Liam stepped out of the car and looked at James's new villa, immediately breaking into a smile.
Beside him, Tremp was stunned when he saw the villa. A trace of envy flashed in his eyes as he thought, "I'll use Liam's influence to force James into giving up this villa later."
At this moment, James also emerged from the garage and immediately spotted Liam and Tremp, his eyes narrowing.
With his past life experience, James naturally recognized Liam. He also knew that Liam later joined the Apocalypse Club and was eventually captured and executed by the Dongchuan Base.
James had no fondness for Liam, but his greatest disdain was for Tremp. He coldly said, "Tremp, I didn't expect you to find me here."
Tremp was immediately silent. Upon hearing James's words, Liam realized that Tremp and James seemed to be at odds. He then coldly glanced at Tremp.
A middle-aged man, resembling a butler, changed his expression slightly and signaled two bodyguards with his eyes. The two quickly took Tremp away to a distance.
Tremp was stunned and tried to explain but was immediately silenced.
Liam looked at James and said with a smile, "James, hello. I'm Liam."
James nodded. The Li family's influence was still significant, so it wasn't the time to fall out directly, but he knew Liam's intention. He thought, "I wanted to fish for information, but it looks like I've caught a trash fish first."
James put on a facade of politeness and said, "Mr. Liam, I know your intention. Unfortunately, you're too late. I've already handed over all the medicine. At that time, Mr. Eric was present."
Liam's smile did not fade upon hearing this. He said, "James, don't misunderstand. The Li family is in the pharmaceutical industry and has top-notch research capabilities nationwide. It would be a great benefit to humanity if we could research the medicine early. I came today only to get a small amount of the medicine for research, just one hundred milliliters."
"And I won't let you suffer," Liam said with a smile. A middle-aged man then struggled to drag out a black box. When the box was opened, a golden light shone brightly, revealing a box full of gold bars.
If it were James from his past life, he would have agreed without hesitation. However, in this life, James was not moved by such a small amount of gold.
But for appearances' sake, James pretended to be surprised and then shook his head with a wry smile, saying, "Mr. Liam, I really don't have any medicine. You can search my house if you don't believe me."
James's expression was noted by Liam, who was immediately disappointed. With a cold snort, he turned and got back into the car.
James watched Liam leave and then went back to the villa. He dragged out two large iron pots and stoves.
There was no way around it. James's appetite was enormous these days. One pot of meat was not enough for him, and his parents were also eating more lately, so two pots were necessary.
Today, he wasn't going to eat dog meat; it was too spicy. As a single young man, too much of it was troublesome.
Today's menu was braised pork, specifically braised wild boar pork.
James took two large pieces of pork belly, each weighing forty to fifty pounds, and cut them into large chunks, each the size of a palm and about five to six centimeters thick.
"Wow, this meat is great. James, where did you get it?" Tremp asked curiously.
"Found it. Pork," James casually lied. He couldn't say he had hunted a mutant pig the size of an elephant, could he?
There were countless ways to make braised pork, but they all boiled down to melting sugar, adding spices, and simmering until it was translucent, fragrant, and sweet.
After finishing, James took a lounge chair outside in the yard, turned on a small electric fan, and then pulled out a large watermelon from the fridge. He cut it in half and scooped out the flesh with a spoon, enjoying himself.
Before long, the residents' group chat in Green Garden District started buzzing again.
"Who's cooking braised pork? It smells so good."
"It wouldn't be the same guy who cooked dog meat last night, would it? This is excessive, and now he's spreading toxins." Someone with the username "Cowboy Jeans" sent a message.
"May the virus kill this person," another resident with the username "Top of Building Four" replied.
James happened to be scrolling through his phone and was speechless. Why did "Top of Building Four" always have something negative to say about him? Last night, he criticized James for being selfish, and today he cursed him to be killed by a virus.
James wasn't one to be easily intimidated. He replied, "Braised pork just smells good. If you don't like it, you can cook it yourself."
This stirred up a hornet's nest.
"Damn it, it's you rich people who like to eat recklessly, causing so many viruses."
"Can't you die without eating?"
"You wait, I'm reporting this."
...
James saw that "Top of Building Four" had gone into full-blown trolling mode, posting dozens of messages. He was bemused and thought, "Isn't it just braised pork? Is it really necessary to make such a fuss?"
"You win," James tossed his phone aside and continued to enjoy his watermelon.
Who would have thought that after a while, the security team didn't show up, but the property management did, and it was the same young lady who had registered the information last time.
James clearly saw the young lady outside the yard exaggeratedly swallow her saliva before greeting him, "Mr. James, hello. We've received reports from other residents saying you're cooking mutant animals."
James nodded. The young lady thought for a moment and said, "Our property management doesn't have the authority to stop you from cooking, but we still need to advise you that animals carry viruses now. For your and your family's safety, it's best not to consume mutant animals. Also, maintaining neighborhood harmony is very important."
The young lady spoke politely, and James couldn't be too harsh. He only smiled and said, "Don't worry, the meat I'm using has been inspected. It's fine. But I can't stop cooking because of a resident's complaint."
The young lady shook her head repeatedly and said, "We don't have the authority to dictate what you cook. I'm just advising you. Perhaps you can cook in the kitchen in the future, where there's a chimney to direct the smell up high, reducing the impact."
"Sure, no problem." James agreed readily. However, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself, as "Top of Building Four" was clearly a high-floor resident. The small chimney in a villa wouldn't do much.
The property management young lady thanked James and left.
Shortly after, someone with the username "Property Round" posted in the group chat: "Round has just visited the owner of Building 102. This owner's meat has been inspected and is virus-free. Please rest assured. Also, the owner of Building 102 has agreed to cook in the kitchen in the future and direct the smell through the chimney to minimize impact."
With this, the uproar in the group chat finally subsided.
After more than an hour, the braised pork was finally ready. James eagerly opened the pot lid, and an aroma immediately wafted out. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, braised pork cooked in this big iron pot is really something."
He took a large piece of braised pork with chopsticks and, not caring if it was hot, bit into it.
"The wild boar meat is really energy-rich!" James ate with his mouth full of oil, feeling that this wild boar meat was completely different from ordinary pork.
"Eat it all!" James's eyes lit up.
While James was devouring the wild boar pork, Liam was coldly watching Tremp, with Lucian and Susan standing behind Tremp, not daring to make a sound.
"You're quite bold to trick me?" Liam said in a deep voice.
Tremp was almost scared to death and quickly said, "Mr. Liam, we didn't know that James had already handed over all the medicine."
Liam coldly looked at Tremp's family, then suddenly showed a cruel smile and said, "I have a method to find out whether James has turned in all the medicine."
Tremp's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Alright, please try it quickly."
Liam glanced at the bodyguards around him. Seven or eight bodyguards immediately stood behind Tremp, Lucian, and Susan.
"Mr. Liam, what are you planning?" Tremp's face changed dramatically, showing a smile more tragic than crying, and he asked hastily.
"This method might require your son to suffer a bit," Liam said with a smile.
Then a technician opened a box, took out a syringe filled with a faintly red liquid from the cool, misty box.
"What is this?" Tremp was startled and then realized that this might be the X-virus!
Liam's so-called method to test whether James had kept any medicine involved injecting Lucian with the X-virus.