It was past nine in the evening by the time he got home. When Mother Lin saw Lin Shuguang return, she quietly asked whether he wanted some more dinner.
Lin Shuguang set the bag in his hand on the floor and began changing his shoes. "No thanks, Mom. I've already eaten. Is Xiao Xi asleep?"
"She's already asleep. What are you carrying there?"
"I bought some snacks. Oh, right, Mom, this is for you." After changing his shoes, Lin Shuguang took a small bag from his pocket and handed it to his mother.
"What is it?" Mother Lin took it, then jumped in surprise when she saw what was inside. "Where did you get so much money?"
Lin Shuguang was about to explain when Lin Haiyang heard the commotion and came over. "What money?"
Mother Lin said nothing and simply handed him the bag.
Lin Haiyang took it in bewilderment. When he opened it, he froze too, then looked at Lin Shuguang. "This is... ten thousand yuan! Where did you get so much money?"
Lin Shuguang told a little lie. "Prize money from a competition at the Martial Arts Hall."
Lin Haiyang was astonished. "That much?"
Mother Lin, however, glared at her husband and hurriedly pulled Lin Shuguang over. "Did you get hurt anywhere?"
Lin Shuguang smiled. "Don't worry, Mom. It was just an exhibition match. I'm completely fine. The teacher even praised me for being talented."
Father Lin and Mother Lin exchanged a glance.
The two of them had argued over Lin Shuguang signing up for the Martial Arts Hall before. Whatever they said, they could never get past the fact that his Blood Energy Value was only 9 Ka.
Talent?
Father Lin and Mother Lin were both doubtful and uncertain, but they could think of no other reason why Lin Shuguang could suddenly produce so much money.
This really did solve their restaurant's immediate crisis.
Seeing that his parents seemed to have plenty of questions, Lin Shuguang glanced around and casually picked up a chopstick from the kitchen. Apparently deciding that one was too few to be convincing, he grabbed a whole handful instead.
Father Lin and Mother Lin had no idea what he intended to do and watched curiously.
Lin Shuguang flicked a finger, and several chopsticks snapped with a crack. That amount of force caused him no pain whatsoever.
He gestured with the chopsticks in his hand as proof. "Actually, my strength-"
Before he could finish.
Mother Lin had already grabbed him by the ear. "You wasteful brat! Couldn't you just tell us? Why did you have to break the chopsticks? What are we supposed to eat with tomorrow morning!!!"
Lin Shuguang, deceased...
Father Lin stared blankly at the handful of broken chopsticks, then looked at his wife, hesitating to speak. Was that really the point?
After much pleading, Lin Shuguang finally escaped her clutches and returned to his room with a large bag of snacks.
When he lay down on the bed and gazed at the cold moonlight, he could not help grinning.
He was growing fonder and fonder of this world.
The night passed uneventfully.
Early the next morning, Father Lin and Mother Lin went to the restaurant, but they had left breakfast ready for both Lin Shuguang and Lin Xiaoxi.
Lin Shuguang picked up an ear of corn, enjoying a rare moment of peace. His younger sister, Lin Xiaoxi, plopped down opposite him and stared at him without a word.
Lin Shuguang glanced at her, then glanced again. Finally, he frowned and hesitantly offered her the corn in his hand.
Lin Xiaoxi pushed the corn away. "I don't want it!"
Lin Shuguang raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you staring at me?"
Lin Xiaoxi gritted her teeth. "It's been a whole week since I invested in you. Isn't it time you paid me dividends?"
Lin Shuguang paused. There did seem to have been something like that... She actually still remembered?
Okay, don't panic.
"You even know about dividends now? Looks like you've done plenty of homework."
Lin Xiaoxi lifted her chin proudly and held out her hand, beckoning with her fingers. "Don't think you can fool me. Give me my dividends!"
Lin Shuguang kept eating his corn. "Since you've done your homework, you should know that investing carries risks. You only get dividends if there's a profit. If there's no profit, of course I can't pay you any."
Lin Xiaoxi was dumbfounded. That did seem to make some sense.
Losing some of her bluster, she forced herself to sound calm. "Then I'm not investing anymore. Give me back my principal!"
Lin Shuguang took a sip of corn porridge and replied indistinctly, "It's all been lost."
"..."
"Lin Shuguang! Say that again!!!"
Furious, Lin Xiaoxi grabbed Lin Shuguang by the collar.
Lin Shuguang nearly choked to death. He slapped the little hand away from his collar and said helplessly, "Of all the things you could learn from Mom, why did you have to learn her lion's roar? Your stuff is in the cabinet. Go look for yourself."
Half believing him, Lin Xiaoxi went to look. As soon as she opened the cabinet, she saw bags of snacks in all sizes, and her eyes lit up.
Forgetting all about how angry she had just been, she took out every snack and piled them in front of herself, hugging them blissfully and rubbing her head against them from time to time.
"Hey, could you show a little dignity?" Lin Shuguang could not bear to watch anymore.
Lin Xiaoxi did not even turn around. "You don't understand."
Lin Shuguang: "..."
The morning sunlight filtered through the mottled window into the room. His little sister sat on the floor with a pile of snacks in her arms, while Lin Shuguang munched on his corn and tilted his head to look at her... There was something peaceful and idyllic about the scene.
Overjoyed, Lin Xiaoxi hugged the huge pile of snacks and turned her head, her face beaming. Like a different person, she asked warmly, "Big Brother, are these my dividends?"
"Principal and interest. We're square."
"..." Lin Xiaoxi blinked, and her smile vanished. Her expression changed with remarkable speed as she took out her phone and lowered her head to search.
Lin Shuguang asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
"Checking prices."
"..."
"Lin Shuguang, I'll give you one more chance to confess and get off lightly! Don't disappoint me!"
"...Lin Xiaoxi, let's fight. Beat me, and I'll tell you."
Lin Xiaoxi immediately turned away and dialed a number. "Mom, my brother said he's going to hit me! He's being super mean!!! Oh, and Mom, he insulted you too. He called you a tigress!"
Lin Shuguang turned to stone on the spot.
Having finally shaken off the little tyrant at home, Lin Shuguang arrived at the classroom.
Ignoring the classmates horsing around him, he sat quietly in a corner and considered his plans for improving his strength.
With his strength now greatly increased, he felt much more confident about going to the Blood Desolate Land.
First, he could gain blood energy by killing.
Second, he could sell Desolate Ghost Ape corpses for money, an indispensable part of funding his upgrades.
Lin Shuguang thought about many things, but kept feeling as though he had forgotten something.
"Right, the Treasure Medicine!"
After getting home, he had demonstrated his strength to his family, then busied himself teasing Lin Xiaoxi. Amid all that, he had forgotten about it.
He wondered how old that Treasure Medicine at home was and how much it would be worth.
He took out the card Feng San had given him-"Old Jin, Tianheng Pharmacy, 1224 Wanmao Street."
Lin Shuguang looked thoughtful.
"Old Lin, I've got big news for you!" Xu Jie had just arrived in the classroom when he threw an arm around Lin Shuguang's shoulders.
With a flick of his index finger, Lin Shuguang easily slipped the card back into his pocket without anyone noticing, then calmly turned to look at him. "What big news?"
Xu Jie said mysteriously, "Yesterday at the Martial Arts Hall, I heard those powerful senior students say that the Martial Arts Apprentice assessment is in another month. And going by previous years' schedules, the Martial Artist Exam will take place two days after that... Man, another batch of new elites will emerge this year."
Martial Artists enjoyed numerous privileges in the world today, like a new elite class. Every year, a batch of newly qualified Martial Artists emerged after the assessments.
But after meeting Song Shi, Lin Shuguang suddenly felt that the world of Martial Artists was not as simple as he had imagined. Otherwise, how could a full-fledged Martial Artist have "fallen" to his current circumstances?
But the timing of this assessment...
One month. Could I make it in time?
Remembering something, Xu Jie sighed. "Oh, right, this really cocky guy joined our Martial Arts Hall. He's our age. Just thinking about it makes me jealous. While we're still struggling to reach the passing score for the College Entrance Examination, he's already preparing to become a Martial Arts Apprentice... I heard something else this time."
He leaned close to Lin Shuguang's ear and whispered, "For our year's College Entrance Examination, you get thirty extra points just for taking it as a Martial Arts Apprentice."
Lin Shuguang suddenly asked, "What if you take it as a Martial Artist?"
Xu Jie's mouth fell open. After a long moment, he said in admiration, "You really dare to dream, huh? You might not find even one freak like that among hundreds of thousands of candidates. But if you really were a Martial Artist, even a top-tier school like Modu Martial School would come knocking and beg you to enroll. You wouldn't have to spend a cent, and they'd even give you cultivation resources."
"Really?"
Xu Jie: "...You're being so serious that it's scaring me a little."
Before you continue