4: Can you afford to pay for it?

Checking the time, it was just past six, still early for work. Qiao Yu had intended to go downstairs for a run, but upon reaching the ground floor, he remembered that the area reserved for ordinary people didn't have any extra space for jogging.

After a brief calculation, Qiao Yu bought another two hundred catties of one-horned wild boar meat from the market. Due to the large quantity, he haggled the price down to 90 yuan per catty, spending a total of eighteen thousand yuan.

The balance on his card was running low.

Currently, it was popular among ordinary people to feed monster meat to their children. The rumor was that children raised on monster meat had a greater chance of becoming a Warrior in the future.

Therefore, vendors weren't worried about monster meat not selling, but Qiao Yu buying so much monster meat at once caused the stall owner and other shopping aunties to look at him sideways.

Since he already knew that the flesh and blood mycelium had a higher conversion rate for monster meat, he would just buy monster meat exclusively from now on.

He casually tossed the monster meat in the toilet, put the remaining flesh and blood mycelium in to cultivate, and let them reproduce on their own. Qiao Yu himself acted as a hands-off manager.

He didn't know how much flesh and blood mycelium the next Gene Optimization would consume, so preparing more was always better safe than sorry.

He checked the time again; it was almost seven o'clock.

Qiao Yu remembered that July 1st should be the date of the Warrior Hall Quasi-Warrior assessment, meaning Luo Feng could become a Quasi-Warrior today.

Even with the system's assistance, Qiao Yu wasn't sure if he could keep up with Luo Feng's pace.

He could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

Since he bought less meat last night, the flesh and blood mycelium only took an hour to cultivate.

Today, there were a full two hundred catties of monster meat, so he would let the fungal swarm develop slowly.

After doing a few more exercise sets, Qiao Yu went upstairs to wait for Luo Hongguo.

Although he used the Fungal System to reach the Intermediate Trainee level, the instruction for each stage was different.

To continue developing his potential, talent was one aspect, but the other required continuous hard work and practice.

He originally planned to return to the Warrior Hall for training starting today, but then he remembered there was an important event happening today, which he could use to boost his favorability rating.

After finishing the morning's work with Luo Hongguo, the company temporarily assigned them a job.

The job was to move furniture at the Tiandu Garden Residential Area. Qiao Yu overheard Luo Hongguo and three others discussing it.

"It's starting!"

Qiao Yu thought to himself.

This was the incident in the original work where Zhang Haobai made things difficult for Luo Hongguo and the other workers, further escalating the conflict between Luo Feng and the Zhang Family.

Qiao Yu, Luo Hongguo, and two other decoration company employees got into the vehicle. The solid wood furniture had already been loaded into the truck bed.

The truck slowly drove along the road. The originally narrow road gradually widened, and before long, they arrived at the Tiandu Garden Residential Area.

Looking at the Tiandu Garden Residential Area, which was almost identical to the high-end villa communities of his previous life, Qiao Yu continuously clicked his tongue in amazement.

Sure enough, rich people lived more comfortably than ordinary people, no matter the era.

The truck drove into the private courtyard of one of the townhouses.

"Hurry up! Move your stuff faster! So you can rest and eat, and we can rest and eat too!"

Zhang Haobai was dressed in his familiar white shirt and white pants, standing arrogantly at the main entrance of the villa. Even Qiao Yu, standing in the courtyard, could feel the slight coolness of the air conditioning inside the villa.

"Huh? Aren't you... that guy from Third High? The one who's pretty close with Luo Feng."

Ever since he was severely beaten by Luo Feng, Zhang Haobai had held a grudge and naturally kept a rough memory of those close to Luo Feng.

Although he wouldn't go out of his way to target Qiao Yu, Zhang Haobai didn't give him a pleasant look either.

"Xiao Yu, is that gentleman a classmate of yours and Luo Feng's?"

Luo Hongguo heard Zhang Haobai speaking to Qiao Yu and also heard his son's name, so he asked Qiao Yu curiously.

"Uh... sort of."

Qiao Yu rubbed his nose, his words sounding ambiguous.

Since Zhang Haobai was right in front of him, it wouldn't be good to publicly state that the other party had a conflict with Luo Feng.

"Poor people are just poor people. Doing this kind of manual labor, they're destined to be laborers their whole lives."

"If they had some fighting spirit, worked hard, and improved their strength, they could at least become a bodyguard, couldn't they? They deserve to live such a hard life!"

Zhang Haobai pointed at Qiao Yu and the three bodyguards behind him, laughing, and the three bodyguards flattered him in agreement.

Hearing Zhang Haobai mock Qiao Yu, veins popped up on Luo Hongguo's forehead. He wanted to step forward and argue, but Qiao Yu stopped him.

Qiao Yu shook his head and said to Luo Hongguo.

"Uncle Luo, let's just hurry up and finish the job. Don't cause any extra trouble."

Watching Qiao Yu restrain Luo Hongguo, Zhang Haobai felt even more delighted.

The thought of Luo Feng's friend being humiliated in front of him made him feel like all the face he had lost to Luo Feng had been recovered.

"Hey, hurry up and move it, and be careful! If you scratch anything, I'll complain to your company and make you pay for it!"

Zhang Haobai pointed at the wooden furniture on the truck, urging them on, while an idea flashed through his mind.

A few days ago, he created a crack in the marble pavement while sparring with his bodyguard. Since he wasn't attending school, his allowance was being spent quickly, so he needed an excuse to get some pocket money.

"Boss Zhang, these pieces of furniture weigh over a thousand catties. To prevent accidentally damaging other areas and causing you losses, we need to inspect the pavement and the inner rooms for any existing damage beforehand."

Qiao Yu addressed Zhang Haobai as Boss Zhang in his capacity as a worker, simultaneously nipping Zhang Haobai's potential excuse for trouble in the bud.

Luo Hongguo and the other two workers nodded in agreement. This procedure was standard practice for decoration companies to protect their own interests.

However, after working all morning, everyone was starving and eager to finish the job. They also figured that rich people who could afford townhouses wouldn't stoop to extorting money from poor people like them.

Seeing Qiao Yu follow such a formal procedure, Zhang Haobai's newly conceived plan was immediately thwarted. He frowned and said,

"Why are you still checking? What is my status, and what is yours? Would I really cause trouble for you?"

Qiao Yu didn't take Zhang Haobai's bait but immediately started inspecting the pavement.

"Boss Zhang, there is a crack in the marble pavement here. I ask everyone present to bear witness."

Luo Hongguo and the other two workers stepped forward one after another. After confirming it, Luo Hongguo took out his phone to take photos as evidence.

Qiao Yu then went inside to inspect the inner rooms, and only returned to the courtyard after confirming there were no issues.

Zhang Haobai watched Qiao Yu inspect everything bit by bit with a dark expression. Even though he truly intended to frame them, people with a guilty conscience tend to feel the most anger when their plans are foiled this way.

"Are you done checking? Hurry up and move it inside!"

Zhang Haobai's words were practically gritted out between his back teeth.

Qiao Yu, Luo Hongguo, and the others exchanged glances, confirmed everything was clear, nodded to each other, and began moving the furniture.

Just as the group was moving the third set of furniture, Luo Hongguo's phone ringtone sounded. Qiao Yu guessed it was Luo Feng calling to announce he had passed the Quasi-Warrior assessment.

After moving the third set of furniture, Qiao Yu and the three others stood outside resting. Luo Hongguo pulled out the phone from his pocket, preparing to call Luo Feng back.

Just then, Zhang Haobai was seen whispering something to the three bodyguards. After they finished, the four of them chuckled maliciously.

Suddenly, a bodyguard stepped forward and bumped into Luo Hongguo. The phone, which hadn't been dialed yet, fell to the ground and was 'accidentally' stepped on and crushed by the bodyguard.

"What are you doing?"

Luo Hongguo looked at the bodyguard, his tone full of displeasure.

Zhang Haobai also darted out at this moment, pointing at the crack in the marble pavement and saying,

"How did you handle things? You crushed my marble pavement! This is Nanshan Marble, and one piece costs over a hundred thousand! Can you afford to pay?"