Jiang Ye quickly turned his face away, not looking.
Isabelle cried out, followed by a splash of water.
A monkey was thrown ashore with a whoosh, landing in the snow.
"You stinky monkey, you pervert monkey!" Isabelle's voice was embarrassed. "Alright, I'm dressed."
Jiang Ye turned his face back to look at her. To his surprise, Isabelle wasn't angry, just wore a slightly awkward smile.
Only one relatively well-behaved bathing monkey remained, continuing to scrub Isabelle's back.
Perhaps startled by its companion being thrown out, this bathing monkey worked with unusual diligence, trying desperately to please Isabelle.
The bathing monkey in the snow shivered pitifully, huddled in the snow, but no one paid it any attention.
"Can this monkey talk?" Jiang Ye asked.
"No, but it can understand simple commands." Isabelle shifted her body, letting a fair white leg float out of the water. "Massage my leg!"
The bathing monkey scrubbing her back immediately turned and hugged Isabelle's thigh, rhythmically patting it.
"When I took long-haul interstellar flights before, I used a type of bathing monkey that could speak human language. Their attitude was quite professional, no less than a skilled masseur," Jiang Ye said. "Your bathing monkeys are still too wild, not fully domesticated. Monkeys are inherently playful animals. If it had pulled your swimsuit, that would be one thing, but if it had scratched you hard, you could have been injured."
"The kind you're talking about are too expensive, they're specially supplied, and ordinary people can't afford them," Isabelle said. "These bathing monkeys are locally produced and are the main feature of the tourism industry. Eighty kilometers west of here, there's a hot spring resort tourist area. Over eight hundred monkeys bathe tourists there, and that resort is packed every day."
"Did the owner of the resort give you these two?"
"Yep, you guessed right." Isabelle nodded. "He heard I was coming for a while and gave me six monkeys. He wants to join the Bin Hai City Rich Club. I told him his assets aren't enough yet."
"Doesn't the Exile Planet have its own rich club?" Jiang Ye asked, puzzled.
"It definitely does, but only the Bin Hai City Rich Club on Jiang Ye Planet is for the rich among the rich, the noble among the nobles. To enter that circle is to basically stand at the apex of the social pyramid," Isabelle said. "The owner of this resort who gave me the monkeys probably only makes tens of millions a year, which is nowhere near enough."
"Go to Ping Dao Planet," Jiang Ye abruptly changed the subject. "It's decided."
"No, no."
"Don't be so coy and girlish," Jiang Ye said. "In a couple of days, there will be a mobilization rally on Ping Dao Planet. Old Su will notify you to attend, and you'll be presented with your letter of appointment then."
Isabelle glared at Jiang Ye resentfully, her lips pouting so much a pencil could fit between them.
"Don't make that grumpy face, as if you've been wronged. You're the second-in-command on the Exile Planet, and you'll be the top dog on Ping Dao Planet. It's a promotion, so be happy," Jiang Ye said.
Isabelle forced a smile, deliberately making it look worse than a cry. "Oh yes, yes, yes, I'm so happy."
Seeing Isabelle smile, the shivering bathing monkey in the snow cautiously crawled over, trying to get into the pool for warmth.
But Isabelle was unceremonious, fiercely splashing water at it.
The bathing monkey turned and scampered away, disappearing into the woods.
"Will this monkey freeze to death?" Jiang Ye asked. "It's all wet."
"It should come back when it gets cold later. Silly monkey, the hot spring pool is so big, it could just soak at the other end. Why does it have to come find me?" Isabelle said.
Jiang Ye continued discussing official business, briefing Isabelle on the strategy for Ping Dao Planet. They talked rapidly for over half an hour.
Although Isabelle didn't want to go, she listened intently, staring at Jiang Ye without blinking and nodding occasionally. It seemed she was already switching into work mode. Suddenly, there was a rustling in the snow. The bathing monkey that had been thrown out had returned, and it was carrying a bird's nest on its head.
Jiang Ye and Isabelle were both stunned.
The bathing monkey, using its two paws to keep the bird's nest balanced, walked over cautiously, observing Isabelle's and Jiang Ye's expressions. Its monkey eyes darted around, as if to say, "I've brought a gift to apologize."
"Come here," Isabelle said, surprised.
The bathing monkey quickened its pace, ran to a rock by the hot spring pool, and set down the bird's nest.
Jiang Ye and Isabelle both leaned in to look. There were only three eggs in the nest, but each egg was as big as a fist, seemingly the eggs of some raptor.
The bathing monkey extended its claws and placed the three eggs into the hot spring one by one.
"Is this for making hot spring boiled eggs?" Isabelle asked, delighted.
"The water temperature isn't high enough," Jiang Ye said. "They won't cook."
"Let's boil them for a while, and I'll take them back to the house to stew after I'm done soaking," Isabelle said. "This monkey is quite filial, so I'll forgive it for now."
"Have you seen Journey to the West?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Of course, how could I not have? It's part of the middle school curriculum," Isabelle said. "I can even recite some chapters. I studied the Ming Dynasty Shide Tang edition when I was little."
"Impressive," Jiang Ye said. "I've told you all the important things I needed to. Shall we talk about what you wanted to say?"
"Do you know why I'm in this secluded mountain villa?" Isabelle asked.
"Are there any key projects in this place that require your attention?" Jiang Ye glanced at the surrounding mountains and wilderness. "A secret weapons depot? A space-based weapon launch silo? I think that mountain opposite would be perfect for hollowing out and storing weapons."
"Old Jiang, why are you always thinking about fighting?" Isabelle was speechless. "It's about the matter you assigned me earlier, the virtual planet project."
Jiang Ye suddenly realized, then looked confused. "What does the virtual planet project have to do with this villa?"
"Fifty kilometers north of this villa is a luxury resort," Isabelle said. "Currently, 562 novelists, composers, game designers, and film directors have gathered there. I live here so I can leave quickly from the star station if something comes up, and go to the resort for meetings if there's nothing."
"Are these 562 artists you mentioned the entire team for the virtual planet project?" Jiang Ye asked.
"They are just the first batch. More people will be recruited later. We have enough artists now, but we still need scholars, scholars from various disciplines to serve as consultants," Isabelle said. "Let me tell you about the direction we've discussed in our meetings."
"Okay," Jiang Ye said, very interested.
"On other planets, the virtual planet project is mostly advanced through information bombardment," Isabelle said. "For example, by using media news to depict the virtual planet to the entire population. Or by publishing virtual planet novels and mockumentaries to make people believe it's real."
"Do you think this method of information bombardment is not good?" Jiang Ye asked.