Saturday morning, the Purple Mountain Flower and Bird Market.
After locking up his Phoenix bike, Li Cheng dusted off his palms and looked up at the market's ornate archway sign.
He would usually be at the dessert shop working at this time, but since the shop was no more and he didn't want to waste time idly, he decided to browse the flower and bird market.
Scouting for insects that could serve as the next absorption targets—lest the Genetic Hunger suddenly strike without warning.
The genes of the Steppe Pavement Ant had boosted his muscle explosiveness.
The genes of the Chinese Flat Shovel Mantis had granted him the freely extendable Bone Blade.
Which insect should he choose next? The cricket with its outstanding jumping ability? A beetle from the order Coleoptera with its tough exoskeleton? Or perhaps the resilient cockroach from the order Blattodea?
Wandering somewhat absentmindedly, Li Cheng suddenly caught sight of a somewhat familiar figure, "Shao classmate?"
Shao Wangshu, wearing a white dress and a sun hat, was sitting outside a coffee house in the market, drinking an iced Americano. Surprised to see Li Cheng, she remarked, "Li Cheng, what a coincidence."
"Yeah, quite a coincidence."
Li Cheng scratched his head. Yin City was so big, had he not seen Shao Wangshu sitting there in advance, he might have suspected her of following him, "Are you here to browse the market? By yourself?"
"Not alone, my butler came along too."
Shao Wangshu pointed behind her where her female butler, who was flipping through a fashion magazine and noticed their gaze, waved over.
Uh... the affordability of a full-time butler confirmed what Han Letian had said—Shao Wangshu's family was indeed quite wealthy.
However, as 'House of Cards' suggests, proximity to power makes some people mistakenly believe they possess it, just as proximity to wealth makes some people mistakenly believe it's theirs. Other people's wealth had nothing to do with him.
Li Cheng was at peace and casually asked, "Are you here to buy flowers?"
"Mhm," Shao Wangshu nodded, "The garden... cough, I mean, we've just moved in, and it feels a bit empty. I wanted to buy some flowers to fill it up."
Her tone paused, then turned slightly melancholic as she added, "My mom liked to grow flowers too."
The past tense, not the present.
Li Cheng was quick to catch the nuance of her words, but since Shao Wangshu didn't elaborate, neither did he probe, casually suggesting, "How about we look around together?"
As deskmates, they were bound to spend some time together in the future, plus Shao Wangshu had just moved to Yin City—it was both sensible and polite for him as a local to show her around.
Sigh, speaking of showing around, Li Cheng thought of Officer Wang from the local police station—every year at the start of the anti-vice campaign, the experienced officer would map out all the city's illegal establishments.
"Sure."
Shao Wangshu's eyes lit up, took another sip of her coffee, hastily set her cup down, grabbed her purse, and left without even paying, following Li Cheng.
The female butler, seeing this from a distance, sighed, tapped her forehead with the newspaper, and muttered to herself, "Wei Caiyan, oh Wei Caiyan, what kind of job have you found..." While she also stood up, paid for both herself and Shao Wangshu with a QR code, and leisurely followed the two who had left.
Tulips, chrysanthemums, peonies, roses, azaleas, hydrangeas, forget-me-nots...
Walking past the colorful array of flowers, inhaling their fragrant scents, one's mood naturally brightened.
Li Cheng had also fulfilled Shao Wangshu's request to take quite a few photos with her phone—with his photography skills and her looks, the pictures turned out quite well indeed.
"Do you really like taking photos?"
Noticing the plethora of photos on her phone, Li Cheng casually asked.
"Yeah." Shao Wangshu took her phone back, walked ahead, and shyly said, "I think photographs are like snapshots of life. Everyone dies three times. The first is a physical death when the heart stops beating and the brain ceases to function.
The second is a social death when the funeral is over and the deceased's social role and interpersonal relationships officially end.
The third is when you're forgotten. When the last person who remembers the deceased also passes away, that person completely ceases to exist."
Shao Wangshu hopped ahead of Li Cheng, turned around, and gave him a radiant smile, "That's why I like to take pictures, to draw. In this way, when I die one day, snapshots of my life can continue to exist. Even if nobody remembers me."
It was strange for such a vibrant high school student to always talk about death.
Li Cheng blinked, uncertain of what to reply, and simply made some small talk, recommending the city's special delicacies and lesser-known but tasty little eateries.
After turning a few street corners and ordering some flowers, they finally arrived at their destination for this trip to the flower and bird market—a pet store called "Cute Exotic Pets."
"I'll go in and take a look at the pets; do you want to wait outside?"
"No worries, I'm not afraid."
Shao Wangshu followed Li Cheng into the pet store, full of curiosity, and saw that the store of modest size was lined with several rows of glass cabinets.
One row displayed corn snakes, kingsnakes, hognose snakes, and more from the Serpentes order.
One row of cabinets housed maned dragons, leopard geckos, and other lizards.
Another row contained orange babus, golden orb weavers, Solomon spiders, and such.
And the variety of insects that Li Cheng was most interested in.
"It's so cute!"
Shao Wangshu's attention was drawn to a chubby blue-tongued skink, his eyes gleaming. With the shop assistant's nod of approval, he reached out and touched it.
Blue-tongues look rather silly with their chubby bodies, short legs, often sticking out their blue tongues, a seemingly absent-minded and not-so-sharp expression.
The slim shop owner noticed Li Cheng lingering in front of the insect cabinets and approached him, asking, "Which kind are you interested in, handsome? We have powerful ones like Hercules beetles, Chinese Flat Shovels, and Giraffe Stag-Beetles.
There are beautiful ones like Rainbow Stag-Beetles, Two-spotted Stag beetles, White Striped Green Flower Golden Turtles, Uganda Flower Beetles, and Big-head Flower Beetles.
There's also this really cool and powerful-looking Metallyticus splendidus, super, super handsome."
The shop owner opened the glass cabinet and took out a stag beetle to place on his hand.
This kind of insect comes from the Sulawesi Island in Indonesia and its surrounding islands, with a slender body, blue and purple carapace, presenting metallic colors.
Of course, the most eye-catching part is its long mandibles with internal spikes, resembling a pair of exotic weapons, very beautiful.
Li Cheng suppressed the urge to touch the stag beetle, rubbing his palms together and asked, "Do you have any Hercules Long-horned Beetles? Or Atlas beetles would be okay too."
Atlas beetles are also known as Atlas beetles, belonging to the Chalcosoma genus of the Scarab family. They are mainly found in the tropical rainforests of countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
They have three sturdy and narrow antennae on their head, can grow up to the impressive size of 140.63mm, feed on tree sap, with a highly aggressive nature. They are called the kings of the beetle world.
The Hercules Long-horned Beetle, also known as Hercules, is considered the emperor of beetles, with a potential length up to a staggering 184mm.
"We have Hercules. Hercules are subject to strict customs inspections and aren't allowed into the country. However, domestically, Insect Society has special breeding certification and breed their own."
The shop owner nodded, "Do you want L1, L2, or L3 larvae?"
"Are there any adults available?"
Beetles from egg to adult emerge after several stages: egg, the first instar larvae (L1), second instar larvae (L2), third instar larvae (L3), pupa, and the emerged adult.
The whole process is very lengthy, and the greatest joy lies in raising the chubby larvae to the pupation and emerging stage, like breaking out of the cocoon into an adult – similar to raising Pocket Monsters.
After emerging as adults, they can also be bred artificially, aiming for larger, stronger, and more handsome offspring.
People like Li Cheng who purchase adults directly are actually in the minority.
Not only because adults lack the joy of breeding, but also because adults are more expensive, with some individuals of fine lineage and close to the maximum body size commanding prices of tens of thousands.
"You're out of luck; we just ran out. Hercules beetles have a long growth period, and adults only live for half a year to a year."
The shop owner asked, "I only have pupae available here, how about that?"
"That'll do."
Li Cheng nodded. The pupation period for Hercules is about 40-60 days. Considering he had just completed a cycle of Genetic Hunger, he wasn't in a huge rush. Moreover, he wanted to test something out.
"I'll get it for you."
The beetle circle isn't big, and it's rare to come across someone with the same hobby, so the shop owner was quite enthusiastic. He retrieved a pupa nearing 16 centimeters long from the warehouse, packing it in a makeshift pupation chamber.
While packing wood shavings for Li Cheng, the owner chattered nonstop about how noble the lineage of this Hercules beetle was.
Just as Li Cheng was about to pay, he saw Shao Wangshu coming over with two skinks in his arms. One was a Queensland eastern variety, priced at eight thousand, the other a northern variety, priced at four thousand.
The two added up to twelve thousand – that was the big business!
The shop owner's eyes sparkled as he greeted Shao Wangshu with a hundredfold enthusiasm, explaining in detail the care required for the blue-tongues. In fact, it wasn't much; this species was quite easygoing, practically a walking-food-waste bin, able to eat dog food or cat food.
When it was time to pay, the happy shop owner, generously waving his hand, waived Li Cheng's payment for the pupa.
Outside the store, with the box in hand, Li Cheng scratched his head and said, "Uh, I got lucky thanks to you this time."
"Hehe, just treat me to a milk tea next time," Shao Wangshu dangled the two plastic boxes, whispering, "Or maybe we can go somewhere else together in the future?"
"Where to?"
"What do you think? The zoo? The cinema? Disney? A cruise would be nice too."
Shao Wangshu hopped ahead, not noticing that Li Cheng suddenly turned his head sharply to look at a spot down the alley.
He smelled a familiar scent.
The scent of the Master of Insects.