Chapter 106
The homestay area is brightly lit after nightfall.
The central fountain gurgles, showing a silvery luster under the moonlight. Tonight the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, the light is bright, and it is perfect weather for a walk.
Many people chose to leave the house after dinner. Some people have already established good relationships with their neighbors and are gathering in groups of three or four to chat. Some are also strolling along the sidewalk, enjoying the evening breeze and appreciating the surrounding scenery.
After this period of time, the decoration of each house has basically come to an end. By walking around the pedestrian path, you can appreciate the decoration style of each household one by one.
Commenting on neighbors’ decorating aesthetics has become the newest hobby for residents in the B&B area.
Just looking at the small courtyard in front of the door, the renovation style of each house is completely different.
Someone has planted a garden full of flowers of various colors. You can smell the fragrance from a long distance away. The branches of flowers sticking out of the fence add a bit of vitality to the surroundings.
If someone reaches out to pick it, a warning message will pop up in front of them:
[This plant belongs to player xxx. Picking it requires the owner's permission. Do you want to ask for consent? 】
【Click to send request】
The flower thief was so frightened that he ran away in a hurry.
There are also foodies who have transformed the entire garden into a vegetable garden. They bought vegetable seeds with Shu Mo and planted them one by one. They even clearly arranged what to plant in different areas - this area is planted with lettuce, this area is planted with tomatoes, this area is planted with green onions, and there are also cabbages, eggplants, green peppers...
The doomsday survival game has completely turned into hoarding supplies and farming.
It's a pity that vegetables need time to grow. They have just been planted and it is still a barren and bare scene. The scenery is much worse than that of other families. People passing by shook their heads when they saw it.
The owner of the courtyard didn't care.
He squatted in the small vegetable patch with a small shovel, digging here and turning there, and occasionally sprinkling fertilizer on the soil - just like fish fry will ripen after eating feed, vegetable seedlings can also be ripened by fertilizer. The owner is naturally not stingy. He bought a pile of fertilizer early and piled it in the storage box, and put it in one by one at a fixed time and place every day, eagerly waiting for the first seedling to drill out of the soil.
This player who grows vegetables never gets tired of his work, and he has gained long-lost happiness from these monotonous physical tasks. He wears a white sweatshirt and a straw hat just for the sake of creating a sense of ritual, with a snow-white towel hanging around his neck. His simple image is completely incompatible with the brave and combative elite players he usually is.
When the fruits and vegetables are ripe, the red tomatoes, purple eggplants, green peppers... they are definitely as gorgeous as the flower beds next door.
By then, he would definitely invite his neighbors to a banquet, so that they could all come and see the fruits and vegetables he had grown, and taste the taste of fresh vegetables...
The farming player sat in the courtyard at night, looking at the wasteland in front of him, feeling indescribable satisfaction in his heart.
In addition to those who grow flowers and crops, there are also a few households that decorate their courtyards in an ecological style.
Jiang Qing and his family dug a small canal in the yard and put the fish they caught from several fishing activities into it. The water in the canal was crystal clear and circulated under the stimulation of the system, watering the green lawn next to it.
They also replaced the wall of the living room with a glass sliding door, which allows direct access to the yard. The winding canal extends to the side of the glass door and forms a small pond.
Haohao, wearing children's slippers, squatted by the pond and watched the fish. He could watch them all day long.
The grass is lush and the flowers are flourishing.
Because of the arrival of these families, the entire homestay area has been given a different kind of vitality.
Even the elite players who had previously just wanted to send their families to live here, after seeing the changes in each house after the renovation, were a little reluctant to leave.
The living environment in the B&B area is so comfortable!
How happy would life be if I just stayed here growing flowers and vegetables, drinking tea and playing chess?
This is how Xia Ruihe felt at the moment.
As the mayor of Qingshui Town, it was not convenient for her to leave at will. This time, she came to Nuannuan Hot Spring quietly. Originally, she planned to stay for only two days, but after seeing her new home, Xia Ruihe no longer wanted to leave.
"When I retire, I will move here and give you the position of mayor."
Xia Ruihe walked out of the house accompanied by Xia Qing, and looked back at the lights on in his own yard with some nostalgia.
Fiddle with some flowers and plants, raise two little goldfish, pick some vegetables yourself every day, and be self-sufficient. Isn't that much happier than being a lord?
"Okay, then I'll run back and forth." Xia Qing hugged her mother's arm, "You should go back quickly, otherwise it will be too late. Be careful."
Only then did Xia Ruihe walk forward reluctantly.
She had just received a letter from the summoned beast and had to rush back immediately because of urgent matters. Time was tight, so she could only set off in the dark.
Walking along the path through the bamboo forest, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a bright color deep in the forest. She tilted her head and asked, "Is that Mr. Shu's house?"
"Yes." Xia Qing looked over.
The next second, the mother and daughter saw a group of people coming out of the house, followed by a few polite farewells.
Soon, the group left Shu Mo's cabin and happened to pass by the two of them.
Xia Qing shuddered for no apparent reason.
She made way to her mother until the child at the end skipped past her. Only then did Xia Qing turn around and look at the group of people going away.
"Are these... the boss's friends?" she asked uncertainly, "I always feel like their aura is so special..."
They walked over in a mighty manner, and just the aura alone made Xia Qing feel frightened involuntarily.
Who are these people? A big shot in the top 100 of the world rankings?
...There shouldn't be so many people gathering at the hot spring!
And there’s a child among them!
Xia Qing narrowed her eyes and saw the child walk halfway and suddenly squat down in front of a bamboo tree.
The next second, the child's mother turned around and slapped the child on the back of the head with a bang. Xia Qing then heard her scolding in a loud voice, "You naughty child, you are not allowed to chew the boss's bamboo..."
Xia Qing couldn't help but burst out laughing.
She looked away, her tense mood relaxed a little, shook her head and said, "It seems that even the big guys in the game have to worry about the problem of 'naughty children'..."
*
It only took one day to select the site, decorate the store, and prepare the merchandise. Two days later, the "Monster Run Store" was completed in the morning.
It can be said that this is the store that was prepared most quickly in the history of Nuannuan Commercial Street.
There was no way. These monsters really had no aesthetic taste. If Shu Mo hadn't stopped them, they would probably have opened their business directly in the unfinished house.
Finally, at Shu Mo's strong request, the monsters sent several representatives to learn the decoration style of their "peers". After coming back, they painted a small white wall, installed a few "log-style" wooden shelves, and then installed a counter. Only then did they barely pass the boss's review and get a business license.
It is said that they even went to a ravine several kilometers outside the barrier to fight over who would become a clerk on the first day of opening. The noise they made almost made the hotel guests think that a wave of monsters had broken out again.
In the end, the winner came back with a bruised face and proudly accepted Shu Mo's clerk training.
Renovation completed√
Stocking completed√
The store clerk selection has been completed√
The Monster Run store finally opened with a bang.
Early that morning, players who came shopping discovered this newly opened store.
"Hey, there's a new store here."
Tian Min held her boyfriend's hand and stopped curiously.
She tried to make out the font on the sign, "Footbag... No, running to the store...?"
"Did they write this with claws?" Tian Min was speechless and amused. "And the sign is also nailed crookedly."
The wooden sign still had wood patterns on it and was nailed to the wall with a few crooked nails. Some of the nails were not even completely inserted, or were sticking out from the side. Combined with the font that did not look like handwriting, the overall look had a sloppy and crude "beauty".
"Maybe it was designed on purpose?" Tian Min's boyfriend Ying Liang also took a look and made a new discovery. "Look, there are paw prints drawn on the sign with light ink. Maybe they just want to give you this, uh, primitive feeling."
He racked his brains for an adjective.
When Tian Min took a closer look, she saw that there were indeed a dozen paw prints of various sizes next to the three words "Run to the Store". There were round and huge plum blossom prints of bears, long and thin paw prints of birds, and several other types that she couldn't even tell apart.
"Why is there a big circle here?" Tian Min was puzzled. "There's no pattern to this pattern."
What the two didn't know was that these marks were indeed marks left by the "shop owners" themselves, and their significance was not just for decoration, but to record which monsters and materials were currently on consignment in the store.
The mushroom, who had been living in the hot spring, heard about the monsters running to the store and wanted to deposit some items to sell, so he changed back to his original form, dipped his mushroom cap in ink, and left a big circle on the sign that puzzled the players.
The two stopped to look at the sign for a while, and Ying Liang asked, "This store is quite interesting, shall we go in and take a look?"
"Okay." Tian Min agreed readily.
The two walked into the store and were shocked by the interior decoration style.
No, apart from the shelves and counters, which still looked like a store, the rest of the place looked like a storage room.
A large piece of stone that was dug out from some ravine was placed casually on the shelf in the middle. Next to it was a piece of slime-like gel, a few grasses covered with mud, and a few beverage bottles filled with liquid of unknown nature.
"this……"
They exchanged glances and saw shock in each other's eyes.
Could it be that they went to the wrong place? This is actually not a store, but a warehouse?
"This beverage bottle was borrowed from the beverage section next door, right?" Ying Liang tried his best to hold back his urge to complain, "Can't you use a better container?"
He stretched out his hand, but accidentally knocked over a stone next to him.
The stone rolled to the ground and Ying Liang let out an "ah".
"Be careful." Tian Min was nervous.
She suddenly felt that this routine was somewhat familiar.
Wasn’t there this kind of scam in the past? I walked into a mediocre little shop, and ended up being pestered by the merchant, who insisted that some product had been damaged and demanded compensation from the customer. The merchant relied on the sky-high compensation to support the shop, but in fact, those products were just street goods worth a few dollars...
Many anti-fraud cases before the end of the world suddenly emerged in Tian Min's mind.
"Not really. This is a hot spring. What can go wrong?" Ying Liang smiled. He bent down to pick up the stone and patted the dust off it. "Don't be too nervous. It's just a broken stone. Even if you have to pay, it will only be a few dollars."
Tian Min immediately retorted, "How is that possible? Is it worth opening a store to sell the things at Ji'an? Don't you know the cost of opening a store on a commercial street?"
"But there are so many products here, we can make a lot of money if we sell them in large quantities." Ying Liang finished speaking, and then added in a low voice, "Of course, the premise is that they can be sold."
Just looking at the quality of the goods here, he was really worried about the future business performance of this store.
So far, no store in Nuannuan Commercial Street has closed down, and most of the operations are good. Is this store going to set a record?
Ying Liang thought about it and felt a little sorry for his boss.
It’s not easy to start a business in the doomsday. Why are you so careless when selecting products?
He turned the stone in his hand and complained silently.
Tian Min next to him was still looking around nervously.
Ying Liang knocked the product over, making such a loud noise, there's no way the boss here didn't notice it, right?
She leaned her head to look deeper into the store, and sure enough, she saw a head popping out from behind the counter. When his eyes met hers, his big eyes lit up.
Here we come!
Tian Min shuddered.
"Oh, sorry, I was busy counting the melon seeds and didn't notice you."
She was a short girl, but very agile. She took a few steps over the messy garbage, no, debris in the store, and quickly came over.
Her cheeks are a little chubby, with a round curve like baby fat, which is very cute. When she smiles, two white front teeth are exposed.
"Counting melon seeds?" Tian Min repeated hesitantly.
Is this verb used correctly?
"Yes." The girl said cheerfully, "You came just when I counted the 3,082nd bead. So, which item did you take a fancy to?"
She blinked her big eyes and looked at the two of them impatiently.
Tian Min: “…”
Ying Liang: “…”
This shop assistant's hobby is...quite special.
Tian Min was the first to react, and forced a small smile with embarrassment, "Not yet, let's go around again."
"It's okay, I can also introduce some to you!" The saleslady was very enthusiastic. She lowered her head and saw the stone in Ying Liang's hand. She exclaimed, "Sir, you have a good eye!"
She took the stone from Ying Liang and subconsciously reached her other hand behind her back, but found nothing. She seemed to be stunned for two seconds.
Then she laughed dryly, "I forgot."
In order to hide her embarrassment, the salesgirl produced a towel from her "backpack" and quickly wiped the dust off the surface of the stone.
Tian Min was a little confused.
If she wanted to find something to wipe the dust off, why did she feel towards the void behind her? The action was just like... trying to catch a big furry tail.
She was touched by her own imagination and let down her guard a little, but she still watched the clerk's actions with a little caution.
After wiping off the dust, it still looks like an ordinary stone, just a little cleaner.
Tian Min complained carelessly in her heart, and then she saw the petite and lovely shop assistant hold both ends of the stone, and with a "ha!", she broke the stone into two pieces.
Tian Min: “????”
What just happened? ?
Tian Min and Ying Liang took a step back at the same time, their eyes widened.
But then, Ying Liang exclaimed, "What is that?"
In the hands of the shop assistant, the broken section of the stone actually revealed a hint of crystal green. That vibrant and vital green instantly attracted the attention of the two men.
Unexpectedly, this inconspicuous stone actually contained a sticky, translucent liquid with a green fluorescence. It swayed slightly with the saleswoman's movements but did not slip through her fingers, as if some magical force automatically gathered them together.
Tian Min smelled a fresh aroma of green grass, with a slight bitterness, "Herb smell?"
She murmured, and suddenly remembered a legend that was circulating among the people. Her eyes suddenly changed when she looked at the stone. "Essence of plants and trees?"
"What?" Ying Liang was confused.
"Oh my." Tian Min stamped her feet and twisted her boyfriend's arm. The latter screamed, and his girlfriend's eyes lit up, unable to hide the joy in her voice, "It's that super rare pharmaceutical material!"
[Essence of Plants] is a rare material that is said to only occasionally refresh near large medicinal herb fields.
The so-called concentration is the essence. Just this little bit can be as effective as nearly a hundred high-quality herbs.
According to the market price, a low-quality herb costs 10 points, an ordinary herb costs 20 points, and a high-quality herb costs about 30-40 points, because high-quality herb fields are not that easy to find.
The quality of medicines made from herbs of different grades also varies. A high-quality blood-restoring potion can cost hundreds of points.
Even ordinary players would prepare some of these potions on a daily basis, as they are used to save lives in critical moments.
One portion of herbal essence can produce countless blood-restoring potions. Even if the pharmacist's skills are quite average, he can still produce a finished product that is of higher quality than high-quality potions. Doing a simple multiplication, even if the selling price of a bottle of herbal essence is calculated as one hundred times that of a high-quality potion, it would still be three to four thousand points.
Not to mention that the production of this thing is too low and there is simply no market for it.
"I...it..."
Tian Min was speechless for a moment.
She wanted to ask, is it really appropriate to just put such a precious thing anywhere?
Also, is the quality of this running shop so high? ?
She recalled the first small shop on the shopping street - the one that had become a legend among players, the Treasure House under the name of a "handicraft shop", and stammered.
Tian Min had an epiphany at this moment.
In Nuannuan Hot Spring, the more ordinary something looks on the surface, the more it deserves attention.
Be patient, you never know what surprises you might find here.
"By the way, is it okay to just break it apart like this?"
Ying Liang could guess from Tian Min's reaction that this thing was unusual, and he became frightened belatedly.
"Can this be restored after it's been broken apart?"
You won’t force me to buy or sell, right?
Tian Min next to him didn't say anything.
To be honest, looking at this piece of herbal essence, she was really moved.
Although Tian Min herself is not a pharmacist, she knows a friend who is a pharmacist with good skills. If she asks her to help make the medicine, she can probably save a lot of money.
The medicine she made was enough to support her and Ying Liang's use for many years to come.
She frantically calculated her savings in her mind, but did not speak immediately. Instead, she looked at the clerk following Ying Liang's words.
Although she is tempted, Tian Min would still be somewhat unhappy if it was a forced sales pitch.
The saleslady didn't seem to have thought about this question. She said blankly, "Oh, it's okay. Just open it."
So casual?
Ying Liang was stunned.
"Don't worry, the boss gave us a lot of useful tools during the renovation. We can fix anything." The salesgirl said happily.
The poorly-made signboard flashed in Tian Min and Ying Liang's minds, and they could not agree with her blind self-confidence.
"Just watch." To prove her words, the salesgirl held the stone and took out something.
Tian Min took a closer look.
It turned out to be a roll of scotch tape.
Tian Min: “?”
With a hissing sound.
The salesgirl tore off a piece of transparent tape, bit off the tape with her front teeth, put the two stones together, and then snapped a piece of tape on the joint.
She held it up proudly to show her achievements, "Look."
Tian Min and Ying Liang: "..."
They looked at the frail piece of tape, expressionless.
No, could you at least wrap it a few more times? !
Tian Min felt that she had been frightened too much today, but she finally realized that the shop assistant had no ill intentions or calculations, and she was completely relieved.
She hesitated and asked, "How much does this herbal essence cost?"
"Sale price?" The saleslady was stunned.
Tian Min looked at her nervously, calculating the savings in her mind.
"Well."
The salesgirl was silent, her eyes moved around, and she opened her mouth hesitantly.
*
Main building.
During working hours, Shu Mo, who was lying on the counter and chatting with Gu Xiao, suddenly stood up and his expression became very serious.
She was gossiping and laughing one second ago, and the next second she stopped laughing, looked in the direction of the commercial street, a look of reminiscing on her face, and then she slowly turned back.
Mo Bai, who was standing next to her, sensed her emotions, put down his work and came over, and couldn't help but ask in a deep voice, "What's wrong?"
"I suddenly thought of a serious question."
Shu Mo spoke slowly, uncertainly.
“…Did I forget to teach them how to set prices when I was training them yesterday?”
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