Chapter 120
Tiejin rowed the boat with great effort.
It was very difficult to move forward against the current, but fortunately the water was not very turbulent, so although his speed was not fast, he still moved forward firmly.
Going out at this time is a very dangerous thing, but after some struggle, Tiejin finally made this decision.
Besides being concerned about the safety of the grocery store in the deserted city, it was mainly because something was wrong with this flood—
The water level is rising significantly faster than before.
According to previous experience, the water level should at most reach above the calves at this point, but now it has reached above the knees.
Tiejin was worried that if the water level continued to rise, the third floor would also be flooded like the worst previous incident.
His house only has five floors. If there were only two floors left, life would be much more difficult, not to mention that he is not alone now.
In addition to the adopted daughter Jin Lili, there is also her mother A Lian.
A-Lian is indeed a responsible and good mother. After settling down in his home, she took over the work of taking care of Jin Lili.
Mashed potatoes, egg custard, millet porridge, all of these can be made quickly, and they taste much better than what he makes.
In addition to eating hard dried meat, Tiejin can also eat some potatoes. He doesn't have to worry about Jin Lili being left unattended, so he can concentrate on producing metal.
Now with Xiaoqi and their orders, he can produce metal without limit in exchange for food and other survival supplies.
As long as he was willing to work hard, his life would get better. However, he was happy for only two days before the flood came!
This end of the world is really hard to bear.
Even the iron that had been tempered through thousands of times could not help but feel a little depressed, but when he saw the skinny A-Lian and the hungry Jin Lili, he quickly cheered up.
No matter what, he had to keep the mother and daughter alive.
After determining that the tide was rising at an unusual rate, Tiejin made a quick decision.
He took the leftover potatoes, bird eggs and dried meat, sealed all the entrances to the house, and took Jin Lili and A Lian on the boat.
He didn't bring much of the mutant metal produced before. Apart from the oars in his hands, he only had two daggers for self-defense, one of which he returned to A Lian.
Anyway, he can produce mutant metal at any time and come back to get it after he has safely survived the flood.
What Tiejin didn't expect was that they encountered mutant piranhas not long after they went out.
These piranhas must have escaped from the pond. Besides piranhas, there are other terrifying creatures in the pond.
When the flood came, these monsters ran everywhere.
Tiejin felt a little unlucky today.
Although he is big in size, he is no match for mutant creatures. His talent is not in combat.
Faced with these terrifying piranhas, Tiejin really had no idea what to do.
However, just as he was about to retreat, he found that these piranhas, which wanted to bite everything they saw, ignored him.
Even though his oars were moving in the water, even though he was so close to them, they did not jump out of the water to attack him.
They followed his boat in groups, attacking everything they saw, but he just happened to be at peace with them.
Finally, Tiejin bravely continued to move towards the building of the grocery store in the deserted city.
So this scene happened that Tang Yu'an accidentally saw.
Compared to Tie Jin's confusion and anxiety, Tang Yu'an knew more. He guessed that this might be the result of Jin Lili's special ability.
Sure enough, he glanced at the map and saw——
Although Tiejin's boat was surrounded and chased by twenty or thirty red dots, there was also a red dot flashing on his boat.
This red light spot was naturally Jin Lili, who was held tightly in A Lian's arms.
She lay on her mother's shoulder, staring curiously at the water outside the boat and the piranhas that emerged from the water from time to time.
When she sensed A-Lian's fear, she reached out her little hand and patted her mother's back comfortingly.
Tang Yu'an watched this scene from afar and felt that these piranhas might not only regard Tiejin's boat as their own kind, but also as their leader?
After all, Tiejin's boat is much larger than the piranha's.
Tang Yu'an took advantage of the umbrella to observe from the side for a while, but ultimately chose not to show up and disturb them.
He was a little worried that if he suddenly appeared, it would disrupt the current balance and put Tiejin's family in danger.
He stood guard silently by the side, and only ran back to the store when the building of Store No. 1 came into view.
After careful consideration, he decided to place Tiejin's family in Room 802, which was next to Granny Guo and Kang Kang.
The two families with children live on the same floor, which makes communication convenient, and Kang Kang can also visit Lily at any time.
Although Room 02 is smaller than Room 01, it is still over 140 square meters, which is more than enough for Tiejin's family of three.
Tang Yu'an installed the windows of Room 802. As for the door...
With Tiejin's ability, he could definitely make a safer and stronger metal door by himself, so he didn't arrange it for him for the time being.
After casting two more purification spells on the room to clean it up, Tang Yu'an was just about to go downstairs to pick up Tie Jin and his family when he saw a message pop up on the message board.
【Channel (Admin)】
[Liangzai Zhou: An An, I’m back at Shop No. 1]
Tang Yu'an glanced at the map, then ran back to the 9th floor while replying to him. Before he entered the room, he saw Zhou Qi coming out.
"Brother Xiaoqi!"
Zhou Qi walked straight over and took his hand, looking him up and down, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Tang Yu'an was not injured.
"I'm fine."
Tang Yu'an said with a smile, "I've already been back and forth from Sister Lin's house twice."
He shared the situation with Zhou Qi along the way, so Zhou Qi also knew that the chicks had hatched and that Lin Zhen was moving in.
"Uncle Tiejin is on the way too." Tang Yu'an said, "They are coming by boat."
Zhou Qi nodded, "There are no guards coming from Jufeng Town for the time being, so I came back to take a look."
In total, he received three teams of guards who exchanged salt tickets for goods, plus others who exchanged wild vegetables and mushrooms, totaling 26 people.
This wave of transactions increased No.1 Store's store popularity by 62 points and brought Tang Yu'an 276 points and 42 experience points.
Tang Yu'an took a look at the popularity of No. 1 Store. It was now at 239 points, 61 points away from 300.
“Wow, that’s great!”
It's already past 3 p.m., and as long as they can hold on until 6 p.m., the protective barrier during non-business hours will be activated, ensuring their safety until 8 a.m. the next day.
You can also go to Jufeng Town to trade at night. You should be able to collect 300 points of heat before dark and activate at least one all-weather function of the protective barrier.
The popularity of more than 200 stores today was basically gained by Zhou Qi in Jufeng Town.
His own employee level has also been upgraded to level 8, once again surpassing Xiaocao, and his telekinesis skill can also be upgraded to the next level.
"Brother Xiaoqi, you've worked hard today. Thanks to you, our store's popularity has increased so quickly! I'll give you a chicken drumstick tonight~"
Tang Yu'an pinched Zhou Qi's hands and shoulders, looking very attentive.
Zhou Qi looked at him helplessly.
After a moment, he reached out and rubbed the boy's head, saying softly, "You did a great job. Not only did you save the swimming pool, but you also arranged accommodations for Sister Lin Zhen and Uncle Jin."
Tang Yu'an blinked.
"I was wrong about this at noon. I shouldn't have been so mean to you." Zhou Qi said softly, "Our An An is also very capable. I should have given you a little more trust."
Tang Yu'an finally came to his senses.
Realizing that Zhou Qi not only kept his promise and tried hard to believe in him, but was also praising him, the boy couldn't help but cheer, jumped up and hugged Zhou Qi.
He rubbed against Zhou Qi like a puppy and said happily, "Brother Xiaoqi, I really, really like you!"
When Zhou Qi heard this, he also curled up the corners of his mouth.
After Tang Yu'an had made enough noise, he continued to discuss with him: "I plan to transfer Xiaocao to Store No. 1."
Because upgrading the main store requires 5,000 store popularity, Xiaocao was not transferred to No. 1 Store before, but the situation is different now.
With the sudden onset of floods, the most important thing right now is to upgrade No.1 Store as quickly as possible.
As Xiaocao is their only "trump card" at the moment, it would be more appropriate for her to be transferred to Store No. 1. As for the main store... they can recruit new employees, or transfer Xiaocao back later.
Faced with this proposal, Tang Yu'an naturally agreed with it.
"Okay, then I'll transfer Xiaocao over!"
He immediately opened the panel and transferred Xiaocao to "Ping An Grocery Store No. 1", becoming the second employee of Store No. 1 besides Old Li.
"Xiaocao will sell hot soup in the evening, which will bring more popularity to the store!"
As a result, just as he and Zhou Qi went downstairs and put Lin Zhen's things in Room 701, he saw the system prompt pop up.
[Employee "Xiao Cao" completed a transaction with a regular customer, earning +8 points and +1 experience point]
【Employee "Xiao Cao"...】
Such message prompts kept popping up intermittently until Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi reached the first floor.
So has Xiaocao found a new way to make a living?
-
Because of your outstanding work performance, the mysterious merchant has transferred you to "Ping An Grocery Store No. 1". Please be sure to stay calm and maintain your performance.
When this prompt popped up, Xiaocao and his brother were carrying the straw hats they had just collected and arrived at the gate of the guard post.
Because of the distance, the news of the flood in the deserted city has not yet reached Jufeng Mountain.
However, even if it is reported, it will not be a big problem for the time being, because Jufeng Town is built on the top of a mountain. Unless a storm comes, the flood will have little impact on the mountain.
Xiaocao looked at the system prompt, not quite understanding what the message meant.
"Little grass?"
At her brother's urging, she decided to put it aside for the time being and ask on the message board later when she had time. Then she greeted the guard at the door and entered the guardhouse.
After offering the soybeans, she and her brother were allowed to come to the guard post for meals every day. In addition to the friendship they had gained through their previous haircut, the brother and sister are now familiar with almost every guard, and they only need to say hello when entering and leaving the guard post.
They found the guards who were resting in the garrison and started selling straw hats to them.
"When you wear this straw hat, it not only protects you from the sun, but also keeps your scalp from getting sunburned. It's also very cheap; you only need a piece of wild vegetable to buy one."
Just like cutting hair and selling hot soup, Xiaocao still follows the strategy of small profits but quick turnover.
After the familiar guard exchanged a straw hat with her, Xiaocao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw the notification of profitable transaction pop up on the panel.
She exchanged mushrooms for these straw hats.
He collected 21 straw hats in total, each containing two mushrooms. Because of the daily "practice" and careful memorization and learning, Xiaocao's arithmetic has improved a lot, and he can at least remember all the numbers.
On the way to the garrison, she was actually very uneasy, and her brother couldn't understand her.
Because in Jufeng Town, it is generally believed that two mushrooms and one wild vegetable are equivalent, because the two have similar filling effects.
Of course, there will be some discrepancies due to the size difference, and there will be some disputes during the actual transaction process, but basically it will fluctuate within this number.
So Shitou thinks Xiaocao’s pricing is very unreasonable.
Fortunately, even so, her brother was still willing to accompany her to collect straw hats and then bring them to the guard post for trading.
And now, looking at the points earned from profitable transactions, Xiaocao finally smiled.
The administrator did not lie to her!
Wild vegetables are more valuable than mushrooms, so she buys low and sells high. In this way, she can also earn points and experience points!
While Xiaocao was trying to sell his straw hat to the guard, he was thinking to himself: What else is suitable for buying low and selling high?
The first thing that came to her mind was salt.
Salt is definitely the most popular commodity, and the salt sold in Kyoho grocery stores seems to be very suitable for buying low and selling high.
The price of salt sold by the young doctor is not high to begin with, and it has not been widely spread yet. Not many people know about it, so his business is not very good.
So, could she exchange the salt from the young doctor and sell it before many people knew about it?
I feel that if I can successfully obtain salt, I will definitely have no trouble selling it.
Just as Xiaocao was thinking about the feasibility of this matter, she heard a conversation between two guards.
"Did that guy confess?"
"I confessed. It was Jin Fu who did it. The mountain master has already sent people to trouble him."
"Jin Fu? The big salt merchant?"
Xiaocao couldn't help but prick up her ears, but when she wanted to listen more carefully, the two guards had already discovered her.
They didn't make things difficult for her. They each changed her straw hat and then walked away with a smile.
Xiaocao pursed her lips, curious about what the guard was talking about, so she ran to ask her brother.
I didn't expect that Shi Tou actually knew about this.
"He's the salt merchant from Jufeng Town. He disliked the young doctor because he was stealing his business. So last night he sent people to the Jufeng Grocery Store to kill him..."
As Xiaocao listened to Shitou telling the "inside story" he had just heard, his expression changed again and again.
After hearing that the villains had been arrested and that nothing had happened to the young doctor, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. As for the salt sales...
She shook her head and decided to give up such a dangerous job.
It’s better to sell straw hats. No one in Jufeng Town will compete with her for such a “loss-making” business.
In the end, Xiaocao sold a total of 18 straw hats, and almost all the guards who were still on rest at the garrison exchanged their hats with her.
After all, her asking price was indeed very cheap, but the fact that she specifically wanted wild vegetables made many guards feel embarrassed.
Because of the soybeans, the garrison basically does not distribute fruits now, and naturally there are no wild vegetables. Fortunately, there are reserves in the garrison canteen.
The guards exchanged soybeans for wild vegetables from the canteen, and then exchanged them for hats with grass.
This wave brought 24 points of store popularity to No.1 Store, allowing Tang Yu'an to successfully take another step towards the 300 popularity mark.
"Haha, Xiaocao is so amazing!" Tang Yu'an said happily.
Zhou Qi nodded. This little girl's performance was indeed surprising. Recruiting Xiaocao as an employee was probably the most correct decision they had ever made.
At this time, they had already arrived outside Building 1.
In the yard, in addition to Old Li, Shugen and his son, and Jin Guang, there were two more unfamiliar faces.
It seemed like he was a guest who came yesterday and wanted to exchange more salt today. Unfortunately, he encountered a flood and was attacked by creatures just like the father and son of the tree roots.
After Old Li rescued them, he started a new round of storytelling.
Fortunately, when Tang Yu'an arrived in the yard, the story had already been told, and he also felt the enthusiasm and respect of everyone present.
Although it was really embarrassing, he also knew that there was nothing he could do about it.
Judging from the grandfather’s expression, he is obviously very satisfied with the effect. Anyone who wants to stay in the No. 1 store in the future will probably have to accept his "ideological education" first.
After Tang Yu'an greeted these people stiffly, he pulled Old Li into the house to talk.
"Grandpa, Sister Lin and Uncle Tiejin will be here soon."
After that, he talked about paying the rent.
"I think we can charge less, or give you credit, but we can't not charge at all." Tang Yu'an said.
In addition to better management, collecting rent can also be considered a profitable transaction, so you can earn points and experience points at least once a day without having to think too much about the reasons.
Hearing Tang Yu'an's words, Old Li's eyes lit up.
"That's great. Brothers should be clear about accounts. You can stay in the store, but you have to pay rent!"
Naturally, he wholeheartedly agreed with this regulation.
"Do those people outside want to stay?" Tang Yu'an asked.
Old Li couldn't help but snort coldly.
"He didn't say it explicitly, but he probably wanted to stay."
He pondered for a moment and said, "I'll talk to Tiejin and the others when they get here."
Then he looked at Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi, "I'll handle this matter. You guys should keep quiet for now, especially you, Xiao'an."
He will play the bad guy, and as for the respected and beloved "Boss Xiao An", he just needs to maintain his good image and show up when people need help.
Tang Yu'an nodded somewhat confusedly.
At this time, he saw the light spot belonging to Tiejin's family on the map finally appearing outside the wall.
-
Tiejin looked at the tall building standing in front of him, surrounded by solid walls. He was so shocked that he almost forgot to paddle.
He had come here before, and there was no such wall at that time!
Such a solid high-rise building really gives people an inexplicable sense of security when looking at it during a flood.
He said happily: "Alian, Lily, we can live here from now on!"
A Lian held her daughter in her arms, staring blankly at the tall building in front of her. She had lived in Jufeng Mountain since she was a child, and had never seen such a complete pre-disaster building.
Can they really live here?
Will the rent be expensive? A-Lian opened her mouth slightly, but seeing Tiejin's excited expression, she didn't dare to express her concerns.
"Where is this entrance?"
Tiejin rowed the boat, trying to find the entrance to the building, but before his boat got close, he saw three familiar figures appear on the wall.
"It's Lao Li, Xiao An and the others!"
Tiejin waved at them, rowed the boat closer, and then threw the rope tied to the bow over the wall.
Old Li grabbed the rope and jumped under the wall. After landing steadily, he fixed the rope to the ground with an iron rod.
Seeing Old Li jump down from the three-meter-high wall and then quickly climb back to the top of the wall as if nothing had happened, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi couldn't help swallowing.
Compared to Grandpa Li, they are still far behind!
Seeing Old Li pulling Tiejin's boat over with a rope, Zhou Qi hurried over to help.
Soon, Tiejin's boat arrived under the wall.
"Old Li, you are here too!" Tiejin said happily.
"Stop talking nonsense and come in first." Old Li also noticed the piranhas under the boat and said solemnly.
Tiejin nodded hurriedly and picked up Jin Lili, holding her high. The water level was already over a meter, and since Tiejin was tall, he could easily lift her over the wall.
Old Li held the rope with both hands, and Tang Yu'an took over Jin Lili.
But when he jumped off the wall holding Jin Lili, the accident happened.
The piranhas that had been following the boat obediently suddenly jumped out of the water with their mouths wide open and attacked Tiejin and Alian on the boat!
Beside him, Zhou Qi, who had been on the alert for piranhas, took action in time.
"Ring, ring, ring—ring, ring, ring—"
Invincible cat teaser, start!
As the bell rang, the piranha that had already bitten Tie Jin opened its mouth and looked at Zhou Qi together with its companions.
Being stared at by dozens of piranhas is a terrifying thing.
Zhou Qi didn't dare to delay, and ran away quickly along the wall while waving the cat toy.
The group of ferocious piranhas opened their mouths wide, swung their tails vigorously, and chased Zhou Qi, jumping up one after another.
After Zhou Qi got away from the crowd, he jumped off the wall.
Then dozens of piranhas also jumped high, chasing him out of the water, and after jumping over the three-meter-high wall in a parabolic trajectory... fell to the ground one after another.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of lively mutant piranhas appeared in the yard of No. 1 Store.
The crisis that was about to result in bloodshed was resolved so easily.
Shugen and his son, Jin Guang and others who were watching this scene couldn't help but open their mouths wide and their jaws almost dropped to the ground.
They had just climbed over the wall and were frightened by the piranhas. They thought Tiejin was going to die, but then they saw this incredible scene.
What was that stick that made a noise? Why did all those piranhas chase it like crazy when they heard the sound?
However, when they saw Wangcai, who had been squatting at the door, stand up and run over, revealing his original body shape while running, even the two newcomers suddenly lost all idea.
Oh my god, how could such a simple and cute dog be a mutant!
When the ingots, silver coins and black pearls appeared in their original forms one after another, they shrank into the corner and tried very hard to reduce their presence.
There are actually four mutant creatures in this building. If there is not enough food in the future, will they be fed?
However, when they saw the mutant piranhas gradually becoming motionless on the ground due to lack of oxygen, they felt that they might have been overthinking it.
With such an outrageous fishing speed, how could they be short of food?
These piranhas look like they are here to deliver food!
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