Monster Dismantling Company

Eating hot pot is also a form of training.

This is indeed the case today, in the year 39 of the Union Calendar.

Hot pot, in essence, involves lighting a fire under a pot, boiling water inside, and cooking ingredients in that water. This means that anything that can be cooked by boiling can be added to a hot pot. As long as it's raw, with the hot pot set up, people around can enjoy a bite.

This is a very common cooking method in field conditions. All you need is an iron pot, or any metal container will do.

Therefore, the cooking method of eating hot pot can indeed be a training course for the defense force when it is taken seriously.

But when it's being playful, it can also be used as an excuse to go out and play—

After all, without intercity internet these days, it's difficult for a group of people to get together to play video games; and you can't just leave the city freely, so going up mountains and down rivers to catch fish is out of the question. But if we're talking about curriculum, then wilderness survival is part of it. So, going on a picnic together becomes a recreational activity that parents trust, teachers are at ease with, and children enjoy.

Of course, for people like Li Lin, this has become more of a habit. Many of his friends are about to leave the city.

Being born in Ningzhou doesn't mean you have to stay there your whole life. Although the old world is gone, college entrance exams still exist. However, given the current situation, holding a province-wide entrance exam is impractical due to the lack of information sharing, let alone geographical connectivity. Therefore, today's entrance exams have reverted to a system similar to the ancient imperial examinations—held in two sessions.

The first provincial examination was held locally, and the second imperial examination was held in Shenhe Plain, with two batches of candidates admitted respectively.

Although not exactly the same, the modern imperial examination and the ancient imperial examination share one thing in common: neither allows anyone to fail. This is because the provincial examination was equivalent to selection, while the imperial examination was a comprehensive evaluation of talent from various regions. Regardless of their scores, everyone could stay in the Guanzhong urban cluster directly under the joint government, where the lifestyle was comparable to that of the first half of the 21st century, a stark contrast to Ningzhou, which only had a regional network.

Those with exceptional academic achievements will remain in the capital, Shenhe Plain, to support the operation of the coalition government after completing their university education, and to support the power center of this world.

Regardless of the outcome, this means one thing: those who go to Shenhe Plain will likely not return to their hometown for a long time to come.

This can be considered a calculated strategy by the coalition government, a dynamic balance between the central government and local authorities: the coalition government selects the best talent to ensure Shenheyuan's global leadership. At the same time, students from various regions can also influence the coalition government's direction as representatives of their hometowns.

For an individual, being able to go to Shenhe Plain is undoubtedly a fortunate thing. However, it also means saying goodbye to one's past life. And saying goodbye is never a happy thing.

When Li Lin arrived with the meat he had prepared, only two of the six people who were supposed to come showed up, making three including Li Lin.

This was consistent with Li Lin's prediction during the day—there were indeed only three including him.

They were a brother and sister, a year apart, both wearing school uniforms. The older sister, Lin Zhiqing, was the one they were seeing off today. Clearly, only her younger brother, Lin Zhifang, had come.

His brother is another story.

Lin Zhiqing, the older sister, actually bears a striking resemblance to the form that [Ren] took in the pool. This is because it is the form that Li Lin prefers.

Both of them were looking at the fire, clearly disappointed by the desolate scene.

"Li Lin?" Lin Zhiqing noticed him first. "I didn't expect it to be you who came."

"Tsk, it's you."

"Is there something you're unhappy about with me?" Li Lin put down the paper bag and sat down in front of him.

"It's nothing, I just didn't expect... I didn't expect that the most heartless person among us would be the only one to come and see my sister off."

"Is it possible that I came to see them off precisely because I'm cold-hearted? The others don't want to bear this kind of grief, so they couldn't come?"

"Hey, don't look so gloomy." Lin Zhiqing patted her younger brother's shoulder, then looked at Li Lin, "What delicious food did you bring for me?"

Li Lin took out the meat he had cut. It was sliced ​​thinly, clearly for hot pot.

Cutting the meat into equal pieces makes it easier to share.

"This is...Taba's meat?" she asked in surprise.

"You have such good eyesight. How did you know?"

"Because I brought some too..."

She produced a piece of meat similar to Li Lin's, but from the back of a fish, clearly a product cut by another monster-disassembling company. With their wealth, they could certainly buy meat cut that very day.

"This is awkward, we brought the same thing... Ah, I'm so stupid, really. You clearly have a monster dismantling company, why did I bring monster meat?"

"I already told you not to bring this," Lin Zhifang said, resting his chin on his hand. "But you insisted on saying he likes to eat it, so you brought it—if he wants to eat it, he can cut it himself. He's much closer to the animal meat than we are."

Li Lin looked at Lin Zhifang and asked, "You don't seem very happy?"

"My sister is leaving. Do you think I can be happy?"

"Hey," Lin Zhiqing slapped him on the forehead, "I told you not to look so gloomy. Well... Li Lin, sit down first, I have a surprise for you!"

She ladled a bowl of soup into a folding picnic bowl and handed it to Li Lin: "Here! Try the hot pot soup first!"

Should you drink the hot pot broth before eating hot pot?

He had never heard of that.

But since the locals did it this way, there must be a reason for it.

Li Lin took the soup and took a sip.

Numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant.

"Hmm, it tastes good." He nodded, holding the bowl.

"That's...that's it?" Lin Zhiqing looked at him. "Did it feel ruthless?"

"It does seem a bit spicy."

"So when it's spicy, don't you have any reaction?"

"It doesn't seem spicy enough to cause a reaction yet."

"Ah... I see... Let's start eating then."

Taba's meat was delicious to begin with. After being cooked in the broth, it became even more flavorful. This was because Lin Zhiqing had personally chosen the extra-spicy broth; she wanted to surprise everyone and make them remember the spiciness, especially Li Lin. After all, Li Lin seemed indifferent to everything.

She had thought that this hot pot, so spicy it would bring tears to her eyes, would reveal a side of Li Lin that she never usually saw. But all her preparations ultimately went nowhere, and she was the only one who ended up crying from the spiciness.

After finishing the hot pot, Li Lin, as a guest, volunteered to wash the pot, leaving only him and his sister by the fire.

"It failed." Lin Zhifang shook his head. "I already told you, he's not buying it. Just say what you want to say directly. Why do you have to wait until he's overwhelmed by the spiciness before you speak? You're not an elementary school boy, why do you have to torture him to get his attention?"