Chapter 157: Bai Mengmeng's Request

Inside the refining room.

Li Luo held Bai Mengmeng's small hand, and the two stared at each other for a long while before he finally spoke: "This thing can make you feel a bitter taste?"

Bai Mengmeng nodded vigorously, her large eyes shining as she looked at Li Luo.

Although the taste was simply unbearable to Li Luo, to Bai Mengmeng, who had not tasted anything for many years, it was like a peerless delicacy.

If not for Li Luo stopping her, and the fact that it was truly unladylike, she would have even wanted to lick the tabletop!

"Calm down, control yourself!" Seeing the look in her eyes, Li Luo hurriedly reminded her.

He then scanned the surroundings, spotted a plate of fruit on a nearby table, took it, and handed it to Bai Mengmeng: "Try this."

Bai Mengmeng took it, bit into it full of anticipation, and then shook her head sadly: "No taste."

Li Luo scratched his head. It seemed that the thing he had accidentally concocted only allowed Bai Mengmeng to briefly sense bitterness, but it had not cured her strange "loss of taste" ailment.

"Then this thing is useless." Li Luo was a bit disappointed. He had thought he was truly amazing, that something he had tossed together could actually resolve Bai Mengmeng's "loss of taste."

"No, Captain, this is still very useful!"

Bai Mengmeng became excited. She looked at Li Luo with teary eyes and said, "If you can make me temporarily feel bitterness, you might be able to make me have other senses of taste. There must be something in this failed product you refined that can stimulate my sense of taste!"

"If, if we can find it, it might actually be possible to cure me!"

"Captain, Captain, please, help me!"

Bai Mengmeng grabbed Li Luo's clothes, casting aside even her usual shyness, her voice urgent.

Seeing Bai Mengmeng, who was practically hanging off him, Li Luo felt a bit awkward. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the door to the refining room suddenly pushed open, shadows flickered, and Xin Fu's face poked in from the doorway.

Then, he saw the two of them almost huddled together inside the refining room.

The atmosphere was silent for several seconds.

"Sorry, I heard voices just now, so I came to check, but I didn't see anything. You two continue," Xin Fu said in a low voice, then slammed the door shut and hurriedly locked it.

He leaned against the door, patted his chest, and muttered, "They wouldn't want to kill me to silence me, would they?"

"Captain is amazing. How long has it been, and he's already conquered Bai Mengmeng?"

"But does Senior Jiang know about this? Or is this something Senior Jiang allows? Has the Captain already handled Senior Jiang?"

"Damn, impressive. Truly a role model for our generation."

Xin Fu sighed continuously, shook his head, and left, while also thoughtfully locking the main door for the two of them.

"Did that guy misunderstand something?"

Li Luo looked at the tightly closed door and couldn't help but say this. The way Xin Fu had looked at him just now was as if he were looking at a beast, which made him very annoyed.

Bai Mengmeng, however, had no mind to pay attention to these things and pleaded, "Captain, I beg you!"

Li Luo forcibly pushed Bai Mengmeng away, helplessly straightened his clothes, and said, "It's not that I don't want to help you, but I don't even know how this thing was refined myself. How could I possibly cure you?"

Bai Mengmeng said, "Although it was an accident, there must be a trail to follow. As long as we try bit by bit, there will always be a possibility of success!"

Li Luo felt a headache coming on. What a massive workload such an attempt would be!

"Captain, as long as you help me solve the 'loss of taste' problem, I, I will sell myself to you for four years!" Bai Mengmeng knew her request was overly unreasonable, and in her anxiety, she spoke without thinking.

Li Luo was shocked and looked at Bai Mengmeng in horror.

Bai Mengmeng finally came to her senses, her small face flushing red as she said, "No, no, what I mean is, I mean the spirit liquid and light formulas I research over these four years will all be yours! Captain, I can tell you have quite an interest in spirit liquid and light formulas!"

Li Luo finally breathed a sigh of relief, but then his heart rate accelerated because of Bai Mengmeng's words, as this hit his weak spot directly. This girl must have seen through his intentions just now; it seemed she wasn't stupid after all.

With Bai Mengmeng's special research methods, the results over four years would absolutely be a massive fortune, its value perhaps even exceeding the entire Xiyang House.

Li Luo was silent for a few moments, then smiled bitterly: "You silly girl, don't you realize your own value?"

Bai Mengmeng's eyes were full of clarity, and she said earnestly, "I know, but... I really want to know what sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy feel like. I don't want to eat food every day as if I were chewing wax. Captain, you haven't lost your sense of taste, so you don't understand why, even though it is a bitter taste that is hard to swallow in your mouth, I find it so sweet and am overjoyed."

Li Luo looked at Bai Mengmeng's longing eyes, and for a moment, his emotions were complex. So she knew everything, but just as she said, those who haven't personally experienced this feeling cannot understand her longing.

"Mengmeng, I do indeed need high-star spirit liquid and light formulas right now. The conditions you mentioned are simply hard for me to refuse."

Li Luo's expression also became serious, and he said, "However, you don't need to really 'sell yourself' for four years. I, Li Luo, am not greedy enough to have no bottom line."

"I can try my best to see if I can help you recover your sense of taste, and if I truly succeed, I only hope that if you research high-star spirit liquid and light formulas, you can sell them to me first."

"Regarding the value, I will pay according to the market price, but there is a premise: because of the situation of the Luolan Mansion, I cannot give that much all at once, so I might compensate you with a certain percentage of the annual sales of such spirit liquid and light. I think from a long-term perspective, what you receive will not be lower than the value of a direct sale."

"Really? Captain, are you really willing to help me?" Bai Mengmeng's small face was full of excitement and joy.

Li Luo said helplessly, "You don't seem to have paid attention to the conditions I stated."

"Okay, okay, Captain, whatever you say, I will follow!" Bai Mengmeng hurriedly replied.

Li Luo was speechless, but knowing Bai Mengmeng was excited, he didn't continue to talk to her about this, but instead said, "Since that's the case, let's analyze this defective product together first, and try our best to figure out what materials and changes are inside."

After saying this, he collected some of the dark green liquid from the tabletop, and the two huddled together, starting to study it bit by bit.

Several hours passed in this research without them realizing it.

But in the end, the two only identified a portion of the materials. To be honest, these materials were not rare, nor did they have any strange properties, so neither of them understood for a moment why their combination would stimulate Bai Mengmeng's sense of taste.

"Let's stop here for today and continue the research later," Li Luo said.

Bai Mengmeng's eyes were also a bit weary. Although she could have continued, she didn't want to keep Li Luo with her, so she had to nod.

Creak.

At this moment, the refining room door was pushed open again, and Instructor Xi Chan walked in. She stared at the two of them suspiciously and said, "Are you planning to spend the night here?"

She raised the chain in her hand: "The door is closed so tightly? What is it you want to do?"

Bai Mengmeng's small face turned red, and she ran away shyly with her head down.

Li Luo cursed, "It must be Xin Fu's doing!"

He said to Instructor Xi Chan with a straight face, "Teacher, we are innocent!"

Instructor Xi Chan leaned against the door, her eyes staring at Li Luo with a half-smile, and said, "Li Luo, are you even using a 'honey trap' now? I really underestimated you."

Li Luo glared, letting out a roar of indignation.

"I really am innocent!"