25: Chapter 25 Ice Crack Pattern
Nighttime.
On a small square table, there were two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, steaming hot, along with two bowls of white rice that emitted the fragrance of rice. The light stretched their two slender figures.
"Hiss—"
Li Meng opened two bottles of cola, the pleasant sound of Bubbles vanishing in an instant. She placed one in front of Li Yu and said with a grin, "Celebrating Brother making big money! Cheers!"
Li Yu smiled as well, raising his cola to clink glasses.
"Cheers!"
After a few gulps of cola, Li Meng shivered comfortably, her face full of happy smiles.
Seeing this, Li Yu's eyes softened a bit more. He didn't really like carbonated drinks, but since his sister gave it to him, he had to finish it.
Both siblings loved carbonated drinks. Before their mother fell ill, Li Meng would drink one every two or three days, sometimes even secretly hiding a few bottles for Li Yu to take to school.
Since their mother fell ill, the family's money had to be prioritized for medical expenses, as well as their living expenses and tuition. For the past six months, his sister hadn't had any.
After drinking the cola and eating the food, a sudden "crackle" sound rang out. The siblings looked towards the source of the sound: the water tank.
His sister went over to look, her expression changing abruptly. She hurriedly shouted, "Brother! The Bubble Fish is broken! Its scales are cracked!"
Li Yu's heart stirred.
Its scales are cracked?
It hadn't even been 3 hours yet.
Inside the fish tank, the Bubble Fish was almost buried under the food, its eyes lifeless and dull, eating a pellet every few moments.
Its blue scales were bulging, with a small portion covered in cracks, as if it were about to burst at any moment.
It had to be said, this appearance did look quite ominous.
It was no wonder Li Meng was anxious.
But Li Yu was very calm, saying, "Don't worry, it's just overfed. The scales cracking isn't a bad thing."
"Oh, then I'll remove the food so it doesn't burst from overeating."
"No need, being overfed is exactly what I want."
"Huh?" Li Meng blinked, asking with a confused face, "Brother, what has Bubble been doing to you lately?"
Meanwhile.
Under the same bright moon, in a villa.
Wang Jianguo finished his day's work. As soon as he walked through the door, he smelled the aroma of food, and his originally stern face immediately relaxed.
"What delicious food are you making?" Wang Jianguo asked with a smile.
"Your precious daughter's Golden Horned Small Dragon has recovered, hasn't it? The family is just having a simple celebration," the beautiful woman in the room said.
A beautiful figure ran down the stairs, pouncing on Wang Jianguo and calling out, "Dad."
"Mengting, why are you so happy?"
"Hehe~ I'm happy to see Dad."
Wang Jianguo laughed heartily, as if all the day's troubles had dissipated.
"Alright, hurry up and eat, or the food will get cold."
During the meal.
"Jianguo, are you troubled by something lately?" the beautiful woman asked.
"That's right, Dad. You've been frowning a lot lately. You haven't even used the moisturizer I bought you," Wang Mengting also furrowed her brows.
At her feet, a dragon the size of an adult dog was munching on its food, its tail flicking back and forth, looking quite content.
The smile on Wang Jianguo's face faded, and he sighed, "The city's recent Breeder assessments haven't been satisfactory. We've caught quite a few people using connections, cheating, or buying breeding plans in advance. There are very few with real talent."
"I don't know what's wrong with the young people nowadays. They don't study properly in school, and once they enter society, they just think about getting a certificate as quickly as possible to make money. Breeding is related to the future of Beast Tamers; how can they be so careless!"
"A few days ago, at a provincial meeting, several people in charge, including myself, were criticized."
Speaking of this, he felt frustrated and picked up a bowl of soup, drinking it like liquor.
The mother and daughter looked at each other, not knowing how to comfort him.
"Jianguo, don't worry too much. The next Breeder assessment will be soon; maybe a good talent will emerge? Wouldn't it be great if someone could breed an A-rank Beast during the assessment?" the beautiful woman comforted.
Wang Jianguo said helplessly, "A-rank? I'd be lucky to even get a B-rank."
"Oh, then I'll prepare the incense for you in advance," the beautiful woman said with a giggle, covering her mouth.
Wang Jianguo ignored her teasing but suddenly thought of something.
"By the way, Mengting."
"Huh?"
"I received news that a Breeder from Bright Moon Company has accepted the breeding order for the Golden Horned Small Dragon. When are you free? I'll have them come over to perform the breeding."
Wang Mengting frowned slightly and shook her head, "No need, Dad. The Golden Horned Small Dragon has recovered now; it eats everything with gusto. It doesn't need breeding at all."
"Let's just have them take a look. Zhang Hai is an old acquaintance of mine. He said the last breeding wasn't thorough enough and asked the Breeder to come and consolidate the results for the Golden Horned Small Dragon. How about tomorrow?"
"Oh, there's no need. I'm going to the Huo Rong Mystic Realm tomorrow. I heard that top-quality fire spirit crystals have appeared inside, so I'm going to look for them."
"Alright then, I'll notify them when you have time."
After Wang Jianguo finished speaking, his daughter responded perfunctorily. He didn't pay it much mind, knowing his daughter didn't like being bothered.
...
The next day, early morning.
When Li Yu woke up, his sister had already gone to school.
She left a note on the table.
"Brother, there is soy milk and some steamed buns in the fridge. Remember to eat them before you leave."
There was a smiling emoji at the end.
Li Yu's lips curled up, a wave of warmth surging in his heart.
While heating up breakfast, he checked on the Bubble Fish again. Before he even got close, he heard a "crackling" sound, like popcorn.
He walked closer to take a look.
Whoa!
The Bubble Fish's entire body, from head to tail, was covered in ice crack patterns, as if it would shatter into pieces with a light touch.
Even like this, the Bubble Fish's two lifeless eyes were still fixed on the soaked food on the water's surface, counting the seconds, preparing to eat the next one.
"That's enough. I'll feed you more after you finish evolving."
He put the Bubble Fish away, finished the soy milk and steamed buns, and Li Yu went out to work.
...
Intern training room.
As soon as Li Yu arrived, the other Interns greeted him one after another with fawning attitudes, and several of them even brought breakfast for Li Yu.
However, they were all rejected by Li Yu.
"Brother Li, have a little more. This is a pastry from Taohua Village; I queued for a long time to buy it."
"And my soy milk, it's truly freshly ground, not the instant kind."
"Mine too..."
Li Yu frowned and rejected them one by one, but these people seemed unwilling to let go until they delivered their items, pestering him one after another.
Li Yu was extremely annoyed and was about to scold them when Supervisor Song arrived a step ahead.
"What are you all doing? So noisy."
Supervisor Song walked in with a stern face and his hands behind his back, his fat body carrying quite a bit of pressure.
Seeing a leader arrive, those Interns shrank back to their seats one by one.
Before being assigned to a specific department, they didn't dare to provoke any leader. If someone held a grudge and had you transferred or found ways to mess with you, you wouldn't even have a place to cry.
Supervisor Song scanned the crowd, then came to Li Yu, took out several bags of breakfast from behind his back.
"This is a fried dough stick, this is soy milk, and this one, Cantonese rice noodle rolls, I specifically asked for double eggs. Which one do you want to eat?" Supervisor Song was all smiles, a completely different person from his stern demeanor just a moment ago.
The group of breeding Interns looked at each other, not daring to speak, but the meaning in their eyes was roughly the same.
"How truly despicable!"