Li Yang nodded. "Yeah, I have plans with a classmate."
Hearing this, Qin Yue thought to herself, 'That's such a flimsy excuse. Is he going to say his classmate stood him up in a minute?'
"Li Yang."
Just then, a voice called out, and a girl in a simple white shirt walked over.
Qin Yue was very pretty, but this girl's features were in no way inferior to hers. If anything, she had a special kind of aura about her.
"Zhou Yao."
Li Yang smiled when he saw her.
"And these are?"
Zhou Yao walked up, her curious gaze shifting between Qin Yue and Chu Tingting as she asked.
She naturally positioned herself beside Li Yang, facing Qin Yue and her friend.
Seeing Zhou Yao, Qin Yue froze.
'Li Yang... actually had plans with someone else?'
She had subconsciously assumed that Li Yang had come here for her. After all, her parents had told her Li Yang would be hosting her, and they knew her exact location in Coastal City. It was entirely possible they had told Li Yang to come here.
But she never expected that she had just been jumping to conclusions.
Li Yang really was here to meet someone. Their encounter was a complete coincidence.
For a moment, Qin Yue felt her face flush.
'Am I that full of myself?'
But it was a normal assumption. She was beautiful and came from a wealthy family; countless boys liked her. She had seen too many attempts to "coincidentally" run into her.
Hearing Zhou Yao's question, Li Yang smiled and made the introductions. "This is Qin Yue, and this is her friend, Chu Tingting."
"Hello."
After Li Yang's introduction, they all exchanged brief greetings.
Li Yang and Zhou Yao offered, "Why don't you join us for a meal?"
Hearing this, Qin Yue immediately waved her hands. "No, it's okay. Li Yang, Zhou Yao, Tingting and I are just here to have some fun. Don't mind us."
Since she said so, Li Yang nodded and walked into the restaurant with Zhou Yao.
Watching them leave, Chu Tingting leaned close to Qin Yue and whispered, "Yueyue, that Zhou Yao is just as pretty as you. You've got a love rival."
Hearing that, Qin Yue snapped, "Stop talking nonsense!"
Thinking about what just happened, she felt an involuntary pang of embarrassment.
'Thank goodness I didn't say what I was thinking out loud.' Qin Yue felt a little relieved. If she had, she probably would have died of embarrassment.
But seeing Zhou Yao, Qin Yue shook her head.
'Looks like I was really overthinking things.'
She had been worried that Li Yang might have ideas about her. It wasn't that she had anything against him; the main issue was her annoyance with her parents' blind matchmaking.
But looking at Zhou Yao now, it was clear that she and Li Yang were a much better match.
With that thought, Qin Yue relaxed.
She smiled and said, "Tingting, let's go. We should get something to eat."
「…」
「Meanwhile」 Zhou Yao led Li Yang to a table.
Li Yang was a little embarrassed. "Zhou Yao, you've been waiting for a while, haven't you?"
When it came to the girl he liked, Li Yang naturally acted differently than he did with others, paying more attention to her feelings.
Hearing this, Zhou Yao smiled and said, "Not at all. I only got here a little bit before you."
"By the way, I saw in our class group chat that you got a fishing boat and even caught some large yellow croakers. Are you going to be a captain from now on?"
Li Yang nodded. "That's the plan for now."
Although she asked about it, Li Yang was certain that wasn't the reason she had asked to meet him.
"Oh, right. I'm leaving Coastal City tomorrow," Zhou Yao said suddenly after they had been chatting for a while.
"Tomorrow?" Li Yang was taken aback.
Zhou Yao nodded. "My maternal grandparents live abroad. I'm flying out tomorrow to stay with them for a month."
Li Yang nodded but didn't say much more.
Zhou Yao's family must be well-off. Back in school, a luxury car always came to pick her up and drop her off.
The two of them ate and chatted about various things. Zhou Yao was very interested in Li Yang's recent trip out to sea and kept asking about it.
Naturally, Li Yang gave her a detailed account.
The meal lasted for over an hour. Finally, Zhou Yao got a call from her family telling her it was time to go home.
"Li Yang, I have to go," Zhou Yao said softly, standing up.
"Let me walk you out."
Li Yang nodded. At that moment, he could clearly sense that Zhou Yao liked him. It was a strange feeling, but he was certain of it.
The two walked out, and under Li Yang's gaze, Zhou Yao got into her car and left.
It would be at least a month before they saw each other again.
He stood there silently for a moment before taking a deep breath.
'I need to focus on making money.'
Right now, he didn't have much time to think about romance.
「…」
「In the blink of an eye, another day had passed.」
In his room, Li Yang was silently cultivating while his octopus avatar continuously searched for a target.
'In over a day, the octopus avatar has encountered several species of valuable fish, but their numbers are too small. The most numerous school, even if caught, would only be worth around seven hundred thousand.'
The octopus avatar and his main body didn't necessarily cultivate in sync. After the main body finished cultivating, the octopus avatar could then cultivate to catch up to the main body's progress at a much faster rate.
Li Yang was getting a little frustrated. Finding that large school of yellow croakers before had been pure luck. He naturally wanted every trip to sea to bring in at least ten million, which was the only way to earn over a hundred million quickly.
As for a catch worth a few hundred thousand, he was already starting to turn his nose up at it.
Deep in the sea, the octopus avatar swam on and on. Its speed was astonishing, covering at least a hundred meters every second. Other fish couldn't even get a clear look at it.
'If I can't find anything else, I'll have to settle for one of the schools I found earlier.' A glint of intelligence flashed in the octopus avatar's eyes.
He couldn't just keep dragging this out. A catch worth over a million wasn't bad, and every little bit adds up.
The octopus avatar had memorized the direction, speed, and other details of the previous schools. If he wanted to, he could find them again in a short amount of time!
In a short while, the octopus avatar had traveled several thousand meters. Its gaze fell on something in the distance, and it suddenly stopped.
In the distance, a dozen or so very large fish were swimming. They were long, thick, and round, with streamlined bodies that tapered to a slender tail base and a forked or crescent-shaped tail fin. There were distinct keels on both sides of the caudal peduncle, and a row of finlets behind both the dorsal and anal fins. They had torpedo-shaped bodies, roughly circular in cross-section.
The lower sides and belly were silvery-white with alternating transverse lines and rows of colorless dots. The first dorsal fin was yellow or blue, while the second was reddish-brown. The anal fin and finlets were dark yellow with black edges, and the central caudal keel was black.
"This is…"
At the same time, Li Yang, who had been cultivating in his house, immediately stopped and couldn't help but jump to his feet.