Chapter 101 - 97: Ke Taichiro [Two in One]

Chapter 101: Chapter 97: Ke Taichiro [Two in One]

Boss Tang hemmed and hawed. "Um... do you want some fertilizer?"

Huai Yu stared at him in utter confusion.

"I’ll pass for now. I can’t carry too much back, and too little won’t have any effect."

Boss Tang’s eyes lit up. "So that means you still need it, right? Come, come! This stuff is incredibly light. You can definitely carry it back!"

He opened the storage room door and, after a long while, dragged out a massive plastic bag large enough to hold a quilt. It was filled to the brim with the ping-pong ball-sized black spheres she had just seen.

Huai Yu’s eyes widened. "Are these..."

"Yes, yes," Boss Tang smiled, looking almost sycophantic. "These are all fantastic! Ke Taichiro ferments them as it rolls the balls. It’s fully composted, top-tier fertilizer. One hundred percent natural.

"Let me grab you a pair of gloves so you can feel the weight... It’s incredibly light.

"How about it, Little Yu? I won’t charge a single cent. It’s yours for free."

Words failed Huai Yu as she tried to process her current emotions. After a long while, she finally found her voice. "Is this the dry rations it hid over the past week?"

Boss Tang gave a bitter smile. "Don’t say that. Ke Taichiro is very hardworking. This is only three days’ worth. If I hadn’t made it operate in secret, two more days of work and the Health Bureau would have awarded me a medal.

"It cleaned up every last speck of dirt and garbage on the ground. It was absolutely spotless."

Huai Yu was speechless. Though thoroughly amazed, she swore she would never in a million years consider using Ke Taichiro to do household chores.

Hesitantly, she reached out and lifted the bag. It was indeed very light, like hefting a gunnysack of ping-pong balls.

She thought about it. "Alright, then I’ll take it. Thank you."

Boss Tang waved his hand. "No need to thank me. Next time you come, I’ll prepare more for you—by the way, are those two geese still alive?"

"They’re alive," Huai Yu said, her expression becoming somewhat complicated as she thought of the goslings. "It’s just that their beaks are quite sharp, and their destructive power is a bit high." ℴ

Boss Tang remembered the hole in the counter and actually breathed a sigh of relief. "Having sharp beaks is already a good thing... Look at Ke Taichiro. Even if it mutated, couldn’t it have just stopped rolling balls?"

Indeed, human joys and sorrows are all a matter of comparison. Thinking of the two goslings at home furiously pecking at bamboo shoots like they were playing Whack-A-Mole, Huai Yu nodded heavily in agreement.

Furthermore, Boss Tang’s friend, Gao Ming—he truly lived up to his name; he was nothing short of brilliant!

Eventually, leaving Boss Tang’s shop, Huai Yu had not only avoided spending a single cent but was also walking away with a basket completely full of dung balls.

Wrapped in a transparent plastic bag, however, they looked more like traditional Chinese medicine pills.

Hoisting the basket onto her back, she prepared to head home. On second thought, she detoured over to Uncle Zaozi’s storefront and lingered for a moment. She didn’t spot him, but it didn’t matter. Just as she turned to leave, a voice called out to her.

"Hey, girl! Are the chicks you bought last time still alive?"

Huai Yu turned around and couldn’t help but smile. "Uncle Zaozi!"

Uncle Zaozi was already numb to the title. Subconsciously, he looked down at Huai Yu’s basket and asked curiously, "What’s this? How did you get so many? Medicine pills? What do they cure?"

"No," Huai Yu quickly shook her head. "They’re just some dried compost."

Uncle Zaozi laughed heartily. "Oh, come on, aren’t I one of your own? If they’re medicine pills, just say they’re medicine pills. In this day and age, who could possibly have this much compost, let alone mold it so exquisitely? Come on, let me take a look."

Huai Yu struggled to explain. "This is really quite dirty. It’s not edible."

"Oh my, your uncle here isn’t a petty person. What’s wrong with just taking a look?" Uncle Zaozi felt she was being a bit coy, unlike her initial straightforwardness.

Since things had come to this, Huai Yu had no choice but to untie the bag in her basket.

The moment it opened, the distinct, fermented aroma of enclosed grass wafted out. Uncle Zaozi took a deep breath, his face lighting up with pleasant surprise.

"There’s a rich, mellow aroma... HISS! Could this be aged compressed tea?"

As he spoke, he had already picked one up, holding it up to the sun and examining it from all angles.

The ping-pong ball-sized black sphere was intermingled with wisps of dark green and grass-green hues. Ke Taichiro was quite skilled at fermentation. The sphere was uniform, and the wispy colors blended evenly. It didn’t look ugly at all; in fact, it had a rather unique charm.

And so, Uncle Zaozi gripped one tightly in his palm. "Is it expensive? If it’s not expensive, give your uncle one, won’t you? It’s been years since I’ve had any good tea."

Huai Yu sighed, finding the situation both hilarious and exasperating. "Uncle Zaozi, this stuff really is worthless. If you want, I can pour you a whole plateful. But it really is compost... you absolutely cannot put it in your mouth."

"TSK." Uncle Zaozi nodded knowingly. "So you genuinely bought it thinking it was compost, right? You picked up a hidden treasure, I get it! Come, come! Step into the shop and have a seat. Let’s brew some tea!"