Rise of The Ling Empire

Lee Irik's Botanical "Expertise" and Metal-Works (Standalone) "Workshop"

*Yawn* Lee yawned again, and dragged herself out of the small room, to see Dahlia dressed in neon rainbow in front of a ray of sunshine. "OWWWWWW MY EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lee screamed.  "Finally! G'd morning, sleepy head!" Dahlia said.

Lee looked again. There was no sunshine. It was an LED light set up at MAX. She smashed the "off" button. Dahlia wasn't wearing neon either! It was a.... CARDBOARD CUT-OUT? "Hey, where'd this cut-out come from?" Lee asked, pushing it aside as she grumbled and went to get breakfast.

To her surprise, the cutout crumbled like newspaper. "Whoa.." she said. "Right... Jiji did say it was fragile..." Dahlia muttered. Figures, Lee thought. If it's from that cheap store and it's (looks at price tag) FREE then it's probably VERY fragile...

Lee dragged herself to the kitchen to see a pancake. She ate and began preparing for the day. She washed the plate and left it to dry on the dish tray. Dahlia had already finished setting up, and Lee was done in no time at all. They both opened the stalls, and as expected, Jiji was the first to arrive. "Welcome to Lee Irik's Botanical and Metal-Works Workshop!" Lee greeted. "Which would you like to see first?"

Jiji gasped in delight. "Well... hmmmm it's so hard! I know! Give me 10 seconds, I'll just pop over..."

Ten seconds later, Jiji returned. "Okay. That gypsy lady says to see the metal-works. She says I'll be very impressed, that your crafts are simply exquisite!" Lee grumbled. Exquisite? What was Dahlia thinking?!

"Of course. Well, let me show you the latest crafts." Lee said, forcing a smile on her face. She looked under her table to find a sack with a note taped to it. "I TOLD YOU SO!~ D" said the note.Inside the sack, she found metal moulds.

"Well, um... let's see," Lee stuttered "I can make pendants, jewelry, ooh and earrings, frames, silverware, and pretty much everything!" she said, spilling the moulds onto the counter top. "Ah!" Jiji squealed in delight "Hmm... Jiji would like to have this kinds of earrings and that kinds of ring." Jiji said and pointed to the mould of some thick dangle earrings and a thick ring with a holster to insert a jewel ontop. "Gold, silver, bronze or pewter?" asked Lee "Ooh, so many options," Jiji swooned"I want... the gold please!" Lee stood, mouth gaped open, Goodness, this woman is pretty rich for owning a cheap store, Lee thought.

Lee set to work immediately, she had four pots of the molten metals and got out the pot of molten gold. She grabbed the earrings mould and used a ladle looking thing to scoop out the gold then poured out through a hole in the mould, she then did the same to the ring mould.

"Ma'am, now may I ask you what kind of stone would you like to insert into your ring?" Lee asked silkily "Hm, how about that 3 carat white diamond?" Jiji replied. Lee's mouth dropped open.  DIAMOND!! How much more money would this mad woman spend?!  thought Lee. 'Is diamond even a metal?' thought Lee. The reply from her brain was:    ...

"Uh, of course. I need to fetch it from the storage room. Give me 5 minutes!" Lee said. Then she dashed over to Dahlia's shed. "Hey, is diamond a metal??" asked Lee.  Dahlia began humming. "I don't think so. Let me check my encyclopedia. I think the internet is down,"

Slowly, Dahlia opened the index. "This may take awhile..." she said. Lee groaned.
Lee looked  around and grabbed a fake diamond then gave it to Jiji.

"Here you go ma'am!" Lee said, handing her the finished ring. Jiji threw Lee thirty Lings. "Ma'am, the cost is 90 Lings. The diamond is real," Lee lied.

Jiji laughed. "You crack me up! I know it's fake. But it'll look very pretty in my store! Hey, man. You need some real dosh rolling in. Your cafe is empty and poorly renovated. That gypsy lady over there always talks about one day when you've got the money, she has some plans to turn this place around! Let's just hope that when I come next week, you'll still be here!"

Lee's jaw dropped. 'SHE KNEW THE DIAMOND WAS FAKE!!!' she thought. 'Makes sense, i guess if she runs that cheap store which probably sold fake stuff too,;

Suddenly, a GOLD limo drove down the street and parked in the middle of the road. A chauffeur opened a door and said, "Empress, we have arrived at Street Shop Lane,"

Suddenly, two people began playing the trumpet. Very loudly. "OW!" Lee screamed. "MY EARS! WHO MADE THIS MUSIC?" A-Ling slid out of the limo. She smiled, then walked up to Lee's shack and said. "I did,"

Lee's annoyance was forced out of her face. "Of course you did! No one can compose better than you!" Lee said fakely.

A-ling nodded. "Well, I see you ALSO started a new business. So, whatdya do here?" She sounded bored. Lee explained everything. A-ling kept nodding and saying Mhhmmm and okay...

"OK. So I want a gold bracelet, a gold ring, a gold tiara AND a ruby necklace. How long will it take? I'll be back in 10 minutes. CAN I GET SOME COFFEE? Is this cafe still running?" A-ling said. Dahlia groaned. She ran into the kitchen, poured condensed milk (whole tin) into a cup, dropped a dash of hot water into the milk and poured full cream milk into the cup then tossed coffee powder into it and gave it to A-ling.

"Eh" A-ling said. "Could be better and faster. I WAS WAITING FOR FOREVER!!!!!!"  Lee shivered.A-ling is so DIVA!

A-ling caught Lee staring. "What are you looking at?" 

"Nothing, nonthing at all!"

"GOOD."

Half and hour later, only the tiara, bracelet and ring was done. Sadly, Lee had NO RUBIES! "Ma'am, we don't have any rubies. SOrry, so can I change it to pewter? I'll paint it red," Lee said, shaking.

"NO RUBIES!!!!" A-ling said. She grabbed the gold items. "I'll be back tomorrow for my necklace. Otherwise... you'll be saying good bye!"

Lee gulped. "Yes ma'am" she muttered. She sighed and began to close the shed. It was night. Lee wanted to go and kill Aling already. But she knew Aling was too powerful.
She looked around the shed. She would really have to find some rubies!!