Chapter 22: Snacks Part 2

No matter what, the current outcome was good. With him keeping an eye on things, Xiang Ye shouldn’t have to face the events of his previous life again.

Thinking this, Ying Li said, “Let’s go eat dinner. I bought some food to celebrate your awakening as a Guide.”

Today, after watching Xiang Ye enter the Guide Academy, Ying Li had suddenly realized that over the past month or so, he had never given Xiang Ye any snacks.

He himself didn’t like snacks and thought they weren’t cost-effective, so it had never occurred to him to buy any. But Xiang Ye had never eaten snacks before; he probably would like them.

The Upper City District had a wide variety of snacks. The names were often things like “Braised Pork,” “Sweet and Sour Spareribs,” “Fruit Cocktail,” and so on. But none of the ingredients had anything to do with the names.

“Braised Pork” was artificial meat; “Fruit Cocktail” had not a single piece of real fruit in it.

This was also why he didn’t like eating them. As a Sentinel, his sense of taste was sharp. When he ate those snacks, all he could taste were the seasonings.

Ying Li brought out the popular snacks he’d bought and also took out a quarter of a chicken, chopping it into pieces and stewing it together with water chestnuts.

“Mr. Ying, let me cook,” Xiang Ye said.

Ying Li replied, “It’s already done. You can rest.” He didn’t plan on making a complicated dish. Stewing it all in one pot was fine.

Watching Ying Li’s actions, Xiang Ye wanted more and more to become Ying Li’s Guide.

He wasn’t even Ying Li’s Guide yet, and Ying Li was already this good to him. If someday he truly became Ying Li’s Guide…

The pursuit had not yet succeeded; Xiang Ye still needed to work hard!

While looking at Ying Li, Xiang Ye opened a pack of snacks.

A wonderful flavor spread over his tongue. Xiang Ye’s eyes flew open wide; he almost couldn’t bear to swallow the food in his mouth.

This snack was way too delicious!

Ying Li had always praised his cooking skills, so he had thought his food was really good. But compared to these snacks, he felt his cooking was very ordinary.

As for the water chestnuts and white fruit, they were a completely different kind of flavor from the snacks. The former was delicious for its natural taste; the latter, for its seasonings.

“Mr. Ying, hurry and try some! This stuff is especially good!” Xiang Ye offered a piece of “Braised Pork” to Ying Li.

Ying Li said, “I don’t like them.”

Xiang Ye stared at Ying Li in disbelief.

Ying Li hadn’t wanted to spoil his fun, but seeing Xiang Ye on the verge of being completely captivated by the snacks, he pulled up a video showing how the snacks were made. “What you’re eating is nothing but technological wizardry and chemical additives.”

After a moment of silence, Xiang Ye finally said, “Even if it’s just technological wizardry and chemical additives, it’s still delicious.”

In truth, that first bite of the snack really was only amazing for a moment, but he still liked it very much.

As for the technological wizardry… he didn’t mind.

No, perhaps he should mind a little. Eating too many snacks might affect his development.

Today had been an incredibly wonderful day for Xiang Ye.

His identity information had been changed to Guide, and he had even eaten all sorts of snacks that he’d never tasted before.

From now on, his life would certainly get better and better.

Xiang Ye was very happy. Wu Nian, on the other hand, was not.

Today had been an awful day for Wu Nian.

After previously coming to find Ying Li only to miss him, but inadvertently meeting Yang Jianghai instead, Wu Nian’s days had become much easier.

On the very first day, Yang Jianghai had treated him to a meal and taken him to buy clothes. Upon learning that Wu Nian was short on funds, he’d even arranged for meals to be delivered to him every day.

His standard of living had shot straight up.

Spending each day eating, drinking, and having fun with Yang Jianghai, Wu Nian’s mood grew better and better. At the same time, he inwardly grumbled about Ying Li.

Ying Li really had no sense of romance. Even when he accompanied him to have fun, it was for a day or two at most.

Yang Jianghai was different! He’d been keeping him company for over a week now!

This was the way a Sentinel should pursue a Guide!

Today, Yang Jianghai invited Wu Nian to do an escape room again.

The two of them had a lot of fun. After playing, they ate a dinner, and then Yang Jianghai took Wu Nian to a hotel.

Only then did Wu Nian realize something was off. Guardedly, he asked, “What do you want?”

Yang Jianghai smiled. “You give me a mental calming session, and then we’ll spend a wonderful night together.”

He’d been curious about the Guide who had rejected Ying Li, so he’d made contact. He hadn’t expected this Guide to be so easy to pursue.

Now that he’d spent a lot of money, it was time to enjoy the fruits of his efforts.

Yang Jianghai was a C-Rank Sentinel. Having Wu Nian give him mental calming wouldn’t be very effective, but it would still be somewhat useful. During the process, with some kissing and cuddling, things would naturally progress from there.

To Yang Jianghai, this was a familiar routine.

In the Upper City District, it was common for people to hit it off and immediately go get a room. The overly stifling environment caused many to seek excitement through indulgence.

Over the past two years, Yang Jianghai had dated more people than he could count on one hand.

Wu Nian was no young innocent; he naturally understood what Yang Jianghai meant. He immediately grew annoyed. “You’ve got some nerve! We’ve only known each other for a few days!”

Seeing Yang Jianghai’s expression darken, Wu Nian added, “Doing a mental calming session is fine. We can do it at the Guidance Center. I’m not going to a hotel. I’m not that kind of casual person.”

He was merely enjoying Yang Jianghai’s pursuit; he had no intention of being with him.

The one he liked was Yu Mingwei.

Yang Jianghai was beneath him.

Yang Jianghai stared at Wu Nian in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I’m serious. I’m saving my first time for after marriage.”

Yang Jianghai stared at Wu Nian for a moment. When he realized Wu Nian wasn’t lying, he was both amused and angry. “I’ve spent tens of thousands of credit points on you these past few days! Hiring someone for mental calming wouldn’t cost nearly this much!”

“What Sentinel doesn’t spend money when pursuing a Guide?” Wu Nian frowned. The gifts that the Guides he knew in the Central District received from Sentinels were each more expensive than the last. The money Yang Jianghai had spent treating him to meals and buying him clothes was only about on par with what Ying Li had spent on him. It was truly nothing much.

Although Yang Jianghai was pursuing Wu Nian, he had never once thought about marrying him.

Wu Nian was only D-Rank, while he himself would be able to rise to B-Rank someday.

He only wanted a casual relationship. He’d assumed it was an unspoken mutual understanding — he wanted sex, Wu Nian wanted money. He hadn’t expected Wu Nian not to see it that way at all.

Though Yang Jianghai had money, he didn’t have a lot on hand.

Unlike Ying Li, who went out of the city to hunt, he just worked an ordinary job in the city and could only earn thirty thousand credit points a month.

Even with his parents giving him an additional twenty thousand, he only had fifty thousand to spend each month. Of course, this was all pocket money; his parents provided his lodging and food.

Yang Jianghai had always been a big spender, and he’d never stopped dating. So he had little in savings, and his money for this month was all spent on Wu Nian.

Originally, he’d planned that after Wu Nian officially became his boyfriend, he’d request a relationship fund from his parents for their expenses. But then Wu Nian reacted like this.

He was out of money. He was done playing!

After all, he was a young Sentinel with some standing in the Upper City District. Yang Jianghai didn’t do anything extreme. He glanced at Wu Nian and said, “Looks like I was unlucky and got conned by you. Let’s not contact each other again!”

No wonder Ying Li hadn’t put in more effort after being rejected. Looking at it now, Ying Li had cut his losses in time!

Yang Jianghai turned and left.

Wu Nian, however, was infuriated by Yang Jianghai’s words. How had he conned Yang Jianghai out of money? Yang Jianghai hadn’t given him a single credit point — he’d just treated him to meals and bought him a few clothes!

These Upper City District Sentinels were truly one stingier than the next!

Yang Jianghai would regret treating him like this in the future. He was a rare growth-type Guide. If he lived long enough, he might even become an A-Rank Guide someday.

Wu Nian had great confidence in himself. It wouldn’t be long before he advanced to C-Rank!

Regardless of what he thought in his heart, Wu Nian was broke again!

That wasn’t all. Just as he got home and was thinking about venting online about Yang Jianghai, he suddenly received a call from his mother asking why he hadn’t paid the support money.

For a moment, he didn’t follow. Only after going over the accounts with his mother did he remember that when he was in school, Ying Li had been giving his mother a thousand credit points a month.

He recalled that, in his previous life, Ying Li had even raised the support money to two thousand at this time.

To him, this amount of money was beneath his notice. But for people in the Upper City District, an extra thousand credit points a month could make life a lot easier.

If they didn’t go after those high-end foods produced in the Ecological Zone, that thousand could buy a huge pile of artificial meat — enough to eat it at every meal!

Wu Nian’s mother had contacted Wu Nian precisely to get this one thousand credit points.

She was an ordinary person, and her current husband was an ordinary person too. Their combined income for a month was only about six or seven thousand. Naturally, she couldn’t bear to lose this extra one thousand a month.

But Wu Nian had no money.

When Wu Nian’s mother learned that Wu Nian had rejected Ying Li, she immediately started complaining, saying that Wu Nian had a good life but just had to ruin it.

In a fit of anger, Wu Nian hung up the phone. He felt awful and began longing for Yu Mingwei again.

Why hadn’t Yu Mingwei come to the Upper City District yet?

Yu Mingwei was, in fact, planning to make a trip to the Upper City District.

For young masters like them, living in the Central District and wanting for nothing, life sometimes felt very boring and they wanted to seek some excitement.

One of the thrills they often sought was heading to the Upper City District for romantic conquests.

The people of the Upper City District were full of illusions about the Central District and, one and all, they were poor. When they went to the Upper City District for a fling, they struck gold almost every time.

And there was no worry about messy aftermaths. Once they’d had their fun, they could dust their hands off and return to the Central District.

One of Yu Mingwei’s good friends was currently recounting his own experiences. “Back then, I had my eye on a Guide who’d already established a mental bond with someone else. After a period of pursuit, she fell for me. The look on that cuckolded Sentinel’s face was absolutely priceless.”

“Last time, I hooked up with a Sentinel in the Upper City District. It was particularly thrilling.”

“Old Yu, what kind are you planning to find?”

…

Yu Mingwei smiled. “At the very least, someone pleasing to the eye, right?”

Ying Li knew nothing of these matters.

This time, he planned to rest in the city for ten days while also teaching Luo Qiming and the others some combat techniques.

Sentinels had corrosive energy within their bodies and powerful mental power at their disposal. The combination of the two allowed Sentinels to unleash formidable combat strength.

But maximizing that required technique.

Even when Sentinels in the Upper City District found a teacher, what was taught was very little. Most learned by groping in the dark through actual combat.

The Central District, however, was different.

The Sentinels in the Central District had developed numerous combat techniques that could fully realize a Sentinel’s power. They’d also researched training methods that could maximize a Sentinel’s potential.

Ying Li knew all of these.