The certificate rustled loudly as the owner shook it, practically brushing Bai Ruonian’s nose. “See it now? Collection Permit, from the Senate.”
The shop owner’s spittle nearly flew out, his tone smug. Now that he had brought out the Senate, there was no way this omega wouldn’t know his place.
Collection Permit, collecting?
How could they collect something that couldn’t even be cultivated?
Bai Ruonian hesitated, but the onlooking crowd, catching sight of that prominent Senate steel seal, lowered their murmuring. That seal represented official endorsement, a lifeline of hope grasped in despair.
Hope—how could it be easily questioned?
How could one question hope?
“Seems… it’s real…” someone in the crowd said.
Proving the ingredients, like a Compatibility Rate test, required professional means. Yet a piece of paper stamped with the Senate’s grand seal had now, at this moment, become the most weighty piece of “evidence.”
But clearly, no one believed Bai Ruonian anymore.
“Just a troublemaker.”
“The seller’s definitely been set up by corporate rivals.”
The crowd surged even more intensely. Bai Ruonian was jostled and stumbled. The young woman pulled him. “Let’s go, it’s pointless. They won’t listen.”
Bai Ruonian’s azure eyes blinked, but he shook his head. Twisting his body, he plunged back into the crowd, squeezing and squeezing until he finally returned before the shop owner. He lifted his face and once again held up his Terminal.
“Your words are useless. I want it tested.”
“Fine, one million Star Coins for troublemakers.” The owner sneered. “You testing or not?”
Old Cao seemed to have made up his mind. “Little Bai, one million Star Coins… they’re doing it on purpose. Uncle Cao won’t buy it anymore. Uncle Cao believes you. Let’s go back…”
Bai Ruonian looked at his Terminal, then at the medicine, his blue eyes shimmering. However, before Old Cao could finish, Bai Ruonian’s decisive voice rang out.
“Test it!”
The little omega didn’t even blink, throwing money around like it was nothing. His sharp little chin tilted up, utterly without hesitation.
One million Star Coins.
He was Master’s cat. It was only right for Master to spend money on him.
And Master had told him to spend it.
Why couldn’t he spend it!!
The plan had been to use the one million Star Coins to put this little omega in a tough spot, but they never expected he actually had that much money.
The owner was now put on the spot and was the one left dumbfounded instead.
“What’s wrong? Not selling it anymore?” Bai Ruonian blinked.
Everyone’s eyes were on him now. Not selling at this moment would seem like guilt.
So the owner forced a smile onto his face and grit his teeth. “Fine, I’ll sell it to you.”
He truly didn’t believe any place would dare test it, not with the Senate’s endorsement.
Bai Ruonian stood on his tiptoes, handed over the Terminal. Ding! One million was swiped away.
Sirius Star, 10th Division Military Command Center.
Ding! A similar sound rang out.
Lu Mingjin’s Terminal chimed crisply.
“1,000,000 Star Coins. Supplementary card.”
Song Hanshan, who had been reporting work, choked on his words.
This…
It was truly unimaginable. That little omega looked so innocent, but he certainly didn’t hold back when spending money.
Looking over at Lu Mingjin, he saw an expression that was utterly unsurprised, calm and unruffled, as if this was nothing out of the ordinary.
Ah?
So easily accepted?
It took Song Hanshan a long while to finally accept the fact: pretty omegas were gold-devouring beasts.
Lu Mingjin flatly glanced at Song Hanshan, who was reporting at the side, and uttered two words.
“Continue.”
It wasn’t a large sum of money, though this little omega’s greedy nature was being exposed a bit too quickly.
He had just called asking for Blue Snowflake, and now he had spent one million.
Right after, the Terminal rang again. It was still Bai Ruonian.
Song Hanshan had been about to continue his report but now found himself stuck, unable to proceed or retreat. This omega had so many demands.
Lu Mingjin glanced at him and took the call.
For an omega like this, giving a little reward was necessary. But recently, this little omega was revealing his true colors more and more.
The voice on the other end still spoke with drawn-out tones, the articulation soft and a bit unclear. The background noise there was also noisy. Lu Mingjin furrowed his brows.
Shielding his Terminal, hugging his newly purchased item, Bai Ruonian spoke carefully.
“Um… Hubby… could you do me a favor?”
The moment the word “Hubby” came out, Lu Mingjin, for some reason, suddenly lost his irritation. He rubbed his brow. “Say it.”
Cautiously, picking up on the tone from the other end, Bai Ruonian suddenly got cold feet.
“Are you busy? Should I ask Ji Shiyu instead?”
Lu Mingjin’s expression froze for a second, then his eyebrow arched up.
“What kind of favor requires you to go find him?”
He’d just called him Hubby, and now in the next breath he was turning to find another Alpha—was that intentional or just careless?
And also, wasn’t Bai Ruonian supposed to be at the Medical Research Department right now?
“Where are you right now?”
A rustling sound came from the other end for a moment. Bai Ruonian shielded his Terminal, pretending not to hear. “I, I, I…”
Oh no.
He had snuck out to go shopping by himself, and Master probably still thought he was at the hospital.
“Ah… that…”
Bai Ruonian hemmed and hawed.
The background noise was noisy with voices.
After the previous episode, everyone was watching Bai Ruonian’s every move, especially the shop owner. He had originally intended to have people watch him closely, but instead of seeing him go find a testing facility, he saw him making a phone call by the roadside.
The looks cast his way held no goodwill. The shop owner scoffed: “Putting on an act! Let’s see who you can find to test it!”
The young woman beside him opened her mouth, but in the end changed her mind and decided not to meddle further. Just then, she noticed two old men not far away.
Her eyes widened.
“Chancellor… Dean…”
The two old men headed straight for Bai Ruonian, but then they saw Bai Ruonian take out that small, exquisite Terminal and stopped in their tracks.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was thinking that if it came down to it, we could let him use our academy’s laboratory. But it seems that won’t be necessary.”
“Why?”
“That’s a Military Command Terminal.”
Lu Mingjin heard the noisy background sounds from Bai Ruonian’s side and instantly understood. “You snuck out?”
Bai Ruonian shielded the Terminal. “No…”
“Your spending record shows Central Avenue, Commercial District. You spent one million.”
Now Bai Ruonian was completely in the wrong. In fact, he had already organized his words, but then Master unceremoniously nailed him with one sentence. Since his language system wasn’t yet proficient, he instantly forgot what he was going to say.
Over on the other end, the caller was still somewhat patient, not hanging up, waiting for him to stammer out the rest.
“On my way back, I ran into some counterfeit medicine sellers, insisting it had Blue Snowflake in it. Blue Snowflake is so rare—I thought he was scamming people… I heard Ji Shiyu has testing equipment there… but I just fought with him…”
Bai Ruonian beat around the bush on his end, and Lu Mingjin understood what he meant. “I have the means to test it here too.”
More precisely, he had plenty of means.
He didn’t particularly like Bai Ruonian bringing up another person every other sentence with him.
Bai Ruonian’s eyes brightened a little. He was still organizing his words. He and Master weren’t that familiar with each other—how should he ask… Just as he was struggling, the voice on the Terminal continued, “Where exactly are you? I’ll send someone to pick up the sample.”
“Seventh Avenue…”
Bai Ruonian continued, very embarrassed, “They wouldn’t just give me the sample… they forced me to buy it. So I used your Terminal and spent 1,000,000 Star Coins.”
Lu Mingjin’s eyes darkened. He understood what was going on now. He had originally thought this omega was astute, but now it seemed he wasn’t astute at all—just a little foolish.
“Wait there.”
