11: Chapter 11 The Seen

A large group of people marched majestically to the entrance of Popeyes, each holding a piece of fried chicken, squatting in a line.

Lin Feng squatted in the very center, a straw dangling from his mouth, looking at the brightly lit fast-food restaurant across the street, suddenly feeling a bit sentimental.

Three months ago, he was squatting on a street corner handing out coffee cups.

Now, he was leading a group of people to squat in front of a national chain, waiting to see their reaction.

The Mexican Guy leaned over: "Boss, how long have we been squatting?"

Lin Feng glanced at his phone: "Fifteen minutes."

"Will they call the police?"

"Call the police for what? We're not causing trouble. We're eating."

The Bald Strong Man raised the fried chicken in his hand: "Right, is eating a crime?"

Just as he spoke, the door to Popeyes pushed open.

A manager in uniform walked out, stared blankly at the six people squatted in a row at the entrance.

Then he recognized Lin Feng.

"You are... the owner of that Joe's?"

Lin Feng nodded and raised the fried chicken in his hand: "Eating your fried chicken, you don't mind, right?"

The manager stared at him for three seconds, then laughed.

"I don't mind. But—"

He turned back inside, and after two minutes, he came out again.

He was carrying six cups of cola.

"On the house."

Lin Feng was stunned.

The manager handed them the colas and said seriously: "Our boss said that someone who can make people laugh deserves a cup of cola."

Lin Feng took the cola and was silent for three seconds.

Then he stood up and gave the manager a bow: "Thank you."

The manager waved his hand and turned back inside.

Lin Feng squatted back down, held up the cup of cola, and looked at it against the moonlight.

The Mexican Guy leaned over: "Boss, are they trying to bribe us?"

Lin Feng thought for a moment: "Maybe."

"Then do we accept it?"

Lin Feng took a sip of cola and said slowly: "We accept. But we'll keep coming back next time."

The guy was stunned: "Why?"

Lin Feng smiled: "Because they treated us to cola, which means they take us seriously."

---

The next day, that video went viral again.

Title: "Popeyes Manager Gives Cola to Competitor"

Views: Six million.

Comments Section:

"What kind of divine plot is this? Competitors giving each other cola?"

"This move by Popeyes is great, their vision is truly broad."

"Boss Lin is really something else; he can even score free cola while squatting at someone's door."

"I suggest a collaboration between the two, called 'Popeyes & Joe's: Fried Chicken Alliance'."

"Maria looks so cute squatting there, has she lost weight?"

Lin Feng was scrolling through the comments, and when he saw the one about "Maria losing weight," he paused for a moment.

He looked up at Maria, who was currently frying chicken.

She really had lost weight.

It wasn't a sickly thinness, but the kind where her complexion had improved.

He activated his skill: [Emotional Perception Ability (Advanced)] and scanned Maria.

[Target: Maria]

[Current Emotion Value: 8.7]

[Emotion Type: Calm + Joy + Anticipation]

[Emotion Trajectory (Last 24 Hours): Anticipation (Last Night) → Joy (This Morning) → Calm (Now)]

Lin Feng stared at that "Anticipation," feeling a bit puzzled.

What was she anticipating?

He walked over and asked as if casually: "Has anything happened lately?"

Maria didn't even look up: "Nothing."

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow: "Really?"

Maria's hand paused for a split second.

Lin Feng saw it.

He squatted beside her, not speaking, just waiting.

After a long time, Maria finally spoke:

"Lily said the owner of that painting contacted her."

Lin Feng was surprised: "And then?"

Maria's voice was a bit tight: "That person said they want to meet me."

---

Three days later, Maria took half a day off.

She changed into her best clothes—which was really just a clean shirt—and took the bus to downtown Los Angeles.

Lin Feng squatted in the shop, staring at the location on his phone.

He had secretly installed a location sharing app on Maria's phone earlier, fearing something might happen to her.

The location stopped at a cafe downtown.

Lin Feng stared at that small red dot for ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty minutes.

At the fortieth minute, the red dot moved.

It was heading toward the bus stop.

Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

---

When Maria returned to the shop, it was already dark.

She pushed open the door and stood at the entrance, not coming inside.

Lin Feng looked up at her.

Maria's eyes were red.

But the corners of her mouth were turned up.

Lin Feng stood up, walked over, and stood before her.

"How did it go?"

Maria was silent for three seconds.

Then she said: "The person who bought the painting is a sixty-year-old man."

Lin Feng was taken aback.

Maria continued: "His wife passed away three years ago. He hasn't been able to move on. That day he passed by the art exhibition and saw that painting, 'Maria'."

Lin Feng listened.

Maria's voice trembled slightly: "He said the look in the eyes in that painting was exactly the same as his wife's during the time she was sick."

Lin Feng fell silent.

Maria took a deep breath: "He said he bought that painting because looking at it every day makes him feel like he's not alone."

She paused, and tears finally fell: "Lin Feng, I never thought that my face could make a stranger feel less lonely."

"Lin Feng, I never thought that my face could make a stranger feel less lonely."

Lin Feng stood in front of her, unmoving.

He didn't know what to say.

Finally, he reached out and handed her that crumpled business card.

The very one he had given her on the first day Maria arrived.

[Joe's Fried Chicken · The Boss is More Miserable Than You]

Lin Feng · Chief Misfortune Officer

Maria looked at the business card and was stunned for a moment.

Lin Feng said: "Give him one. Tell him to come whenever he wants. There will always be a portion of fried chicken waiting for him in the shop."

Maria stared at the business card for three seconds.

Then she smiled.

The kind of smile that rippled from the bottom of her eyes.

---

Two weeks later, that old man really did come.

He pushed open the door, stood in the shop, and looked at the two paintings on the wall—the one of Lin Feng painted by Lily, and the one of Maria painted by Lily.

Lin Feng squatted by the door, a straw in his mouth, watching him.

The old man looked for a while, then walked to the counter and said to Maria:

"One order of fried chicken. To go."

Maria smiled: "Okay."

The old man took the fried chicken but didn't leave.

He looked at Maria and said seriously:

"Thank you for your face."

Maria was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Thank you for your thirty thousand dollars."

The old man laughed too.

He pushed open the door and walked into the Los Angeles sunshine.

Lin Feng watched his departing figure and suddenly remembered something—

Three months ago, he was also squatting like this, watching a homeless man looking happily at a coffee cup he had drawn.

Back then, he thought: This system seems quite interesting.

Now, he thought:

This world isn't so bad after all.

---

His phone vibrated.

Lin Feng looked down; it was a system message.

[Ding—Congratulations to the Host for triggering a hidden achievement—]

[Achievement Name: Let Sadness Be Seen]

[Achievement Reward: Emotional Resonance (Ultimate Skill)—Can actively transmit one's own emotions to everyone within a 10-meter radius, duration 5 minutes, cooldown 24 hours.]

Lin Feng stared at the skill description, stunned for three seconds.

Transmit emotions?

He bit his straw flat, his mind starting to race.

If he could make everyone feel an emotion at the same time—

Like happiness.

Like hope.

Like... the feeling of being seen.

He looked up at the group of people in the shop.

Maria was frying chicken.

The Mexican Guy was wiping tables.

The Bald Strong Man was maintaining order at the door.

The Google Girl was at the register.

The old man sat in the corner, slowly eating his fried chicken.

Lily was drawing something on a sketchpad.

A group of people who originally had no connection to each other.

Now standing in the same place, doing the same thing.

Lin Feng suddenly felt that he didn't need any ultimate skill.

They already were that resonance.

[End of Chapter 11]