Ma Lu hung up the call from the hardware store owner and dialed the number he was given. Despite trying twice, no one answered.
He didn't attempt a third time but instead composed a brief text message introducing himself and explaining his purpose before returning to his room to catch up on sleep.
He slept until 4 p.m. before getting up to check his phone, which had two missed calls—one from a courier and the other marked as spam.
Lao Hei hadn't called back, but Ma Lu wasn't in a hurry. He joined Old Wang at the restaurant first to prepare for tonight's dinner.
Most of Ma Lu's recent outing had been spent on solving mysteries and searching for Singer's Solanum Berry, and he hadn't collected any ingredients above 4 stars.
However, this wasn't a big issue—the Desktop Farm had plenty in stock, especially in terms of meat. Old Wang had just slaughtered an Earth Dragon, and from the hot spring barbecue, only half a leg was consumed, with the rest still frozen in the fridge.
