[Tier-I Mana Recovery Potion (Defective)]
Potion Rating: ?
Effect: Restores 50 MP upon consumption. The drinker will also fall into a deep sleep.
[Margaret's Antidote Potion (Defective)]
Potion Rating: ?
Effect: Purges toxins from the body upon consumption. For the following thirty minutes, the drinker will be overcome by an irrepressible surge of... spring fever.
[Qin's Gold Wound Salve (Defective)]
Potion Rating: ?
Effect: Stops bleeding and accelerates wound closure. Contact with the wound will, however, cause excruciating pain.
...
Slender, pale fingers drifted unhurriedly across the crammed contents of the crate, and Li Fei made her selections quickly.
From the defective mana potions alone she pulled two bottles — one with a mild side effect for personal use, and one with a nasty side effect to be saved for use on someone else.
There was also the Gold Wound Salve, which was practically purpose-built for interrogating enemies, and a certain antidote she had purchased somewhat accidentally...
Li Fei swept through the System Panel entries one after another, occasionally plucking a bottle from the crate and setting it aside.
[Tier-II Lucky Potion (Defective)]
Potion Rating: ?
Effect: Increases Luck by 20 points for 4 seconds upon consumption.
Li Fei's hand stilled for just a moment.
A single defective potion that added twenty whole points of Luck — that was insane. It was more staggering than a standard, non-defective version... and her Luck had been sitting at a lonely, pitiful "1" since day one.
The only catch: four seconds. What could you possibly do in four seconds? Open a mystery box?
I can't exactly afford a Pandora's Box anyway...
She stared at the bottle, hesitating, with the nagging feeling that she was overlooking something obvious.
"Forget it."
Operating under the philosophy of defective potions still cost money, spend wisely, Li Fei was already drawing her hand back — when Bai Mengtian's voice drifted over from beside her: "Look at you picking potions like you're scratching lottery tickets..."
The speaker meant nothing by it. The listener, however, caught everything.
Li Fei jolted upright, eyes going wide.
Lottery. Lottery!
Right — I still have a bunch of unopened mystery boxes sitting in the system that I haven't cracked yet!
If boosting my Luck makes the [Gacha Panel] pull something better...
Without a moment's hesitation, Li Fei snatched the Lucky Potion from the crate and pressed it into the clerk's hands. She seized Bai Mengtian's hand in a firm grip. "That's everything — could you wrap it all up for me, please?"
"Did you find something good? If so, we share."
Bai Mengtian peered at her with open curiosity.
"Didn't find any—"
The words died in Li Fei's throat, cut off by a sudden cry.
"Stop!"
The voice was clear and melodic — laced with urgency, and yet it still managed to carry a distinct, lingering softness.
Li Fei went rigid. That voice sounded awfully familiar...
With practiced composure, she released Bai Mengtian's hand, turned around, and let her expression bloom into one of delighted surprise.
"Zhihua-jiejie."
A slender, graceful silhouette swept into Li Fei's field of vision.
She was fair as fresh snow, her figure elegant and sinuous. A pale, understated white gown was embroidered with peonies — luminous yet touched with an antique air. Her jet-black hair was swept up in a high arrangement and then cascaded down like a river of stars, pinned through with a silver hairpin from which exquisite tassels dangled. Her face was quietly beautiful and warmly gentle — cherry-red lips, eyes clear and luminous as autumn water, and in their depths, the reflection of Li Fei's own face.
She descended the staircase in quick, light steps. Her long skirt flowed like drifting cloud behind her, and yet the tassels on her earrings and hairpin barely swayed at all — an effortless grace that spoke entirely for itself.
The picture-perfect classical beauty, every inch Li Fei's ideal type — and yet the star courtesan, upon laying eyes on her, felt not joy but a distinct, creeping awkwardness.
If memory served, tonight's reservation had been under the name of Miss Qin Zhihua...
I stood up a client. I walked out with another woman. And now I've been caught red-handed. What do I do?
Someone help. Urgent.
Inwardly in a cold sweat, Li Fei kept her expression fixed in a mask of pleasant surprise and waved Qin Zhihua over with a smile.
"Prioritizing romance over friends," Bai Mengtian drawled.
"It's hot out, my hands get sweaty..."
Li Fei offered this under her breath as a quiet, preemptive excuse, then stepped forward to the base of the staircase and took Qin Zhihua's hand in an affectionate clasp — carefully pretending not to notice the weight of Bai Mengtian's deeply aggrieved and withering stare boring into the back of her skull.
Qin Zhihua, whose every waking thought had been occupied by this very person, flushed the moment her hand was taken. She suppressed the warmth climbing up her face and met Li Fei's gaze directly. "Fei, why are you..."
"The Magic Academy's term is starting soon — I needed to pick up a few things." Li Fei's voice lit up with convincing delight. "I thought I'd have to wait until tomorrow to see Zhihua-jiejie. I never expected to run into you here."
"If you want to see me, you can come by anytime..."
Qin Zhihua glanced sideways at Bai Mengtian, and her voice dropped a fraction.
"Oh, right — let me introduce you." Li Fei pivoted the conversation with practiced ease. "This is my best friend, Bai Mengtian."
Not a chance she was letting that thread continue. The cardinal rule of hunger marketing — and the most fundamental principle in the service industry — was scarcity. As the Golden Kumquat Tavern's star courtesan, Li Fei made a point of never meeting clients outside of work hours. If they wanted her attention, they paid for it at the establishment. Private encounters outside the shop were how a top hostess lost her commission.
To protect her revenue stream, Li Fei had, to this day, never met a single other client anywhere outside a professional context.
Bai Mengtian, naturally, was the exception. She was special.
"It has been some time, Miss Bai. You look as radiant as ever."
Qin Zhihua inclined her head in a composed greeting.
"Mm. Zhihua's charm has only grown, I'd say."
Bai Mengtian tilted her chin up slightly.
"Huh?"
Li Fei blinked. You two know each other?
And I'm the latecomer here?
"Miss Bai is acquainted with my Master, so we have met on a few occasions..."
Qin Zhihua offered the explanation with a slight blush, then steered quickly toward the question that had been pressing on her mind: "Fei — were you really about to buy defective potions?"
"Mm, yes — I'm starting at the Magic Academy soon and my budget is a little tight..."
"That's far too dangerous."
Qin Zhihua bit her lip. She wanted nothing more than to pile an armful of potions into Li Fei's hands on the spot, but she worried about wounding her pride. So instead, she leaned in close and murmured quietly, "If there's anything you need, you can come to me directly..."
"I couldn't accept something for nothing."
The very dignified star courtesan declined with an air of studied propriety.
"There's no need to stand on ceremony. I make my own potions, and the shop always has surplus stock — taking a few away is nothing."
Qin Zhihua cradled Li Fei's hands in hers, her words tumbling out in urgent persuasion.
"Well, then... I suppose I shouldn't refuse your kindness."
Li Fei looked into those gently rippling eyes — awash with shy warmth, yet fixed on her without wavering — and felt as though she might dissolve under that fervent, tender gaze.
"Being able to help you makes me happy too."
Qin Zhihua confessed in a small voice, her face growing warmer by the second. Impeccable upbringing alone kept her from bolting up the stairs and burying her face in a pillow. "Fei, Miss Bai — please come up. Allow me to brew a pot of tea."
The three of them ascended the stairs and were shown into a quiet private room. Ink-wash calligraphy and paintings hung on all four walls, suffused with a classical, unhurried elegance.
Qin Zhihua retrieved the tea set and began — warming the pot, rinsing the cups — a sequence of motions so smooth and practiced it was genuinely lovely to watch. Even Li Fei, who subsisted almost entirely on coffee, found herself resting her chin in her hand and simply appreciating the sight.
Those deft, slender hands moved like a dancer's — swift but never rushed, unhurried but never slow.
Zhihua-jiejie's hands are so beautiful. And those fingers — so long and elegant. Her future girlfriend is going to be insufferably lucky...
A teacup was pressed into her hands, and the daydreaming star courtesan came back to herself. She quietly swallowed, smiled, and accepted the cup. "This smells divine."
"These are tea leaves from Wuyi Mountain back home," Qin Zhihua said. "They invigorate the mind and soothe the lungs."
Li Fei tilted her head sideways and caught Bai Mengtian's eye.
Even Wuyi Mountain exists here? The Eastern Continent really is more similar to Earth than I'd imagined...
The small, wordless exchange between the two of them did not escape Qin Zhihua.
The two dark-haired girls sitting before her — faces like flowers, like the moon — seemed like twin lotus blossoms growing side by side, each glance and smile between them luminous enough to draw a person under. Even Qin Zhihua, whose self-restraint was considerable, felt something stir inside her chest. She wanted to gather them both close — and yet she sensed a fine, invisible veil hanging between herself and them, something she couldn't quite cross.
Qin Zhihua lowered her head and took a sip of tea. It tasted, somehow, more complex than usual.
"Please, whatever you do — don't use defective potions in the future."
Once the tea had been drunk, Qin Zhihua turned to Li Fei with a careful admonishment. "They're dangerous, and the outcomes are entirely unpredictable."
I know, Zhihua-san... after all, I have a 'healing potion' in my bag that can kill a person in three minutes flat.
All of a sudden, a thought flickered to life in Li Fei's mind.
"I won't lie to you, Zhihua-jiejie."
Li Fei took Qin Zhihua's hand and delivered a lie in the most earnest tone imaginable: "The truth is, I have a particular gift — I can assess the effects of a potion just by examining it."
Qin Zhihua's beautiful eyes flew wide, her expression one of pure, open astonishment.
What an extraordinary talent!
"I have an idea..."
Li Fei smiled, and laid out her proposal.
...
"This Mana Recovery Potion — its efficacy is completely intact. The side effect is that the drinker will fall asleep."
"This Gold Wound Salve — contact with a wound will cause intense pain."
"The Lucky Potion — far more potent than the standard variety, though the duration is regrettably brief."
Under the combined stares of the shop clerk and Qin Zhihua — both utterly incredulous — Li Fei set the defective potions on the table one by one and described each effect in turn.
"Zhihua-jiejie runs such a large shop. I'm sure there's no shortage of defective stock. Why not hire me to appraise them for you? That way, you can sell the defective potions at a proper price instead of letting them go to waste."
Li Fei laced her fingers together, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
Bai Mengtian had already kicked off her little leather shoes. Warm, slender feet in black stockings perched on the edge of her chair; she had her arms wrapped around her drawn-up knees and her chin resting on top, watching her best friend's magnificent performance with undisguised entertainment.
The clerk hesitated a moment, then picked up the Gold Wound Salve. She used the tip of her little finger's nail to scoop out a small amount and, lifting the hem of her skirt, applied it carefully to a wound on her knee.
"Hss—"
In an instant, the clerk broke into a cold sweat, letting out a series of small, pained whimpers as her face flooded red.
Half a minute later, the pain subsided. The clerk slumped in her chair, panting, her bangs plastered flat with sweat.
"My apologies — allow me."
Qin Zhihua leaned forward, gently lifted the hem of the clerk's skirt, cradled the young woman's lower leg in both hands, and examined the wound with careful attention.
"The injury hasn't worsened... Fei, your assessment was correct."
"That must have hurt terribly, yes?"
Li Fei made a great show of concern and began patting and stroking the clerk's leg. "This wound is so fair-skinned..."
"Let me have a look too."
Bai Mengtian reached a hand over as well.
The clerk's face went even redder. Her eyes turned to little hearts. She was very nearly on the verge of fainting.
She had only intended to make a decent impression in front of the shopkeeper — she had not expected to find herself being fussed over by three breathtaking beauties, coddled and attended to from every direction.
Soft hands on her leg, a gentle mingling of their perfumes, three melodious voices washing over her, the occasional brush of silky hair across her skin — the feather-light, tingling sensation sent the clerk's heart into an absolute riot. She was dizzy and utterly speechless.
She dimly realized that she was probably never going to be able to find a man attractive again.
Qin Zhihua produced a potion she had prepared herself and applied it to the wound, then wound several layers of gauze around the leg before straightening up. "There. Try not to be so reckless in the future."
"Mm..."
The clerk looked as though she might actually cry, her eyes swimming with a mournful, lovelorn reproach that said: why do you tease me if you won't take responsibility?
"Shall we test another one?"
"Mm."
Qin Zhihua's expression grew slightly more composed — but not entirely. She trusted Li Fei, but potions were a matter of clients' safety, and caution was non-negotiable.
"The Lucky Potion, then," Bai Mengtian suggested. "I know Eastern Fortune-Reading techniques — I can observe any shift in luck directly."
Li Fei opened her mouth, then closed it again.
She had been planning to take the Lucky Potion home for herself... but she couldn't think of a convincing excuse to shoot down Bai Mengtian's suggestion on the spot. Besides, she had already confirmed that no one else could observe what happened during a gacha draw — so she shut her mouth and wordlessly consented.
Using it here works just as well.
With no objection raised, Bai Mengtian snapped her fingers.
A faint white light bloomed around Li Fei's body — barely visible, uncertain and diffuse. Around Qin Zhihua, a golden radiance appeared — bright, yet gentle, its warm luminescence threaded through with half-glimpsed lotus blossoms drifting in and out of view.
"What about me, what about me?"
The words had barely left the clerk's mouth before a soft pink glow materialized around her.
"Quite a lot of romantic fortune on the horizon. Looks like you'll have no shortage of girlfriends."
Bai Mengtian's assessment drew a giddy, delighted look from the clerk.
"You're all so lucky — unlike me, running on terrible odds..."
Li Fei's voice dripped with barely disguised envy as her gaze swept between Qin Zhihua and the clerk, then dropped down to the feeble little shimmer around herself. Her cheeks puffed out in indignation.
"Then allow me to try it."
After offering Li Fei a few words of consolation, Qin Zhihua lifted the potion to her lips.
Given her trust in Li Fei's assessment — and the fact that she had a full stock of valuable remedies close at hand — a merely Tier-II defective potion was hardly cause for concern.
But the moment the liquid touched her lips, Qin Zhihua felt the weight in her hand disappear.
Li Fei gave the bottle a little waggle and smiled. "How could I bear to have Zhihua-jiejie be the test subject?"
And she exhaled a quiet, private sigh of relief.
A moment's inattention, and she'd almost let someone walk off with my Lucky Potion for free. I haven't paid for it yet, but I'd already claimed it mentally. That counts!
"No, please — what if something—"
Qin Zhihua, moved to the heart, reached out in alarm — but before she could get a word of protest out, Li Fei had already tilted her head back and downed the entire bottle in one go.
In the next instant, white light blazed brilliantly around her.
Luck: 1 → 21
Gacha Panel — open!
A spinning wheel of vivid, clashing colors bloomed across Li Fei's vision.
"It changed!"
Li Fei's eyes went wide, lit up with pure, unguarded exhilaration.
She remembered the wheel clearly from before — the majority of it white, roughly a quarter green, a scattering of silver, and a sliver of gold so narrow it was almost invisible.
But now — the white had nearly vanished entirely.
Almost half of the wheel was green. A full third was silver. One-tenth was gold. And there, finer than a single strand of hair — a dark, burnished gold.
Three seconds remained. Li Fei abandoned, without a flicker of hesitation, any notion of saving up pulls for a future ten-draw. She screamed in her mind:
System — SPIN!
The wheel roared into motion. Li Fei's heartbeat thundered in her ears, faster and faster.
Just as the white light faded and her Luck plummeted back to 1 — the wheel came to a stop at precisely that same instant.
What filled Li Fei's pupils was a blazing, brilliant sweep of gold.
Yes! YES! Gold flash! I WON!
"It seems the appraisal was slightly off after all — that potion appears to have a side effect of euphoria."
Bai Mengtian fixed Li Fei — who was sitting there beaming at nothing, radiantly delighted for no visible reason — with the tender, long-suffering gaze reserved for a beloved idiot best friend. She reached out a pale hand, swept the hair back from Li Fei's forehead, then pressed her soft palm flat against it to check for a fever.
Qin Zhihua, meanwhile, was clutching the hem of her skirt with both hands, her expression full of anxious concern.
"Ah — no, I'm fine. I just suddenly remembered something that made me happy."
Li Fei hurriedly pressed both hands over her own burning cheeks.
No — not yet — I have to hold it together. Don't laugh yet.
But her eyes, curved into crescent moons, gave her away completely.
____
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