Family Shock

After Lin Feng and the other two left, an eerie atmosphere settled over the private room.

"Students these days sure talk big."

After a while, the fat man who had been livening up the atmosphere raised his glass and took the lead in breaking the stalemate.

"Exactly. A humble family like ours isn't worthy of climbing that high? What a joke."

"Kids love to brag. Don't take it seriously. Everyone, keep eating. This restaurant's specialties really do taste good."

The relatives all chimed in, but that did nothing to ease Chen Hao's parents' expressions. Their faces had already been thoroughly disgraced. Some relatives even had teasing, gloating looks in their eyes, making them wish this family gathering would end as quickly as possible.

In the Chen family, although Father Chen was not the eldest son and ranked third, his financial strength gave him considerable standing in the family. He liked making decisions, which many relatives disliked. Seeing him embarrassed now, they would not go so far as to mock him outright, but they were clearly enjoying the show.

"Break up with that woman completely today. How many times have I told you not to let her keep pestering you?"

Mother Chen sternly told Chen Hao, her tone somewhat frantic and exasperated.

She had never liked her son's girlfriend.

Although Lin Kerou was exceptionally beautiful and, after all these years of knowing her, truly seemed to be a gentle woman.

Even though they disapproved of the two dating and sometimes spoke coldly to her, that girl had always treated them with respect. It was clear she was a well-bred girl.

A girl like that was very suitable as a wife!

That was a fact they could neither deny nor would deny.

But her education and background determined that she was merely an ordinary factory worker.

If Chen Hao married her, she would not help his career in any way and might even hold him back.

After all, that family lived in Anbian Residential Area.

For poor people, there were always troubles of one kind or another.

After what happened today, Mother Chen became even more convinced of her views.

Faced with Mother Chen's demand, Chen Hao lowered his head without saying a word. He did not want to leave his girlfriend, nor did he want to directly contradict his mother.

"Enough, don't say any more. Xiao Hao, you're still young. You can think it over more. There's no need to step into marriage so early."

At that moment, Grandfather, who had been eating all along without voicing an opinion, finally spoke.

As the eldest elder in the family, once he said that, it meant the topic was over.

"Understood, Grandpa," Chen Hao nodded.

"Everyone, eat before the dishes get cold."

Just as Mother Chen was urging everyone to eat, a waitress knocked on the folding screen and then pushed a mobile dining cart inside.

"Excuse me, your dishes are being served now."

The waitress served seven or eight dishes in a row, all substantial meat dishes—fish and meat piled high—and she showed no sign of stopping.

"Wait, we didn't order this many dishes, did we?" Mother Chen quickly raised a hand to stop the waitress, asking in confusion.

She had ordered the dishes today. They were already halfway through the meal, and all the dishes should have been served long ago.

"That's right, these are for your private room," the waitress said politely.

"You ordered these?"

Mother Chen asked her husband and the relatives in confusion, only to receive negative answers.

"Did you make a mistake? We won't pay if you brought them to the wrong room." Already in a bad mood, Mother Chen asked again, sounding impatient.

After serving the last dish, the waitress smiled. "There's no mistake. Someone has already paid for all of these."

"Who paid?"

Mother Chen asked, her expression extremely ugly.

She seemed to have already guessed the answer. Many others had guessed as well, though they found it hard to believe.

"A student ordered them. They packed up their own food and took it away."

The waitress smiled. "He also said your order was too bland, so he ordered some greasy food for you to build yourselves up."

After delivering her lines, the waitress happily left the private room with the two-hundred-yuan tip in her pocket.

Inside the room, everyone stared at the meat dishes covering the round table, looking at one another in speechless dismay.

There were nearly fifteen or sixteen platters of fish and meat, yet not a single vegetable dish.

Everyone looked at Father Chen and Mother Chen. Wasn't this the girl you had just mocked for being unable to handle greasy food?

Then what was this entire table of greasy meat dishes supposed to be?

These dishes had to cost at least thirty or forty thousand yuan.

That slap to the face rang out smack, smack. Even they felt sorry just watching it.

Anbian Residential Area.

Lin Feng's family of five sat around the dining table. The table was covered in fragrant, tempting food: six dishes and a soup, a luxury they would not have indulged in even during the New Year.

Though everyone was starving, no one picked up their chopsticks. Instead, they all turned their eyes toward Lin Feng.

"Alright, everyone's here. What good news are you going to announce?" Lin Fang looked at Lin Feng, helpless yet anxious.

Yesterday, after Lin Feng's apparent awakening failure, Lin Fang had spent the entire night sleepless, worried that her son would suffer a blow. After working all day, she dragged her exhausted body home. Just as she was about to cook, she saw a table full of delicacies and was startled.

How much must this have cost?

It was obviously the work of Lin Feng and Lin Kerou, who had returned home early. When she asked, however, she got no answer. Her daughter only wore a mysterious expression and said there was good news to announce once the family returned.

"Brother, did you win the lottery?"

Ma Lele asked excitedly, unable to stop herself from swallowing. She had never eaten so many delicious things before. Rubbing her belly, she felt as if it had shrunk by a whole circle.

"This table must be worth two or three thousand, right? Did you really win the lottery?" Old Ma asked curiously as well.

This one meal was nearly equal to his monthly salary.

As a minor clerk in an obscure government office, although Old Ma had not eaten such good food before, he could still recognize its value.

"Kerou, why are you smiling? Do you know something?" Old Ma asked Lin Kerou, because she had been smiling all along as though she knew something.

Faced with Old Ma's question, Lin Kerou simply smiled without speaking.

She had already recovered from her sorrow and unease. All the obstacles from before were gone.

Life had suddenly become filled with hope.

She was proud to have a younger brother like him!

When she first heard the news, she too had been shocked and unable to believe it. She was very curious to see what expressions everyone would wear shortly.

With everyone's eyes fixed on him, Lin Feng smiled. "This afternoon, I challenged the arena at Thunder Martial Arts Hall and earned one hundred and eighty thousand."

"How is that possible?"

The moment Lin Feng finished speaking, Lin Fang cried out in disbelief.

Although she was not a martial artist and did not follow martial arts, she was no stranger to martial arts halls.

She knew bets could be placed at martial arts halls, but how could a high school student at Body Cultivation Seventh Stage earn so much money?

Lin Feng did not explain his mother's doubts. Instead, he continued, "Actually, I didn't fail to refine a demon spirit on Awakening Day."

"What?"

This time, even Old Ma exclaimed aloud.

Yesterday, they had all been saddened by Lin Feng's awakening failure, and Lin Fang had even tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

Together with Lin Feng's depressed expression that morning, as well as his weak, sleep-deprived appearance, everyone had been worried about him, afraid he had suffered too great a blow.

He had not failed? Did that mean he had succeeded?

"Actually, I could have refined a Ninth-grade Demon Spirit, even an Earth Ranking Demon Spirit. I was just unlucky and couldn't find one with an attribute suitable for me, so I gave up."

Lin Fang and Old Ma both felt their minds go blank. Only after a brief moment of surprise did Ma Lele quickly react, screaming loudly, "I knew my brother was the best!"

Ma Lele waved her little hands and bounced around excitedly.

After a long while, Lin Fang finally came back to her senses and asked, "Then why didn't you say so yesterday?"

"I did say so!" Lin Feng said helplessly. "I told Lele those demon spirits were too low-ranked and that I couldn't find a suitable one."

Only then did Lin Fang and Old Ma seem to recall that Lin Feng really had said that yesterday.

They had thought he was merely trying to preserve his image as an older brother, or making excuses to comfort Lele. How could they have imagined it was true?

Yet after learning that Lin Feng's martial arts talent was equally outstanding, Lin Fang and Old Ma were not happy. Instead, they were afraid. They suspected Lin Feng had been traumatized, or that this was some kind of prank.

A martial arts genius?

Someone who wanted to refine an Earth Ranking Demon Spirit?

Why did this sound like they were listening to the news?

And it was yesterday's news at that. The subject of that report was called Ye Qiu.

Wasn't Ye Qiu that very kind of genius? His martial arts talent was exceptional, and at only fifteen he had reached Body Cultivation Ninth Stage, just one step away from becoming a martial artist. He had refined the Earth Ranking 46th Thorn Demon Dragon.

Their own son was one too?

A genius just like Ye Qiu?

"Then why did you..."

That dinner lasted more than an hour. Although Lin Feng explained a great deal, Lin Fang and Old Ma still found it hard to believe.

The dinner was exceptionally lavish, but Lin Fang and Old Ma found the food tasteless.

Their original hope for Lin Feng had been for him to get into one of the Nine Elite Joint Schools, so that after graduation the family could move into the Inner City.

But now, all of it seemed within arm's reach, even far beyond that. It felt too unreal.

"Don't look at me like that."

Seeing his mother staring at him the entire time, Lin Feng revealed a bitter smile and helplessly shook his head.

He knew the news was too exaggerated and difficult for anyone to believe.

Originally, Lin Feng had not planned to let his family know so early. He intended to wait until he refined Nightmare and got into one of the Three Hero Academies.

Then, with facts before them, it would be more convincing and easier for his family to accept.

But plans could not keep up with changes. Because of the conflict at school and his eldest sister, Lin Feng could only reveal it early.

Starting tomorrow, everything would change.