The Chiyan Worm would not come out, so Lin Wei had no choice but to let it follow Long Xiao.
Lin Wei felt reluctant to part with the Chiyan Worm when it left with Long Xiao. In the end, he decided to move into Mangshan No. 1 as well, so he could see and research the Chiyan Worm at any time.
It was Saturday today, and Lin Shijie had originally planned to ask Long Xiao to go to the flea market. Since Lin Wei had arrived, and he was also an antique enthusiast, the three of them went together.
Lin Hao wanted to go too, but Lin Xuan stopped him, gave him some money, and asked him to go with Lin Yi to buy furniture and daily necessities for Lin Wei.
Lin Xuan drove to the company, while Long Xiao, Lin Wei, and Lin Shijie drove straight to the flea market.
It was only eight in the morning, and the flea market was already crowded with people, with stalls everywhere and people all around.
The three of them wandered around for a while, looking at a lot of second-hand goods, but they didn't find anything they liked.
An hour later, all three were tired and decided to find a shop to sit down and rest.
Just as they had chosen a shop and were about to go in, they heard a noisy commotion not far away.
Looking up, they saw a crowd of people gathered not far away, as if watching something.
"Let's go take a look too," Lin Shijie said, pointing at the crowd.
The three of them squeezed into the crowd. In the middle of the crowd, a boy of twelve or thirteen, wearing coarse cloth clothes and a children's schoolbag on his back, was sitting on the ground. In front of him was a piece of coarse cloth, on which lay a cleaver.
Long Xiao was startled when he saw the cleaver. It was twice the size of an ordinary cleaver, forged from profound iron, entirely black, with a notch the size of an adult's thumb near the blade.
The cleaver was special, so its owner was definitely not ordinary.
Carefully observing the boy, Long Xiao was surprised again.
The boy had a strong life force within him. Because the life force was contained, Long Xiao hadn't noticed it at first glance.
What shocked Long Xiao the most was that at only eleven or twelve years old, he could already contain his life force. This power was too great, even stronger than Luo Tianshui.
After asking the people around, he learned that this boy was a "credit knife seller."
Credit knife sellers were a mysterious profession, with many different theories about them. No one really knew what they did.
The commotion earlier was caused by a few ruffians teasing the boy, who nearly chopped them with his cleaver, scaring them all away.
The onlookers were only discussing, and none dared to step forward to inquire about the situation.
Long Xiao stepped forward a few paces, squatted in front of the boy, and looked at him, asking, "How do you sell this knife on credit?"
The boy rolled his eyes, looked at Long Xiao, and said, "Selling on credit covers meals. For one day of using the knife, you provide one day's meals. As long as I'm full."
"What can this knife be used for?" Long Xiao asked, reaching for the knife.
The boy snatched the cleaver back into his hands and said, "If you're not buying it on credit, don't touch it."
Long Xiao smiled and said, "As far as I know, selling knives on credit isn't done like this."
"How else can it be done?" the boy asked.
"Whoever buys the knife on credit, you give them the knife directly, agree on a time, and collect the money when the time comes."
"My rules for selling knives on credit are different from others. I sell the knife, but I'm responsible for it. You take it from me when you use it, and I don't have to keep it safe."
The boy looked up and saw that Long Xiao was listening attentively. He continued, "For one day of using my knife, you just need to provide me with enough food for the day. If you ask me to do chores, that's a separate matter."
Long Xiao chuckled and said, "Young man, your accounting is very clear, but I don't know if your knife is worth a meal."
The boy looked at Long Xiao warily and handed the large cleaver to him. "See, I don't eat much, and I don't have any special requirements for where I live."
The profound iron cleaver was very heavy in his hand and carried a murderous aura. It had definitely killed people before.
Long Xiao turned the cleaver over and over. The boy said, "If you've seen it, give it back to me. Make up your mind quickly whether you want to buy it on credit or not."
The boy was full of mystery, and his eyes were bright and lively. He was definitely not an ordinary person.
"I'll take it on credit."
As soon as Long Xiao said "credit," the boy quickly wrapped the cleaver in the cloth on the ground, stood up, and stood beside Long Xiao.
"Boss, when is dinner?"
"Are you a glutton? It's not noon yet, not time for dinner," Lin Shijie said with a smile.
The boy glared at Lin Shijie and stood silently beside Long Xiao.
The three of them took the boy into a shop. Lin Wei was a regular customer here. Seeing them come in, the shop assistant hurried to make them tea.
The three of them sat down to chat, with the boy standing beside Long Xiao.
Long Xiao asked, "What's your name?"
"My full name is Liang Yanming. You can call me Xiao Ming."
Long Xiao nodded and said, "Okay, Xiao Ming. From now on, you'll follow me. Remember, don't lie, and be obedient, understand?"
"Don't worry, boss. I, Liang Yanming, am the most honest person in the world. You are my boss. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west..."
Liang Yanming started to ramble on, and Long Xiao quickly interrupted him, saying, "Alright, Xiao Ming, I believe everything you say is true."
After spending the morning with Lin Wei and Lin Shijie, none of them found any antiques they liked.
They returned to the Lin family for lunch. Since Lin Wei was there, Nangong Yue asked Aunt Ling to buy more food.
Xiao Ming and Long Xiao were not shy. As soon as they entered the villa, he asked which room he would be staying in.
Long Xiao lived on the second floor, and there were still several empty rooms on the second floor. Long Xiao told Xiao Ming to choose one himself.
After looking through several empty rooms, Xiao Ming chose the room opposite Long Xiao.
"Boss, I'm not choosing the room opposite you because it's bigger. It's so you can find me easily..."
Long Xiao, worried that Xiao Ming would start rambling again, quickly interrupted him and said, "Alright, Xiao Ming, let's go to the restaurant to eat."
Hearing about food, Xiao Ming put the cleaver he was carrying into his schoolbag, quickly went downstairs, and sat at the dining table.
Soon, Aunt Ling served the dishes, but Xiao Ming just looked at them without picking up his chopsticks.
Within minutes of arriving at the Lin family, Xiao Ming had figured out who was in charge. In front of Nangong Yue, Xiao Ming was very well-behaved, calling her "pretty auntie" with every sentence, which made Nangong Yue very happy.
Seeing that Xiao Ming hadn't started eating, Nangong Yue said, "Xiao Ming, don't be polite. This is your home from now on. If this fellow Long Xiao treats you badly, Auntie will deal with him for you."
Xiao Ming glanced at the dishes on the table, then at Long Xiao, and said with some difficulty, "Auntie, boss, you eat first. Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't have enough to eat when I start."
Lin Hao chuckled and said, "How much can a little kid like you eat? You're worried we won't have enough? Just eat. If it's not enough, I'll buy more."
Long Xiao also said, "Alright, stop pretending. I know you're starving. Hurry up and eat."
Xiao Ming picked up his chopsticks and said, "Thank you, boss. Then I won't be polite."
Soon, the Lin family realized why Xiao Ming hadn't picked up his chopsticks. Once he did, there was basically nothing left for anyone else.
Xiao Ming ate like a whirlwind, extremely fast. While others had only taken a few bites, a whole fish and a chicken were reduced to just bones.
No one in the family ate their fill at lunch. In the afternoon, Long Xiao took Xiao Ming to buy groceries. To make sure Xiao Ming was full, Long Xiao directly bought ten roast chickens and five braised pork knuckles.