Chapter 52

Afra brought Rao Ke to the Central Trading Market. There weren't many dragons inside.

Rao Ke climbed down from Afra's back, and Afra shifted back to her human form to lead the way and explain things.

"There are quite a few stalls here, first come, first served, but honestly, unless we really need to, we rarely bother coming out, so most of the spots stay empty," Afra explained.

Rao Ke glanced around and saw it was true—only a dozen or so stalls in the entire market had dragons occupying them.

And those dragons didn't look like they were there to sell anything; they just lounged carelessly on crystal chairs, waiting for customers to come to them voluntarily.

Rao Ke figured since she was already there, she might as well wander around a bit.

The dragon stall owners turned out to be unexpectedly enthusiastic, greeting Rao Ke warmly and even trying to shove things into her hands—which she firmly declined.

The dragons were simply curious about Rao Ke, and also because the day before, there had been a buzz on the Astrolabe circles about that amazing aroma coming from Afra's place.

The dragons wanted to get on good terms with this little witch and maybe do some business with her.

In response to the dragons' questions, Rao Ke flashed a big smile.

"Tomorrow at 10 a.m., I'll be setting up a stall here at the market with delicious food and shiny goods. Everyone is welcome to come and support me!"

The dragons nodded, delighted, saying they would definitely come and support her.

Then they immediately posted about it on their own Astrolabe circles, and before long, the news spread across Dragon Island.

Because there weren't that many dragons on the island to begin with.

Meanwhile, Rao Ke—who had stirred up such a commotion—hummed a little tune and happily headed back to Afra's nest with Afra.

As soon as she walked in, she saw Chrisley lounging gracefully, reading a novel while enjoying a leisurely brunch.

Rao Ke raised an eyebrow and stood beside Chrisley, just staring at her.

Seeing that pretending to be oblivious wasn't working, Chrisley quickly switched to a flattering smile. "Oh, the plot was just too gripping—I got completely sucked in and ended up reading until dawn. It won't happen again, I promise."

Rao Ke smirked. "That's what you said last time."

Chrisley seemed to have conveniently forgotten that memory and put on a confused expression. "Did I? Haha, I must have forgotten."

There was no dealing with this big kid. Rao Ke sighed. "Fine, but this is the last time."

This was also the umpteenth time Rao Ke had said that to Chrisley.

Seeing that the matter seemed to be dropped, Chrisley perked right up.

"So how did things go this morning?"

"It went smoothly—the queen agreed to the contract right away," Rao Ke said with a smile, pulling out the document to show Chrisley.

"Oh, by the way, tomorrow at 10 a.m., we'll be selling goods at the Central Trading Market," Rao Ke added, mentioning it to Chrisley.

Chrisley nodded to show she understood.

"Knock, knock!"

"Afra, are you home?"

The door was knocked twice, followed by the greeting of their neighbor, Aspi.

Afra walked to the door and opened it, looking at Aspi with confusion.

"Aspi, is something the matter?"

Aspi was a rather introverted, quiet dragon, but he had a good heart, and the neighbors all liked him—Afra included.

"Could I trade with you for that food you had last night?"

Aspi looked a bit embarrassed, but he couldn't resist the craving any longer.

Aspi had even dreamed about that food last night, even though he had no idea what it looked like.

Afra was a bit surprised, since Aspi was usually such a good-natured dragon who rarely asked other dragons for help.

But recalling the delicious hotpot, Afra felt it was understandable. "Come in, I'll ask Keke for you."

Rao Ke watched Afra go to the door and then come back with a somewhat thin young man with blue hair.

Afra introduced him. "This is Aspi, my neighbor. He wants to trade for some hotpot base."

"Of course! I have quite a few flavors. What kind are you looking for?" Rao Ke pulled out several types of hotpot base from her Space Ring.

Aspi looked at them, a little conflicted. "Is there a milder one?"

"These are mushroom and tomato," Rao Ke said, taking out two packets and handing them to Aspi. "I can also provide a seafood and vegetable combo pack specially for hotpot. Would you like that?"

Aspi immediately nodded. "Yes, please."

Rao Ke promptly pulled out two large baskets from her space and handed them to Aspi.

Aspi took out some gold coins and completed the trade with Rao Ke.

Delighted, Rao Ke generously threw in a bottle of cola. "This is a drink. Try it chilled with the hotpot—it's amazing!"

Aspi gratefully accepted the cola from Rao Ke. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

Satisfied with his trade, Aspi happily carried his haul back to his own nest.

Watching Aspi leave, Afra curiously sidled up to Chrisley, who was still engrossed in her novel. "What's that?"

"A storybook," Chrisley said casually, pulling out the first volume from her space and handing it to Afra. "Just take a look and you'll see."

Afra took it out of curiosity, then sat down next to Chrisley and started reading.

By the time Rao Ke came downstairs, she saw the two of them sitting on the sofa, completely absorbed in their novels.

Rao Ke shook her head in exasperation. Looked like the "obsessed with novels" club was gaining another member.

"Alright, enough reading, it's time for lunch!" After handling lunch in the kitchen, Rao Ke came back to the living room to find the two still lost in their books. She made a swift confiscation move.

Afra's eyes sparkled as she looked at Rao Ke. "Keke, are these bought from the store? How come I've never seen them before?"

"The library just got built, but it's not open to the public yet. So for now, only the shop employees have borrowing privileges," Rao Ke explained.

"So you mean the library has a lot more of these books?" Afra asked, curious.

Rao Ke nodded. "Of course. The library will probably open after we get back."

"When it opens, I definitely want to check it out!"

"You're welcome to~"

...

By dinner time, Aspi carefully brought the food baskets and hotpot base that had been sitting atop the ice crystal stone over to the dining table.

He lit the fire, poured water into the pot, and added the hotpot base. As the water began to boil, a rich, heavy aroma spread through the entire nest, drifting outside as well.

Aspi sniffed the air. "It smells great, but it's different from Afra's last time."

The hotpot from last night at Afra's had been bold and spicy. This one was gentle and alluring.

This time, the fragrant aroma also wafted out of the nest.

The neighboring dragons, tormented by the smell, could do nothing but shut their doors tightly.

But that tempting scent seemed to be everywhere, sneaking through every tiny crack into the dragons' nests.

Hmph, I'm definitely going to be the first one at the market tomorrow to buy that delicious food!! The dragons all thought at once.

The news that Rao Ke planned to sell at the market tomorrow had already spread through Dragon Island's Astrolabe circles.

Meanwhile, Rao Ke was happily eating grilled meat with Afra and Chrisley, completely oblivious to what was coming tomorrow.

Afra watched Rao Ke skillfully grill the meat, while she and Chrisley waited obediently like good little kids.

The thick, flavorful pork belly hit the iron plate. With a sizzle, the aroma burst into the air.

Rao Ke cut the meat into pieces and, when it was just right, shoveled it all onto a plate.

"The dipping sauce is over there. Wrapping it in lettuce makes it less greasy," Rao Ke said, placing another piece of pork shoulder on the grill.

"Got it!" Afra and Chrisley watched Rao Ke wrap a piece in lettuce and take a bite, then started making their own.

With one bite—the crisp, juicy lettuce paired with the tender, juicy, oil-rich grilled meat—Afra felt like she had been transported to a whole new world.

Seeing that Rao Ke wanted to keep grilling, Chrisley took the utensils from her. "Let me try. I've watched you grill so many times, I want to give it a shot."

When Rao Ke saw Chrisley wanted to grill, she handed over the tools.

It had to be said, Chrisley caught on quickly, and before long, she was turning out fantastic grilled meat.

Curious, Afra eagerly watched from the side, ready to take a turn.

Chrisley soon got tired of grilling and handed the job over to Afra.

Afra excitedly grilled a huge platter, and they all ended up so full they could barely move. Finally, the three of them lounged on the sofa, slowly digesting.

"With food this delicious, tomorrow's trade is definitely going to be a huge success!"

"Hope so!"

The next morning at 8 a.m., Rao Ke picked up her tablet that she had turned off over a dozen times from the floor, sat up groggily in bed, and stared blankly into space.

"Time to get up," Chrisley said elegantly, seated on the sofa nearby, still holding that novel about the loser's rise to power.

Rao Ke yawned lazily, then slowly got out of bed. "Okay."

By the time she had washed up and changed, and came downstairs, breakfast was already prepared and waiting on the table.

That morning, there was a steaming bowl of vegetable and egg porridge. Rao Ke sat down and enjoyed her breakfast.

"Well, it's 9:44 now. I think we should get going, or we really will be late," Afra said, glancing at her watch.

Rao Ke and Chrisley quickly hopped onto Afra's back, and with a swoosh, Afra took off into the air.

With Afra's speed boost, the three arrived at the market entrance at 9:57, then hurried to the stall they'd booked the day before.

A huge line was already forming in front of the stall.

Seeing the three of them rushing in, the dragons gave way, letting them through.

"Finally! I can't wait to taste the delicious food from the Kaqisha Continent!"

The dragons were quite polite, dutifully lining up.

Rao Ke breathed a sigh of relief—no need to work hard on crowd control.

"Our stall today has two sections: one is delicious food from Keke Shop, and the other is shiny mystery boxes with unknown contents."

Rao Ke smiled as she introduced to the dragons. "The food has fixed prices. Mystery boxes are 20 gold coins each, with a limit of two per person."

Immediately, the dragons clamored over picking mystery boxes and buying food.

Rao Ke handled the payments and mystery boxes, while Afra and Chrisley handled the food sales.

"That'll be forty gold coins," said the first in line, a jade-green dragon lady. She picked out two mystery boxes.

"Can I open them here? Everyone seems curious," the jade-green lady asked, looking at Rao Ke.

Rao Ke nodded. "Of course."

The jade-green lady untied the ribbon on one of the boxes and opened it, revealing a box of nail polish.

Inside were six bottles, each one beautiful and shimmering with fine sparkling particles.

Interested, the jade-green lady asked Rao Ke, "What's this?"

"This is a nail polish our shop developed. It's made entirely from natural plant extracts, and the fine sparkles are an extremely rare crystal that glitters like stars."

As a dragon who loved all things shiny, the jade-green lady was very pleased. She took the nail polish, went over to the food section, picked up one of everything, and then left without bothering to open the second mystery box.

But her satisfied expression clearly fueled the buying desire of the dragons behind her.

The 500 mystery boxes Rao Ke had prepared were sold out in no time.

The dragons were clever—as long as they didn't cut in line and went to the back of the queue after buying, Rao Ke would still sell them more.

"What?! Sold out?!" A disappointed dragon looked at Rao Ke pitifully.

But stone-hearted Rao Ke only smiled and said, "I'm sorry, but we'll be back at the same time tomorrow. We'll have 1,500 boxes ready—more than enough."

The dragon was disappointed but also pleasantly surprised. With that many boxes coming tomorrow, he reluctantly turned and left the market.

After packing up, the three of them quickly returned to Afra's nest to rest.

Quite a busy day today, wasn't it?

Keke Shop's products quickly gained fame across Dragon Island. Whether it was the incredible food or the heart-racing mystery boxes, they were a huge hit with the dragons.

And so, in a corner Rao Ke knew nothing about, a new trend had begun among the dragons—opening mystery boxes and showing off their prizes.

Meanwhile, Rao Ke, the one who had stirred up all the commotion, was just lying quietly on the sofa, enjoying a rare moment of peace.