Chapter 65 - 64: Want a Chicken?

Chapter 65: Chapter 64: Want a Chicken?

She thought, "But Boss Tang is clearly a businessman, so why does he hate her so much? Could that older woman have been even more outrageous before I arrived?"

As she pondered this, she saw Boss Tang open the game console he had just set aside to inspect it again before muttering, "What does that old woman know?! Master’s Sword is God! And she called it electronic trash... Hmph. With a biological mother like that, no wonder it took General Wu so many years to get promoted..."

Huai Yu looked curiously at the game console he was putting back into its box, unable to hold back her own growing interest. She wondered, "If someone as tactful and smooth as Boss Tang can get this angry, just how fun is this game?" But considering she didn’t even have a power line connected at home yet, she could only drop the idea.

Looking at her smart bracelet again, she said happily, "Boss Tang, thank you so much for not calling my bluff! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made this much." She crinkled her nose. "I originally wanted to sell it to you and ask if sixty points was okay..."

At the mention of this, Boss Tang instantly burst into laughter. "You girl, you usually look so sweet and well-behaved, but you’re actually quite clever when it counts—well done!

"Let me tell you, General Wu’s mother especially loves it when people flatter her like a noble lady. If you sell your things too cheaply, she’ll belittle them and still try to haggle with you.

"But if you sell them at a high price, she’ll just assume that’s how luxury goods are treated. She might make a few sour remarks, but that’s about it.

"Little Yu, you did great!"

He put the game console away properly, then looked at the two black fish eagerly. "How much for the fish? One hundred and twenty?"

Huai Yu giggled. "Sixty! Sixty is just fine!"

The two exchanged a glance, both feeling that their relationship had grown closer. Boss Tang waved his hand grandly. "I can’t take advantage of you. If I take this out, I’m definitely going to use it for a favor worth one hundred and twenty points. Tell you what, let’s compromise—eighty points a catty. How about that?"

He could actually buy fish easily, but one with a Mutant Value of 11—oh my, that basically required calling in favors and paying a triple-digit unit price. But Little Yu wasn’t an outsider anymore! He was much bolder with his pricing, treating it as taking a little bit of an advantage.

As he spoke, he pulled out a landing net and swiftly scooped up the two fish. Placing them on the scale, he exclaimed, "Oh wow! These aren’t small! Together they’re ten catties and three taels... I’ll just round it up and call it eleven catties for you." With that, he directly extended his smart bracelet.

BEEP!

Huai Yu’s eyes crinkled in absolute delight! She was so rich! Truly so rich!

4.3 catties of Pine Pollen, 516 points! 10.3 catties of fish, 880 points! Added together, 1,396 points!

Awesome! This way, she wouldn’t have to sell bean sprouts for a long time!

Huai Yu happily left Huaxia Gold. Behind her, Boss Tang hummed a tune gleefully as he carefully compared the size of the two fish. Finally, he gritted his teeth in pain and decided to take the smaller one out with him.

Tonight, the leaders of Flower City were hosting a banquet for General Wu, and he had to go no matter what to show his face and mingle. However, a fish with a Mutant Value of 11 would look incredibly respectable no matter how you sliced it. He really had to thank Little Sister Yu for this!

Carrying her huge sum of wealth, Huai Yu walked through the storefronts with her bucket and woven basket on her back, just like the vast majority of people in this trading market.

She didn’t want to buy much today, just two things. But right now, looking at the dazzling array of goods, she felt the urge to buy absolutely everything.

Qualified cowpeas (Mutant Value only 15) for three points a seed? Buy, buy, buy! An endless supply of cowpeas was practically a massive fortune!

Cucumbers for two points a seed? Buy!

A handful of sweet potato vines, Mutant Value 16, enough for one stir-fry dish—10 points?

Huai Yu gritted her teeth. "Buy!"

Once she bought them and took them back, she would accelerate their growth and treat it as taking cuttings. She needed more soybeans, too. She had to reclaim more land and accelerate their growth to purify a few batches!

And also—

Huai Yu froze in her tracks. In a corner by the street, a row of men and women ranging from their forties to their sixties and seventies were squatting on the ground. Each had a piece of cardboard placed in front of them: 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

[Laborer: 10 points a day. Can clear wasteland and dig soil. One meal must be provided.]

[8 points a day. Brings own food and water.]

[Transporting, digging, building...]

She sighed, her excitement over striking it rich suddenly dampening. Unable to help herself, she leaned closer and asked, "Uncle, if I asked you to go a bit further away to clear wasteland, would you be willing?"

The corners and edges of the city had all been zoned and allocated by now. The amount of land each household possessed was entirely manageable for a single person. But as for her, she had over six hundred mu of land!

The middle-aged man in front of her lit up and nodded immediately. "A bit further away is fine! As long as it’s not the Rose Corridor, anywhere works—where is it?"

Huai Yu was speechless. "Never mind," she said, getting up in dismay. But then, she spotted a familiar middle-aged man squatting in the corner, and her eyes instantly lit up. "Uncle Zaozi!"

The man across from her had covertly wrapped his head in a floral scarf. Seeing Huai Yu call out to him so enthusiastically, he began winking and making wild faces at her, looking as though he desperately wanted to convey a hundred-thousand-word message.

Huai Yu paused, looking at the cardboard sign placed in front of Uncle Zaozi.

[Wasteland clearing and cleaning, 50 points a day, brings own food and water.]

She obediently shut her mouth and squatted down beside him.

"Keep your voice down, keep your voice down, you hear?" Uncle Zaozi didn’t move his body, but his voice drifted over, lowered in a highly secretive tone.

"But..." Huai Yu hesitantly pointed at the cardboard. "With a price of fifty points, anyone would have to take a second look."

How much of a market was there for wasteland clearing and cleaning nowadays? It was hard enough to earn even five points, let alone fifty. Just in the short time Huai Yu had been squatting there, several people passing by had already eyed the cardboard up and down.

Uncle Zaozi froze. He flipped the cardboard around, and his vision immediately went dark. "No wonder I was so eye-catching today! The neighbor’s daughter definitely drew this!" But after thinking for a moment, he set the cardboard back down. "Forget it. She’s just a kid; it doesn’t matter if she wants to show off her artistic talent a little. Besides, I’m not actually here looking for work. Oh, right, Little Sister, do you want some chickens?"

Huai Yu’s eyes lit up. "Yes!"

Chickens! Eggs! Chicken meat! Chicken soup!!

Her mouth instantly watered, showing just how much she had been craving meat lately. Uncle Zaozi, however, smiled mysteriously. "Good, good, good. Bumping into you today is fate. Someone is bringing me some chicks in a bit. Let’s make it clear first—two hundred and fifty points each. If you want them, transfer the points first!"

Huai Yu immediately held out her smart bracelet without a second word. "I want four!"

GASP!

Uncle Zaozi inhaled sharply. "Four? Do I look like I can lay eggs? Just two! Take it or leave it!"

Two would do! Huai Yu happily adjusted the points she was transferring, but suddenly, a shadow fell over her. She looked up and saw a greasy-faced middle-aged man looking her up and down. Finally, he revealed a meaningful smile. "A bit scrawny... Even like this, you’re asking for fifty points?"

Huai Yu was stunned, and so was Uncle Zaozi. Before either of them could react, a shout rang out from down the street:

"Police! It’s these two! I took one look at that price and knew something shady was going on! Pah! In broad daylight, how shameless!"