Chapter 11: Rainy Night Delivery – The Adoration of the Gluttonous Little Munchlax!
It wasn't until the delivery call came in that Ye Yinchuan was roused from his brief, deep slumber.
Unconsciously, his stomach had started growling loudly, like thunder.
Glancing at the time, it was just ten minutes to one in the morning.
Ye Yinchuan opened the door to see a delivery worker draped in a raincoat, water dripping from his body, and beside him, a Growlithe wearing a Pokémon-specific raincoat.
Both the man and his Pokémon looked exhausted and worn out.
"I'm really sorry. The rain caused flooding on the roads, so I had to take a detour. The delivery is late."
The delivery worker seemed prepared for complaints, or even scolding, from the customer.
"It's fine."
Ye Yinchuan simply smiled, took the food, and nodded at him.
They were both just working-class people trying to make a living. Road flooding was an unavoidable circumstance—there was no need to make things harder for each other.
Besides, even though the food arrived a bit late, he'd managed to get a nice nap out of it. No real loss there.
"Thank you for understanding!"
The delivery worker bowed to Ye Yinchuan before turning to leave.
"Wait."
Ye Yinchuan called out to him, his expression turning slightly serious.
The delivery worker's heart skipped a beat—was there something wrong with the order? If so, not only would his efforts be wasted, but he might also have to compensate for it.
Ye Yinchuan crouched down and examined the Growlithe.
Growlithe was a puppy Pokémon, mostly orange-yellow with cream-colored fur stretching from its mouth down its belly to its tail. It had black stripe-like markings, a mane of yellow fur around its head and neck, large round ears, and dark, beady eyes and nose—adorable and completely harmless-looking.
"Hey, this Growlithe of yours… you should take it to the vet when you have time. It might have a tumor in its belly. It's benign for now, but if left untreated, it could become a serious problem."
Ye Yinchuan's Treasure Appraisal Eye had already kicked in. With just a glance, he'd seen the Growlithe's status panel, and under the "Special" column, it read: [Abdominal Tumor].
The delivery worker froze for a moment, clearly finding the situation a bit bizarre.
"I'm a streamer who specializes in appraising Pokémon. I can spot issues with Pokémon at a glance."
Ye Yinchuan added this explanation to make things sound more plausible.
"Oh, okay!"
Though still puzzled, the delivery worker responded positively. "What's your streamer name? I'll follow you when I have time."
Ye Yinchuan replied, "Snorlax Appraisals. 'Snorlax' as in the little munchlax."
"Got it! Thanks!"
In a hurry to deliver his next order, the delivery worker thanked him and quickly left with his Growlithe.
Watching the pair disappear into the distance, Ye Yinchuan sincerely hoped the delivery worker would take his advice to heart.
Pokémon, like humans, were subject to life, aging, sickness, and death.
A serious illness could be the final straw for a family already struggling to make ends meet.
Though Ye Yinchuan wasn't living comfortably himself, he couldn't bear to see suffering without saying something. At least this way, his conscience was clear.
Carrying the clay-roasted chicken, Ye Yinchuan closed the door. The food had cooled down after the long delivery time.
With an optimistic mindset, he thought, Cold means it won't burn my mouth—perfect for eating now.
As he set the chicken on the table and unwrapped it, the little munchlax, who had been sound asleep earlier, somehow appeared silently in front of the table.
Its big eyes, tiny pupils, and slightly open mouth were already drooling.
"Ah—"
The little munchlax stared at the fragrant clay-roasted chicken, then at Ye Yinchuan, its large head filled with a big question—
What's this delicious-smelling thing? Since when did we have the luxury to afford this?
"You're not eating all of it. I'll share."
Ye Yinchuan placed a large bowl of white rice in front of the little munchlax, then tore off a big chicken leg and handed it over.
The little munchlax opened its mouth, instinctively wanting to swallow it whole, but stopped itself.
It pointed at Ye Yinchuan, then at the chicken leg.
"You mean… the chicken leg is for me?"
The little munchlax nodded.
Ye Yinchuan was both surprised and touched. Pokémon were intelligent and could understand human emotions, but for one to be this considerate and clever…
The little munchlax then picked up the bowl of rice and dumped it straight into its mouth, swallowing it without even chewing.
This was its way of eating—extremely exaggerated.
It was said that little munchlax could happily eat even spoiled food without caring about the taste…
Hard to say what level of foodie that made it.
"munch~"
After swallowing the piece of chicken breast Ye Yinchuan handed it, the little munchlax let out a satisfied sound.
Ye Yinchuan muttered to himself,
"You didn't even chew it, just swallowed it whole. How can you even tell if it's good or not?"
Meanwhile, Ye Yinchuan enjoyed his meal of clay-roasted chicken with rice.
The chicken was fragrant, tender, and juicy, with a bouncy, smooth texture. Paired with rice, the flavors mixed in his mouth, the meat juices spreading across his taste buds—the sensation was…
"Ah, so good!"
As he ate, Ye Yinchuan couldn't help but tilt his head back, marveling at the deliciousness.
It had been a long time since he'd had a proper meal. Something as simple as this made him appreciate the beauty of life and food. With every bite, his brain and mood lifted in delight.
A voice in his head reminded him:
"If you keep working hard, you can improve your quality of life. This clay-roasted chicken is just a reward for earning your first bucket of gold. Keep going, Ye Yinchuan…"
That's right—even though it was past one in the morning, Ye Yinchuan felt a renewed drive for life.
After finishing what could be considered either a late dinner or a midnight snack, Ye Yinchuan washed up and waited a while longer until the 50 pounds of mixed intermediate-grade Pokémon food he'd ordered arrived via same-city delivery.
The delivery man, accompanied by a Machoke, carried in five 10-pound bags of food.
Machoke was a Superpower Pokémon, the evolved form of Machop.
Though only 1.5 meters tall, its body was packed with muscle. As Machop's evolution, it shared some similarities—gray skin, a reptilian-like head, and three tile-shaped ridges on its head resembling a lizard's dorsal fin. Unlike Machop, however, it had five fingers on both its hands and feet, with six red markings on its arms that seemed to be exposed muscle lines.
Machoke also had a peculiar feature—a golden belt connected to black shorts, which supposedly appeared automatically upon evolution.
There was a rumor that this belt restricted Machoke's power, and if removed, its strength would be fully unleashed.
But in reality…
Ye Yinchuan took a closer look. The belt and shorts were actually just patterns on Machoke's body, similar to a lizard's camouflage. Just another marvel of nature in the Pokémon world.
Machoke's strength was immense—it easily carried 40 pounds with both hands, while the delivery man only symbolically lifted the remaining 10.
After the man and Machoke left, Ye Yinchuan opened all five bags of intermediate-grade food and called the little munchlax over.
"munch?!"
The little munchlax was stunned. It hadn't seen this much food in a long time.
Its big eyes, tiny pupils filled with confusion.
Ye Yinchuan checked its status panel—[Hungry, Confused, Anxious].
Did it think this was its last meal before execution?!
"Eat up. We made money from streaming now. From now on, you'll have food every day!"
Hearing this, the little munchlax finally relaxed.
It wagged its large ears happily, grinning widely with a blissful smile.
The way it looked at Ye Yinchuan was full of admiration.
Streaming… is that what Master does every night?
No matter what, a Master who can bring this much food is just too cool!