Qi Induction

[China Folk Anomaly Research Institute (West Capital Branch)]

[Address: No. 36, Tongzi Street, Anping District, West Capital City]

[Researcher Zhang Anxia Phone: 136****8792]

The business card material was the most common coated paper, white background with black text, no lamination. This type of business card was the cheapest, costing twenty yuan and eight mao for a thousand online, and yes, shipping included.

However, you could actually design this kind of business card yourself and send the draft for printing. The business cards He Ao used now were this type, but the layout was much better.

The layout was designed by a young girl who was studying art and whom he had saved in high school. After she designed this, he didn't ask her to treat him to a meal.

He Ao had always been like this in his actions: debts must be collected, and favors must be repaid.

However, the address 'No. 36, Tongzi Street, Anping District, West Capital City' felt a bit familiar.

He Ao took out his phone and searched for the address.

Then he fell into a brief silence.

Because the detailed location displayed on the map software clearly marked it as 'West Capital City Third Mental Hospital'.

He should have thought of it earlier. The Anomaly Research Institute was a mental hospital.

He had originally thought it should be some kind of extraordinary organization.

Well, if ordinary people were considered normal humans, then extraordinary people seemed to be abnormal humans? Mental patients were also abnormal humans? So extraordinary people were actually the same as mental patients?

I'm crazy, and I've become stronger?

Damn, why does the logic suddenly make sense?

According to the basic trope, organizations with stranger names were often stronger, so He Ao put away the business card and entered Zhang Anxia's phone number into his phone.

He set it as the emergency call for key 2.

Key 1 was Team Leader Liu.

Generally, when He Ao encountered danger, his first reaction was to call the police, call Team Leader Liu to get people, so a speed dial was very important.

Abiding by the law was actually an equivalent exchange. He Ao gave up a part of his freedom and rights in exchange for the state's protection.

Since he fulfilled his obligations, he certainly had to exercise his rights, so He Ao was very skilled at calling for backup.

Of course, Team Leader Liu was always reliable, and He Ao would never bother him when there was nothing wrong.

Similarly, he didn't pursue the young man for the same reason. Once he reported it to the police, the responsibility for this matter had already been transferred to the authorities. The authorities had the obligation to arrest these vicious criminals to maintain social order.

If he spent more time investigating and pursuing, first, he wouldn't have time to set up his stall, and he would lose an important source of income. Second, his studies would also be affected. And most importantly, for this kind of bad guy without a direct bounty posted, even if he acted bravely, it would be very difficult to get money in the end. The expected return was very low.

He had suffered losses before.

So, investing more energy in the follow-up of this matter was something that would continue to expand losses, with a very low expected return and high risk.

Leave professional matters to professional people, and he was just a student selling cold noodles.

There were no accidents in the following time, but He Ao started to get busy because the workers on the afternoon shift were getting off work.

The factory operated on a three-shift system. The time when the night shift workers started was exactly when the afternoon shift workers got off work. This was He Ao's last wave of customers tonight.

His cold noodles weren't expensive and tasted good, so they were very popular with the workers nearby.

People at this time of day were relatively tired and had large appetites, so he sold many more large bowls than small ones.

He stayed busy until midnight, when He Ao packed up his stall and slowly rode his small tricycle stall back home.

It wasn't that there was no business after midnight, it was just that there wasn't as much, and He Ao usually had school the next day, so he basically developed the habit of closing up at midnight.

The nearby workers also knew He Ao's closing time, so they wouldn't come over after midnight.

"Xiao Ao, you're back?"

The noodle stall downstairs in the residential area was still lit. It was an old man with white hair. The incandescent lamp hanging on the pole illuminated the path of the young man in the night.

Steaming heat rose from the boiling noodle soup pot, reflecting the old man's kind face.

Ever since He Ao could remember, Grandpa Fang had always had this aged face, only now he was even older.

"Mhm," He Ao pushed the food cart downstairs and locked it, cleaned up the unused ingredients, then took out his phone and scanned the old man's payment code, transferring 350 yuan. "Grandpa Fang, the money for today's cold noodles and cold skin has been transferred."

He Ao had school most of the day and no time to prepare ingredients, so his cold noodles and cold skin were basically bought already prepared from Grandpa Fang.

Grandpa Fang's noodles were all fresh and well-prepared, chewy and elastic. This kind of noodle was most suitable for making cold noodles, but the shelf life wasn't long.

At first, Grandpa Fang didn't intend to charge, but he couldn't refuse He Ao, so in the end, He Ao paid about 1.5 times the market price.

He Ao wasn't doing charity; he carefully calculated every penny. But when he was very young, when he couldn't afford food, it was Grandpa Fang who would lose to him in chess every day, with the bet being a bowl of noodles.

He remembered everyone's kindness to him.

"Good child, hurry back and sleep. You still have class tomorrow."

Grandpa Fang stirred the noodle soup with chopsticks while smiling and instructing.

"Grandpa Fang, tomorrow is Saturday, no class."

He Ao locked all the cabinets and clapped his hands in response.

"No class on Saturday? Don't you have extra classes on Saturday?"

Grandpa Fang was clearly a little confused.

"I'm in college now, no more extra classes."

He Ao knew Grandpa Fang's hearing wasn't very good, so he deliberately moved closer and said loudly, "Grandpa Fang, I'm going back."

"Okay~"

Grandpa Fang responded, watched He Ao disappear into the stairwell, then continued to stir the noodle soup with his head down. "He's grown up, it's good that he's grown up."

In the city as night falls, the lights often illuminate the entire night, and countless people revel under the flashing neon lights until dawn.

He Ao didn't sleep that night either.

He studied that small book all night.

But the illustrations in the book only showed how to guide energy to circulate within the body, but the key problem was, he didn't have any energy in his body right now!

This is like a cookbook teaching someone how to make fragrant rice from rice: how much rice to put in, how much water to add, how long to cook it, when to use high heat, and when to simmer on low heat.

The tutorial is very detailed, and the resulting rice is predictably delicious.

So, the question is?

Where's the rice?!

Where's my rice?

I don't have any rice!

After a night of futile struggle, He Ao realized that the Vermillion Fruit incident was just a coincidence. If he wanted to truly cultivate this thing, he would probably need to find a translator to translate the text in the small book and understand how to generate energy.

Ah, sometimes people shouldn't be too confident.

He Ao stretched, then walked step by step to the balcony.

At this moment, the morning sun was just rising, and the light of dawn sprinkled onto the gray-white ground, and onto He Ao's cheeks.

The morning air is the freshest of the day. He Ao took a deep breath.

It was at this moment that a faint energy appeared within his chest cavity.