A Twist of Fate

"So that's how it is." Lin Li nodded, pondered for a moment, then asked with some curiosity, "Is that classmate of yours who runs the flower shop a guy or a girl?"

Su Yue was about to set down her water glass, but when she heard Lin Li's question, her hand paused mid-motion.

Her sparkling, watery eyes shimmered with light, and the corners of her mouth lifted again. This blockhead's finally catching on, huh?

"A girl, and she's pretty cute too! She doesn't have a boyfriend yet. Want me to set you up?" Su Yue said with a smile.

I don't have time for a girlfriend right now. I've only just taken the first step on the path to becoming a powerful Cultivator—I can't let romantic entanglements trip me up... Besides, I'm dead broke. Dating costs money, and I'd rather use that cash to pay my electricity bill or buy spirit stones to boost my cultivation.

"No thanks, I appreciate the thought, but dating isn't on my radar right now." Lin Li shook his head.

"She's really pretty, though! And she's got a great figure. Sure you won't reconsider?" Su Yue coaxed with a chuckle.

"..." Lin Li stayed silent, just shaking his head to show his firm stance.

Seeing his response, Su Yue felt quite satisfied. After he finished his second Honey Peach, she reached out again, picked one from the fruit bowl, and handed it to him.

"Enough, I can't eat any more."

Lin Li quickly waved his hand. He'd already been stuffed from dinner, and now two juicy Honey Peaches had filled his stomach to the brim—there was truly no room left.

"I bought a few too many of these Honey Peaches. I'll pack some for you to take home when you leave."

Su Yue could tell Lin Li really couldn't eat any more, so she put the peach back in the bowl and said that.

That'd be great... When Lin Li heard Su Yue say she'd let him take some Honey Peaches home, his eyes lit up. Broke and scraping the bottom of the barrel, he looked at her with deep gratitude.

Click.

Thud.

At nine in the evening, Lin Li opened his apartment door and stepped into the pitch-black interior.

He kicked off his shoes, put them in the shoe cabinet, slipped into his indoor slippers, and walked into the living room.

He unlocked his fully charged phone and, using its light, took out the bag of Honey Peaches he was carrying and placed them into the empty fruit bowl.

Wait, why am I using my phone for light? That's such a waste of electricity—how stupid!

Lin Li silently scolded himself, then locked the phone. He raised his left hand, and a faint Pale Gold Spiritual Light flickered at his fingertips.

Whoosh.

An egg-sized Orange Red Small Fireball appeared at the tip of his finger.

By the Orange Red glow of the Small Fireball, Lin Li put all the Honey Peaches Su Yue had given him into the bowl. Then he extinguished the fireball, sat down on the sofa, and looked around the room.

Without the Small Fireball's Orange Red light, the room was only lit by the dim yellow glow of streetlamps filtering in through the window, casting a faint illumination near the balcony corner.

Sigh... A Cultivator like me, who can't even afford his electricity bill—I'm probably one of a kind in this world.

Earlier, Lin Li had been thinking about renting a used car from a rental company tomorrow for transportation.

Well, that plan was shot. The two mutant beasts he'd handed over to "You Speed Recycling" to sell hadn't sold yet, and his account was completely empty. He couldn't even afford food, let alone a rental car.

In the dark living room, Lin Li sighed and wore a troubled expression. He thought about asking Su Yue to lend him a few hundred bucks to tide him over.

But as soon as the idea popped into his head, he immediately shot it down.

It wasn't that he was too proud to ask Su Yue for money—given their relationship, she'd definitely lend it to him.

The problem was, when he asked, Su Yue would surely want to know why he was short on cash.

After all, Su Yue knew he had a million in savings. There was no reason he should need to borrow from her.

And if she kept pressing him, how would he explain?

He could never let anyone know about his golden finger.

Sigh... Good thing Su Yue gave me that bag of Honey Peaches. They'll keep me going for a day or two.

Lin Li slumped onto the sofa, letting out another sigh. He decided he'd live on Honey Peaches for the next couple of days.

In his current predicament, the plan to hunt mutant beasts in the wild would have to be put on hold.

You need a full stomach to have the strength to hunt mutant beasts in the wild. Eating nothing but Honey Peaches wouldn't give him the energy for that.

Besides, he was flat broke—couldn't even afford a bus ride. Was he supposed to run from the neighborhood all the way to the wild on foot?

Ding-dong.

The room was pitch-black, and there was nothing to do. Just as Lin Li was about to get up and head to his bedroom to sleep, his phone vibrated in his pocket with a soft chime.

Lying listlessly on the sofa, Lin Li reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Huh?"

The moment he unlocked the screen and saw the notification from the "You Speed Recycling" app, his spirits lifted. He'd been sluggish and uninterested, but now he perked right up.

He tapped open the "You Speed Recycling" app and saw that his order, which had been processing, was now complete.

He clicked on the order details, skimmed through them quickly, and then burst out laughing. "Haha, I've got money! I'm not a broke pauper anymore!"

You Speed Recycling sold the two exotic beasts Lin Li had hunted to a hotel, bringing in a total of 25,300 yuan for the pair.

If you did the math, those two beasts weighed over three hundred jin combined, and the average price per jin was quite a bit cheaper than the exotic beast meat Lin Li had bought at the market before.

Still, that price was within Lin Li's expectations. The shops selling exotic beast meat at the market were charging retail prices.

When You Speed Recycling took Lin Li's two beasts, they sold them to customers at wholesale prices.

After factoring in slaughter fees, logistics costs, and other expenses, the overall price was still quite fair.

He tapped to withdraw, and within ten seconds, 25,000 yuan was transferred into Lin Li's bank account.

The odd three hundred yuan was automatically deducted during the withdrawal, since Lin Li hadn't paid when he called for the Unmanned Transport Aircraft earlier.