Chapter 109
In the morning, the temperature is just beginning to warm up, which is one of the two most comfortable time periods of the day.
Tiejin and Alian have already started their journey.
"Is this the deserted city?"
After passing through the winding path and arriving at a ruin, A Lian could feel that the atmosphere here was obviously different from that on the road.
It was also different from the Jufeng Mountain where she grew up.
She was only thinking about her daughter and didn't pay much attention to the surrounding environment. She said this and urged Tiejin.
"Let's hurry up. This place shouldn't be far from where you live, right?"
Tiejin looked at her exhausted appearance. Due to long-term malnutrition, she was already skinny, and after these days of traveling, her cheeks were even more sunken.
In order to take care of her, Tiejin actually slowed down on purpose.
Although he was eager to go home, he was worried that if he traveled too fast, A-Lian would die of exhaustion on the road given her physical condition.
However, although this woman did faint two or three times along the way, every time she was rescued by him, she would continue to urge him to hurry on.
Except for the more difficult sections, she didn't need him to carry her, and she persevered through it with her perseverance.
To be honest, Tiejin's impression of her has changed a lot, and he is much more relieved about the possibility of living together in the future.
He can hire another person to take care of his daughter for her, but if this person has a bad character or does not get along with him, he will not be a sucker.
Of course, he didn't want to create any rift with his daughter because of this, so the current result was the best.
"Take a break, I'm hungry."
Tiejin sat down on a rock by the roadside, took out two pieces of dried meat, threw one to her first, and then took the other piece and started chewing it.
A Lian looked at him, feeling angry and anxious, but helpless.
She could only pick up the dried meat he threw to her, sit a little further away from him, tear the meat into pieces with great effort, and eat it bit by bit.
This was precious meat, and Tiejin was willing to share it with her. A-Lian was very grateful, but...
This dried meat is really too hard for her. She has to put a lot of effort into eating it and feels like her teeth are going to be broken.
Tiejin looked at her and suddenly said, "You look a lot like Lily."
“…”
A-Lian glanced at Tie Jin, whose figure seemed like a small mountain to her, and could only whisper, "Lily is my daughter."
So, it should be because Lily looks like her.
But she soon realized something and asked, "So you fed Lily meat?"
The woman, who was originally a little timid and cowardly, seemed to enter a combat state all of a sudden when she encountered her daughter's problem.
Facing A Lian's stare, Tie Jin gnawed on some dried meat and looked away guiltily.
“Ah… um…”
He stammered, "She didn't eat it..."
How could she possibly eat without even having any teeth? Ah Lian couldn't help but imagine Tie Jin choking her daughter to death on dried meat.
Seeing that A-Lian's eyes looked like they were about to spit fire, Tie Jin quickly said, "I found something she can eat later. It's the egg custard I gave you at the base."
"If you can't get used to dried meat, you can eat egg custard when you get home. And potatoes, those soft and sticky ones, even Lily can eat them."
A-Lian's complexion gradually improved.
Thinking about the days when Tiejin was away from the deserted city, she wondered how her daughter was doing, and couldn't help but ask, "Can those two young men really take good care of Lily?"
"Don't worry about that. They taught me how to make custard and mashed potatoes."
Mentioning Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi, Tie Jin's face was filled with longing. "They are from the fortress and know a lot. Don't look down on them just because they are young."
A-Lian nodded and fell silent again.
When Tiejin finished eating the dried meat and got up to go home, he saw that the woman leaning against the broken wall had fainted again.
After checking her breath and finding that she was not exhausted, Tiejin breathed a sigh of relief.
He picked up the dried meat that A-Lian had half-eaten and could no longer chew, stuffed it into his mouth, and then carried A-Lian on his back.
A-Lian was just too tired so she dozed off, and was awakened when she was carried on her back.
She struggled to get down, but heard Tiejin say, "In your current state, if you walk on your own, we'll have to waste at least half the time."
A-Lian had no choice but to calm down.
As she staggered, she was extremely weak and slowly closed her eyes and passed out.
After an unknown amount of time, she heard a cry...
-
“Wow—”
“Dad…Dad…”
When Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi brought Jin Lili to Tie Jin's house, without any warning, the little girl, who had been in a good mood, suddenly burst into tears.
Tang Yu'an was at a loss and quickly opened the map to confirm, and found that Tiejin and A Lian were indeed nearby.
He quickly hugged the little girl and coaxed her, "Lily, don't cry. Your father will be back soon, so we brought you here."
Jin Lili hugged him tightly with both hands, as if she was afraid of being abandoned again.
Her crying gradually subsided and turned into pitiful sobs.
“Brother…brother…”
Tang Yu'an was stunned, and then his eyes became moist.
He thought of his sister, and he missed his parents too...
He blinked hard, but before he could start crying too, a strong and powerful voice sounded behind them.
"Lily."
Jin Lili was stunned and turned around suddenly to look.
Looking at the man who appeared behind them at some point, a feeling of grievance suddenly surged from the bottom of her heart, and the tears that had been restrained burst out again.
"dad……"
Jin Lili stretched out her little hand towards Tie Jin, and the next moment, the man strode over and hugged her.
She hugged Tiejin tightly, buried her head in his arms and sobbed.
"What happened? Who bullied you?"
Tiejin comforted his daughter, then looked at Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi.
Tang Yu'an had already calmed down. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Uncle Tiejin, you misunderstood. Lily just missed you too much, and you didn't say goodbye to her when you left. She thought you didn't want her anymore."
Tiejin was stunned, patted the little girl's back helplessly, and said awkwardly: "Ah, Daddy is just going out for a few days, I don't abandon you."
Then he remembered something and quickly took her to look back.
"Look, who is that?"
After hearing Jin Lili's crying, A Lian struggled to get down from the ground.
However, her body was too weak and her speed could not match Tiejin's. She was soon left behind and only now finally came behind them.
Just looking at her daughter and Tiejin hugging each other, she stood there unconsciously, looking at them somewhat helplessly.
At this time, the daughter finally found her under Tiejin's guidance.
The little girl stared at her blankly.
A-Lian looked at the little girl and was a little hesitant to recognize her.
She had cute braids and wore a neat, clean dress. Her skin was much whiter than she remembered, and her cheeks had gained weight.
Not only was he much stronger than she remembered, he was even stronger than the "photo" Tiejin showed her.
Is this little girl in Tiejin's arms, who seems to be well cared for, really her daughter?
Shouldn't she be here?
Will her arrival... drag her down?
Questions popped up in A Lian's mind one after another. She looked at Jin Lili with eyes full of love and attachment, but her feet were firmly fixed on the spot, and she even felt like escaping.
until……
"Mother."
The little girl stared at her blankly, suddenly pouted, and stretched out her little hands to ask her for a hug, just like she had done countless times before.
"Mother……"
Big tears rolled out of Jin Lili's eyes. At her soft call, A Lian could no longer hold back and rushed over to hug her.
When I held my daughter in my arms again, all my longing, fear and joy burst out at that moment.
"My child..."
A Lian hugged Jin Lili tightly and burst into tears.
Tiejin, who was standing by, did not completely let go. He was worried that Alian could not hold Jin Lili and would drop the child, so he kept his hands out to protect her.
Seeing Jin Lili asking for her mother did not cause him any stimulation, but instead made him feel relieved.
He brought A-Lian back to take care of his daughter. They have a deep mother-daughter relationship, so A-Lian will naturally take good care of the child and he doesn't have to worry.
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as he watched this harmonious scene.
That's great! Lily will have a father and a mother from now on...
At this time, a hand reached out and held his shoulders. Tang Yu'an blinked and turned his head to look at Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi said nothing, just looked at him gently, put his other hand on his head and patted it gently.
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but pout.
But he quickly held back his tears, sniffed and said, "I'm fine."
He is a grown-up man now and doesn't cry easily.
Zhou Qi hummed, but moved the hand that was around his shoulder closer to him so that the boy could lean on him.
Tang Yu'an didn't struggle either.
The two of them just leaned against each other quietly until A-Lian fainted again due to being too emotional.
They quickly helped move her indoors and placed her on the second floor.
"Oh, her health is really too bad." Tiejin couldn't help but say.
However, when he saw Jin Lili snuggling up to A Lian nervously, he swallowed the rest of his words.
In fact, Tang Yu'an also felt that compared to when she was in Jufeng Town, A Lian was indeed much thinner, which made people worry that she would stop breathing at any time.
"She must be too hungry. She will be fine after some nourishment."
Zhou Qi put down the potatoes in the straw basket and said, "Uncle Jin, this is for you, Grandma Guo. She decided to buy that iron pot from you."
Tiejin couldn't help but feel happy when he saw the potatoes of all sizes in the straw basket.
“That’s great!”
He smiled and said, "This is enough for Lily and the others to eat."
Zhou Qi nodded and reminded him of the precautions when eating potatoes, such as potatoes should not be eaten if they sprout, and it is best to eat potatoes with eggs and wild vegetables.
Only after Tie Jin had written it down did Zhou Qi tell him about the new commission.
To make salt tickets, mutant metals are essential. If they want to add salt coins of different denominations, they must reserve a large amount of mutant metals.
It is definitely not enough for him to produce it alone, so he needs to place an order from Tiejin.
Tiejin already has Jin Lili to take care of, and now there is A Lian, and they have plenty of food he needs.
The cooperation between them is mutually beneficial.
"We'll take whatever mutant metals you can provide us, in exchange for salt, rice, sugar, and beans."
Zhou Qi said, "Lily and A-Lian can eat these."
Tiejin looked at them strangely. "It doesn't need to be shaped. Even a metal lump will do?"
"Yes." Zhou Qi nodded.
"What do you want to do with so much mutant metal?" Tiejin asked curiously.
Zhou Qi just smiled and didn't explain much.
Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Tiejin didn't dare to ask any more questions and nodded in agreement: "No problem, then it's settled."
Afterwards, Tang Yu'an told him about the opening of the grocery store in Huangcheng.
"You can take Lily out to play when you're free. Grandpa Li is there now." He then reminded, "Grandma Guo said a flood is coming. You'd better make preparations in advance."
"Flood?" Tiejin was stunned, then nodded hurriedly, "Okay, okay."
"Our building has ten floors and plenty of rooms. If necessary, you can take Lily and the others there for shelter when a flood comes."
Tang Yu'an continued, "Besides, since we all live together, we can take care of each other."
The floors here in Tiejin are still too low. If the water depth can reach the second or third floors, then their activity space will only be on the fourth or fifth floors.
It would have been fine if it was just Tiejin, but now with Lily and Alian, it feels a bit crowded and dangerous.
Anyway, it's just an emergency measure. If they are not used to living in No. 1 Store, they can move back after the flood.
Hearing the boy's invitation, Tiejin was stunned again.
Back then, he couldn't stand the intrigues in the market town, so he finally decided to move to the deserted city.
It's really hard to find someone who truly cares about you in the wasteland. You need to be wary of everyone who approaches you, which is really a very tiring thing.
Therefore, Tang Yu'an's invitation to him seemed so precious and touching.
"Okay, then I'll find time to go over and take a look." Tiejin responded.
Although he didn't really want to live with others, it was still important to save his life during the flood, especially since he was no longer alone.
If their building was really ten stories high, then security would definitely be much improved.
"We're going to Jufeng Town today. If you need anything while we're away, you can go to the shop and find Grandpa Li."
Zhou Qi said, "Grandpa Li is living with us now, so we can just go find him directly."
"Okay, okay, then you should leave early and don't delay."
Tang Yu'an said goodbye to Lily and promised to visit her again later, then left with Zhou Qi.
While seeing them off to the door, Tie Jin kept thanking them. Only after they had completely left did Tang Yu'an breathe a sigh of relief.
To be honest, if possible, he really wanted to keep Lily with him all the time.
The little girl is very well behaved and cooperative.
For example, this morning I helped him earn more than a thousand points by playing a trading game.
But judging by Tiejin's expression, he should be very willing to move to No. 1 Store, then we can live together again!
[Employee Li Changqing completed a profitable transaction with a regular customer, earning +4 points and +1 experience point]
Li Changqing is Grandpa Li’s name.
Old Li is just his nickname, the system records his real name.
I didn’t expect Grandpa Li to open his shop so early!
Employee Li Changqing completed a profitable transaction with a regular customer, earning +127 points and +1 experience point.
Tang Yuan: 0.0
Wow! That's a lot of points!
Although he and Brother Xiaoqi had earned much more points than this, this was Grandpa Li’s first day of official business!
How did Grandpa Li do it?
-
Ping An Grocery Store No. 1.
When Jin Guang found the grocery store in Huangcheng according to his memory from yesterday, he thought he had found the wrong place at first.
This three-meter-high wall... he remembered that it didn't exist yesterday!
However, the ten-story building told him that he was definitely not in the wrong place, because it was very difficult to find such a complete building in a deserted city.
So how did this wall appear out of nowhere in just one day? Could that young man be a powerful earth-type psychic?
Knowing that there was a vicious dog inside, Jin Guang did not dare to climb over the wall. He walked along the wall and soon came to the entrance of the Huangcheng Grocery Store.
Not only was the entrance much smaller, but the young man from yesterday was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a skinny old man.
"Aren't you that someone?"
Jin Guang had met Old Li before and knew that he was a very powerful old hunter, so he did not dare to look down on him.
After all, the old guys who can survive in the wasteland are all cruel and ruthless.
So even though the two of them didn't have much of a friendship, Jin Guang's attitude was still respectful, and his flattering smile was filled with caution and alertness.
Old Li received him calmly.
Although it was the first day of business, he did not show any unfamiliarity or timidity, and was neither cold nor enthusiastic.
Because he understood that this was in the wasteland.
If he was too humble, some people would take advantage of him and easily cause trouble and disaster. Besides, he was selling salt, so he didn't have to worry about finding buyers.
The more he did this, the more cautious Jin Guang became.
Afterwards, Old Li made his first transaction of the day - Jin Guang exchanged 5 black gold salt tickets for half a spoonful of coarse sea salt.
Jin Guang was pleasantly surprised to find that salt tickets could really be exchanged for salt.
Looking at the remaining salt in Old Li's glass jar, he rubbed his hands and said, "Can I get more? I think they said yesterday that wild vegetables can be exchanged. Three for a spoonful?"
He put down the backpack and showed the wild vegetables inside to Old Li.
"Can you look at these?"
Old Li glanced at the wild vegetables and frowned, saying, "They're wilted. They must have been dug up a long time ago."
Jin Guang scratched his head and smiled ingratiatingly.
Unlike Tang Yu'an and the others who only checked the quantity, Old Li carefully inspected each wild vegetable and finally picked out two or three that were riddled with holes caused by insects.
He said, "Two and a half spoons, no more."
There are a total of 13 wild vegetables here, which could have been exchanged for more than four spoons, but Old Li chopped almost half of them.
Jin Guang's expression changed slightly, but after hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and nodded.
In fact, these wild vegetables were not picked by him. Instead, Jin Guang exchanged them with others for salt, and he exchanged two spoonfuls in total.
Although the price offered by Old Li was much lower than he expected, Jin Guang felt that this deal was worth doing when he thought that he could not only make back his investment but also earn half a spoonful of profit.
In addition to these wild vegetables, he also successfully exchanged two spoons of salt for a quilt. Although it had several holes, it was really much warmer to sleep with it at night.
It was for this reason that Jin Guang felt that he had discovered a way to make money.
As long as he can keep exchanging salt from the grocery store in the deserted city, he can use the salt to exchange for other things and make a profit from the difference. Isn't this making a fortune?
Old Li collected all 13 wild vegetables and gave him two and a half spoons of salt as agreed.
Jin Guang looked delighted, but after taking the salt he looked at Old Li eagerly again, until Old Li gave him a black gold salt ticket, he became happy again.
This salt ticket is also salt! Although I can't exchange one...
"How do I exchange this salt ticket?"
"Three wild vegetables for 20 tickets."
Jin Guang couldn't help but choke and said angrily, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
20 pieces can be exchanged for two spoonfuls of coarse sea salt! Then how much can he get for that basket of wild vegetables just now? Jin Guang wanted to vomit blood.
Old Li's face darkened. "What do you want to do?"
The murderous aura cultivated through thousands of battles made Jin Guang feel as if the smell of blood was blowing towards him. He immediately became timid and stammered, "I... I just want to change... change..."
Old Li suppressed his murderous intent and said coldly, "Once sold, we do not accept returns or exchanges."
Jin Guang opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't have the courage to protest.
Anyway, he still made a profit from two and a half spoonfuls.
After comforting himself in this way, he said, "Can I come back and change later?"
"You still have one chance." Old Li said bluntly.
"What one chance?"
"Our second rule is that all customers can only trade with us three times a day," Old Li said calmly. "You've already used up two chances."
Since the system won’t record it if it happens more than three times, it’s better to set the rules from the beginning.
"What kind of weird rule is this?" Jin Guang muttered, then asked, "Can I exchange as many wild vegetables as I want?"
"Sure, I'll exchange as many as I can."
Before leaving, the two children left him two barrels of salt, one barrel of coarse salt and one barrel of coarse sea salt. Each barrel weighed several hundred kilograms, and it was difficult to exchange them all.
"Okay, I'll come back later."
Jin Guang picked up the basket and walked away hurriedly again.
Old Li watched his figure disappear in the ruins, but did not turn back into the building. Instead, after thinking for a while, he walked outside, folded his hands and put them to his mouth, making a crisp bird call.
Soon, a burst of bird calls was heard from the ruins, as if responding to him.
One sound after another, one after another, spread out into the distance.
Old Li stood there waiting. About half an hour later, a slender figure jumped and appeared in front of him.
"Old man, are you rich?"
Lin Zhen put his hands on his hips, looked up at the tall building in front of him and the circle of walls standing outside the building, and exclaimed in amazement.
"Didn't Xiao An and the others tell you?" Old Li said lightly.
"Ah? You said this is their house? That's so cool!" Then she asked, "By the way, why did you ask me to come? To celebrate their move?"
Old Li pointed to the sign at the door of the store.
"Xiao An and his family hired me, and I'm here to help them sell things."
Lin Zhen was a little surprised, but she did hear the two young men say that they wanted to open a store in the deserted city. She just didn't expect them to be so generous and even hire Old Li as a salesperson!
"So?" she asked puzzledly.
"Go help me attract customers. Tell them you can exchange salt for them." Old Li looked at her and said, "I'll give you a piece of rock candy for every customer you successfully attract."
"Haha, do you think I'm a three-year-old?"
"Two?"
"At least three!"
"Okay, deal."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
