January 21st.
The breeze blew across the ground, raising traces of snow mist, passing through the bustling Suchuan Town, and finally dissipated in the air.
After about half a month of repairs, Suchuan Town has regained some of its vitality. The streets are full of Pokémon carrying building materials, craftsmen covered in equipment, alliance trainers patrolling with Pokémon, and people flying by from time to time. A steel-armored crow carrying disaster relief supplies.
"One, ten million alliance coins!?" In an office in the alliance building of Suchuan Town, the mayor of Suchuan Town listened to the assistant's report and stood up from the stool, dumbfounded.
The mayor picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from his head, stuttering a little, "Is it true that... the Ether Foundation really donated so much money?"
"Yes..." The assistant looked at the financial statements with a strange look on his face and didn't know how to explain it.
"Not to the alliance headquarters, but to the Suchuan Town branch?" The mayor put down the towel, then picked up the towel, walked around the desk, touched his round belly, and kept pacing.
"yes……"
Ten million alliance coins, even at the level of a town mayor, is not a small number... and this is donated specifically to Suchuan Town by organizations from other regions... This is suspicious.
The mayor touched his bald head again, his hands were sweaty. He picked up a towel and wiped his hands. After thinking for a moment, he whispered: "What conditions does the Ether Foundation have? Do you want to establish trade relations with Suchuan Town? Or do you want to establish a trade relationship with Suchuan Town?" They want to study the fossils we mine?"
"...No," the assistant looked at the report, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "However, they have a condition."
"Say!" The mayor felt relieved when he heard that there were conditions.
As long as there are conditions... If there are conditions, then you can have peace of mind with this money.
"This ten million... must be added to the name of a trainer named Xu Qiansu." The assistant's tone was a bit unbelievable and weird.
"Xu Qiansu?" The mayor stopped pacing. He stood there and thought, "I have the impression that he has been active on the front line of disaster relief for the past half month. He is a very enthusiastic young man... but he is also working with the Ether Foundation. There are relationships?"
"I don't know..." The assistant shook his head in confusion, hesitated for a while, and then said, "But I heard that he has a very close relationship with Caidou Gym Leader."
"Caido?" The mayor looked back at him, the fat on his face trembling.
Each Gym Leader is a star-like presence in the Galar region, and generally speaking, they are also talkative people in their respective towns.
Oonio of Suchuan Town is an autistic child, so it is natural that Caidou holds the magic weapon and has sole control of the administrative power of Suchuan Town.
However, because Caidou has a cold temperament, she usually doesn't care about things and often goes to wilderness areas to practice, but no one in Suchuan Town dares to ignore her opinions.
As long as Caidou is the gym leader, she will have the final say in Suchuan Town.
And Caidou is indeed competent. In terms of this disaster relief alone, she has contributed the most. She hasn't had a good night's sleep in many days... And it's also thanks to her that Suichuan Town was prepared in advance. Chuanzhen's losses were so small.
"Have you found out what the specific relationship is?" the mayor asked.
"It seems... they are master and apprentice..." the assistant frowned and replied.
With Caidou's temperament, she would not publicize this matter everywhere, and Xu Qiansu would not say... Master and disciple's guess was only made by someone who accidentally heard Xu Qiansu call Caidou.
"Master and apprentice..." The mayor's eyes twitched. If Xu Qiansu was Caidou's disciple, wouldn't he be the next fighting gym leader? That is, their future immediate boss...
"Do as the Ether Foundation says..." The mayor waved his hand, "Are there any other conditions?"
"Gone."
The mayor was silent for a moment and couldn't help but whisper: "Where did this little ancestor come from and be so tough in the background?"
"Ten million..." the assistant looked at the mayor and asked in a low voice.
"Huh?" The mayor raised his brows, kicked his assistant with a big round belly, and said angrily: "Usually, it's okay to be greedy! But you want to use the disaster relief money too!? Pass it on, Whoever dares to take a penny privately will have his hand chopped off!!!"
"Yes, yes -" the assistant quickly got up, nodded and bowed.
The fat on the mayor's face couldn't help but tremble, "Although being an official is all about this, if you want to withhold the disaster relief money, then you are worse than a beast! Of this money, two million will be used for the families of the casualties. Pensions, whatever is left will be invested in infrastructure work! If there is any surplus, it will be thrown into the townspeople’s pension fund!”
"yes!"
"Why are you still standing there? Why don't you go make arrangements!"
"Yes!" The assistant rolled away and crawled away.
"etc!"
"Also, do you have any other instructions..."
"...Don't forget the conditions of the Aether Foundation."
"yes!"
After the assistant left, the mayor lay down on the chair as if exhausted, and the high-end office chair groaned under the weight.
After a moment, he muttered in a low voice before remembering: "No, I have to establish a good relationship with my little ancestor in advance..."
Suchuan Town, Xu Qiansu and Ma Li's temporary residence in the afternoon.
Ma Li was looking at the radishes on the chopping board in the kitchen, wondering whether to have them for dinner, when she suddenly heard a knock on the door.
She raised her eyebrows slightly, put on her apron and went to open the door.
Marilou, Pichu and two little kittens were following her legs.
Crunch————
She opened the door and saw two men in suits and leather shoes at the door, carrying briefcases.
The two of them showed their credentials as members of the alliance and then asked:
"Excuse me, is this Mr. Xu Qiansu's residence?"
"Yes." Ma Li looked at them, nodded slightly, and her attitude was relatively cold.
"Are you Miss Mary?"
"Yes." Ma Li frowned slightly. Xu Qiansu was coming back soon. She hadn't made dinner yet, and she didn't want to spend too much time with these two people.
The younger man breathed a sigh of relief, then opened his briefcase, took out a document, and said: "Mr. Xu Qiansu, as an alliance trainer active on the front line of disaster relief, has made great contributions to Suchuan Town... "
"Tell me the important point." Ma Li said calmly.
A drop of sweat appeared on the young man's forehead. He was obviously more than ten years older than Ma Li, but he was still shocked by her aura.
He calmed himself down and looked at the document in his hand, not daring to look at Ma Li at all. He said with a professional smile: "The alliance decided to give Mr. Xu a mansion as a reward..."
"No need." Ma Li glanced at the young man, feeling a little resistant in her heart, and refused coldly.
A mansion as a gift... This reward is too big, and I won't feel at ease even if I get it.
And Xu Qiansu has a house in Suchuan Town, doesn't it mean that he may settle in this town in the future?
...In Ma Li's future vision, Xu Qiansu should settle in Spike Town, which is not such a mountain town with nothing but minerals and culture.
The young man couldn't help but reach out and wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. His professional smile was a bit unbearable. If Xu Qiansu failed to accept this gift, he would probably lose his job, so he quickly said:
"As a town with a gym, Suchuan Town has excellent education and medical care, even among the towns in the alliance..."
"Thank you for the alliance's kindness, but the house is not our immediate need." Ma Li interrupted the young man directly, took a step back, and closed the door without any further entanglement.
The young man was about to cry. Why didn't this man play by the rules? He didn't even want to give up a mansion for free...
"Wait a minute." At this moment, an older middle-aged man with a beard next to the young man said:
"Mrs. Xu, if you don't like this mansion, we also have other options here for you to choose from..."
Ma Li paused for a moment before closing the door, then looked at the middle-aged man, raised her eyebrows slightly, and explained: "I'm not his wife... But we like this mansion very much. If someone can repair it, Enough……"
"Natural, natural!" The middle-aged man smiled slightly and said, "We have a variety of decoration styles for you to choose from..."
As he said that, the middle-aged man took out a document and said, "As long as you sign here, this mansion will be yours... When you need decoration, just call the alliance, our decoration team will be on call. arrive."
Ma Li looked at the document, clicked her chin, and quickly took it, pondering the words in it in detail, and after confirming that it was an ordinary contract, she signed her and Xu Qiansu's names.
She thought to herself that even if she got a house, she wouldn't necessarily come back to live there, but it was always good to have a place to stay.
Who would think that there are too many assets?
Moreover, Xu Qiansu's master is Caidou, who is the prince in Suchuan Town. He can be afraid of anyone, but not the alliance.
The middle-aged man was overjoyed. He didn't care who signed it, as long as he could ensure that the mansion would be delivered.
"Thank you, we won't bother you." The middle-aged man knew that Ma Li didn't want to tangle with them anymore, so he said, 'If you have any questions, just call the Suchuan Town Alliance number,' and turned around with the young man. Leave.
Ma Li looked at the backs of the two people, then quickly looked away, closed the door, walked into the kitchen, and continued cooking.
"How...senior did this?" On the way back, the young man looked at the middle-aged man in disbelief and asked in confusion.
Obviously the two of them said the same thing.
The middle-aged man lit a cigarette, took a long puff, and then blew out a smoke ring with relief.
He glanced at the young man, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile: "In our industry, speaking skills are very important."
"Speech skills?"
"The most basic prerequisite for speaking skills is to address...what did I just call her?"
"Mrs. Xu..." the young man blinked, "She changed her mind just because of a title!? How is that possible!? And didn't she say that she is not Mr. Xu's wife at all?"
"Tsk." The middle-aged man shook his head helplessly and said, "You still don't understand women... In this way, when Suchuan Town completely recovers its vitality, I will take you to the red light district to experience..."
Hearing this, the young man's face turned red, "I won't go to that kind of place."
"Tch, if you don't go, you won't go." The middle-aged man didn't take it seriously and took another long puff of cigarette before throwing it in the snow and stepping on it.
Squeak————
Xu Qiansu took out the key, pushed open the door, walked into the entrance hall, and patted her sore shoulder.
Pichu stepped on the floor, jumped on Xu Qiansu's shoulders, and rubbed the side of his face affectionately.
Kirulian frowned, pulled it down with telekinesis, and reprimanded: "Don't you see that he is tired?"
This is a lie.
With that said, Qilulian flew into Xu Qiansu's arms and occupied the position firmly on the pretense of pressing his shoulders.
Xu Qiansu didn't know the psychology of Pokémon. He put his arm around Kirulian's waist, walked into the living room, and lay down on the sofa.
The little marsupial followed his example and lay on its back.
Ma Li walked out of the kitchen, tied off her apron, hung it on the coat rack, sat next to Xu Qiansu, lowered her head and said, "The alliance gave this house to you."
"Give me a house?" Xu Qiansu did not stand up. He looked up at Ma Li from bottom to top.
As the saying goes, looking from the bottom up is the perspective of death.
But from Xu Qiansu's perspective, he could only see Ma Li's slender neck, delicate chin and downturned light green eyes... She was truly a girl with no blind spots.
"A gift from Master Caidou?" Xu Qiansu asked.
"She gave you something, will she tell you?" Ma Li took out a brush from the drawer of the coffee table and waved to Vulpix.
Vulpix jumped briskly on Ma Li's lap, lay down obediently, and let her brush his hair.
"That's right." Xu Qiansu thought for a moment, then smiled and said: "I didn't expect that something that I had worked so hard to get could be obtained so easily. It is true that things in the world are unpredictable."
"It's just a house, look at your lack of ambition." Miss Marli, the rich young lady, said as she gently brushed the hair on Vulpix's back.
"A poor person like me has tried his best just to live, and a house is a luxury that he can't even imagine. Of course Miss Ma Li can't understand it." Xu Qiansu obviously remembered her previous life, so she sighed.
When Ma Li heard this, her hand brushing her hair paused slightly. She glanced at Xu Qiansu and stopped talking.
"But why did the Alliance suddenly give me a house? To show goodwill?" Xu Qiansu looked at Ma Li and asked softly.
Ma Li said calmly: "Maybe he is aware of your relationship with Caidou and wants to curry favor with the future fighting gym leader."
"Although I am a disciple of Master Caidou, the position of the gym leader is determined by strength, not relationships... I may not be able to become the gym leader in the future..." Xu Qiansu said with a smile, and then looked at Ma Li, "... Bad mood?"
Ma Li's hands kept moving, Xu Qiansu always did this, even if he didn't look at her, he could tell her mood just by listening to her voice.
This is how the two of them understand each other now.
Therefore, she didn't intend to hide it and simply said 'hmm'.
"What's wrong?" Xu Qiansu sat up, looked at Ma Li's expression, and asked.
"Because you said I don't understand you." Ma Li said calmly without looking at Xu Qiansu.
Xu Qiansu was slightly startled, but became happy instead.
He smiled and said: "Little Ma Li..."
But Ma Li didn't give him a chance to speak. After brushing Vulpix's fur, she stood up and walked into the kitchen, leaving behind a sentence, "Go take a shower, I smell like sweat."
There's a quarrel.
Xu Qiansu laughed dumbly, and without saying much, led the cubs into the bathroom.
Ma Li was suddenly startled when she heard the sound of running water. When did she get used to living with Xu Qiansu?
She lowered her eyes and looked at the soup in the pot, no longer delving into the issue.
Anyway... I only live here for a while.
In the future, we will still have to travel after all.
To make up for the mistake of forgetting to change the status, I will update it tomorrow.
(End of chapter)
