Chapter 45

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After half a day of effort, with the workload of twenty people, he only gained 1% proficiency. Although this 1% was reached after the work progressed to more than half in the afternoon, if calculated based on the full day's workload, it should have reached 2%. But to only gain 2% proficiency after a day of hard work, was this a pace that would drive him to the brink of death without compensation?

There were still over thirty days left in the summer vacation. Before the start of the school term, it would definitely be impossible to upgrade the Master Architect to the Perfect level. At that time, Liu Menglong would have to make a choice: should he quit his teaching job and focus on improving his life skills, or should he continue teaching while working part-time on his life skills?

The choice seemed easy.

Stopping his work, Liu Menglong went to the sink for a simple wash. He lifted his head and took a deep breath, feeling much more refreshed and comfortable.

"Hmm?" Looking at the construction building in front of him, according to the building regulations, it was a thirty-three-story building. In the past, with his Advanced Architect level, Liu Menglong could only handle buildings up to six stories and had not noticed anything wrong with this building. But now, with the Master-level eye, he immediately saw that the design of the building had issues.

Of course, these were not major problems, just some unreasonable structural arrangements that prevented the building's density and sturdiness from reaching their highest levels. Liu Menglong estimated that if he were to design the building, under the same materials and labor conditions, it could maintain a 150-year occupancy quality. But with the current construction method, it could only last up to 70 years.

Actually, for current buildings, ensuring a 70-year quality was already quite good. After all, the national standard for residential occupancy is only 50 years, and many buildings don't even last 50 years before they need to be demolished. A building that could maintain quality for 70 years was already considered a conscientious effort in the industry. Moreover, from the location of this building, the future residents would mostly be middle to high-income groups in Tianfu, so the quality could not be taken lightly.

"What am I thinking about?" Shaking his head, Liu Menglong queued up to collect his wages for the day. Although he was not entirely satisfied with the 2% proficiency gain per day, the daily workload of twenty people and the 3000 yuan income still made Liu Menglong quite content.

Now, Liu Menglong handed his wages to Nalan Ruyue for safekeeping, and Nalan Ruyue used this money to cover the daily expenses of the household. The villa was so large that it required a significant amount of money for daily maintenance, such as the small fountain in front of the door, the lawn, and the garden, all of which needed daily care. If professionals were hired, the monthly cost would be over ten thousand yuan. But with Nalan Ruyue, a considerable amount of money was saved.

Currently, the main expenses of the household were for clothing, food, housing, and transportation. In the past ten days, these expenses had already amounted to four to five thousand yuan. Buying an identity document for Nalan Ruyue had cost another fifty thousand yuan, almost leaving Liu Menglong unable to maintain the household finances. Fortunately, today's architect upgrade gave him 25,000 yuan, plus today's wages, Liu Menglong felt reinvigorated.

When he got home, Liu Menglong found that the Yue sisters were not there, and only Nalan Ruyue was preparing dinner.

"Where are Changchang and Xixi?" Liu Menglong asked.

Nalan Ruyue smiled slightly and gestured: They said they were a bit bored staying at home these past few days and went out to get some fresh air. They will be back before dinner.

Liu Menglong nodded and went upstairs to take a shower. When he came down after the shower, Changchang and Xixi had returned.

"Where did you go?" Stepping down the stairs, Liu Menglong smiled and asked.

"Just went to the lakeside to watch people fishing," Changchang and Xixi both paused when they saw Liu Menglong, feeling that his aura seemed different today.

Regaining her composure, Xixi giggled and said, "Big Brother, the artificial lake here is really beautiful, with great scenery and many fish and shrimp. After dinner, let's go buy some fishing rods!"

"No need to buy, we have fishing rods at home," Liu Menglong smiled.

In the past, when Uncle Guan was around, he would often take his fishing gear to the lake to fish. Influenced by Uncle Guan, Liu Menglong gradually developed a liking for fishing. On holidays, besides accompanying Liu Ying, most of his free time was spent fishing with Uncle Guan. The fishing gear at home was the best, even a shark couldn't break the fishing line.

"Then let's go fishing by the lake after dinner!" Xixi said excitedly.

"Are you going to fish at night?" Liu Menglong ruffled her hair, laughing, "If you're really bored, why not watch TV or go online? Or go to the third floor to dance and maintain your figure. You must have gained some weight these past few days."

"Impossible!" Xixi pouted, "Gaining weight is due to fat accumulation, and burning fat can reduce weight. I control my fat content very strictly. If it exceeds the limit by even a little, I immediately burn it off. I can't possibly gain weight."

To others, it would seem that Xixi was talking about burning fat through exercise, but Liu Menglong and Changchang knew that Xixi's "burning fat" referred to using her fire-based ability to burn off excess fat in her body, allowing her to remain slim in a very short time.

Xixi's ability to use her powers was something that all women prone to gaining weight would envy.

"Alright, you haven't gained weight," Liu Menglong smiled and said to the two sisters, "Wash your hands and let's eat!"

"Okay." The Yue sisters nodded and walked into the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Changchang turned on the tap and washed her hands, softly saying, "Xixi, did you notice?"

"Uh-huh." Xixi's eyes sparkled, "Big Brother has become stronger. I even felt a bit of pressure from his aura just now."

Pausing, Xixi turned to look at Changchang, "Changchang, isn't it strange? Big Brother awakened his abilities later in life, and he has dual abilities, even multiple abilities that have never been seen before. Historically, such ability users couldn't achieve much, but why has Big Brother improved so quickly? At this rate, maybe we won't be a match for him in the future."

"Hmm, that's true!" Changchang dried her hands with a towel, deep in thought, "You said that Big Brother might have the ability of infinite stamina. If that's the case, he would have three abilities: discerning good and evil, retrieving objects from the void, and infinite stamina. Historically, no one has had these abilities, but could it be that because of this, Big Brother is a genius among geniuses?"

"Right!" Xixi clapped her hands, water droplets flying everywhere.

"Hey! You got water on my face," Changchang wiped her face, pouting, "Xixi, can you not be so rash all the time?"

"Hehe... sorry," Xixi apologized insincerely and then washed her face, saying, "Big Brother's situation is unprecedented, so our common sense doesn't apply to him."

Lifting her head, she took another towel to dry her face and asked, "Changchang, should we tell Master about Big Brother's situation? She has a lot of experience and might be able to make some judgments."

Changchang thought for a moment and shook her head, "For now, Big Brother's strength is not enough. Let's not alarm Master. If in the future, Big Brother's strength reaches or approaches our level, then we can tell her."

"Alright, I'll follow your lead." Putting down the towel, Xixi adjusted her bangs in the mirror, "Changchang, should we teach Big Brother the method to quickly improve his abilities?"

The method to quickly improve abilities was something the two sisters learned from their Master, and even in the ability world, it was a top-tier technique, a closely guarded secret. Over the past few days, the two sisters had almost treated Liu Menglong like family, especially Xixi, who regarded Liu Menglong as her closest person.

Currently, Liu Menglong's strength, while considered a minor expert in China, was not impressive in the eyes of the two sisters. Xixi was eager for Liu Menglong's strength to grow faster, much faster: Big Brother is a man, how can he be weaker than a little girl like me? Absolutely not!

This suggestion made Changchang a bit hesitant for a moment, but she quickly rejected it, shaking her head, "Xixi, have you forgotten what Master said? Our techniques are closely guarded secrets and can only be passed on to someone we can trust with our lives. Honestly, although we treat Big Brother like family, would he really be willing to give his life for us?"

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Thank you to 'Fengyue Lan' for the 100 Qidian coins, and to 'sam~tang' for the 200 Qidian coins.

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