We'll Make Do for Now!

Looking at the bank transfer notification on his phone, Lin Li's face broke into a delighted grin.

Right away, he paid off the overdue electricity bill for the house.

After the payment went through, he waited two or three minutes, then got up and flipped the light switch.

Click.

The light in the room flicked on, white radiance instantly scattering the darkness. Lin Li nodded in satisfaction, then picked up the TV remote from the coffee table and turned on the television.

"According to reports from our correspondent on the scene, a large number of first-tier beasts have appeared on the wilderness north of Rong City in recent days. Over the next few days, the Beast Hunter Guild will organize hunters to clear them out..."

That was more like it. Without the TV's noise, the house always felt hollow, like something was missing.

"Ah! Having money feels great. I can never let myself end up broke and empty-handed again." With his wallet no longer flat, Lin Li felt like his life had regained its light.

The next morning.

A golden sun rose above the eastern horizon, tearing through the darkness that had blanketed the land.

Creak.

The bedroom door opened. A sleepy Lin Li walked out, yawning as he went.

He'd originally planned to head to bed early last night because of the power outage. But once the money came in and he paid the electricity bill, the lights came back on, and he scrapped the idea of sleeping. Instead, he went to the study to play computer games.

That turned into a slippery slope—he kept at it until two in the morning.

"My self-control's still pretty weak! I can't let myself get that hooked again."

Last night, he'd been playing a single-player game. The boss kept killing him, pissing him off, and he swore he'd take it down.

Time flew by like a galloping horse while he played.

By the time he beat the game and snapped out of it, it was already past one, nearly two in the morning.

He'd stayed up without realizing it. Having cleared the game, Lin Li deeply felt that gaming was a major obstacle on his path to becoming a powerful Cultivator.

But quitting games? That wasn't happening. After mulling it over, he settled for a one-minute self-critique, and then... nothing more.

Splash...

After washing up, Lin Li stepped out of the bathroom. Time for breakfast.

But there was nothing to eat in the house except the Honey Peach Su Yue had given him yesterday.

So he went back to the bedroom, changed clothes, and headed out to buy breakfast.

He had a lot to do this morning: after eating, he needed to rent a car from a rental company, then hit the supermarket for some food, and finally stop by the pharmacy for another tube of healing ointment.

The one he'd bought earlier wasn't used up yet, but Lin Li figured it was better to have a spare. If he got badly hurt fighting beasts, one tube might not be enough.

The broken elevator still wasn't fixed, so he had to take the stairs.

Stepping out of the stairwell, golden sunlight immediately bathed him.

A few young boys and girls ran past—still in school, probably high schoolers.

"Huff..."

"Puff..."

They jogged through the neighborhood, panting hard. Pale Gold Spiritual Light flickered on their bodies now and then, proof that these running kids had awakened their spirituality.

These boys and girls lived in the nearby buildings. They'd been exercising here every morning for years.

Lin Li knew they kept at it rain or shine, hoping to become Cultivators.

He'd been through that persistence himself back in the day. But eventually, limited by his cultivation talent, he'd accepted his fate and decided to be a carefree Salted fish.

How unpredictable life was!

Now, as a Cultivator and a beast hunter who could go into the wilderness to kill beasts, Lin Li felt a twinge of emotion watching these energetic young people still striving to become Cultivators.

"Keep it up, kids! I believe in you!!!"

Grumble... His stomach protested. Hearing it, Lin Li pulled his gaze away from the exercising youths and turned to walk out of the neighborhood.

Jixing Car Rental.

This newly opened company, specializing in renting used cars, had ten employees including the boss himself.

"Haah..." A yawning clerk walked into the office and greeted his colleague, "Morning!"

"Morning."

"Hey, where's the boss?"

"His daughter caught a cold. He took her to the children's hospital this morning and won't be back until the afternoon."

"It's getting hot now, so a lot of people are turning on the AC. Kids get sick easily at this time of year."

"Yeah. When my daughter sleeps at night, I either set the AC a bit warmer or just turn it off and let her use a fan."

No customers this early in the morning, so the two salesmen started chatting.

"Burp~" Lin Li finished the last meat bun from the bag, downed the soy milk in one gulp, and let out a belch.

"Clang."

He tossed the trash into a bin by the roadside, then walked toward the "Jixing Car Rental" not far away.

"Welcome." Wang Xiaoming, who had been chatting with a coworker, spotted a customer coming in and hurried over before his colleague noticed.

"Hello, I'd like to rent a car."

"What's your surname, sir?"

"It's Lin."

"Mr. Lin, what price range are you looking at? We have cars from a hundred and fifty yuan a day up to over a thousand."

Though Lin Li had over twenty thousand yuan in his pocket now, having gone through the embarrassment of being penniless before, and never being one to spend lavishly, he'd become more cautious with his money.

Hearing Wang Xiaoming's introduction, Lin Li didn't hesitate and said directly, "Give me a car at a hundred and fifty yuan a day..."

When Wang Xiaoming heard Lin Li ask for the cheapest car, he felt a twinge of disappointment inside but didn't let it show on his face.

"Mr. Lin, the hundred-and-fifty-yuan-a-day car is a minivan."

A minivan? Fine. It's just for getting around anyway—minivan it is. Once I make some real money, I'll head straight to a 4S dealership and buy an SUV... Lin Li muttered to himself.