A short while after Lin Li left, the shop owner, looking completely battered, emerged from the goose farm and made a beeline for the old womanās place.
"Oh my goodness! How did you get like this?" the old woman exclaimed, her heart aching as she looked at the shop ownerās bruised and swollen face.
"It was that Mutant Beast, it did this to me. Mom, I was wrong. I should have listened to you from the start and called the Superpower Administration Bureau to have an Investigator handle that Mutant Beast," the shop owner said regretfully.
"Oh, you... *Sigh*... Come inside. Iāll get some ointment for you," his mother said.
"Okay." The shop owner nodded and followed his mother.
As they walked, he briefly recounted what had just happened to his mother, though he left out the most dangerous parts.
"I wonder who killed that Mutant Beast?" the shop owner said.
"Who else could it be? If it werenāt for the customer I was just helping, things would have gotten completely out of hand," his mother said.
"What? That young man killed the Mutant Beast?" the shop owner exclaimed, completely stunned. "Heās that incredible?"
"Of course heās incredible. Donāt be fooled by how young he isāthat young man is a genuine, bona fide Exotic Beast Hunter!"
his mother said proudly. Even though sheād only known Lin Li for a short time, she had taken a great liking to the young man.
"An Exotic Beast Hunter? Heās really an Exotic Beast Hunter?!!! He looks about the same age as Lan!" the shop owner said, thinking of his own daughter.
"Mhm, heās probably just a year older than Lan! He just graduated from university this year," his mother said.
"Amazing. Becoming an Exotic Beast Hunter at such a young age... you can imagine his cultivation aptitude must be incredible... *Sigh*, if I had his kind of aptitude, Iād probably be an Exotic Beast Hunter by now too."
While the mother and son were talking, Lin Li, who was driving his van toward the city, gave Su Yue a call.
"Hello." After the call connected, a sweet and pleasant voice came through the receiver.
"Are you home?" Although he already knew from her social media that Su Yue hadnāt gone to the flower shop today and was at home, Lin Li asked anyway.
Su Yue, dressed in a light pink loungewear set, was in the kitchen preparing ingredients.
She was humming a cheerful tune and wearing an apron with a cute cartoon pattern. When Lin Liās call came in, she set down her kitchen knife.
"Iām home! Whatās up?"
"Iām bringing you a Luhua chicken."
"Huh?" Su Yue hadnāt expected Lin Li to call just to say he was bringing her a Luhua chicken.
"Itās already been prepared. Do you want it?" Lin Li asked.
"Er... Yes, please." Su Yue didnāt stand on ceremony with Lin Li, saying with a smile, "Thanks! Iāll find some time to stew it later, and you can come over and have some with me."
When Lin Li heard this, his eyes lit up. āJust as I planned,ā he thought. āGiving her this Luhua Chicken Beast will definitely get me a free meal at her place.ā
"Call me when youāre almost at my complex, and Iāll come downstairs to get it..." Su Yue said with a smile.
"Okay." Lin Li nodded and hung up. He placed his phone on the passenger seat, a little confused.
āStrange. Why did Su Yue offer to come downstairs and get it this time? Donāt I usually deliver it right to her apartment?ā
After hanging up with Lin Li, Su Yue looked at the unprepared ingredients on the cutting board, pondered for a moment, then opened her phoneās contacts and dialed a number.
"Hello." The call connected, and a mature, slightly languid female voice came through the earpiece.
"Mom, are you and Dad almost here?" Su Yue asked.
"Your father and I are about to enter the city. We should be at your complex in about twenty minutes," Zheng Qiuyi said.
"Oh." Su Yue chatted with her mother for a few more moments before hanging up.
Then, she muttered under her breath, "It wonāt take long for Lin Li to get here. Mom and Dad probably wonāt run into him."
With that, Su Yue picked up the kitchen knife and continued preparing the ingredients on the cutting board, quickening her pace to get lunch ready.
...
With a half-eaten sausage hanging from his mouth, Lin Li slowed down the van, then picked up the phone from the passenger seat and called Su Yue.
"Iām almost at your complex. You can come down now."
"Okay."
After telling Su Yue he was almost at her complex, Lin Li stuffed his phone back into his pocket and slightly increased the vanās speed.
Two or three minutes later, Lin Liās van pulled up to the entrance of Su Yueās complex.
A minute later, a slender and charming figure walked briskly out of the complex.
"Lin Li."
Seeing Su Yue walk out of the complex, Lin Li got out of the driverās seat, went around to the back of the van, opened the rear doors, and took out a red plastic bag with something inside.
"Careful, this Luhua chicken is pretty heavy..." Lin Li said, handing the red plastic bag containing the Luhua Chicken Beast to Su Yue.
"These are some vegetarian meatballs I fried. Take them home and try them." Su Yue took the Luhua Chicken Beast from Lin Li and, at the same time, handed him a box of fried vegetarian meatballs she had prepared for him.
RUMBLE... Already feeling a bit hungry, Lin Li stared at the large box of fried vegetarian meatballs in his hands and instinctively swallowed.