Chapter 32: Calling Her "Mom," Do You Know Its Worries?

Adrian looked at the message Leo sent and felt a little speechless.

He did not particularly like the verb "hooked."

But this was popular slang in beast tamer circles. Similar phrases included "hooked on two-day weekends," "hooked on leaving work on time," and so on.

These ordinary daily things, when it came to beast tamers, seemed to become signs of wasting life.

Adrian thought for a moment and did not know what to say, so he sent four words: "Watch your limits."

Five minutes later, the two met up.

Leo looked troubled, his eyes blank as he raised his head. "Adrian, do you think I should call Violet 'Mom'?"

Adrian's face was full of question marks. "What? Why?"

Leo said, "I read a novel. The protagonist's Phantom Dream Butterfly in it loved beauty. At first, it despised the protagonist's looks."

"Later, they went to an island by the sea and traveled for two weeks. The protagonist called the Phantom Dream Butterfly 'Mom' and spent a lot of money."

"Then the Phantom Dream Butterfly evolved. Its pursuit changed from external beauty to inner beauty. They also became connected in heart. They finally smoothed things out and began to welcome a new world."

Adrian: "…"

Adrian: "What are you reading? The logic is so weird. Let me see."

Leo dazedly handed over his phone. Adrian quickly checked the synopsis, cover, first chapter content, publication time, and completion time. In less than three minutes, he let out a breath and said:

"Don't you know about that big news from a while ago? The new Mechanical-type beast, the Intelligent Domain Spirit, can rapidly generate novel content."

"Look at this one. It wrote 2.87 million words in less than three months. Could a normal person do that?"

"Look at the first chapter. It uses so many modifiers. It describes a shallow rocky beach back and forth for eight paragraphs. That's not human writing. You cannot trust the content of this book. Not a single word."

"Let me teach you a few tricks for finding completed novels. If that doesn't work, just look at new books that started in the last twenty days and have good results. You won't go wrong."

Adrian seriously "taught" Leo for twenty minutes. Only then did the light return to Leo's eyes.

"Sure enough, my Violet is not that shallow kind of butterfly. I'll keep calling her Violet!" Leo raised his arms and cheered.

"Mm hm!" Adrian nodded quickly.

He wanted to say something but stopped.

He suddenly realized that someone like Leo, who had never read novels, indeed lacked basic discernment.

From that angle, using "hooked on novels" to describe it did not seem entirely wrong.

Leo, having regained his energy, continued to warmly host Adrian.

Before dinner, the two returned to Leo's cultivation base. Adrian was quite interested in the topic Leo was working on, so he observed his sample data and some experimental progress. During that time, he also gave some suggestions, including modifications and additions to the variable control group.

Leo exclaimed that Adrian was a genius and said he would add him to the acknowledgments list.

Adrian actually could not bear to tell him that he felt Leo's entire paper idea and structure were not quite right. But he felt Leo had already experienced strong emotional fluctuations today.

So he did not mention it.

Leo had just graduated from high school. Let him slowly experience some setbacks.

Dinner also let Adrian witness the strength of a wealthy family once again.

Leo's family chef was a Four-Star Spirit Chef with remarkable skill.

The graded ingredients Adrian ate tonight probably added up to more than he had eaten in his previous sixteen years.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Leo also thoughtfully prepared food for Adrian's beasts.

When Adrian returned home满载而归, Leo looked at his bulging backpack and said:

"I think when you negotiate tomorrow, you can ask them if they have any [Storage-type] [Tamer Gear]. That thing can make traveling much more convenient for you."

Adrian nodded.

The next afternoon.

Adrian arrived twenty minutes early at the agreed location with Howard and Julian—a restaurant under Yellow Crane Tower Shop called Yellow Crane Tower Restaurant.

He came to the reserved private room 302.

The father and son were already there.

And what made Adrian's eyes light up and his heart rejoice was that the Fortune Dog he had seen many times in reports was now nestled at Howard's feet.

Its expression and eyes looked a little older than in the photo he had seen.

But its fur looked glossier.

Julian's Wonder Shine Grass was also beside it, its leaves wrapped around its body, seemingly enjoying the warmth from this Fortune Dog.

The panel of this big yellow dog also came into Adrian's view.

[Fortune Dog]

[Attribute]: Metal

[Quality]: Common-Mid

[Sex]: Male

[Level]: Common 10

[Traits]: Fortune Beckoning

[Personality]: Loyal, obsessive, conservative

[Status]: A Fortune Dog with less than two years to live. Because of the injuries, illnesses, rise and fall it has experienced, it has an extremely conservative and obsessive personality.

It is unwilling to fundamentally change its form, because it believes its unchanging appearance carries the storms of the past nearly twenty years, and the bond between it and its past masters.

It has hidden injuries in its body, but after years of treatment with various products, the hidden injuries are no longer the main cause of its physical decline. Heartache is the main reason for its poor condition.

Its worries and secrets are deliberately concealed even from its closest beast tamer, who has never known them.

Evolving into a Fortune Field Dog, whose appearance is almost identical to the Fortune Dog, can extend its lifespan by at least ten years. But the prerequisite for evolution is to resolve its heartache.

[Evolution Path]

Evolution Path One: Fortune Spirit Dog, Quality: Exceptional-Upper, Compatibility: 1%.

Hidden Evolution Path: Fortune Field Dog, Quality: Exceptional-Upper, Compatibility: 100%.

After quickly reading its status, Adrian greeted Howard and Julian respectively.

"Adrian, right? Can I call you Adrian?" Howard's face did not show much expression, but his voice was quite warm. "Sit down."

"Uncle Howard, yes, that's fine. My parents call me that too." Adrian smiled, first placing his backpack on another empty chair, then sat down.

Julian, beside Howard, had been a little nervous at first. He had come to "support" Adrian, to keep his father from being too aggressive toward his study god classmate.

But today's father was clearly much gentler than he had imagined. This was completely different from the father he remembered.

"Let's order. We can talk while we eat. Don't be too nervous." Howard said, then took out a paper contract and handed it to Adrian.

"This is a contract I drafted based on current market dynamics and my demand for Spirit Dew. Take a look. If you have any questions or new requests, feel free to raise them anytime."

Adrian took the contract and slowly read it.

He had already rehearsed this scene with Hugh yesterday. Many big shop owners habitually throw out a drafted contract right away to seize the initiative.

But in this situation, do not panic. Just read slowly, find all possible pitfalls, then calmly and reasonably raise your bottom line and requests.

Adrian read very carefully.

He also located some key information he needed between the lines.

"Purchase the Exceptional-quality top product Spirit Dew from Vale's Beast Feed, for internal use only. No resale."

"Purchase quantity at least 600 drops (30 ml) per month. Price: 80,000 crowns per 10 drops (0.5 ml), or equivalent goods or materials for trade."

"If Spirit Dew is used as a raw material for secondary processing, the product and its source will be labeled, namely Vale's Beast Feed of Lumenhold, owner Adrian Vale."

"Contract duration: two years. If during this period the quality of Spirit Dew improves or the market price rises, a new order price can be negotiated, but it will not be lower than 80,000 crowns per 10 drops."

"Three months before the contract expires, both parties may evaluate and discuss whether to renew."

Actually, the key information in the contract already met Adrian's basic needs.

To be honest, it was much gentler than the tense situations they had imagined.

Combined with the panel situation Adrian had seen, this made Adrian even more certain that this Spirit Dew was one of the products Howard was using to care for the Fortune Dog in its final two years.

These terms were not bad. But Adrian thought of something Hugh had said yesterday:

"Show investment value and cooperation value—that is, whether Spirit Dew is the upper limit of your beast feed shop."

Currently, this contract was only based on Spirit Dew.

If Adrian wanted deeper cooperation and to improve his family's industrial structure in a short time, he needed to do something.

He had already decided what to do.

Putting down the contract, Adrian did not talk about anything related to it. Instead, he first glanced at the Fortune Dog, then at Howard.

"Uncle Howard, there is something I want to ask you first. How many years have you contracted the Fortune Dog? Do you know its worries?"

Howard was about to pick up his chopsticks to grab a shrimp. His hand suddenly paused.

They were already contracted beasts. Their hearts were connected. What secret could there be that he did not know?

But then he thought again. When he contracted Fortune, it was already nearly twenty years old. He knew a lot about what happened after that. But its earlier worries and thoughts—he could not completely guarantee.

At that moment, the Fortune Dog, which had been sitting quietly, suddenly stood up, waking the already asleep Wonder Shine Grass.

It began barking, full of hostility.

Adrian's words had hit too close to home. It had indeed been hiding some true feelings from Howard, even though they were contracted.

Was this child in front of it the kind of beast tamer who could read other people's beasts' minds?

In its dog life, it hated beast tamers like that the most!

Julian, on the other hand, was a little confused.

This scene was different from what he had expected!

His father, who was usually extremely serious, was so gentle and kind today.

Fortune, the Fortune Dog that had always been the best to him, had almost never been fierce to anyone since he was little. Yet now it was barking at the classmate he had come to "protect."

What was going on?

Could it be that Adrian's Living Affinity had just sensed something?