Call Her "Mommy"-Do You Know What's on Its Mind?

Lin Yuan looked at the message Liu Xing had sent and was momentarily speechless.

He wasn't particularly fond of the phrase "coming down with."

But it was a popular expression among beast tamers. Other examples included "coming down with weekends off" and "coming down with leaving work on time."

The everyday routines ordinary people enjoyed seemed to become symptoms of wasting one's life when applied to beast tamers.

Lin Yuan thought it over, decided there wasn't much he could say, and sent back a short reply: "Keep it in moderation."

Five minutes later, the two met up.

Looking utterly miserable, Liu Xing raised his head, confusion in his eyes. "Lin Yuan, do you think I should call Zizi 'Mommy'?"

Lin Yuan looked completely baffled. "Huh? Why?"

"I read a novel," Liu Xing explained. "The protagonist's [Illusion Dream Butterfly] loved beauty and initially disliked his looks."

"Then they went on a two-week vacation to an island by the sea. The protagonist called his [Illusion Dream Butterfly] Mommy and spent a lot of money."

"Afterward, the [Illusion Dream Butterfly] evolved. Its pursuit shifted from outward beauty to inner beauty, and their hearts connected. They finally worked out their differences and set off to face a new world."

Lin Yuan: "..."

Lin Yuan said, "What on earth are you reading? That logic sounds bizarre. Let me see."

Liu Xing handed over his phone in a daze. Lin Yuan quickly checked the synopsis, cover, first chapter, publication date, completion date, and more. Less than three minutes later, he let out a breath and said:

"Didn't you see that big news story a while back? There's a new mechanical pet beast called the [Intelligent Domain Spirit] that can generate novels rapidly."

"Look at this one. It hit 2.87 million characters in under three months. Could an ordinary person do that?"

"And look at this first chapter. All these modifiers, eight whole paragraphs describing the same rocky shoal over and over—it doesn't even sound human. You can't trust anything in this book. Not a single word."

"I'll teach you a few tricks for finding completed novels. If all else fails, pick a new book that started in the last twenty days and is doing well. You can't go wrong with that."

Lin Yuan earnestly "tutored" Liu Xing for twenty minutes before the light finally returned to his eyes.

"I knew it! My Zizi isn't that sort of shallow butterfly. I'll keep calling her Zizi!" Liu Xing threw up his arms and cheered.

"Right, right!" Lin Yuan nodded rapidly.

He wanted to say something more, but stopped himself.

He suddenly realized that someone like Liu Xing, who had never read novels before, really did seem to lack some basic ability to distinguish the good from the bad.

From that perspective, perhaps describing it as "coming down with novels" wasn't entirely inappropriate.

With his energy restored, Liu Xing continued to entertain Lin Yuan enthusiastically.

Before dinner, they returned to Liu Xing's breeding facility. Lin Yuan was quite interested in his research project, so he examined the sample data and the progress of several experiments. Along the way, he offered some suggestions, including adjustments and additions to the experimental variables and control groups.

Liu Xing kept exclaiming that Lin Yuan was a genius and even said he would add him to the acknowledgments.

In truth, Lin Yuan couldn't bear to tell him that he thought the entire approach and structure of his current paper were rather flawed. Liu Xing had already gone through some intense emotional ups and downs today.

So he didn't bring it up.

The boy had only just graduated from high school. He could experience his setbacks gradually.

Dinner also gave Lin Yuan another glimpse of the strength of a wealthy family.

The Liu household's head chef was a four-star spirit chef with exceptional skills.

The graded ingredients Lin Yuan ate that evening probably added up to more than everything he had eaten in the previous sixteen years.

Liu Xing had even thoughtfully prepared food for Lin Yuan's pet beasts at home.

As Lin Yuan headed home laden with goodies, Liu Xing looked at his bulging backpack and said:

"I think when you're negotiating tomorrow, you could ask whether they have any [storage-type] [Beast Gear]. That stuff can make traveling a lot more convenient."

Lin Yuan nodded.

The following afternoon.

Lin Yuan arrived twenty minutes early at the place where he had arranged to meet Huang Tao and Huang Zixuan—the [Yellow Crane Tower Restaurant], a restaurant operated by the [Yellow Crane Tower Shop].

He made his way to their reserved private room, Room 302.

The father and son were already there.

What made Lin Yuan's eyes light up with delight was the [Fortune Dog] he had seen so often in news reports, now nestled at Huang Tao's feet.

Its expression and eyes looked a little more aged than they had in the photograph he had seen.

Its coat, however, looked glossier.

Huang Zixuan's [Wonderstar Grass] was beside it as well, its leaves wrapped around its body as it seemingly basked in the [Fortune Dog]'s warmth.

The large yellow dog's panel also appeared before Lin Yuan's eyes.

[Fortune Dog]

[Attribute]: Metal

[Quality]: Ordinary, middle grade

[Sex]: Male

[Level]: Ordinary level 10

[Trait]: [Fortune Attraction]

[Personality]: Loyal, obsessive, resistant to change

[Status]: A [Fortune Dog] with less than two years left to live. The injuries, illnesses, rises, and falls it has experienced have given it an extremely change-resistant and obsessive disposition.

It is unwilling to undergo a fundamental change in form, believing that its unchanged appearance carries nearly twenty years of weathering life's storms, along with its bonds with past owners.

It has lingering internal ailments, but after years of treatment with various products, these are no longer a significant cause of its physical decline. Its emotional troubles are the primary cause of its poor condition.

It has deliberately concealed its worries and secrets even from its closest beast tamer, who remains unaware of them.

Evolving into a [Fortune Field Dog], whose appearance is almost identical to that of a [Fortune Dog], could extend its lifespan by at least ten years. However, resolving its emotional troubles is a prerequisite for evolution.

[Evolution paths]

Evolution path one: Fortune Spirit Dog. Quality: Transcendent, upper grade. Compatibility: 1%.

Hidden evolution path: Fortune Field Dog. Quality: Transcendent, upper grade. Compatibility: 100%.

After quickly reading its status, Lin Yuan greeted Huang Tao and Huang Zixuan in turn.

"Yuan, right? May I call you Yuan?" Huang Tao's expression barely changed, but his voice was quite warm. "Come, sit down."

"Uncle Huang, of course. That's what my parents call me, too." Lin Yuan smiled, set his backpack on another empty chair, and sat down.

Beside Huang Tao, Huang Zixuan had been somewhat nervous at first. He had come to "hold the fort" for Lin Yuan, making sure his father wouldn't be too aggressive toward his academic ace of a classmate.

But his father was clearly much gentler today than he had expected. It was nothing like the way he remembered his father treating him.

"Let's have them serve the food. We can talk while we eat. No need to be nervous," Huang Tao said. He then took out a paper contract and handed it to Lin Yuan.

"This is a preliminary contract I drafted based on current market trends and my needs for [Spirit Dew]. Have a look. If you have any questions or further requirements, feel free to bring them up."

Lin Yuan accepted the contract and began reading it slowly.

He had already rehearsed this scenario with Huo Yu yesterday. Many shop owners liked to open by tossing out a prepared contract to seize the initiative.

But there was no need to panic in such a situation. He simply had to take his time reading, identify any potential pitfalls, and then reasonably state his boundaries and requirements, neither servile nor overbearing.

Lin Yuan read very carefully.

He also picked out some of the key information he needed from the text.

"Purchases of [Yuanming Pet Food Shop]'s top-tier Transcendent-quality product, [Spirit Dew], shall be for internal use only and shall not be resold."

"The minimum monthly purchase quantity shall be 600 drops (30 mL), at a price of 80,000 Alliance Coins per 10 drops (0.5 mL), or an equivalent value in goods or supplies."

"If [Spirit Dew] is used as a raw ingredient for further processing, the product and its source shall be credited: [Yuanming Pet Food Shop], Lin Hua City, proprietor Lin Yuan."

"The contract shall remain in effect for two years. Should the quality or market price of [Spirit Dew] rise during that period, a new purchase price may be negotiated, but it shall not fall below 80,000 Alliance Coins per 10 drops."

"Three months before the contract expires, both parties may evaluate and discuss renewal."

These key provisions already met Lin Yuan's basic requirements.

Honestly, this was far more amicable than the drawn-swords-and-bared-bows confrontation they had imagined.

Combined with what he had seen on the panel, this made Lin Yuan even more certain that [spirit dew] was one of the products Huang Tao intended to use to care for the [Fortune Dog] through its final two years.

The terms were quite good, but Lin Yuan recalled something Huo Yu had said yesterday:

"You need to demonstrate your value as an investment and a partner—in other words, whether [Spirit Dew] is the ceiling of what your pet food shop can offer."

At present, this contract concerned only [Spirit Dew].

If Lin Yuan wanted a deeper partnership and to round out his family's business operations in a short time, he needed to do something.

And he had already decided what to do.

Setting down the contract, Lin Yuan did not discuss its contents. Instead, he glanced first at the [Fortune Dog], then at Huang Tao.

"Uncle Huang, there's something I'd like to ask first. How many years have you been contracted with the [Fortune Dog]? Do you know what's on its mind?"

Huang Tao had been about to pick up a shrimp with his chopsticks, but his hand froze.

We've already formed a pet beast contract, and our minds are linked. What secrets could there be that I don't know?

But on second thought, when Fortune Attraction formed their contract, it had already been almost twenty years old. He knew a great deal about everything that had happened afterward, but he couldn't guarantee he knew all of its earlier worries and thoughts.

Meanwhile, the [Fortune Dog], which had been sitting quietly, abruptly stood up, startling the sleeping [Wonderstar Grass] awake.

It began barking, its voice unexpectedly full of hostility.

Lin Yuan's question had pierced straight to the heart of the matter. It had indeed been hiding some of its true feelings from Huang Tao, despite their contract.

Was this child one of those Beast Tamers who could read the minds of other people's pet beasts?

Those were the Beast Tamers it hated most in all its doggy life!

Off to the side, Huang Zixuan was rather bewildered.

This wasn't how he had expected things to go!

His normally stern father was so gentle and kindly today.

And Fortune Attraction, the [Fortune Dog] that had always treated him so very well—he had scarcely ever seen it snap at anyone throughout his childhood—was actually barking at the classmate he had come to "protect."

What was going on?

Could Lin Yuan's [Living Creature Affinity] have just picked up on something?