Chapter 288 - 260: Fatty An’s Method
After explaining the situation to Fatty An and their two female classmates, they had their tickets checked and entered the platform a few moments later.
Because they had bought the tickets at the last minute this morning, Mr. and Mrs. Li weren’t in the same car as the group of four.
The high-speed train pulled into the station. This train was the Thunderbolt, a different model from the Thunderbolt they had ridden on previous trips.
They entered the carriage and found their seats. The train had barely started moving when Fatty An pulled a huge pile of snacks out of his Storage Equipment.
Li Qian couldn’t help but laugh as he looked at the snacks piled on the tray table. "No wonder you’ve packed on a few more pounds since we last saw each other this summer. It’d be a miracle if you *didn’t* gain weight, eating like this."
"Heh heh. It’s boring to just sit on the train without something to eat." Fatty An paid no mind to Li Qian’s teasing. As he spoke, he even passed a bag of fries to Li Qian.
Li Qian didn’t stand on ceremony. He took the fries and started eating.
Fatty An repeated the process, offering snacks to Tu Jiaojiao and Li Lanying in the seats next to them.
Oddly enough, Fatty An was in what should have been Tu Jiaojiao’s seat. They had just found their spots, and before Tu Jiaojiao could say anything, Li Lanying made a suggestion. "Let’s us two girls sit together, it’ll be more convenient."
Tu Jiaojiao was about to respond, but Li Lanying quickly made the arrangements herself. "Junjie, why don’t you sit with Li Qian?"
Fatty An was a bit dazed by Li Lanying calling him "Junjie"—a name she had never used before—and subconsciously sat down next to Li Qian.
By the time he came to his senses and realized he had just missed his chance to sit next to Li Lanying, he was inwardly quite frustrated.
But he was already seated. ’It would be even more awkward to get up and move now.’ Thinking this, despite his frustration, he had no choice but to begrudgingly accept the new seating arrangement.
The feeling of frustration didn’t last long, however. He soon put it to the back of his mind.
Once his head cleared, he started to think and quickly figured out Li Lanying’s motive.
’She most likely wanted to prevent Li Qian and Tu Jiaojiao from sitting together.’ This, as it turned out, aligned perfectly with his own objective.
’As for Li Lanying... given that she went out of her way to intern at the Jiaoyang Cultivation Base over the summer, I probably don’t stand a chance with her anyway.’
’Instead of being greedy, I might as well focus my energy on winning over the class president. With a bit of luck, I might finally make some progress.’
Li Qian settled into his window seat and immediately got lost in his thoughts.
He was vaguely aware of the subtle maneuvering between the two girls but didn’t pay it much mind.
He opened the bag of fries, pulled one out, and began to eat, his mind already drifting to his fast-approaching life at the Beast Taming University.
’It’s going to be amazing.’ Just as he was spacing out, the CRUNCH, CRUNCH of Fatty An chewing on shrimp crackers pulled him back.
He glanced over at him and continued his teasing. "If you keep inflating like this, no girl will give you a second look."
While saying this, Li Qian deliberately glanced over at the seats where Tu Jiaojiao and Li Lanying were sitting. The unspoken meaning was very obvious.
Hearing this, Fatty An shook his head helplessly. "Can’t be helped. I just love to eat. Making me diet is more painful than killing me."
"Besides, with my body type, I don’t think dieting alone will be enough," Fatty An said with a good deal of self-awareness.
Li Qian pursed his lips, continuing to tease, "So you’re just going to let yourself go?"
"Not exactly letting myself go. I have my own method," Fatty An said with a sly grin.
Li Qian was a little curious and asked, "What method?"
His words not only piqued Li Qian’s curiosity but also drew the gazes of the two girls.
Seeing this, Fatty An smugly revealed his plan. "For my second Pet Beast, I’m planning to contract a Fighting Element."
"A Fighting Boy, Ninja Frog, or Iron Child?" Li Qian immediately understood Fatty An’s intentions. "You want to use the feedback from a Fighting Element’s evolution to improve your physique?"
Li Qian phrased it as a question, but his tone made it clear he already knew the answer.
"Exactly..." Fatty An admitted readily with a smile on his face.
"That... is indeed a good idea," Li Qian said after a moment of thought.
The feedback from a Pet Beast’s evolution is closely related to the characteristics of the Pet Beast itself.
For example, the evolution of a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon not only improves physical fitness across the board but also provides a certain boost to one’s lifespan.
The reason is simple: Dragon-type Pet Beasts have always been synonymous with longevity.
For example, contracting an Extreme Fierce Sky Escape Eagle would make a Beast Master incredibly agile and light-footed.
And Fighting Element Pet Beasts are generally the type with powerful physiques and developed muscles. Contracting one would have a great effect on improving a Beast Master’s body shape.
Fatty An’s plan was certainly a viable one, but Li Qian was worried. ’With his complete lack of restraint when it comes to eating, contracting just one Fighting Element Pet Beast probably won’t be enough.’
’Unless he can evolve this Fighting Element Pet Beast to the Emperor Level.’
The rest of the journey passed quickly with talk and laughter. By noon, the group had arrived in Yunlan City.
They had a simple lunch in Yunlan City and then went straight to the Transmission Center.
"Oh, right. Does this card get me any discounts?" Li Qian asked when he was at the ticket counter in the Transmission Center, pulling out the VIP card Li Sukuai had given him.
"You get a 20% discount." The ticket agent’s expression showed a flash of surprise when they saw the VIP card, and they answered immediately, their attitude becoming much more respectful.
"Li Qian, what kind of card is that? It gets a 20% discount?" Tu Jiaojiao was also very surprised to see this and couldn’t help but ask.
Li Qian casually explained, "A senior from the Transmission Center gave it to me. I didn’t know what it did either, so I just asked on a whim. I didn’t expect it to actually give a discount."
He wasn’t hiding anything; he really didn’t know about this.
Back then, when Li Sukuai gave him the card, he had only said that he could use the Teleportation Array for free three times a month.
And it was limited to him only. As for the card’s other functions, he hadn’t said, and Li Qian hadn’t asked.
A 20% discount on two tickets would save a good amount of money.
"Thank you. Two tickets to Zhonghai City, please." After thanking the ticket agent, Li Qian bought two tickets.
Meanwhile, at the adjacent counter, Tu Jiaojiao and Li Lanying had already bought their teleportation tickets to Nandu City.
Yunlan City didn’t have a direct Teleportation Array to Shazhou City, so they had to transfer through Nandu City.
Originally, Li Qian had planned to go that way too, but now he had no choice but to transfer through Zhonghai City instead.