Growing Vegetables

He was already tall, standing at 185 centimeters, yet Song Zhou was still half a head taller than him. Even dressed neatly and looking refined and handsome, Song Zhou carried an air that said he was not to be trifled with.

Lu Ao lowered his lashes slightly, not wanting to provoke him.

He took the syringe and hesitated for a moment.

Seeing that he did not move, Song Zhou suddenly said, "Excuse me."

Before Lu Ao could react, Song Zhou had taken the syringe from his hand, gently grasped his wrist, and swiftly drew a tube of blood.

Song Zhou moved so quickly that Lu Ao only felt a sensation like a mosquito bite. The warmth of Song Zhou's palm still lingered on his wrist when the blood draw was already over.

With another flick of his hand, Song Zhou made the syringe disappear. His eyes curved into a smile. "I truly mean no harm. This is merely a necessary procedure. Some gifted individuals undergo changes that cause major trouble for the regulatory authorities, so they require blood samples from every newly registered person. If anything happens, it will be easier to confirm their identity promptly."

Lu Ao nodded. "I understand. Are there any other procedures?"

"Not for the time being."

Lu Ao stood. "I'll see you out."

That was clearly a dismissal. Song Zhou had a good temper and did not mind. He stood as well. "Then goodbye."

Lu Ao had just intended to walk him out of the yard when Song Zhou stepped out of the living room, smiled, and blurred before Lu Ao's eyes before vanishing outright.

It was an extremely inhuman way of leaving.

Lu Ao frowned.

After a long while, he went over to clear away the cup Song Zhou had used.

The tea in it was still piping hot, far hotter than the tea in his own cup.

He took the cup to the kitchen to wash it, then pulled some ingredients from the refrigerator and made himself a hearty pot of noodles.

After eating, he returned to his room, shut the windows, drew the curtains, and took off his clothes.

He focused and thought carefully.

A moment later, heat rose in his chest. His whole body shrank, his clothes fell away, and he had become a tiny lizard... dragon.

Lu Ao faced the full-length mirror.

He had always thought he was a lizard, but he was actually much longer and slimmer than one. There was more distance between his front and hind claws, and his body was more rounded.

The greatest difference was his head.

Anyone who saw his face would never mistake him for a lizard.

He looked very much like a traditional Chinese Dragon—large eyes, long whiskers beside his mouth, and two small jade-colored dragon horns on his forehead, like deer antlers.

He blinked, and the lizard... dragon in the mirror blinked too. He looked very cute.

It seemed there was no doubt about it. He really was a Dragon.

Lu Ao had avoided the matter for so long, never expecting this to be the outcome.

He studied himself in the mirror for quite some time before changing back into a human.

A tall, long-legged man with smooth muscle lines.

Growing Vegetables

Before going to sleep, Lu Ao opened the website Song Zhou had sent him and browsed the forum until after one in the morning, going through nearly every post on it.

The forum's posts were a mixed bag, covering all kinds of topics.

Judging from the content, most of the forum's active users were non-humans. Even those who were not non-human dealt with non-humans regularly.

Unless someone had deliberately posted all that material to fool people, it seemed fairly credible.

Lu Ao was not interested, though. Once he had looked through everything and gotten a general sense of it, he logged out, bookmarked the site, and tossed it into a folder he rarely used.

If possible, he did not want to have much contact with that strange organization.

After barely surviving, he wanted even more to live a peaceful life.

Lu Ao got up early the next day.

Even though he had nearly drowned after getting tangled up with Giant Grouper yesterday, he still went spearfishing today.

His luck was average today. He caught two Giant Grouper, five Black Seabream, and five Golden Drum Fish. Altogether, there were only around thirty kilograms of fish. After delivering them to the fishmonger in town, he earned just over six hundred yuan after tax.

He used half that money to buy groceries, while spending the other half at Lin Dawu's family shop on two small oxygen concentrators.

When Lin Dawu's wife, Gui Yandan, saw him, she greeted him warmly. "Lu Ao, have you eaten breakfast? Why not eat at our place? We're having potato pancakes this morning."

"Thank you, Sister-in-law, but I've already bought groceries. I need to get home early and freeze them."

"It's fine. Eating a meal won't take much time." Gui Yandan practically forced him to sit down, smiling as she said, "I'll get the pancakes. You can try my cooking too."

Lin Dawu had long since grown used to his wife's unusual enthusiasm toward Lu Ao. Seeing her head into the kitchen, he leaned over and said, "Don't be polite. She doesn't know how happy she is whenever she gets to keep you for a meal."

Lu Ao swung his long legs over and sat at the table outside. "Then I won't stand on ceremony."

A moment later, Gui Yandan came out carrying a large pot filled more than halfway with pancakes. She set it on the table, then brought out a pot of strong tea. "If you eat too many potato pancakes at once, they might get greasy. There's tea here too. Have some if you get tired of them."

"Alright. Thank you, Sister-in-law."

"Oh, stop being so polite all the time." Gui Yandan sat across from him and said, "I found out about the Lionhead Goose you asked me about. A family in neighboring Tuanbao Town raises them. If you want some, you can call them. They charge twenty-eight yuan each for orders of fifty or more, and thirty yuan each for fewer than fifty."

Lu Ao truly had not expected the geese to be so expensive. Geese were sold by weight, and cost only around twelve yuan per jin.

Gui Yandan said, "I heard their geese are quite good, though they eat a tremendous amount."

"Since I'm raising them anyway, I'm not afraid of how much they can eat."

Gui Yandan laughed heartily. "That's true. I'll send you his number, then. You can ask him yourself later."

"Alright."

Lu Ao ate more than ten potato pancakes, took the oxygen equipment, said goodbye to Lin Dawu and Gui Yandan, and headed home.

On the way home, Lu Ao stopped by Lin Manzhang's house to pick up the vegetable seedlings they had helped him buy.

Lin Manzhang's wife was named Ye Zhiying. When Lu Ao drove up to Lin Manzhang's door, Ye Zhiying spotted him at once and asked with a smile, "Lu Ao, why didn't you come yesterday?"