Aunt Wang and my mother have been neighbors since childhood, and both are from Shuimao Road. However, Aunt Wang married a man who lives in the center of town at the Chenchun Community.
I rode an old bicycle, usually used by my aunt for grocery shopping, and headed straight for the town center. In the front basket of the bike sat my Fire-toothed Dog, while my Little Treasure-seeking Spirit lay comfortably atop my head. I had grown accustomed to this peculiar habit of hers—who could refuse a pet that helped to block the sun during the hot summer days?
At the Chenchun Community, I parked my bicycle properly and made my way to Building A, Room 501. Aunt Wang herself opened the door. Although we hadn't met very often and hadn’t chatted much, there were only a handful of friends of my mother's, and I still remembered her face.
Aunt Wang stood at the door, momentarily lost for words. She looked me up and down, her gaze lingering on the Fire-toothed Dog and the Little Treasure-seeking Spirit for a while, and then exclaimed, "Qiao Sang?"
"Auntie, it's me! My mom asked me to bring you something," I replied.
"Come in, come in! You've grown into a big girl. I nearly didn’t recognize you!" Aunt Wang hurriedly invited me in.
I recalled how I looked in the full-length mirror this morning. With my baby fat and flat chest, I thought, big girl? No, I'm still a little girl...
"Auntie, this is what my mom asked me to bring you." I sat on the sofa and signaled to the Little Treasure-seeking Spirit.
Understanding what I meant, the Little Treasure-seeking Spirit dutifully retrieved the specialty goods from its ring.
"Your mom is too much! Asking you to come over just to bring stuff. Why all the formality?" Aunt Wang chuckled.
She stood up and poured two cups of tea, placing them on the coffee table, ready for a long chat.
"I heard from your mom that you got into Holy Water Middle School?" Aunt Wang asked.
"Yes." I answered.
"And I also heard you participated in a competition right after graduation and came in first," she probed.
"Uh-huh." I wasn't surprised that my mom had shared these things.
I never would have guessed that what Xiangting said was actually true... Just yesterday I was doubting her, and today her daughter comes to prove me wrong...
Aunt Wang suddenly felt less proud of her own son.
"What do you usually eat?" Aunt Wang asked out of the blue.
"Huh? I eat whatever my mom cooks," I replied, slightly caught off guard.
Looks like I need to ask Xiangting for meal ideas... I can already imagine her gloating about it for a long time.
"So how’s your daily routine?" Aunt Wang continued her inquiries.
I was taken aback; this sounded like a doctor asking about a patient...
Before I could answer, she kept firing questions at me.
"Did you attend any tutoring classes in your third year of middle school?"
"What does your Fire-toothed Dog usually eat?"
"How do you generally get along with your Fire-toothed Dog?"
"My son initially wanted to contract a fire-type beast but I refused. What do you think of him contracting a second fire-type?"
I thought: "..."
Now I understood—this was an interview.
I politely declined Aunt Wang’s invitation to stay for dinner and stepped outside to call my mother to report the completion of my task.
My mother was very pleased.
...
As I rode back to the old home, my Fire-toothed Dog was leisurely sipping on its milk. The Qiyuan Milk could restore a pet's stamina, but the effect wasn’t immediate; my Fire-toothed Dog had already drunk several bottles but still hadn’t regained peak condition.
With too much free time on my hands, if I continued training on the same schedule as in Hanggang, it would be a waste of the summer vacation.
Soon, I had an idea. Being someone with a hefty sum of money, I went straight to my room and bought 30 bottles of F-grade energy restoration liquid online.
The F-grade energy restoration liquid was meant to restore the energy of beginner-level beasts.
People living in the city normally didn’t need to buy energy restoration liquids; they could simply allow their pets to gradually recover on their own. For competitions, the organizers would provide special supplies, treatment, and so on, meaning Beast Masters didn’t need to purchase them.
Most buyers of energy restoration liquids were typically Beast Masters heading to secret realms. Those who entered secret realms would not randomly summon beginner-level beasts, as they were of no use there.
Thus, the sales and prices of F-grade energy restoration liquids were significantly lower than those of other grades.
Yet even so, each bottle of F-grade energy restoration liquid cost 2000 Alliance Coins. For Beast Masters without healing skills, they could be essential in the secret realms.
Girls often couldn’t resist the temptation of online shopping, and I was no exception. After buying the F-grade energy restoration liquids, I started browsing other products.
I used to have no money, but now that I had it, of course I wanted to look around.
Lying on my bed, scrolling through my phone, the Little Treasure-seeking Spirit floated over, curiously staring at the screen.
It displayed items necessary for fire-type beasts. I wanted to buy something for my Fire-toothed Dog that could speed up its absorption of fire energy.
Such items have always been highly sought after in the market. They allow beasts to absorb energy faster, shortening their growth cycles and facilitating quicker evolution.
Even though my Fire-toothed Dog had its own advantages, it couldn’t battle continuously for 24 hours and always win. Finding an extra way to absorb energy would undoubtedly be beneficial.
Additionally, these items could enable beasts to release their respective attribute skills faster. Though wearing them during competitions wasn’t allowed, they would certainly be useful at other times.
After a long search, I settled on an E-grade Fire Condensation Orb.
The prices for beast gear varied significantly. They depended not only on the grade of the gear but also on who made it. If the creator of a piece of gear was a renowned master, it could be more expensive than a lower-grade item made by a lesser-known master, even if it was certified by the alliance.
I specifically chose a shop with good credibility to make my purchase. After communicating with the customer service for a long while, I promised to leave beautiful pictures and thorough reviews, and finally bought it for 120,000 Alliance Coins.
Even though the customer service had given me a discount, I still felt it was quite expensive. If an E-grade item from an unknown creator was this price, what about the B-grade or A-grade items?
No wonder the stronger the Beast Master, the wealthier they were.
For others buying gear seemed like a game, while for me it felt like a gamble. How could I compare with that?
Just as I was exiting the online store to look for something else, a gray little paw suddenly appeared on my phone screen.
Turning my head, I saw the Little Treasure-seeking Spirit looking at me with wide, watery eyes.
"Yun~"
The Little Treasure-seeking Spirit whined cutely.
"..."
"You're still too small. I'll buy it for you in a month."
The Little Treasure-seeking Spirit was stunned for a moment, then skillfully took off its ring and handed me a bottle of milk.
"Yun~"
"Yun-yun."
"..."
(End of this chapter)