Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1439: Chapter 166: Butterfly Society

The elder with black-framed glasses and a kindly face was at this moment nervously presenting the prepared delicacies, together with his descendants.

Although the Toad Family was a large clan in the demon world, spread across all corners of the land, and even because of their foresight had long since blended into human society and owned quite a few businesses—so much so that they even had some business cooperation with the Divine Land’s Official Management Bureau, which could be considered a very solid background—when facing the Godly Land, all backgrounds became meaningless.

“Lord Long, please enjoy.”

Even though he was nervous to death inside, the Toad Demon of Elder Jiang’s Family still made himself appear quite steady… Youngsters could afford to be foolish and naive, but he couldn’t, because he was an elder!

“Alright, just put the food down. I don’t like strangers hanging around when I’m eating.” Long Xiruo casually waved her hand—her attitude towards different monsters varied somewhat.

For example, she naturally disliked this kind who had learned early to mingle in human society and picked up a strong stench of money… But she wouldn’t be biased just because of that—as long as the other party hadn’t done anything over the line, she basically adopted a ‘don’t hear, don’t ask’ stance.

“I shall strictly follow your instructions.” The old toad nodded respectfully, then waved his hand, signaling his descendants behind him to leave for now, leaving only himself.

“Do you still have something?” Long Xiruo frowned slightly as she looked over. “I see you’re very healthy, with plenty of years left, no illnesses or pains.”

“Lord Long, you misunderstand.” The old toad gave an awkward smile. “This old one more or less knows how long I can still live… When it’s time to go, I won’t cling on.”

The Godly Land nodded slightly, expressionless, picking up her chopsticks to grab a piece of braised pork and pop it into her mouth, chewing lightly.

She didn’t seem inclined to immediately send him away… The old toad at this moment clasped his hands and said slowly, “Lord Long, this old one indeed has a matter, and hopes you can be a bit forgiving.”

Long Xiruo didn’t respond, just continued eating the food on the table at her own pace… Don’t be fooled by how shabby this Grand Hotel currently looked; the chef in this place was actually quite skilled. It seemed this old toad really had put in some effort.

Seeing the current look of this Godly Land, the Toad Demon of Elder Jiang’s Family knew there was an opening, and immediately spoke solemnly, “This old one hopes Lord Long could inscribe some words for our little restaurant.”

Her chopsticks paused, and Long Xiruo looked at the old toad with amusement. Only after watching cold sweat trickle down his face did she casually say, “An inscription? Old toad, you’re really working that abacus of yours, huh? If I write something here, won’t those monsters staying outside think I have some sort of relationship with you?”

“No, no!” The old toad hurriedly said, “Lord Long, you wrong this old one! How could I be the type who borrows a tiger’s might like a fox! It’s just that your honored arrival has left this old one too excited, and I simply wish to pass down Lord Long’s calligraphy, to be inherited, so the descendants may worship it daily and behold Lord Long’s majesty! This old one’s Crimson City heart can be witnessed by Heaven and Earth, this old one’s…”

“Stop. Worship who? I’m not dead yet!” The Godly Land glared.

The old toad immediately lightly slapped his own mouth twice. “A slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue! I’ll punish myself, punish myself!”

“Your clan is at least considered descendants of the frog god. How did you end up living more and more like some crusty old coot, reeking of vulgarity!” The Godly Land shook her head irritably. “An inscription, right? Get things ready; I’ll write a few words for you!”

Upon hearing this, the old toad was instantly filled with gratitude and quickly left the hall to prepare the Four Treasures of the Study—moving extremely fast. Before Long Xiruo and the little butterfly monster even finished this meal, a set of very pricey scholarly tools had already been brought in.

Long Xiruo picked up the brush and glanced at the ink that had been ground, then suddenly pushed it aside, directly dipped the brush randomly into the soy sauce dish, and started writing something on the rice paper.

Even though she used soy sauce, the old toad didn’t show the slightest displeasure—at least not on his face. He didn’t even dare raise his head, instead standing respectfully with his two descendants, heads lowered, waiting.

“Alright! Take it.” Long Xiruo put down the brush. “You were the one who asked me to write! But since it’s my inscription, you can’t hang it in some weird spot; it has to be placed somewhere very obvious!”

“Of course! How could this old one dare neglect Lord Long’s calligraphy!” The old toad was both shocked and delighted, quickly lifting his head, unable to wait any longer to see what exactly the Godly Land had written!

The idea of asking for an inscription had actually been a sudden inspiration… Historically, there had never been any rumors of calligraphy left behind by the Godly Land—so even if it wasn’t used to ward the place as a signboard for the Peace Grand Hotel, just keeping it as a collection would make it a priceless treasure!

On the snow-white rice paper, a few large characters written in soy sauce that hadn’t yet dried appeared before his eyes… The Toad Demon of Elder Jiang’s Family took one look, and his expression instantly stiffened as he stiffly read aloud, “E… Everlasting Heart Group?”

“Any problem?” Long Xiruo said blandly.

“N-no problem.” The Toad Demon hastily shook his head… How would he dare have any opinion—he could even understand the meaning behind these four characters.

“Good that there isn’t.” Long Xiruo said slowly, “Since this place is called Peace Grand Hotel, and you’re borrowing the current environment of this city where all Extraordinary Power is Forbidden, then you naturally have to live up to the name Everlasting Heart Group—I’ll now set three rules for you.”

“This old one is listening.” The Toad Demon wiped his sweat, lowering his head even more.

“First, those who are extremely vicious and commit crimes are not allowed to stay.” Long Xiruo’s expression suddenly turned stern. “Second, for anyone qualified to stay, until the moment they leave, your hotel must ensure the safety of its guests! Third, you’re not allowed to earn money that goes against your conscience… Don’t forget, my hospital is in this city, very, very close to here! But if you manage to uphold these three points, these words can hang here forever. Got it?”

“Got it, got it.” The Toad Demon nodded like a pecking chick—this time he really lost out on the chicken and the rice. If he truly enforced these three, he’d probably be losing money… but there was no room left to turn things around.

…

Watching the dejected Toad Demon leave with the inscription, Long Xiruo went on with her meal as if nothing had happened—but she noticed the gaze of the little butterfly monster.

“Is there something on my face? What are you staring at me for?”

The little butterfly shook her head quickly, then blinked and said, “Sister Long, you were so cool just now!”

Hmph… The Godly Land kept a completely calm expression. “Eat when you’re supposed to eat, sleep when you’re supposed to sleep. Where do you get all this nonsense! Hurry up and finish; we’re heading back soon.”

As she spoke, as if suddenly remembering something, Long Xiruo grabbed a plate of grilled meat and directly tossed it out the window—outside, a Golden Dragon had a cold-iron chain looped around its neck, fastened to the ground, half dead…

She didn’t care whether this Western Giant Dragon ate grilled meat or not—for now the Godly Land was busy fretting over the phone she’d secretly placed under the table!

At this moment, the phone was open to a certain messaging app—on the screen was a single line of text: [You’ve added ‘Luo Qiu’, you can now start chatting.]

[You there?]

She quietly typed these two words… then thought about it and felt it was way too ordinary, so she deleted them.

[Have you eaten? I’m eating right now!]

She thought again and retyped another line… but still felt the opener was way too ordinary, so she deleted it again.

[Are you asleep?]

It should still be daytime over there… How could he be asleep!

The Godly Land started bouncing her leg in irritation—finally, she deleted everything again and typed another sentence.

[What are you doing!]

After sending the message out, the true dragon of China directly turned off her phone, stuffed it into her pocket, then picked up her chopsticks and started shoveling rice into her mouth like crazy.

…

…

— Setting things up.

Once the message was sent, Boss Luo casually put his phone down on the table.

Right now the Maid was spreading a tablecloth over the table—the Maid was also planning to place a small vase here.

“Looks about done.” Boss Luo glanced around at the surroundings—after being rearranged, the Shop’s lobby now had a bit of an office vibe.

The Shop’s internal structure could actually be adjusted—according to the Club Owner’s wishes, which made things very convenient.

“Just about.” The Maid tidied the edges of the tablecloth, then showed a satisfied smile. “Master, have you decided on the Club’s name?”

“Mm…” Boss Luo looked out the window, suddenly thinking of the butterfly that had only just been buried not long ago, and an idea came to mind. “How about we call it the Butterfly Society.”

She had already guessed what was on her Master’s mind, so she gently waved her palm—outside the Shop, which had just been rearranged into the Club activity room, the words Butterfly Society appeared.

Boss Luo chuckled and said, “Right, I still haven’t asked you, which department did you sign up for?”

“Theology studies.” The Maid gave a light smile.

“Same as me?” Boss Luo asked curiously. “Didn’t I tell you, you don’t have to be in the same department as me.”

The Maid blinked playfully. “But Master also never said I couldn’t enroll in the same department as you.”

Boss Luo smiled wryly and teased, “Let’s hope when classes start, the professors don’t call on you to answer questions.”

…If they did, the entire faculty of the theology academy would probably be left heartbroken, right?

The Maid smiled charmingly, stunningly beautiful…that hint of playful spirit hadn’t yet faded—this was a rare expression on her.

Luo Qiu liked what he saw, so he took her hand. “Since we’re done setting up, let’s call it a day. Let’s go walk around town… I heard there’s a restaurant with great dishes, the head chef’s name is Mr. Smith.”

…

“Welcome—!”

As they walked in, the bell on the door chimed, and at the same time the waiter of Mr. Smith’s restaurant greeted the new customers with a warm smile—dinnertime was just about to start, so there were already a few tables of diners inside.

The Maid seemed to really like the bell design, so she gave it a couple more glances before, under the waiter’s guidance, finding a seat by the window.

Ordering didn’t take much time…the menu was quickly taken from the waiter’s hands into Mr. Smith’s in the kitchen.

Mr. Smith was tasting a backup batch of sauce. When he glanced at the menu the waiter brought, he couldn’t help frowning. “Who ordered these dishes?”

“The couple that just came in, a man and a woman. They look like lovers.”

The waiter thought for a moment…he was just about to describe that stunning feeling he’d had when he saw the female customer, but for some reason that peerless face had already started to blur in his mind. He could only continue, “Boss, is there a problem? We should have all the ingredients for these dishes in stock, right?”

Mr. Smith shook his head. “We do have the ingredients… But very few people order this kind of combination.”

The waiter looked puzzled.

Mr. Smith explained, “People who order like this are either randomly throwing things together, or else…people who really know food.”

“You mean, they might be here to review the restaurant?” the waiter said in surprise.

“I don’t know. But since the customers ordered it, we just do our best to make it well…” Mr. Smith shook his head, then turned to look at the busy kitchen crew. “Jack! You handle the second dish, I’ll do the rest myself… Ah Lai, help me with Mr. Calf’s order, the sauce is already done…”

The kitchen instantly turned bustling and fiery again—just then, the door from the kitchen to the back alley quietly opened a crack. A pair of small eyes peeked in, watching everyone busy at work, then gently closed the door again…Joe.

Joe turned around, leaning back against the door by himself, boredly kicking a small stone with the tip of his shoe.

The small stone shot into the depths of the alley…Joe suddenly heard something. He turned his head to look and saw that at some point a black cat was standing in the alley.

Joe jumped in fright and hurriedly reached for the lock on the kitchen’s back door—but the lock seemed welded shut; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get it open!

He had no choice but to pound on the back door, shouting loudly, trying to get Mr. Smith’s attention inside—the black cat was slowly walking toward him.

Joe bolted out of the alley—only, when he rushed out, the familiar street had turned into a boundless stretch of wilderness…Joe’s face instantly went pale.

He had no idea which direction to go, and could only desperately run straight ahead.

Until two beams of bright light suddenly flashed toward him…Joe’s vision went completely white from the glare—what followed was a blaring horn.

The wasteland vanished; he realized he’d run right into the middle of the road, and rushing toward him was a bus!

He was petrified, his mind blank, when suddenly someone kicked him hard from behind—Joe tumbled to the side, and the bus roared safely past.

Hissing in pain, Joe climbed up from the ground, only to see the same white‑haired big sister he’d run into yesterday walking toward him again. She reached out and pinched his cheek, her eyes narrowing as if they were smiling too. “Little dog, good evening~”

Joe shuddered, and only then did he notice that the Black Cat that had been following him all along had vanished without a trace.