The atmosphere in the air suddenly turned cold. Under Gu Lian’s gaze, the Masked Man gave an awkward laugh.
He could clearly sense the resentment emanating from her. As a member of the Solar Eclipse Organization and someone with some ability, he could naturally perceive that from the moment he uttered the word “invitation,” the resentment on her part became very heavy.
Was it because he said to let her join Eclipse… oh no, it should be joining the Black Market, that she generated resentment at that time?
“If you don’t speak, I’ll leave.”
In the gradually quieting atmosphere, Gu Lian, sitting on the sofa, narrowed her eyes. After waiting a moment, she directly picked up her backpack, casually swiped the bank card off the table, and didn’t even want to look at the Masked Man again.
“The Black Market is just a branch under us. Please understand, Eclipse is also a continental organization, and the Black Markets in various places all have people responsible for operations. Our staff can’t handle everything.”
The Masked Man also stood up, the smile gone from his face. He had already formed some conjectures in his mind.
Gu Lian needed a legal identity certificate, but the person she intended to apply for wasn’t herself. This indicated that she must be an unregistered person. It wasn’t a big deal.
However, combined with her agile skills and resentment toward the Black Market, this was worth investigating.
Could it be that Gu Lian’s parents used to hang around the Black Market, but one day one of them or both died in an accident? And those who hang around the Black Market for a long time are basically not clean.
So having one or two unregistered children was also normal.
Up to now, although Shenzhou is relatively tolerant of unregistered people, the quotas for legal identities are ultimately limited, and the process is cumbersome. Gu Lian, who was taught a large amount of combat skills, for the sake of her younger siblings, had to come to the Black Market to get a legal identity?
Tap-tap, tap-tap~
The sound of footsteps faded away. Gu Lian’s figure gradually disappeared into the darkness. The Masked Man, still thinking, sat back down on the sofa. From beginning to end, he had never intended to let her join Eclipse today, but…
Noticing the files on his table had disappeared along with the bank card, the Masked Man leaned back on the sofa, a hint of laughter in his eyes.
“What are you laughing at? Are you ready to be scolded when you go back?”
“Aiya, there’s plenty of time. We’re not short on time, and this girl is not ordinary. She’s very strong.”
The Masked Man pulled out a bottle of liquor from under the table and tossed it behind him. From just a moment ago, a woman with crisscrossing scars covering her arms had been standing behind the Masked Man.
“Very strong? Roughly what level?”
After the woman caught the bottle, she used her teeth to bite open the cap and, with the air of a tomboy, began chugging beer in gulps.
“Not sure, but she should be at the level of a Level 3 Hunter.”
Pfft!
Hearing this, the woman couldn’t hold it in and immediately sprayed the liquor from her mouth. The Masked Man, who happened to be facing away from her, got sprayed all over his face.
“?”
The Masked Man took off his mask, revealing a resolute, chiseled face. His black crew cut was matted together by the liquor. With a somewhat dazed look, he stared at the Scarred Woman, as if saying, “What the hell are you doing?”
Liquor spilled from the bottle’s mouth. The yellow-amber beer dripped down from the woman’s collar. The white shirt, once wet, clung tightly to her skin, but she paid no attention to her current embarrassing situation.
“Cough cough cough… Level 3? Are you fucking kidding me?”
After a series of dry coughs, the Scarred Woman wiped away the remaining liquor. If it was a Level 3 Hunter, one could beat both her and the Masked Man to the ground.
“No mistake.”
The Masked Man glanced at the Scarred Woman, pulled out tissues from his pocket, and wiped the liquor off his body. This woman was really troublesome, always startled by everything.
“Fucking hell. In this day and age, can you even let people live?”
The Scarred Woman walked over to where Gu Lian had been sitting and sat down. Feeling extremely unbalanced in her heart, she raised her hand and picked up the wine bottle.
“And according to that idiot’s intel, she once should have solo-killed a beast-type Weiyi, at minimum a C-grade snake-type Weiyi.”
Pffft~
The Scarred Woman, who had just taken a swig of liquor, couldn’t hold it in again. Liquor sprayed from her mouth again, mixing with saliva and spraying onto the Masked Man’s face.
“…”
The Masked Man’s eye twitched. He pulled out a metal baseball bat from under the desk.
As if sensing danger, the Scarred Woman threw away the bottle in her hand and waved her hands at the Masked Man repeatedly, saying, “You need to calm down. I wasn’t on purpose this time?”
“Not on purpose?”
Weighing the weight of the metal baseball bat, the Masked Man nodded thoughtfully and said, “That’s true. You really weren’t on purpose.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Just wash it when we get back. It’s not a big deal.”
The Scarred Woman nodded repeatedly. No choice, the other party was stronger. The bat in his hand was just too intimidating.
Taking advantage of the Scarred Woman not paying attention, the Masked Man suddenly swung the metal bat: “Big deal my head! You’re not awake yet! Take this!”
“Damn it, you bastard! You’re not playing fair!”
Bam—Bam—
The door to Xiong Daye’s house was pushed open. The aroma of food wafted out. Some of the irritation on Gu Lian’s face dissipated. There was no need to bring the bad mood from outside into the place she lived.
After entering the front door, Gu Lian turned right and exited the entranceway. At that moment, Yi Yi was sitting at the dining table, eating voraciously. Xiong Daye was smiling and constantly adding dishes to Yi Yi’s bowl.
“Back? How did the busy work go?”
Noticing Gu Lian’s return, Xiong Daye looked up, smiled at her, and waved the hand holding a piece of braised pork belly, signaling her to sit down quickly and eat.
“Oh, coming.”
She flung her backpack onto the sofa. Gu Lian pulled over a chair and sat at the dining table. Today’s dishes were fairly standard home-style cooking.
Oily glazed braised pork belly, crispy-skinned roasted fish sprinkled with scallions and chopped chili, steaming hot tofu soup, stir-fried dried tofu, and a plate of peanuts coated in a layer of sugar.
Om nom~
Yi Yi’s cheeks were bulging, but her restless hand had already grabbed a piece of braised pork belly. She really did grab it with her hand and stuffed the meat into her mouth, completely lacking any lady-like demeanor.
“Hey, don’t grab food with your hands…”
Xiong Daye took a tissue from the box on his left and wiped the grease off Yi Yi’s hand, saying helplessly, “Even if you don’t use chopsticks, you should use a spoon.”
“Alright, then I’ll start eating too!”
Looking at these five dishes that looked delicious, Gu Lian rubbed her hands together, brought over the rice cooker, and scooped a few spoonfuls of rice into the empty bowl in front of her.
She used a spoon to ladle the oily gravy from under the braised pork belly and poured it over the rice. The red meat juice seeped into the plump grains of rice, emitting an enticing aroma.
Gu Lian lifted the rice bowl, picked up chopsticks with her right hand, and shoveled the rice into her mouth. The flavorful rice paired with the meat juice of the braised pork gravy was rich in taste. At the same time, a strong meaty fragrance spread in her mouth. She couldn’t stop shoveling it in.
“This is the taste of home…”
Gu Lian closed her eyes, savoring the taste buds in her mouth. The meat aroma and the sweet rice perfectly blended together. The deliciousness quietly disappeared in her mouth, making her unable to resist picking up two pieces of braised pork belly and putting them in.
The thick skin, which looked very oily, was like butter in the mouth. The soft, braised pork belly entered the mouth, the skin seemed to melt away, leaving only the very firm meat. The teeth couldn’t help but chew, and the tender meat separated into threads, with the hidden meat juice exploding on the tip of the tongue.
After one bowl of rice and two pieces of braised pork belly, Gu Lian let out a puff of hot air. Finally, she had eaten something hot. Indeed, food from outside can’t compare to home cooking.
She had originally wanted to take another piece, but when she saw Yi Yi wolfing down food, the speed at which she grabbed meat with her hands was ridiculously fast.
Gu Lian’s mouth twitched. She silently scooped another bowl of rice and started devouring.
“Lian, have you taught Yi Yi how to use chopsticks?”
“I don’t think so.”
Xiong Daye’s eyebrows were twitching at an extremely fast frequency. He looked at Yi Yi, who was grabbing meat with her hands, and then at Gu Lian, who was using chopsticks but whose eating habits were not much better.
Xiong Daye sighed helplessly. “By the way, what did you used to eat before?”
“Wild fruits, wild vegetables. If we wanted meat, we’d go catch fish in the river.”
“…..”
Xiong Daye suddenly understood a bit why these two kids’ eating habits were so… ferociously hungry.
Bowl after bowl. The old man’s expression first changed from bewildered to surprised, then to shocked, and finally, watching their undiminished eating speed, he became completely numb.
He had just witnessed with his own eyes a petite girl not exceeding about 1.65 meters eating a full 8 bowls of rice. Now she was starting the ninth bowl, and most importantly, the bowl Gu Lian was holding was a large-sized ramen bowl.
Gu Lian lifted the rice bowl and put the last mouthful of rice mixed with meat juice into her mouth. She chewed it happily for a few times. As she reached out to pick up another piece of braised pork belly, she noticed that the small half-basin of meat was already empty.
She turned her head to look at Yi Yi’s direction. At that moment, Yi Yi was leaning back in a chair, exhaling hot air. Her greasy little hands were patting her slightly bulging belly.
Burp~
Letting out a burp, Gu Lian also imitated Yi Yi and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her belly that showed no change. The fatigue from the previous mission to the Mountain Kingdom seemed to be completely swept away.
The dining table was a mess. Xiong Daye scratched his graying hair, a look of bewilderment on his face. He couldn’t understand how many meals they must have missed to eat like this.
Could it really be that they never ate in their past lives?