Chapter 21 Chapter 21 “This familiar taste…

Jiang Qing and Li Xiu said goodbye to Meng Yanlang and returned to the dormitory.

She took out a slightly old wooden box from the cabinet and took out all the beads that Zhu Tianba had stored in the seal of the contract.

There are 23 in total, which are all the pearls shot out by Xu Weiran's clam.

Jiang Qing took one out of the box and looked at it carefully again and again.

The touch from her fingertips was cool and round, but her brows gradually furrowed.

I always feel that this bead has become much dimmer than when it was on the battlefield. It has lost all its luster and looks no different from the cheap plastic beads that can be bought for one or two dollars.

Jiang Qing sighed, feeling somewhat lost, and gently put the dull bead back to its original place.

There was an indescribable weirdness all over Zhu Tianba's body. I wonder if it was because this bead was an "imported" pearl that made it look like this.

Next time I’d better not let it use its mouth to answer.

Putting the matter of Pearl aside, it had been less than a week since they last met Teacher Chen Ming. She had clearly stated that she would be on a business trip for a while, so there was no way to get an answer to Zhu Tianba's strangeness for the time being.

Looking at the hungry and well-behaved pig Tianba, and considering its performance in the past few days, Jiang Qing decided to reward it as the nutrient solution in the dormitory was almost finished.

The next day, Jiang Qing came to the Spirit Pet Training Center alone. She finally had a break today, so she had plenty of time to stroll around the place.

Unlike most people who think of pigs as dirty, lazy and other synonymous animals, pigs are actually very clean animals.

She was walking around the training center alone, pushing a shopping cart that was almost full.

The categories of goods in the area Jiang Qing walked through were relatively common and the prices were generally not high. In addition, there were many people visiting the spirit pet breeding center today, and there were not enough sales staff to go around. Jiang Qing was happy to have some quiet time and choose by herself.

Although she is rich now, she feels that she cannot spend money lavishly. Everything in the academy costs money, and becoming a beastmaster will cost double!

So the shopping cart is filled with discounted shower gels, promotional mane care oils, and care liquids that the packaging says can improve the toughness of the spirit beast's skin.

Of course, the big thing is the fairy-level nutrient solution of various flavors.

Jiang Qingzheng was holding a bottle labeled "Bone Strengthening and Muscle Building Cream" and looking at the ingredient list carefully.

An enthusiastic voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Hi, nice to see you again, junior." Yuan Xiaogu's eyes quickly swept over the items in Jiang Qing's shopping cart, and finally stopped at her face.

Jiang Qing turned around and met Yuan Xiaogu's face.

He had a salesman's armband on his arm, but his clothes were still the yellow and black school uniform. It was obvious that he had just arrived and had not had time to change.

Yuan Xiaogu has many old customers, but he has the ability to recognize people with a photographic memory, which is one of the essential skills for every businessman.

It seems that the schoolgirl has become successful this time!

A gleam of light flashed in Yuan Xiaogu's eyes, and he gave Jiang Qingyang a standard smile with eight teeth.

He greeted them familiarly, but his gaze lingered on the bottles of "Bone Strengthening and Muscle Building Cream." "This muscle building cream is useless. I advise you not to buy it. It's been revealed long ago that the ingredients it contains are just some ordinary vitamins."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qing looked down at the bottle in his hand, then looked up at Yuan Xiaogu with a hint of doubt.

He still maintained that standard smile.

Yuan Xiaogu's appearance combines the charm of youthfulness and maturity. He has handsome features, deep eye sockets, a pair of peach blossom eyes and smiling lips, which outline his lazy, cold, and unrestrained temperament.

Given his profession, Jiang Qing always doubted the truthfulness and purpose of his words.

She blinked. The last time she came to Yuan Xiaogu, he kept selling her the product. Why was he kindly telling her this time that this "muscle-building cream" was a failure?

"Schoolmate, don't you think I'd be so kind?" Yuan Xiaogu seemed to see right through Jiang Qing's inner thoughts. He shrugged and said, "I also care about customer return rate and service quality."

Yuan Xiaogu looked at Jiang Qing who had no response. He said helplessly, "If you really don't believe me, then forget it."

"I believe it." Jiang Qing put the muscle-building cream in his hand back to its original place.

She hadn't planned to buy it in the first place.

There is a course in the Department of Therapy called Pharmacology Research, which is dedicated to the research and development of pharmacological and nutritional products for beastmasters and spirit beasts on the market.

She wants to see the ingredients in these products and consider whether she can develop in this direction in the future.

Yuan Xiaogu was very pleased to see her being so understanding. "If you really want to increase the muscle mass of your spirit pet, you can feed it more and increase its exercise appropriately."

Most beastmasters pursue a cool and domineering aesthetic, which has led to muscle-building cream becoming one of the mainstream products, with an average annual sales surge.

Smart businessmen always produce products according to market demand.

"Thank you for the reminder, senior." Jiang Qing pushed the cart and prepared to continue selecting Zhu Tianba's daily rations, but Yuan Xiaogu followed him like a piece of taffy, maintaining just the right sales distance.

"However, would you like to bring some teething sticks?" Yuan Xiaogu pulled out two bone-shaped sticks from somewhere. "I remember you said last time that your spirit beast is still in its cub stage. Spirit pets in their growing stages often change their teeth frequently."

Jiang Qing stopped walking upon hearing this.

Zhu Tianba grew very fast. After just one week, he was as tall as her knees.

Apart from the two curved tusks growing outside, she seemed to have never seen Zhu Tianba's teeth.

Young animals do experience unbearable itching during their teething period. In order to prevent Zhu Tianba from "destroying the house", Jiang Qing feels that a teething stick is necessary.

She took the teething stick from Yuan Xiaogu and put it in the shopping cart beside her.

"There are also pet snacks. If your spirit beast always eats nutrient solution, you might as well change its taste occasionally." Yuan Xiaogu took out another box of things.

Jiang Qing: "Buy it!" Zhu Tianba really needs this.

Yuan Xiaogu: "A toy, to keep the spirit beast company when its owner is away."

Jiang Qing: “Buy!” This seems to be necessary too.

"Shampoo is good for your skin."

"purchase!"

"Pearl powder..."

"purchase!"

“…”

With Yuan Xiaogu's help, Jiang Qing finally appeared at the checkout site with a full shopping cart.

There were so many things that it attracted the attention of the students around.

"..." Looking at the shopping cart that was almost overflowing, Jiang Qing fell into deep thought. For the first time, he felt like the type of person who would be sold health supplements by a salesman when he was old.

But Yuan Xiaogu was so good at seeing through people's minds that every time he sold something he could accurately touch her heart.

"The total is 6416. How do I pay the bill, junior sister?" Yuan Xiaogu smiled and handed over a cash register.

"Pay with Lingtong." Jiang Qing took out his Lingtong helplessly.

With a "beep" sound.

6,416 yuan evaporated in an instant.

Jiang Qing felt like her heart was bleeding. At the critical moment, she hadn't bought anything for herself.

Jiang Qing was carrying a heavy shopping bag and felt that it contained not goods but his heavy wallet.

"Thank you for your patronage, junior sister! Come again next time, and I promise to recommend you more practical and cost-effective things!" Yuan Xiaogu waved with a smile. In Jiang Qing's eyes, that smile was full of the light of "a successful profiteer".

"You'd better not let me run into you next time!" Jiang Qing tried hard to hold back the tears.

After finally moving all the stuff back to the dormitory, Li Xiu had gone out to eat and hadn't come back yet.

Jiang Qing slumped in the chair, looking at the pile of pet supplies on the ground, feeling a pang of pain in his flesh.

"Zhu Tianba, come out." Jiang Qing called weakly.

The seal of the contract flashed, and Zhu Tianba, wearing clothes with pig prints, appeared on the ground in high spirits. The white clothes with pig prints were slightly dirty, and the dirty marks on them showed obvious signs of being licked by his saliva.

Zhu Tianba's attention was attracted by the colorful packaging on the ground. He approached curiously, circled around the things and sniffed them.

"Here, it's yours." Jiang Qing opened the snack box, took out a piece of pet snack in the shape of dried meat and handed it to it.

Seeing it eating so happily, Jiang Qing's depression dissipated a little. She sighed and began to pack her things.

Shower gel, conditioner, shampoo...bottles of it are placed in the small cabinet in the washing area.

The teething sticks and toys are placed next to Zhu Tianba’s nest.

Finally, her eyes fell on the box containing 23 pearls.

"Oh, I was so happy for nothing. I thought I could make a small fortune." Jiang Qing muttered, opened the box casually, and wanted to pour the pearls into the deep of the drawer, out of sight, out of mind.

At this moment, Zhu Tianba, who was eating happily, suddenly came over and took a bite of her hand.

Jiang Qing's hand shook, and the box tipped over, sending more than 20 pearls flying to the ground.

"Zhu Tianba!" Jiang Qing yelled in anger, and the stinging pain in her wrist made her gasp.

Zhu Tianba shrank his neck and closed his two pig ears, but still met Jiang Qing's murderous gaze, picked up the nearest bead and handed it to her.

Jiang Qing didn't move. He lowered his head and looked at the bite wound on his hand. Blood immediately seeped out from under the skin.

She took two deep breaths and calmed down.

Zhu Tianba would not bite her for no reason. She remembered that the last time Zhu Tianba bit her was when the contract was signed.

She took the bead from Zhu Tianba's mouth and wanted to see what was special about it.

Unexpectedly, when her blood stained the beads, the originally dull beads suddenly began to change.

Jiang Qing's movements suddenly stopped.

She blinked, thinking she was seeing things.

She carefully picked up the beads and looked at them carefully.

wrong!

A tiny crack exploded inside the pink-white bead, and the crack grew larger and larger, as if something was constantly surging outward, trying to struggle out.

Jiang Qing was so scared that he threw the beads away.

However, the bead underwent a qualitative change in the air at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"when--"

The bead she had thrown out was now lying quietly on the floor. Half of it was dull and lifeless, as if it were a low-quality plastic bead that had been drained of all its essence, while the other half had a warm and thick red-gold stone texture that reflected an alluring glow under the light.

The two are strangely inlaid and fused into one.

Jiang Qing's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

Under natural light, that side of the stone appears a darker red-gold color, with a warm texture, and faintly exudes a sense of...the heaviness of precious metal?

"!" She picked up the beads on the ground in disbelief, looked at them again and again, and even tried to pinch them with her fingernails.

That half of the bead was motionless and extremely hard.

Jiang Qing struggled for a while, then put it in his mouth and bit it carefully with his teeth.

There was a sour taste between the teeth.

This familiar taste... is it gold?!

Although it is only half the size of a bead, it feels heavy and genuine... it is indeed gold.

Jiang Qing tried hard to digest this fact. The huge sense of absurdity and the subsequent ecstasy instantly overwhelmed her sanity.

Zhu Tianba seemed to have expected this. He grabbed Jiang Qing's hand and asked her to look at her contract mark.

At some point, a new talent for taming beasts appeared on his wrist.

"My new talent is... turning stone into gold?!" A word circled in her mind and she blurted out almost subconsciously.