Chapter 25: A Little Moved

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: A Little Moved

The bus didn’t arrive at the east gate of Red Victory Pedestrian Street until half past two.

The weather was bad, but there were more people on the Pedestrian Street than last time. It was as if everyone needed to stock up on supplies for the upcoming continuous heavy rain to feel at ease. People were already rushing down the road, clutching raincoats or plastic tarps. Someone hurriedly ran out holding a pair of rainboots, muttering, "Those black-hearted scoundrels, raising prices just because it’s raining. Fifteen points for a pair is way too expensive..."

"Exactly! When I came last week, it was only eleven points!"

"Forget it. At least this is something we can use for a long time..."

Huai Yu listened silently. Thinking of the rainboots she had bought for thirteen points, she couldn’t help but feel a secret sense of satisfaction—she might not have gotten the best deal, but she certainly hadn’t gotten the worst.

"Ah, that’s just like me! I’m so good at budgeting!" she thought.

She didn’t know what else had gone up in price, but since she didn’t plan on going out on rainy days, she decided to just avoid buying anything else this time. Observing and pondering along the way, Huai Yu familiarly carried her things to the inspection station.

As soon as she lifted the straw curtain, the security inspector couldn’t help but peek out. "Whoa! So many wild vegetables? There aren’t this many in the city... You must be a vegetable vendor who specializes in collecting these."

Huai Yu shook her head blankly. "I’m not."

The inspector looked even more shocked. "Then you couldn’t have gone to the forest park in the suburbs, could you?"

Huai Yu had no idea what was in the forest park. She simply shook her head gently. "My brother brought them back. He found them outside."

Oh, understood. A freelance Explorer.

The inspector sat back down on his stool and sighed. "These wild vegetables are so fresh. He probably rushed back overnight as soon as he picked them... It’s not easy."

The conveyor belt fed the items into the machine, and shortly after, an inspection card popped out on the other side. The inspector pulled out the card, took one look, and instantly shot back up to his feet.

[Mutant Value: 9]

Huai Yu was a bit puzzled. It seemed the plants were feeling great; otherwise, how could the Mutant Value of the new shoots be so low?

The inspector, however, was completely stunned. Before Huai Yu could even reach out, he hurriedly placed her basket and bags back onto the conveyor belt. The machine spat out another card, but the reading remained unchanged.

[Mutant Value: 9]

At this point, the several people in the small inspection station all gathered around, asking in disbelief.

"Vegetables with a Mutant Value of 9 are actually circulating in the market?"

"Right! I always thought this stuff would get bought up by someone directly at the highway toll station..."

"Fuck! I want to eat it so badly! I don’t even know what normal vegetables taste like anymore..."

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance! To think these vegetables actually made it into Red Victory..."

The group exchanged glances before fixing their burning gazes on Huai Yu. "Miss, are you selling these vegetables?"

"Huh?" Huai Yu looked a little bewildered.

This wasn’t an act. She genuinely had no idea what kind of price a [Mutant Value: 9] should fetch. So, she shyly lowered her head again and said pitifully, "My brother said that since I don’t know anything, I should just take them to Boss Tang at Huaxia Gold. It’s safer that way... I don’t know if I can sell them..."

Boss Tang, huh! The people working here had heard of him. It was said that he came from a prominent family. After all, in this day and age, anyone who could sell luxury goods like game consoles and cosmetics had to have some kind of powerful background.

"But even if Boss Tang buys them, he’s just going to resell them," one of the men coaxed gently. "Besides, your vegetables only have a Mutant Value of 9. Even if we pool our points together, we couldn’t buy that much..." He thought for a moment and held out a hand. "Thirty points a catty. We’ll each buy one catty to take home and get a taste. Is that okay?"

Given his cautious tone, these wild vegetables probably commanded a hidden premium if they were actually sold on the open market. But...

Huai Yu just tilted her head innocently. "Okay."

She smiled sweetly. "The last time I went out, it was my first time, and I didn’t know anything. All of you took such great care of me and even explained the cards to me..." She took the initiative to ask, "Do you want shepherd’s purse or bracken?"

The pearl flowers and the few shiitake mushrooms were buried under the bracken, so she decided not to dig them out.

Seeing her agree so readily, the group felt a little awkward. But an even bigger problem now stood before them: Shepherd’s purse? Or bracken?

After much deliberation, everyone unanimously chose the bracken. It wasn’t that the shepherd’s purse wasn’t good enough. It was just that if they wanted to enjoy a good meal, the bracken only required a few simple seasonings. Shepherd’s purse, on the other hand, needed to be paired with either eggs or meat. At the very least, they would have to make dumplings! And flour cost points, too.

Holding the bracken in their hands while keeping their eyes fixed on the shepherd’s purse—it was an agonizing dilemma.

After Huai Yu collected the points, she watched them press the bracken onto the scale, painstakingly trying to weigh out exactly one catty. Seeing this, she reached out and added five extra stalks to each portion. Only then did she take back her bamboo basket, pick up her bags, and say, "Bye-bye."

Her sweet, smiling face made the group feel even more sympathetic. "Her family member probably got hurt or something. They must have hurried back before they even had time to process the fresh wild vegetables..."

Otherwise, a girl who looked so innocent and inexperienced in the ways of the world wouldn’t have just brought the vegetables directly to the trading market like this.

The "innocent and inexperienced" Huai Yu had successfully collected 120 points. Right now, she was happily making her way to Huaxia Gold. Inside, Boss Tang was holding a game console, playing with a bitter expression on his face. He didn’t look like he was enjoying it at all.

Seeing Huai Yu approach, his round, chubby body instantly sprang up. "Oh, Little Sister Yu! You’re finally here! I’ve been waiting for you for so long that the flowers have withered. I’m about to throw up from playing this game."

He was originally a hardcore gamer. Before the cataclysm, he had already beaten every new single-player game out there. But after six years of the cataclysm... Don’t even mention it. He had played the same few games over and over again until he was completely numb to them.

Huai Yu felt a little embarrassed. "I was originally supposed to come yesterday..."

"It’s fine." Boss Tang didn’t mind at all. "Explorers, right? Who can ever say for sure when they’ll be back? There are always unexpected things happening... Did you bring wild vegetables today? The Mutant Value is 11, right?"

His rotund body waddled out from behind the counter, and he leaned over to take a look. "Oh my! These wild vegetables must have just been brought back, right? Taking the detour past Sanqing Mountain means several hours of driving! It’s not easy, not easy at all!"

The Explorer must have sped the whole way back. Otherwise, how could the vegetables look so fresh? They looked like they had just been picked.

Boss Tang looked at Huai Yu and said solemnly, "Just for this level of freshness, if the Mutant Value is 11, I’ll take them all for nine points each!"

Today’s deal was secured, and their future cooperation would be solid as well.

But Huai Yu shook her head. She pulled out two cards from her pocket and handed them over. "The staff at the inspection station didn’t believe it, so they tested it twice. If the Mutant Value is 9, what kind of price would you offer?"

Boss Tang’s eyes instantly widened into saucers. He took the two cards and flipped them over and over. The date, time, and anti-counterfeiting marks on them couldn’t be faked.

But a Mutant Value of 9...

He pondered for a moment. "Little Sister Yu, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but anything with a Mutant Value under 10 no longer circulates in our regular markets.

"Explorers test their finds on the spot and notify buyers immediately. Sometimes, the goods are bought up before they even reach the highway toll station."

He looked at Huai Yu, a hint of genuine emotion appearing on his chubby face. "Your brother was actually willing to show these to me? Little Sister Yu, you must have put in a lot of good words for me, didn’t you?"