Chapter 58
"You should ask Brother Chi Hao about this question."
When Tang Yu'an was struggling with how to respond, Zhou Qi spoke up in time to help him out.
Tang Yu'an blinked and nodded in agreement.
Yes, yes, Chi Hao came to the deserted city to carry out a mission. Seeing his mysterious look, he probably didn’t tell Hong Li the details.
Now that he has been hired as an employee by the "mysterious businessman", it is probably even more impossible for him to tell anyone about the situation in the deserted city.
At worst...
When he returned, he threatened Brother Chi Hao again, telling him not to tell anyone about the grocery store system, otherwise the mysterious businessman would revoke his permissions.
There's no way Brother Chi Hao would expose the grocery store, right?
The red carp looked at them suspiciously.
She knew that Chi Hao came to the deserted city with a mission, but he and Lao Xie kept their mouths shut about what the mission was, not even telling her, his own sister.
Could it be that these two young men were also sent out by the fortress to carry out some mission?
But what kind of mission would be given to two children who were clearly underage? One of them was just an ordinary person without any special abilities?
Hongli thought the two boys might be fooling her, but...
Looking at Tang Yu'an, she felt an inexplicable affection for him. Could it be because he saved her good-for-nothing brother?
But why does she feel so ordinary about the young man next to him?
Hongli thought for a moment and did not continue asking questions, but asked other questions.
"Where do you live now?"
"Meiyu Pavilion." Tang Yu'an did not hide it. After all, he would know it once he checked.
Hongli nodded, this is a nice place.
To some extent, Meiyu Pavilion might be safer than her garrison. It was indeed not easy for these two young men to find the place as soon as they arrived.
"Will you live in Jufeng Town from now on?" she continued to ask.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi looked at each other and finally chose to tell the truth: "No, we just came to Jufeng Town to purchase supplies and will leave tomorrow."
As for where to go, Tang Yu'an barely managed to hold back from saying it.
Hongli stared at them for a long time, and seeing that they really didn't intend to tell him where they were going, he finally chose not to press them.
"Well, you saved Chi Hao, so I should repay you."
The red carp said, "Is there anything you want? Or is there anything I can help you with?"
"Anything?"
"Well, anything is fine."
Tang Yu'an realized belatedly that they seemed to have hugged a super thick thigh!
Just now in front of the Meiyu Pavilion, he had already witnessed the power of this mountain master. In the Jufeng Mountain, there was probably no one more prestigious than her, right?
but……
Thinking of the questions Hongli had just asked them, Tang Yu'an regained consciousness.
After all, it was their first meeting, and Hongli was obviously not as easy to fool as Chihao. Her identity also made it impossible for them to reveal the existence of the grocery store.
If she knew that the grocery store had abundant supplies, would she plunder it in order to develop Jufeng Town?
Tang Yuan has not forgotten what Grandpa Li told them about the dark side of the wasteland.
How does Hongli support so many guards?
The workshops that kept those production-type people working day and night definitely existed in Jufeng Town! And they were most likely run by the government.
Although he has the halo of a little savior, but...
Tang Yu'an didn't dare to gamble. After experiencing the robbery that night, he felt that precious materials should not be used to test human nature.
At this time, Zhou Qi quietly held his hand, obviously he had thought of the same question.
Their minds raced, and after exchanging glances, Zhou Qi finally spoke up, "Thank you for your kindness. We haven't encountered any difficulties for the time being."
There is no free lunch in the world, and any benefit requires a corresponding price.
Although they saved Chi Hao, that was their business and Chi Hao's, so it would be better not to involve Hong Li easily.
Hongli looked at them with some surprise. She didn't expect that the two teenagers would refuse her help.
She pondered and said, "Will you come to Jufeng Town again in the future?"
Zhou Qi paused. This was also something that could not be concealed. He had no choice but to nod and said, "Well, I have to come to the market town to purchase supplies in a while."
Hongli thought for a moment and nodded. "I can give you a token. Once the guards see it, they won't attack you, and they'll also help you within their ability."
"As for the others, there's nothing we can do."
There are many unruly people in the wasteland. Even if she is the manager, she cannot control everyone in the town. There are still many disobedient people.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi really wanted to refuse. After all, Chi Hao's token could be sensed by Hongli, and this token must be the same.
They really don't want to get too much attention. Although the manager may not have any malicious intentions, this itself means danger to them.
However, Hongli was a man of his word and did not give them a chance to refuse.
"Okay, it's decided."
Hongli threw the piece of metal that Chihao had taken back to Tang Yu'an, "Go back and tell Chihao to come see me as soon as he recovers."
Tang Yu'an hurriedly caught the piece of metal.
Zhou Qi, who was standing beside him, frowned slightly.
He seemed to see a faint red light flashing on the back of Hongli's hand when he threw the metal piece.
It seemed to be a small piece of scaly skin, which reflected a little in the sunlight.
When he wanted to see more clearly, Hongli had already withdrawn his hand.
She frowned and her face turned a little ugly. "Okay, if there's nothing else, you can go."
Hongli, who had been calm and composed, suddenly urged, "As for the token, I'll have the guards send it to the Meiyu Pavilion. If you run into trouble in Jufeng Town in the future, you can come to me."
Faced with the powerful status and strength of Hongli, Zhou Qi did not dare to delve too much into it.
but……
"You promised to give us that token, so you asked us to promise to bring a message to Brother Chi Hao?"
Upon hearing this, Hongli frowned slightly, feeling that this was very difficult to understand.
But she still nodded and said "hmm".
"OK."
As Zhou Qi responded, Tang Yu'an's system message popped up.
[Employee "Zhou Qi" completed a transaction with a new customer with no profit or loss, experience points +3]
Great! I've even turned Hongli into a customer! Tang Yu'an was overjoyed.
As the manager of Jufeng Town, and possessing powerful supernatural powers, she can definitely go to places that others can't go!
"Then we'll take our leave first." Zhou Qi said.
"Yes, Sister Hongli, let's go first." Tang Yu'an also said.
The red carp nodded.
Zhou Qi pulled Tang Yu'an towards the exit. After taking a few steps, he looked back and saw Hongli standing there. The hand he had just retracted was hanging by his side, trembling slightly.
Faintly, it seems that there is another flash of red light.
If he remembered correctly, Hongli had just used that hand to help Wang Hu and the others remove the fire poison.
perhaps……
Instead of removing the fire poison, it absorbs it?
Do those fire poisons also have an effect on her?
-
Before Hongli noticed, Zhou Qi quickly withdrew his gaze and left the guard post with Tang Yu'an.
Tang Yu'an was walking forward with him holding his hand, looking like he was in a trance, but in fact he had opened the map and marked all the light spots in the guard post, including the red carp.
Before, when he was at the entrance of the cave, he also marked everyone present one by one.
Among them was the woman on the stretcher.
"Brother Xiaoqi, do you think that A-Lian... looks a little familiar?" Tang Yu'an said in a low voice.
Zhou Qi pursed his lips slightly, "Jin Lili?"
“That’s right!”
Tang Yu'an nodded. "You think so too, right? And she has a daughter."
Although the captain of the guard said that he was eaten by a mutant snake, it is possible that he was picked up by Tiejin after escaping danger?
"Losing her daughter seems to have been a huge blow to her..." Tang Yu'an stammered.
Zhou Qi nodded, but did not respond.
It seems that they have no room to intervene in this matter.
Even if Jin Lili was really her daughter, would Tie Jin send her back to her? In such a cruel world, Jin Lili could at least survive by following Tie Jin.
And A-Lian...she might not even be able to save her own life.
Tang Yu'an also knew this, but he just felt that A Lian was very pitiful.
"It's definitely impossible to send Lily back...but we can tell her that her daughter is still alive, and she won't be so sad."
Zhou Qi thought about it and nodded.
Anyway, they won't be returning until tomorrow, so we can go to the cave again today and maybe attract a few more customers.
But before the two of them walked far, they saw Old Li standing by the mountain path, waiting anxiously.
He was obviously looking for them, so Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi hurried to greet him.
"Grandpa Li!"
Seeing them appear safe and sound, Old Li couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"The manager didn't make things difficult for you, did he?" he asked worriedly.
Tang Yu'an shook his head and said with a smile: "No, no, Sister Hongli just came to talk to us."
Old Li was stunned. "Do you know the manager?"
“I didn’t know him before, but now I know him.”
"so……"
Old Li didn't ask any more questions. The manager was also from Qingmu Castle, so maybe they had some connection. "Then let's go, let's go back."
After all this trouble, half of the morning had passed and the sun was already high in the sky.
The sun shines scorchingly on the earth, baking the ground so hard that bursts of heat rise up.
Fortunately, the blue beard leaf that Mo Ke gave Tang Yu'an didn't feel too hot, but he was still sweating profusely and felt very uncomfortable.
Looking at the weather and Old Li's concerned and worried look, Tang Yu'an nodded and decided to wait until it was cooler before looking for A-Lian.
And if they waited for Hongli to have the guards deliver the token, it might be safer for them to take it and walk around the cave.
The bustling crowds on the road had disappeared. Without the excitement, no one would be stupid enough to bask in the hot sun. When they returned to the Meiyu Pavilion, the mountain road had become deserted again and Wang Hu had been transferred back to the pavilion.
As soon as they entered the door, they smelled a strong smell of medicine.
When passing by the kitchen, he happened to see the proprietress decocting medicine - Hongli only helped them detoxify the fire poison, but their burned bodies still needed rest to recover.
"Boss lady, do you need help?" Tang Yu'an asked proactively.
To be honest, he had a good impression of the kind and generous proprietress, and now that he knew her husband was saved, he was quite happy for her.
Lin Meiyu was startled, but when she saw that it was the guest who checked in yesterday, a smile appeared on her face.
"No need, go back and rest."
She was smiling, and although her face was haggard, she no longer had the melancholy and sadness of yesterday, which made people feel better.
"Okay, okay, just let me know if you need anything." Tang Yu'an responded and went upstairs with Zhou Qi.
But Old Li, after they went up, walked silently into the kitchen and took out a piece of pork from his backpack, saying, "We'll stay one more night."
Lin Meiyu smiled and replied, "Okay."
-
"It seems Shitou and the others have left."
Back in the room, Tang Yu'an moved a stool to the window, sat down and said.
The room was very stuffy, but because he had used the umbrella so many times in the morning, he only had half the usage time left today. He didn't dare use it anymore and decided to endure it.
As soon as I sat down——
【Complete daily tasks (3), points +2】
[Congratulations! Complete all daily tasks, and your Lucky Wheel draw number will increase by 1]
Tang Yu'an's eyes lit up.
Brother Chi Hao is quite active today and finished his daily tasks so early!
It turns out that there is motivation only when there is a reward.
Tang Yu'an took a look and found that since he had completed all the weekly tasks at the morning market, he now had two chances to draw in the lottery!
"What's so happy?"
After putting the things away, Zhou Qi came to his side, put his hand on his shoulder, and quickly absorbed the fire energy surrounding the young man.
So comfortable!
Feeling the coolness, Tang Yu'an couldn't help but sigh. He smiled with joy and shared with him what he had gained at the morning market today.
In addition to the two draws, their total points have reached 4836, and they are still 10 points away from upgrading to the next level.
If he works harder today, maybe he can move up one more level.
Of course, the most important thing is the upgrade reward.
The number of slots in his portable storage has increased to 9, and...
"The number of authorization slots has also increased!"
Following Tang Yu'an's operation, Zhou Qi quickly received a system prompt.
[The mysterious merchant shares the use of "Portable Warehouse No. 2" with you]
There is an extra compartment in Zhou Qi's portable warehouse, which is filled with the items brought by Tang Yu'an. This compartment is for kitchen supplies, including pots, pans, and everything else.
If the stove wasn't inconvenient to use, An An might have brought it along too?
"There are a lot of things in this grid. I'll sort them out later." Tang Yu'an said.
The space they share should be used to store some practical things that Xiaoqi can use more.
Of course, fresh food is also essential.
With the ability to pick up items remotely, the main function of the portable warehouse becomes preservation.
When there are more grids that can be authorized in the future, and if Brother Chi Hao performs well, it is not impossible to consider opening a warehouse grid for him.
But forget it for now.
Speaking of skills…
"Teleportation has reached level 4!" Tang Yu'an said happily, "The range has increased tenfold again, to 1,000 kilometers!"
Zhou Qi was stunned, and a look of joy appeared on his face.
This means they rarely have to worry about not being able to get groceries when they go out.
After all, in reality, the straight-line distance from Shanghai to Beijing is only 1,068 kilometers. No matter how big the deserted city is, it can't be as big as a province, right?
And it is impossible for them to run so far in a short period of time.
As for the future...
Unless it was due to some force majeure, the short distance from Huangcheng to Jufeng Town was already fraught with dangers, and it seemed unrealistic for them to leave and go so far away.
Because Zhou Qi successfully upgraded his employee level to level 3 during the morning market transactions, Tang Yu'an authorized him to downgrade his telepresence skill.
In this way, Zhou Qi can also get things from the grocery store in Jufeng Town - of course, the number of times he can take things is still limited to 10 times a day.
"I wonder if it can be increased to 10,000 kilometers if it continues to improve?" Tang Yu'an said with anticipation.
Zhou Qi nodded, and then guessed: "Maybe it will become difficult after reaching level 5."
After lv5, the experience points required for merchant level double, so every five levels should be a new stage.
Tang Yu'an also thought it made sense. It was impossible to let him continue to improve indefinitely, right?
But he was still very happy: "Ten thousand kilometers is already very good. We may not be able to go that far."
In the safe real world, the farthest they have ever been is to the next city, let alone the dangerous wasteland. It is very difficult to leave and go to such a far place.
Besides, it is impossible for them to leave the grocery store for so long, otherwise they would not have to do their daily tasks, so this distance is completely sufficient.
"Yeah, that's right." Zhou Qi nodded.
Tang Yu'an continued, "Today, not only did I earn points and experience points, but I also got a lot of wild vegetables and mushrooms."
The two large packages were still in his portable warehouse, so they didn't have to worry about not having fresh vegetables for a while.
Unfortunately, the item list function is only available in the grocery store, so I can only sort it out when I get home.
"The map has also been upgraded, and a mini-map mode has been added!" Tang Yu'an explained to him how to use the mini-map.
Now open the map, and you will see a lot more silver spots of light within the scope of Jufeng Town. After the morning market was over, many of the spots of light have left the town and gone into the mountains and forests.
With the arrival of these new guests, the area of the map that has been cleared of clouds is getting larger and larger, and it will be completely opened up sooner or later.
"Stones and grass also went to the mountains." Tang Yu'an said.
The brother and sister's names were marked, and it was unknown whether they would keep their promise and come back.
If you can come back, you can get another 6 experience points.
"Um."
Zhou Qi nodded, and suddenly heard Tang Yu'an let out a light exclamation.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"There are two more guards near the Meiyu Pavilion." Tang Yu'an said, looking out the window.
He pretended to glance around casually, and saw a figure flash by the torch diagonally opposite, and then hide in the corner of the mountain wall where he could not see.
However, with the instructions on the minimap, Tang Yu'an knew that he was not mistaken.
He retracted his gaze, turned his back to the window and said to Zhou Qi, "Are they monitoring us?"
"Well, it's possible."
Zhou Qi closed the window calmly.
As expected, even with the halo of the little savior, one cannot let down one's guard. He can be sure that the halo is effective on Hongli, but she still decided to send people to monitor them.
"We have to be more careful in our actions from now on."
"Uh-huh."
Fortunately, they have powerful weapons like the Thousand Faces Cloak, so even if they take out good things, they will not be suspected.
The two were nervous for a while, then slowly relaxed.
Mainly because they were protected by the rules of the Meiyu Pavilion, their personal safety was not threatened, but they had no good way to deal with the guards who were monitoring them.
So, Tang Yu'an opened the "Store" on the homepage again. He remembered that the system prompt said that the store upgrade had also been unlocked.
After clicking, the store panel pops up.
Just like before, he only had one "Ping An Grocery Store" under his name.
【Ping An Grocery Store】
Level: lv0[click to upgrade]
Description: An ordinary grocery store, with nothing special except for a small amount of goods.
Total transactions: 147
Accumulated points: ...
Store popularity: 187
Compared to before, the store data has changed a lot. A new upgrade button has been added after the level, and the store popularity value has also been increased.
Tang Yu'an curiously clicked on the upgrade behind the level, and a new page popped up.
【Please select the store upgrade direction】
1. Big is beautiful! (Unlock with 1000 points)
2. Excellence is strength! (Unlock with 1000 points)
There's actually a direction to choose from! And both directions require 1,000 points to unlock?
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but take a breath.
"What's wrong?" Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a long time and his expression suddenly began to change unpredictably, Zhou Qi asked.
Tang Yu'an told him the information he had just received, and the two of them discussed it together.
Zhou Qi took out a pen and paper and wrote down the descriptions of the two directions. He then asked, "Can I choose both directions? Or can I not choose one if I choose the other?"
"I don't know. It's not mentioned on the interface." Tang Yu'an shook his head.
"Then we have to choose what is best for us."
Zhou Qi analyzed, "Big is beautiful. This is easy to understand. It should mean expanding the store's scale."
Ping An Grocery Store is a very small shop, covering an area of no more than 20 square meters, and there is plenty of room for expansion.
I just don’t know if it can still be called a grocery store if it is as big as a department store.
"Jing... probably means specialization." Zhou Qi speculated, "Perhaps it focuses on improving the internal functions of the grocery store?"
Tang Yu'an thought it made sense.
"Then let's choose the second one!" he said directly, "I want to become stronger!"
And "big is beautiful" or something...
Maybe it is a good choice under safe and harmonious circumstances, but don't forget that they are still in a state of not daring to expose the grocery store.
If this becomes a large supermarket, it will be too conspicuous and it will be impossible to avoid being exposed.
Therefore, the small and precise direction is the most suitable for them at present.
"Well, you're right." Zhou Qi also agreed with his idea.
Therefore, Tang Yu'an chose the second option. Although the 1,000 points made him feel painful, he felt comforted when he thought that he could set up a stall at the market again tomorrow.
【Choose the direction of store upgrade: precision is strength】
[Do you want to deduct 1000 points to unlock the upgrade direction for "Ping An Grocery Store"?]
Tang Yu'an chose [Yes].
[Deduction successful! Upgrade direction unlocked, please visit the "Shop" for details]
Tang Yu'an returned to the page he was on just now.
【Please select the store upgrade direction】
1. Big is beautiful! (Unlock with 1000 points)
【2. Essence is strength! (Click to upgrade)】
Wow, it turns out that two directions can be selected at the same time!
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