Tongfu Grand Restaurant

Lin Ke walked out of the Immortal Realm Painting Studio.

Though he had left, he kept glancing back inside. Even after the door closed, he was still peering in.

He hesitated, then sighed.

Reluctant to leave, he headed toward the end of the street, looking back three times with every step.

Before leaving, Lin Ke had heard Wang Lin tell the woman named Bingbing that they were going to paint on the bed.

They had also mentioned changing clothes.

Bingbing was Wang Lin's signature model.

From an academic and artistic perspective, Lin Ke had actually wanted to join them and conduct some in-depth research.

And then?

Then Wang Lin had tossed Lin Ke out.

Once Lin Ke was far away, Wang Lin smiled inside the shop. "Little brat, you haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you already want to learn bad habits. Let's see if I can scare you to death."

Behind her, Bingbing seemed to turn a deaf ear to what she heard, but her eyes shone brightly.

Some creatures looked icy-cold on the outside.

But inside, they were black!

A sixteen-year-old body was impossible to hold back!

Some shopkeepers along the street spotted a young man looking utterly reluctant to leave, glancing back three times with every step.

Following his gaze, they discovered he was looking at the Immortal Realm Painting Studio. They exchanged knowing looks, then broke into smiles that any man would understand...

As Lin Ke walked, he tried hard to shift his attention elsewhere and simply began pondering this round of choices.

There were three choices this time!

And there were also three subjects in his contest!

The first two choices were the Great Confucian Li Chungang and the painter Wang Lin.

His contest with Qi Ye covered letters, martial prowess, and painting.

The first two choices corresponded perfectly to letters and painting.

Did that mean the Tongfu Grand Restaurant would hold the answer to the coordination contest?

At that thought, he quickened his pace toward the Tongfu Grand Restaurant up ahead at the end of the street.

He had to hurry. What if they closed?

Fortunately, he arrived in no time.

The Tongfu Grand Restaurant!

"Phew..." Lin Ke steadied his emotions and put on a warm smile before looking over the little restaurant.

For all its grand name, it was really a small, rickety two-story building, leaning askew as though it might collapse at any moment.

Looking in from outside, he saw no customers, only empty tables, chairs, and benches.

"Help! Someone, help!"

Yet just as Lin Ke stepped inside, urgent cries for help rang out.

He followed the sound and found that it came from the restaurant's rear courtyard.

Cries for help? Puzzled, Lin Ke wasted no time thinking and hurried toward the rear courtyard.

Stepping into the courtyard, he saw a young man sprawled beside a plump middle-aged man in the middle of the yard, shouting in panic.

"Help..."

When the young man saw Lin Ke enter, he looked as though he had found his savior. "Quick... please, save our boss."

Poisoning? Or something else?

Lin Ke approached. Seeing the middle-aged man's ashen face already turning purple, he hurried closer and pressed two fingers against his neck.

There was a pulse.

Then he looked at the young man. "What happened to him?"

The young man looked utterly distraught, muttering, "It wasn't my fault, it wasn't my fault... I didn't mean to... The apothecary must have given me the wrong thing. I asked for a laxative... They must have given me poison instead..."

Hearing those mutterings, Lin Ke immediately grasped the gist. This restaurant worker had apparently tried to slip the owner a laxative, only to give him poison instead...

No, why would poison turn his face that color?

After a moment's hesitation, Lin Ke extended his fingers again, holding them beneath the plump owner's nose.

Sure enough, there was almost no breath!

He looked up toward the restaurant and asked, "Tell me what happened just now. I need every detail."

Ordinarily, with Lin Ke's temperament, he would never meddle in something like this. In his previous life, even helping an elderly person up could get you extorted.

But this concerned the system's choices and the coordination contest, so Lin Ke had no alternative.

I'll do what I can!

The restaurant worker seemed not to have heard his question and continued muttering, "I didn't mean to, I didn't..."

Seeing him like this, Lin Ke raised his hand and slapped him.

Smack!

The restaurant worker felt a sharp pain in his face. He covered his cheek with one hand, clarity instantly returning to his eyes.

"Your boss isn't completely dead yet. He can still be saved, but you have to tell me everything that happened if I'm going to save him." Lin Ke frowned.

At Lin Ke's words, the worker immediately perked up and grabbed his shoulders. "You really can save him? I'll tell you, I'll tell you."

The worker composed himself and began slowly. "I've worked here for years. I was already following the boss when he first came to Chaoyang Street."

But when he saw Lin Ke's impatient expression, he quickly changed tack. "After I slipped him the medicine, it took effect right away. He hadn't even swallowed all the food in his mouth. He ran off, eating and cursing me at the same time. Then I quietly followed him and found him collapsed, and then..."

Lin Ke's narrowed eyes relaxed. He had thought it didn't look like poisoning.

He walked around to the owner's head and snapped at the worker, who was still sitting on the ground, "Come give me a hand..."

"Oh, right, right!" The worker seemed to understand at once.

Under Lin Ke's astonished gaze, he walked over to the owner's feet, lifted one in each hand, and looked at Lin Ke gratefully. "Where do we bury him?"

Lin Ke didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Apparently, the worker thought he was offering to help dispose of the body.

"Come over here and help me get him upright. Make him stand!"

Lin Ke explained what the worker needed to do.

With the worker's help, he lifted the restaurant owner upright, then wrapped both arms around his waist, just managing to clasp his hands together.

Lin Ke breathed a small sigh of relief, then pulled inward hard, relaxed, and tightened again... repeating the motion.

The owner let out a retching sound, but Lin Ke didn't stop. He shifted his arms a little higher and thrust again...

Only when he heard a foreign object hit the ground, accompanied by heavy breathing, did Lin Ke stop.

He lowered the owner into a sitting position on the ground, had the worker support him so he wouldn't fall over, and gently patted his back...

Yes, Lin Ke had employed twenty-first-century science-the Heimlich maneuver.

In truth, Lin Ke had never used it before. He had merely come across it in videos and vaguely remembered a few key phrases.

A blue-purple face, abdominal thrusts, expelling the obstruction. Those were the only three phrases.

Yes, even Lin Ke himself hadn't expected this.

Recognizing that the restaurant owner wasn't poisoned had been a matter of common sense.

Whether someone had been poisoned or suffered a heavy blow, there would normally be some bloodshot redness, and their face shouldn't turn blue-purple. A blue-purple face was more often associated with suffocation...

Seeing the color slowly return to his face, Lin Ke stopped and waited patiently for the owner of the Tongfu Grand Restaurant to wake.

He still had his third choice to make, after all!

Once the man woke, wouldn't taking advantage of this opportunity make success as certain as having nine chances out of ten...?

Sure enough!

A short while later, the owner's breathing had steadied and his complexion had returned to normal, yet he still refused to wake...

Lin Ke was puzzled, too, but then he caught a foul smell and looked at the owner's tightly shut eyelids, which were trembling slightly.

With a faint smile, Lin Ke understood.

Then he turned to the worker. "Go get some water. Your boss will wake up any moment."

Delighted, the worker nodded and went to fetch water.

Once the young man was far enough away, Lin Ke slowly headed back to the dining hall, speaking as he walked. His voice wasn't loud, but anyone in the courtyard would certainly hear him clearly.

He said, "Boss, I've sent your worker away. I'll wait for you in the dining hall."

The instant Lin Ke entered the hall, the restaurant owner lying flat on the ground suddenly opened his eyes and struggled to sit up.

He kept coughing as he sat, his eyes glinting as he watched the doorway through which Lin Ke had disappeared.

A quarter of an hour later, the restaurant owner emerged slowly from the rear courtyard in a clean set of clothes.

The moment he spotted his worker, his expression changed abruptly, and he lunged at him, knocking him down.

Pinning the worker beneath him, the owner threw a right straight, then a left hook...

"Aah! Boss, I was wrong! Not the face... Aah! That hurts! Go easy..."

"Aah! It hurts! It hurts!"

"Go easy!"

The worker's cries continued without pause while Lin Ke sat to one side, smiling and drinking milk.

He had noticed that although the young worker was crying out, he was perfectly fine. The owner didn't seem to be putting much force into his blows.

It was just that their position was rather hard on the eyes...

Seriously, I'm so handsome and adorable, and nobody's giving me votes? Please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes, aaah _(•̀ω•́"∠)_