Evolving infinitely from ground zero

Outside the school gate, the Ken De Chicken fast food restaurant.

Four of them sat together, drinking Coke, eating fried chicken, hamburgers, and egg tarts.

He Yu and Li Chuxin were both having a great time, chatting and laughing throughout the meal.

Even though both of their families were very wealthy and they could eat whatever they wanted, ordinarily, they wouldn’t give a fast-food meal worth a few dozen yuan a second glance.

But this meal was different.

This time, it was Lin Zichen who had treated them, and the joy of getting a free meal was something money couldn’t buy.

In contrast, Shen Qinghan was absent-minded throughout the meal, silently eating her food.

No one initiated a conversation with her, so she remained silent.

If someone did address her, she’d just respond with an indifferent reply.

Lin Zichen noticed her mood was off, guessing that it must be because she hadn’t performed well in the physical tests and sparring, leading her to feel a bit down.

But he didn’t comfort her, acting as if nothing happened.

Some things are better not brought up; mentioning them might actually be like rubbing salt in the wound.

Soon, all four had eaten their fill.

He Yu thanked his “godfather,” and Li Chuxin thanked the “boss” Lin.

Then the two each hailed a cab home.

Seeing that Shen Qinghan’s mood was still low, Lin Zichen looked at her with a smile and said,

“I remember your watercolor paints are almost out, aren’t they? Come on, let’s go to the mall upstairs and browse around, I’ll buy you a new set.”

“Ah, no need, I hardly ever paint anymore, don’t waste your money,”

Shen Qinghan declined, waving her hand.

Ever since she started high school and the academic workload ramped up, she had stopped painting altogether.

She spent any free time studying at home or doing physical exercises.

“It’s okay, just buy them and keep them at home. Then whenever you feel like painting again, you can use them. After all, they have a long shelf life.”

Without giving Shen Qinghan a chance to refuse again, Lin Zichen took her hand and led her upstairs.

Shortly after, they entered an art supply store on the upper floor.

“Do you have any preferences?”

“They all look pretty good.”

“Then let me choose for you.”

Lin Zichen walked around the store and eventually picked out the most expensive set of watercolor paints.

The price was a steep 588 yuan.

Shen Qinghan saw the price and wanted to choose a cheaper set.

But Lin Zichen didn’t give her the chance to switch, promptly paying for it with a scan of his phone.

“Xiao Chen, that’s too expensive…”

“It’s expensive, but it’s worth it,” Lin Zichen said with a smile. “This set has rich colors, which, paired with your superb skills, will surely create many beautiful works of art. When you do, remember to give me a few of them; I want to hang them in my room as decorations.”

Listening to Lin Zichen’s words and looking at the beautiful paints in her hand, Shen Qinghan’s mood finally improved, and she temporarily forgot the troubles of being caught taking a shortcut.

On the way back.

Shen Qinghan’s mood had improved significantly, chatting and laughing with Lin Zichen.

She asked what kind of painting he liked, promising to paint and give him one during the winter break when she had some free time.

She also said that if there was time over the weekend, she’d like to take him out on her bike for a ride.

As they talked, they passed by a market, where they saw many sanitation workers participating in a major cleanup.

At the same time, they observed a number of security personnel inside, each equipped with rodent control tools, shooting at rats scurrying out from every nook and cranny.

The dead rats were being shoveled into a garbage truck parked in the middle of the market.

Lin Zichen glanced at the garbage truck and saw it filled with fresh rat corpses; judging by the size of the truck’s compartment, there were at least several hundred inside.

“Zi Chen, there are so many rats!”

“Look at the one on top of the garbage truck, it’s as big as a cat, scary!”

“The streets here look so clean, why are there so many rats?”

Shen Qinghan kept talking non-stop, her pretty face full of curiosity and confusion.

Lin Zichen saw a rat and immediately thought of the Rat God Cult.

He frowned and said to Shen Qinghan,

“Let’s go, don’t look anymore, rats are filthy, and they carry a lot of bacteria and viruses. We should keep our distance.”

“Okay.”

Shen Qinghan obediently responded and quickly followed Lin Zichen away.

That evening, at home.

Lin Zichen was having dinner with his parents in the living room, watching the evening news broadcast on the television.

As they were almost finished eating, a piece of news caught his attention.

“Today, the district has seen a frequent occurrence of rats. Upon learning of the situation, the public security department immediately organized a ten-day rat extermination campaign…”

Frequent occurrences of rats?

Lin Zichen’s brow slightly furrowed, a bad premonition always lurking in his heart, suspecting that the increasing number of rats was related to the Rat God Cult.

This made him feel uneasy.

But then he thought, if a student like himself could think of this, then the public security department must have certainly considered it already.

Yet as far as he knew, the public security department hadn’t taken any major action, only organizing some personnel to exterminate rats.

Seeing this, it appeared there wasn’t a significant issue with the Rat God Cult, and he was probably worrying over nothing.

With that thought, Lin Zichen felt quite relieved.

After resting awhile and feeling relatively digested, he went upstairs to his room for high-intensity training, using diligent sweat to make himself feel even more at peace.

All the unease in life comes from insufficient strength.

Only through ceaseless training and continuous strengthening, when he becomes strong enough to compete even with advanced-level creatures, would he no longer need to worry about the Rat God Cult.

After all, the so-called “Rat God” that the cult’s followers worshipped was merely a giant mutant rat on the verge of evolving into an advanced-level creature.

Several days later, on a Saturday afternoon.

Lin Zichen had completed several hours of intensive training at home until he felt utterly exhausted. Then, he changed into clean clothes and went out to meet with Shen Qinghan for a physical training session.

When he changed his shoes and left the house, Shen Qinghan was already waiting outside.

She was dressed in a loose sports outfit, her hair tied in a smooth ponytail, radiating the vibrant aura of youth.

“Let’s go, we’ll start with a slow two-kilometer warm-up jog, then a three-kilometer variable-speed run, and finally, we’ll move on to strength training for the core muscles,”

Lin Zichen briefly explained the training plan to Shen Qinghan, then quickly led her to the road ahead to start running.

In the time that followed,

Shen Qinghan began her high-intensity training under Lin Zichen’s supervision.

The training volume today was more than usual, She was very tired, but she gritted her teeth and persevered.

She even volunteered to do extra training after finishing.

It was all because she didn’t want to remain at the bottom of her class any longer and was determined to improve her physical fitness.

After nearly two hours of exercising,

they finally finished training.

Lin Zichen found a bench by the roadside and let Shen Qinghan lie down on it while he skillfully helped her relax her muscles.

“Roar roar roar—”

Suddenly, the roaring sound of a motorcycle’s exhaust pipe came from behind.

Lin Zichen’s eyebrows knitted, finding the noise annoying and grating, and he turned to look in the direction of the sound.

Then, what appeared before his eyes was a ghost rider speeding on a motorbike down the road.

The motorbike was traveling fast, sweeping past in less than two seconds.

All that was left was a head of brightly colored hair chaotically fluttering in the wind, as the motorbike faded into the distance.

For some reason, Lin Zichen had the impression that he recognized the rider, but in the moment he couldn’t recall who it was.

PS: Bowing for votes, seeking monthly and recommendation tickets!