Chapter 44
Among the passengers getting off the bus, many followed Wang Jun's example and stuffed the things they brought back into their arms. Now they were all running home, fearing that if they were delayed for such a while, the little remaining heat they brought back from the hot spring would be blown away by the cold wind that even the city walls could not block.
Before the appearance of Nuannuan Hot Spring, every time this group of high-level players went out, the thing they most wanted was to return to the city as soon as possible. Compared to the desolate and dangerous leveling area in the wild, a bustling city certainly gives people a sense of security.
But after visiting the hot spring hotel and returning to the city, their mentality suddenly became strange.
I just feel that the small town where I saved points for several years and tried so hard to live in, doesn’t seem to be that good now.
It’s not safe enough, the houses are too low, the lighting is too poor, and there are too few green plants... There’s not even a place to take a walk after a meal to digest the food.
The only ornamental plants are all concentrated in the wealthy area where the elite players live. As ordinary players, they can only take a glimpse of the gorgeous branches sticking out of the wall from afar when passing by.
If you don’t know, you might think that just a few broken trees are very rare!
It’s not like in a hotel, where you can see lush bamboo forest when you open the window and everyone can share the same beautiful view. At least there is no distinct sense of class. But once we got back to town, the gap became apparent.
Although the cost of staying in a hotel is higher than in town, the service is also considerate, and there is electricity and hot water 24 hours a day. Isn't it better than living in your own cold, dark and crowded little house?
How on earth did they manage to survive in the past?
...make money, make money now! Try to go back to the hotel for a vacation from time to time. I can't bear to leave Nuannuan Hot Spring for even a day.
The players ran and swore with tears in their hearts.
To the passers-by, it was a group of high-level players who appeared out of nowhere, wearing luxurious equipment, with one hand furtively hidden in their coats, and running as fast as if their butts were on fire. One moment his face was full of disgust, the next moment his eyes were filled with tears. He looked as suspicious as possible.
Passerby: “…”
What kind of medicine is wrong?
Most of the group was in a hurry to get home, but there was also that conspicuous bag who just enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by people. He was not in a hurry to go home at all. Instead, he put his hands into his winter clothes, winked, and looked like "I'm going to show you a treasure" on his face.
The people gathered at the city gate were indeed attracted by his expression and surrounded him curiously.
The next second, the man took out something and said, "Hey, what is this?"
He held the transparent plastic cup high up, reflecting a bright light in the sunlight. It was filled with brown liquid, and black pearls sank to the bottom of the cup, swaying slightly with his movements.
The other person squinted his eyes for a while, then suddenly widened his eyes, "Could it be milk tea?"
"You guessed it right, it's milk tea." He chuckled, took out a straw from his pocket, stuck it in, took a big sip, and pretended to enjoy it, "It's so delicious!"
Everyone: “…”
I really want to slap him! !
Curiosity kills, what have they done wrong to gather around and watch this guy drinking milk tea on live broadcast?
How dare you chew pearls?
Seeing the people in front of him rubbing their hands in preparation, and some even spat on their palms and raised their heads to give him a sinister smile, this player: "..."
He quickly swallowed the pearls, "Don't hit me, don't hit me! What if the milk tea spills?"
"It doesn't matter if it spills, you're not giving us any to drink anyway!"
Some angry summoner released a group of summoned beasts directly from his backpack. After several loud thumps of monsters falling to the ground, the scene suddenly became more chaotic.
With things like this, players who drink milk tea don’t dare to show off anymore. As an archer, he was a fragile person - even if he wasn't, he would have to lie on the ground if so many people punched him, so he just laughed dryly and waved his hands.
"It's just a joke. You just want to know what happened to the bus. Why don't I tell you now?"
"Hey, have you seen the promotional ads posted on the town's bulletin board? If you haven't had time to see them, go check them out. A hot spring hotel has opened in the high-level training area, and this bus was built by the owner there. You can also buy milk tea at the hotel, and you can choose the sugar content - if you drink it in the store, you can drink it hot, and it's only 15 yuan a cup."
It’s only 3 p.m.! Still warm!
There was some commotion among the crowd.
"Is this true?" a girl couldn't help but ask.
"I'm not lying to you." The archer looked at the black mass of summoned beasts behind the crowd, shrank his neck, raised his finger to the sky and swore, "Those people who just got off the car are all guests of the hot spring hotel, or they have set up camp nearby. They can testify for me. The beverage area has just opened and is very popular. During the past few days when we were in the hot spring, almost everyone had a cup of bubble tea or coffee in their hands."
In fact, there are still many people who drink two or three cups a day. It is because they are addicted to milk tea and they can't stop it.
Everyone already believed it 80% in their hearts.
Those who just passed by were all high-level players. The weapons and equipment they had required a lot of points. They wouldn't make up lies to deceive people, right?
"That's great." Some people looked envious, subconsciously treating this as a privilege for high-level players.
In the game world, strength is paramount. Players with higher levels can hunt higher-level monsters, earn more points, and naturally live in more spacious houses. They didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
But... this milk tea is only 3 p.m., and it's different from the sky-high priced houses in the city center. In fact, they can totally afford it.
Not being able to enjoy something they could afford simply because they are not of high enough rank is more frustrating than not being able to afford it.
"How about I give you some money and you buy me a cup next time you come back?" someone suggested tentatively.
"Purchasing on behalf of others is not allowed there. The last person who did it suffered a terrible fate." The archer shook his head quickly, and added as the other party's expression dimmed for a moment, "But if you want, you can buy it yourself."
"Go by yourself? How?"
"Just take that bus! It just opened today. It only takes an hour one way and the ticket is cheap. Just ask around and you'll know." The archer pointed and said casually, "As long as you pay 30 points, anyone can go. Why would you need to go through the trouble of finding a purchasing agent?"
"Buy early and enjoy early. If you take the next train, you can even catch lunch in the restaurant."
Someone caught the point, "There's also a restaurant?"
"Yes, the price is not expensive, and the dishes are very rich, with meat and vegetables, soup and dessert, which change every day. After the shuttle bus comes out, you can go out in the morning to have lunch and take the bus back in the afternoon, and even save the accommodation fee."
The archer thought for a moment and said, "Before I left, I glanced at the menu for today's lunch. If I remember correctly, there seemed to be shredded pork with fish flavor, eggplant with minced meat, and West Lake beef soup..."
"Oh, by the way, I also had braised pork, salt and pepper chicken wings, and chicken soup wontons a few days ago..."
He still couldn't change his habit of showing off his eyes, and he started to list the names of dishes as he spoke. He became more and more excited, and the players around him drooled at his words.
As time goes by, if one person reports a case, there will be one less person watching.
"That's about it. They're all delicious anyway...eh?"
After the archer had finally finished reporting the menu for a total of nine meals during his three-day stay, he came back to his senses and found that the surroundings had become empty.
He rubbed his head in confusion and looked at the only player who was still listening, "Where are they?"
The player pointed to a place not far away and said, "Everyone is running to buy tickets."
"Oh..." The archer was relieved.
He took out the milk tea again, took a sip, and asked curiously, "Then why are you still here?"
The other party was also confused.
Hearing this, he pointed at his feet with tears in his eyes, "It's not that I want to stay and listen to you, but my summoned beasts won't move!"
The archer looked down and saw that there was indeed a circle of summoned beasts surrounding the man's legs.
They were the ones who were just released to threaten him.
The monster squeezed in the front looked similar to a porcupine, with a strong body of tendon meat and dense spikes on its back. It looked ferocious and terrifying, but its pair of moist eyes revealed an aggrieved and pitiful look, and its two front paws were tightly holding the owner's legs.
Tough guy crying.jpg
The summoner player said this and pulled his legs hard again.
Not moving at all.
He was completely desperate. "There aren't any high-level monsters around here! What are you afraid of?"
If a summoned beast behaved like this in the wild, it would probably mean that a powerful monster that they could not deal with appeared nearby - but this was the city gate, so where would the other monsters come from?
Could it be that something has sneaked into the human settlement?
The summoner player felt creepy for a moment.
He looked around vigilantly again, but still found nothing.
If there is anything worth noting, it is that the bus just now actually shrunk.
After all the passengers got off, it had shrunk a lot and was now lying safely on the ground with its front legs crossed, like a Samoyed lazily basking in the sun.
As if disturbed by the noise here, the ice-blue eyes turned and glanced at the group of monsters under the summoner's feet.
…The porcupine-like monster shuddered all over and was stunned for a moment. After it came to its senses, it arched its body and burrowed into its owner's legs. The sharp thorns on his back made his master scream in fear, "Don't come over here!!"
It was chaos again.
The mimic had no interest in the beautiful picture of the tough guy acting coquettishly. He looked at it for a few seconds and then turned his head away, curling the corners of his mouth in a very anthropomorphic way.
The way it's spread doesn't look good at all.
It's far worse than that.
Yao Yonghui, who knew the reason why the monsters were afraid, said: "..."
The corners of his mouth twitched, and he actually felt a little sympathy for the innocent porcupine monster that was scared and crying.
*
At the same time, in the high-end residential area of Guangming Town.
Haohao excitedly called all his friends together, "Come here quickly, I have something good to show you!"
This residential area was built around the Merlin in the center of Guangming Town. The houses were more spacious and spaced farther apart than those of ordinary players. The residents even raised funds to build a fitness area for children and the elderly to take walks.
Those who can live here are all the strongest players in the town. Many of them are even from the same team and have life-threatening friendships with each other. The parents have a good relationship, and the children grow up together, naturally forming their own small circle.
Xiaoyi and Momo, who were mentioned earlier, are the two who usually play best with Haohao. They are now squeezed to the front, with curious faces.
"Haohao, where did you go a few days ago? Why weren't you there when we went to play with you?"
"You went out with your parents? You didn't go out of town."
Jiang Qing and his family left in a hurry because they were afraid of traveling at night with their children. Also, they did not expect to stay in the hotel for so many days, so they did not mention the matter to their neighbors and friends.
It was not until the next day when Momo and her friends went to play with Haohao as usual and found no one in the house that they realized that the whole family had gone out together.
Jiang Qing and Fu Yiming spent more than half of the year leading the team in battles outside, so going out was not uncommon, but this time they brought along Haohao, who was only six years old, and were gone for several days, which was unusual.
For a moment, the neighbors were guessing where they had gone.
Those who can live here have enough money at home. The earnings of those elite players who work hard outside are enough to support the whole family. The elderly and children left behind do not need to work hard to supplement the family income. They just sit in the public area every day to bask in the sun and chat... and the content of the chats in the past few days has basically focused on Jiang Qing's family.
After waiting for a long time for the protagonist of the gossip to come back, several old men and women's eyes lit up when they saw the familiar figure from afar. But before they could even stand up, they saw the couple rushing past them with their son in their arms, raising a cloud of dust.
Fu Yiming was still mumbling something frantically, "Hurry up, the next bus is less than an hour away", "Pack up quickly when you get home so you don't miss the bus", "Honey, why didn't we buy a house at the city gate? I never thought the city center was so far away from the city gate"...
He held his son in one hand and moved at the highest speed in his career as a heavy knight, chattering non-stop. Jiang Qing, who was running wildly beside him, muttered to himself, but used the time that Fu Yiming was talking to chant two spells.
There was a flash of white light under the couple's feet, and they rushed out, leaving behind all the neighbors' hesitant questions.
Neighbors: “…”
They watched helplessly as the two men rushed into the house like a whirlwind and the door slammed shut in front of them before the onlookers could react.
After a while, the door slowly opened again in full view of everyone.
Crunch——
Haohao walked out with his hands behind his back, a smug smile on his chubby little face, and he was just about to find a pair of sunglasses to put on.
Mom and Dad were packing things in the house in a hurry. Haohao couldn't help much, so he just left - after all, he had his own important things to do.
He had been looking forward to it since yesterday.
I've been thinking about it and waiting for this moment!
So, there was the scene just now where Haohao gathered everyone together.
Even some old men and women who didn't get to eat the melon came over curiously.
"That's right, at my strong request, Mom and Dad took me to explore outside the town." Haohao said this first.
As soon as he finished speaking, there was an exclamation.
"You actually went out of town!" Xiao Yi was shocked.
Their parents said that it is not safe outside the town and asked them to wait until they grow up a little before going out to see the world!
An auntie who was listening in also frowned, "Xiaoqing and the others actually dared to bring their children to the leveling area? Haohao is only six years old, isn't it a bit too early to start leveling at this age..."
What if something unexpected happens?
"It's not about fighting monsters." Haohao couldn't explain clearly, so he got straight to the point. "Anyway, we went to a very far place, and guess what I brought back?"
At the end of his speech, Haohao lowered his voice mysteriously, and the friends around him really came over with eyes wide open.
"What?"
Momo swallowed.
She thought she smelled something sweet.
The smell was so unfamiliar to her that she instinctively felt anticipation, but also a little confused, so she had to look at her good friend with doubts.
"Look!" Facing everyone's expectant gazes, Haohao took out a bunch of colorful things from his backpack like a magic trick and piled them all on the stone table in front of him.
There are bright red hawthorn fruits wrapped in amber syrup; there is yellow pear soup in a white porcelain bowl, with wolfberries and large pieces of fruit pulp floating on the surface; and there is the butter cookie set sold by the restaurant this morning, which is made into beautiful flower shapes and has three flavors: original chocolate and matcha. It is sealed in a transparent printed packaging bag and exudes bursts of tempting sweet fragrance...
Jiang Qing and Fu Yiming were very generous to their son's good friend. They bought several copies of each item, enough for everyone to share. They also put them all in Haohao's small backpack for him to take back by himself.
Haohao was not stingy either, and took out all of it at once.
At this time, the table was filled with colorful dishes, which looked very beautiful.
Looking around, you can see sweets that children like.
Friends: “!!!”
"Wow!!"
"What's this?"
"I recognize this red one! A-Long also took a bunch that day, but he treasured it so much that he didn't want to share it with us. I think it's called rock sugar, rock sugar..." Xiao Yi thought hard.
What is rock sugar?
"Tanghulu." Haohao said, introducing each one carefully to his friends, "This is Tremella and Pear Soup, which contains pears, which is a kind of pear - what do you say pear is? ... This is not important. Oh, and this is a cookie, the yellow, brown, and green ones have different flavors. I tried them this morning and they were all delicious."
"Mom said one person can't eat too much or else they won't be able to have a proper meal, so let's share it."
Haohao pushed forward generously.
Now even the elders who had gathered to watch the fun could not stay any longer. They could not take their eyes off the food. They also felt that it was not nice to snatch things from children, so they could only suppress their greed and ask, "Haohao, where did all this come from?"
"These things are very expensive, right? Do your family members agree if you share them with other children?"
Most of these elderly people are old and find it difficult to adapt to changes in the game. They usually stay at home to help their children take care of their children and seldom go out. They are not as well-informed as other players, so many people don’t know about Nuannuan Hot Spring.
In fact, even among ordinary players in the city, the reputation of Nuannuan Hot Spring has not yet been fully established. After all, Shu Mo had only been promoting on the bulletin board for a short time, and the address was in an advanced leveling area that was out of reach for ordinary players. Most of the people who had been there were high-level players, and their social circles were not the same as those of ordinary players, so information was difficult to circulate.
The old people were shocked by the delicious food they had never seen before, and were also surprised that Haohao could come up with so many good things. For a moment, they kindly advised him to put them away quickly.
When they were young, material resources were not abundant. If a family had good things, they would hide them for themselves and eat them slowly. Who would ever let their children take them out to share?
Xiaoqing and Yiming are a couple who are also very generous when it comes to taking care of their children.
The children, who were eager to reach out their hands, did not dare to take anything when they heard their grandparents say that the items were expensive, and could only stare at them.
Haohao scratched his head, not understanding what was going on. "These aren't expensive or heavy. Dad said if I like them, I can eat them every day."
"I have eaten a lot in the past few days, and brought it back specially to share with you."
As he said that, he stuffed two biscuits directly into Momo and Xiaoyi's hands. Momo subconsciously took a bite. The butter biscuit was fragrant and crispy, with a dense texture. It melted in one sip, and the rich milky aroma instantly filled her mouth.
It was so delicious, a taste she could never imagine.
Momo hurriedly reached out to catch the fallen crumbs, and then licked the residue on her palm clean, for fear of missing even a tiny bit of residue between her fingers.
Xiao Yi had already raised his head dully, with chocolate cookie crumbs on the corners of his mouth, "Haohao, can you eat something like this every day these days?"
How could his friend eat so well behind his back?
...He wants to eat too!
Haohao gradually lost himself in the astonished gazes and chattering of the crowd. His head was raised higher and higher, and the corners of his mouth could not stop rising.
That’s it, just a little more!
He wants to be cruel! ruthless! Cool! Shine!
*
In the room, Fu Yiming breathlessly packed up the things he would need for the next period of time during his stay in the hot spring. He glanced at the time and saw that there were still more than 20 minutes before departure. Only then did he feel relieved and sat down on the edge of the bed.
With a casual glance out the window, Fu Yiming's relaxed expression suddenly froze.
He wiped his eyes and pulled Jiang Qing's sleeve uncertainly, "Look over there."
Jiang Qing was puzzled, "Why are there so many people?"
Fu Yiming: "No, don't you think the guy in the crowd, with a cocky face and his head tilted up, looks like our son?"
Jiang Qing: “…”
Don’t say it, please don’t say it.
Jiang Qing: "Isn't that our son?"
Fu Yiming: "..."
He looked at Haohao's glowing face from afar and didn't know whether he should smile or not. "No wonder he agreed so readily when he heard that I was coming back yesterday. Was he waiting to show off?"
The two looked at each other in silence when there was a knock on the door.
The person outside seemed very anxious and knocked on the door urgently. Jiang Qing hurried over to open it.
Then I was startled by the scene outside.
Four or five familiar neighbors were standing outside the door. When they saw her, they seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw and their eyes lit up.
For some reason, Jiang Qing always felt that the light was green and lush, like a hungry wolf seeing its prey.
"Xiaoqing, where did you buy the food you brought back?"
"My daughter just passed by and got a small cookie. She came home crying and said she wanted more. So we thought we should buy some for ourselves so we can give it back to Haohao later."
"Oh, you brought something back specially to share. What a nice kid. But he's just too talkative. I'm getting hungry just by listening to him..."
Jiang Qing: “…”
"so……"
Everyone paused and asked in unison, "Where is the address of the hot spring hotel that Haohao mentioned?"
Jiang Qing didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Is this the legendary humanoid grass-planting machine?
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