"Good afternoon, ladies! What can I get you on this fine evening!"
I somehow stretched my muscles to form a smile and carefully chose specific words that would charm these ladies.
"Ah, you're Ms.Lin, right? I see you've come back with your friends!"
Her face suddenly flushed, and she held her hands up to her face.
"Oh! Y-you...you still remember me!"
You were just here thirty minutes ago.
"How could I forget you, Ms.Lin?"
Fine, if things are going to go this way, then let it be.
I might as well make as much money as I can and get on that Granny's good side while I'm at it!
That's when I decided to lean into the pretty-boy aesthetic, embracing Hanzhi's looks.
"Well, ladies, I suppose you're here for these magnificent potions?"
I stepped to the side and took a brown-filled vial off the shelf, putting it right up against the girls' faces.
"You ladies might have heard about the healing potion from Lin, but you haven't seen this spectacular strength potion yet!"
But looking at the potion myself, it was almost as if Grandma Guanhuai had just mixed some dirt and water, calling it a day.
Hm...her strength potions are a lot less appetizing than her healing ones.
I slowly spun the glass, letting the sunlight bounce off every surface, creating beautiful, different colors that outshone the disgusting-looking concoction.
"Wow, it looks so natural, but also so elegant!"
"Yeah! The cloudy liquid contrasts so well with the clear bottle!"
"Indeed, ladies! You all have such a keen eye, you see, all of our ingredients are organic, personally collected by my Boss."
It felt like both parties were trying to butter up the other, spouting nonsense on the actual product itself.
"All of our products are extremely healthy, giving multiple health benefits, with every potion here only being 100 Jia each, and because I...I like you, you ladies get a special discount of twenty percent off your next purchase if you buy 300 Jia's worth of potions!"
"Mr. Han! Y-you truly are too generous!"
...Really?
"T-twenty percent off! It might as well be free!"
It's not. Like at all.
But these girls seem to be taking this quite nicely...
I guess...
It's time to put the final nail in the coffin!
I slowly brushed my hand through Hanzhi's hair, with my other hand in my pocket, and leaned my body so my face was just inches away from Lin's.
My internal body was screaming at me to stop...But I have to drown this out!
Her face was now red like a tomato, while all her friends were squealing with excitement.
Come on, Yinuo. You've been through worse!
"I'll let..."
Come on!
"...I'll let you beauties in on a little secret..."
"W-w-w-what?"
"I love ladies who not only take care of themselves, but are also strong~~"
Oh god.
I think I'm going to puke.
"EEEEEEKKKKK!!!"
The girls were jumping up and down, pushing and pulling at Lin, whose jaw still wasn't closing.
Lin then finally said something.
"I'll...I'll have six more health potions, and six strength ones!"
"W-wait! I also want six strength potions!"
"Give me three healing ones or whatever!"
"I'll have three of each then!"
All the girls then also started following suit.
Wow...that worked...really well, huh.
"Okay, okay, ladies, one at a time, alright~"
Transferring the Jia, I made sure to remember all their names, for future investments, y'know?
"Thank you, my...dearests!"
"No problem Han~"
"I'll make good use of these potions, Mr. Han!"
The girls took their packaged goods, and all skipped away, giggling and whispering amongst themselves.
Let's check how much money I just made.
I opened the Jia app and counted up all the transfers.
[Jia App]
[+960 Jia from Lin Xinyi]
[+600 Jia from Jing Xiaolu]
[+300 Jia from Song Miaomiao]
[+600 Jia from Lan Qinghe]
[+300 Jia from Yun Bingtian]
Hm, 960, 1560, 1860, 2460, 2760...
2760 Jia in one sale...
Wait.
2760 Jia...in one sale...alone.
T-thats...a little below half of a D-Rank weapon...
...I...
...I think I know what I must do.
Today was the day I threw out my dignity.
Because from now onwards, I was no longer a salesman, but a host, with the curb now serving as my host club.
***
Multiple women, of all different ages, lined up against the street, with every single one of them seemingly enamored with whatever they were waiting for.
Loud chattering and squealing were heard throughout the block.
And in the center of it all was, of course, Wen Hanzhi... whose nickname was now Han.
The evening now created a beautiful sunset that only enhanced Hanzhi's appeal.
I lightly tugged at the collar of my shirt, brazenly showing off Hanzhi's collarbone.
I had realized about halfway through my sales that I didn't even have to mention the amazing effects the potions had...All I needed to do was spout out honey and show a little skin.
"You beauties are truly such an amazing audience, I hope to see you tomorrow~"
There were only about four potions left...but the line was still extremely long.
At this rate...I'll have to role-play longer than I should be.
Hmm....
"Ladies! There seems to not be enough potions for all you beauties, so I'll have you all write your names on this phone, but don't be saddened, you'll get special treatment from us when everything is back in stock tomorrow!"
That should do it.
All of a sudden, all the women who were in the front rushed to the back, and the ladies who were now in the front also went to the back, which was then followed by pushing and shoving.
What the hell? Over "special treatment"? They don't even know what that means?
"Um, hey! Stop, there's no need to fight over this!"
The pushing continued.
"Hey! I said stop! I, uh, don't want you beauties to get hurt over me~"
Surprisingly, the shoving continued.
"Crap-ladies! I need you to-"
Just then, long, chestnut hair fluttered into my view, as my eyes were met with refreshing green ones.
T-the, it's the waitress!
"W-wait! Aren't you that waitress?!"
Before I knew it, I was already trying to talk to her.
"Oh, so you remember me, Lover-boy?"
"I-I mean, yeah."
She...doesn't look so happy right now.
"Um, so, I'm guessing you're here for potions? I still have about uh, four?"
"Yeah, I can see that. Just take out the phone for the transfer."
"Uh, hm, yeah."
I quickly dug into my pockets and took out Grandma Guanhuai's phone.
"So, you aren't going to keep up your charade with me?"
"W-what?"
"You sure looked happy, taking in all that attention."
Why does this feel like an interrogation?
"Oh, hah, you know, how, uh, businesses run...um, speaking of businesses, how's yours?"
She looked up from her phone and stared at me, but I couldn't quite make out what her expression was.
"It's...okay."
"Oh, that's good, honestly, with that huge discount you gave me, I was scared it might have cost you a lot."
"Hm."
Although the heat was dwindling, I could still feel the prickling sensation of more sweat coming down my neck.
I then remembered what I had said before about wanting to help the waitress out...wouldn't now be the best time to do it?
Before her phone tapped onto mine, I quickly snatched my phone back, effectively cutting off the transfer.
"Wait! I've...I've been wanting to pay you back, so let me give you these for free. It's the least I can do."
Her eyes widened a little, and her shoulders tensed.
"You were doing so much just to sell those potions, but now you're giving them to me for free?"
"Uh, yeah, I mean, you've also done a lot for me."
It was weird, I couldn't make out what she was thinking. Her eyes looked from mine, then to the potions, then back to mine. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw her mutter something.
"Huh, what did you say?"
"No, it's...it's nothing."
She looked down at her feet.
"Well? Aren't you going to package it for me?"
"Oh, right!"
I carefully placed everything into the bag and handed it to her.
"You're sure lucky, those were our last four strength potions."
"..."
She hands clenched the bag, making a loud crumpling sound.
"...Hey, if you keep holding the bag like that, you might actually rip it."
"Y-you..."
She finally looked up, except her eyes were now filled with water...
S-she, she's crying!
W-what, did I do something wrong?
Tears flowed down her cheeks as I frantically tried to comfort her.
"Hey, what's wrong? I-is it me? D-did I say something? You can tell me!"
"...hng..."
"Please, uh, don't cry! I'll fix it, it was me, wasn't it?"
She quickly wiped her tears away, but her voice still shook, betraying her words.
"...Thank...thank you."
The sunlight reflected through her eyes, revealing flecks of bright yellow.
"H-huh?"
"Sorry, there was just a lot of, um, dust in my eyes, and allergies too."
"..."
I wondered what she was really thinking.
Her eyes were now a bit puffy, and there was a slight blush on the tips of her ears as she was fiddling with it.
"Well, I should get going now, after all, time is of the essence."
She faintly smiled at me, a smile that didn't seem particularly happy, nor fake, and walked away, waving goodbye at me.
I dumbly waved back, my eyes never moving away from her.
The evening light hit her hair, making it seem like strands of gold, dancing in the wind.
For a moment, the bustling noise of the street had faded into a low hum.
"...Huh...wait...wait! I-I don't even know your name!"
Just as I said that, the ladies who were once fighting for last place had realized that everything was sold out, and were now jumping on top of each other, heading straight for me.
"I NEED THAT PHONE FIRST!"
"NO, I DO!"
"PLEASE MR.HAN, I NEED TO SIGN MY NAME FIRST!"
"W-what!? Wait! Get back!"
Between the crowd, I saw her, and she saw me.
As I called out to her, she giggled, probably at how useless I was against the crowd of ladies.
Dammit, she can't hear what I'm trying to say!
I need to know her name; she's helped me so much, and I don't even know her name.
I turned back to look at her again...but she was gone.
"..."
...I...I need to get my act together. Let's first focus on these ladies.
I handed Grandma Guanhuai's phone around the crowd, as everyone ferociously typed in their names.
With my mind still on her.