Chapter 398 "You missed me?

Lei Li’s furious scolding left everyone speechless.

But they were still a little resentful inside.

The client had indeed placed a C-rank mission, but they never said this derelict building would be so tough.

A micro-missile couldn’t even chip the paint, and they couldn’t sneak in through the back. The front door was probably a lost cause too.

Lei Li led her team to the main entrance and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows.

For a moment, all sorts of superpowers flared, but no one could break through the defenses.

The people eating in the restaurant were initially frightened by the mercenaries’ menacing appearance. Everyone except Shen Lu had stood up and hidden behind their tables.

But after a while, when they realized the people outside couldn’t get in, they calmly sat back down.

"Boss Shen, is this really a derelict building?" Wu Jun asked.

"That’s not important. What’s important is that I won’t allow any bad guys to run wild in my shop. So from now on, you can all live here without worry."

Lei Li and her crew had arrived full of aggression but left in furious frustration.

As soon as she got back to her base, Lei Li called President Pan.

President Pan thought it was good news, and his voice was tinged with a smile. "You’ve worked hard, Vice Captain Lei."

"Doesn’t President Pan understand the rules of the trade?" Lei Li said irritably. "You want us to take on an A-rank difficulty mission for C-rank pay?"

"Of course I wouldn’t do something so classless. Besides, I just wanted Vice Captain Lei to teach Shen Lu a lesson. Isn’t that a simple matter?"

"Simple?" Lei Li sneered and sent him the mission log. "See for yourself. I’m not refunding the money. What you did is fraud."

With that, Lei Li angrily hung up the phone.

When she inadvertently glanced at Xue Can’s profile picture, her heart felt even heavier. At the same time, a faint sense of anticipation grew. ’Will he call me?’

’Even if it’s just to question or blame me?’

President Pan opened the mission log. After watching the entire recording, his eyes went wide.

Everyone doing business in the Lower City District knew the story behind the derelict building Shen Lu had taken over.

The materials used in its initial construction might have been decent, but after being abandoned for so many years, exposed to the wind and rain on a windy spot without any upkeep, the derelict building had gradually turned into a crumbling mess.

That’s why there were no other buildings around it—people were afraid it would collapse one day and crush them.

But now, this building was indestructible. A missile couldn’t even scratch the paint. It was too absurd.

Shen Lu’s profile picture flashed as a message came through.

Shen Lu: President Pan, aren’t you going a bit too far, bullying a junior like this?

President Pan’s mouth twitched. ’If I had succeeded, I would indeed be bullying a junior. But I didn’t succeed, did I?’

President Pan: Isn’t this because Boss Shen has no respect for me?

Shen Lu: You must be joking, President Pan. You’re the head of the Lower City District Chamber of Commerce. Who would dare disrespect you?

Shen Lu: Next time, don’t embarrass yourself with such underhanded tricks. Just give me the money you spent hiring those mercenaries, and I might even praise you for being so generous.

President Pan replied with a dry "ha ha" before viciously closing the chat window.

Having successfully annoyed him, Shen Lu hummed smugly and sent a "thank you" to Xue Can.

A moment ago, Xue Can had told Shen Lu who the attackers were and who had paid to hire them.

Shen Lu had immediately sent a message to ridicule President Pan.

’This feeling of them hating me but being unable to do anything about it is just the best.’

Shen Lu had thought that was the end of it, but late that night, President Pan started video-calling her.

Shen Lu didn’t want to answer and rejected the call, but President Pan was relentless.

’He’s so annoying.’ Shen Lu simply blocked him to be done with it.

But the next second, her Light Brain rang again.

It was an unknown number, but she could guess with her eyes closed that it was definitely President Pan.

Shen Lu blocked it again.

About ten more unknown numbers followed. Shen Lu blocked every single one, not wanting to waste a single word on President Pan.

After humming a tune while washing up, Shen Lu lay comfortably in bed and used the Lottery Ticket.

[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn Blind Box Prize #43: 100 bags of cabbage seeds.]

’More seeds.’

Shen Lu clicked her tongue. The things she’d been getting from the blind boxes recently were all rather unremarkable.

Seeds made up more than half of them.

Besides today’s cabbage, there were over a dozen other types of vegetable seeds like green onions, ginger, cilantro, eggplant, tomato, and lettuce.

Shen Lu gave a few types to Yang Jing to plant, and some had already sprouted.

Then there were the seasonings. If she had to pick a favorite among them, Shen Lu thought the ham was nice.

It was a very high-quality Jinhua ham, with vibrant colors and a clear distinction between the red meat and white fat. Just looking at it, Shen Lu could imagine how delicious it was.

Shen Lu had it all planned out. When Fu Cheng was discharged from the hospital, she would simmer a pot of fragrant Xian Du Xian soup as the main dish to welcome him back.

At this thought, Shen Lu remembered that she hadn’t had her video call with Fu Cheng today.

The two had a video call once a day. It was an unspoken habit.

Shen Lu dialed Fu Cheng’s number. As soon as he picked up, she playfully challenged him, "If I don’t call you, does that mean you really won’t call me?"

A smile touched Fu Cheng’s lips. "The wind died down today, so I figured the shop would be doing deliveries. I was afraid you’d be busy, so I didn’t want to disturb you."

"Hmph! Excuses." The young woman turned her head away, her cherry-like lips pouting.

"My fault. Next time I’ll message you first to ask, alright?"

"That’s more like it." Shen Lu finally turned her head back to look at him. "How are you today? Were you able to get out of bed?"

According to the treatment plan the doctor had given him, Fu Cheng was supposed to try standing up today.

When she first heard it, Shen Lu had found it absurd.

’What kind of patient gets out of bed just a few days after prosthetic surgery?’

But considering the level of medical technology here and the physique of Superpower Users, it seemed reasonable after all.

"I can stand for a short while, about a minute."

"That’s great! When did the doctor say you can be discharged? I remember him saying that if things went smoothly, you could be out in a week."

"A normal surgery would allow for discharge in a week to rest at home. But I have to stay in the hospital for at least a month."

"Ah, a month? That long?" Shen Lu was dumbfounded. She had previously assumed Fu Cheng would just have the surgery at the hospital and come back to rest once he was stable.

Fu Cheng’s eyes focused. On the light screen, the young woman’s lips were turned down, looking very disappointed.

His heart suddenly stirred. "Do you miss me?"

Shen Lu froze for a moment, her expression dazed. Fu Cheng thought to himself, ’Oh no.’

’I shouldn’t have asked that.’

"I do." Shen Lu nodded emphatically. "I miss you."

A huge wave of joy crashed over him, but before Fu Cheng could be happy for too long, Shen Lu continued.

"Xiao Lang, Sister Cai, Wang Daguo, and Xin Yu all miss you a lot. They’re very worried about you and ask me how you’re doing every day."

The corners of Fu Cheng’s lips, which had just lifted, froze and slowly flattened. "...Thank them for their concern."

’Does Shen Lu really understand what I meant?’

’Is she pretending to misunderstand, or does she really not get it...?’

"You’re part of the shop too. Our shop wouldn’t be complete without any one of us."

Although Fu Cheng wasn’t involved in running the business, Shen Lu would never forget his companionship when she first started her stall, how he was there with her through wind and rain like a lucky charm.