Xingtie: My silly online friend is actually a raccoon!

"You say you're from another world, so I'll assume you're telling the truth for now."

Fu Xuan placed the empty milk tea cup on an old wooden box beside him and crossed his hands in front of him.

"So, where did you go today, what did you do, and how did you know I like Taro Boba Milk Tea?"

Her gaze was intense as she stared at Lu Ze. Her fondness for milk tea was something a newcomer from the outside world could not possibly know.

Lu Ze inwardly marveled at her terrifying observational skills, but his face remained calm and composed.

He had prepared a set of words long ago, rehearsing them repeatedly in his mind from the moment he bought the milk tea, waiting for this very moment.

"After you left this morning, I went to the bulletin board at the entrance of the Earth Balance Bureau and found a day-paid job. I moved a few loads of goods at the floating port and earned some patrol points."

"I know you've helped me a lot today, so it wouldn't be right for me to come to see you empty-handed. I thought I'd buy you a gift to express my gratitude."

As Lu Ze spoke, a hint of embarrassment naturally crept into his voice.

"I don't have much money, but I heard that young girls like to drink milk tea, so I went to Never Sleeps and asked the proprietress to help me choose the most popular one. She recommended Taro Boba to me."

This explanation is logical and well-founded, and the timeline and work location all match up.

Fu Xuan nodded slightly, his golden eyes looking directly into his eyes.

Although there were many suspicious points in her words, her behavior was logically sound. After a moment, the scrutiny in her eyes lessened slightly.

"And then what? What else did you do?"

"I bought an old book."

Lu Ze took out the book that he had been carrying in his arms.

Qingque recommended that he buy "General Treatise on Navigation of the Star Chariot, Volume One", saying that he had read it casually while slacking off in the library of the Taibu Si.

When she flipped through the book, she saw that it was full of annotations and concluded that they were all in Fu Xuan's handwriting.

Qingque wasn't sure exactly when Fu Xuan left the annotation, but somehow she recommended it to Lu Ze.

Lu Ze, on the other hand, figured that since Qing Que said it would be useful in the future, it was probably. So he searched through the pile of old books in Sanyu Bookstore for a long time before finally finding the dusty book.

At this moment, Fu Xuan had already taken the book "General Treatise on Starship Navigation, Volume One" and began to study it carefully after opening the cover.

She read at an extremely fast pace, her fingertips slowly tracing the route map on the pages, her golden eyes immersed in complex deductions.

Lu Ze stood quietly to the side and waited, without urging anyone to hurry.

The only sounds in the cargo corridor were the occasional rustling of pages turning and the low rumble of starships taking off and landing in the distant port.

After a moment, Fu Xuan looked up, a hint of apology in his eyes: "Sorry to keep you waiting. May I borrow this book?"

"No problem, young lady, please take it and have a look."

"Stop calling me 'girl' all the time."

Fu Xuan closed the book, his tone calm yet carrying a strange softness.

Just call me Fu Xuan.

The tone she used when she said this was completely different from when she interrogated him earlier.

Lu Ze smiled and said, "Okay, Fu Xuan. My name is Lu Ze, Lu as in road and Ze as in blessing."

"Luze".

Fu Xuan repeated his name, as if to confirm which two characters the pronunciation corresponded to, and then nodded slightly.

"Okay, I got it. Now take me to the restaurant where you ate for free, settle your bill first, and then I'll take you to the Bureau of Taxation to clear your name."

"Uh... Fu Xuan, I've run out of money." Lu Ze scratched his head awkwardly.

Clearly, a cup of milk tea and a book had already used up all his patrol points.

Fu Xuan glanced at him helplessly.

"I'll cover the cost for you first, as a way of repaying the favor for this book."

After saying that, she waved the book "General Treatise on Starship Navigation, Volume One" in her hand, and then gave Lu Ze a look, signaling him to lead the way.

Lu Ze naturally dared not neglect her and turned to lead her to the other end of the freight passage.

The two walked out of the passage one after the other. Lu Ze determined the direction and led Fu Xuan toward Aunt Gao's snack stall in Jinren Alley.