The more smoothly it was spit out, the more uncomfortable it was to eat.
Although Lin Yilin helped wash it, just as Zheng Fan said, these things looked like glutinous rice balls but were actually not delicious at all.
It was only slightly better than a rag that had wiped up vomit.
Luo Ye retched a few times midway; it seemed that even for something she had eaten since childhood, swallowing so much at once was very uncomfortable.
By the time Luo Ye finally finished eating, it was already lunchtime.
Lin Yilin ordered takeout. When the fragrant food was laid out, Luo Ye wanted to eat but had no appetite at all. A red salted fish had truly faded in a spiritual sense this time.
In the afternoon, Hong Yijia secretly approached Luo Ye and asked, "Ye-jie, Xiao Lin just won't tell me what the Illusion gentleman looks like. Can you tell me?"
"Ah? When did you become so curious about an Illusion?" Luo Ye glanced at Zheng Fan next to her as she spoke.
Zheng Fan turned his head upon hearing this, looking at the two of them in confusion.
"Normally, I wouldn't be curious, but Xiao Lin's secrecy this time makes me even more curious," Hong Yijia said, very curious.
Luo Ye opened her mouth, about to say something, when she suddenly recalled Hong Yijia's self-introduction when they first met:
"Hello, Senior Luo! I came because I was very curious about what your club does! I'm Hong Yijia, who loves Illusions but just can't see them! My ideal type is a super cool dark-style handsome guy who is outwardly cold, inwardly abstract and mischievous, spends money like water, but still remembers to buy me gifts. It would be even better if he were an Illusion!"
Hiss...
Case closed. Luo Ye knew the reason.
Speaking of which, when Hong Yijia introduced herself back then, she wasn't listening at all. Thinking back now, it's truly bizarre.
Why would someone describe their ideal type so precisely in a first-meeting self-introduction?
"How about it? Tell me, Ye-jie." Hong Yijia grabbed Luo Ye's hand and said coquettishly.
Luo Ye disgustedly shook off her hand: "I told you to stop playing these games with me. If Yilin doesn't tell you, she naturally has her reasons, and I won't tell you either."
"Ah?!" Hong Yijia was quite disappointed. "Ye-jie, you just finished arguing, don't be so in sync now."
She lowered her voice and whispered in Luo Ye's ear: "Besides, that Illusion gentleman beat you up once, no, twice! You should hate him, right? There's no reason to help keep this secret, right?"
Luo Ye's eyelids drooped.
Why bring up old wounds? Based on Luo Ye's understanding of Hong Yijia, she was definitely doing it on purpose.
Should she tell this brat that the person she was 'badmouthing' was currently on her face?
"No, I quite like him," Luo Ye replied.
"Ah?!" Hong Yijia was shocked.
Zheng Fan was also shocked.
Sister, what are you doing? He's still here. It's almost like you're taunting him.
Hong Yijia touched Luo Ye's forehead, and at the same time quickly offered an acceptable reason: "I've heard that some people who have been proud their entire lives are prone to developing Stockholm Syndrome after their pride is shattered..."
Luo Ye shook off her hand and then backhanded her on the back of the head: "What's with such a good imagination?"
"How can someone like the other person after being beaten up?" Hong Yijia didn't understand.
Luo Ye looked forward. Zheng Fan was also looking at her with the eyes of someone looking at a mental patient.
Luo Ye smiled slightly: "Because one of my great ideals is to find the strongest Illusion, isn't it? And now that goal might be right in front of me."
"Oh?"
"What if you find him? Can you snatch him from Xiao Lin?" Hong Yijia had an expression that said, "You really are that kind of person."
"Heh." Luo Ye let out a laugh of unclear meaning, then said: "In any case, if you can't see him, just accept your fate. Even if we describe him to you, an Illusion is meaningless if you can't see it, right?"
Hong Yijia sighed helplessly: "That's true."
After speaking, Luo Ye directly said to Zheng Fan in front of her: "Zheng Fan, come here for a moment, let's talk about something. Yilin, is it okay if I borrow your Illusion gentleman for a bit?"
Lin Yilin was looking at documents and casually responded: "If he has no objection, feel free."
Luo Ye gave Zheng Fan a look and then left the office.
Zheng Fan followed him with curiosity.
Leaving Hong Yijia, who, through Luo Ye's gaze just now, realized something: "Ah?! Was the Illusion gentleman on my face just now?"
"Yes." Lin Yilin still didn't look up, but her tone was flat as she delivered the finishing blow.
...
"Your confidence has returned quite a bit after your strength recovered," Zheng Fan teased, following behind Luo Ye.
"I wouldn't dare to speak of confidence in front of you," Luo Ye said, ignoring the sarcasm.
"So, what do you want to talk about privately?"
"Although it's been delayed a bit, I still plan to go back and rest for a while, and then do some things to re-familiarize myself with reality."
"Oh, entrusting someone to me?"
"Pfft..." Luo Ye couldn't help but laugh out loud, then quickly suppressed it: "Although it's not really necessary, I'll still routinely ask you to take good care of Yilin."
"Strictly speaking, it's hard to say who takes care of whom," Zheng Fan said seriously.
Luo Ye said: "Anyway, just stay with her. She's quite afraid of loneliness."
"Mm-hmm."
"And then, this is for you." Luo Ye handed over a bank card, which seemed even more prestigious than Lin Yilin's black card, although Zheng Fan didn't quite understand the ranking system of Dadu Bank.
"Is the foster care fee that high?" Zheng Fan was surprised, but he didn't hesitate to take the card.
"Haha, understanding it that way isn't exactly wrong, but to be precise, this is for you to fill your 'arsenal'." Luo Ye's sense of humor wasn't high; she was the only one who could be amused so frequently by Zheng Fan's banter. However, she still explained: "Although you probably don't need this and are already very strong, in terms of combat, I should be able to offer more advice than Yilin."
Zheng Fan didn't mind hearing the opinion of a defeated opponent, as his own use of power was indeed mainly about brute force; there was no other way, it was all due to effort and sweat: "I'd like to hear the details."
"There's not much else to say, but your property ability, when we fought before, seemed to have no other use besides robbing me of my property Illusions."
"Nonsense, I don't have money!" Zheng Fan said speechlessly. "If I had money, why would I be polite with you? I'd build a taboo and fight you."
"If you built a taboo, I might not have the heart to strike, you never know. I'm not talking about that. Property ability is an ability based on order. I heard from Yilin that your property ability, direct creation, is a very convenient ability, but in terms of combat, this 'intermediary' method greatly reduces power."
"Oh?"
"If property is abundant, directly converting it into destructive power, like my 'Ingot', is the most efficient use. It might be a bit counter-intuitive. Although property-type Illusions are common, Illusions that can truly mobilize real funds are very rare, and highly efficient ones are even fewer."
"Why?"
"There are always more poor people than rich people in this world, right?"
"That stings."
"'Ingot' can be directly exchanged using gold as a base. To fully utilize its power, I have stored gold bars for consumption. But you are stronger than Ingot; it's truly incredible that a bank card can serve as a medium."
Zheng Fan shook his head: "So why emphasize property-type abilities?"
"Because in a society with mature order, 'being rich is invincible'," Luo Ye said concisely.
Zheng Fan was stunned for a moment, then thought: Holy crap, it really seems to be true.
"Of course, through real-world channels, or even some inferior property Illusion channels, the loss involved in directly using money for 'damage' is enormous. Ingot can control the loss to an extremely low level when limited to gold. You should be able to do better than Ingot."
"As long as you are in the reality of Dadu, the power of money can break through all evil enemies and monsters."
"Your tone is too righteous, what you're saying feels very wrong but is also truly hard to refute, indeed like the ultimate truth of modern society, which makes me want to complain but I can't," Zheng Fan said very seriously.
"Hahahaha, you're so interesting. In short, as stated above, the money in this card is for you. It should provide some insignificant help."
"Thanks." Zheng Fan looked at the card in his hand and replied.
"Then can you let me try to control it?"
"No."
"Sure enough, no."
"Are you still staring at me?"
"Illusion collecting is not a joke, you know."
"Then you'd better give up early," Zheng Fan said. "It's impossible for me to be controlled by anyone."
Luo Ye smiled at him, saying nothing.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing, just admiring a work of art. Well, I'll be going now. Say hello to Yilin and Hong Yijia for me."
"So fast?"
"I was starving because I didn't eat lunch. Now that I've recovered, I'm going to eat something." Luo Ye walked to her sports car by the roadside. After getting in, she suddenly said: "Oh, by the way, Zheng Fan, did you come to this world in April of this year?"
"Yes, Lin Yilin told you, didn't she?"
"Then do you have any memories from before you came to reality? Not referring to another world in your impression, but memories of the Black World."
"No, generally Illusions don't have such memories, do they?" Zheng Fan answered without thinking.
"I see. Well then, goodbye. Thank you for this pleasant yet unpleasant experience this time."
"Given the bank card, I'll still say 'goodbye' to you."
"Money-worshipping Illusion." Luo Ye playfully cursed, stepped on the accelerator, and the sports car sped away in a cloud of dust under the sunlight.