Tongyuan, Dragon Battle Hotel.
Lu Lin stood in front of the entrance, gazing up at the towering building over a hundred floors high.
Having studied on Blue Star after coming from Saturn for six years, Lu Lin was naturally not unfamiliar with the Dragon Battle Hotel.
This is a landmark in Tongyuan.
But in those six years, Lu Lin never thought that one day he would come here to dine.
The doorman saw Lu Lin approach alone and warmly asked which private room he was headed to, then led Lu Lin along.
"Bright Future."
In the private room, Zuo Zhenyu was conversing with Jiang Yueming, and nodded at Lu Lin as he entered.
Zuo Yiming quickly stood up, "Lu Lin, this is my father."
"Father, this is my classmate, Lu Lin, with an Earth Talent, who just this afternoon comprehended Stone Skin and War Roar Star Skills."
"Hello, Student Lu, please have a seat."
"You and Yiming are the same age, you two sit closer for easy conversation."
Zuo Zhenyu, with a dark complexion, stood at a full two meters tall, with muscular build and short hair, his features sharp and stern. When silent, he appeared serious, but his voice was loud and friendly when speaking.
"Thank you, Uncle Zuo, sorry for troubling you today."
Lu Lin gave a slight bow and moved to sit beside Zuo Yiming.
"Lu Lin, sit over here by me."
Jiang Yueming waved him over.
Zuo Zhenyu, puzzled, looked at his son, not understanding.
Wasn't Lu Lin just an ordinary student?
Zuo Yiming shrugged.
"Alright, Master Jiang."
Lu Lin smiled at Zuo Yiming and then made his way around the table to sit beside Jiang Yueming.
Jiang Yueming pulled out a chair for him, drawing it slightly closer, and once Lu Lin was seated, he turned to Zuo Zhenyu, "General Zuo, see, this is Lu Lin, my newly accepted disciple."
Zuo Zhenyu's eyes narrowed.
Lu Lin actually caught Master Jiang's eye?
This ordinary student, only just unlocking his talent and comprehending Star Skills, actually caught Master Jiang's eye?
"Not bad, he looks quite spirited."
Zuo Zhenyu added quite a few points to Lu Lin's credit internally.
Initially, he was just a friend of his son, a friend with some Talent.
But now with Master Jiang backing him, his status naturally rose.
"Spirited, certainly spirited."
"This kid, despite just having Earth Talent, manages to comprehend Double Star Skills, that's not all; Lu Lin is not as simple as he seems."
"When guiding them in the afternoon, Yiming and Luo Ling could only last three minutes in my Ancient Tree Forest Domain, but he."
Jiang Yueming even patted Lu Lin's shoulder as he spoke.
"Seven minutes!"
"He stayed in my domain for a full seven minutes."
"He even plucked a handful of grass and picked four fruits from me."
"Hahaha."
Zuo Zhenyu found it amusing and couldn't help but burst into laughter, causing the glasses on the table to tremble slightly.
Lu Lin bowed his head, embarrassed.
He didn't know at the time.
He just saw the fruits on the tree looking sweet and tempting, so he casually picked a few.
After a good laugh, Jiang Yueming and Zuo Zhenyu watched as Luo Ling hurried in from outside.
The four people in the room focused their attention on Luo Ling, who shyly lowered her head in greeting to the two elders.
Seeing that Lu Lin was also wearing the Golden Sword High School uniform like her, Luo Ling instinctively went to sit beside him.
"Let's eat."
Zuo Yiming went out to give the order, and various dishes were brought to the table in a flow, making Lu Lin's mouth water with anticipation.
The dishes at Dragon Battle Hotel, they were actually real dishes!
Cold black fungus, ants climbing a tree, roast chicken, lettuce in oyster sauce, braised shrimp in oil, steamed bass, old duck pot...
And a variety of staple foods, fried baozi, Yangchun noodles, osmanthus cake, Big Meat Bun...
Just by smelling the aroma on the table, Lu Lin was thrilled.
He hadn't had real food in so long. Back on Saturn, it wasn't so bad as his parents grew various crops, and they could have noodles, rice or fruit once or twice a month or so.
But ever since coming to Blue Star, his family was saddled with debt, leaving him with only the free nutritional meals from the school.
Jiang Yueming, sitting nearby, keenly sensed Lu Lin's excitement, "You young ones go ahead and eat first, don't be shy."
Lu Lin glanced at Zuo Yiming and Zuo Zhenyu, both of whom nodded slightly.
To them, these dishes were just home-cooked meals, primarily considering Master Jiang's age and dental health, they ordered mainly light and simple dishes.
With their approval, Lu Lin politely thanked them and picked up his chopsticks.
Sitting beside him, Luo Ling, eager as well, grabbed her chopsticks after seeing Lu Lin's actions.
"Hmm, not bad, this braised shrimp in oil is nice."
"This steamed bass is cooked just right."
"No, this white-cut chicken isn't flavorful yet and it's already served."
"What a waste of Dragon Battle Hotel's prestigious name."
Lu Lin muttered to himself as he ate.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yueming and Zuo Zhenyu opened a bottle of white wine, chatting and drinking, occasionally picking a bite to eat too.
"Excuse me, I need to take a call."
Near the end of the meal, Luo Ling suddenly stood up, said this, and hurried outside.
"Sis, what's wrong?"
"What? They didn't pay your salary?!"
"Wait, I'm coming over there, don't cry, don't cry."
"Don't worry, sis, the federation is huge, I refuse to believe anyone would dare do such a thing!"
"Don't argue with them, and definitely don't resort to violence, wait for me to arrive."
"Ok, sis, hanging up now."
Luo Ling ended the call, walked into the private room and bowed to Master Jiang and Zuo Zhenyu, saying she had some matters to attend to and needed to leave first.
Of those present, Zuo Yiming was probably the only one who didn't hear the contents of her phone conversation.
"Classmate Luo, are you in trouble? Do you need help?"
"No, thank you, Uncle."
Luo Ling declined.
She knew Zuo Zhenyu's identity, head of the Tongyuan City Guard.
If he helped, her sister's issue wouldn't be considered an issue at all.
But Luo Ling didn't want to owe others; she wanted to handle her own affairs.
"Alright, then... Yiming, aren't you done? Go with Classmate Luo to check on the situation."
Zuo Yiming swallowed a piece of fish along with its bone, stood up, and said, "No problem, Father, I'll go with Luo Ling and see what's up."
"Master Jiang, Lu Lin, you two continue eating."
Seeing his own bowl still full of food, Lu Lin stood as well, "Wait up, let's go together."
It's always better to have classmates around.
If Luo Ling and Zuo Yiming both left, he wouldn't be able to eat comfortably under the gaze of two bigshots.
Luo Ling was anxious and didn't bother with pleasantries, pushing open the door and striding out.
"Luo Ling, where are we going?"
"Love Home Housekeeping."
Luo Ling explained to the two of them, "My sister works as an organizer at Love Home Housekeeping. Today was supposed to be payday, but the company is accusing her of stealing a client's valuable item during her visit last month."
"If she doesn't return it, not only will they not pay her, they'll also send her to the police to be jailed."
"My sister would never steal from anyone."
"It's definitely the company being deliberately difficult to withhold wages."
Luo Ling said angrily.
If she hadn't awakened her Talent before, this would indeed be hard to handle.
But now, having awakened her Lightning Talent and comprehended Double Star Skills, she doesn't even need to call in favors; handling it normally will resolve this easily.
Lu Lin and Zuo Yiming also felt relieved, it's a civilized society now, who still resorts to solving problems with fists?
Laying out the facts, reasoning things out, the federation's law is fair and just, so it won't be an issue.