penny coming in,
Hare's House was once again running out of food.
"Boss Nicole, what do we do?"
"What else? We wait for Sam Li. Anby, send him a message and tell him he must land a commission today."
"Got it. Message sent—"
Meanwhile, on Sam Li's side:
He was strolling with his bird toward Sixth Street when he ran into Zhu Yuan and Qingyi, who were on patrol.
They decided to head to Master Tingman's for a coffee break.
As soon as they sat down,
Zhu Yuan leaned in seriously.
"Sam Li, did you know the Imperial City Hollow has suddenly entered a collapse phase these past two days?"
Sam Li looked puzzled.
"Imperial City Hollow?"
Seeing him shake his head,
"That Hollow used to be a giant film studio, and it had a replica of an old imperial city inside. So it was officially named Imperial City Hollow. Recently, it's suddenly started collapsing. No one knows what's going on inside, but based on my analysis, it's very dangerous. You'd better tell your boss at Hare's House to stay away."