Chapter 8
"Qiao Qiao, I think what Manager Xian said is quite right. Why don't you buy some firecrackers?" Yu Qian felt a lot more relaxed as she could finally get her air conditioner and refrigerator back and welcome her cool and wonderful life: the hard days of writing calligraphy while wiping sweat were finally gone forever, yeah!
"I want a grand opening, too, but firecrackers are eighteen copper coins a string, no bargaining." Bei Qiao calmly put the flyer away. As a commoner with only five copper coins, she had no choice but to give up. The cheapest fairy wands in the store cost only five copper coins for two, but hanging fairy wands at the door on the grand opening day...it didn't seem right, and it didn't feel lively enough.
During this trip to distribute advertising leaflets, Bei Qiao learned about the conditions of most of the shops in the village, except for the horse farm, as well as the conditions of most of the residents.
Fortunately, the atmosphere in the village is pretty good. Although it is impossible to tell whether the shop owners are natives or players, most of them have good character. Although the rest of the people are a bit skeptical, at least from the current point of view, they are not the kind of two-faced people who are sweet-mouthed but treacherous.
"Are firecrackers so expensive? I came here just after the New Year last year and never bought any firecrackers." Yu Qian sat next to Bei Qiao, holding her chin and looking at the streets on both sides of the carriage: "When was the last time I went out? I remember it was snowing that day..."
When the game first launched, everyone appeared at their own doorsteps. Yu Qian, comfortably dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and thin pants, lay in the holographic pod. Having escaped her former, depressing surroundings and now possessing her own little nest, she felt completely relaxed. Her smile curled upwards as she entered "Issue Martial Arts." However, a blizzard pelted her in the face as she entered the game, nearly freezing her to a popsicle at the door. Her account was canceled immediately, and she promised to try again next year.
"Ah..." Shaking her head vigorously, Yu Qian refused to recall the scene when the neighbor aunt enthusiastically wrapped a large sack around her to keep her warm.
After returning to the blacksmith shop and retrieving the electrical appliance, Yu Qian's commission was complete. Bei Qiao returned the carriage home, unloaded it, and handed the cloth and his father to his mother. Then he rode his donkey straight to the village chief's house.
As for what kind of expression his mother would show when facing the cloth, Bei Qiao said that he was a sensible child and would not explore things that adults did not want children to see, nor would he go home too early to prevent adults from having unfinished work.
"The new information is on the table. Take a copy. If you have any questions, you can ask me. The donkey is tied at the door; don't bring it in." When Bei Qiao arrived at the village chief's house, the head of the village was busy. Seeing someone walking in with a donkey, she casually pointed Bei Qiao in the direction of the stone table and then continued to deal with village affairs.
Bei Qiao and Hui Hui looked at each other in surprise.
After tying Huihui up and coaxing him with a carrot, Beiqiao sat down at the stone table and picked up the information on it. "Great! It's in traditional Chinese. Luckily, I've learned it before."
The information was very thin, only one page, but it was very useful to Bei Qiao because it was a simple map of the village.
After arranging the map according to his sitting position, Bei Qiao raised his hand and gestured in the air: There is indeed a whole mountain behind the horse farm opposite. I just don’t know how many roads there are to go up the mountain, and what is on the mountain...
"There's nothing much on the mountain. There are wolves, maybe tigers, and birds of prey." The village chief sent the villagers who had come to see him out, then left the door open and returned to the stone table. He sat down, grabbed the teacup on the table, and took several sips. "Is there anything you're not used to? If not, let me tell you about the situation here first."
"No." Bei Qiao put down the map and sat up straight.
"First of all, it doesn't matter if you can't remember the dynasty here. After all, there hasn't been a change of dynasty in nearly a thousand years. It's enough to know that the reign title is Yuan Zhao. As for our village, it's called Yuanshan Village. I'm the village chief. I have a number but no name, and I will remain the village chief unless I resign. If a new village chief suddenly appears before I hand over my duties, don't believe it. It's fake."
"Okay." Bei Qiao made a mental note: Someone might be impersonating the village chief.
"After entering the game, remember one thing. This is the real world, and it's best not to develop feelings with the natives. Because we are outsiders in this world, we can't be easily contaminated by cause and effect... Well, in layman's terms, making friends is okay, but getting married is not recommended, and the bodies projected in our game are not reproductive. Of course, this is just a suggestion. It doesn't matter whether you listen to it or not. Just don't cause trouble and implicate others." Don't implicate the poor village chief either. The village chief doesn't want to drive a forklift, nor does he want to be an emotional trash can.
"Okay... so this is indeed another world, similar to a planet that summons players." Bei Qiao continued to take notes in his mind: If it is really what I thought, then the role of the system store is quite powerful.
"Yes, but if you're using a tourist account, we won't disclose this information. Resident accounts can't discuss this outside of the game either. This can only be made public within the game. This is a consensus across all countries." The village chief emphasized again: "You must be careful with your interpersonal relationships here!"
Bei Qiao nodded as a matter of course: "I will take it seriously."
The village chief raised his index finger and shook it, with a teasing expression on his face: "I mean, girls must protect themselves when they are outside. You are pretty and easy to be coveted by bad people. You must be careful to guard against it... regardless of gender." Seeing this child killing men and women, it's better to give him a few more words of advice.
Bei Qiao: “…Okay” There’s no need for the last sentence, right?
Putting away his overly lively expression, the village chief pushed the map on the table in front of Bei Qiao and pointed at the money bank drawn on it: "Okay, let's get back to business. You know the system store? It's in this shop with the word "money bank" on it. There you can sell anything you think is valuable to the real world, but the handling fee is quite high, so you should think carefully before selling. Items sold in the system store are calculated in real-world currency and cannot be exchanged for silver or copper coins. Don't make a mistake about this."
Bei Qiao: "Okay." The handling fee is the transportation fee, right?
The village chief continued: "Because in history, a guy named Zhu was beaten for being honest. There is no such phenomenon of gender superiority and inferiority in ancient times here. Women can only get married when they are over nineteen years old, or not. If you encounter a situation where a child under nineteen years old wants to get married, it is definitely that the child has been sold, and you can help as appropriate. However, self-protection is the premise, don't think about doing chivalry, thinking that you can become a hero after traveling through time."
Bei Qiao continued to nod: "The surname Zhu... Oh, I know who it is. I just want to say, although I don't know who beat him up, but well done! But the age of marriage is both zero and whole, and it's an odd number, which feels like a story."
"Since some people always act recklessly on impulse, I'll repeat: don't let your mind wander to chivalry and justice. Being chivalrous is only possible with force; without force, it's just like being a slave. If you want to learn martial arts, you can sign up with me. I'll be in charge of contacting the martial arts masters, and the tuition is paid here. Oh, and here, not only martial arts are available, but also cultivation, and even ghosts. Isn't it exciting?"
Bei Qiao: "...exciting." This is a bit surprising. I didn't expect the background of a farming game to be so complicated. "But, wouldn't such a big environment be unfriendly to ordinary people?"
"No, if you master martial arts, you can deal with cultivators and evil spirits. Ordinary ghosts have no killing power. The faith of mortals can be transformed into spiritual power for your own temporary use or to lend to cultivators. It can also promote the production of Absolute Spirit Stone in your own country. The function of Absolute Spirit Stone is self-explanatory, right? The more prosperous the country, the higher the output of Absolute Spirit Stone. So even if ordinary cultivators look down on mortals, they will not take the initiative to provoke or bully them. In order to prevent being affected by the ultimate skills of cultivators in battle, the city walls of many places are inlaid with Absolute Spirit Stone. The capital is even more powerful. The entire city wall is made of Absolute Spirit Stone."
"I thought monks would treat mortals as grass." Bei Qiao raised his eyebrows.
"There are people like that, but the world's will will not allow cultivators to be without weaknesses. There are black and white, light and dark, yin and yang in the world, so there will naturally be things that can compete with cultivators, otherwise how can this world survive?" People love to commit suicide too much, don't they?
“So, are faith and willpower the same thing?”
"They're not the same thing. Belief is belief. Willpower belongs to the category of incense and offerings. It's different from cultivating immortals and is a bit unorthodox. There are no spiritual roots here, no demonic cultivators, only good and bad people, rich and poor. If someone says they want to test your spiritual roots, they're a liar. If you can get spirit stones and sell them to the system store, you can make a lot of money."
"It's quite profitable, but not huge." Bei Qiao seemed to understand something.
"There aren't many of those, and cultivators generally don't trade spirit stones with ordinary people. The likelihood of ordinary people discovering spirit veins is very low, and mining them is also difficult. Besides, spirit stones are actually equivalent to clean energy, and the unit price is not high. If you want to make a big profit, you need to get a lot of spirit stones. After deducting the costs of transportation and mining, it's a bit uneconomical." The village chief has seen people who want to make a fortune selling spirit stones, but those who have truly succeeded have never been lone wolf players. "Also, there are demons here. We don't interfere with the friendship between humans and demons. There are also players who randomly go to the demon tribe, but you must be careful. Some demons have not given up the habit of eating people."
Bei Qiao: "Okay." This world is full of dangers for mortals... I will go back and study what weapons are available in the escort agency, and make sure to arm my whole family to the teeth.
"That's about it. Any other questions?" The village chief stood up and stretched.
"Yes, what does it mean that the skill is not activated?"
"It shouldn't be unlocked!" The village chief thought for a moment, "You're the last player to fill the vacancy. What the village needed before was... an escort agency, so it's martial arts skills, right? The skill isn't unlocked simply because the system can't recognize the relevant data. Just a fight with someone will unlock it."
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