The man turned and left, as if he had made some kind of resolution, never looking back at him again.
Leaving, in the dictionary, means separating from a person or a place, and at that moment, Lin Li understood what leaving meant.
"Bro, I'm not sick!" Lin Li shouted.
But the man's footsteps quickened.
However, fortunately, he had already dropped the cigarette butt.
Lin Li picked up the cigarette butt and pressed it against his arm. The burning pain made his arm pause slightly.
As expected, since other attributes could make progress, burning himself like this indeed increased "Fire", although the increase was very small.
Lin Li threw away the cigarette butt and crushed it, then used [Heal] to start healing the burns on his arm.
[Heal] grew with his strength. Now it was no longer the "better than nothing" ability that took several tries to clear a bruise when he first got it.
After three days of separation, one must look at someone with new eyes. [Heal] was no longer the useless ability he first knew in September; it was now the useless ability of November.
—Now, bruises and the like could be cleared in one go.
The new burn scars quickly faded to the point where they couldn't be seen without looking closely. One more time and they would be fully restored.
Lin Li felt that with this ability, he was quite suited to grab a can of Monster Energy, carve some patterns on his wrist, OD on pills, and become a visual kei landmine boy.
In stereotypes, it's said that in this circle, as long as you're not afraid of landmine girls self-destructing or haunting you, you can fuck around casually.
It's a very authoritative circle worth joining, emphasizing again, this is a stereotype.
Reining in his thoughts, Lin Li picked up the crushed cigarette butt from the ground and threw it into the trash can.
Although the progress of "Fire" increased, the extent of the increase was similar to the progress of "Water" during an ice-water shower, far slower than swimming and moving bricks.
In other words, he would have to be burned by cigarette butts tens of thousands of times to complete "Fire".
[Heal] wouldn't be able to keep up. Even if he waited for the fire resistance reward to arrive, completing the task this way was unrealistic. He still had to find another way.
...
Sigh, Xiling people really have no manners.
Lin Li just called that funeral parlor again, asking even more politely if they really didn't accept orders to burn living people, and ended up being called a Korean.
Lin Li wasn't angry when he was called a big idiot before, but being called a Korean, he really couldn't stand it.
He wished he could take off his pants and whip them through the phone to tell them he wasn't short at all.
But after hearing this, the person at the funeral parlor said, "Sorry sir, you misunderstood, I didn't mean you were short."
Then he explained to Lin Li that the Korean star Ma Dong-seok had changed his nationality to American, so there was no Ma Dong-seok in South Korea now.
And calling Lin Li a Korean was simply cursing Lin Li for having no Ma Dong-seok (no mom).
He didn't say Lin Li was short.
Oh, then it was indeed a misunderstanding.
Misunderstandings are fine once cleared up. Arguing at the grave, making up at the end of the grave, Lin Li and the funeral parlor reconciled.
—Although the funeral parlor still refused to accept the order to burn Lin Li.
Sighing, Lin Li recorded this sentence in a memo named "Memes to secretly memorize under the covers at 4 AM", planning to find a chance to use it on Bai Bufan tomorrow.
...
Driving school.
[Task 2: Comprehend the mystery of the five elements, seek the power of the five elements to temper oneself (1/5)]
Through these few hours of using the "Thunder Nurturing Seed", "Wood" had been completed.
Lin Li's car was parked by the side of the road. Sitting in the driver's seat, he held a spirit stone in his left hand to absorb, and swiped Taobao on his phone with his right hand.
Magic fire paper, stove, igniter, warm baby patches, dripping wax, fire extinguisher, all ordered!
Swimming was enhanced water, these were enhanced fire!
For the task, for Daoist Shanqing's warmth, he had to become a slut!
(Translator's Note: "Shao huo" means slut, but "shao" also means burn).
Fired up.
Checking the time, unknowingly, it was almost 10 PM.
Just in time for a new class hour to finish, Lin Li drove the car back to the garage and waited for the final facial scan to complete.
Today's class hours were pretty much done here.
Xiren Driving School offered night training, it wasn't a special paid privilege from Coach Yu. There were quite a few people practicing at this hour. Too lazy to bother others, after telling Yu Jian'an on his phone, Lin Li took a taxi to the market night market.
Arriving at Pinglu Street.
Pinglu was a relatively remote area in Xiling. There was a Yudai River nearby, and relying on the river and the flat, open terrain was one of the reasons it was always chosen as the market location.
In the night, thousands of tents and lights spread from the center of the flagstone street to the riverbank, and then climbed and grew along the winding river course, stretching as far as the eye could see. The later the vendors arrived, the further their stalls were set up from the street.
But breaking away from the restrictions of the street was the real market night market.
New-era LED string lights and retro red lanterns wove complex light paths by the river.
The stalls were diverse, and there were even bouncy castles and carousels for children to play on. Food, drink, and entertainment, everything was available.
There was also a stage being built and almost completed, which should be the venue for tomorrow's performance.
Although it was already 10 PM, which was considered 'late night' in a small town like Xiling, it was brightly lit here, and there were still many people strolling and eating, very lively.
Lin Li wasn't here to stroll. If he finished strolling now, what would he stroll with everyone tomorrow.
With his own purpose, Lin Li just ran forward along the moving line drawn by the stalls.
Arriving at the end.
"This location feels about right." Lin Li looked at the opposite bank of the Yudai River and muttered to himself.
Because it was far from the street, this side was slightly desolate. If it weren't for the market today, probably no one would come here normally. The ground wasn't flat, and further away it was overgrown with weeds. The calls of birds, crickets, and frogs could be heard.
The opposite bank of the river was even more so, almost completely dark.
He had a pretty good idea in his mind.
Very good, time to go home and prepare to have fun tomorrow, tasks and whatever can go to hell first.
It wasn't easy for ride-hailing cars to drive in here, and it would be troublesome to tell the driver where he was, so Lin Li walked back.
"Clatter."
He kicked something while running. Lin Li stopped and saw a wallet he had just kicked away.
Stepping forward to pick it up, there wasn't much cash in the wallet, just a one hundred bill, a fifty bill, a few coins, and a few bank cards or membership cards.
He rummaged through it but didn't find any identity information.
Lin Li, worth forty million, naturally wouldn't covet these things. He closed the wallet, walked to a stall by the road, and asked gently:
"Auntie, do you know where the lost and found is here?"
Although the market night market was something left over from convention, it still needed official approval and management now, so there must be a place like a lost and found.
"Lost and found? Probably over by the sub-district office, I'm not sure either, why don't you go take a look yourself?" The stall owner frowned and thought for a while, then pointed in a direction and answered unconfidently.
"Okay, okay, thank you Auntie."
The stall owner wasn't wrong. Although it was very sketchy, there was indeed a newly posted 'Lost and Found' sign here.
"Uncle, I just found a wallet near location 300 on the street. I don't know whose it is, I'll leave it here, please help me find the owner." Lin Li handed the wallet through the small window.
"Understood, leave it here, I thank you on behalf of the owner." The staff member nodded and took it, smiling at Lin Li.
"No problem."
Lin Li waved his hand indifferently and turned to leave.
Then he stopped in his tracks.
—"Metal" in Task 2 moved again.
Eh?
The progress of "Metal" was originally almost zero, but in that instant just now, it increased by a chunk.
Of course it was good news, but Lin Li, who had task progress, looked bewildered.
Your mom.
What kind of "Metal" tempering is this?
Yes, my returning lost money indeed counts as resisting the temptation to take these valuable things for myself, but how could the "Metal" in the five elements be the metal of money?
Lin Li was shocked and didn't understand.
System, you fucking technician didn't look for HR… not doing human resources.
After being stunned for a while, Lin Li's expression was complex.
No matter what... at least it gave him a direction. Lin Li put the phone that had already opened the ride-hailing app back into his pocket and looked towards the night market.
...
"Uncle, I just found a wallet, phone, clothes, and backpack at location 447 on Pinglu Street, I'll leave them here." Lin Li appeared at the window again.
"Found something again? People nowadays really don't keep an eye on their things. This person even more so, how could they be so careless to lose so much. Alright, leave it here! Thank you."
The staff member was slightly surprised, then nodded and complained in frustration.
...
When the light from the window was blocked by an object, the staff member looked up and saw it was Lin Li again, he froze for a moment.
Lin Li grinned: "Uncle, I just found a five-yuan bill by the river, I'll leave it here."
"Eh? F-five yuan?" Hearing this, the staff member froze for a second time.
To be honest, for five yuan, even if the owner realized they lost it, it was highly likely they wouldn't come here to look for it, they would just accept their bad luck, right?
But forget it, it was also the good intention of the young man in front of him who was good at finding things. The staff member still smiled and nodded:
"Okay, leave it here."
...
When the staff member looked up and found it was Lin Li's good-looking but somewhat punchable face again, his mouth twitched.
how: zen me; are: shi; you: ni.
How are you?: zen me shi ni (Why is it you).
How TM old are you!!: zen me ta ma lao shi ni!! (Why the fuck is it always you!!)
"Child... what did you find this time."
Lin Li poured a few coins onto the small counter of the window, clattering, and then enthusiastically introduced:
"Uncle, here are four one-yuan coins, one fifty-cent coin, found at No. 90 and No. 305 respectively, and also about a hundred meters from the alley entrance..."
Although Lin Li enumerated them like family treasures.
But the staff member wanted to fuck his mom.
"(；☉_☉)?"
"Child," the staff member's expression was complex, "...for this kind of money, Uncle thinks, why don't you just take it and use it yourself if you find it? It's fine, you don't need to hand it in to me, everyone understands..."
Fucker, one of the coins Lin Li just gave me is covered in dirt.
This has obviously been thrown in the dirt for a long time, how did this child find this money?
Did he turn the ground upside down?
Is this child treating me as a joke, deliberately coming to torture me?
"How can that be." However, Lin Li shook his head upon hearing this, staring at the staff member, his words calm but much more serious:
"Uncle, returning lost money is a virtue. Do not fail to do good because it is small, and do not do evil because it is small.
The song 'I Found a Penny on the Side of the Road' is sung by all of us. Finding property that doesn't belong to you, no matter how much, cannot be taken for yourself!
This is not a matter of amount, this is a matter of principle.
Uncle, do your words live up to your identity as a Young Pioneer! Do they live up to your red scarf!"
Staff member: "..."
How old am I, I still have a red scarf.
"It's my ideology that has a problem, I'm sorry..." But these words were too shining, the staff member didn't dare to look directly at Lin Li or refute him, lowering his head in guilt, "...give me the money, I'll register it all."
"That's more like it~" Lin Li was gratified.
...
A few minutes later, seeing Lin Li appear not far away again, the staff member looked dead inside. He sighed first, then forced his spirit, revealed a smile, and asked when Lin Li approached:
"Child, what did you find this time."
Lin Li seemed to freeze for a moment, then opened his hand: "I found two cigarette butts and a plastic bottle. Uncle, do you want them?"
Staff member: "(；☉_☉)?"
Hey! Wait!
"Child! We are a lost and found here, not a garbage recycling center! Giving us this is disrupting our work! Let's see how you can argue now! I really can't stand it anymore!"
The staff member suddenly got a bit excited, stood up, pressed the table, and shouted excitedly at Lin Li.
He had been suspicious, but hadn't found an opportunity!
Now he finally found a handle, it was his turn to stand on the moral high ground and attack this child!
"Ah? Of course I know, I definitely didn't plan to give them to you, I'm looking for a trash can to throw them away, here, this trash can." Lin Li was even more confused, his words full of innocence.
And his brows gradually furrowed, looking at the staff member with increasingly strange eyes, full of confusion and incomprehension, and even concern.
Staff member: "...☉_☉."
"Haha, haha, ha, I-I see." The staff member didn't know what to do except laugh awkwardly.
The smile gradually became desperate.
Fuck, so fucking embarrassing.
"I'm going to the toilet."
With a bang, the window of the lost and found was closed, and the curtains were drawn.
Lin Li shrugged in surprise, threw the cigarette butts into the trash can, clapped his hands to remove the dust, and called a car to go home again.
He never thought of playing with the staff member, and he didn't do it on purpose just now.
It's just that, there aren't that many people losing things at the same time in this world.
Moreover, nowadays, only very young children and very old people use cash. As for more precious things like phones—many people wouldn't lose their phones even if they lost their children.
And as long as someone sees the property on the ground before him, whether that person intends to return it or keep it, it has nothing to do with him.
Being able to find that phone, wallet, and clothes in the second wave was already an extremely low-probability event.
Later on, Lin Li could indeed only find and hand in those small coins and small denomination bills.
As for the another round of searching when he just went back, it was completely fruitless. But as the saying goes, a thief doesn't leave empty-handed, so Lin Li, upholding the attitude of doing good deeds, picked up two cigarette butts, which was considered protecting the environment.
These efforts naturally yielded results.
In the car, Lin Li began to review the results just now.
Returning lost money can satisfy the "Metal" required in the task, and it's not limited to specific money. As long as he resists the temptation to take these valuable things for himself, it counts as undergoing and passing the tempering.
Now the progress bar has gone one-sixth. When handing in the clothes and phone, there was still progress, and the vast majority of the progress was gained at this step.
The higher the value, the faster the progress.
As for those four yuan and fifty cents in coins, it was better than nothing.
In other words, if someone carelessly dropped a hundred million in cash in front of Lin Li, as long as Lin Li returned it, "Metal" could probably be completed instantly.
But this opportunity is probably hard to come by.
Lin Li looked at the task.
The tempering method truly related to the metal element had unsatisfactory completion progress, but the abstract metal progressed rapidly.
Is the reason why the orthodox method is unsatisfactory because, from the perspective of a cultivator, these elemental powers seem too childish for cultivation?
If so, following this logic, will the other four attributes also have abstract but quick ways to complete this task?
"Wood" is already completed, leaving "Water", "Fire", and "Earth".
Then he suddenly took out his phone and opened Naruto.
"I'm going to recharge all forty million into Naruto!"
"Watashi! This is my Will of Fire!"
The task ignored him.
Lin Li played two arena matches and touched the opponent's head, but it was still useless.
Lin Li went to watch some borderline bloggers again.
However, facing the temptation of these sluts, Lin Li clearly relied on his firm Dao heart not to be tempted, but the system's "Fire" was still like the belly of a wife who inherited infertility from her husband—no movement at all.
Forget it, intentionally planting flowers, they don't bloom; unintentionally planting willows, the willow gets pregnant.
This thing probably can't be tested out in a short time.
Because he had acted as a patrol hound back and forth in Pinglu several times, it was almost midnight now. Feeling sleepy, Lin Li went home and immediately fell asleep.
...
The next day, Saturday.
Lin Li was practicing the spiritual energy chapter of the Eight-Section Body Tempering Art at home.
When the last section of the last chapter finished circulating in his body, Lin Li suddenly felt enlightened, a sense of mastery emerging.
[Task 1 has been completed.]
[You have received rewards: Title: Fruit of Perseverance; Physique Improvement: Vitality increased by 100%, Physical Strength increased by 100%; Mid-grade Spirit Stone 5; System Currency 200.]
[Fruit of Perseverance: When equipped, when you focus on a certain matter, your efficiency in this matter will slowly increase. The longer the accumulated focus time on this matter, the greater the increase, and there is no upper limit to this increase. When the title is removed, the accumulated time is not reset.]
Lin Li digested the brief discomfort brought by the vitality increase with a smile on his lips.
It was very brief. Unlike the previous times his vitality increased, Lin Li felt dizzy for less than half a minute before completely recovering his vigorous state.
Now, Lin Li's vitality BUFF had accumulated to a 250% increase.
Taking off the [Light of Xiling] he wore while practicing, Lin Li equipped the new title in the main title slot.
Barring any accidents, this title would permanently occupy his title slot.
And as expected, when the title reward appeared, the 'series' task came to an end, and no new task popped up.
Come to think of it, after all, the "Eight-Section Body Tempering Art" had already been practiced to perfection.
But actually, Lin Li's Eight-Section Body Tempering Art still had a lot that could be practiced, Daoist Shanqing, based on this cultivation method, had supplemented him with content that could take his physical strength to the next level.
Anyway, the habit of getting up early had already been formed. He just needed to continue getting up early in the future. With less mandatory constraints, his schedule could be freer.
He went to the driving school again and logged two hours of driving practice.
With all tasks finished, it was time to prepare for the joy to come today.
Lin Li went home and found a barbershop near his house.
Although it was the weekend, the barbershop was still quiet in the morning, with only one female customer getting her hair done.
"Hello, how much is it for just a wash and blow-dry without a cut?" Lin Li asked the available barber, who looked quite young, like an apprentice.
"15," he answered.
"Are there any level divisions like store manager? I want the best wash and blow-dry, it doesn't matter if it's more expensive," Lin Li pressed.
"There is for wash, cut, and blow-dry, but not for just wash and blow-dry," the middle-aged man who was doing the woman's hair smiled and nodded, "But it's fine, I'm the store manager. It's still 15 yuan. The apprentice will wash it, but I'll blow-dry it for you later."
"Okay, thank you."
"Coming for a wash and blow-dry early in the morning, got a date today?"
When washing hair, barbers always chat a bit, they are all very talkative.
Therefore, for many introverts, compared to blind massage, they need mute haircuts more.
"Yes." But Lin Li naturally wasn't among them, hearing this he smiled and nodded.
Today was indeed a day that needed to be taken seriously from the head down.
"How do you want it blow-dried?" The female customer didn't need any operation at this stage, so after Lin Li finished washing and sat next to her, the store manager immediately walked over.
"I don't really understand this, boss, you decide. See what suits me and do that."
Lin Li said upon hearing this.
"That works too," the boss nodded, twisted Lin Li's head a few times, and then took out a curling iron from the side: "You have a good foundation, you won't look ugly no matter what. How about a seven-part?"
Lin Li frowned upon hearing this: "Isn't a seven-part too mature? I prefer something younger."
Store manager: "?"
What kind of seven-part are you talking about?
Seeing the store manager stunned, Lin Li smiled and said: "Store manager, what I mean is forget about three-part or seven-part, just make it look natural, no need to be too flashy."
"Then I understand, give you some layers?"
"Okay."
...
"It's blow-dried, this should be about right. No deliberate styling, see if you can accept it. If you're satisfied, I'll put some styling product on it and we're done."
The store manager put down the hairdryer, looked at Lin Li in the mirror, and nodded in satisfaction.
Damn, hairstyles really depend on the face model.
Lin Li tilted his head left and right, then smiled:
"Boss, next time I'll bring more people to your shop."
"Hehe," the store manager was very happy to hear this, "Okay, I'll give you a dis…"
Lin Li: "Next time you bring more people too, don't say we bullied you O(∩_∩)O."
Store manager: "[○｀Д○]!?"
(End of Chapter)