Seeing that Li Ang agreed, Xie Xie looked at Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin naturally had no objections. Besides, he had money on him now—and Li Ang had given it to him.
Since Li Ang was willing to go, there was no harm in tagging along.
Once the three of them had decided, they headed straight out for the Beef Pot Shop.
School let out a little after four in the afternoon. Since they didn't have much coursework, they had plenty of free time.
Of course, the main reason was that Teacher Wu had just finished putting them through special training that day, so he hadn't made them do extra training that evening.
"Ugh, I wonder when this is going to end. I heard the Class Promotion Tournament is coming up soon. Teacher Wu said we have to make it into the top two hundred at the very least."
As he spoke, Xie Xie glanced at Li Ang, his expression unusually strange.
That was because, according to Teacher Wu himself, with a monster like Li Ang in Class One, they probably wouldn't stand a chance against them, but Class Two shouldn't be much of a problem.
Teacher Wu had little confidence in them, but plenty in himself.
He thought that once he'd trained them, reaching an average level would be easy.
But hearing Teacher Wu outright dismiss the idea had made Xie Xie curious.
They hadn't seen Li Ang and Wu Zhangkong fight.
The place hadn't been especially hidden, but it had been early in the morning, before most students were awake, and Wu Zhangkong had deliberately concealed what was happening.
So most of the students hadn't seen the fight clearly. They'd only noticed waves of power coming from that direction.
Now, under Xie Xie's curious gaze, Li Ang fell silent for a moment. He didn't explain; there was no need.
The three of them crossed several streets and reached the snack street. Then they headed straight for the Beef Pot Shop.
As soon as they reached the shop's entrance, the rich, savory scent of beef wafted out.
Li Ang gave a slight sniff. Even he, someone who didn't care much about food, couldn't help looking curiously at the shopfront.
The place wasn't particularly large, but when the three of them walked in, they saw that quite a few people were already seated inside.
They walked a few steps in and found an empty spot along the wall, where they sat down.
A short, middle-aged man came over. When he saw Xie Xie, he paused, then his face lit up.
"Xie Xie, you're here! You brought friends this time?"
"The usual?"
Uncle Li said with a smile.
The Beef Pot Shop's specialty was Braised Pot Beef, and it was delicious.
"Boss, bring us ten portions of Braised Pot Beef, and ten bowls of rice."
"If you have any side dishes, bring those out too."
Li Ang looked at the shopkeeper and spoke earnestly.
At his words, the shopkeeper looked to Xie Xie. Xie Xie paused, then nodded.
"Ten portions, then. My classmate here can really put it away."
Xie Xie smiled as he spoke.
They both knew from experience just how much Tang Wulin could eat. One portion definitely wouldn't be enough for him.
So they didn't mind ordering a few extra.
When the tender beef pots were brought to the table, their rich aroma spilled into the air.
Li Ang raised his hand as well and began eating quietly.
The three of them ate and chatted. Mostly, Xie Xie and Tang Wulin talked about their special training.
Li Ang wasn't particularly interested in that sort of thing.
He was mentally simulating his research into Battle Armor.
Even though Li Ang wasn't joining in the conversation, neither of them felt ignored, unlike Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi. They simply carried on chatting among themselves.
The atmosphere was cheerful for a while.
But the warm, peaceful mood didn't last long.
Just as the three of them ordered another five portions of beef, a loud crash rang out.
Xie Xie was the first to turn around. He saw that a pot of beef soup had been kicked over, and a burly, bald man had stormed inside.
Summer had only just begun. It wasn't all that hot, but the man was still bare-chested, a tattoo on his body as his gaze swept over the room.
When the bald man appeared, the customers who had been eating hurriedly dropped their bowls and fled, not daring to meet his eyes.
"Li, a wise man knows when to bend."
"No one on this street dares refuse to pay protection money. Why do you keep putting me off every day?"
"You used to pay on time. I never gave you any trouble, did I?"
As he spoke, the burly man strode forward a couple of steps.
He looked down at Uncle Li from above.
Uncle Li sat on the floor, blood at the corner of his mouth and fear in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Brother Guang Long. I really can't pay the full protection fee this month. Could I give you half?"
"My wife is sick and needs medical treatment urgently. I'll make up the rest of the protection money later, I promise."
As he spoke, Uncle Li looked at the man with trembling eyes, then hurriedly pulled a stack of bills from his pocket.
At a glance, there seemed to be about one or two thousand.
Looking at the money, Guang Long's brow furrowed.
"Damn it, didn't you only pay half last month too? What, you want to pay half again this month?"
"Do you think I'm someone you can push around?"
As he spoke, Guang Long lifted his foot and kicked Uncle Li, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Xie Xie watched, his face filled with anger.
He used to come to this Beef Pot Shop all the time, so he had a pretty good idea of the shop's expenses and how much it could earn.
"That guy's a beast."
"Uncle Li works hard all month, and even then he can only make around ten thousand Federal Credits at most."
"After expenses, he probably only takes home about six thousand!"
Anger colored Xie Xie's voice.
Uncle Li's face had gone deathly pale. His eyes brimmed with grief and anger, but more than anything, he looked helpless.
He knew that if he didn't pay today, he was finished.
But his wife was seriously ill. They still had some savings, but if things went on like this, he wouldn't be able to hold out.
Before his wife fell ill, the two of them had worked together. Their combined take-home pay of three or four thousand a month had been enough for them to scrape by.
But now, with his wife gravely ill, all the pressure had fallen on him, and an income of one or two thousand simply wasn't enough.
On top of that, the rent here was around five hundred a month. After last month's earnings, he had been left with less than fifteen hundred Federal Credits.
That was far too little.
But with no other choice, Uncle Li fell silent for a moment, then staggered to his feet. He took the rest of the money from behind the counter and shoved it all into Guang Long's hands.
"Brother Guang, there's about five thousand Federal Credits in here. Please count it."
Before you continue