Perhaps intimidated by Lian Ge’s presence, Chiyun, who was already feeling guilty, immediately lost her confidence.
When she had charged down earlier, she really hadn’t thought much—she just saw Feng Ling racking up kills from afar, and a nameless anger flared up inside her, which was why she did what she did.
“But I really did see it in the sky just now…”
Chiyun tried to defend herself, but her tone was already evasive.
“I’m sure I didn’t.”
Lian Ge said each word deliberately.
Chiyun wanted to say something to salvage the situation, but after locking eyes with Lian Ge for a moment, she backed down.
All her prepared excuses got stuck in her throat, leaving only a weak defense.
“Well, maybe I really did see wrong…”
“Oh, now you’re saying you saw wrong? And what next?”
Lian Ge crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly.
Every time she scolded Feng Ling, this was her stance.
Only this time, the gun wasn’t aimed at Feng Ling, who just watched the drama unfold from behind Lian Ge.
Chiyun’s face flushed bright red.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally muttered in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, “I-I’m sorry.”
Only then did Lian Ge nod slightly, indicating the matter was over.
She didn’t say any more words of blame, because in her view, once the person admitted their mistake, that should be the end of it.
“Feng Ling, let’s go.”
Lian Ge turned around and grabbed Feng Ling’s wrist.
Before Feng Ling could react, she was already being dragged away.
‘Wait, I still have to go back to livestream…’
But given the situation where Lian Ge had stood up for her, Feng Ling couldn’t pull away.
Lian Ge pulled Feng Ling along for a good while before slowing down, but she didn’t let go of her hand.
Only when they had walked far enough that Chiyun was no longer in sight did Lian Ge speak.
“Feng Ling, is there anything you like to eat?”
“Nothing particular I like to eat…”
Feng Ling answered casually, but as soon as she said it, she thought the reply sounded a bit too pitiful—like she was a poor little thing not even allowed to have preferences, which fit her identity as a Demon Beast anyway.
“Then come eat some barbecue with me. My treat.”
As expected, Lian Ge’s maternal instincts kicked in.
With a grand wave of her hand, she offered to treat Feng Ling to barbecue.
“Sure.”
Since Lian Ge was treating her, Feng Ling had no reason to refuse, even though she was much richer than Lian Ge.
Lian Ge seemed to frequent barbecue restaurants often.
She nimbly led the way into a shop tucked away in an alley.
At this hour, there weren’t many customers.
They sat down on a sofa seat.
The warm yellow light shone on the grill pans on each table, and the air was thick with the rich aroma of cumin.
“Feng Ling, have you ever had barbecue before?”
“No.”
Feng Ling shook her head.
Feng Ling wasn’t making that up to hide her identity; she really had never eaten barbecue before.
Jiang Zhu’s family wasn’t particularly poor, but far from wealthy either.
His mother raised him and his sister alone, budgeting carefully for everything.
He had gotten used to not making any demands of others since childhood.
Even as an adult, he treated material pleasures more as goals to motivate himself.
But because of Qia Bi, he had never accomplished a single goal, and all the things he’d set as rewards had naturally been shelved.
“Then what do you do with all the money you earn?”
Lian Ge was curious.
In her eyes, Feng Ling had been completely money-hungry before, yet she had never even eaten barbecue.
It was hard to imagine what she needed so much money for.
“Just… save it up…”
Upon hearing this answer, Lian Ge immediately filled in the blanks.
It was probably just a Demon Beast’s instinct for surviving in human society—always living in fear of being driven away or ostracized, only feeling a shred of security by clutching money tightly.
‘Ah, poor kid.’
Lian Ge laid slices of Pork Belly one by one on the grill pan, planning to soothe Feng Ling’s empty heart with warm barbecue.
“Listen, Senior Chiyun only dares to act like this because she thinks you’re too docile.”
Lian Ge flipped the meat as she spoke.
“Look at you—when she says a few words, you let her say them; when she rams into you, you don’t even make a sound.”
“Humans aren’t like you. If your conscience is clear, that doesn’t automatically make everything fine. The more you back down, the more they think you’re weak and pushover. If you don’t fight back, she’ll dare to do it again next time.”
“Of course, Senior Chiyun isn’t a bad person either. The reason she came to pick a fight with us now is mostly because she’s still angry about me reporting her before. Just like how you, Feng Ling, get annoyed when I lecture you…”
“Everyone loses their cool and does irrational things sometimes. As long as they reflect afterward and think from the other person’s perspective, there’s always a way to reconcile.”
Lian Ge kept rambling on with her little Lian Ge big truths, but Feng Ling just found her exhausting and focused solely on the barbecue.
The thinly sliced Pork Belly sizzled on the grill paper, turning a tempting golden brown.
Once Lian Ge confirmed it was well done, she picked up the crispy, fragrant meat and placed it on Feng Ling’s plate.
Feng Ling blew on it to cool it down, then put the barbecue into her mouth.
The oil rich with meat flavor burst on her tongue, and the aroma of cumin filled her lips and teeth.
Her expression softened, her eyes squinting.
The usual business smile gradually faded, replaced by genuine joy.
Seeing Feng Ling’s sincere smile, different from her usual one, Lian Ge couldn’t help but smile herself.
She felt that all her care for this little Demon Beast hadn’t been wasted.
As long as she could see that smile, everything was worth it.
When Feng Ling was just about full, she opened her squinted eyes and happened to meet Lian Ge’s eyes, which were full of amusement.
“What are you looking at me for? Hurry up and eat too.”
“I’m already full.”
Lian Ge propped her chin on her hand, elbow resting on the table.
Even though she hadn’t eaten much, she was completely satisfied.
When they came out of the barbecue restaurant, the sky had already darkened.
Lian Ge insisted on seeing Feng Ling to her doorstep.
Even after Feng Ling had entered the house, Lian Ge still stood at the door, as if she had something else to say.
But in the end, she just smiled at her.
“See you tomorrow, Feng Ling.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Feng Ling felt that she and Lian Ge had been getting a bit too close lately.
Once inside the house, Feng Ling didn’t rush to start her livestream.
Instead, she sat cross-legged on the bed, reviewing the afternoon’s situation.
After a week of Traffic Battle, Chiyun had grown quite dissatisfied with her, to the point of trying to suppress her offline.
But it also proved how successful Feng Ling’s efforts had been this period.
After all, the more Chiyun opposed her, the more it meant she was doing the right thing.
Feng Ling checked her current follower count.
After a week of hard work, she had reached one-tenth of Chiyun’s numbers.
Her income was also stabilizing.
Although it wasn’t at the level she ideally wanted, it was still a milestone success.
“Perfect timing—let’s take this opportunity to move to the next step.”