Chapter 25
The mutant lantern fruit has a nearly transparent outer skin that looks fragile, but feels flexible to the touch. If the area were larger, it might be used as cloth.
The inside of the fruit is hollow, just like a uniquely shaped lantern. Through the peel you can vaguely see a round fruit ball hanging in the middle.
It is this round little ball that emits a faint light, just like the wick of a lantern, but under the bright sunshine, the light is almost invisible, so it looks inconspicuous, but its shape is a little special.
Tang Yu'an didn't expect that this fruit was worth 49 points, which is equivalent to three or four sweet fruits.
Looking at the child's innocent, cute, trusting and intimate eyes, Tang Yu'an felt a little embarrassed.
The difference in value is so huge that it feels like he is trying to trick children.
"Kang Kang, is your mother-in-law here?" Tang Yu'an asked knowingly.
Kang Kang shook his head, "Grandma, get out!"
"Then can we come in and sit down?" Tang Yu'an persuaded him patiently. If his mother-in-law was not around, it would be easier for him to make a deal with Kang Kang.
The child nodded without thinking: "Yeah!"
Then, the child climbed down from the stone, clearing the passage of the air vent so that Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi could crawl into the house.
The almost completely enclosed house, planted with many plants, immediately brought a refreshing and cool feeling. Only some heat still seeped in through the cracks in the wall.
"Kang Kang, have you had lunch?" Tang Yu'an asked.
The child shook his head and said, "Wait for grandma."
Tang Yu'an touched his head and asked, "Do you have a cup for drinking water?"
Kang Kang nodded, then ran to the corner and brought out a water cup. It looked like a thermos cup, quite old, and no one knew where he picked it up.
"Brother, water..."
Tang Yu'an took the thermos and shook it, and found that there was still the sound of water inside. He guessed that Kang Kang thought he wanted to drink water, so he gave it to him.
"Kang Kang is so good."
Tang Yu'an opened the thermos and found that the water in the cup was still a little warm, but it seemed a little turbid.
In the doomsday world, there is naturally no clean tap water. Thinking about it this way, they can exchange it for water at grocery stores unlimitedly, which is really a blessing.
Tang Yu'an naturally wouldn't drink this turbid water.
He glanced at Kang Kang, covered the thermos cup and quietly handed it to Zhou Qi.
After Zhou Qi understood what he meant, he took the thermos cup and walked to the corner. Without telling Kang Kang, he secretly poured all the water on the soil where the mushrooms were grown.
Then he washed the cup with drinking water in his portable warehouse, poured in the 20 grams of glucose exchanged by Tang Yu'an, and added hot water and stirred it to melt.
Children who are weak and have not eaten well for a long time will benefit from drinking glucose water, which is easier for them to absorb. As for 20 grams of glucose, it only gives 2 points.
After the glucose melted, Zhou Qi added boiled water to cool it down. After taking a sip and feeling it was suitable, he handed it back to Tang Yu'an.
While Zhou Qi was preparing the glucose solution, Tang Yu'an was guiding Kang Kang to speak.
He found that Kang Kang might be older than he looked, but he was developing slowly due to malnutrition.
From his fragmentary words, he pieced together the general information.
After they left yesterday, Granny Guo gave birth to a grain of brown rice, and the result was amazing. In Kang Kang's words, -
"So much! So much! Rice!"
He also excitedly pulled Tang Yu'an to see the jar where Grandma Guo stored the grain seeds.
"Brother, look! So many!"
Tang Yu'an held the jar he stuffed into her hand, feeling a little amused and helpless.
This kid really doesn't treat him as an outsider at all.
He looked down at the seeds in the jar.
These grains should have been collected by Granny Guo from the rice plant. The grains are plump and emit a light plant fragrance. They look very fresh at first glance.
Now they are all placed in a plastic jar, and there are probably about 2,000 pills.
It is naturally a lot in terms of the number of seeds, but the weight is actually only about 30 to 40 grams, which is about one-third of a bowl of rice.
If they simply rely on supernatural powers to induce childbirth, Granny Guo and Kang Kang will still have a long way to go before they can have enough food. It's unknown what Granny Guo plans to do, and whether she will open up farmland in the future...
This is a problem that Grandma Guo needs to find a way to solve. If she doesn't ask for help, Tang Yu'an doesn't intend to interfere.
After taking a few glances, he asked Kang Kang to put the plastic can back in its place and told him not to take it out and show it to outsiders.
This is the hope for the future of Granny Guo and Kang Kang, so it should be properly preserved.
Kang Kang nodded in confusion.
Zhou Qi just happened to come back with a thermos cup. Seeing how serious he was in educating Kang Kang, he suddenly curled up the corners of his mouth, not knowing what he remembered.
Tang Yu'an was about to take the thermos cup when he saw the smile on his face and couldn't help asking, "Brother Xiaoqi, what are you laughing at?"
"I remember when I was little, you took me to see Uncle Tang's secret stash of money in the biscuit box."
“…”
There’s no need to remember such dark history, right?
Tang Yu'an pretended not to understand what he was saying, took the thermos cup, turned to Kang Kang and said, "Want some water? Give me another lantern fruit and I'll give you some."
Kang Kang actually didn’t want to drink water, but he liked this handsome, cheerful little brother who was willing to play with him.
So when Tang Yu'an said that, he quickly ran away and took a ripe fruit that had fallen to the ground from under the lantern grass, "Brother, here~"
Maybe it was because he talked so much, but his voice sounded soft and sweet, and finally not so awkward anymore.
"Haha, okay."
Tang Yu'an handed the other lantern fruit to Zhou Qi, then opened the thermos and carefully fed him the glucose solution.
As soon as Kang Kang tasted the water, his eyes lit up, "Sweet!"
Tang Yu'an chuckled, "Yeah, it tastes good, right?"
"Mmm! Delicious!"
Tang Yu'an then took the lantern fruit from his hand. With this operation, he earned another 49 points and 1 experience point.
Then, Tang Yu'an said again: "Kang Kang, if you give me another lantern fruit, I will give you sweet water."
"Okay." He ran over and got another lantern fruit. "Brother, here you go."
"Yeah, okay."
After adding water and completing the transaction, the system panel in front of Tang Yu'an once again showed a prompt of a profit of 49 points. In this way, he got a total of 147 points and 3 experience points!
Tang Yu'an took the thermos away again, pointed at Zhou Qi and said, "This is Brother Zhou. Call him and I'll give you some sugar water."
"Brother Zhou..."
Facing Zhou Qi, Xiao Kangkang was not so relaxed, but he also called out timidly, and then received sugar water from Tang Yu'an.
Tang Yu'an repeated it several times. Kang Kang thought he was playing a game with him, so he happily cooperated and shouted it more and more fluently.
In the end, Tang Yu'an made three losing trades.
The system will not count the subsequent times, and these three times are just counted, and no experience points are gained. This situation has occurred before.
"Brother Xiaoqi, why do you think this is happening?"
Zhou Qi thought about it and guessed: "Could it be related to the achievement title?"
"Yes, it's very likely!"
Tang Yu'an then remembered this, but it was not displayed on the achievement title panel. All he could see now were profits and daily combo achievement titles and corresponding rewards.
Maybe the special title is hidden from the beginning? It will only be revealed after it is achieved?
Because there was no way to verify it, Tang Yu'an discussed it with Zhou Qi for a few sentences, and finally had to put it aside for the time being.
He looked at the child and said, "Kang Kang, can you give me the thermos cup?"
Kang Kang nodded and returned the thermos cup to him. Tang Yu'an then said, "These three mutant lantern fruits are also for you."
He stuffed the fruit into the child's hand without saying anything. Sure enough, the system did not show any prompts, neither did it indicate a loss nor did it deduct his points.
This is probably the benefit of smart system hibernation, right?
Xiao Kangkang held the fruit and looked at him helplessly.
Tang Yu'an smiled and said, "Give it to me tomorrow."
Hearing that he would come again tomorrow, Kang Kang immediately forgot his unhappiness and nodded vigorously.
"good!"
Then he put the three lantern fruits back to their original places and sat on the small stone.
At this time, Tang Yu'an returned the thermos to him and let him drink the water himself.
Kang Kang thought that the little brother might be playing games with him, so he didn't care. He happily held the thermos cup and drank the sweet syrup in small sips. He felt warm and no longer sleepy.
When there was only half a cup left, he stopped drinking.
It’s not that he couldn’t drink it, but he wanted to leave it for his mother-in-law. This water was different from what he usually drank. It was not only sweet, but also had an indescribable feeling.
Anyway...it tastes good!
When will his mother-in-law come back? He misses her a little.
If it were an ordinary day, Kang Kang could only stay next to the lantern grass and wait quietly for his mother-in-law to come back.
But today is different.
He has two brothers accompanying him today!
Kang Kang put down the thermos and then pulled Tang Yu'an to see the lantern grass.
The mutant lantern grass is Kang Kang's favorite plant because he can sense its emotions. When he talks to it, it will respond to him, so he won't feel lonely when he stays alone at home.
This is his most important friend.
Brother Sugar also likes Lantern Grass, so they are good friends!
Not long after, there was movement in the passage.
"Mother-in-law!"
As soon as the voice sounded, Kang Kang immediately shouted, then ran to the entrance of the passage with his short legs and waited.
Soon, Granny Guo, looking tired but in good spirits, came in from the passage and appeared in front of them.
Seeing Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi, unlike her vigilance yesterday, Granny Guo was stunned for a moment, then showed a look of joy.
"It's you guys, when did you come?"
"Not long." Tang Yu'an greeted her with a smile, "Sorry to bother you, mother-in-law."
Granny Guo quickly shook her head, "I'm so happy that you're willing to come and keep Kang Kang company."
After she said this, she continued to carry the wooden barrel on her back and walked heavily towards the water tank in the corner. Water dripped from the cracks in the barrel along the way.
Zhou Qi stepped forward to help, and when she untied the wooden barrel, he poured the water in the barrel into the tank.
The water only filled less than half a bucket, and not much was poured into the water tank.
Granny Guo was already sweating profusely from exhaustion. After untying the bucket, her expression finally relaxed a little, and she held her waist and sat down on a rock to rest.
"Mother-in-law, drink..."
Xiao Kangkang came to her with a thermos cup and handed her the water.
Granny Guo took it with a smile. When she tasted the clear and sweet water in the cup, she was stunned. Then she looked up at Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi.
"this……"
"Drink up! It's so hot, you must be exhausted."
Looking at Tang Yu'an's angelic smile, Grandma Guo was stunned for a moment before she lowered her head and drank the warm water in the cup sip by sip.
After replenishing her water and energy, she felt much better. She looked at the two teenagers and said, "Are you hungry? Do you want some fruit?"
Then she went and got two fruits and put one into each of their hands.
Although Granny Guo was wary of others because of her past experiences, she was not an ungrateful person. The two children were so kind and generous to her and Kang Kang, and she wanted to repay them.
You completed a profitable transaction with an old customer, earning +16 points and +1 experience point.
“Thank you, grandma!”
Tang Yu'an took it with a smile, then looked at Zhou Qi. He wanted to leave the remaining trading opportunities to him.
Brother Xiaoqi can only gain 1 employee experience point for each transaction, and losses are not included. Today he was mainly dealing with Lin Zhen Kangkang, and Brother Xiaoqi only gained 2 experience points when trading with Lao Litou.
Now his experience bar has reached 9/10, and he can level up by making another profitable trade.
Zhou Qi understood and put away the fruit first, then said, "Grandma Guo, let me help you fetch a few more buckets of water."
While the effect of the light body technique is still there, it is convenient to carry water.
Granny Guo was about to refuse when the young man said, "Let's exchange it with fruit. We need this."
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
She had already tried it yesterday and found that the brown rice seeds were very good. As long as she continued to plant them, Kang Kang would definitely have enough to eat.
But this brown rice requires too much water, and all the water stored at home has been used up.
That's why she went out to fetch water today, but she didn't know that the place where she fetched water before was occupied by several wild dogs. She didn't dare to get close, so she had to go to a farther place to fetch water.
I made two trips back and forth this morning, and the bucket was leaking, so in the end I only filled less than half a tank. After it sat and settled, there wasn't much left to use.
"Thank you for your help," said Granny Guo. "You can have as many fruits as you want."
Zhou Qi picked up the bucket and walked out. Granny Guo wanted to show him where to fetch water, but she heard him say, "I know where there is water."
"Brother Xiaoqi..."
Tang Yu'an followed him, but was stopped by Zhou Qi, "Wait here for a moment, I'll be back soon."
Tang Yu'an had no choice but to stay and watched him leave with the bucket on his back. He looked at the map to observe his situation while waiting anxiously.
-
I had observed this on the way here last week and found that there was water accumulation in many low-lying areas among the ruins, and rainwater was also accumulating in some damaged houses.
But these waters are stagnant, not only turbid and dirty, but also infested with mosquitoes.
Even if you boil this kind of water and drink it, it will probably cause problems. It is not suitable for watering plants indoors.
In addition, Zhou Qi also saw a pond.
The pool should be full of running water and have an underground river channel, so it looks much clearer.
Although the area around the pool attracted many animals, there were also unknown creatures wandering in the water, and the journey was longer, but considering the protection of the umbrella, Zhou Qi finally chose this place.
The vegetation near the pond is lush and looks green and vibrant, but it makes Zhou Qi feel nervous.
This may be what Granny Guo once said: the closer to the city center, the more lush the plants grow and the more dangerous creatures there are.
Fortunately, he had an umbrella.
Tang Yu placed this umbrella in the No. 1 portable warehouse so that both of them can use it.
No living creature noticed his approach, only a few small animals were startled when he used the wooden bucket to draw water.
However, because he was fast enough, no creature had time to get close to him.
But after he ran away, a stream of water immediately shot out from where he was just now, and finally landed on a low wall beside the pool, making a hole in it.
One can imagine what effect this water flow will have on living things.
Looking at the flying dust and the ripples on the water, Zhou Qi was secretly shocked and realized the danger of this pool of water. He did not dare to delay and hurried back with the bucket on his back.
Because he came back quickly, the bucket was still full, so he made another trip and filled the water tank.
He looked so relaxed that Granny Guo had a new understanding of his strength and she was even more reluctant to neglect them.
But she took out the fruit, but Zhou Qi and Tang Yu'an didn't ask for more.
The number of fruits is limited. If you take them all today, there may be none left tomorrow. You have to save them for future trades.
In the end, Zhou Qi used the two buckets of water to exchange for two mutant lantern fruits from Granny Guo, and got 98 points and 2 experience points.
This was a deal between Zhou Qi and Granny Guo, and Kang Kang did not stop it.
Regarding the mutated lantern fruits, apart from the fact that they glow, Grandma Guo is not quite sure what the function of these fruits is.
She had tasted it when she first discovered it in the wild, and the skin was very tough and difficult to chew with her teeth.
The fruit ball inside not only tasted extremely bitter, but also seemed to be slightly poisonous. She had diarrhea after eating a little bit, and she didn't dare to eat it anymore.
However, because Kang Kang liked it very much, she transplanted one back and only reminded him not to eat it. Kang Kang was obedient and never ate anything indiscriminately. He also took the initiative to take care of the lantern grass.
Unexpectedly, under Kang Kang's care, the grass grew bigger and bigger, completely different from those in the wild.
Finally, it grew as tall as a small tree, and the fruits it produced began to glow, like small lanterns, so it got the name "lantern grass".
Granny Guo knew that this plant must have mutated, but apart from the fact that its fruit glowed, there didn't seem to be anything special about it.
She had also used it to exchange things with Old Li and others. This fruit that glows at night was quite popular, so when Zhou Qi made this request, she readily agreed.
"Although this fruit glows, it only lasts for half a month after leaving the plant."
Granny Guo said, "If you still want it, you can tell me... tell Kang Kang later."
"Yeah!" Xiao Kangkang nodded vigorously.
"Okay, okay." Tang Yu'an responded with a smile, "I will definitely come to you and Kang Kang if I need anything in the future."
This fruit is worth 49 points!
Rounding it off, two fruits can be exchanged for a special cold medicine or a primary healing bandage.
Tang Yu'an looked at the fruits on the mutant lantern grass that were not yet fully ripe, his eyes shining, as if he saw a large amount of points waving at him.
-
They played with Xiao Kangkang for a while, and when Granny Guo prepared lunch, they took the initiative to say goodbye.
At this time, the effect of Zhou Qi's light body technique had long ended, and he had returned to the speed of an ordinary person.
They were not in a hurry. Holding umbrellas, they slowly found a cool place to sit down, drink water and eat.
There were only two uses left of the Light Body Technique, and it would be a bit of a waste to rush back to the grocery store for lunch and a nap, so they decided to eat outdoors.
"Oh, I can only eat my fried meat in the evening." Tang Yu'an sighed.
Zhou Qi patted his head soothingly.
"From now on, before we go out, we will prepare lunch and dinner and put them in our portable storage so that we can eat them anywhere."
"Yeah, okay!"
Tang Yu'an also thought this was a good idea. After all, the food would remain the same when it was taken out of the portable storage. It would be fresh and delicious, and there was no need to worry about it going bad.
Tang Yu'an quickly cheered up.
He took out two cans of Coke and some butter and pork floss bread. The Coke had been chilled in the refrigerator and was still ice cold. He took a gulp and sighed with satisfaction.
It's so comfortable to drink an iced cola in such a hot weather.
Then he ate the bread and said, "Brother Xiaoqi, the bread is almost finished."
Bread has a relatively short shelf life, and the shop didn't stock much. When they went out, they ate bread for convenience, so the bread was consumed the fastest.
There is no oven at home and they don’t know how to cook. If they want to eat it in the future, they may have to wait until the wholesale market is open.
"Well, let's wait and see tomorrow. If we have time, we can make steamed buns and dumplings." Zhou Qi suggested.
There is still flour in the grocery store, and there is quite a lot of it. When it runs out, you can exchange it for wheat, but it is more troublesome to grind it into powder.
Thinking of the fresh steamed buns, Tang Yu'an couldn't help swallowing his saliva.
"Yeah, with the bird meat that Black Pearl sent, we can make meat buns!" Tang Yu'an felt greedy just thinking about it, "Brother Xiaoqi, can you make steamed buns?"
"My grandmother taught me."
“How amazing…”
After Tang Yu'an finished his lunch, he felt a little sleepy. He snuggled up to Zhou Qi, squinted his eyes and yawned.
"Just take a nap if you're tired."
Under the umbrella, the temperature slowly dropped to a pleasant level. Despite the blazing sun, they felt like they were in a little world just for them: cool, peaceful, and tranquil.
"Then I'll close my eyes for a moment."
Getting up at six in the morning, Tang Yu'an really felt a little overwhelmed. He hugged Zhou Qi's arm and closed his eyes peacefully.
Zhou Qi looked down at him, then carefully put his coat on him.
Tang Yu'an snuggled closer to his arms again.
Even though he was in such a dangerous doomsday world, as long as he was with Brother Xiaoqi, he felt safe and soon fell asleep.
It was more than half an hour later when Tang Yu'an woke up again.
"Brother Xiaoqi, do you want to take a nap?"
"No, I'm not sleepy." Zhou Qi stood up and moved his numb arms.
Tang Yu'an stretched and stood up with the help of the umbrella. After taking a nap, he felt refreshed and energetic.
Remembering something, he quickly asked, "By the way, Brother Xiaoqi, are there any new changes after your upgrade?"
After the transaction with Granny Guo just now, Zhou Qi's employee level was upgraded to level 1, and Tang Yu'an received a notification.
Zhou Qi glanced at the records.
[Congratulations, your employee level has been upgraded to level 1. You still need 19 experience points to upgrade to the next level. Please keep up the good work and you will have the opportunity to win the favor of the mysterious merchant and unlock more benefits!]
There are hints, but they are more like empty promises.
Tang Yu'an curled his lips, "This system is so stingy."
"It's okay." Zhou Qi patted his head comfortingly. "You are the priority. As long as your merchant level upgrade can bring you benefits, I will also benefit from it."
Seeing that Zhou Qi was not sad or angry, Tang Yu'an smiled, snuggled up to him and said, "Well, we won't separate anyway, you can use anything of mine."
Zhou Qi rubbed his head and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
By doing this... he has won the favor of the mysterious businessman, right?
"What do you want to do next?" Zhou Qi looked at his watch. It was just after two in the afternoon, and there were still four hours until six o'clock.
Tang Yu'an opened the task panel and asked, "Continue to clean up the dangerous creatures?"
He had previously triggered the task of [Clearing Dangerous Creatures (2)], and this time he had to clear out 10 of them. The rewards included 4 lucky spins and a 30% discount card, which was quite worth taking.
"By the way, I have another lucky draw!"
The lottery for completing daily tasks in the morning has not been used yet.
Tang Yu'an rubbed his hands and said excitedly: "Watch me draw a miracle!"
Of course, he was joking. How could he be so lucky forever? Finally, the pointer of the big turntable stopped at...
Congratulations! You've received the special item "Happy Marbles"!
Tang Yuan: 0.0
The author has something to say:
Anzai: Great!
Xiaoqi: I don’t understand the world of European emperors :)
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