173: Chapter 173 Old Master Mo with a Secret
When Lin Fan arrived home, Old Mo was busy in the kitchen, wearing an apron.
Soup was simmering on the stove, bubbling with rising steam, filling the entire house with the aroma of food.
He heard the door open but didn't look back.
"Back? Wash your hands, dinner's almost ready."
Lin Fan changed his shoes, put his backpack on the table, took out the grayish-white egg from inside, and placed it gently on the tabletop.
He rested his chin on his hand, staring at the egg in a daze.
Old Mo came out of the kitchen carrying a dish, and when he saw the egg on the table, his brow furrowed slightly.
He set the dish down, took off his gloves, pulled out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from his pocket, slowly put them on, and leaned in to take a look.
"Oh, a Hybrid. Too bad the life force is a bit weak; it'll be hard for it to survive. Where'd you get this?"
His tone was casual, as if he were talking about whether the fish at today's market was fresh.
Lin Fan's finger paused slightly. A Hybrid?
He saw it at a single glance?
When he returned from school, he had even made a stop at the association.
When President Ye Wenyuan got this egg, he only said, "The appearance isn't great, but it is indeed king spirit rank."
Yet Old Mo had only taken one look and said the words "Hybrid."
Lin Fan remained calm, looking up at Old Mo and testing him.
"Old Mo, do you know how to save it?"
Old Mo picked up the egg, turned it over in his hands, leaned in to look at the cracks on the shell, and gave it a sniff.
"This looks like a Bloodline conflict. The parents' attributes were too different—one domineering, one gentle—and neither would yield. The embryo is caught in the middle and can't handle it."
He put the egg back on the table, patted the dust off his hands, and said offhandedly.
"You could try using Life Dew and Yin and Yang Flowers, combined with alternating nourishment from dark-attribute and poison-attribute Qi, to let the two attributes reach a balance inside the egg. It won't be a permanent cure, but it can at least save its life."
Lin Fan's heartbeat accelerated slightly.
Life Dew, Yin and Yang Flowers, and alternating dark and poison-attribute Qi nourishment—this was exactly the same as the second treatment method given by the ten thousand armor beast record.
Not just similar, but identical.
Even a Breeder Grandmaster like President Ye Wenyuan couldn't see the problem, yet Old Mo saw it with one glance. Not only did he identify the Bloodline conflict, but he also provided a treatment plan.
How could a retired old Armor Master have such eyesight?
Lin Fan watched Old Mo as he turned back toward the kitchen, taking off his glasses and putting them in his pocket as he walked, muttering.
"Dinner's ready, eat up. It won't taste good once it's cold."
Lin Fan picked up his rice bowl, took a mouthful of food, and chewed slowly.
Old Mo sat opposite him and also picked up his bowl to eat.
Neither of them mentioned the egg again.
After a few bites, Lin Fan spoke as if casually.
"Not bad, Old Mo. Something even my Master couldn't see, you saw in one glance. Your eyesight is even better than those Breeders at the association."
Old Mo's chopsticks paused slightly before quickly returning to normal.
He stuffed a piece of rib into his mouth, chewed twice, and said unclearly.
"I've been repairing Armor Beasts for so many years, what strange ailments haven't I seen? I've at least got this much eyesight."
He didn't look at Lin Fan when he spoke, his eyes fixed on the rice in his bowl. His tone carried a hint of impatience, as if he didn't want to dwell on the topic.
Lin Fan gave an "oh" and didn't press further.
He lowered his head to shovel some rice, then looked up again, smiling at Old Mo.
"Old Mo, where did you pick me up back then?"
Old Mo's hand didn't stop as he shoveled rice, saying casually, "The junkyard."
Lin Fan's lip twitched. "The junkyard? Couldn't you make up something better? Like by a flower bed, by a river, under the moonlight..."
Old Mo looked up at him.
"You were wrapped in a rag and thrown in an alley next to the west city junkyard. If I hadn't gone there looking for usable scrap metal, you'd have been carried off by wild dogs by now."
Lin Fan choked for a second, then picked up his soup bowl and took a sip to calm his nerves.
"Then why didn't you let me take your surname? Mo Fan sounds pretty cool too."
Lin Fan said jokingly, his tone carrying a bit of teasing.
Old Mo was drinking soup, and upon hearing this, he slammed the bowl down on the table with a loud 'thud'.
He looked up, his expression suddenly becoming serious, even carrying a hint of anger, and his voice rose significantly.
"Nonsense! Your name was written on the note found on you when you were picked up. How could it be changed on a whim! How could the name your mo... parents gave you be changed so casually!"
Lin Fan was stunned.
He had never seen Old Mo like this.
This old man, who was usually casual and full of nonsense, had an expression on his face that, besides anger, held something undefinable.
It was like anger, yet with a trace of inexplicable bitterness.
Lin Fan was silent for a moment and didn't press further. He just smiled, his tone light as if coaxing a child.
"Fine, fine, fine. I won't change it. Mo Fan doesn't sound as good as Lin Fan anyway; my biological parents were more cultured after all."
Old Mo looked at him, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just picked up his bowl, lowered his head to eat, and didn't speak again.
Lin Fan also picked up his bowl and continued eating.
He didn't test him anymore.
But he was certain now that both his own background and Old Mo himself had secrets.
If Old Mo didn't want to talk, he wouldn't ask.
He believed that no matter what Old Mo was hiding, the old man's feelings for him were real.
An old Armor Master who picked up an abandoned baby in a junkyard, raised him, paid for his schooling, and still couldn't bear to spend on himself even after Lin Fan started making money—this kindness was heavier than anything else.
After finishing the meal, Lin Fan cleared the table and took the dishes to the kitchen.
Old Mo sat in his chair, pulled out his gold-rimmed glasses, put them on, and picked up an old newspaper from the table, flipping through a couple of pages.
Lin Fan poked his head out from the kitchen and said with a grin, "Old Mo, these ribs were stewed well today, much better than last time."
Old Mo didn't even look up.
"That's because your old man's skills are great."
Lin Fan smiled and didn't reply.
He dried his hands, returned to his room, took the grayish-white egg out of his backpack, and placed it on the nightstand.
Xiao Zhuang was coiled slenderly next to the egg, his vertical pupils staring at it.
Tongtong landed on his shoulder, and the colored points of light she shed fell onto the eggshell.
Little Rabbit crouched on the other side of the egg, her hexagram eyes staring at it.
Xiao Kun poked his head out from the beast pouch, took a look at the egg, and then shrank back inside.
Lin Fan sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the egg and recalling what Old Mo had just said.
"Written on the note found on you."
A note?
He had never seen any note.
He didn't ask about it either.
Some things, when it's time to know, one will naturally find out.
Lin Fan lay back on the bed, looking at the ceiling with a trace of a smile on his lips.
"The junkyard... leave it to you to come up with that."
He closed his eyes and soon drifted into a dream.