Chapter 16: Eighth-Rank Monster
Soon Zhou Chen arrived at the trading company, and the sharp-eyed clerk quickly recognized Zhou Chen. After all, a man who could fight a black bear alone was not an ordinary person, at least not someone he could afford to offend.

"Sir, you are here again?"
Zhou Chen also recognized him, and then patted the bag behind him and said, "I want to sell animal skins."

The clerk was shocked. Although he couldn't see it, he had a rough guess of what was inside the big package. He immediately invited Zhou Chen in. The clerk took Zhou Chen to a room that the company used to entertain important guests.

"Please wait a moment, I will ask Mr. Wang to come out."

"Then I'll trouble you."

"No way!" The guy then left the room and closed the door when he left.

The room was simply furnished. Apart from simple decorations, there was only a table and two chairs. After Zhou Chen sat down, he picked up the teapot on the table and poured a cup of tea. What he didn't expect was that the tea was hot.

Soon, Mr. Wang pushed the door and walked in. "Xiaochen, I didn't expect you to come again so soon." Zhou Chen quickly stood up and saluted, "Hello, Mr. Wang." There's no need to be polite, just sit down.

"I don't know what you brought this time," Zhou Chen put the package on the table, "Please give me an estimate, Mr. Wang," and then opened the package.

When Old Wang saw what was in the package, his eyes narrowed, and then he looked at Zhou Chen and said, "I can't believe that you have such strength at such a young age. Last time I thought you were lucky, but now it seems I was wrong."

Then he looked at the two bear skins on the table again, and Mr. Wang directly picked up the bear skin that had become a spirit. “This is actually a bear skin that has become a spirit, but there are too many cracks on it.”

"It took a lot of effort to kill this beast. I wonder if the bear skin can still be sold at a good price."
"Fur is sold for its quality. Logically speaking, the price of this fur should be greatly discounted. However, this is a fine piece of fur after all. Although the quality is not good, it can still be sold for a lot of silver. How about fifty taels?"

"Thank you, Mr. Wang."

Old Wang asked again, "Although the fur is not valuable, the meat is a hot commodity. I am willing to pay ten taels per pound. I wonder if you are willing to sell it?"
After hearing the price, Zhou Chen admitted that he was tempted, but finally declined, "I will keep that thing, Mr. Wang, as it is still useful to me, so I won't sell it. If you want to try it, Mr. Wang, I can bring you a few pounds of meat next time."

Old Wang declined, saying, "I collect that thing to make money. I'm not a warrior myself, so that thing is of little use to me." Then Old Wang looked at another piece of skin. Although the other one was not a spirit, it was of good quality, so Old Wang also offered a price of twenty taels.

After saying goodbye to Mr. Wang, Zhou Chen went to Wulou, a restaurant that specializes in animal meat as its staple food, and even has spirited animal meat for limited-time sale.

Zhou Chen walked in without saying a word. This was the place he and Zhao Kuo had agreed on before. What he didn't expect was that he was stopped as soon as he entered the door. The waiter looked down and said, "Where did you come from, beggar? Don't you see where this place is? How can you come here?"

It's no wonder that the waiter looked down on people. Although Zhou Chen's clothes were not like those of a beggar, he was definitely not a rich man. Besides, the cost of living in this beast building was not low, and people dressed like him could not afford it.

Zhou Chen was not angry and said with a smile, "Waiter, I guess you misunderstood. I have an appointment with Captain Zhao Kuo."

As the chief constable in the city, the waiter naturally knew him and said, "How could Chief Constable Zhao have a friend like you?" As he said that, he reached out to push Zhou Chen, but his push did not work.

"I don't know whether Captain Zhao has come or not. If he has, just go and ask him. My name is Zhou Chen." Zhou Chen was not angry at what the waiter did.

Who knew that the waiter yelled even more angrily, "Get out! You are not worthy of ordering me around?" Zhou Chen felt a little angry when he heard this. This waiter had indeed gone too far, so he decided to teach him a lesson.

If I refuse to leave, what can you do to me? Hearing Zhou Chen say this, the waiter was furious and punched Zhou Chen. Zhou Chen sneered and raised his hand to grab the waiter's fist. He squeezed his right hand slightly and the waiter screamed. Zhou Chen's hand was measured. This squeeze could not break his bones, but it was painful and he was sweating profusely. "Sir, please spare me."

Zhou Chen ignored him. At this time, a tall waiter walked out of the restaurant and said, "Sir, I don't know how this kid has offended you. Please show mercy."

After hearing his words, Zhou Chen loosened his right hand. The Khan said to the waiter, "Get out, you blind man," and then said to Zhou Chen, "Sir, please come in."

"I have an appointment with Captain Zhao to have dinner here. I wonder if Captain Zhao has arrived?"
"This one hasn't arrived yet, but the seat has been reserved, please follow me."

Zhou Chen nodded and followed the Khan upstairs. The big man took Zhou Chen all the way to a private room on the third floor and said, "Please wait here for a moment. Captain Zhao will come up later."

"Oh, I see".

"I wonder if you have any other instructions, or if you would like two side dishes first."

"No need, just a pot of tea first."

After the big man left, Zhou Chen began to observe the private room. The room backed onto the street, and he could see the street outside clearly by opening the window. Zhou Chen stood on it and observed the street outside.

Not long after, another waiter came up with a pot of tea. Zhou Chen did not look back at him. After putting down the teapot, the waiter said, "Enjoy your meal, sir," and then left.

About twenty minutes later, the door was opened again. This time it was Zhao Kuo who came in, and behind him was the woman who was riding a horse.

"Brother Zhou, sorry for keeping you waiting."

“No, I’ve just been here for a while.” He turned around and saw the woman Zhou Chen behind Zhao Kuo. Her face changed and the woman pointed at Zhou Chen and was about to swear, but Zhao Kuo immediately stopped her, “Xia girl, don’t be rude.”

"This is County Magistrate Xia's only daughter. Xia Rong has been spoiled since she was young. Brother Zhou, please don't hold it against her if there is anything wrong with her in the past."

He didn't dare argue with them, "No, it's all a misunderstanding." Then the three of them sat down. It was Zhou Chen's first time here and he didn't know what to order. Zhao Kuo simply waved his hand and ordered a table full of food, mostly meat.

Although Xia Rong was a girl, her eating manners were not like those of a lady from a noble family. Her eating manners were even uglier than those of Zhou Chen and the others. She also had an extremely large appetite, and most of the food on the table went into her stomach.

However, Zhao Kuo ordered a lot so that the two of them would not go hungry. When Xia Rong had almost finished eating, the waiter brought another large plate with a suckling pig on it. Seeing this dish, Xia Rong looked at Zhao Kuo with resentment.

"Uncle Zhao, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Zhao Kuo smiled and ignored him but looked at Zhou Chen, "Brother Zhou, come and try it. This is good stuff."

Seeing that it was just an ordinary dish, Zhou Chen did not notice anything different about it. He picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. It tasted delicious, but the prompt in front of him shocked him: "Obtained 0.1 reinforcement points."

"What's this, Captain Zhao?"
Zhao Kuo smiled and said, "This is the cub of an eighth-grade monster. Although its strength is not up to the eighth grade yet, it will be able to reach the eighth grade level once it reaches adulthood."

(End of this chapter)