Chapter 236
"Why are you here?"
Li Qi's voice held a hint of surprise, but she quickly lowered her tone and pointed to the serious-looking manager sitting behind the counter, whispering, "I'm still on duty..."
"It's fine..."
Xia Er released her hand, smiled at Li Qi, and then turned to the manager, saying, "Miss Aivina asked me to bring Li Qi over."
"Go ahead."
The manager nodded, not saying much more, maintaining her serious demeanor.
With that, Xia Er took Li Qi's hand and walked out of the jewelry store, standing beside the Gem Avenue, which was starting to fill with people.
"Did Miss Aivina really call for me?"
Li Qi blinked at Xia Er, her curiosity piqued.
"Nope, I was just kidding."
Xia Er shook her head with a smile.
"What if you get caught..."
Li Qi pinched Xia Er's cheek lightly, giving her a small reprimand.
"She won't find out."
Xia Er shrugged, appearing unconcerned.
After all, the manager used to be Aivina's maid and was just helping her keep an eye on things.
Besides, whether Aivina actually called for Li Qi was something the manager couldn't verify. Even if she did decide to check, upon hearing it was a red-haired girl who said so, Aivina would likely just play along and later ask Xia Er for the details.
The relationship between Aivina and Xia Er was probably beyond what others could imagine.
They casually chose a nicely decorated café, and just as Xia Er was about to take her sister inside, she suddenly paused, recalling something. She turned and walked over to a street vendor selling yellowfin cod fish, asking over her shoulder, "Have you eaten yet?"
The fried fish, crispy and delicious, was a classic street food in Bole City, commonly found in the Bell Tower Alley area. It was cheap and packed with protein.
However, aside from fried fish and baked potatoes, there wasn't much else to eat on the street.
"Not yet."
Li Qi shook her head, smiling as she approached the vendor. "I'll have two fried fish, please."
The fish sizzled in the hot oil, and Li Qi turned to Xia Er, asking, "Have you been busy lately? You haven't written to me in a while."
"Yeah, I've been quite busy. I've been learning a new language and studying a lot."
Xia Er nodded. After a moment's thought, she asked, "What about you, sister? How have you been? I went home and saw you had cleaned up?"
"Mm..."
Li Qi nodded. "I had to go to church, so I figured I might as well tidy up a bit."
Even though their lease was about to end, it had been a shelter from the storm for a long time.
Whenever Li Qi or Xia Er had free time or were facing something important, they would instinctively choose to be in that place.
"Church, huh... I just went there too. I even donated a bit, asking the goddess for blessings."
Xia Er replied.
"Aren't you an 'atheist'? Why are you praying to the goddess now?"
Li Qi asked, intrigued.
"Life is hard to come by; I might as well ask the goddess to keep an eye on things."
Xia Er was quite frank about it; she had spent a lot of money and was willing to make any wish.
"Haha..."
Li Qi laughed and ruffled Xia Er's hair, then seemed to remember something. "Little Xia Er, you should avoid the Bell Tower Alley area for a while."
"Why's that?"
Xia Er took the fried fish wrapped in oil paper from the vendor and handed it to Li Qi, asking, "Is something going on there?"
Li Qi hesitated for a moment before saying, "Recently, quite a few workers have died... Some from 'dehydration syndrome,' but many others from overwork-related incidents."
"There's a lot of resentment among the workers now. Even the Black Water Gang is too scared to collect protection fees there. It's better to stay away from Bell Tower Alley for a while."
Overwork-related deaths... workers...
Wasn't this...
Xia Er had seen this scene in the simulation.
In the simulation, she was a clerk handling a case involving a collective lawsuit against the owner of a mint by the workers. The verdict had found the factory owner not guilty, with the magistrate being Baron Hastings.
But that was on July 21st, and now it was only July 2nd. Had things started brewing this early?
A sense of unease crept into Xia Er's heart.
But this was just a typical workers' protest; the nobles and wealthy merchants of Ansu should have plenty of experience dealing with such matters. Besides, Aivina's assets were tied to the gemstone industry, so she shouldn't be involved.
Taking a bite of the fried fish, Xia Er found it a bit difficult to swallow the crispy morsel.
Not because it was bad, but because she was already quite full.
"Alright, I won't go to Bell Tower Alley anymore."
Li Qi and Xia Er chatted a bit longer, and upon learning that Xia Er was doing well, Li Qi felt relieved.
Especially since Xia Er had resumed her studies, which surprised Li Qi. After all, she had always intended to ensure Xia Er went to university, no matter how tough it got.
Now, Xia Er was clearly working towards her own goals, and it sounded like her relationship with Miss Aivina was quite good.
If it weren't for their vastly different statuses, Li Qi would have liked to thank Miss Aivina in person for looking after her sister.
Later, Xia Er still needed to check in with other friends. After spending about an hour with Li Qi, she returned her to the jewelry store and said her goodbyes.
Watching Xia Er's retreating figure, Li Qi felt a wave of comfort wash over her.
Unknowingly, that little sister who had once followed her around had grown to the point of being self-sufficient.
She wasn't worried about Xia Er encountering any danger outside; with her sister's cautious nature, she would never put herself in harm's way.
Instead, Li Qi found herself worrying whether her sister might use her cleverness for illegal activities—after all, she had heard that some people studied law just to exploit loopholes.
But surely her sister wouldn't... right?
---
Chapter 141: High Summer.
In the following days, Xia Er visited Aivina's clinic and then stopped by Amy's house.
As expected, Adele was not home but was in Aivina's lab, and Amy happened to be free, so Xia Er didn't leave empty-handed.
Both were delighted to know they could reach out to Xia Er anytime, but Adele still wasn't entirely at ease. She insisted on giving Xia Er a thorough check-up, and only after confirming there were no major issues did she let her leave the lab.
Xia Er was somewhat surprised to find that not only she, but Amy had also received an invitation to Aivina's banquet—though that was a bit misleading.
The invitation was addressed to Baron Hastings, who would simply be bringing Amy along.
Baron Hastings was quite pleased about it, feeling it was thanks to his daughter Amy's connection with Aivina. When Xia Er arrived, he had arranged for a variety of desserts she had never seen before, but Xia Er was too full to eat much.
After all, in the past, the Russell family hosted banquets that new nobility like Baron Hastings, who had no land, rarely got to attend; they weren't in the same social tier.
By the time Xia Er left Amy's house and headed towards Aivina's estate, it was already one in the afternoon. At that moment, she remembered something.
Aivina... didn't she say she would take her shopping for clothes?
She had mentioned having no plans today and could spend some time with her. Why did she suddenly find an excuse to rush off after Xia Er went to the church?
Had something happened?
With that thought, Xia Er quickened her pace.
Aivina's home wasn't far from Amy's; in less than ten minutes of brisk walking, Xia Er arrived at the entrance of Aivina's estate.
At that moment, Xia Er noticed several expensive carriages parked inside the estate. The servants were orderly directing the drivers to let the nobles and wealthy merchants disembark at the entrance before leading the horses away.
For some reason, this scene reminded Xia Er of certain European presidents hosting banquets, where luxury cars would take turns driving into the garden to drop off guests.
Though there were only carriages here, the spectacle was no less grand than what she had seen on television.
Having only seen such scenes in videos before, Xia Er found it somewhat novel to witness it in real life.
"Miss Xia Er? You're here?"
A maid waiting at the entrance had already noticed Xia Er approaching from a distance. As Xia Er reached the door, the maid hurried over, saying, "Miss Aivina is busy; let me take you inside."
"Okay."
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