Chapter 27
Tang Yu'an ignored the escaping mutant pig and his attention fell on Zhou Qi.
"Brother Xiaoqi?"
Zhou Qi was holding the small stone, and there was something obviously wrong with him, but his eyes did not turn red like before.
"Um."
Zhou Qi felt a strange impulse in his body. The parasite seemed to want him to swallow the stone.
So this stone...
He handed the stone to Tang Yu'an and asked him to rinse it clean.
"Oh, okay."
Tang Yu'an took the stone, took out some water and washed away the mud and sand on the surface of the stone. Sure enough, he found that this was also a crystal stone. The material was exactly the same as blue topaz, but the color was light gold.
"Brother Xiaoqi, look, the color of this stone is different!" Tang Yu'an said in surprise as he looked at the small stone sparkling with golden spots in the sun.
Its texture is the same as that of blue crystal. It should be the same thing, just the color is different.
Zhou Qi nodded, thought for a moment and said, "Could it be related to supernatural powers?"
He had seen Granny Guo helping plants grow before, and a faint light green glow emanated from her hands. Combined with the value of this crystal, it was likely that different colors represented different abilities.
That mutant pig's skin is harder than steel. Could it be metallic in nature? Does it correspond to the properties of this stone?
Does it have parasites in its body that drive it to chase such stones?
Tang Yu'an felt a little confused after listening to his guess. He thought for a moment and said, "Brother Xiaoqi, let's go find Grandpa Li tomorrow and test him. He's sure to know."
He was able to take out the blue topaz to repay them for saving his life, which meant he must have known the value of this stone.
"Okay." Zhou Qi nodded and asked Tang Yu'an to put the crystal away for the time being. He might get the answer he wanted after asking Old Li.
As for now... let's start our journey home.
"Let's go back~"
Tang Yu'an put the light golden crystal into his personal storage, placed it together with the blue crystal, and then jumped for joy.
The effect of the light body technique is very magical. He was busy traveling and dealing with the mutant pigs before and had no mood to experience it. Now he can finally relax a little and have some fun.
"Brother Xiaoqi, look how fast I run!"
Tang Yu'an was running and jumping in the ruins. His motor skills were not bad, and he had great speed and jumping ability. After using the light body technique, he looked much lighter than Zhou Qi.
As light as a swallow and as graceful as a flying butterfly.
Seeing the boy regain his former liveliness, Zhou Qi felt a little relieved, and then curled the corners of his mouth, and temporarily forgot about the parasite.
"Be careful, don't hit the wall."
"No way!"
Tang Yu'an stepped on the protrusions on the wall with his toes and jumped onto the two-meter-high wall like a flying eaves and walls. He turned his head and said with a smile: "Brother Xiaoqi, you are so slow. You can't catch up with me, right?"
Zhou Qi chuckled, then exerted force on his toes and jumped over the wall.
Seeing that he had run ahead of him, Tang Yu'an quickly jumped off the wall and chased after him with all his might.
The two young men chased each other in the wind, seemingly forgetting all their troubles for the time being.
When passing by an abandoned parking lot, Tang Yu'an suddenly stopped and opened the map to take a look.
An orange light spot appeared on the map. This color represents a pet. It appeared when Black Pearl left the grocery store.
Sure enough, Black Pearl returned to its territory.
It was at this place that they met Black Pearl and Silver Coin yesterday. Now it seems that this place originally belonged to Black Pearl's territory, and Silver Coin was the invader.
Tang Yu'an didn't want to go in and disturb it, but opened his portable storage and took the bowl that Black Pearl had used yesterday from the grocery store.
This place is less than 1 kilometer away from the grocery store, so he can use the skill of picking up goods through the air.
He placed the bowl on a flat surface, poured in a bottle of milk, and grabbed a handful of dried fish.
Although it may not fill its stomach, the black pearl has a strong hunting ability and should be able to find food on its own. The milk and dried fish can be its snacks.
"Okay, Xiaoqi brother, let's go."
Tang Yu'an clapped his hands, turned around and left with Zhou Qi.
The effect of the light body technique has ended, and they can only walk back slowly. However, the distance is less than 1 kilometer, so they can reach the destination in a short walk.
Gradually, their figures disappeared among the collapsed buildings.
After a while, a pure black figure walked out gracefully from behind an abandoned bus with a cat-like gait.
It stood there and looked in the direction the two teenagers left.
The sun was setting in the west, and the earth was covered with a layer of warm light. The big cat's cold golden vertical pupils narrowed slightly, and then lowered its head to look at the food left by the teenagers.
Impatience appeared in Black Pearl's eyes.
Why are they here again? Hasn't it cleared all ties with them?
A human-like irritability appeared on the big black cat's face, and its long, thin tail swung behind it again and again, but despite its annoyance, it finally walked over slowly.
As it got closer to the milk and dried fish, its tall figure gradually shrank. By the time it arrived in front of the food, the big black cat had turned into a white Pomeranian.
It buried its head in the bowl, stretched out its pink tongue and started licking it, while its little tail behind it wagged happily, revealing its mood at the moment.
-
By the time Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi returned to the grocery store, it was already dark.
After six o'clock, the protective barrier opened automatically, hiding the grocery store in the night. If it weren't for the map, they probably wouldn't have been able to find where the store was.
“Woof woof! Woof woof woof!”
Silver Coin ran out from the hidden grocery store, his mouth wide open revealing a warm smile, and his big tail behind him was wagging wildly.
“Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof!”
Its emotions are so straightforward that people feel happy when they see it.
"Silver Coin, we are back!" Tang Yu'an touched its head happily, and then approached the grocery store again.
Just as he was about to enter the barrier, Zhou Qi's expression suddenly froze. He stretched out his hand and pulled Tang Yu'an into his arms. Before he could make any further moves, he saw—
"Bang."
A small animal with long ears that looked like a rabbit was thrown in front of them. Its fur was yellowish-brown and its body was stained with blood. It was unknown how long it had been dead.
At the same time, a shadow flashed, and the figure of a four-eyed giant dog appeared in front of them.
"Yuanbao!"
Tang Yu'an's eyes lit up, "You're back!"
It ran out when the door opened in the morning. He thought Yuanbao, like Black Pearl, didn't want to stay in the grocery store and ran back to its own territory.
The four-eyed giant dog's body gradually became smaller, and finally became the appearance of a puppy.
It looked at Tang Yu'an. Although the little tail behind it was shaking gently, it was not as straightforward and enthusiastic as the silver coin.
The four-eyed puppy nodded slightly, then turned around, walked into the grocery store with his head held high, and disappeared into the barrier.
Tang Yu'an looked at the yellow rabbit on the ground, and then at the proud back of the four-eyed puppy.
He whispered, "Brother Xiaoqi, do you think Yuanbao has been waiting for us?"
It would just wait for them to come back, throw the prey it had caught in front of them, and then turn around and walk away coolly.
This little guy is quite arrogant.
"It must be because of the Black Pearl!"
Black Pearl gave them bird meat, and Yuanbao gave them rabbits. Thinking of this, Tang Yu'an couldn't help but feel happy.
The rivalry between cats and dogs is so cute!
Zhou Qi reached out and rubbed his head, picked up the dead rabbit on the ground, and smiled.
In any case, they would not lack fresh meat for the next few days.
Back at the grocery store, Zhou Qi went to the kitchen to cook dinner, while Tang Yu'an rested and played with the three little ones.
He found that the hair on the silver coin was also white, but it was too dirty, so it looked gray.
However, Tang Yu'an could only wipe it with a wet towel. It was much larger than Wangcai, and it would take too much water to wash it clean.
Although they have plenty of points now, they cannot afford such waste.
After all, Granny Guo and the others are still drinking muddy water. Today's experience has given Tang Yu'an a new understanding of the hardships of this world.
The grocery store has a clean water source, which cannot be exposed for the time being, but if he has the ability in the future, he still wants to help his customers.
Think about it from another perspective. Only when customers are healthy and live long can they continue to do business with them and they can earn points.
Tang Yu'an remembered seeing how to make a simple water purification device on TV, but he had forgotten the specific steps. He decided to ask Xiaoqi to study it together when he had time in the future.
Brother Xiaoqi is the smartest, he will definitely find a way!
After wiping off the dust on their fur with a wet towel, Tang Yu'an took out the medicine powder that Lin Zhen had given him and used it to deworm the three little ones.
The three little ones, who were originally not fond of the smell of the powder, quickly accepted the smell after they found that their itching was gone after applying the powder.
As long as you are in the wild, you will inevitably attract bugs, which is even more obvious in the wasteland world.
Tang Yu'an watched the little bugs crawling out of their bodies, and his scalp felt tingling.
Fortunately, they didn't run up to the attic last night.
He quickly took out the insecticide and prepared to get rid of the bugs. He must not let them stay in the grocery store. As a result, he saw that the bugs were crawling slower and slower.
In the end, before they could hide in the corner, these little bugs stopped halfway and all died.
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but sigh, this power is so strong, it's worthy of being a medicine powder worth 3 eggs and 20 points!
He decided to name the powder "Anthelmintic Powder".
If I have the chance in the future, I must exchange a few more packs with Sister Lin!
After cleaning up the corpses of the little bugs, Tang Yu'an still went to take a shower. He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but he felt itchy all over his body.
When he came out of the shower, Zhou Qi had already prepared dinner.
After being marinated in sauce for a whole day, the bird meat became particularly tender and tasty. Just stir-frying it with ginger, onion and garlic made it so fragrant that Tang Yu'an's appetite was whetted.
In addition to stir-frying meat, Zhou Qi also used the bones to stew soup, then cut off a circle of winter melon, sliced it, and stewed it with scallops and dried shrimps. It was refreshing and sweet.
Of course, he kept the winter melon seeds and stored them in his portable warehouse, preparing to plant them later.
Such a dinner, though simple, is nutritious and delicious enough.
Tang Yu'an, who didn't like rice very much, ate two bowls of rice in a row.
They are in the period of growth and should eat well. There is no way around it since they are busy outside during the day, but they should still have a good meal when they come back at night.
The two teenagers ate up all the food, leaving only the bird skeletons left over from the soup, which they gave to the three little ones to gnaw on.
But they seem to have no interest in it and only like milk.
Tang Yu'an seriously suspected that after they left the grocery store during the day, the three little ones cooked for themselves, otherwise how could they feel full after drinking so little milk?
After the meal, Zhou Qi plucked the hair from the yellow rabbit that Yuanbao brought back to keep it fresh, then took the flour and started adding water to make the dough.
"Brother Xiaoqi, do you want to make steamed buns and steamed buns?" Tang Yu'an asked in surprise.
"Well, prepare the ingredients first and wrap them tomorrow morning."
He always gets up at five o'clock in the morning, so it's still early for him to go out. If he is quick, he can steam the food and take it out to eat before ten o'clock.
"I'll help too!" Tang Yu'an said.
"Then you can prepare the filling for the buns." Zhou Qi instructed.
They are short of vegetables now, so they can't make vegetable buns, but there are still a lot of beans in the grocery store, which can be used to make red bean paste filling.
Red bean paste, mung bean paste, black sesame and sesame peanut fillings.
They are all the sweet fillings that Tang Yu'an likes to eat.
Of course, now there was the rabbit meat that Yuanbao had brought back. The rabbit was very plump, so even if we kept the legs, the rest of the meat would be enough to make meat-filled buns.
While preparing the stuffing, Tang Yu'an chatted with Zhou Qi and counted today's harvest.
"Brother Xiaoqi, Sister Lin's medicinal powder is really useful. We should ask her to exchange a few packets later! Hehe, it would be even better if we could get the formula as well."
Zhou Qi couldn't help but curl his lips when he heard this: "Yeah, okay."
"We earned a lot of points today! After deducting the points we used to redeem items, we still have 382 points left."
The total has reached 664 points!
This is thanks to Granny Guo and Kang Kang. The transaction of the mutant lantern fruit was as high as 245 points, accounting for two-thirds - although 147 points of them were earned by Tang Yu Anka's bug.
Speaking of the mutated lantern fruit, Tang Yu'an quickly wiped his hands, then took out the two fruits he had obtained today and hung them up.
In the kitchen, which was lit by a small white lamp, a faint blue light suddenly appeared, much brighter than before.
Storing the lantern fruit in a portable warehouse and taking it out when needed should extend its shelf life to more than one month.
However, Tang Yu'an felt that in addition to providing lighting, this fruit might have other uses, but they had not yet developed them.
Of course, when talking about today’s gains, we have to mention the “Happy Marbles” won in the lottery.
With this happy marble, their fighting style becomes more flexible and diverse. However, they have to quickly distance themselves from the opponent each time they throw it out in order to recall the marble, which makes the operation a little troublesome.
However, compared to being able to control the enemy for ten minutes after hitting him, this little trouble seems nothing.
In addition to these, there are two crystals, one large and one small, of different colors, picked up near the ruins of the guild hall.
We currently don’t know what this stone is used for, so its specific value is hard to say, but judging from the reactions of Old Li and the mutant pig, it is definitely a good thing.
"Anyway, today is another great day for harvest!"
Seeing his excited face, Zhou Qi also smiled and nodded: "Well, let's continue tomorrow."
"We'll continue tomorrow!"
By the time the dough and filling were ready, it was already around nine o'clock in the evening, almost ten o'clock. The two of them quickly washed up and dragged their tired bodies up to the attic.
Tang Yu'an crawled into the bed, then rubbed her way to Zhou Qi's side, with her face against his arm, and then she closed her eyes comfortably.
"Brother Xiaoqi, thank you for your hard work today." The child's voice was soft and gentle, but it seemed to have some soothing power.
Zhou Qi felt the softness in his heart, tilted his head slightly, and rubbed his chin against his soft and fragrant hair.
"It's not hard, go to sleep."
"Well, good night."
"good evening."
The blue lantern fruit was put into the portable storage, and the attic became quiet. The two young men snuggled together and fell asleep with beautiful expectations for tomorrow.
-
When Tang Yu'an woke up the next day, he found that the seat next to him was empty.
He quickly put on his clothes and ran downstairs.
"Brother Xiaoqi!"
In the open space in the back room, Zhou Qi set up a table with a chopping board, dough, and the fillings prepared last night on it. Next to him, more than twenty buns had been made and were placed in a steamer.
He looked up and saw Tang Yu'an, with a faint smile on his face: "An'an, good morning."
The morning light gently fell on him through the window. His cheeks were still covered with flour, which made him look a little funny, but in Tang Yu'an's eyes, it was a different scene.
He felt that he might remember this scene for a long, long time.
The tension disappeared without a trace, and Tang Yu'an breathed a sigh of relief as his heart settled back into his stomach.
"Sorry, I overslept." He came to Zhou Qi with a shy smile and said exaggeratedly, "Wow, did you do all this? Brother Xiaoqi, you are awesome!"
Zhou Qi finished making the buns and placed them on the steamer. "Wait another half an hour and they'll be steamed."
"Okay! I'll go brush my teeth and wash my face, then I'll come help."
Tang Yu'an greeted the three little ones energetically, then ran to wash up.
After he turned and left, the smile on Zhou Qi's face faded. The boy lowered his head again, pinched the dough again and continued to make buns.
Tang Yu'an's pets were not so enthusiastic about him, and some even said they were a little afraid of him.
Even the silly silver coin only dared to lie at his feet, wagging its tail ingratiatingly when Zhou Qi occasionally looked at it.
Of course, this atmosphere was soon broken by Tang Yu'an's return.
"Brother Xiaoqi, are you hungry? Eat something first!"
Tang Yu'an pulled a stool and sat down next to Zhou Qi. He didn't rush to make buns, but fed Zhou Qi some sausage.
"Would you like some water?"
"Um."
After simply drinking some water and eating something, Tang Yu'an finally sat down and followed Zhou Qi to learn how to make buns.
It was not until nine o'clock in the morning that they had used up all the ingredients they had prepared yesterday - there was still some red bean paste left, and Zhou Qi added glutinous rice flour to make glutinous rice balls.
Wrapped in sesame seeds and fried in oil until golden brown, the delicious smell will make your mouth water.
Since we have made glutinous rice balls, we can also make fried dough sticks and fry them together. Take out the bird legs marinated yesterday, coat them with a layer of frying powder, put them in hot oil, and wait until they are golden and crispy before taking them out of the pan.
The first basket of buns to be made is also steamed.
That morning, they had a hearty and delicious breakfast with homemade soy milk, steamed buns, fried dough sticks, glutinous rice balls and fried bird legs.
Even Wangcai and Yuanbao got a meat bun each.
They endured the heat and ate while making noises, and they were particularly satisfied with this food that they had never eaten before.
It turns out that bipeds can make such delicious food!
[Lucky Cat "Wangcai" Loyalty +5]
After Wangcai had his fill, he brought you 56 points.
"Great! Another good start today!"
Tang Yu'an felt that as long as Wangcai and Yuanbao were around, he and Xiaoqige would not have to worry about having no food to eat.
Of course, it is impossible to be lazy.
After eating, they put the steamed buns into their portable warehouse and then set out to complete today's daily tasks.
As they guessed, today's daily tasks had a new change - the task of cleaning the store became: attracting new customers (0/2).
Fortunately, in addition to the two green dots from yesterday, a new potential customer has now lit up on the map. Judging from the location, he should be someone Lin Zhen knows.
This sister has a really wide range of social contacts.
However, she is very skilled in martial arts, good at making medicine, and has a cheerful personality, so it doesn't seem surprising that she has a wide range of social contacts.
Because they left home late, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi decided to visit Old Li first and change his medicine.
-
The weather seems to be getting hotter day by day.
It was a little after ten and a little before eleven in the morning and the sun was already scorching.
Although Zhou Qi was very fast with the help of the light body technique, when he arrived at Old Li's house, Tang Yu'an's face was still red from the sun, which made Zhou Qi frown.
Perhaps because of the parasite, his physique is slowly changing and his tolerance to ultraviolet rays has increased, but An An is different, he still has the body of an ordinary person.
"You must wear a hat when you go out."
"Uh-huh!"
Tang Yu'an also felt that he was almost dying of heat. Although the sun was out yesterday, it didn't feel so hot.
He took out the iced mineral water and put it on his face, then looked up at the glaring sun in the sky, "Will it always be this hot later?"
Or is it getting hotter day by day?
They have been in this world for almost a week, and it seems like it hasn't rained yet.
Zhou Qi also frowned, but there was no good solution. He could only wear sunscreen next time he went out to avoid heatstroke.
When Tang Yu'an's face was no longer so red, Zhou Qi carried him on his back and jumped into Old Li's house.
He decided to follow Lin Zhen's example and not take the stairs today, but go in directly through the window.
But today, they did not meet Lin Zhen, and only Old Li was alone at home.
He recovered well, and there was no major problem from his complexion. However, he still had a slight limp when he stood up and walked.
He heard the noise and came over to open the window for them.
"Grandpa Li, we're here to see you!" Tang Yu'an said enthusiastically.
Facing Tang Yu'an, even the dull and serious Old Li couldn't help but show a hint of tenderness on his face.
"Come in, it's hot outside."
He walked back into the house, sat on the stone bench again and started to carve wood. There were already quite a few sharpened arrows around him.
Zhou Qi looked at the arrows for a few seconds before saying, "Let me change your bandage."
Old Li did not refuse.
He could feel that the wound was recovering very well. Normally, he would have needed at least a week to recover, but now that it had been properly treated, he should be fine tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
However, during the final transaction, the situation that Tang Yu'an and the others were worried about still happened -
All the fruits that Old Li had were exchanged by them, and Granny Guo might not trade fruits with him for a long time.
"Grandma Guo came yesterday afternoon."
When they asked, Old Li explained, "She came to visit me and brought some mushrooms. I wanted to exchange them for some fruit, but she refused."
This was something that rarely happened before.
Grandma Guo’s ability to stimulate plant growth is quite impressive. She would often give him some fruits and ask him to help exchange them for other things, so they had a very close relationship.
People in the deserted city also knew that Old Li had channels to get fresh fruits. In addition, he was good at hunting, so he could trade meat from time to time, so there were many people coming and going around his place.
During the two days he was recuperating, two or three people came one after another, all wanting fruit and meat, but seeing his condition, they had no choice but to leave temporarily.
Old Li had no way to go out hunting for the time being, so he had no source of food. He wanted to exchange some with Granny Guo, but unexpectedly, she only agreed to give him mushrooms.
As for fruit, she said it might not be available for some time.
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