54: Goodbye He Jingrui

Lu Chuan forced himself to remain calm, and after Li An, calling him "sir" repeatedly, finished ordering and he handed over the corresponding items, he no longer paid attention to him.

The Qi Yuan group probably also felt it was embarrassing to know Li An, so they tacitly ignored him, chatting with Lu Chuan and ordering their food.

The Qi Yuan trio: "Little Boss, you're so heartless! Do you know how much we've missed you these past two days?"

Lu Chuan awkwardly nodded, apologizing profusely.

The Worker Meng quartet: "Little Boss, next time you change your stall location, you can't just leave without a word again. Don't break the hearts of your Regular Customers!"

Lu Chuan nodded bitterly, then shook his head, still apologizing profusely.

Leng Hui: "Little Boss, there's no need to feel guilty. Your noble ideals and human brilliance will always illuminate us! Having you is our good fortune!"

Lu Chuan: "..."

I want to die!

After the Qi Yuan group finished ordering, although they still wanted to chat with Lu Chuan, seeing many people still queuing behind them, they could only regretfully move aside to enjoy their food.

As for Li An, he originally didn't want to leave, but under the deterrence of Leng Hui's arm, which was as thick as a thigh, he also shrank his head and moved away from Lu Chuan.

Time quietly slipped by, and in a blink of an eye, it was nine o'clock.

The area in front of the Haunted House, which had been packed with people, began to thin out.

Because they still had classes and work the next day, the Qi Yuan group had already left after saying goodbye to Lu Chuan at a quarter past eight...

"Sorry, lemon tea and ice cream are all sold out. Only mung bean paste and double-skin milk are left. Do you still want them?"

Lu Chuan looked at the last of his stock in the cooler, then looked up as he spoke.

He Jingrui scratched his head, nodding with a hint of regret.

"Eh?"

Lu Chuan first let out a soft 'eh,' then, as he found the person in front of him looking more and more familiar, he finally recognized him. It was the lost special forces soldier he had met earlier on Yinhua Mountain, and he blurted out in surprise.

"Sorry, sir, I didn't recognize you with your clothes on!"

He Jingrui's face instantly darkened, and he retorted speechlessly:

"Ptooey, ptooey, what kind of talk is that?"

Lu Chuan didn't know what he had said wrong and scratched his head.

"You were wearing camouflage before, and now you're wearing casual clothes. I didn't say anything wrong."

He Jingrui's face grew even darker.

"Oh, you're saying my thoughts are dirty."

Lu Chuan still didn't know what he had said wrong, so he just gave a dry laugh and fell silent.

He Jingrui wasn't really angry; it was just that during his vacation, he rarely got to meet Lu Chuan, so he decided to joke around.

Alas, he remembered when he first joined the army, he was only one year older than Lu Chuan, and just as innocent and introverted. But then he hung out with those old soldiers, who told dirty jokes all day long, and he himself became corrupted, boo hoo hoo.

Recalling the morning sun when he enlisted, it was an innocence he could never return to.

Thinking this, he suddenly felt inexplicably sad!

No, he needed something sweet to lift his spirits.

He Jingrui shook his head, opened a box of mung bean paste, and started eating.

The next moment, his eyes lit up, and the spoon in his hand moved so fast it left afterimages.

In a short amount of time, the entire box of mung bean paste completely disappeared.

Then, the other box of double-skin milk also followed suit, entering He Jingrui's stomach.

Lu Chuan watched, dumbfounded. This eating speed was too fast, wasn't it?

He Jingrui rubbed his stomach, looking at the two empty boxes, his face filled with regret that he hadn't eaten enough.

Suddenly, he glanced at Lu Chuan, as if he had a brilliant idea. His eyes lit up, and he immediately leaned towards the stall, saying ingratiatingly:

"Little brother, we've met twice, which means we're fated! How about this, do you need a helper these next few days? I happen to have plenty of strength for you to command, as long as you can provide food!"

Lu Chuan heard this and his mouth hung open for a long time, unsure what to say.

Good heavens, he's selling himself for a few meals.

Seeing Lu Chuan remain silent, He Jingrui quickly clasped his hands together and pleaded pitifully.

"Please, please, I beg you!"

Lu Chuan looked at He Jingrui's muscular physique, yet he was acting like a 'tough guy being cute' towards him, and a chill ran down his spine.

"No..."

But before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly remembered something he had been pondering these past few days.

That was why such a terrifying Silver Beast had suddenly appeared on Yinhua Mountain, where beasts were rare.

And why He Jingrui and these elite soldiers from the army were on Yinhua Mountain.

Was it just to deal with that Silver Beast?

Lu Chuan initially thought that was the reason.

But as news reports of unknown species became more and more frequent, Lu Chuan felt increasingly uneasy, as if something closely related to him was happening, and he didn't know about it.

Lu Chuan also tried asking the system, but the system kept repeating the same phrase:

[Please host, focus on setting up your stall and don't let your imagination run wild.]

Alright, I'm concerned about the world's major trends, but you're telling me to focus on setting up my stall to earn coins!

What an uninspired system! I despise you!

Of course, complaining aside, Lu Chuan was still a bit panicked because he couldn't get an answer from the system.

If he were still the mountain-trekking youth he used to be, then the world's major trends wouldn't really concern him.

After all, the path of mountain trekking ultimately led to starvation, illness, or falling to one's death; there was no good end.

But now he had the system, and his life was different.

Just like the saying, 'I could have endured the darkness, but you showed me the light, so how can I return to the darkness?'

Therefore, Lu Chuan was determined to find a way to investigate the truth behind the world's changes.

No other reason, he needed to hold his destiny in his own hands to feel at ease!!

Lu Chuan looked at He Jingrui, who was clasping his hands together ingratiatingly in front of him, his thoughts swirling, and finally made up his mind.

No matter how much you know, it's definitely more than me!

Perhaps I can learn something from you, as a breakthrough for my investigation into the truth of the world!

"Then... I'll trouble you."

Lu Chuan put on a difficult expression, as if he didn't know how to refuse and could only reluctantly agree.

"Yay!"

He Jingrui immediately jumped up excitedly, then quickly went around to the back of the stall and actively helped clean up.

But Lu Chuan found him clumsy and instructed him to clean up the trash left by the customers instead.

For the sake of food, He Jingrui was very obedient and quickly cleaned the area around the stall until it was spotless.

Finally, the two squeezed onto the small cart, said goodbye to Xia Xingyu, and rode towards the village.

During this time, Lu Chuan thought about striking up a conversation with He Jingrui to see if he could gather any information.

However, he forgot the fact that He Jingrui was a chatterbox; he didn't even need to say much, He Jingrui's mouth just kept babbling non-stop.

But not a single word was to the point.

Lu Chuan tried several times to steer the conversation back, but He Jingrui would lead it astray into the boondocks in just a few sentences.

Forget it, just let it be destroyed.

Lu Chuan was speechless with exasperation.