BXBX NOVEL Chapter 96: End of the day
However, he had to ensure Huang Xinyi and Yan Yuehua were ready. After all, meeting new people can make people feel uncomfortable and awkward.
So, he decided to talk to them about the ladies before they met them so that they would be prepared. He was not too worried, as he knew the ladies\' personalities and knew that they most likely wanted to find out if these two ladies would be part of his harem or not.
His answer would be, \'Let\'s wait and see.\' He was not sure what these two ladies thought of him, and he did not want to jump to conclusions and make their friendly relationship sour before they got to know each other.
The two then left the city center and returned to the mansion.
As they walked, many citizens passed by; some exchanged greetings while others came by and asked questions about the challenges.
Both of them patiently answered the questions while being truthful and honest to give good impressions of themselves.
However, this delayed their arrival at the mansion, which Huang Xinyi worried about as she did not want to seem rude to the ladies.
As they arrived near the mansion, they saw Yan Yuehua waiting for them at the entrance.
Before entering the room, Xu Qianghua looked at both of the girls with a serious expression.
"Huang Xinyi, Yan Yuehua, I know you must be feeling a bit awkward right now, but I do not think you need to worry, as this is not something serious," he said.
"Inside are all the people I hold dear, and I will do anything for them. This now includes the two of you, too, as you both are already part of my family."
Hearing this, both Huang Xinyi and Yan Yuehua did not know what to say as they had never experienced this before.
Both of them only had enemies or friends, but they never knew anyone they would call part of their loved ones.
Both of their childhoods were never happy, which led to them closing their hearts to others and making it harder for them to connect with them.
However, as they considered this, they found they did not mind being part of his family. They felt safe around him and trusted him, which made them relax.
This was due to two factors: one being the World\'s Will, which made them not have any negative first opinion of their summoner, and the second being that they could feel that Xu Qianghua did not summon them to use them. Instead, he treated them as normal humans.
"Alright then, let\'s go in," Xu Qianghua said, smiling at them.
He then entered the room and led the two ladies inside, who were still lost in their thoughts.
The moment they entered the room, Liu Meiying and Bai Lingyun stood up first and came towards them with smiles on their faces.
Liu Anwei and Bai Xueyan followed behind them with curious expressions.
By the time Xu Qianghua and Huang Xinyi were still in the arena, all four had already finished their work.
They only had to find the locations to use their tokens, which was not hard as there were still a lot of empty spaces since there was not much population right now.
As for the maids, they were preparing a scrumptious dinner for everyone.
"Welcome to the Xu Family Mansion, Ladies," Liu Meiying said, taking the initiative to welcome them.
"Thank you," Huang Xinyi responded. "I am Huang Xinyi."
"Hello, my name is Yan Yuehua," Yan Yuehua added, nodding slightly.
"It is nice to meet you, Ladies; my name is Liu Meiying, and this is my daughter, Liu Anwei," Liu Meiying said with a smile. She pointed towards her daughter, who promptly said hello.
Similarly, Bai Lingyun introduced herself and her daughter, who reacted similarly to Liu Anwei\'s.
"Likewise," Huang Xinyi and Yan Yuehua responded as they smiled back at her.
"These two are the main people in charge of this household while I am away," Xu Qianghua said with a smile.
From the beginning, he did not plan to hide his relationship as that would be pointless, especially when these ladies could sense how Liu Meiying and Bai Lingyun acted.
"Alright then, let\'s take our seats," Xu Qianghua continued as he sat down.
The other ladies followed him to the living room and sat on sofas made with special materials. They looked much more intricate than the ones they had seen in the Golden Lotus private rooms.
Huang Xinyi and Yan Yuehua sat beside him while the other ladies took their seats.
"Now we can talk about what happened today," Liu Meiying started as Su Meiyu and Su Meixue served everyone a cup of tea.
They then started discussing their pasts and talents, improving the awkward atmosphere.
But Xu Qianghua could see they were not yet comfortable around each other. They seemed to be speaking politely but did not act naturally.
He decided to change this by discussing the future and telling them his plans.
"As you might have figured out by now, Huang Xinyi will become the City Lord of this city, which will let us take this city under our wing and help us immensely," he said, to which all the ladies except Huang Xinyi and Yan Yuehua nodded.
He then told them about everything they did today and the idea of him asking Liu Meiying to help or even taking Zhang Wei under her and making his restaurant known worldwide.
"So, my plan is for Huang Xinyi and me to finish all the Challenges in the next few days while you figure out how the whole city functions," he said.
"We knew you would say that Qiangqiang, so we had already sent the Shadow members to collect detailed information about this city along with finding out information about other neighboring cities and how long they take for a round trip," Bai Lingyun said.
Xu Qianghua nodded and smiled, knowing he did not have to worry about these things.
They spent an hour or so talking, which brought Huang Xinyi and Yan Yuehua closer to the group than before, as they were much more relaxed and spoke much more comfortably.
Then Su Meifang came into the room and told them dinner was ready, so everyone got up to eat.
Dinner was served on a large table, and it was very well-prepared. The dishes were all freshly made and delicious, and the wine was exquisite.
All the ladies loved it. Although they had eaten similar dishes before, adding Spiritual Qi made them even better.
However, the ladies, except Huang Xinyi and Yan Yuehua, did not react much as they had eaten similar dishes in the inn after the world merged.
This is because the World\'s Will provided each inn with a special mechanical chef to feed the players while they adapt to the new world and their new strength.
The mechanical chef is something that the World\'s Will created, running on Spiritual Qi, to inspire the players to create something similar.
It knew that humans would try to create technological products in the near future, so showing this chef could ensure that humans do not return to the old power sources and instead use Spiritual Qi.
After dinner, the group returned to the living room. Xu Qianghua noticed the relaxed expressions on Huang Xinyi and Yan Yuehua\'s faces.
They seemed to be settling in well, and he felt a sense of relief.
Liu Meiying was the first to speak. "So, what are the next steps for tomorrow?"
Xu Qianghua leaned back in his seat, thinking briefly before answering, "We will finish the last two challenges while figuring out the city\'s total strength before making any other plans."
He said this because all cities have hidden powerhouses that protect them from both outside and inside threats, and knowing about them will help them.
And the powerhouses he was thinking about were cultivators whose realms were Late Foundation Realm and above, which Shadow members could not find.
"How long will it take to complete the Challenges?" Bai Lingyun asked curiously.
She was curious because she wanted to know the time frame before Huang Xinyi would become the City Lord. After that, they could set up the Xu family and the other industries.
"I\'m not sure," Xu Qianghua replied with a slight smile. "It will depend on how fast we go and how much work it takes us."
Huang Xinyi then spoke up, asking a question that Yan Yuehua had been waiting for.
"Do you need our help with anything? It does not have to be right now, as we can wait until you are done," she said, looking at him and Liu Meiying.
Xu Qianghua noticed the look in her eyes and answered immediately. "No, that won\'t be necessary. We can finish this ourselves without any trouble."
Huang Xinyi responded with a nod, as she did not want to step on anyone\'s toes.
Then they continued talking until they decided to go and cultivate as it was already past 11 pm.