Chapter 12
Not only the butler but also Nemo’s tutor, Hogg, noticed the change in the cub. Hogg, a renowned scholar demon, was a cat in his true form, weak in combat but rich in knowledge. He was famous for attending university lectures worldwide in his cat form, earning him the nickname “Scholar Cat” in human news reports.
Lured by the Luna family’s generous offer of dried fish, Hogg dedicated three days a week to tutoring Nemo. To his disappointment, Nemo had shown little interest in learning—until today.
“Look, what did I draw? Can you say it?” Hogg employed a picture-guessing game to engage the cub.
“A-Ap…ple,” Sootball said, studying the simple drawing.
“Excellent! Correct! Now, it’s your turn to draw, and I’ll guess,” Hogg was delighted by the cub’s participation, almost tempted to call the Oni couple about a potential bonus.
Nemo, however, took a long time to draw. Hogg, curious, looked at the drawing. It was a stick figure with black hair, black eyes, a smiling mouth, and what seemed like a shirt.
“Cheep cheep.” Sootball looked up at Hogg, prompting him to guess.
“Um, this… we were learning about fruits, weren’t we? This isn’t a fruit. Is it a human?” Hogg was stumped.
“Cheep~” Sootball wagged its tail, indicating he was both right and wrong.
Seeing Hogg’s confusion, it finally revealed the answer:
“A-A-A-Ran!” The repeated “A” sounds had Hogg reaching for a tissue, thinking the cub was about to sneeze.
What was an “ARAN”?
Despite his curiosity, Sootball had retreated into its own world, drawing a golden tree and a black sootball with a moon bib, holding hands with A-Ran.
“…” Hogg frowned, intrigued. Was that a human’s name? Perhaps he should report this to the Oni couple.
Lin Ran, offline, was unaware of these events. He slept soundly until his grandmother woke him. “Lin-zai! A tree in the orchard seems to be damaged…”
A damaged tree? Lin Ran quickly got dressed and rushed to the orchard. Pest infestations could be disastrous.
“Golden fruits?” Standing before the tree, he felt a strange sense of familiarity. It was the same tree he had planted in “Demon World”! Had it appeared in reality too?
“Lin-zai—! Where are you? I’ve been looking for you. Why are you at the orchard so early?” Jiang Jie called out excitedly.
“A-Jie? Why are you here so early? It’s not time to sell peaches yet…” Lin Ran asked, but Jiang Jie interrupted him.
“We’re famous! Online! Someone filmed us selling peaches, and the video went viral! People are asking where to buy them!” He showed Lin Ran the video on his phone.
The comments section was overflowing:
[Wow, even peach sellers are competing on looks now? I shouldn’t browse short videos during summer break. This is my first love!]
[Is this staged? Where did they find these actors? But I admit, those peaches look delicious.]
[Definitely a peach advertisement. (lol, you can’t fool me)]
Amid the speculation about whether it was an ad, someone who knew Lin Ran appeared:
[This isn’t an ad! This is our senior from S University! He’s even more handsome in person! Why didn’t you tell us you were selling peaches, senpai?! I love peaches!]
This comment fueled the fire. Handsome and an S University student?! What flaw did this guy even have? Not being friends with us netizens?! TwT
“Lin-zai, what if we do what they say and sell peaches online? We wouldn’t have to haul them to the market anymore!” Jiang Jie excitedly discussed the possibility of livestreaming.
Lin Ran, looking at the video, was also tempted. Livestreaming was like e-commerce.
“Maybe. But we need a plan and equipment.”
“But today, we should still deliver the peaches for those two orders.”
Lin Ran put down his phone, feeling optimistic about this year’s peach sales.
“Let’s go!” Jiang Jie chimed in enthusiastically.
To Lin Ran’s surprise, Shao Zi Jue didn’t appear, sending a text saying he had an urgent matter and would send his driver to collect the peaches. As expected, a van arrived, and several men in black quickly loaded the peaches.
“The boss said to keep the change,” the man in charge said curtly, paying and leaving.
[Alipay received 10,000 yuan—]
Lin Ran and Jiang Jie stared at the notification, stunned. 10,000 yuan!?
“Lin-zai, that guy is loaded! What does his family do?” Jiang Jie had never encountered such casual wealth. It was like meeting a real-life God of Wealth.
“Who knows?” Lin Ran looked at the departing van, wondering if this was also a result of the Moon Goddess Halo. But with this money, they could buy the equipment for livestreaming. That way, even when he was at school, his grandparents could do some livestreaming with the help of the village officials. It was much better than hauling produce to the market.
Just as Shao Zi Jue’s men left, Mr. Lei Hong arrived.
“Young man, those peaches yesterday were even better. Let’s finalize the contract at the school today. Come with me to the office,” he said, inviting them to follow him.
Lin Ran and Jiang Jie readily agreed.
“Wow, this school is fancy, Lin-zai. I could never have gotten in here. Now I’m here because of selling peaches,” Jiang Jie said, looking around the campus.
Lu City Foreign Language School, though a high school, was more luxurious than many universities. Many of its students went abroad after graduation, and their families were often wealthy. Rumor had it that one student received a horse and a stable for their birthday.
“Uncle Lei, everyone seems busy today. Is there an event?” Lin Ran noticed the staff setting up something, hurrying around.
“Oh, I heard an important person is visiting Lu Province to pay respects to their ancestors. Their foundation has donated a lot to education, so they’re visiting our school. Of course, the school leaders are hoping for more donations,” Mr. Lei Hong explained.
Strangely, the visit had been canceled but was reinstated last night.
“Anyway, let’s hurry and avoid them.” He sped up, leading them to the purchasing department’s office.
The usually smooth procurement process hit a snag.
“Are you sure these local peaches aren’t injected with something to make them so sweet? Imported fruits are safer. Lei Hong, is this your relative?” a thin-faced director asked, looking at Lin Ran and Jiang Jie dismissively.
Mr. Lei Hong felt insulted. “Director Lu, are you accusing me of taking kickbacks? I’ve been working here for decades, and I’ve never taken a single bribe!”
“And are foreign peaches necessarily better than domestic ones? These are delicious and affordable…”
Lin Ran and Jiang Jie, overhearing the argument, felt disappointed. Lu Wai was a local school; a partnership would be a stable, long-term order. But there were too many uncontrollable factors.
Mr. Lei Hong came out, looking apologetic. “Could you leave these samples today? We’ll notify you about the procurement decision in a few weeks… Director Lu and I have some disagreements, and he happened to be on duty today.”
“It’s okay, Uncle. Some things are beyond our control,” Lin Ran reassured him, stopping Jiang Jie from complaining. This made Mr. Lei Hong feel even more guilty.
Half an hour later, as they left through the side gate, they passed several black cars entering the main gate. Lin Ran glanced at them, thinking he was hallucinating. He thought he saw a flickering black flame beside a man in the back seat of one of the cars.
Strange things were happening to him more and more frequently.
Abyss, in the car, had no idea he had just passed Lin Ran. He was patiently waiting for Shao Mian to finish reading a document.
Shao Mian, in his human form, had chiseled features and golden hair, exuding an aura of power and authority. He sat in the back seat, his long legs crossed, the air around him heavy with an unspoken dominance.
The only sound was the rustling of paper. Officially, this trip to Lu Province was to pay respects to his ancestors. In reality, it was to inspect an ancient seal. The official documents were to cooperate with the human Special Affairs Bureau and avoid causing panic.
Shao Mian’s gaze fell on the peaches Abyss was holding with his fiery tail. “Who bought these for you? Shao Zi Jue?”
“No, I bought them myself. Here, have one. And do you really not need me to disinfect your wound today?” Abyss replied, offering Shao Mian a peach. As an abyssal flame sprite, he could cauterize wounds and suppress demonic energy corruption. He had assumed Shao Mian would be staying in “Demon World” to recover.
“No, someone bandaged it for me,” Shao Mian said, holding the peach, a hint of surprise in his voice. The wound, treated by that young human, was actually improving. Could he be an NPC in “Demon World” with hidden abilities, generated in his territory? He frowned, pondering.
No demon understood the nature or mechanics of “Demon World.” They only knew it was a space created for them.
“Well, that’s strange. But you’re losing hair again. With your light hair color, you’ll really go bald…” Abyss noticed a few golden strands of hair on Shao Mian’s clothes. The human and beast forms were connected, meaning the wound wasn’t healing well.
The next moment, a golden tail snatched the hair and incinerated it.
“Impossible,” Shao Mian scoffed, remembering the human praising his beautiful fur and petting it repeatedly. If he was really going bald, the human wouldn’t have been so enamored.
[Proud Lion.jpg]
“Achoo—” Lin Ran sneezed.
Back home, he opened “Demon World” to check on Sootball and complete his daily tasks. To his surprise, he and Sootball found a new fluffy creature in the forest: a sleek, injured black wolf cub.
After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to bandage it and release it back into the forest. If it wandered deeper, it might stray into the lion’s territory.
“Besides, these are ‘free’ fluffy creatures I don’t have to spend coins on,” he thought. OwO
As a free-to-play player, he was grateful for “Demon World’s” generosity. So far, apart from Sootball, all the other creatures had been free.
“Cheep.” Sootball, perched on his shoulder, tilted its head. It knew it wasn’t a free fluffy creature.
