Chapter 96: Just a Little More, Just a Little More and It Will Explode~
The content of the video was simple. A young man was crying, roughly saying that his family was very poor, but he had been accepted into a very famous Institution of Higher Learning. Originally, he wouldn't have been able to continue his studies.
At this time, Lysandre appeared and generously sponsored him, allowing him to pursue further education.
However, one day, for some unknown reason, Lysandre suddenly withdrew his sponsorship, instantly putting him in a difficult situation.
If he didn't continue studying, he was close to graduating. If he continued studying, he couldn't afford the high fees of the Institution of Higher Learning.
In the video, he didn't blame Lysandre; in fact, his words were full of gratitude towards Lysandre, constantly recounting the help Lysandre had given him over the years.
It was just that he cried too miserably, causing viewers to express sympathy for him and simultaneously begin to fiercely criticize Lysandre.
They accused Lysandre, saying he either shouldn't have sponsored him at all or should have sponsored him all the way. What kind of behavior was it to suddenly withdraw sponsorship halfway? They cursed Lysandre for going back on his word, calling him extremely hypocritical, wanting both a good reputation and not wanting to spend money.
Others said that Lysandre was already so rich, yet he was still so stingy.
In short, as public opinion fermented, this video was continuously reposted, and the number of people watching and commenting grew, no longer limited to just the Kalos Region.
The Internet was now filled with criticism of Lysandre, and some even threatened to boycott products produced by Lysandre Labs, with a large wave of people expressing support.
After watching the video content and the comments below, Bai Feng frowned.
This situation was clearly not right. If no one was orchestrating it, the matter wouldn't have escalated so quickly.
Moreover, the person crying in the video clearly seemed to have a plan. How could an ordinary person have the audacity to publicly create public opinion about Lysandre online?
If he were Lysandre, that person would have been suppressed long ago.
But so far, Lysandre hadn't come out to say a word, and Lysandre Labs' public relations department hadn't appeared either.
After thinking for a moment, Bai Feng dialed Lysandre's telephone.
"Hello, it's Bai Feng!" Lysandre's voice quickly came from the other end of the line, but his voice sounded a bit tired.
Bai Feng asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, then Lysandre's voice came again.
"You know about it too..."
"Yeah, I just saw it. I'm a little worried about your situation," Bai Feng said.
"Heh..." Lysandre sighed on the other end, then Bai Feng heard him ask, "Do you think human nature is just like this?"
Bai Feng was momentarily stumped by his question, so he could only brace himself and answer, "Human nature is a very complex thing. Everyone's human nature simultaneously contains both good and evil sides.
When the good side of a person outweighs the evil side, that person can be called a good person; when the evil side outweighs the good side, then they are a villain. You and I are the same.
None of us can guarantee that we will never have evil thoughts, nor can we definitively say that a villain has never done a good deed.
So, discussing human nature here doesn't have much meaning. It's too complex and cannot be explained in a few words."
Hearing Bai Feng's answer, Lysandre fell into deep thought. There was no sound from the other end of the telephone for a long time.
Bai Feng's heart was pounding. He was afraid he had said something wrong and caused Lysandre to suddenly fall into extreme thinking.
He really didn't want Lysandre to go down a path of no return because he was trapped in a dead end.
Seeing that there was no sound from the other side for a long time, Bai Feng suddenly blurted out, "Lysandre, why don't you come here and stay for a few days? You've always been busy with your venture and haven't been here before. Why not take this opportunity to come see me?"
"Okay... Okay!" The other side seemed a little surprised that Bai Feng would suddenly say that, but ultimately agreed.
Lysandre arrived in Biyi City two days later, traveling by his private aircraft. Bai Feng and Bai Ye greeted him at the Biyi City Airport.
After leaving the Airport and walking on the streets of Biyi City, Lysandre said with some emotion, "No matter how many times I come to Biyi City, the climate here is always so comfortable."
Bai Feng smiled and said, "If you like it, you can come often."
Lysandre smiled bitterly and shook his head.
The two walked and chatted, and Lysandre told Bai Feng the truth about the online matter.
It turned out that the reason Lysandre withdrew his sponsorship was because he discovered that the person not only didn't spend the money Lysandre sponsored him with on his studies but also frequently visited disreputable places.
In addition, he was also lending money at high interest rates under Lysandre's name, taking the opportunity to accumulate wealth.
This online incident wasn't planned by him alone. After his sponsorship was withdrawn by Lysandre, a competitor of Lysandre Labs bribed him and hired him to smear Lysandre and Lysandre's company.
Otherwise, how could an ordinary person have the guts to publicly stir up trouble outside?
It wasn't that Lysandre didn't want to come forward and clarify, but he felt a bit tired. This kind of thing had happened before.
He remembered one time he went to a Region to invest in building a factory. Seeing how poor the place was, he decided to distribute supplies to some local families.
But when the supplies were transported there, those people swarmed over and snatched everything, even injuring his employees.
Another time, a Region had an outbreak of an infectious disease. Lysandre personally led people to deliver medicine there.
But after those people got the medicine, they actually detained Lysandre and his employees and threatened Lysandre, demanding that he call and have more medicine and supplies sent over, or they would kill the hostage!
Such examples were everywhere.
Over the years, Lysandre had been dedicated to charity, trying to use his power to make the world a better place, but he had constantly faced the evil side of human nature.
The more good deeds he did, the more he witnessed the evil of human nature.
The outbreak of this incident finally pushed Lysandre's accumulated mood to a critical point.
He suddenly felt extremely tired. What was the point of doing so many good deeds? The world was still like this, full of evil everywhere!
Bai Feng had never asked Lysandre about the truth of the online matter because he believed in Lysandre from the bottom of his heart. But Lysandre probably really needed a confidant, so he told Bai Feng everything.
Bai Feng actually didn't know how to comfort Lysandre. Asking him to discuss such complex and profound questions about human nature with Lysandre was something he couldn't do, so he took Lysandre to the Vegetable Market.
If you're in a bad mood, eat a big meal. Delicious food can make people forget their troubles.
Bai Feng used to often come to the Vegetable Market in the East District with Director Meili to buy groceries, so many people in the Vegetable Market knew Bai Feng.
"Oh, little Bai Feng, haven't seen you here in a long time," said the Manager selling aquatic products.
"Haha, it has been a while. I don't need to do cooking at home, so I naturally come less often!" Bai Feng chatted familiarly with the Manager.
The Manager knew about Bai Feng's current situation at home, so he said with a smile, "That's true. The aquatic products today are very fresh. Want some?"
Bai Feng looked around, then said cheerfully, "Give me some crab claws!"
Bai Feng was referring to the crab claws of Krabby and Kingler.
The breeding farm specifically cultivates Krabby and Kingler, which regularly shed their crab claws. These crab claws are extremely delicious and very popular in the aquatic products market.
Of course, the price is also quite steep, especially the crab claws of Kingler, which are much more expensive than those of Krabby.
The Pokémon aquatic products here at the Manager's are sourced from others; he doesn't have the qualification to raise them himself.
"Alright!" The Manager said happily, "Tell me which ones you want, and I'll weigh them for you."
Bai Feng picked four Kingler crab claws that looked particularly good: "Just these few."
Seeing this, the Manager beamed and gave Bai Feng a thumbs-up, saying, "You've got good taste, kid! You picked out the good stuff!"
The Manager quickly weighed and packed the four crab claws and handed them to Bai Feng: "That's twenty-eight thousand in total."
Bai Feng usually rarely buys such expensive food ingredients, but today Lysandre was visiting, so it was a rare occasion. How could they not eat something good?
"Want anything else? The Slowpoke tails are also very good today, and the Jellyfish (Tentacruel and Tentacool) tentacles are also fresh arrivals."
Bai Feng thought for a moment: "Then give me some of everything."
"Alright!" The Manager's mouth immediately widened upon hearing this.
Just buying aquatic products, Bai Feng ended up spending fifty thousand.
The Manager also gave Bai Feng some shed lower frills of Land Jellyfish as a gift. These weren't fresh aquatic products but dried goods.
The Kalos Region doesn't produce Land Jellyfish. The ones the Manager has are "imported goods," but because people in the Kalos Region don't have a high acceptance of this, very few people buy them.
Seeing that Bai Feng bought a lot of aquatic products, the Manager simply gave him a small bag; it was better than having them sit unsold.
Bai Feng had never eaten this before and was also curious to try it, so he accepted it.
Next, Bai Feng went to the place selling seasoning.
Following the Shopkeeper's recommendation, he also bought chili powder ground from Capsakid teeth, salt produced by Nacli, oil pressed from Olive Nut Fruit...
These were all high-grade goods, very expensive, but Bai Feng gritted his teeth and bought them.
Money, well, it's meant to be spent. Now he should probably be considered... rich? Maybe.
Lysandre had a poker face and was wearing a very formal suit. His entire demeanor was out of place in the Vegetable Market, attracting many curious glances from people.
Of course, everyone was just curious and didn't mean to offend, nor did they randomly ask Bai Feng about him.
Lysandre followed silently behind Bai Feng the whole way, listening to Bai Feng chat and bargain with the Managers and Aunts in the Vegetable Market, finding it novel and interesting.
These were things he had never experienced before, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile unconsciously appeared on his face.
Lysandre grew up in a wealthy family, having everything handed to him since childhood and receiving the most elite education.
As an adult, relying on his outstanding ability and keen insight, he gradually developed and expanded his family's enterprise, giving it greater influence in the Kalos Region and even the entire world.
Lysandre had always felt that he was successful, in every aspect.
But today, he suddenly felt that he seemed to not understand life.
Bai Feng took Lysandre around the Vegetable Market for a long time. He even made Lysandre go buy groceries from the Managers and Aunts and haggle over the price.
Lysandre's domineering CEO aura didn't match buying groceries at all, so although he looked calm and composed on the surface, he was actually extremely flustered inside.
Of course, the Managers and Aunts selling vegetables were equally flustered. It was the first time they had seen someone with such an overwhelming presence come out to buy groceries. For a moment, even the sales pitches they usually blurted out became stuttering.
After a few attempts, Lysandre was very embarrassed, while Bai Feng mercilessly laughed at him from the side.
Finally, Lysandre didn't know what he thought of, but he actually started laughing along with Bai Feng. At this moment, he seemed to forget his troubles.
In the end, Bai Feng and Lysandre returned home laden with bags. Bai Ye simply refused to use Psychic Power to help them.
At noon, Bai Feng used all his skills, and with Hatterene's help, made a table full of dishes. He even video-called Siebold to ask for culinary skill advice.
While Bai Feng was cooking, he asked the two little ones, Chikorita and Larvitar, to take Lysandre on a tour.
These two little ones were also mischievous. Bai Feng asked them to show Lysandre around Fangxing Mountain, but they just focused on playing themselves, fooling around all the way, and ended up forgetting about Lysandre.
However, Lysandre himself also got a good look at the scenery of Fangxing Mountain. There was a thriving Orchard, and diligent and capable Pokémon. It was simply like a paradise.
Lysandre suddenly felt that although he was richer than Bai Feng, his life didn't seem as flavorful as Bai Feng's.
At noon, Bai Feng enthusiastically promoted the delicious food from his "hometown" to Lysandre. Lysandre had never tried this new style of food before and found it very novel.
In reality, Lysandre had tasted countless delicious food, but when he tried to recall the so-called high-end food ingredients he had eaten before, none of them brought him the same sense of "reality" as the food in front of him.
"How does it taste? Is it to your flavor?" Bai Feng asked.
"It's very delicious!" Lysandre said.
He looked at Bai Feng's nervous expression and suddenly realized that everything Bai Feng had done with him today was actually to help him feel better. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel a little touched.
Since his parents passed away, this was the first time someone had cared about him so much.
Although Lysandre was a successful entrepreneur, he actually had almost no close relatives left, only some distant relatives. There was no family affection between them, only some entanglement of interests.
After the incident online, they even called him and lectured him in the tone of Elders, saying he had no foresight.
As for close friends, he had none before, but now he had Bai Feng and Calyrex.
But Calyrex was a woman after all, and there were many things he couldn't easily discuss with Calyrex.
Perhaps it was because he had been suppressing his feelings for too long, which was why he agreed when Bai Feng invited him that day.
"If it's delicious, eat more! I made it all myself!" Bai Feng happily put dishes into Lysandre's bowl.
People in the Kalos Region were actually more accustomed to using knives and forks when eating, but Bai Feng used chopsticks here. Lysandre was very clumsy with them, looking a bit awkward, completely inconsistent with his usual domineering CEO aura. Several times, this made Bai Feng burst into laughter.
(End of Chapter)