Chapter 20 Pure Money Relationship

This hot pot meal ended up costing Li Jing more than 500 yuan.

Given the cost of living in Jianghai, it was pretty standard.

Neither too expensive nor too cheap.

After having their fill, Li Jing escorted Liu Sisi back to her apartment.

Having said goodbye to Liu Sisi and left the residential complex, Li Jing glanced in the direction of the hotpot restaurant before heading home.

He had no intentions of making contact with the proprietress of the hot pot restaurant.

Nor did he plan to expose her.

He was Li Jing.

Not some monk who is keen on fighting and killing at the first sight of the non-human.

The world’s tolerance for monsters is quite low.

But to be honest, life isn’t easy for monsters either.

They can be said to be living in the crevices of the human world, unsure of their survival from day to day.

Li Jing was no Mother Teresa.

However, in his view, if a person runs a hot pot restaurant peacefully without harming others or breaking the law, he can’t ruin their peaceful life just because he can see through their disguise.

People can be good or evil.

Why wouldn’t the same be true for highly intelligent, human-shaped demons?

Many evils are forced out of necessity.

At least from Li Jing’s perspective, the proprietress of the hot pot restaurant was harmless. She always played the role of a glamorous "billboard lady", sitting at the counter, engrossed in a mobile game called Xian Wang Glory.

When she occasionally spoke to her employees and customers, she was always polite.

...

It was nearly three in the afternoon.

Li Jing returned to the Closed Moon Flower Garden.

As soon as he opened the villa door, he saw Stinky Tofu tied up, its mouth covered with a roll of tape, lying in the living room.

Caught off guard by such a comical sight, Li Jing’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Sensing someone had entered, Stinky Tofu looked up.

Seeing Li Jing had returned, its expressive eyes quickly welled up with tears.

It looked as wronged as one could possibly be.

Seeing this, Li Jing smirked and looked upstairs, ignoring the wronged Stinky Tofu, and went straight to his room.

After all, he had to work that night.

Considering it was almost three o’clock, he needed to rest up properly.

Having spiritual power, his body was not easily fatigued.

He could go days and nights without sleep - that was not an issue.

But not closing his eyes for a long time would inevitably cause his spirits to wane.

As for Stinky Tofu’s situation.

Li Jing guessed that it must have disturbed Chen Yuran’s sleep.

This was something he didn’t care to get involved with, nor had the energy to deal with.

In truth.

Stinky Tofu was a three realm spiritual beast.

Ordinary ropes and tape couldn’t possibly restrain it, could they?

The reason it was lying there like a dead fish now was that it was being submissive and did not dare to struggle free from the bonds that Chen Yuran had left on it.

...

In the blink of an eye.

It was eight o’clock in the evening.

Having caught up on his sleep, Li Jing naturally woke up and got out of bed.

As he exited the room.

Stinky Tofu was still tied up in the living room, with Chen Yuran nowhere to be seen.

But the lights on the first floor were on, indicating that she had already gotten up.

Glimpsing the look of distress in the dog’s eyes, as if questioning why he didn’t come to its rescue, Li Jing looked upstairs.

Coincidentally.

As he looked up, Chen Yuran, in her cartoon pajamas and sleepy eyes, was coming down the stairs.

Caught off guard by making eye contact with Li Jing, Chen Yuran halted, instinctively wanting to retreat back but feeling it would be inappropriate, she straightened out her messy hair instead.

"When did you get back?"

"In the afternoon."

Li Jing replied, pretending not to notice her unkempt appearance.

"Did you just wake up?"

"Mmm."

Chen Yuran nodded.

Seeing that Li Jing didn’t mind her disheveled appearance, she visibly relaxed.

Living under the same roof presented its challenges in this regard.

But since Li Jing didn’t care, she figured there was no need for her to either.

Settling on the sofa, Chen Yuran gave a light sigh.

"I have to get ready and go to work again."

"I have work soon, too."

Whilst answering, Li Jing added.

"Today I passed the examination for the Assistant Inspector Department and got assigned to the Patrol Team."

"Assistant Inspector Department?"

Chen Yuran was startled.

"Why did you suddenly decide to take the examination for the Assistant Inspector Department?"

"Now that I’ve somewhat settled down here in Jianghai, don’t you think I should have a proper job?"

Li Jing countered.

"Well..."

Chen Yuran blinked, found no flaws in his argument, and shrugged.

"That’s true, you should find a decent job. Having the cultivation level of the Second Realm and killing chickens at the Chicken Shop is not only a waste of talent, but also it’s not something you’ll rise above. Men should have some ambition after all."

She said this with great interest.

"The timing you’ve chosen is splendid, the Patrol Group of the Assistant Inspector Department is a special formation that was established only yesterday, having the authority for Sky Control within the city. But what about the Chicken Shop where you’re working?"

Before Li Jing could answer, she did a knowing look.

"The boss of the Chicken Shop took you in back then, regardless she has been quite kind to you. I noticed the other night she seemed quite close to you, you wouldn’t abandon her, would you?"

"I’ll still visit sister Sisi at the Chicken Shop." Li Jing obliged.

"The Chicken Shop needs a renovation and won’t be open for a while. I’ll make adjustments after it resumes business."

After finishing, Li Jing added.

"The relationship between me and sister Sisi is not what you think, don’t spread rumors."

"Tsk! I was just making a casual comment, why are you taking it so seriously?"

Chen Yuran smacked her lips.

"If you were really involved with the boss of the Chicken Shop, you wouldn’t need to be looking for a place to stay, right?"

As she said this, she took out her phone and fiddled with it for a moment.

At the same time, Li Jing felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Unintentionally pulling out his phone, Li Jing discovered that Chen Yuran had sent him a red packet.

Upon opening it, he saw it was for a hundred yuan and looked at her quizzically.

Before he could ask, Chen Yuran winked at him.

"I’m hungry, order something."

"..."

Li Jing.

When he had visited the villa the previous day, he felt that Chen Yuran was not as stern in private.

However, due to the frequent occurrences of monster transformations in the North City area, Chen Yuran, being an on-duty patrolman, had to work overtime. This left little time for the two to interact.

However, the fact that she had sent a "red packet" to order food had left Li Jing a little bewildered.

This sister, does she have to be so matter-of-fact?

Looking at the hundred yuan that had been transferred, Li Jing asked her with a sense of both laughter and tears.

"What do you fancy?"

"Let’s do fried noodles. I need to take over a shift at nine and can’t wait too long."

Chen Yuran chuckled.

"Alright, wait a bit, it will be ready soon."

Upon saying this, Li Jing headed for the kitchen.

A hundred yuan was no big deal.

But making a whopping hundred yuan for a dish of fried noodles was definitely making a killing.

Li Jing did not dislike this type of pure money relationship.

Mainly, it was because he was poor.

Having such a straightforward and wealthy young woman by his side, how could he not seize the opportunity well?

...

Night was falling gradually.

After Chen Yuran had eaten her fried noodles and left, Li Jing started to think it was time for him to leave as well.

As he was about to leave, he let the Stinky Tofu get out.

It couldn’t be helped.

Who knows how the Stinky Tofu made a mess during the day, but Chen Yuran never had an intention of releasing it.

Poor dummy, such a pitiful existence.

Probably around five minutes before ten, Li Jing arrived at the open space behind the courtyard of the Assistant Inspector Department.

At this time, the others had already arrived.

On their first day at work, they showed no sign of slacking off.

What was a bit tricky for Li Jing was that Yi Xiuzhu and Lu Yangcheng, although standing together, seemed as if they were absolute strangers to each other, standing there without any interaction.

When Yi Xiuzhu saw Li Jing arrive, he nodded as a sign.

Lu Yangcheng, in contrast, greeted enthusiastically.

"Immortal King, you’re finally here, we’ve been waiting for you for a while."

Just as Li Jing was about to respond, Kong Wu descended onto the training ground from above.

Seeing that all nine people had arrived, he waved his hand and took out more than ten standard knives and swords.

"Everyone is here, let’s get straight to the point. The standard weapons for the Assistant Inspector Department include knives and swords. Choose one according to your preference."

With that, he looked at Yi Xiuzhu.

"Yi Xiuzhu, you have a finished flying sword, but it would be better to choose a standard weapon. During duty hours, unless necessary, it is best not to use ’personal weapons’, it doesn’t set a good example."

"Understood."

Yi Xiuzhu responded, stepping forward to pick a standard long sword.

With that, the rest of the people each selected a standard weapon for the Assistant Inspector Department according to their preferences.

Li Jing chose a knife.

The sword, known as the King’s weapon, is very cool to wield. The problem is, he doesn’t know how to use it.

The Assistant Inspector Department’s standard weaponry is not Precious Items tier, they are just Mortal Tools, remarkably sturdy with the ability to hold Spiritual Power and they can’t be controlled by magic.

They are merely weapons to brandish in hand.

For Li Jing, a knife definitely beats a sword.

Using a sword requires techniques and routines, while a knife does not.

Even if you don’t know how to handle a knife, you can still chop vegetables with it.

As soon as the standard steel knife was in his hand, Li Jing wanted to examine it, but suddenly a cue sound rang in his ear.

"Mortal Tool level Assistant Inspector Department standard steel knife detected, can be registered as exclusive equipment, proceed with registration?"

"Note: Once equipment is registered, it can be retrieved internally at any time. During this period, the relevant item will continue to be nourished by spiritual power, improving its toughness, strength, quality, and efficiency depends on the intensity of spiritual power."