A Satisfactory Cash Transaction

For seven consecutive days, get up before Mao Hour and diligently practice the Body Tempering Eight Section Exercise for a cumulative total of at least half an hour before Chen Hour. (4/7)

Feeling refreshed all over, Lin Li stretched lazily. It was the first time he had felt this alert at this hour.

Moreover, his progress was faster than expected. Five spirit stones might be enough to support him through the second chapter's process, allowing his body to adapt even better to spiritual energy.

As for the changes brought by spiritual energy entering his body, Lin Li felt as though every organ was becoming healthier.

His mild rhinitis used to leave him with a slightly blocked-nose sensation, but now his breathing was completely clear.

All he could say was that spiritual energy was miraculous. It easily accomplished what physical training could not.

He looked forward to the future even more.

"Grandpa Zhou, I'm off." Lin Li waved as usual and left directly.

"Hmph!"

Watching Lin Li leave, Zhou Youwei could comfort himself with the thought that he had protected the other residents of the neighborhood, but he still felt somewhat upset.

Especially since that kid Lin Li did not hide his smugness in the slightest and had deliberately shown off in front of him.

As for how Zhou Youwei could tell, it was simple—Lin Li had not exercised properly at all today.

Who smiled while exercising or practicing martial arts, then went for over an hour without shedding a single drop of sweat? Zhou Youwei did not know exactly what kind of martial art Lin Li had been practicing before, but he could understand and sense that those movements all had meaning.

Sometimes, after Lin Li left, he would curiously imitate a few moves himself. He could feel that the techniques had a martial arts foundation and seemed quite profound, following their own unique logic.

If the irreconcilable conflict between them had not already made them enemies, Zhou Youwei might even have asked what kind of martial art it was.

But today?

Lin Li had been swaying around like he was doing a yangko dance—or shaking his ass—with a bizarre grin on his face.

If the bastard had not still been so irritating, Zhou Youwei would have believed him if he said he had taken something before coming downstairs this morning.

The most humiliating part was that Lin Li would occasionally suddenly turn around and point his ass directly at him, making the gesture extremely deliberate. If that was not taunting him, Zhou Youwei would eat yesterday's dog shit!

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—do not mock the poverty of the elderly! I will repay today's humiliation!" Zhou Youwei growled at Lin Li's retreating figure.

After a while, he chuckled. "That actually felt pretty good to shout out loud. No wonder my good grandson always likes yelling those lines. I'll sneak into his room later and steal a novel to read."

"Ahh—"

Hearing the sound, Zhou Youwei abruptly turned his head.

Then he saw Zhang Fang squatting in the bushes, in exactly the same spot he had been in yesterday. He froze for a moment before mechanically asking, "Old Zhang, why are you squatting there?"

Are you taking a dump here too? No, why did I say too?

Zhang Fang raised the shovel and black bag in her hand. "To avoid another misunderstanding like last time, since the property management won't deal with it and I have nothing better to do, I came to clean up the cats' and dogs' droppings."

Then she rubbed her waist again. "I really have to admit I'm getting old. My back ends up like this after squatting for a bit. You're still impressive, Old Zhou—so fit at your age."

"When did you get here?" Zhou Youwei asked seriously.

"About thirty years ago."

Zhou Youwei: "..."

"Still, Old Zhou, thirty years is too much. We elderly people really are a little poor. Even if you're healthy, there's no telling what might happen. You can't exactly rely on the dead being honored, can you? How about three years instead?" Zhang Fang said, then asked curiously, "By the way, whose humiliation are you going to repay? Did you lose at cards last night?"

"No, no. I'm going home first." Zhou Youwei stood up. Today was not a suitable day for exercise.

"Going to read one of your good grandson's novels, Old Zhou?" Zhang Fang asked even more curiously.

Zhou Youwei walked away at a brisk pace.

He had not gotten a stitch in his side today, but why did he feel even worse than the past few days?

When Lin Li arrived at the classroom, Bai Bufan was once again in the midst of his classic unofficial-history storytelling session.

"According to unofficial records, when Liu Xuande entrusted his son to Zhuge Kongming in Baidi City, he had three hundred axemen hidden in ambush. Liu Xuande had already made his plans—if Zhuge Kongming showed even the slightest intention of abandoning Liu Chan to start his own venture, Liu Xuande would immediately smash his cup as a signal! The three hundred axemen would rush in and wildly swing their blades until Liu Chan was chopped into minced meat!"

"This unofficial history is... Wait, Liu Chan gets chopped up? That doesn't even sound particularly wild!"

"That's not wild enough for you? Then let's get wilder. Do you know why Cao Mengde kept that embarrassing dark chapter of his history, when he humbly warmed wine for Liu Xuande?"

"Why?"

"According to unofficial records, when Liu Xuande bent down to pick up his chopsticks, he also felt up Cao Mengde's jade foot. Mengde immediately let out a 'mmph,' and his whole body went soft. After that..."

"What the hell are you 'mmph-ing' about? Damn weird moaning literature!"

"Ding! I just heard 'yin.' Are you talking about stagnant water? Stagnant water is yin too?"

Bai Bufan really loved the Three Kingdoms.

It was just that the direction of his love was a little crooked.

Lin Li liked it too. Of the Four Great Classical Novels, Romance of the Three Kingdoms was his favorite. He had read the 120-chapter version several times as a child, and it truly was excellent.

Shu Han had Shu Han's romance, Great Wei had Great Wei's backbone, and Jiangdong had Jiangdong's rats.

—Though geographically speaking, Lin Li could be considered a descendant of those rats too.

Because he liked the Three Kingdoms, he also gave Three Kingdoms Kill a favorable review by association.

"Kids, come get your food."

Lin Li began hanging his backpack over the back of his chair, then turned to look at the writing on the blackboard, preparing to collect the homework later.

"Why is there another portion here? Did someone forget to take it, or is it yours?" Bai Bufan was having sa soup with flatbread today. With the flatbread in his mouth, he looked at the extra breakfast on Lin Li's desk and asked curiously.

"Oh, it's Chen Yuying's. Help me bring it to her," Lin Li said after taking a look. Chen Yuying had mentioned it yesterday at noon.

"Why am I the one delivering it? Are you using me as your Viagra to make it more exciting? Am I part of your play too? I'm not going. Go yourself." Bai Bufan rolled his eyes.

"They say rough words can still make sense, but your words are way too rough. I was actually treating you like a condom," Lin Li said with a smile as he placed the homework books onto the desk one by one.

"You're the last person qualified to say my words are rough!"

Lin Li picked up the breakfast and walked over to Chen Yuying, who was seated in the third row near the front door. He placed it on her desk. "Here, your breakfast."

The people around them naturally focused their attention on Lin Li.

It was not that they all liked Chen Yuying. It was simply that when there was activity nearby, they had to take a look.

Half of them looked away after one glance because they were not interested.

The other half, after realizing it was Chen Yuying and Lin Li, who did not usually appear near the front rows, continued watching. They hoped some juicy gossip would emerge to add a little entertainment to their boring high school lives.

Lin Li used to feel awkward under such gazes, but perhaps thanks to the system, he suddenly felt nothing toward them. Instead, he appeared perfectly natural.

It can't be that my skin has gotten thicker, right?

"Okay, thank you. Here's the money." Chen Yuying nodded, accepted it, and took out a ten-yuan bill from her desk drawer.

"Okay, I'll give you five back..."

In this completely unfamiliar world, Chen Yuying, the first person to come into contact with you, could finally no longer hold herself back. She engaged in a cash transaction with you and was extremely satisfied with your service, further deepening your relationship.

If you wanted to establish yourself in this unfamiliar and dangerous world, you needed to learn more information. So why not start with the person you knew best in this world—her?

Task triggered!

Task Five: Have more interactions with Chen Yuying. Attempt to learn more information about this world from her and gain a preliminary understanding of this world.

Reward: Physique Improvement: Mecha Synchronization Index +10; random limb or organ enhancement opportunity *1; System Currency *50.

Random limb or organ enhancement opportunity: After use, a random limb or organ will receive a certain enhancement in ability, with a high chance of gaining an additional mutation ability. (When receiving the reward, you may choose whether Protruding Organ enters this random reward pool.)

Please vote with your monthly tickets.

This book leans toward the slice-of-life genre, but I still ask everyone to follow along as much as possible. Thank you. If you want to stockpile chapters, it's best to do so after it goes premium.

It will probably go premium around the middle of this month. Hang in there for another ten days, and use Flame Fist on me!

Also, Qidian sometimes changes certain sensitive sentences. After they're changed, paragraph comments get swallowed up. I didn't delete them, okay?