It was Friday.
In the blink of an eye, the workday was over.
Ganyu walked into the shop, carrying a bag of fresh fruits.
Xia Zhi smiled as he took the bag from her.
"Haven't had candied fruit in a while. I'll make some for everyone today."
"Yay!"
"Boss forever!"
Xia Zhi headed into the kitchen.
Ganyu noticed Xia Ci sitting in a corner fiddling with something, paused for a moment, then walked over and asked softly,
"Your body… it looks more grown-up now?"
"My cousin helped. I've recovered some of my power. Look at this."
"What's that?"
"A mini recorder. I'm adding some fun features to it."
"What kind of fun features?"
"Time display."
Xia Ci picked up the pocket watch on the table.
It was something she had obtained earlier from an auction at the Jade Chamber.
She glanced at the time already set, then operated the mini recorder for a bit.
Soon, Ganyu heard a mechanical "tick tock" sound.
"Done."
Xia Ci handed over the finished product.
It had rotating hands and markings—looked just like a small, cube-shaped clock.
"What do you think? Cute?"
"I think… it has a unique design…"
"Haha, what a perfectly polite way to say you don't like it."
"No, I didn't mean that…"
"Let me tell you, I even added an alarm function."
"Alarm?"
"It can be set for a specific time, and once that time hits, it'll play a sound to remind you."
"That… actually sounds pretty useful."
"Right? Want one? I can set it to wake you up in the morning."
"I usually wake up pretty punctually, so I probably wouldn't need it…"
"Ehh~"
Xia Ci leaned in close to her ear and whispered,
"I can even get a recording of my cousin's voice.
Just imagine—every morning, you're lying in bed, and you hear his voice whispering 'Good morning' in your ear…"
"!"
"And every night, as you fall asleep, you hear him say 'Good night'..."
"!!"
"And if you're tired during work, or feeling bored, you can play a recording of him singing The Divine Damsel of Devastation, sip some tea while listening to opera—wouldn't that be divine?"
"!!!"
Ganyu's cheeks turned faintly red.
She glanced nervously at her junior cleaning the store in the distance, then lowered her head and said helplessly,
"Please don't tease me like that…"
"Just say if you want it or not?"
"Umm… I think what you said makes sense.
If I have an alarm, I won't have to worry about accidentally oversleeping…"
The whole "Xia Zhi's morning greetings" wasn't the point—Ganyu mainly thought that with her busy work schedule, having an alarm to help plan her day would be genuinely useful.
"Want one?"
"Yes."
"Great, I'll go get my cousin to record some audio later."
"Wait, you're really just going to ask Mister Xia like that?"
"What else would I do?"
"That's… kind of awkward, isn't it…"
"Relax, I'll have a totally legitimate reason."
A while later, Xia Zhi came out of the kitchen with a tray of freshly made candied fruits and called everyone over to eat.
After dessert, Xia Ci pulled out the small cube.
"Come on, check this out—my latest recorder's done."
"It looks like a pocket watch!"
"It was one. I just connected it to the recorder's core."
"What's it do?"
"Alarm function."
"Alarm?"
Xia Ci demonstrated it on the spot.
She spoke into the recorder: "Time's up!" and set the alarm for one minute later.
When the second hand reached the set time, the recorder promptly played back: "Time's up!"
"Amazing!"
"Right? I plan to record everyone's voices as default alarm tones for the first version."
"Cool, how do we do that?"
"Just come over one by one and record. Zhu Zi, you go first—say: 'Good morning,' 'Good afternoon,' 'Good night,' 'Wake up,' 'Go to sleep'…"
"Okay!"
The recording process was surprisingly fun and lively.
Ganyu watched from the side, silently amazed.
As expected of her.
Even slacking off comes with such a legit excuse—no one would suspect a thing.
Later in the evening, Ningguang arrived.
Xia Zhi pulled out the candied fruits he'd saved for her from his inventory and handed them to her and her secretary while they were still warm.
Xia Ci also approached to pitch her little cube.
"Check out this mini alarm clock—multiple voice modes: Boss Boyfriend Type, Youthful Girl Type, Tsundere Girl Type, Energetic Type, Ice Queen Type…"
"What's the 'Boss Boyfriend Type?'"
"My cousin's voice…"
"Name your price!"
"Straightforward!"
Dealing with mature women really was comfortable.
Unlike that Ganyu kid—so shy and awkward, it's like she lived her years for nothing.
Ningguang toyed with the little cube in her palm with interest.
"Interested in mass-producing this?"
Xia Ci chuckled.
"Aren't you already running a paper mill and a lipstick factory? Got enough hands for this too?
Besides, this thing is way more complex—both in production and assembly."
"No big deal. We can start with small batches, go high-end luxury, train the core tech team, and build the brand.
Once we have the resources, we can scale up."
"With enough capital, that model could work."
"Then I'll bring the contract tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'll organize the blueprints tonight. Oh, and one more request."
"What's that?"
"I want Yun-Han Opera Troupe to join this collaboration."
"Yun-Han, huh… fine."
"Mm."
Amid laughter and negotiation, another business partnership was struck.
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