DING DONG.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
Lin Li got up, walked to the entryway, and opened the door. It was the delivery guy.
"Here’s your package, sir."
"Thanks."
After signing for the package, Lin Li carried the small parcel into the living room. He took a pair of scissors from a cabinet, opened the packaging, and found several packets of strawberry seeds inside.
’The strawberry seeds I ordered online finally arrived. I’ll head to the Mysterious Small Island later and get these planted.’
Lin Li stored the strawberry seeds in the Mysterious Small Island, then went to the balcony to put away the barbecue grill.
He took the grill to the kitchen, cleaned it meticulously, and put it away. Once he was done with the cleanup, Lin Li sat down in the living room and watched the morning news for a bit.
Even though the Exotic Beast Group moving toward the city yesterday had been eliminated by a joint force of Investigators and Exotic Beast Hunters, neutralizing the threat, the relevant authorities were still blocking the roads leading to the South District Suburbs, preventing ordinary people from approaching.
There was no definite news yet on when the blockade would be lifted.
Of course, while the roads were blocked, Exotic Beast Hunters with the proper credentials were still allowed to pass.
The main reason for blocking the roads was to prevent ordinary people from entering the zone where the battle had taken place.
After yesterday’s battle, all traces of Mutant Beasts had vanished from a several-kilometer radius. But this didn’t mean the area was completely safe and that anyone could just wander in.
Past incidents had shown that humans were masters of courting death, especially ordinary people who liked to show off.
If they let ordinary people freely enter the battle zone now, some would surely wander off and end up deep in the wilderness.
Out of safety concerns, the various relevant departments held a meeting last night and unanimously decided to keep the roads to the battle zone blocked for some time.
Just as Lin Li finished watching the news about the road closures and was preparing to enter the Mysterious Small Island to plant the seeds he’d just received, his phone rang. The caller was Liu Jialin.
"Lin Li, the case on Tie Qiu Heng’s prison break is closed.
"The guys who helped him escape are all behind bars, and you can come over to our place to collect your reward money now." Liu Jialin told Lin Li the good news as she carried her water cup back to her workstation.
"Okay, I’ll head over to collect it." Lin Li was pretty happy to hear there was a reward to collect. Even though he’d made a lot of money recently, who would complain about having too much?
After hanging up, Lin Li immediately went to his bedroom, changed his clothes, and then headed out to the Superpower Administration Bureau to collect his reward money.
From what he learned from Liu Jialin, he would be able to collect a reward of two hundred thousand.
...
「Rongxi Primary School.」
Today was the first day of school. Su Yue wore light makeup, a well-fitting white blouse, and a tight black pencil skirt.
Her long, slender, well-proportioned legs gleamed in the sunlight. On her feet was a pair of black high heels—the standard "office lady" uniform.
Su Yue rode her little white "Lamb" electric scooter to school. After parking it, she emerged from the covered parking area, instantly drawing countless gazes.
"Good morning, Teacher Su." Students politely greeted the beautiful music teacher. Aside from a few new first-years, almost every teacher and student at the school knew who Su Yue was.
"Good morning," Su Yue replied with a smile, then headed toward the teachers’ office.
Although it was still a while before classes began, the teachers had all arrived at the office early to wait.
’She’s not here yet?’ some of the young, single male teachers in the office muttered under their breath, their faces full of anticipation.
Seeing them like this, the female teachers didn’t even have to guess who they were so eagerly anticipating.
Soon, a beautiful and charismatic figure walked into the teachers’ office.
"Teacher Su!" Seeing the beautiful woman they had been so eagerly awaiting, the young male teachers’ eyes lit up. Beaming, they practically fell over each other to greet her warmly.
"Good morning, everyone!" Su Yue replied to her enthusiastic colleagues with a smile, placing a large bag she was carrying on her desk.
She then took the gifts out of the bag and began distributing them to her colleagues.
"Thank you." A female language teacher at the neighboring desk, who was about Su Yue’s age, accepted the souvenir and thanked her before remarking in surprise.
"Su Yue, these souvenirs you brought back for us from Qiong City... they must have been expensive! You really shouldn’t have spent so much."
"They were reasonably priced! As long as everyone likes them..." Su Yue said with a smile.
In a TV drama, a beautiful teacher like Su Yue, adored by all the young male teachers, would inevitably be the target of jealousy and ostracism from her female colleagues.
But reality was different. Although a crowd of young male teachers fawned over Su Yue, the other women in the office showed no dissatisfaction. On the contrary, they were quite close to her.
This was largely due to Su Yue’s poised and generous nature, not to mention her personal charm, which was so irresistible it won over men and women alike.
Furthermore, in her years of teaching at the school, Su Yue had become a role model that many young female teachers sought to emulate.
After all, what woman wouldn’t want to be as beautiful and outstanding as Su Yue?
"Su Yue, the grade-level head just posted in the group chat," said the language teacher at the next desk. "Since it’s the first day of the semester, everyone’s going out for a group dinner after work..."
Su Yue nodded with a smile, then turned to her colleague. "Wang Jiao, didn’t you say before summer break that you were going to work on losing weight? I feel like your face has gotten even rounder."
The language teacher at the next desk was nowhere near as beautiful as Su Yue, but she was cute, with a slightly plump figure.
Hearing Su Yue mention her summer weight-loss plan, she scratched her cheek in embarrassment.
"I did keep up with my exercises every day, but the best-laid plans often go awry.
"Over the summer break, I don’t know what got into my mom, but she started following videos from food bloggers every day and learning how to cook all sorts of new dishes.
"It would’ve been fine if her cooking was bad, but... well, you know me. I have zero resistance to delicious food. I just ate and ate every day, and I actually ended up a few pounds heavier than before the break."
"You really have to watch what you eat to lose weight! And be consistent with your exercise. For example, I’ve cut back on milk tea and desserts, and I make sure to set aside time for aerobics and yoga every day..." Su Yue said.
Wang Jiao glanced at Su Yue’s impossibly perfect figure and said with unconcealed envy,
"From the time we met a few years ago until now, your figure has only gotten better. It’s truly enviable."
"It’s alright! I don’t feel like it’s changed much," Su Yue said humbly.
Time flew by as they chatted and laughed, and soon it was time for the first class of the new semester to begin.
Teachers grabbed their materials and began leaving the office one after another.
After the bell rang for class to start, only a few people remained in the office.
Su Yue tidied up her desk. With nothing to do for the moment, she picked up her phone and sent a message to Lin Li.
"I’m at school now. Are you up yet?"
"I’m up," Lin Li replied concisely. He had just left his house and was on his way to the Superpower Administration Bureau to collect his reward when he saw her message.
"Wow, you didn’t sleep in today. That’s a rare sight..." Su Yue typed after seeing his reply.
"I was planning on it, but I woke up starving and had to get out of bed."
"What did you have for breakfast?"
"Grilled beef skewers."
"..." Su Yue stared at the message from Lin Li, momentarily speechless.
"You had grilled beef skewers for breakfast first thing in the morning?!!!"
"Hey, I was hungry! Nothing else is filling enough, so I had beef skewers!"
The two chatted idly. By the time Lin Li reached his parked van, Su Yue had to get busy, so they ended their conversation.
He tucked his phone back into his pocket, opened the door of his van, and got into the driver’s seat. Lin Li started the engine and began the leisurely drive to the Superpower Administration Bureau.
...