"Come in," Jie Xi's voice sounded from within the room.
Wang Zhi opened the door and stepped inside, seeing Jie Xi wiping down her greatsword.
Upon seeing Wang Zhi approach her, Jie Xi returned her greatsword to its sheath, raised her head, and asked, "What is it you need from me?"
Wang Zhi placed the paper box he was holding onto the table and opened it.
The reason he had specifically packaged it in a paper box was that he feared others might also learn of Jie Xi's fondness for it, and since Jie Xi always took the coffee beans directly with her, she herself preferred to keep this habit private.
Jie Xi lifted the wooden barrel out of the paper box for a closer look.
"What is this?"
"Captain Jie Xi, I meant no disrespect. That coffee shop only had this one barrel left. I figured since coffee beans are consumed, less remains with each cup, so I bought the entire stock. I also happened to overhear the shop owner mentioning that Captain Jie Xi frequently frequents his shop, so I brought it to you!"
As soon as Wang Zhi finished speaking, Jie Xi's door was opened again. A man in a Dawn Tower uniform walked in, holding a bouquet of flowers.
When the man noticed Wang Zhi was also inside, he paused briefly, then asked Jie Xi, "Xi'er, what are you two doing?"
"Zhao Yan, let's correct that. Please call me Captain Jie Xi. Furthermore, do I need to report my activities to you?" Jie Xi stated coldly.
"Actually, I came to..."
"If you have nothing important to discuss, then there's no need to tell me," Jie Xi interrupted before Zhao Yan could finish.
"Very well, I won't keep you two any longer then." With a dark expression, Zhao Yan tossed the flowers onto a nearby table and walked out.
Wang Zhi then recognized that Zhao Yan was one of the individuals Jie Xi had introduced in the assembly hall earlier.
However, to confirm the nature of their relationship, Wang Zhi couldn't help but ask, "Captain Jie Xi, who was that just now?"
"He's the Logistics Supervision Captain of the 1st Floor-a truly irritating fellow." After saying this, Jie Xi stood up and retrieved her greatsword.
"Follow me."
Wang Zhi picked up the coffee from the table and trailed behind Jie Xi.
"Where are we going?" Wang Zhi asked as he followed.
Jie Xi offered no reply, walking silently ahead.
They entered the elevator, and Jie Xi immediately pressed the button for the 4th floor!
Wang Zhi had only recently arrived at Dawn Tower and was familiar only with the 1st and 2nd Floors; access to the 3rd Floor required membership in a Level 3 team, otherwise, entry was strictly forbidden.
To bypass the 3rd Floor and go directly to the 4th was significant, causing the usually composed Wang Zhi to feel a sudden surge of excitement.
Ding!
We're here! When the doors opened, they were met by rows of General Buildings, each two or three stories high. Apart from the streetlights, and lacking any sunlight, the area resembled a neighborhood late at night.
"What sort of people live in all these?" Wang Zhi gazed at the luxurious residences and couldn't help but inquire.
"These are the shareholders from the founding era of the Dawn Tower; the minimum investment for residency here was one billion US dollars," Jie Xi replied.
"Then for us later arrivals, will we never get to live here?" Wang Zhi said, looking around.
Jie Xi pondered for a moment, then said, "Theoretically, yes, but there's currently no plan because there are no vacant units."
Although Jie Xi claimed there were no empty houses, Wang Zhi noticed that the lights were off in the vast majority of these residences, meaning no one was actually living inside them!
Could it be that the Dawn Tower had already eliminated all these shareholders?
Thinking of this, Wang Zhi's breathing began to quicken.
"What's wrong with you?" Jie Xi asked, observing the somewhat unusual Wang Zhi.
"Ah... nothing, just thinking how nice it would be to live here someday, haha." Wang Zhi snapped back to reality and gave a casual excuse.
After a while, the two stopped in front of a building.
Wang Zhi looked at the house number plaque, "010." Jie Xi pushed open the yard fence, and after walking a short distance through the small courtyard, they arrived at the residence entrance.
Wang Zhi looked at the empty courtyard; he felt the yard alone was larger than the place he currently lived.
Entering the residence, he observed the decor in Jie Xi's home. It wasn't the luxurious style he had imagined, but rather simple and monotonous, with a lot of open space-likely so that too many decorations wouldn't get in the way during her usual training.
"Make yourself comfortable," Jie Xi said, walking into another room.
Wang Zhi sat down on the living room sofa, feeling somewhat constrained.
Wang Zhi never would have imagined that the first time he visited a woman's home, it would be under these circumstances and in this environment.
After a while, Jie Xi changed her clothes, returned with two coffee cups, sat down, opened the lid of a canister, took out a small handful of coffee beans, and then crushed them grain by grain between her fingers, dropping them into the cup.
Wang Zhi watched this process, somewhat bewildered. Crushing coffee beans by hand? Drinking it directly like that? What a waste of good materials.
"Captain Jie Xi, have you always drunk coffee this way?" Wang Zhi couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, is there a problem?" Jie Xi took a small sip and replied.
"N-No problem..."
After speaking, Wang Zhi also took a handful of beans from the canister, weighed them in his hand, put a few back, ensuring he had exactly 10 grams. He then took out a filter paper, ground the beans into fine powder on it, and placed the filter paper into the cup.
"Water temperature is one of the factors determining the taste of coffee; it should ideally be around 90 degrees. If the temperature is too high, undesirable substances in the coffee will volatilize, causing a burnt, bitter taste. If the temperature is too low, the aromatic substances won't release, and the acidity will be prominent, so water temperature is very important." While explaining this to Jie Xi, Wang Zhi picked up a pot of water he had reheated to about 90 degrees and poured it into the cup.
"Secondly, you must first pour a little water to soak the coffee grounds; about half a minute is enough. This will make the filtered coffee richer."
"Thirdly, we slowly add water to fill the cup for filtration."
Wang Zhi pushed the cup of coffee he had just brewed in front of Jie Xi and made a gesture inviting her to taste it.
Jie Xi had watched Wang Zhi going through all those fancy motions for a while and was eager to try it, so she brought the cup to her lips and took a sip.
After Wang Zhi's coffee reached her mouth, Jie Xi looked suspiciously at her own cup.
He didn't need to ask; Jie Xi's expression had already given him the answer.
Since his cup of coffee had been given to Jie Xi, Wang Zhi simply picked up the cup Jie Xi had just brewed and drank from it, after all, waste was shameful.
"Hey!" After Wang Zhi took a sip, Jie Xi suddenly exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Wang Zhi asked, then looked at the cup in his hand and suddenly realized that Jie Xi had just taken a sip from it, and now he had touched it.
"Uh... Actually, Captain Jie Xi's brewing is also quite good!" Wang Zhi said awkwardly.