It turns out that styling a little girl's hair is indeed a skill. Looking at her hair, which he'd only made more messy, Mai Ge awkwardly withdrew his hand and said sheepishly, "Actually, I think Little Amy's hair looks pretty good even down."
"But Teacher Luna can braid super cute little braids." Amy said, looking up at Mai Ge and blinking her big, pitiful eyes.
"Ahem, let's get ready to go out and see if we can buy the Ugly Duckling." Mai Ge coughed twice, skipping over the hair styling topic.
"Okay, okay, I want to buy the Ugly Duckling!" Amy immediately stopped caring about her hair and urged Mai Ge to leave.
Mai Ge used a comb to straighten Amy's hair again, but two stray hairs still stuck out, which he pretended not to notice. Since the restaurant wasn't closed yet, he made Amy wait patiently for a while, and in the meantime, she recited another dozen or so multiplication tables.
"We might not be able to buy the Ugly Duckling even if we go out. If we don't find it, we can buy it next time, okay?" Mai Ge said to Amy as he locked the door before leaving, giving her a heads-up.
"Mmm, Little Amy knows." Amy nodded obediently, her little face beaming with joy. Firstly, she was going to buy the Ugly Duckling; secondly, her father hadn't taken her out in a long time, and she could hold his warm, large hand.
"Let's go." Mai Ge took Amy's hand, her small hand soft and yielding. Seeing the smile on her face, his mood improved even more.
"System, do you sell hair tying experience packs? Like the Yang Zhou Fried Rice experience pack?" Mai Ge couldn't help but ask in his mind. Amy's pitiful little expression earlier had really broken his heart.
He was now both a father and a mother, and hair tying skills were essential.
"Host, I warn you again: Please do not insult this system with such questions! This system does not sell experience packs unrelated to recipes!" The system seemed a little angry.
"How about ten gold coins?"
The system remained silent.
"No? What about the thirty?"
The system remained silent.
"One hundred, that's all I can offer. Think it over yourself." Mai Ge calmly quoted in his mind.
The system remained silent for a long time, then silently displayed a line of text: "Fancy Hair Styling Experience Pack - 120 gold coins per pack."
"Sorry, I don't want it now, I don't have the money." Mai Ge glanced at the experience pack, a little regretful. But since the system sells them, the money will come eventually. He'll definitely create a hairstyle that will make Amy's eyes light up. Thinking of this, his mood improved even more.
"..." The system displayed a string of ellipses. Of course, Mai Ge didn't care about the system's feelings at all; this system only cared about money.
Aden Square is the center of Chaos City, and also is commercial center. The crescent-shaped buildings curve in an arc. Walking from the restaurant to the other end is two or three kilometers, with all sorts of bizarre shops along the way.
Therefore, a saying circulates in Chaos City: anything available in the continent, as long as you have money, you can buy it in Aden Square.
Of course, this statement is somewhat exaggerated, but it offers a glimpse into the prosperity of Aden Square.
"Daddy, that black bird is nasty!" Amy hadn't gone far when she hide beside Mai Ge, pointing to two bird cages hanging in the nearby magic potion shop.
"Hmm?" Mai Ge looked over in surprise. The magic potion shop and the restaurant were only five or six shops apart. He remembered the owner as a tall, thin, slightly hunchbacked human magician. He didn't seem to interact much with others, preferring to play with his two pet birds and teach them strange phrases.
There were two bird cages, one with a completely black raven and the other with a green-feathered, red-beaked parrot. They were jumping around in the cages and noticed Mai Ge and Amy walking over, so they both looked over.
"Wow... Ugly little thing, you've passed by my esteemed palace again. Now I allow you to kneel and kowtow three times, so I can bless you to grow up to look more like an elf." The black raven held its head high arrogantly, looking down at Amy, its voice low and menacing.
"You're the ugly one! You're all black!" Amy said angrily, clenching her little fists. She then looked up at Mai Ge, her eyes filled with hurt and insecurity, and asked, "Daddy, is Little Amy really ugly?"
"How could that be? Little Amy is very pretty. Didn't Sister Elf say so yesterday?" Mai Ge smiled and shook his head, pointing at the crow and saying, "Look, this silly bird is really ugly."
Mai Ge smiled, but his eyes held a hint of murderous intent. This damned raven dared to say such things to Amy! Wasn't he ruining his plan to boost Amy's confidence? And it seemed this wasn't the first time it had mocked Amy.
"Exactly, so ugly, so ugly! And he's always so vain, calling himself "this king" it's driving me crazy! The green parrot beside it nodded in agreement, its voice sounding like a young girl's, its tone full of helplessness.
"Human, take that lowly finger away! Don't think that just because you've gone from a cripple to a half-crippled one, This king will be afraid of you..." the raven said, turning to Mai Ge.
"Amy, do you remember the fireball spell from yesterday?" Mai Ge asked, smiling at Amy.
"Yes." Amy nodded, looking at Mai Ge with some confusion.
"For those who like to talk trash, the simplest way is to shut them up. Try casting a Fireball on them." Mai Ge said with a smile.
The crow, however, became even more arrogant, nonchalantly saying, "Hmph, do you think I'm afraid? This bird cage was enchanted by the old man, and I can recite the Fireball spell backwards…"
But before it could finish speaking, a ball of blue purple fireball appeared in Amy's hand.
"Instant cast?" The crow was taken aback.
Then the fireball was thrown by Amy, instantly enveloping the birdcage.
"I… Ah… Help!" The magical shield outside the bird cage instantly melted away. After the membrane disappeared, the steel bars on the bird cage also began to melt, and the blue purple flames instantly engulfed the black crow, leaving only its screams.
Mai Ge was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Amy to use the fireball spell so skillfully on her first try, and that it was even more powerful than he had imagined. Of course, this was a good thing.
He smiled, took Amy's hand, and continued walking forward, saying, "Remember, next time you encounter scoundrel like that, just throw a fireball at it."
"Yes, yes, Little Amy got it." Amy nodded vigorously, happily grabbing one of Mai Ge's fingers and swinging it. She felt like all the anger she'd suffered at the hands of that crow had finally been vented today. Sure enough, going out with her father meant she didn't have to worry about being bullied.
"Fire! Fire!" the green parrot cried out in a panic.
A gaunt old man rushed out of the shop. Seeing the burning bird cage, his face paled, and he quickly cast a water ball spell.
With a sizzling sound, a faint aroma of roasted meat wafted through the air. A black, plucked crow shuddered, perched on the last remaining crossbar, spread its wings to cover its crotch, exhaled a puff of black smoke, and cried out to the sky, "Good heavens! They actually burned my magnificent royal robes..."