Chapter 21: Too Shameless

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Too Shameless

Huai Yu was in such high spirits that Captain Zhou couldn’t help but pause for a moment before breaking into a wide grin.

"Good! That’s really good!" he said. After a brief pause, he asked, "You didn’t do anything you shouldn’t have, right?"

He wasn’t trying to interrogate her, but that single question made Huai Yu even happier.

She shook her head. "Nope! I just asked my relatives for help..."

Zhou Qian thought about it and figured he understood. After all, Huai Yu looked genuinely innocent and fragile; she was probably a pampered child at home before all this. Now that she claimed to have asked her relatives for help... she likely just borrowed Contribution Points or acted cute to get her way!

"Alright!" he said briskly. "I’ll have the person on duty exchange it for you right now. If you have extra points and want to trade for anything else, you can come to me."

Huai Yu thought it over, realized she didn’t need any more necessities for the time being, and shook her head. She then held out her arm.

"The two ladies helped cover the cost of some feminine hygiene products for me last time. Tell me how many points that was, and I’ll transfer them to you as well."

Zhou Qian looked a little uncomfortable. He knew exactly what had been given to her, so he mumbled, "Just give twenty points."

Huai Yu smiled and nodded. Adjusting the amount, she tapped her wristband against his. Three hundred and seventy points were transferred out. Now, she was left with thirty points, plus the thirty-six points left over from buying the Zaozi, leaving her with a total of sixty-six points.

But with the multi-purpose shovel, her toilet would be finished by tomorrow. It was completely worth it!

Watching the staff on duty hurriedly bring out a gleaming multi-purpose shovel patterned with camouflage, Huai Yu couldn’t bear to put it down. She had to admit that holding such a shovel in the pitch-black night greatly boosted her sense of security!

She took off her woven basket and asked Zhou Qian, "Do you have a bag? I went to the trading market today and bought a bag of Zaozi. I wanted to treat you and the others, Captain."

Ah?

Zhou Qian was taken aback and waved his hands repeatedly. "I can’t take this. You’re better off exchanging it for some Contribution Points in case of an emergency."

Fresh fruit was incredibly expensive nowadays. It was the thought that counted, but they couldn’t possibly accept it.

Huai Yu shook her head. "These aren’t expensive at all. This whole big bag only cost four points."

Zhou Qian fell silent.

Such a massive bag for only four points...

"Then what is the Mutant Value?" he asked.

Huai Yu happily replied, "Twenty-three!"

Zhou Qian was speechless.

Put it this way: when they were at the end of their rope, they had eaten fruit with a Mutant Value of twenty-five. Everyone who had tried that garbage gave the same review: "I’d rather be dead."

However, Huai Yu emphasized, "I tasted them! They’re actually not that bad. They’re quite sweet... Zhou Qian, I’ve been wanting to thank you.

"If you won’t accept it, I’d at least like to treat those two ladies from before."

She looked at him with pitiful eyes. And the bag of Zaozi in front of him only cost four points anyway...

"Alright!" Zhou Qian went into the duty room and brought out a small basin. "Thank you. Just this once, though."

After a moment’s thought, he went back in and borrowed a flashlight as well.

"Use this to light your way. Just return it the next time you come over."

After watching Huai Yu joyfully head back with her basket on her back and the multi-purpose shovel in hand, Zhou Qian finally carried the basin toward the camp.

Along the way, he bumped into an acquaintance who looked intrigued.

"Oh! Where did you get such fresh Zaozi? Let me try one."

Zhou Qian smiled with extraordinary generosity. "Eat up! We’re brothers, help yourself!"

His smile immediately made the other man wary. "Good fruit is so expensive right now. How can you bear to part with it? Tell me the truth, what’s the Mutant Value?"

Zhou Qian shot him a look of disapproval. "Am I that kind of person? The Mutant Value is ten!"

Good heavens!

If he had said seventeen or eighteen, the man might have believed him, but ten...

"How much is it really? If you don’t tell me, I’ll shove it down your throat!"

Zhou Qian didn’t want to eat the damn thing, so he told the truth. "Twenty-three..."

Holy shit...

The man stared at the Zaozi in his hand, absolutely dumbfounded!

"It’s twenty-three, and you told me to help myself?! Are you even human?"

The commotion drew a few bystanders who gathered to watch the fun, laughing and cursing at him. Suddenly, someone realized the flaw in the logic.

"Wait a minute. If it’s really twenty-three, why did he carry an entire basin of it back?"

"Exactly! And he’s being so secretive about it. He hasn’t even said where it came from."

"He’s probably just afraid you’ll eat too much... I suspect the Mutant Value doesn’t exceed eighteen."

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone’s hands began itching to try. While not even a dog would eat a twenty-three, an eighteen was a different story. They hadn’t had fresh fruit in ages. Taking a couple of bites would at least satisfy their cravings, right?

If it tasted awful, they could always spit it out.

Seeing this, Zhou Qian quickly pushed the basin forward again. "Come on, come on, I told you to help yourselves!"

Encouraged by his words, the crowd hesitated and debated internally before finally reaching out. With just one bite of the Zaozi, a long-lost sweetness—something they hadn’t tasted since what felt like a past life—instantly flooded their mouths!

Everyone’s eyes went wide. Taking another bite of the flesh, they found it slightly mealy, but the overall flavor was genuinely fantastic!

"Good lad, how did you suddenly get so rich?"

As the crowd went CRUNCH CRUNCH eating the Zaozi, they simultaneously grabbed five, six, seven, eight more to stuff into their pockets, all while not forgetting to dish out praises.

"These Zaozi couldn’t have been cheap, right?"

"Such a big basin, and they’re so fresh! A pound must have cost at least forty points, right?"

"I bet you couldn’t even buy this for forty points."

Saying that, they each stuffed another handful away. Seeing the originally heaping basin of Zaozi reduced by nearly half, the crowd finally felt embarrassed enough to pull their hands back. They then sincerely thanked Zhou Qian.

"Not bad! You’re a true brother! Next time I have something good at home, I’ll definitely bring it to you!"

Zhou Qian felt utterly confused.

Something wasn’t right!

Could it be that the little girl had actually bought these Zaozi at a high price and just made up a low number? But that didn’t seem likely either! Nowadays, if Zaozi were truly this delicious, they wouldn’t even circulate in the normal market. The moment Explorers found them, they would sell them directly to their familiar, wealthy clients.

Pondering this over and over, he instinctively grabbed a Zaozi and hesitantly popped it into his mouth.

The moment he bit into it, all his thoughts were thrown to the wind, replaced only by a surging wave of resentment. "Fuck, those bastards are so shameless! It’s so delicious, and they actually gobbled them up!" he thought angrily.

Just as he was quietly gnashing his teeth, another group of people approached from ahead, shouting from afar.

"Captain Zhou, I heard your Zaozi are up for grabs?"

Zhou Qian jolted in shock. "Bullshit! Nothing of the sort! I’m taking these to be tested!"

Holding the basin of Zaozi, he headed toward the testing room with a CLANG CLATTER. Nowadays, as soon as things were put into the machine, the data was accurate down to the decimal point.

[Mutant Value: 11.3]

The crowd that had followed him to join the fun was dumbfounded.

"Holy shit! Where did you buy something so good? Have you struck it rich behind your brothers’ backs, Zhou Qian?"

However, when they turned their heads, they saw that the owner of the Zaozi had no smile on his face. Instead, he wore an expression of intense regret, looking like a dragon that had just lost its treasure hoard.

"Help me call Cheng Yao and Song Yi from the female barracks over."

He then forced a pained, tearless smile.

"These Zaozi... that little girl brought them over as a thank-you gift for the two of them..."