Chapter 39: Reciprocity
"My Qiqi gave it to you." The shop owner smiled and stuffed the golden bean into Qi Huan's hand who was still in a daze.
"This..." Qi Huan subconsciously wanted to refuse. Although he didn't know the value of gold in this era, he intuitively knew that it wouldn't be cheap, at least not cheaper than this meal.
"It's a matter of reciprocity." The shopkeeper used the handle of his fan to hold back his hand that was about to push it back. "If you don't accept it, Qiqi will think you despise its saliva and will be very sad."
As the shop owner spoke, the little yellow bird perched on his hairpin indeed raised its crest in a wavy shape and looked at Qi Huan with resentment and grievance. Its black eyes were faintly covered with a layer of mist, as if it was ready to "rain" at any time.
Qi Huan held the golden bean in his hand, in a dilemma.
"Keep it well, and treat it as a prepaid meal ticket. Qiqi, this stingy guy, rarely wants to give things to others." The owner patted the back of Qi Huan's hand with the handle of the fan again, and said with a smile, "If you want to thank it, start online delivery as soon as possible. Qiqi is much greedier than me... Ouch!"
Before the shop owner could finish his words, the little yellow bird pecked out a lock of his hair in protest, causing his originally neat hair to immediately bulge out.
"Hey~ We agreed not to talk today, you're not being polite..." Before the shop owner could finish his protest, another strand of his hair was pecked out.
"Goodbye." The shop owner rolled up his sleeves halfway when he remembered that he was still in the shop. He hurriedly put the handle of the fan on the back of his hand, maintained a polite posture, bowed to Qi Huan, turned around and walked out quickly.
The brown-haired man nodded to Qi Huan and followed him away.
As the two figures turned out of the door, they heard the owner's scolding, "You little bastard, you are rebelling."
It was obvious that they didn't want to make this "family disgrace" known to others, so it would be inappropriate to chase them out. Qi Huan looked at the door, then at the golden beans in his hand, and sighed.
After the two left, Shen Ye couldn't wait to run to Qi Huan and asked, "Can you show me what the bird vomited just now?"
"It looks like gold?" Qi Huanshun handed the thing to him.
Shen didn't say anything, but quickly took out a small box that Qi Huan had never seen before and put the golden bean in it. The box flashed three times and the display screen lit up.
"Do you know those two people just now?" Shen Ye gasped as he looked at the display screen.
"What's wrong?" Qi Huan briefly recounted how he met the store owner. He originally thought it was a golden bean, but considering Si Han's generosity, it was impossible for the people around him to be so surprised by a golden bean.
Shen Ye opened the box and looked at the golden bean with shining eyes.
Qi Huan followed him and looked at it carefully again, and found that the golden bean was actually not the same as gold. The outer layer had a pearl-like luster and a warm and delicate seven-colored gem light.
"What on earth is this thing?"
"Do you know the materials used to make mechas?"
"There seems to be a blue copper?" Qi Huan thought of the precious metal that brought him unexpected income, but also brought him his enemy Lao Pi.
"Ordinary mechas use blue copper, and superior mechas use mithril. According to legend, the most precious and top-grade material for making mechas is called gold."
"You don't mean to say that this piece is gold?" Qi Huan was stunned. Wouldn't that mean it is much more valuable than gold? The price of blue copper is so expensive, what kind of terrible price should the top-grade material cost?
"It's for removing gold." Shen Ye turned the display screen of the tester towards Qi Huan, and the test results were clearly displayed on it.
No wonder that little yellow-haired bird is so cool!
It turns out it is a mountain of gold!
Qi Huan looked around at the golden bean, and then he realized, isn't this another meal ticket with a starting price of a hundred years?
Shen also shook his head, “Now that I think about it, the fan in his hand and the hairpin on his head are probably made of gold.”
"It should be gold, right?" Qi Huan thought for a moment, "His golden fan and hairpin don't seem to have this pearl-like luster."
"It must have been specially refined in order to conceal his identity." Chen Ye was confident, "He is a toolmaker himself, maybe even a top-notch toolmaker. This little trick is not worth mentioning."
Qi Huan was quiet for a moment, and suddenly he became a little worried when he thought about the impact of the news. He quickly put his hands together and solemnly made a gesture of asking Chen Ye, "Chen Ye, don't tell anyone about this."
Blue copper has brought so much trouble to me, so gold removal is even more terrible, not to mention the continuous gold removal.
"Don't worry, he is willing to let the bird spit out the gold removal directly in front of you, so he probably has no intention of hiding it from you." Shen Ye flicked the small braid on the side of his cheek. The sentinel beside him was no ordinary character who could suppress the A-level mental power.
Qi Huan still looked at him stubbornly, his amber eyes flashing brightly and sincerely.
"Okay, I promise not to tell anyone except the boss and the members of the beast team." Shen couldn't stand his gaze and gave in. "You can rest assured about the boss's character and style. He will definitely do what he promised. If there is a need, he will definitely communicate with the other party in a proper way."
"Thank you!" Qi Huan opened his arms and gave Shen Ye a big hug.
A few hundred meters away, the shop owner was gently waving a golden fan, and the bird with a hairpin on its head was strolling leisurely.
He was indeed too full, so he had to give up the airship and walk home.
They seldom go out on weekdays, and come to West City even less often. The man and the bird look around curiously along the way, and complain to the brown-haired man beside them from time to time.
“Why is the spiritual network so widespread?” Noticing that there was no response to his words, the owner poked the other party’s arm with his fan.
"Nothing, just want to relax after eating." The brown-haired man laughed and withdrew his mental strength. He met two good children, so he probably wouldn't have to move for the time being.
After that, two tables of guests arrived one after another. Shen Ye wanted to help, but unfortunately he was not familiar with the menu at all, and his ability to take orders was not as good as that of the robot bear butler, so he had to sit back at the counter in frustration.
As Si Han and Tao Zhe stepped over the threshold, they saw Shen Ye sitting behind the counter, peeling melon seeds in a depressed mood.
"Who pissed you off?" Tao Zhe thought his look was a little funny, while Si Han looked thoughtfully at the table where the owner and his friends had originally sat. Now there was only an empty table there.
"No." Shen refused to admit that he was hit by a robot bear.
Smelling the sweet aroma, Zhou Qiba couldn't wait to rush into the kitchen, but was grabbed by Si Han. There were meals prepared for the guests in the kitchen. If it swallowed it without thinking, it would be in trouble again.
Xingqi glared at Si Han unconvincedly, but after a few seconds of stalemate, he gave in and turned around angrily, leaving him with a soft and round back.
Thinking of the 'adventure' just now, Shen Ye jumped up from the stool excitedly, "Boss, guess what Huan Huan just received?"
"Animal teeth?" Taozhe made a random guess.
Shen Ye sneered and raised his chin high.
What can make Shen Ye excited is definitely not money. Si Han raised his eyebrows slightly, "A-level beast core?"
"A-grade beast cores can buy up half a street in the base, who would be so stupid?" Tao Zhe thought it was impossible.
“That’s not right.” Shen Ye waved his hand and looked at the two tables of hunting teams eating in the hall. He thought of what he had promised Qi Huan, and finally carefully opened his personal terminal and typed two words to send them out.
What can't be said directly? Tao Zhe was about to complain, but he was stunned when he saw the two words pop up in the terminal information.
Si Han was also silent. After a few seconds of silence, he started to reply to the message, [Are you sure?]
[Sure, I just checked it with a tester.]
Shen also pulled a small group of three people and repeated the situation just now.
[That person's spirit body can actually spit out gold?] The potter found it incredible.
[What's so strange about this? In the legend, can't Xing Xiao's spirit spit out energy stones? And Bu Fan's fox that spits out earth fire, and our Xiao Ba, can't he also eat mechas?] Chen also expressed contempt.
Potter: ...
Sihan:......
[Also,] Chen Ye told the two again that Qi Huan had told them not to leak the news for fear of causing trouble for the store owner.
[The little chef is a kind-hearted person.] Taozhe couldn't help but sigh. It's not easy to have such a kind of heart when you are on a waste planet. You know, the news of "where to remove gold" alone is enough to sell for a lot of money.
[Young Master Liang's meeting him was truly a blessing in disguise.] Chen Ye also sighed.
【So maybe good people have good luck. 】
[Boss, what do you mean by 'maybe'?] Shen Ye was puzzled.
[From what you said, the shop owner has been living in Base No. 3 for several months or even longer. Why hasn't there been any news about the gold removal? ]
Chen also frowned, [Basically no one on this waste planet can afford mechas, maybe they have limited knowledge and don't recognize this kind of high-level material? ]
[Perhaps very few of the natives of the base know about gold removal, but what about the hunting team members from various star regions? ]
Shen Ye was speechless.
[Perhaps he has never shown it to others?] The potter proposed another possibility.
[I have never shown it to anyone else, so why did I give it to Qi Huan and tell him to keep it well? ]
The potter was also choked.
Chen Ye's mind raced, [Either Qi Huan was a special friend to him and deserved special treatment, or he had given others gold in the past, but for some reason, the news had not spread. For example, those people, like Huan Huan, chose to keep the secret for him. ]
[Then think about it again. Given their age, they must have lived somewhere else before coming to Waste Planet No. 7. It has been nearly a hundred years, but the news of the extermination of gold has never been spread. Why? ]
[Those who wanted to speak out were silenced! ] This time Tao Zhe's reaction was faster than Shen Ye's.
[In my personal opinion, this is the most likely possibility. ]
[The sentinel next to him has a mental power that is indeed higher than mine, and it feels very dangerous.] Thinking of the brown-haired man next to the shop owner, Shen couldn't help but feel a chill on his back. For that man, it was too easy to kill a few people quietly.
The potter was shocked, [Above you, S-class sentinel? ]
[Yeah, and it feels unfathomable. ]
[In short, if you meet them again in the future, treat them with courtesy and don't provoke them easily.] Si Han reminded Shen Ye and Tao Zhe.
[Could that sentinel be the person I failed to catch that night? ]
[The figure doesn't look like him.] Shen Ye compared it to the figure he saw that night and quickly denied it.
[There are hidden dragons and crouching tigers here, Feixing is quite interesting.] The potter sighed to himself.
When Qi Huan came out with a tray, he saw three members of the Ferocious Beast Team huddled at the cashier counter, typing solemnly on their personal terminals, as if they were taking an online class.
Xiao Ba jumped high, and his fur-like body drew a beautiful parabola in the air and landed steadily on his shoulder.
Afraid that its hair would fall onto the plate, Qi Huan moved the tray a little further away, and glanced at the little fellow on his shoulder with a smile, "I just made a dessert for you. You can try it after dinner."
Zhouqiba made a happy "mooth" sound and wagged its tail in a cute way.
The dinner was deserted, with only two tables of guests. Qi Huan had already started preparing, and when he saw Si Han and the others had arrived, he began to prepare dinner for the Ferocious Beast Squad.
Braised meat in a jar, crescent shrimps, first-class stuffed shark's fin, milky curry chicken, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, twice-cooked pork, squirrel black fish, mushroom and dragon bone soup soon filled the table.
Tao and Si Han took off their masks only after the other guests paid their bills and left. The dazzling array of dishes surprised the members of the Ferocious Beast Team. The other restaurants in the base only had about ten dishes, but the Human Restaurant was completely different. The dishes seemed to have endless variety.
Qi Huan enjoyed the curiosity in Si Han's eyes. Although his other image had collapsed to the point where it couldn't be collapsed any further, at least his cooking skills were stable and could still help him regain some image points.
"It's delicious." Chen Ye narrowed his eyes slightly, and showed an intoxicated expression when he smelled the aroma of curry chicken. "It's worth it that I've been busy here for a whole day."
"Are you busy?" Tao Zhe didn't come in the morning and didn't know about the trouble caused by the guards. He only remembered that when he came just now, Chen Ye was hiding behind the counter and looked like he had nothing to do.
"Of course not." Shen Ye scooped a spoonful of curry and meat. The tender chicken with the rich aroma of curry spread between his teeth, and he looked very satisfied after eating it.
"If you're tired, I can come tomorrow." Tao tasted a piece of stewed meat and immediately volunteered. Although he didn't care about food, there was no reason to treat himself badly.
"No thanks." Shen Ye refused firmly. Just kidding, the task of eating delicious food must not be delegated to others.
"I'm going to the hunting area tomorrow. Haven't you been clamoring to go there to stretch your muscles?" Taozhe continued to tease him.
"I told you not to. By the way, you don't know what a big joke Huanhuan made today. He actually mistook the mini medical cabin given by the boss as a drink!" A friend lives in misfortune, and in order to prevent Taozhe from continuing to dwell on the topic of changing jobs, Shen Ye immediately brought up Qi Huan's embarrassing story.
Tao Zhe and Si Han on the opposite side showed surprised expressions at the same time, and it was too late for Qi Huan to cover Chen Ye's mouth.
Chen Ye vividly recounted the conversation between the two of them. Qi Huan was so embarrassed that he almost dug a castle out of his toes. Damn it, the few points that this table of food had brought back for his impression were smashed to pieces again.
"If you want to tell a joke, Chen Ye also contributed one today." Qi Huan fought back, not wanting to be outdone, and exposed the fact that Chen Ye was so nervous when he was carrying the porridge bowls in the morning that he crushed two trays in a row.
"No wonder you can only sit there. It turns out that taking action will only make things worse!" The potter suddenly realized.
"You're the one who's making things worse." Shen Ye kicked Tao Zhe in frustration.
"Kong Hu is also very funny. He always brags about how great the navigation system he built on the starship is. But today, I urged him to hurry up. He said he was lost in the third star region."
Somehow a dinner turned into a gathering of people exposing secrets and revelations. Everyone took turns to contribute jokes while eating, and they had a very joyful time.
At the end of the meal, Zhou Qiba was still thinking about his dessert and secretly bit the corner of Qi Huan's clothes several times. Qi Huan then carried him to the kitchen.
Perhaps Si Han's education had worked. When he brought out the two boxes of ice cream, Xingqi Ba did not pounce on him and swallow the boxes whole in one gulp as he did before. Instead, he squatted obediently in his original position, although his eyes were still very eager.
"I don't know what flavor you like, so I made two for you. This one is thick milk and nut." Qi Huan rubbed the little guy's soft fur, scooped a spoonful from the box of nuts and put it on the plate, and added, "Leave the plate."
The milky white ice cream ball was delicate and smooth, and the tiny ice crystals on the nuts glowed with cold light, as gentle as the first snow. Xiao Ba swallowed the ice cream ball in one gulp, leaving the plate behind to save face.
"Do you like it?" Qi Huan poked the little guy's crystal clear curved corners.
The black ball nodded.
"This is the juice and pulp with orange fruit added." Qi Huan scooped another spoonful from another box. The texture and taste of orange fruit are similar to strawberry, but the color is orange-red.
Xiao Ba couldn't wait to swallow the orange ice cream ball.
"Which flavor do you like?" Qi Huan pointed at the two boxes with his spoon. He planned to gradually find out the little guy's preferences by choosing one of the two.
Without hesitation, the black ball pointed at the thick-breasted nut on the left with its shiny yellow left front hoof.
Qi Huan dug another ball, and Xiao Ba happily swallowed it, with his shiny front hoof pointing to the right again. He kept going left and right, and ate more than ten ice cream balls in the blink of an eye.
"You're not partial." Qi Huan was amused by its equal treatment. He rolled his eyes and pointed at the ice cream with his spoon, then at himself, "Do you like me or it?"
Hei Tuanzi tilted his head to look at the ice cream box, then looked at Qi Huan, seeming a little embarrassed.
"You actually hesitated? It's so sad." Qi Huan pretended to wipe away the tears that didn't exist at all and shook his head repeatedly.
The black ball rushed over and stood firmly on his side.
"It's too late, you 'heartless man'." Qi Huan gently touched the tip of Zhou Qi Ba's nose with his fingertips and taught it a strategy earnestly, "Next time you encounter this kind of two-choice question, the first thing you have to do is say that you like me and love me, understand?"
The black ball blinked twice in confusion.
"Do you like it or me?" Qi Huan pointed at the ice cream box and then pointed at himself.
This time, the black ball placed the sparkling yellow crystal hoof claw on his wrist without hesitation.
"So good." Qi Huan smiled and pinched its hoof and shook it, then scooped out a giant ice cream ball and put it on the plate.
Zhou Qi Ba ate one ball at a time without even raising his head, and swallowed 18 balls in a row, maintaining the frequency of one on each side. He held the water very evenly, and the two boxes were quickly empty.
"Let's call it a day after we finish this." Qi Huan scraped the bottoms of two boxes, trying hard to collect the last ball of colorful ice cream and put it on the plate.
Probably knowing that this was the last one, Xiao Ba did not swallow it directly for the first time, but licked it in small sips.
"You, just busy eating." Qi Huan wanted to tease him when he saw how happily he was eating, so he jokingly spread his palms in front of him and said, "Other people's pets can vomit legendary materials after eating, can you vomit something?"
Zhou Qiba looked at his white palm in confusion for two seconds, then moved his furry black head closer.
Could it really be? Qi Huan stared at its movements with a mixture of surprise and astonishment, and then he felt his palms warm.
The little one licked him enthusiastically.
Qi Huan: ...
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