167: Chapter 164 Being able to eat is also a skill

The environment here is still lacking. In Li Changsheng's view, it is far less comfortable than when he was in the countryside.

In the countryside, you could look out and see green hills and clear waters everywhere, as well as lush farmland, vegetable gardens, and even neighbors beaming with smiles.

Here, looking around, there is nothing but reinforced concrete and high-rise buildings.

Here, one feels one's own insignificance, and at the same time, discovers that this stretch of sky has become extremely narrow.

After practicing boxing for a while, Li Changsheng sat on the concrete pier of the balcony, lost in thought.

He missed the little old lady a bit.

Two days ago, he had spoken with Gao Qiang over the phone to inquire about the old lady's situation.

Her health was fine, but her smile had vanished.

Moreover, he learned of a very strange situation: the police didn't seem to have any reaction at all.

Because Li Changsheng hadn't said what he had done that day, Gao Qiang didn't know that he had killed so many people in one go.

Now, through subtle questioning, he hadn't heard anything from Gao Qiang about him being in trouble with the law.

The police hadn't even gone to the village to investigate; only that Officer Xiao Zhang from last time had visited Li Changsheng's home once.

Gao Qiang just happened to be there delivering things to the old lady and ran into it.

They didn't talk about anything of note, just some small talk, saying things like how he missed the old lady's cooking after returning, and he didn't even really ask about Li Changsheng at all.

"What does this mean? It shouldn't be possible for there to be no action at all!"

Li Changsheng was a bit confused; this mysterious situation made him mutter to himself.

"No, it's impossible for there to be no impact. It boils down to two possibilities. First, they want me to lower my guard, return voluntarily, and then arrest me, but that possibility is low.

Second, this matter has already been discussed internally among them, so their intention is just to show goodwill toward me. Of course, it doesn't exclude the possibility that they have other actions planned."

Li Changsheng pondered, feeling that both possibilities existed, but the latter was much more likely than the former; after all, he had intercepted relevant information about the spies.

Furthermore, if they wanted to catch him, they wouldn't need to target the old lady; after all, they could easily find his flight information with a single check.

Although he was currently abroad, Li Changsheng was aware that it wasn't difficult for a country to find someone.

Especially since he was in Chinatown, where Chinese people were so dense; who knows how many informants were here.

Thinking this through, Li Changsheng actually breathed a sigh of relief.

They definitely wouldn't do anything to Grandma; he was very certain of that.

"For now, I just need to wait. Wait a while longer, and perhaps I can attempt to return. Of course, who knows, they might already have people coming here."

Li Changsheng chuckled softly. He was 70% sure that his matter this time wouldn't have too many issues, and it was highly probable that he could return safely.

However, he would definitely have to make some concessions. After all, they had handled such a malicious incident, and he couldn't just leave without giving an explanation.

"Forget it, I'll just take things as they come."

Having stepped into the Dark Jin level and mastered the Transformative Stance, Li Changsheng felt he was one step closer to the Transformation Jin level. Although he still didn't feel any significant further changes in his mind or body, this kind of patient, grinding effort would eventually lead him there.

"It's six o'clock; time to go down and eat."

Looking at the time, Li Changsheng shook his head.

That's the one bad thing about this place; eating is a big problem.

There are quite a few authentic Chinese restaurants here, but the price is always an issue, and Li Changsheng felt that his appetite was now even bigger than before.

"The increase in my stamina value seems to be making my basal metabolic rate higher and higher. If this continues, I might end up becoming a glutton."

For lunch today, Li Changsheng spent a hundred US dollars in one go.

Two bowls of rice, plus two chickens and two jin of beef.

And this was normal; although Li Changsheng's physique wasn't particularly exaggerated now, it was clearly noticeably more robust than that of an average person.

Moreover, 9 points of stamina is equivalent to a top-tier fitness fanatic. You have to know that some strongmen eat over a dozen jin of chicken in a single meal alone.

And they have to eat seven meals a day, with a total daily calorie intake of over 10,000 kcal. You could say that every day, besides training, all they do is eat.

Li Changsheng's metabolism wasn't that exaggerated yet, but it had reached about three times that of a normal person.

A normal adult male's metabolism is around 2000-2500 kcal, while Li Changsheng's basal metabolism is around 7000.

So, even if Li Changsheng eats this much and does absolutely nothing all day, he actually won't get fat.

With his basal metabolism up, it means the total capacity he can eat has also increased. For some people who gain weight, in many cases, it's because they eat beyond their total basal metabolic calorie limit.

The excess calories naturally turn into fat.

As for those who are naturally very thin and can't get fat, that belongs to having different gut flora than the average person.

There have been scientific experiments specifically conducting group surveys on this population, and they found that if you let these people not exercise for a period of time and consume far more calories than they need every day, they will still get fat. The so-called 'naturally thin' is just that they don't want to eat, don't like eating, and exercise often.

Perhaps a small portion of people truly don't gain weight; in this regard, this experiment also showed that they would still gain weight, but the effect isn't very large, with only a 5% weight gain in a month-long experiment.

However, their basal metabolism increased by 30%.

"It's a pity, I can't cook here; the Materials are too hard to get."

Li Changsheng had also strolled around the nearby vegetable market these past few days. It couldn't really be called a vegetable market here; it was called a Farmers Market, which literally translates to 'Farmer's Market.'

The vegetables here, hmm... are ridiculously expensive.

Li Changsheng discovered that the cheapest things in the market were actually the meats. Beef and lamb were more expensive, at six US dollars per jin, and they were fresh, not frozen, equivalent to forty RMB. Chicken and pork were cheaper, especially chicken, which was sometimes less than one US dollar per jin.

As for vegetables, they were very expensive, especially potatoes and such, which Chinese people eat more often at the dining table; one jin costs one US dollar.

Tomatoes, chili peppers, and green beans normally cost 3 US dollars per jin, nearly twenty RMB per jin.

Of course, I won't mention the ones that can be bought; there are many that Li Changsheng can't buy at all, such as star anise and other Chinese spices, as well as bird's eye chilies and the like.

The Farmers Market simply doesn't have these. Li Changsheng had asked Chinese shop owners in Chinatown how they got their spices.

The answers were varied: some bought them online and used international shipping; they only bought in large quantities so the price could be slightly cheaper. If it were for individual cooking, the price of air-freighting this stuff once would skyrocket.

Others simply had people buy them on their behalf, or had friends who were coming over carry a little with them.

For these Chinese cooking seasonings, the owners here could be said to be showing off their own Divine Ability, each in their own way.

Precisely because he learned this, Li Changsheng dismissed the idea of cooking for himself.

It's really too much trouble.