80: Section 80

As they spoke, the living room lights turned on.

Lin Yi quickly turned his head, taking a moment to adjust to the light.

He saw Tang Qinru sitting on the sofa, wearing a pink bathrobe, watching him.

Her long hair was loose, and there was no makeup on her face.

She looked more comfortable with a bare face.

The pink bathrobe set off her fair, smooth skin.

Being a few years older than Lin Yi, she exuded a woman's charm and allure.

Tang Qinru smiled, stood up from the sofa, and walked over.

"Don't think I was deliberately waiting for you; I just got back myself... Hungry? Keep me company while I eat?"

Upon reaching Lin Yi, she headed straight for the kitchen.

Just as she passed by him,

a scent of alcohol wafted over, and Lin Yi's brows furrowed deeply.

"Sister Qinru, you've been drinking?"

"Yeah, I had a work engagement, couldn't be helped. As it happens, I'm hungry too!"

Lin Yi nodded, not saying anything more.

At the end of the day, he was just a tenant, and Tang Qinru was his landlady.

Furthermore, their relationship hadn't reached the point where they could interfere in each other's affairs.

He still remembered something Tang Qinru had said when they first met.

The reason she was renting out a room was that she wanted to find some company.

Now, Lin Yi could understand that a little better.

Perhaps she just hoped that when she returned from socializing outside,

she could see someone at home, even if that person came back later than she did.

At the very least, she could have someone to talk to when she got back, or even sit down and have a meal together.

While Tang Qinru was in the kitchen,

Lin Yi quickly returned to his room and changed his clothes.

Just a moment ago, he had smelled a faint scent of blood lingering on his clothes...

After changing, he took a shower while he was at it.

By the time he came back out, four dishes and a bowl of soup were already laid out on the dining table.

"Sister Qinru, has your cooking improved this much?"

Lin Yi looked at the dishes in surprise.

Someone who could even burn fried eggs in the morning

could make four dishes that looked, smelled, and tasted perfect by evening?

Was she still the same person? Could she be a bit...

Tang Qinru walked out of the kitchen, carrying two empty bowls and two pairs of chopsticks.

"You give me too much credit; if I had that kind of skill, I would have been married off long ago.

These are just takeout I brought back from the hotel; it's not leftovers, I ordered them separately..."

Tang Qinru seemed afraid that Lin Yi would misunderstand and think these dishes were leftovers.

She hurriedly added that explanation.

Lin Yi nodded with a smile and then sat down.

"To be honest, I'm really hungry; my stomach has already protested a few times..."

"Then hurry up and eat!"

Tang Qinru also nodded with a light laugh.

Lin Yi didn't stand on ceremony; he picked up his chopsticks and began to wolf down the food.

At this moment, he couldn't afford to be pretentious or affect coyness.

His empty stomach was desperate to be filled immediately.

Before long, half the dishes were gone.

"Eat slowly, no one is going to snatch it from you. Here, have a bowl of soup!" Tang Qinru handed him a bowl of soup.

Lin Yi nodded and mumbled a thank you.

But when he was halfway through eating,

he felt something wasn't quite right.

The food he had eaten seemed to turn into waves of heat,

constantly surging through every part of his body.

At first, this feeling wasn't very intense.

But gradually, the impact felt as if his blood vessels were about to burst.

Lin Yi stopped chewing and looked up at Tang Qinru in surprise.

After a long while, he said, "Sister Qinru, is this... monster meat?"

"Pfft..."

Tang Qinru couldn't help but laugh.

"I know you're a martial arts practitioner, and the Martial Arts Exam is coming up soon!"

"This is monster meat I specifically had someone prepare for you; it's good for your body, eat up!"

Hearing this, Lin Yi was extremely surprised.

He was very familiar with the feeling of heat waves surging through his meridians just now.

He had eaten this kind of monster meat at the Martial Arts Hall before.

But the impact was much weaker compared to what he was feeling now.

In fact, the two weren't even comparable.

He had heard Zhou Qi say before that the higher the cultivation of the Yao Beast, the better the effect.

And this intense impact now

felt like a ball of fire burning through his meridians.

His blood began to boil.

Lin Yi now felt waves of heat throughout his body.

A burning sensation from the inside out.

His Qi and blood were surging constantly, appearing somewhat manic and restless...

This feeling lasted for a full minute before it slowly began to subside.

Lin Yi's body was soaked as if he had been washed with water.

The clothes he had just changed into were completely soaked through.

"Sister Qinru... this monster meat, the cultivation level isn't low, right?" Lin Yi said in surprise.

Tang Qinru shook her head: "Is 2-star monster meat considered high?"

"..."

The monster meat at the Martial Arts Hall generally didn't have a star rating.

At best, tier 3 or tier 4 was considered pretty good.

And yet, Tang Qinru had arranged 2-star monster meat?

Shocked, Lin Yi hurriedly said: "Then these dishes must be expensive, right?"

"It's alright, it didn't cost much; as long as it's good for your body, that's all that matters.

Hurry up and eat, otherwise, if it gets cold, this monster meat won't taste good!"

Tang Qinru said with a light laugh.

Lin Yi nodded, and after his body gradually recovered,

he continued to eat with his chopsticks.

However, this time, he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.

He knew a little bit about the price of monster meat on the black market.

For the few Yao Beasts he had hunted, the prices were between two thousand and five thousand.

1-star Yao Beasts could sell for over ten thousand.

And that was just selling it as raw Materials.

He had heard a Senior Student say before that if you hired a chef to process monster meat,

the price would be more than three times the cost of the raw Materials.

And for Yao Beasts above 1-star, the price would be even higher.

Because the higher the cultivation of the raw Materials, the higher the difficulty of cooking.

The 2-star monster meat Lin Yi was eating now, the cooking difficulty went without saying.

It probably cost at least five times more, right?

Then these four dishes, their value would directly reach five figures?

Upon reaching this conclusion, Lin Yi was taken aback.