BXBX NOVEL Chapter 18: Reward
Chapter 18: Reward
"With my stomach\'s digestive capabilities, I can circulate my primordial qi three to four times a day if I can secure a supply of medicinal herbs. And if everything goes smoothly, I\'ll be able to recover in eight to ten days."
That was a lot faster than his initial plan, which would\'ve needed over a month for him to recover.
At this moment, there was the sound of careful footsteps outside. Li Pin didn\'t need to guess to know that it was Li Yunyao.
She seemed to be eavesdropping from the bedroom door to see if he had woken up yet.
Li Pin had no choice but to get up and get changed, naturally making some noises in the process.
Sure enough, Li Yunyao\'s excited voice soon rang from the outside, "Brother, are you awake?"
"I am," answered Li Pin. He looked at the time and saw that it was almost eleven o\'clock, so he asked, "Is there still breakfast to eat?"
"Yes! there is! I asked Mom to make red dates black chicken soup for you. There\'s also longan lotus seed porridge," Li Yunyao replied.
"Great, I\'ll be down in ten minutes."
These two dishes had the effect of supplementing qi and replenishing blood. It seemed that Li Yunyao had intentionally done some research on the internet.
Before Li Pin’s father had passed away, he had built a two-story house with insulated panels. The size of each floor was one hundred and twenty square meters, and all of it was usable space, making it comparable to housings on Blue Planet sized at one hundred and fifty square meters. The house also had a courtyard, which was quite spacious.
Ten minutes later, Li Pin went downstairs.
Mrs. Li looked worried. "Son, are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"I\'m alright. I was just too tired yesterday," Li Pin said. "I\'m hungry."
"I\'ve heated the food for you. Come and eat," Mrs. Li urged.
"Mmhmm."
When Li Pin passed by the living room, he noticed that there were bags, milk, and gift boxes of various sizes piled up at the doorway.
"Did we have guests?" he asked.
"The passengers from yesterday\'s bus came! They came early in the morning, wanting to thank you. After realizing that you were still resting, they left the gifts they brought and left. They refused to stay for a meal," Li Yunyao answered with happiness written all over her pretty, little face.
"Two families, as well as Uncle Lin, sent what seems to be some valuable aged herbs. Do you think we should return them?" said Mrs. Li, bringing over a bowl of porridge.
Li Pin didn\'t reject the gifts. "Let’s just keep them."
At the same time, Li Pin pushed the bowl of porridge to Mrs. Li. "You guys eat too."
"We\'ve eaten."
"Oh, okay," uttered Li Pin, bringing the entire pot of porridge over to him.
Looking at her son who was drinking porridge in mouthfuls, Mrs. Li hesitated for a moment and said, "Son, they said you killed the demonic cat, is that true?"
"Mmhmm," Li Pin murmured. "I\'ve been practicing martial arts since I was a kid, I just didn\'t tell you guys about it."
Having said that, he glanced at Li Yunyao. "Yaoyao knows about it."
Li Pin had killed a demonic cat, a ferocious beast that even a Core Force master might not be able to defeat, so it was expected that it would cause a sensation in Liuchuan County.
Soon enough, there would be people visiting him at home. That\'s why it was important to standardize what was to be said beforehand.
"Yes! Yes, I knew! Brother started practicing six or seven years ago, but Mom, you were busy with work back then so you never really noticed!"
Li Yunyao was excited to act as the wingman.
She immediately turned to Li Pin and said, "Brother, when do you think we should start the martial arts practice?"
"Don\'t bother your brother. You will at least have to wait until he\'s well rested," Mrs. Li gently reprimanded her.
"It doesn\'t matter, we can start practicing from the basics. Let\'s start in the afternoon," Li Pin replied.
Li Pin quickly wiped the pot of porridge and the large bowl of soup clean.
Mrs. Li was somewhat taken aback by the astonishing amount of food he had eaten in one sitting.
"You won\'t get any problems eating like this, right?"
"I know what I\'m doing," Li Pin said as he picked through the herbs the families had sent. He pointed to a few of them and asked, "Mom, can you use these herbs to make medicinal dishes? I\'ll give you a few recipes to follow."
Mrs. Li nodded. "Sure."
She quickly went to prepare the herbs.
Li Pin wrote down the recipes and handed them to her. He then went to the courtyard to practice the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique.
He had struck out two blasts of Core Force in one breath, so his qi and blood were in a deficit. If this had happened in his previous life, he would\'ve already damaged his foundation.
Fortunately, with the help of his clairvoyance gift, he had already improved the Eight Enormities True Fire Force. He had altered and improved the striking method to reduce the load placed on his body. Although he still couldn\'t avoid the exhaustion of his qi and blood, at least there wouldn\'t be any hidden damage left behind.
In his current state, he didn\'t dare to practice Xuan Pin Gate. He could only practice the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique for a few days to recover a little more before cultivating other techniques.
After practicing for half an hour, his eldest uncle and aunt rushed over.
As soon as they saw Li Pin, they gave him a big thumbs up.
"Little Pin, good job. To think that you can even kill a demonic cat! That\'s remarkable! "
"Little Pin, are you alright?"
"I\'m fine," Li Pin answered.
Li Pin\'s father had been born to a family of three sons. Li Pin\'s Eldest Uncle, Li Mingzhi, had joined an agricultural products procurement group and set up a branch in Sanshun Town. His Third Uncle, Li Mingxin, had opened an advertising company in Jiang Province\'s Capital City.
When Li Yunyan went out to work back then, she had actually sought help from their Third Uncle.
This was only natural; family should always be united.
Li Mingzhi and Li Mingxin had always taken good care of their family. It wasn\'t anything like those movie plots where family members turned on one another.
Li Pin’s uncle and aunt had visited just to check on Li Pin, so they left soon after seeing that he was fine.
At two o\'clock in the afternoon, four sedans hurriedly drove up to the vacant space in front of Li Pin\'s house.
As the car doors opened, a group of ten or more people climbed out of the cars.
Sanshun Town\'s mayor was among them. However, he clearly wasn\'t the person with the highest status in the group.
A middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties headed toward Li Pin with a middle-aged martial artist.
The middle-aged man\'s face lit up with enthusiasm, and he said, "You must be Master Li, our hero. Li Pin, the one who slayed the demonic cat, right? You\'re a remarkable individual, standing out among others. Your presence is a blessing for all the people of Liuchuan County, Master Li."
The mayor of Sanshun Town hurriedly introduced the middle-aged man to Li Pin. "This is the director of the Security Affairs Department, Zhang Youping."
The mayor also introduced the middle-aged martial artist. He was the president of the Liuchuan County Martial Society, Meng Shan.
Meng Shan was a true Core Force master just like Fang Lingjue.
That was in line with the standard configuration of martial societies across Taibai. The president of county-level martial societies had to be at least a Core Force master with at least a Deputy title. The president of the city-level martial societies even had to be an Aura Force master with a Senior title.
Li Pin greeted the two men and gestured for them to step inside. "Please, come in."
They exchanged courtesies and entered the courtyard.
When Mrs. Li learned that there were big shots from the Security Affairs Department and Martial Society visiting, she quickly emerged from the kitchen and got busy serving the guests.
Zhang Youping saw that Li Pin was not looking too well and knew that the most important thing for him now was to rest.
After exchanging pleasantries, Zhang Youping went straight to the point. "We already know what happened. Thanks to your righteous act, you\'ve protected the safety of the villagers of Sanshun Town. The county had a meeting last night and decided that we will be awarding you the title of Outstanding Youth. We will also submit an application for you to be awarded Zanglong City\'s Outstanding Youth Award."
He paused and then continued, "In addition, Master Li, you did not hesitate to risk your safety to slay the demonic cat, an act which has caused you to consume a great deal of your energy. The county cannot let our heroes bleed in vain and have them foot the financial cost of their recovery.... The county decided to compensate you with a hundred thousand yuan to cover the cost of the nutritional supplements you need for your recovery. You will also be given an apartment in Sunshine District."