Chapter 3 - Surprise, surprise?

"Ahem!"

"That's not important!"

Mr. Lin coughed in a dignified manner and pulled Lin Bai to his side, saying in a serious tone, "Son! We must have a discerning eye when we do things! We have to be good at finding the core of the problem! Is birthday the main point? It's obviously not! The main point is that your mom and I have carefully chosen this gift for you!"

"..."

Lin Bai saw that his father had activated brainwashing mode. In order to avoid being nagged the entire night, he had to do as he was told and blow out the candle.

After that...

The room turned dark, and he couldn't see anything.

Lin Bai called out helplessly, "Dad, turn on the lights. I'll open the present."

"Oh... Alright..."

His father fumbled around for a while and suddenly clapped his hands. Oh no, I forgot that there was a power outage at home! "

"You're so stupid!"

Mrs. Lin pinched him and turned on the flashlight function of her phone.

Then, she patted Lin Bai's head and smiled warmly. "Baby, go unwrap your present."

"Mom, what is it?"

Lin Bai asked as he unwrapped it.

"A surprise~"

Mrs. Lin did not answer directly.

Then, Lin Bai saw that inside the gift box...

There was a box with even more tacky packaging!

A Russian nested doll?

Lin Bai was numb.

However, upon closer inspection, there seemed to be quite a few words printed on it.

"Ta-da~"

"Surprise!"

"Vig and Vigor Pill!"

"Given to our family's best baby!"

The moment the gift was opened, Mr. And Mrs. Lin cheered.

Lin Bai picked up the box and looked at it in confusion.

He muttered softly.

"Vig and Vigor Pill..."

"It can improve a person's physique from the three major aspects of vitality, agility, and physique. It can greatly enhance the strength of one's realm and also stimulate the potential of a male. It can make the user invincible in night battles and have 3,000 women…

"Long-term consumption will have better effects... F*ck, po... A health care product?"

Mr. Lin put his arm around Lin Bai's shoulder and smiled. "Just look at the first half of the description. What do you think? Son, My gift to you is pretty good, right?"

Lin Bai's mouth twitched. "Dad... Where did you get this…?"

"I went to the black market with your mom today and found it by chance."

Mr. Lin's face was full of joy. "Speaking of which, I'm really lucky. Not long after I went in, I met a hidden expert. People were fighting for the things on the stall, and in the end, we had to bid for them. It wasn't easy for me to get this!"

"Yup." Mrs. Lin nodded in agreement. "That expert said that after taking this medicine, you can pass the martial arts test."

"Son, don't spread this everywhere."

Mr. Lin lowered his voice. "After all. it's from the black market, and... It has that effect. This isn't considered a forbidden drug, but don't let anyone else know about it."

Lin Bai was touched. He hugged the packaging of the Vim and Vigor Pill in his arms and nodded hard.

"I know. Thank you, Mom and Dad."

"Oh, my dear son!"

Lin Bai's father laughed heartily, feeling that his life was complete. He could not help but fantasize about the days when he would rely on his son to enter the upper class.

At this moment, Lin Bai suddenly asked.

"Dad, the things in the black market... aren't cheap, right? Your salary is so low, so how did you buy it?"

Mr. Lin and Mrs. Lin looked at each other.

They laughed at the same time, but they kept their mouths shut.

Lin Bai felt that something was amiss and continued to ask.

"Dad, if you don't tell me, I won't eat this."

"I was just saying that you're good, but you're going against your dad now?"

Lin Bai's father's face turned serious. He put on the airs of a parent and prepared to forcefully suppress the topic.

Despite that, Lin Bai was a person of two lives. How could he be fooled so easily? His attitude was unusually firm.

Mr. Lin had no choice but to tell him everything.

It turned out that they had sold their house for money.

In addition to the savings they had accumulated over the years, they were only able to buy the box of "Vim and Vigor Pill" from the black market!

Lin Bai did not expect them to do this. "Dad, you... Isn't that too much of a gamble?"

"What gamble?! No one knows his son better than his father! Your mom and I have seen your hard work!"

Mr. Lin did not seem to care.

He said it very easily.

"Son! When you become a martial artist, this house will be nothing!

"When that time comes, your class and social status will rise!

"You'll be able to get as much money as you want.

"Wouldn't it be a piece of cake to repay your parents?"

Mr. Lin's eyebrows were raised as he spoke with fervor and assurance as if he could see a beautiful future at a glance.

Mrs. Lin pursed her lips and smiled. The way she looked at Lin Bai...

It was as if she was asking if he was surprised and if this was unexpected!

Lin Bai was speechless.

He finally knew why there was no electricity at home.

It turned out that their house had been sold and that the electricity was directly cut off.

It was a pleasant surprise...

Now, it had become a shock.

'Very well, the burden on me has increased!'

...

Fortunately, the electricity was cut off at home, but the water was not.

After that, Mr. And Mrs. Lin lit up the candles that had just been blown out in the kitchen and started to cook. At the same time, they discussed the inevitable problem of where they would live in the future.

The person who bought the house gave them a few days to move, so they had to hurry.

Lin Bai quietly returned to his room and did not join in.

His parents' expectation had become a pressure that could not be ignored, binding him.

Even so, he did not care about this.

The greater the pressure, the greater the motivation.

Lin Bai's greatest strength was that he would not blame others or his failure on other factors.

In the past, without the system, he still managed to survive.

Not to mention that he had awakened his talent, so this little storm was nothing at all.

However...

He had to break through to become a martial artist as soon as possible.

He did not want to live under the bridge.

He opened the Vim and Vigor Pill that his parents treated as a treasure.

Suddenly, a row of black balls wrapped in an unknown material appeared in front of him.

Lin Bai tore open one of the packages and put it in his mouth.

He took a bite...

It was crunchy and chocolate-flavored...

Well, it was probably to neutralize the bitter taste of the medicine itself, so it was covered with a layer of starch.

The manufacturer was quite meticulous.

Then, Lin Bai sat down cross-legged and carefully felt the medicinal power spread through his body.

1 minute...

5 minutes...

Half an hour...

'F*ck!

'Why am I not feeling anything?!'

Lin Bai had also taken pills before. Logically speaking, even the worst Body Tempering Pill would make him feel like his body was burning after taking it!

He had been eating this Vim and Vigor Pill for so long!

Not only did the promised effect not happen, but there also was not even any reaction!

Lin Bai's eyes widened.

A bad thought emerged in his mind.

His parents, who had a gambler's mentality... Could they have been… scammed by a scammer?

'This is f*cking…'

In order to confirm this, he opened the system interface and checked his attributes.

[Name: Lin Bai]

[Age: 18]

[Stage: Mortal Body stage 7]

[Physique: 9]

[Agility: 8]

[Vitality: 9]

[Martial skills: None]

[Talent: C]

It was the same as during the assessment. There was no change at all!

'I'm finished.

'They're fake…'

...

Very soon, it was time for dinner.

Lin Bai went to the dining room to eat.

His parents carefully asked about how he felt after taking the medicine.

Lin Bai did not want to disappoint his parents, so he made up a story to show that the medicine was very effective.

His parents were overjoyed when they heard this.

As they chatted, they even talked about whether they should introduce a girlfriend to their son.

After all, the description on the packaging also said that this medicine would stimulate a male's potential.

They still had to pay attention to this aspect.

If Lin Bai held it in too much and caused problems such as infertility, it would be a big problem.

"..."

Lin Bai lowered his head and ate in silence.

He was thinking to himself.

He had to figure out how to quickly become stronger and how to break through to the martial artist realm.