Chapter 126
"Brother Xiaoqi, what do you think of these residents now?" Tang Yu'an asked as he climbed up to the attic.
"Shugen and his son are good." Zhou Qi said.
Raising a child in a wasteland is extremely difficult. People who are willing to raise children are at least much more morally competent than those who give birth but do not raise them.
"Hmm! Fireball also has fire-related abilities, so he has great potential."
Zhou Qi recalled the scene when he met Shugen and his son today, and said, "His father should be pretty good too."
Being able to run in the water while holding her son without being bitten by a water snake shows that she is quite good in terms of physical fitness and speed.
"Do they have parasites?" Tang Yu'an asked.
Zhou Qi paused, then shook his head.
"No, I didn't sense it."
Tree Root may not have awakened any special powers, it’s just that his physique is stronger, but Fireball really does have special powers.
Tang Yu'an thought of something and couldn't help asking, "Is it that Kang Kang and Lily don't have any either?"
Zhou Qi recalled and nodded.
"They are all children..." Tang Yu'an couldn't help but speculate, "Did they have superpowers when they were children, and did they all awaken naturally?"
"Very likely."
Zhou Qi looked at Tang Yu'an and suddenly said, "Have you also awakened your superpowers?"
"Ah?" Tang Yu'an was stunned.
"I had this idea when I saw you running on the water today," Zhou Qi said.
"Isn't that the effect of the light body technique?" Tang Yu'an scratched his head.
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and said, "I can't do it as easily as you."
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but be stunned.
Brother Xiaoqi has awakened many superpowers. So far, it seems that he is only not very good at the wood element, but he can also sense the wood element's psychic energy.
If he can't do it...
Tang Yu'an exclaimed softly and took out two wind crystal stones, one large and one small, from the compartment in his clothes.
"The big one is the one Emerald gave me today, and the small one was given to me before..." he said.
Zhou Qi had also seen the one that was given to him before. Now it was as small as a grain of sand.
"Absorbed by you?"
"I... I don't know, I just feel comfortable wearing it, it's cool, and it's not as hot during the day..."
Zhou Qi looked at him and slowly smiled.
"Why don't you take a look at your dashboard?" he said.
Tang Yu'an opened his personal panel and saw that there was indeed an extra column at the bottom.
[Ability: Wind Element Affinity]
"Brother Xiaoqi, I have really awakened my superpowers!" Tang Yu'an said in surprise.
"Wind element affinity?"
Zhou Qi nodded. Skills like Light Body Technique and Floating Technique are both related to the wind system. An An’s ability to draw them might also be related to his physique.
"But I really didn't feel anything." Tang Yu'an recalled these days. It seemed that except for feeling more comfortable when wearing the wind crystal stone, his physical condition had not changed much.
"I remember Grandpa Li said that some people with special abilities don't experience noticeable changes in their physique after awakening..."
Zhou Qi frowned, but quickly changed his tone and said, "You have just awakened. You will become stronger and stronger in the future. We will observe you slowly."
"Um!"
No matter what, it is a happy thing to be able to awaken superpowers.
Tang Yu'an happily ran to the attic and opened the window of the dream bottle.
He still reached out to grab the three brightest bottles. Now that a flood had occurred, he wanted to know what was happening with these three dream wish-makers that he was familiar with.
The first bottle has green eyes.
A bright ball of light floated in the air, and soon the dry and hoarse voice was heard.
"Speak...speak..."
"Green Eyes, good evening." Tang Yu'an said.
"Okay... okay..." the voice responded, "Businessman."
Although he only remembered the last two words, Tang Yu'an was still very happy.
"Has your area been affected by the flood?" he asked with concern.
"Water... influence..."
Green Eyes repeated Tang Yu'an's words, not knowing whether he understood them or not.
However, he must have lived in the abandoned chemical plant for quite some time, and perhaps he had experienced floods before, so he probably had his own way of dealing with it.
"Green Eyes, is your throat like this because you're injured?"
Tang Yu'an felt that the person with green eyes should be a human. Although he could live in the poisonous fog of an abandoned chemical plant, he would probably be hurt by the fog.
It’s really hard to imagine what it feels like to live alone in a toxic fog.
"Injured...throat..."
Green Eyes was still repeating Tang Yu'an's words. Such communication was difficult, but he was obviously enjoying it.
"Merchant, porridge... handsome porridge?"
Zhou Qi: “…”
He would rather Green Eyes call him "Zhou Zhou".
"Yeah, I'm here," he responded reluctantly.
"Happy! Happy!" Green Eyes repeated like a dancing child.
Zhou Qi's expression softened a little, and he said, "Is there anything you want?"
"I want to... talk..."
Hearing Green Eyes' response, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi felt a little reluctant.
It was the same as last time. They just talked to Green Eyes for a few words and got a pound of mutant blueberries and more than 800 points from him.
Tang Yu'an thought about it and took the initiative to propose a deal: "I'll give you a bottle of primary healing potion, and you give us two kilograms of mutant blueberries, okay?"
Anyway, they still have 4 bottles of primary potions and 2 bottles of intermediate potions. If they take out one bottle to trade with Green Eyes, the rest can still be used for a long time.
"This potion can heal many injuries, and it might help heal your throat."
"Treatment... recovery..."
"Do you think this deal is okay?"
"Can……"
Following Green Eyes' response, a system prompt popped up.
You completed a profitable transaction with a Dream Wisher, gaining +1400 points, +6 experience points, and +1 dream fragment.
[You lost 1 bottle of primary healing potion]
[You received 2 catties of mutant blueberries, please select the delivery address]
[1. Ping An Grocery Store Warehouse]
【……】
A pound of mutant blueberries is worth 800 points. After deducting the 200 points for the primary healing potion, you still earn 1,400 points!
Seeing the points balance return to 7000+ again, Tang Yu'an couldn't help but feel happy.
In this way, the points for upgrading the protective barrier twice are settled.
After the transaction was completed, Green Eyes' dream was relatively stable, so Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi chatted with him for a while.
"Green Eyes, you can't drink all the primary healing potion we traded you for at once."
Tang Yu'an said, "You can only take three mouthfuls at a time, and you have to wait 12 hours before drinking the rest, otherwise it will be wasted."
He kept talking to Green Eyes, not sure if he could understand.
It wasn't until ten minutes later that the light in the green eyes began to become unstable, and soon the conversation ended because he woke up from his dream.
Tang Yu'an put the cork back in the bottle, threw it into the dream sea, and then grabbed another drifting bottle.
-
The ruins of an abandoned chemical plant.
In the thick fog, a figure woke up from his sleep.
The dim and hazy moonlight shone on him, reflecting a very terrifying face. His festering skin was covered with pus, and a sticky liquid was slowly oozing out.
But if you look a little longer, you can see his green eyes that are as bright and crystal as gems.
He looked around and found that he was the only one around, and a look of disappointment appeared on his face.
“Clatter—”
There was the sound of gurgling water, which had just disturbed his sweet dream.
Green Eyes looked in the direction where the sound of water came from, then looked away indifferently. Next to him was a plastic bag with half a steamed bun left in it.
Just as he was about to reach out and grab it, he saw a small glass bottle next to him.
Green Eyes picked up the glass bottle and carefully opened the cap. He sniffed it gently and then took a sip.
He blinked a little blankly.
After a while, he opened his mouth cautiously: "Ah..."
Although it was just one syllable, his green eyes showed a look of surprise. He stood up and looked behind him.
Behind him, there was a tall tree, but all the leaves had fallen, and even the trunk looked rotten and withered.
“Ahh…”
Green Eyes danced with joy, and after a long while of moaning, he finally uttered a complete word: "Happy..."
His voice was still as dry and unpleasant as before, but it did not affect his joy at all.
Then, he suddenly became quiet.
Green Eyes looked at the big tree, then at the small bottle in his hand, and then a bright light burst out in his eyes.
He held the bottle and carefully poured the liquid into the roots of the tree.
He stopped only when only half of the liquid was left in the bottle. He carefully put the bottle cap back in place and put it into the plastic bag, then looked at the tree again.
Under his gaze, the big tree that had begun to wither and decay seemed to be slowly recovering.
Although the vitality recovered very slowly, the green eyes still sensed it.
Crystal tears welled up in his green eyes, and he stretched out his hands and hugged the tree tightly.
-
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi were unaware of what happened in the abandoned chemical plant.
The second bottle caught belonged to Xiao Hailan.
"Mysterious Merchant, great! I hear your voice again!" The little girl's voice was full of joy.
"Hai Lan, good evening."
"Good evening!"
After saying hello, Xiao Hailan took the initiative to share her life today with Tang Yu'an.
After getting the refined rice, her father used the leftover brown rice to exchange for two small fish, and then cooked thick porridge with the refined rice.
“I’ve never eaten anything so delicious!”
Xiao Hailan said happily, "I'm full, all thanks to you."
While Tang Yu'an was happy for her, he couldn't help but worry. Is it really okay for them to exchange the brown rice with others?
Compared to her previous cluelessness, Xiao Hailan has obviously made up for it.
She said confidently, "I asked Dad a lot of questions today!"
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi looked at each other and were no longer in a hurry to make a deal. Instead, they began to guide Xiao Hailan to speak.
"How many households are there where you live?"
Because Xiao Hailan basically hangs around at the doorstep, the map of Linhai Town has been cleared up a little bit over the years, and they still don't know what the situation is at her home.
"Yes... maybe a dozen or so..." Xiao Hailan's confident voice became hesitant.
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but sigh.
He thought for a moment and said, "How about you go out with Dad tomorrow and take a walk around where you live?"
"Okay!" Xiao Hailan nodded very decisively.
"What's your father's name?" Tang Yu'an asked.
I know this question!
"My father's name is Haijing, and he's a very big fish." The little girl's voice became confident again.
Tang Yu'an smiled and wrote a name on the green dot next to her.
It would be great if we could trade with Haijing and develop him into a customer. Then he could go out and clear the fog on the map to let them see the situation in Linhai Town.
Unfortunately, I can only trade with Xiao Hailan at the moment.
As for hiring Xiao Hailan as an employee... she is too young, she looks like she is only six or seven years old at most, and it is too dangerous to let her go out to trade.
And the most important point is that after being hired as employees, they probably won’t be able to pick up her message in a bottle anymore.
In this way, they would not be able to obtain the sea salt from Linhai Town through this channel.
So this method definitely won’t work.
According to Xiao Hailan, their family has a pretty good relationship with their neighbors.
Unlike the situation in Huangcheng and Jufeng Town, Linhai Town seems to be divided into large and small fishing villages. Because of the collaborative fishing at sea, people spontaneously gather together.
With such close ties, the relationship between villagers is not as bad as in other places.
In addition, Linhai Town can sell salt, and the administrators have such huge profits, so they are not so concerned about the rent and taxes of the residents under their jurisdiction.
Therefore, although ordinary residents of Linhai Town could not sell salt to other places, their lives were still acceptable except for facing the dangers from the sea every day and working hard for food.
However, the ocean after the catastrophe is obviously much more dangerous.
"I don't want Dad to go out to sea."
Xiao Hailan said, "The uncle next door went out to sea to catch fish and never came back."
"I heard from Brother Hailang that he was eaten by a sea monster... woo woo..."
Having said this, Xiao Hailan's ball of light trembled noticeably, and before Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi could say anything else, her dream was shattered.
Although no deal was made today, they learned enough information, so it was worth it.
Judging from Xiao Hailan's condition, Linhai Town should not have suffered a flood yet, and the flood in Huangcheng did not affect that place.
After throwing Xiao Hailan's message in the bottle back to Menghai, Tang Yu'an said, "I didn't expect that not everyone in Linhai Town lives in one town, but is divided into many fishing villages."
"The place where the manager is should be relatively prosperous." Zhou Qi said.
Tang Yu'an nodded, "It's a pity that little Hailan is too young to go out and open the map for us."
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and said, "How about... we recruit Hai Jing as an employee?"
Tang Yu'an was slightly startled.
He thought about it and felt that this arrangement seemed to be feasible.
Haijing can go out to trade, while Xiao Hailan can continue to communicate directly with them through the dream bottle.
The most important thing is that they can earn points and then redeem them for food directly through the mall. This way, even if he picks up her message in a bottle after a long time, there is no need to worry that the father and daughter will starve to death.
However, Tang Yu'an was still a little hesitant.
"But we haven't met him..." he said. "Will there be any problems if we hire him without any prior inspection?"
"He was far away from us and didn't know us."
Zhou Qi said, "Isn't this very close to the employee recruitment standards we set at the beginning?"
The truth is this...
"I'm just afraid that Hailan's father isn't smart enough, and if we hire him as an employee, it will harm both him and Hailan." Tang Yu'an said in a troubled tone.
Zhou Qi's eyes softened.
He rubbed Tang Yu'an's head vigorously, then said, "Since he was able to grasp the method of purifying sea salt from Xiao Hailan's retelling, and even thought of drying salt on the beach, then he can't be a fool."
It can even be said that he has good action ability and courage.
"A person like this, if given an opportunity, will do his best to seize it."
Just like grass.
Tang Yu'an listened to Zhou Qi's words and was quickly convinced.
"Well, you're right!" He nodded. "This is the end of the world. I shouldn't be so cautious."
After making the decision, Tang Yu'an acted quickly.
He directly selected the light spot of Haijing on the map and sent him a recruitment invitation.
【Recruitment failed! 】
["Ping An Grocery Store" is currently closed and unable to recruit.]
Tang Yu'an was stunned, but when he thought about it, it made sense. Now that the store was closed, some functions must be unavailable. Otherwise, what was the difference from when the store was open?
Fortunately, it was night time and the protective barrier could be opened normally. He just had to lift the closure status of the store.
So, after Tang Yu'an sent out the recruitment invitation, he quickly changed the store status back.
"That's it!"
Just wait for Haijing to wake up tomorrow and accept the invitation.
Tang Yu'an stretched himself, then crawled into bed, squinting his eyes and said sleepily, "Finally, I can sleep!"
"Are you going to Jufeng Town to attend the market tomorrow morning?" he asked again.
"Yeah." Zhou Qi nodded.
"I want to go too."
"It depends on whether you can get up."
"Of course I can! Don't underestimate me!"
Slowly, the noise in the attic quieted down, and the two teenagers who had been busy all day fell into a deep sleep in almost no time.
The next morning, when Tang Yu'an woke up drowsily after hearing the alarm clock, he saw Zhou Qi already dressed.
He struggled to get up and hugged Zhou Qi from behind.
"Sleep a little longer?" Zhou Qi turned around and looked at him.
"No, I want to go to the market with you..." As he spoke, the boy closed his eyes and fell asleep again.
Zhou Qi looked at him with amusement, then tilted his head slightly and rubbed his head gently, "I'll go."
Then he gently pulled Tang Yu'an's hand away and tucked him back into the bed. After a quick wash, he arrived at the Jufeng Grocery Store through the teleportation array.
Then he carried the salt shaker to the morning market in Jufeng Town.
When he arrived, the market was already bustling with activity.
"There's a flood in the deserted city!"
"Yes, I heard it has already flooded to the other side of the bridge."
Everyone was talking along the way. It was obvious that the flood in the deserted city had spread over. However, unlike what he had imagined, the residents who were discussing this matter were mostly excited and agitated.
"The guards will organize people to go down the mountain to hunt today."
"Yes, I've signed up!"
After listening for a while, Zhou Qi roughly understood that because of the flood, many animals ran to the mountains to take refuge, which made the originally desolate Jufeng Mountain lively again.
People are naturally happy that they can hunt prey without going to a deserted city.
In this enthusiastic atmosphere, he could hear guards running around shouting, "The garrison is recruiting plantation technicians. You only need to work six hours a day. The pay is generous. Anyone interested can come to the garrison to apply! We're hiring long-term!"
Six-hour workday?
Zhou Qi thought of the black factory that Grandpa Li had mentioned before. It seemed that those growers had no freedom and were locked up in the black factory to produce day and night.
If this six-hour work system can be truly implemented, it should be very attractive to those with wood-type abilities.
Zhou Qi naturally hoped that Hongli would recruit more planters, so that she would have more inventory and they could earn more points from trading.
When he arrived at the market, he saw stones and grass as a matter of course.
They shouted hard to attract business.
However, there are already four stalls offering haircuts, and their business is obviously not very good.
"Or we can go to the West Market to set up the stall tomorrow." Xiaocao said to her brother.
Jufeng Town has a population of several thousand, so it is naturally impossible for there to be only one market. The East Market is close to the garrison and has better public security, so they just like to come here.
"I heard from Xiaofeng and the others that there are also a few hair cutting stalls in the West Market." Shitou said with a wrinkled nose.
"Why are these people like this..." Xiaocao muttered unhappily.
When Zhou Qi came over, he saw how sad they looked.
"Good morning," he said.
Shitou and Xiaocao were startled. Seeing Zhou Qi, they quickly stood up straight and shouted in unison, "Hello, Brother Qi!"
When they were facing the young doctor, they could still joke and chat easily, but when they saw Zhou Qi, they were like mice meeting a cat and dared not act presumptuously.
Zhou Qi hummed, looked at their stall, and asked, "Is business bad?"
"Yes." The two siblings immediately lowered their heads.
"Would you like to help me sell salt?" Zhou Qi invited at the right moment. "When we're done selling, I'll give you each a steamed bun."
Xiaocao's eyes lit up involuntarily.
"No, no steamed buns!" she replied hastily, "We'll help you sell salt!"
She had already seen how popular Zhou Qi's stall was yesterday. If she could help him sell salt, how many points would she and her brother earn!
Perhaps fearing that Zhou Qi might become suspicious, she explained, "The little doctor not only saved us, but also lent us a pair of scissors to start our business and allowed us to live in the Meiyu Pavilion. It's only natural for us to help."
She spoke with sincerity, and in addition to explanation, it was out of genuine gratitude and desire to repay.
Zhou Qi looked at her and nodded.
At this time, Shitou finally reacted. He quickly patted his chest and said, "That's right, leave it to us. Brother Qi, you go and rest!"
So, Zhou Qi really just watched by the stall, and the salt selling transaction was completely left to the Shitou brothers and sisters.
Because he is the branch manager of No. 1 Store, the brother and sister are now his employees, so he can also gain employee experience points every time they complete a profitable transaction.
So, when Tang Yu'an woke up again from his sleep, he saw the screen flooded with message reminders again.
In just one morning market session, Shitou and Xiaocao had conducted transactions with 185 customers, bringing him 210 experience points, 2,480 points, and 295 store popularity points!
[Experience value is full, merchant level +1]
The author has something to say:
Anzai: I leveled up in my dream!!!
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