4: I want to be a salted fish

Thinking about how she couldn't retire at the age of eighteen and had to go back to high school, Song Yu felt a deep sense of sorrow. She drowned her sorrows in another two bowls of rice.

She also served some food to Song Yaqian, her sister, despite her momentary betrayal. After all, they were both tools of the novel, and how could they act properly on an empty stomach?

Delicious dishes filled the table, including savory bird's nest-stuffed mushrooms and plump chicken, freshly harvested white wood ear fungus stewed with bird's nest and multi-flower honey, as well as spicy and crispy dry pot prawns.

The combination of the fiery red chili peppers and the crispy, slightly sweet prawns left Song Yu almost unable to lift her head.

Putting down her chopsticks, she patted her bloated belly, "Burp~."

Savoring the lingering saltiness in her mouth, Song Yu thought about the days of eating boiled vegetables and tofu in her past life. She couldn't fathom how she had survived so many years like that.

After the meal, it was time to part ways. The Song family, with more than a dozen members from different generations, said their farewells to Grandpa Song and Grandma Song. While the students who were still in school didn't attend, the rest of the family went back to their respective homes.

Though the Song family had not officially separated, during the workweek, everyone would stay closer to their workplaces, except on weekends when they would gather at the ancestral home. Even though Jianghuai City was just a humble 3rd-grade city in Jiangnan Province, it covered an extensive area and was home to a population ten times that of Earth's due to the vast size of the Blue Star.

With an area several times larger than Beijing and a population of over 51 million people, Jianghuai City was significantly more extensive than many small countries in Song Yu's previous life. Unless someone had a contract beast capable of space jumps or a beast capable of rapid flight with passengers, it would take over five hours to travel from the southern part to the northern part of the city by subway.

Grandpa Song had started his career relatively late, but his contract beast's abilities were excellent. His 4th-grade lower-level Lunar Firefly Beetle could not only accurately capture and eliminate pests but also assist in pollinating and enhancing the quality and yield of low-level spiritual plants. Thus, the Song family was famous in Jianghuai City for their cultivation of low-level spiritual plants and the associated health club, which was considered a relatively successful emerging second-tier wealthy family in the city.

However, the Song family was still behind compared to the wealthy old families in Jianghuai City.

At present, only Grandpa Song, a 4th-grade advanced professional tamer, belonged to the Song family, which made them a little less prominent. Fortunately, the Song family had several other professional tamers. Moreover, when selecting contract beasts, all of them prioritized creatures that could help the family's businesses cultivate spiritual plants, resulting in thriving business for the Song family in recent years.

The only thing Grandpa Song couldn't rest easy about so far was that no one among the two younger generations of the Song family had managed to become a 4th-grade advanced professional tamer.

The topic had drifted a bit, but in general, Jianghuai City was too vast.

Song Wenhai and others all needed to manage different family businesses. To make their work more convenient, they all bought houses near their companies.

After saying their farewells to Grandpa Song and Grandma Song, Song Yu followed Song Wenhai and his wife. Grandpa Song patted his granddaughter's shoulder and reminded her, "In three days, do well on the Initial Beast Contracting Day!"

"Okay, Grandpa, I'll definitely do my best!"

Song Yu solemnly received the 3rd-grade advanced energy fruit handed to her by Grandpa Song. The expensive 3rd-grade advanced energy fruit was only the size of a fist, with a gray-white appearance that resembled a solid substance. It was more like a mineral dug from the ground than a fruit. If it hadn't been placed in a transparent crystal box, she would have wanted to knock on it to hear the sound.

However, it was precisely because the energy fruit contained extremely rich energy that even when it was encased in the crystal box, the air inside was visibly distorted due to the intense energy radiation, just like the visible heatwaves on a scorching summer day.

Although the energy fruit was small, it was quite heavy. Moreover, the crystal was naturally heavy, and the original host's body was weakened by the combination of consecutive fevers.

As Song Yu walked towards the parking lot, her wrist, which held the energy fruit gift box, started to feel slightly sore. Song Yu blinked her eyelashes, almost wanting to ask her father to help carry it. But when she saw her sister, Song Yaqian, not too far away, who was talking softly with Song Wenshan but still clutched the 4th-grade crystal spirit fruit tightly, her cheeks blushing and her face filled with excitement...

Song Yu fell silent for a couple of seconds and quietly swallowed the words that had been on the tip of her tongue. She followed her sister's example and clutched the crystal box containing the energy fruit closely. It was as if a little kitten had hugged its beloved big fish—tight and blissful.

After all, it was just acting, right? She, Song Yu, could do this too!

"But... my hand is really getting sore... QQ!"

Song Yu whimpered in her heart, and her gaze wandered involuntarily. But as she looked around, she caught sight of Song's eldest branch, who passed by them.

Song Wenyi, the eldest son of the family, had a son and a daughter. However, since both of his children were older than Song Yu, they had already entered university two years ago.

Perhaps it was because Song Wenyi was exceptionally strict in his daily life, but the harder you push, the stronger the resistance.

Both of his children, Song Guangyi and Song Caiqiong, were not very academically inclined. Additionally, their talents for contract beasts were mediocre, both awakening C-grade contract spaces. On the day of the Initial Beast Contracting, the beasts they contracted were of subpar quality.

So, these two only managed to get into local second-tier universities in Jianghuai City, and they weren't even majoring in professional taming. One studied business administration, and the other studied marketing.

In the original story, neither of them was mentioned by name even once until the very end, making them truly unnoticeable among the insignificant.

As Song Yu thought about this, her wandering gaze turned into envy. She really wanted to be such an unnoticeable character in the novel...

You see, in a society governed by law, ordinary people living in the city are relatively safe. As long as they don't go to the wilderness or the rifts, the vast majority of ordinary people can live a safe life until old age.

"Wow, it's so enviable~" Song Yu sighed in her heart, and her eyes unintentionally revealed some traces of envy.

Luckily, she knew she was acting, so she tried to maintain her composure and not let anyone catch on. But... she was truly, deeply envious!

A life of safety and security, living until old age, among the third generation of a wealthy family. She couldn't help but envy it!

Waaah~ No, she had to endure it, had to hold back! Whimper~!

So.

Five minutes later...

Song Guangyi rubbed his arm, feeling goosebumps. He looked at the silhouette of his third uncle's family driving away.

He unconsciously tugged at his younger sister, Song Caiqiong's arm. "What's going on with Song Yu just now? Did you see her expression? Why do I feel like she's a bit creepy?"

Song Caiqiong withdrew her similarly puzzled gaze, contemplated for a moment, and then frowned slowly, "Maybe... it's provocation?"

"??? Why would she provoke us?" Song Guangyi furrowed his brows, looking at his younger sister with some confusion. He really couldn't understand it.

He hadn't even managed to get into the Tamer profession, so what was there to provoke?

Song Caiqiong thought about her brother's usual style for two seconds.

In a dry tone, she said, "Maybe... it's envy?"

The expression that their cousin, Song Yu, had shown just now was clearly one with furrowed brows, a fierce look in her eyes, and a hint of provocation. Ah?

Especially the way she tightly clutched the crystal box with the energy fruit, her hands trembling with excitement. Her black-and-white eyes were bloodshot as she stared at the two of them, only lifting her chin when she reached Uncle Song Wenhai's car, stepping into the back seat.

Recalling the scene just now, Song Guangyi's face stiffened.

Song Guangyi grumbled, "Damn it! What's wrong with Song Yu? If I hadn't felt so drowsy whenever I tried to study, I would've made it into a prestigious university a long time ago, you know? How can someone with an F-rank Tamer Space look down on someone with a C-rank space? Just because she got a third-grade advanced energy fruit from Grandpa doesn't make her so great!"

But then Song Guangyi realized... She was a little impressive.

A third-grade advanced energy fruit usually helped Contract Beasts save about thirty years of training time, allowing them to reach maturity as soon as possible. With his C-rank Tamer Space, it would take his Contract Beast around six years to catch up with the effects of this fruit.

"Damn it!" Song Guangyi clenched his teeth, and his nose twitched. He grumbled once again, "The source energy inside the Tamer Space is much purer than the energy in the fruit. Contract Beasts that use this kind of drug to get stronger are definitely not my little darling's match!"

 

*****

 

In the back seat of the car, Song Yu was slouched over like a salted fish, completely oblivious to the massive misunderstanding her envious expression had caused.

She placed the crystal box containing the energy fruit on the back seat. Her ears were filled with the cheerful chatter of Song Wenhai and Zhou Fangmei.

They were both pleased that Song Yu had gained her grandfather's favor.

"Little Yu, remember to choose your partner carefully on the Initial Beast Contracting Day. With this third-grade advanced energy fruit, many beast cubs will be willing to form a contract with you," Song Wenhai said with a smile as he drove. "For your first Contract Beast, you can prioritize choosing a Wood, Earth, or Insect-type beast. This way, you'll have a chance to take charge of the family's low-grade spirit plant breeding farm in the future."

Zhou Fangmei, sitting in the passenger seat, added with a smile, "Most importantly, your grandfather and your dad have both chosen beasts from these three categories. After you form a contract with a beast, you can have them help with the teaching."

The skills that Contract Beasts can use are either inherited through bloodline or self-realized. However, Contract Beasts taught by 'predecessors' or 'teachers' are clearly much stronger than those who are self-taught. This is also why Tamer graduates from formal academies tend to be stronger and more formidable than freelance Tamers.

One of the reasons why it's more likely for the next generation of professional Tamers to produce professional Tamers is what Song Wenhai and Zhou Fangmei, the husband and wife, were saying.

They were in a cheerful mood as they talked.

Song Yu, who was sitting in the back seat, noticed that the couple didn't turn around. There was no rearview mirror in the car, so her facial expression relaxed. She gave nonchalant responses like "Mmm, mmm" or pretended to understand and nodded quickly, all without paying attention to whether Song Wenhai and Zhou Fangmei in the front saw her or not.

But as a professional actress, Song Yu's voice and appearance were impeccable.

So even if she lazily lay in the back seat, responding with noncommittal "Mmm, mmm," it still made the listeners feel that she was being very serious.

"Oh, by the way, speaking of which, it was your birthday a while ago, and I didn't have time to buy you a gift," Zhou Fangmei said, as if she had just remembered, turning her head to ask Song Yu, "Is there anything you'd like?"

However, when Zhou Fangmei turned her head, she was taken aback. She saw that her daughter, who used to sit up straight, was now slouched in her seat.

Song Yu, with an equally puzzled expression, said, "…?"

Subconsciously, she followed her mother's gaze and looked at her own posture, and, well, it seemed like there was a small issue.

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