Chapter 88 - 82 Lin Li: Brother Ping, I’m sorry!

Faced with Song Luping’s invitation, Lin Li was tempted for a moment. Using this chance, he could turn Task 2 into (2/3) and also complete Task 5 of betraying his mentor. But after thinking it over, he decided against it. It’s not because it’s Sunday and he has to go to evening self-study class. As a day-student and a freshman with the least pressure, apart from the month before midterms and finals, Sunday evenings aren’t strictly enforced. —But if you skip evening classes in the third year, it counts as truancy. The real reason is going out with Bai Bufan puts the rhythm in his own hands, but with Song Luping, the rhythm will surely be controlled by him. Things might accidentally go beyond his expectations, and he might inadvertently lose something important. Haha, well, actually that’s not really a big issue. Lin Li was worried about something else. —The real worry is becoming a notorious figure, which completely goes against his original intentions. Too many coincidences aren’t good either. News like this gets widely spread, with many people following the gossip. But if every time such a report goes out, there’s a bookish guy with a similar height and build in the pictures, that’s not good. Light Jazz and Tianhong, he had changed clothes, pants, and shoes, and it had been a week apart. This time Bai Bufan was there to confuse the situation, so it wasn’t easy to connect the dots. But if he’s in the ’pictures’ both Saturday and Sunday, the chance of being noticed is high. Even if no one suspects him of being an alleged undercover, some meddlesome internet users might start digging into his identity. In this era, some can pinpoint the location and time from a landscape photo; it’s really not hard to uncover his identity. He’s not immortal yet; standing out now is a bit premature. "Brother Ping, what you said makes sense, and I was really tempted, but after getting caught yesterday, my mom grounded me. I can’t go out today, really no choice." After figuring this out, Lin Li casually fabricated a reason. "Oh, I see, in that case, there’s really no way." Song Luping expressed understanding and regret, "Looks like I’ll be going alone tonight." "Brother Ping, have you ever considered giving up these habits? I’m willing to take over as the new patron; you really can retire in peace, health matters." Lin Li hesitated for a moment before speaking. If possible, he’d prefer Song Luping to mend his ways. After all, Song Luping was quite good to him. "Bufan, I appreciate your sentiment. Some paths can’t be turned back, some desires can’t be resisted," Song Luping still chose to refuse, "I won’t turn back until I’m completely burnt out." "Hmm." Lin Li sighed lightly. "Alright, I’ve said what I needed to say. I still haven’t eaten since this morning. I need to grab something to energize for tonight’s battle. Let’s meet up again next week. If you don’t have anything else to ask, I’ll hang up now." "Okay." "Brother Ping, next week and the week after, you won’t have them." Watching the disconnected call, Lin Li spoke softly. Since Song Luping had made his choice, Lin Li had made his choice too. The Xiling Rooster Breeding map was in place, Song Luping’s value was limited, and now was a good opportunity for him to complete his task. Betraying the mentor! Lin Li switched contacts and sent a message. 「Lin Li: Uncle, are you busy? I have something to tell you 「Rose」.」 「Yangliang: I’m begging you, Lin Li, please don’t tell me you’re going to report a new chicken farm! Uncle doesn’t want to hear that, anything else, I’m all ears.」 「Lin Li: Then, uncle, goodbye 「Pressed Palms」.」 「Yangliang: ?」 「Yangliang: No, come back! What do you mean!」 「Yangliang: What do you have to say to me!」 「Lin Li: Uncle, I suddenly found I have nothing to say, you go ahead and be busy with your work 「Rose」「Rose」「Rose」.」 He was anticipated. But it seems normal, the only reason he would reach out to Yangliang is for this matter. Looks like Yangliang is quite busy now, he should inform the main office and have them pick someone else. However, Yangliang’s call was already coming in. Lin Li answered, then immediately turned down the volume to protect his eardrums— "Lin Li, didn’t you listen to anything I told you yesterday! You weren’t even willing to wait 24 hours, were you? You, you, ugh! I don’t even know what to say to you! What else haven’t you experienced, can you just tell me directly! If you want to experience execution, I can come to your house and give you a shot with my gun right now!" Yangliang’s emotion-filled outburst made Lin Li feel a little embarrassed. One has to admit, Yangliang’s nice weekend was indeed ruined by him. Putting oneself in another’s shoes, it’s indeed frustrating. It’s his own problem. "Uncle, I’m honestly staying at home, not going anywhere today. I just intended to provide you guys with some info about the chicken farm, not planning to collaborate with you." Lin Li weakly said. Yangliang remained silent for a long while. "...Good child, you really did listen." Perhaps it was a hallucination, but Lin Li even heard a hint of a sob. "Later, send the information directly to me on WeChat. I’m a bit busy now, I’ll let my colleague handle it later, eh, Xiaolin, didn’t you say yesterday you didn’t know about other chicken farms? How come you know today? Did your friend just tell you?" Although he knew Lin Li was dismissing him yesterday, Yangliang still used a mockery tone to try and change Lin Li’s mind. "He did, the one you need to catch later, is my friend. He just told me he plans to visit that store tonight, and I came to tell you right away." Lin Li showed no awareness. The phone was silent for a while, then asked a series of questions, "He’s not an undercover, right? You can really arrest him, right?" "Yes." Lin Li nodded. It felt like Yangliang’s breathing on the other end of the line got intense. What did Song Luping do to provoke him? "Okay, Xiaolin, quickly send the info to my phone. I’ll personally prepare to catch him, I won’t let him escape." Yangliang on this end was already itching for action. Colleague go? He’s going himself! Been wanting to nab this guy for a while! The main culprit who turned poor Lin Li into what he is now, is indeed Bai Bufan, but the friend keeping him tangled with the chicken farms, deserves the highest credit! Must eliminate! And it has to be personally eliminated! After the two hung up, Yangliang looked at the information sent to his phone and the approximate time Lin Li’s friend was going to show up, revealing a sinister smile. After finishing the phone call, Lin Li found himself a bit at loose ends. Since he had to wait for the outcome, he decided to skip evening self-study. Lin Li turned on the projector, deciding to watch a few episodes of Family Guy to reinforce his views, suspected of being too positive lately. ... A long time passed. Another episode’s end credits played. Lin Li turned his head, and the phone’s LED notification light was glowing, though he didn’t know when it had started. —There was a message. The first sentence Lin Li saw when he opened it made him uneasy. 「My name is Song Luping, by the time you read this, I’ve been caught.」