Chapter 93
Xiaocao looked at his points balance: 167.
The number was so large that she had no idea how big it was, but she liked the feeling of watching the last digit continue to grow.
In just a few days, she learned what each number plus 1 equals and what symbols to use to represent it.
Xiaocao felt particularly uncomfortable when he thought that there would be no stable source of customers in the future, and the numbers would not increase, or the growth rate would slow down.
Because the numbers are not just numbers, but food and medicine that she can exchange from the mall.
Although she and her brother also got wild vegetables and mushrooms when they cut other people's hair, these could not be kept for too long and they basically ate them all on the same day.
Any leftovers will be given to the proprietress as rent renewal fee for her and her brother.
Before, I thought living in Meiyu Pavilion was too luxurious, but now Xiaocao can no longer bear the cold and sleeps by the fire in the open space at night.
She wants to live in a warm house all the time and have a full stomach every day.
Now she and her brother have renewed their lease for seven days, and with the money the young doctor paid for them before, they can continue to stay for eleven days.
She felt that this should be a long time, but she couldn't help feeling anxious.
And…if her daily winning trades were less than before, would the mysterious businessman think she wasn't working hard enough and fire her?
She really can't afford to lose this job now!
Shitou reached out and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, you've done a great job. With the guards helping spread the word, there will definitely be more people coming to get their hair cut."
The boy's voice was naive, but strangely it calmed Xiaocao's mood.
"I'm familiar with many of the guards now. Those bad guys won't dare to bully us. We'll set up a stall at the market tomorrow morning. I think we'll attract a lot of customers."
Although Shitou is not as smart as his sister, he is loyal and has a cheerful and outgoing personality. When cutting the guards' hair, he often chats with them, and they become familiar with each other after a few times.
Even without the mountain master's order, the guards would not sit idly by as they did before when they saw him being bullied.
"Yeah, okay."
Xiaocao nodded, and thinking that she had to go to the morning market the next day, she stopped thinking about it, closed her eyes and went to sleep.
The next day, the brother and sister got up early.
Although they were reluctant to leave the warm bed, they could still come back to sleep at night, so they would no longer sleep in until the weather got hot as they did at the beginning.
They drank a cup of hot water, shared half a bowl of cooked soybeans, and then tiptoed to leave Meiyu Pavilion.
As a result, they met Wang Hu at the door.
Wang Hu has now recovered his health. Although he has lost some weight, he looks energetic and in good spirits.
Seeing the Stone brothers and sisters come out, Wang Hu grinned: "Are you up?"
"Uncle Wang, we won't go to the garrison today." Shi Tou said.
They were sent to the garrison by Wang Hu these days. Because of the soybean donation, Captain Wang took special care of the brothers and sisters.
"The guards' hair has been cut."
Wang Hu smiled brightly and said nonchalantly, "Have you eaten yet? Let's go to the guard post to eat!"
The stones and grass looked at him in surprise.
They didn’t get any meals when they went to the guardhouse to get their hair cut. How come now they don’t get their hair cut but can go there to eat?
"The soybeans you donated have yielded results," Wang Hu said in a low voice. "The mountain master is very satisfied."
He was also commended as the introducer, and now he walks with confidence. He also took the opportunity to deal with those who had made things difficult for his wife while he was seriously injured.
Wang Hu looked at the Shitou siblings and naturally liked them more and more.
"Let's go, this is an order from the mountain master himself."
He pulled Shitou and Xiaocao towards the guard post and said, "She said that you can go to the guard post's cafeteria for your three meals from now on."
When Shi Tou heard this, his eyes lit up.
I had already eaten, but there was a free meal! Of course I ate first.
"But we still have to set up a stall..." Xiaocao hesitated.
"I'll take you there after we finish eating," Wang Hu said. "My men are in charge of maintaining order at the market today. I'll ask them to take good care of you."
On the way, they met guards who came to protect the grass and stones - this was agreed upon with Hongli before.
However, because the Shitou brothers and sisters had not encountered any danger these days and stayed in the Meiyu Pavilion at night, the guard was inevitably a little slack.
Now that Wang Hu had caught them red-handed, he naturally didn't look happy. The guard quickly apologized to Shi Tou and Xiao Cao, and promised to go to the Mei Yu Pavilion early the next day. Only then did Wang Hu let him go.
The stone straightened its back, and the grass once again deeply felt how good it felt to have someone's support.
Soon, they arrived at the guards' canteen and received cooked green beans and soybeans.
Green beans come with pods. After simple cooking, they taste crispy and tender. The taste is different from soybeans, but of course they can fill your stomach just as well.
The brother and sister squatted on the ground with the guards and ate beans.
It was also the first time for the guards to have such breakfast. They used to be given fruits, but now they were given green and yellow beans. Many people were not used to it.
Mainly because it looks too little.
But due to the authority of the mountain master, they could only complain in private, and finally took their share of beans and ate them obediently.
"Don't tell me, even though there are only a few beans, I still feel quite full."
After a guard finished eating, he touched his stomach and said in surprise, and his colleagues who had finished eating around him nodded in agreement.
Sudden……
"Poof——" Someone farted, immediately attracting disgusted looks from the people around him.
After the Shitou siblings hurriedly finished their meal, they quickly pulled Wang Hu away. Not long after they left, the sound of puffing could be heard one after another in the garrison.
Well, this is a flavorful morning.
-
Deserted city, Ping'an Grocery Store.
As soon as Tang Yu'an woke up and opened his eyes, he saw a series of system messages appearing on the panel.
[Employee "Xiao Cao" completed a profitable transaction with a regular customer, earning +10 points and +1 experience point]
[Employee "Xiao Cao" completes a profitable transaction with a new customer, earning +2 points and +3 experience points]
[Experience value is full, merchant level +1]
[Merchant level reaches lv10, and the mall has added red dates, brown sugar, and cotton swabs for exchange. For details, please visit the "Wholesale Market"]
[Commercial map upgrade, new plants and common animal spots are added to the unlocked area, and a new one-click blocking function for unmarked spots is added]
[The number of messages in a bottle that can be dropped is +1, and the number of dream bottles is +1. For details, please visit "Dream Bottle"]
[Portable storage slot +1, total slots: 14]
[The number of authorized staff slots in the portable warehouse is +1, total number of slots: 3]
[Teleportation skill upgraded to level 9, please see "Skills" for details]
[Added employee custom nickname function, details can be viewed in "Employees"]
[Weekly Quest Refresh Card +1]
【Please select the delivery address...】
Tang Yu'an looked at the series of messages, and was stunned for a while before sitting up and said happily: "Brother Xiaoqi, I've been upgraded!"
Xiaocao is so capable. He made a profitable deal so early and successfully raised his level to lv10.
After the excitement, he took a closer look at the upgrade rewards.
Red dates? This is a dry commodity and cannot be planted.
Brown sugar? You can make brown sugar steamed cakes and brown sugar steamed buns, and even brown sugar ginger milk!
Cotton swabs are also convenient for applying medicine to wounds.
Wow, the map has been upgraded again!
Tang Yu'an quickly opened the map, and the result was—
Densely packed light red and light green spots appeared on the map, almost covering all the unlocked areas on the map!
No wonder there is a one-click light spot shielding function, you can't even see the other light spots clearly.
Even on the small map, you have to enlarge the scale to the maximum to barely see it clearly, because there are many potted plants on the first floor, and there are also many light green spots where the grocery store is located.
Of course, there are also light red spots, which are probably creatures like small insects.
As for the one-click shielding function for unmarked light spots, you can choose light spots of different colors...
Tang Yu'an thought about it, tried to label a pot of plants with text, and then chose to block the light green spot with one click.
The light spots of the other plants disappeared, leaving only the one he had marked with words.
He touched his chin. This function...
"Brother Xiaoqi, from now on, if we turn dangerous creatures into cats and dogs, we won't have to worry about them disappearing!"
Also, like the situation with the emerald before, you can mark it when the light spot first appears, so that no matter whether its light spot becomes darker or lighter, you can still see it on the map.
that is……
"Are mushrooms considered plants?" Tang Yu'an scratched his head.
Zhou Qi put away the folded quilt and couldn't help but respond after hearing this: "Not really."
Mushrooms are fungi, not plants.
"Let's go to the swimming pool this afternoon and try to find a mutant mushroom!" Tang Yu'an said.
"Yeah." Zhou Qi nodded.
Then Tang Yu'an continued to read and saw a new dream message in a bottle!
He quickly looked at the small window embedded in the wall, and sure enough, he saw that a white transparent glass bottle had been hung on the window frame at some point.
"The previous one hasn't come back yet, and now there's another one!"
When the dream bottle was just installed, Tang Yu'an threw a bottle into the dream sea. However, almost a week passed and there was still silence and no response at all.
I wonder if this dream bottle, once thrown out, can ever return? What extraordinary things will happen to it as it drifts through the sea of dreams?
Would someone find his bottle? Who would it be?
Tang Yu'an took down the new dream bottle and, like before, stuffed a note inside.
Then he spoke to the bottle: "I am the mysterious merchant. Is there anything you want? As long as you provide a reward, perhaps I can satisfy you."
After saying this, he quickly put the cork back in the bottle.
He sounded like a villain when he said this, but he couldn't think of any better lines, not to mention that the sound might not be conveyed.
"Brother Xiaoqi, I threw the message in the bottle out."
"good."
Tang Yu'an opened the small window, threw the bottle in his hand into the sea of dreams, and then closed the window.
He could still catch a message in a bottle today, but they have decided to wait until night time.
After finishing the message in the bottle, Tang Yu'an looked at the mission rewards and found that the number of authorized slots in the portable warehouse had increased by one.
So he quickly authorized Zhou Qi to use the No. 3 portable storage space.
In this way, in addition to the grid he shared with Chi Hao, Zhou Qi had another two cubic meters of space to use.
Then came…
"Employee custom nickname function?" Tang Yu'an opened the employee panel and took a look.
The original employee name column was all real names, and it could not be modified. But now a "nickname" has been added under the name, and it shows that it can be modified.
Tang Yu'an first tried to change Zhou Qi's nickname.
So, Zhou Qi received a system prompt.
Your outstanding performance has been praised by the mysterious merchant, who has given you a new name: Handsome Porridge.
Zhou Qi: “…”
Seeing Zhou Qi's expression, Tang Yu'an knew that he must have received a system prompt, and quickly asked him the specific content.
After Zhou Qi finished his lengthy retelling, Tang Yu'an couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, this is so fun..."
Zhou Qi shook his head helplessly and amusedly.
After Tang Yu'an finished laughing, he wanted to change his nickname back, but he found out——
[Modification cooldown period: 90 days]
"It takes three months to revise it!" Tang Yu'an looked at Zhou Qi with an apologetic look.
"It's okay." Zhou Qi touched his head.
Anyway, the impact is not that big.
Then he discussed the usefulness of this new feature with Tang Yu'an.
After the two discussed for a moment, Zhou Qi took out a notebook and pen from the No. 1 storage compartment, and then the system message appeared -
[Cell 1: "Handsome Porridge" took the exercise book*1]
[Cell 1: "Handsome Porridge" took a ballpoint pen*1]
Sure enough, Zhou Qi's name in box 1 changed.
But this is on his panel, and on Tang Yu'an's panel, it still shows [Employee "Zhou Qi"].
"It seems that this name... or nickname, is to protect the identity of employees." Zhou Qi said.
Since he and Chi Hao already knew each other, it was naturally nothing, but what if this warehouse space was authorized to more employees in the future?
For example, if it was given to Xiaocao, she would already know the identities of Zhou Qi and Chi Hao, which would obviously be inconvenient.
There is a competitive relationship between employees. Although there are employee rules and they cannot directly harm their colleagues, what if they use someone else's knife to kill someone?
Therefore, it is necessary to hide and protect the identity.
"Then I'll give Xiaocao and Chihao a nickname." Tang Yu'an said, "What nicknames should I choose?"
He fell into deep thought.
Zhou Qi also frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Cattail grass is as tough as silk, so let's call her Cattail Reed."
"Does it mean perseverance?" Tang Yu'an asked.
"Um."
“That’s a good name!”
Tang Yu'an praised her, changed Xiaocao's nickname, and wrote this poem in the postscript to her.
Zhou Qi continued, "As for Chi Hao..."
“I figured it out!”
Tang Yu'an quickly replied, "The flowers on the river are redder than fire at sunrise, so let's call him Green as Blue!"
Zhou Qi: “…”
He was nodding his head when he heard the first half of the sentence, thinking it was good, but the second half choked him.
Facing Tang Yu'an's sparkling eyes, Zhou Qi apologized to Chi Hao in his heart, then nodded and said, "That's quite a unique idea."
Anyway, after seeing this name, I guess no one would think of Chi Hao.
"Hey, I think so too."
So, Tang Yu'an changed Chi Hao's name.
At this time, Chi Hao is probably still sleeping. I wonder how he will feel when he wakes up and sees this system message?
Zhou Qi could only silently bless him in his heart.
Then he put the exercise book and ballpoint pen back into box 1.
"There's also a weekly mission refresh card!"
Tang Yu'an took out the card and asked, "Do you want to use it now?"
This week's tasks have been completed. If you complete them again after refreshing, you can get another reward.
Zhou Qi thought about it and shook his head.
"Since I've completed it this week, I'll save it for later. I remember there are achievement combos for the weekly tasks as well."
"Yeah!" Tang Yu'an responded, then placed the weekly refresh card in the warehouse specifically for storing props.
Because they were still thinking about what they had promised Tiejin, they didn't waste any more time and quickly went downstairs to wash up.
Tang Yu'an looked at the pet compartment and found that the silver coins and Wangcai had been digested, so he quickly released them.
As for Yuanbao and Black Pearl, they have already digested 70% of the energy and will probably not wake up until tomorrow.
Yinbi and Wangcai were particularly happy to circle around Tang Yu'an, wagging their tails vigorously, and were extremely excited.
Tang Yu'an stroked their heads and then looked at them carefully.
The green color in Wangcai's eyes seemed to have deepened. I wonder if he had awakened some special ability. The hair of the silver coin became more lustrous, but his black eyes had not changed much, except that they were more energetic and looked more spiritual.
"Then I'll leave the grocery store to you today."
Tang Yu'an rubbed the two little furry heads and said with a smile: "With you guys watching over the house, Xiaoqi and I can go out with peace of mind."
"Woof woof!"
Wangcai and Yinbi shouted at the same time, as if to say: Leave it to us.
With the two little cuties here, the grocery store became lively again and finally didn’t seem so deserted anymore.
Tang Yu'an fed them milk and meat omelets. Seeing them eating happily, he felt hungry too.
I squeezed soy milk in the morning, and the remaining bean dregs can be used to feed the fish in the afternoon. Then I make steamed eggs and steamed buns.
Golden steamed egg, drizzled with a little sesame oil and a spoonful of soy sauce, is simple but salty, fragrant and tender, it is simply the best!
After happily finishing breakfast, Tang Yu'an took out the red beans from the cabinet. Then, remembering something, he quickly opened the gray-blue freezer.
I saw that there was 50ml more wine in the cup he placed in the refrigerator.
Because the temperature had not risen in the early morning, the freezer was in low power mode, and it was just after six o'clock, so the wine had not yet frozen.
Tang Yu'an used an identification technique on the wine and found that it was not wine, but lychee wine.
It is also quite expensive. 1 ml is worth 1 point, and this small cup of wine costs 50 points. In addition, lychee wine also has medicinal value of replenishing qi and nourishing blood.
Great!
So the drink is different every day?
He took another empty bottle, poured the wine into it, and then labeled it to avoid confusion.
After checking that nothing was missed, he and Zhou Qi went out.
Because they had made an appointment with Tiejin to go early, they went straight to Tiejin's house after leaving the grocery store.
When they arrived, Tie Jin was closing the door. It seemed that he had just come out of the house. When he saw Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi, he couldn't help but grin.
"Good morning! I'll trouble you to take care of Xiaoli from now on! I'll be back as soon as possible."
Tang Yu'an glanced at the closed door, "Where's Xiaoli?"
"She's still sleeping." Tiejin said, "I can't bear to wake her up..."
"Did you tell her you were leaving today?"
"I did." Tiejin nodded, "I just don't know if she can understand."
Tang Yu'an was also a little worried about this issue.
"I won't talk to you anymore. I have to hurry." Tie Jin put on his backpack and said, "I should be able to reach the market town tomorrow afternoon, and be back the day after tomorrow afternoon at the latest."
"Okay, please be careful on the road."
Tang Yu'an handed him a few whole wheat buns wrapped in large leaves and said, "Take these and eat them on the way."
"How can this be so embarrassing?"
Tiejin wanted to refuse, but the boy said, "Just promise me that you'll bring me some wild vegetables when you come back."
"Wild vegetables? Haha, that's okay."
So Tiejin accepted the whole wheat steamed buns. Although Tang Yu'an suffered a loss, he gained 1 experience point. Then Tiejin said goodbye to them and left in a hurry.
After watching his figure disappear in the ruins, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi withdrew their gaze and went into the house to find Jin Lili.
However, when they reached the fourth floor, they found that Jin Lili was not sleeping.
She moved the toys Tiejin had prepared for her as a footstool, stood by the window, and stretched her neck to look outside.
Even though she tried her best, she could only stick out half of her head.
Probably because she heard a sound behind her, she lost her balance in panic and fell backwards with her arms shaking. Fortunately, Zhou Qi, who had the power of light body skills, rushed over and hugged her first.
Tang Yu'an was one step behind and also ran over.
"Lily, are you okay?" He checked the little girl and was relieved to find that she was not injured.
But Jin Lili's eyes were red, and she stretched out her little hand to push Zhou Qi away.
While pushing, she pouted and called daddy.
"Don't be afraid, Lily. This is Brother Xiaoqi. Don't you remember him? He won't hurt you."
Tang Yu'an took Jin Lili from Zhou Qi's arms. Maybe he played with her more and gave her milk several times, so Jin Lili did not push him away.
But the little girl didn't calm down, instead she burst into tears sadly.
“Dad…Dad…”
That sad look was just like when Tang Yu'an mentioned A Lian to her before.
Tang Yu'an quickly guessed what she was thinking.
"Don't be sad, your father didn't abandon you. He was just away for a few days and will be back soon."
Because he was not sure whether Tiejin could successfully bring Alian back, Tang Yu'an didn't know what he was going to do.
"He also asked us to come and take care of you, fearing that you would be hungry or sick, and he said he would come back as soon as possible."
Not sure if she understood, but Jin Lili slowly stopped crying.
She leaned in Tang Yu'an's arms, sobbing constantly, and slowly fell asleep from exhaustion. Crying like this was still a very physically demanding thing for her.
In her sleep, she was still calling for her father in a low voice, looking very pitiful.
Although they have not been together for a long time, she and Tiejin seem to have become real father and daughter, and their relationship is very deep.
Tang Yu'an also felt his nose sore, but he held back and didn't cry.
His parents will be safe and they will see each other again!
Afterwards, Tang Yu'an put Jin Lili into the prepared backpack and Zhou Qi carried her on his back, while he took out an umbrella.
After Tang Yu'an cast the light body technique on himself, they took Jin Lili away.
Lin Zhen was out and Old Li was not at home, so they went to Grandma Guo's house without Jin Lili's knowledge.
And if Kang Kang is in Grandma's house, maybe Jin Lili would be happier seeing playmates of the same age?
The author has something to say:
Chi Hao: What the hell is green as blue?
Xiaoqi: An An is a good name [smile.jpg]
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