Chapter 138: Marriage and Childbirth Are to Perpetuate Humanity’s Ember
A day of training came to an end.
Lin Yi returned home.
The moment he walked through the door, the aroma of cooked food wafted out.
Lin Yi’s eyes lit up. He quickly changed his shoes and headed for the kitchen.
"Sister Qingru, did you bring home more Demon Beast Meat today?"
Smelling the familiar meaty aroma,
Lin Yi now knew what was on the menu without even needing a taste.
It seemed Tang Qinru herself had only just gotten back a short while ago.
She was currently dishing the food onto a plate.
Hearing him, Tang Qinru glanced back at Lin Yi.
"It’s fresh out of the pan. Go wash your hands and get ready to eat!"
"Okay!"
Lin Yi nodded with a smile.
After disappearing for a week, Tang Qinru was finally home.
Although he didn’t intentionally ask about the progress of her work,
Tang Qinru had mentioned a few things, intentionally or not, during their casual chats.
It seemed a new medicinal pill she was developing had yet to succeed.
They were missing two ingredients...
When it came to pill refinement, Lin Yi couldn’t be of any help.
He had no interest in it himself.
Besides, he had heard from Chu Zhengxiong and Qin Zhaoxue before.
Both physicians and Pharmacists had ranks.
Even Spirit Chefs were the same.
Rank 1 was the lowest, and Rank 8 was the highest.
Above Rank 8, there were several even higher realms.
And now, Tang Qinru held two professions, physician and Pharmacist.
She could treat people’s illnesses and refine medicine, and her rank had already reached the 8th-rank level.
Let alone in the Old District, even in the New District, that was considered extremely high.
A new medicine that even an 8th-rank physician and Pharmacist couldn’t successfully refine... For him to want to help? ’Wouldn’t that be like teaching a fish to swim?’
So, when it came to her work, Lin Yi chose to keep his mouth shut.
’If I can’t help, I should at least avoid getting in the way.’
Today, Tang Qinru had brought back four meat dishes.
All were prepared using different cooking methods.
There was sweet and sour, braised, stir-fried, and one served as an accompaniment...
They were perfect in color, aroma, and taste, and perfectly preserved the nutritional content of the Demon Beast Meat.
Even though he had eaten lunch,
the day’s massive exertion had left Lin Yi ravenous.
He had just washed his hands and sat down when he started to eat eagerly.
Compared to Lin Yi, Tang Qinru ate in a much more leisurely manner.
She didn’t seem to be very hungry.
"Your Martial Arts exam is coming up soon, isn’t it?"
Tang Qinru suddenly asked, seemingly out of the blue.
The words had barely left her mouth when Lin Yi paused his chopsticks and nodded. "Less than a week. Five days, to be exact!"
Hearing this, Tang Qinru nodded lightly.
"So, how are your preparations going?"
"They’re okay. We’re in the home stretch now, so there’s no point in stressing over it!"
Ever since he started practicing Tai Chi Boxing with the old man,
his mindset toward the Martial Arts exam had gradually relaxed quite a bit.
His anxiety had also been significantly alleviated.
Tang Qinru glanced at him. "You’d better do your best. I’ll be waiting for you in the New District!"
"Huh?"
As soon as she said it, Lin Yi shot his head up to look at Tang Qinru.
"Sister Qingru? Are you going back to the New District?"
’No wonder Tang Qinru’s mood seemed a bit low today.’
She nodded lightly. "The Medical Administration just issued a notice. They want me to go back to the New District to work."
"From now on, the chances of me coming back will be slim."
"But, if you can pass the Martial Arts exam, we’ll see each other in the New District!"
"Don’t you dare disappoint me..."
At her words, Lin Yi nodded with a faint smile.
He felt a little sad to see her go.
After all, he had been living here for almost three months.
Their time together was limited, as Tang Qinru often had to work overtime late into the night.
So, they rarely saw each other.
Still, three months was enough time for a bond to form.
"Sister Qingru, don’t you worry. I’m confident about the Martial Arts exam.
When I get to the New District in the future, I’ll come find you..." Lin Yi deliberately tried to look more relaxed.
He didn’t show any sign of sadness about their impending separation.
"You said it yourself!"
"When it comes to the Martial Arts exam, I can’t help you much."
"For the next few days, I’ll have someone deliver Demon Beast Meat to you every day!"
"Don’t worry about a thing. Just eat!"
"After the Martial Arts exam is over, come find me in the New District. Got it?"
Tang Qinru’s expression was calm.
But the rims of her eyes were a little red.
Lin Yi didn’t meet her gaze, just nodded slightly.
"Okay..."
This meal felt like it lasted a very long time to Lin Yi.
He didn’t stop until every last dish was wiped clean.
Tang Qinru smiled at him. "Alright, go back to your room and rest."
"Make sure you properly digest all that Demon Beast Meat you just ate!"
"Before the Martial Arts exam, you need to accumulate as much Qi and Blood as you can!"
Lin Yi nodded and walked back toward his bedroom.
The moment he closed the door, he sat on his bed and began to digest the Demon Beast Meat he had just eaten,
focusing on converting it all into beneficial components for his body.
As for the rest, it would have to be expelled tomorrow morning.
Time passed, second by second, minute by minute.
An hour later, Lin Yi felt his body’s Qi and Blood had increased again.
His strength and physique had also seen a small increase.
Just then, his phone rang.
He picked up his phone and saw it was a call from Wei Nan.
"Hey, what’s up?"
Ever since Wei Nan returned, the two had kept in close contact.
"Hurry up and get on your computer! I sent you a link. You’ll get it once you open it,"
Wei Nan said, his voice urgent.
Lin Yi didn’t waste any time and quickly turned on his computer.
After logging into his chat software, a message from Wei Nan came through.
It was a link to a website. Lin Yi clicked on it.
It turned out to be a forum about the Martial Arts exam.
He skimmed it and realized the people on this forum
were all students who were going to take the Martial Arts exam this year.
And many of the posts were related to the exam as well.
"Don’t bother with the other stuff, it’s meaningless. Just look for the post titled ’Job Market in the New District’ and open it!"
The call hadn’t ended, and Wei Nan spoke with excitement.
Sure enough, with his prompt,
Lin Yi quickly found a pinned post with the title "Job Market in the New District."
He clicked on it curiously.
"Kangsheng Pharmaceutical: Recruiting several Pharmacists. Monthly salary of 300,000, full social insurance and housing fund benefits, accommodation provided."
"Great Victory Company: Recruiting current students for part-time positions. Monthly salary starting at 150,000."
"Divine Deer Group: Recruiting several Martial Arts University students. Monthly salary starting at 220,000."
"Huiyang Co., Ltd.: Recruiting 15 Martial Artists of 2-star rank or higher. Monthly salary of 500,000."
"Divine Shield Security Company: Recruiting several security personnel. Monthly salary starting at 800,000, expanded social insurance and housing fund, full medical coverage..."
...
After Lin Yi finished reading through this job information,
the salaries, in particular, left him filled with envy.
Moreover, the replies to this post already numbered in the tens of thousands.
"Holy crap, are the monthly salaries really that high? Is the money in the New District devalued or something?" Lin Yi said, utterly shocked.
On the other end of the line, Wei Nan said, "Devalued my ass! Look closely, their minimum requirement is to be a graduate from a Martial Arts University!"
"And they have high requirements for your Cultivation Realm too!"
"Let’s put it this way: the higher your Cultivation Realm, the higher your salary!"
"Especially for official departments like the Demon Hunting Bureau and the Martial Arts Alliance. I heard that if you get a chance to join, not only is the salary high, but the benefits are amazing!"
"They give you free housing, and if you don’t have a wife, they’ll even match you with one when you reach marriageable age, hehehe..."
As Wei Nan spoke,
he couldn’t help but let out a sleazy chuckle.
Lin Yi’s face darkened. "After all that, that last sentence was the real point, wasn’t it?"
"So what? Their reasoning is that in order to preserve superior genes, getting married and having children is a form of inheritance, the very flame that allows humanity to continue!"
"What, you don’t want to leave behind a few flames of your own?"
"Anyway, the people who can get into the Demon Hunting Bureau and the Martial Arts Alliance are the best of the best!"
"You’re not tempted at all?"
Hearing this, Lin Yi nodded.
Before, he had only heard that life in the New District compared to the Old District
was like heaven and earth.
Life in the Old District was too harsh.
The New District was much better, and finding a job was easier.
Salaries and such were much higher than in the Old District.
Although he often heard things like this,
he never had a concrete concept of what it meant.
It wasn’t until today, after seeing the recruitment information in this post,
that he truly understood the difference between heaven and earth.
The two simply couldn’t be compared.
Or rather... the job market in the Old District was completely incomparable to that of the New District.