Chapter 194: Chapter 161: Selling Peaches
Although she hadn’t even had time to say a few more words to Zhou Qian before hurriedly heading to the trading market, the bus took up so much time that it was already 10:00 AM by the time she arrived.
Huai Yu skipped the line and entered with the ease of a regular. The machine spat out the testing card with a ZZZZZT, while the familiar staff member stared at the big, red peaches wafting a faint, sweet fragrance. One eye screamed greed, and the other screamed desire.
But when the testing card was finally spat out, he took one look and instantly gave up all hope. For no other reason than the fact that, aside from how highly sought-after fresh peaches were, the Mutant Value—which Huai Yu had intentionally controlled—was a mere 6...
He couldn’t afford it!
Even knocking off a bit of peach fuzz felt like a sin!
Huai Yu, however, looked entirely unfazed. Through these repeated tests, she had slowly figured out and grasped the proper degree of purification. If nothing else, the eight peaches she left for Zhou Qian at the hospital definitely had a Mutant Value between 3 and 4.
She flashed an innocent, brilliant smile at the staff member. As he sighed in awe, he mentally gave himself and his colleagues a thumbs-up for their excellent judgment—
Among the vast sea of people and endless queues, how did they manage to take pity on her and grant her access to the VIP channel in a moment of kindness? That single act of kindness had forged such a powerful connection!
What kind of top-tier figure could get their hands on fresh peaches nowadays? He didn’t even dare to wonder why she continued to send such incredible goods to the trading market...
But then, thinking about the bosses in the trading market—those hidden dragons and crouching tigers backed by powerful families—they all had their own guesses.
Regardless of how many waves of shock today’s Mutant Value would send through the staff, for Boss Tang, it was just another ordinary morning.
This morning, his family’s chef had used premium refined flour to pan-fry a batch of cowpea and lean meat flatbreads, pairing them with bright yellow mutant millet porridge. From top to bottom, everyone in the household had eaten until their bellies were round. He had even grabbed the last flatbread on his way out!
As for this batch of cowpeas, he had only gifted a small portion to a few of his most important clients; the rest he had brought straight home.
The head chef had been running in circles yesterday, washing pickling jars and complaining that the salt and chili peppers at home weren’t good enough, bossing everyone around in a frenzy. But everyone had fully cooperated, happily preparing all the various ingredients. For no other reason than they were absolutely dying for a taste of stir-fried minced meat with sour pickled cowpeas.
The good mood brought on by the delicious food lasted right up until he met Huai Yu.
As his chubby, round body rushed forward to greet her, he looked like a high-speed spinning soccer ball. Even the air around him radiated joy.
"Little Sister Yu, what good stuff do you have for me today?"
Huai Yu stood at the store entrance, falling into an eerie silence for a moment. She glanced around the massive, dazzling showroom packed with goods, unable to figure out for a second who was actually the one running a business between her and Boss Tang...
But that didn’t matter!
Right now, she smugly handed over the testing card, tilted her chin up, and said coolly, "Name your price."
Boss Tang was initially so stunned by the numbers on the card that he spaced out. Then, he looked down, opened the woven basket, and peeked inside. His entire face instantly flushed red with blood, looking like his head was about to vent steam from system overload!
"Fresh peaches!" He lowered his voice, sounding like an excited yet cautious robber who had just scored a massive heist. "Mutant Value 6!"
Huai Yu nodded calmly. "That’s why I immediately thought of you! So, how about it? Are you taking them?"
Was she joking?! If Boss Tang let this cooked duck fly right out of his mouth today, he’d wake up in the middle of the night just to slap himself in the face seven or eight times!
It was just the price... Honestly, he had never come across top-tier premium goods like this before!
Gritting his teeth, he declared, "One peach, 120 points!"
HISS—
This number genuinely shocked even Huai Yu. Even though she was mentally prepared, knowing that once the Mutant Value dropped into the single digits, every single point of improvement would bump the price up to a whole new level, she never expected this level to be a straight elevator ride to the top rather than a spiral staircase!
She didn’t hesitate for a second. "Deal!"
And how many peaches were in her basket? A full 41.
× 120 = 4,920.
She handed over her smartband in a daze, completely unprepared for the fact that, after just one day, her savings were about to hit another round milestone!
Dammit! She was still short 80... wait, no, including the round-trip bus fare, she was short 96 points from reaching 15,000!
Just as she was secretly sighing, thinking she should have brought an extra two pounds of cowpeas at the very least, Boss Tang handed her smartband back with a beaming smile.
"Since you were kind enough to think of me the moment you got your hands on such good stuff, I went ahead and rounded up the number for you.
"Little Sister Yu, next time you have premium goods like this, you must absolutely remember that I, Old Tang, will always offer you the highest price!"
Huai Yu stared at her smartband, her heart blooming with joy. Right now, even Boss Tang’s chubby, round face looked utterly beautiful and moving to her. She nodded vigorously.
"Okay, definitely!"
***
With a clean 15,000 points on her wrist, there was nothing left in the entire trading market that could tempt Huai Yu.
She strolled around gleefully, hesitating for a moment when she passed Uncle Zaozi’s furniture store. Ever since hearing about his family situation from Boss Tang last time, she had probably developed an avoidance mentality. To this day, she hadn’t dared to go see Uncle Zaozi.
But... she would have to go to the Wilderness sooner or later. Being this timid wouldn’t do!
After thinking it over, Huai Yu finally stepped into the store.
Uncle Zaozi’s condition was nothing like the miserable, sorrowful state Huai Yu had imagined. The female boss was nowhere to be seen, and Uncle Zaozi was happily brewing tea—uh, Kelang tea. At this moment, he was holding a cup and taking a deep sniff, his expression one of pure intoxication.
"Uncle Zaozi."
Huai Yu called out a greeting. The man looked up, and seeing it was her, a joyful smile naturally broke across his face.
"Little Yu!"
They hadn’t seen each other for a few days, and the injuries on his head and face were now completely invisible. He was still the same shrewd yet enthusiastic Uncle Zaozi.
"Come, come! I was just thinking about looking for you!" he said enthusiastically. "It’s already mid-May. In a few more days, the first batch of people who went to the Wilderness after Labor Day should be returning.
"Didn’t you say last time that you wanted to visit the highway station to see the sights? Come to the city tomorrow night and don’t leave. At 1:00 AM, I’ll take you to the highway station on my bicycle!"
Huai Yu instantly widened her eyes, but what she felt wasn’t pleasant surprise, but sheer shock. "Uncle Zaozi, how long does it take to ride a bike from here to the highway station?"
Uncle Zaozi thought for a moment. "There’s no one around at night, but carrying you will slow me down a bit... To the nearest East District highway entrance, it should be about an hour and forty minutes."
Huai Yu was speechless. Thank goodness she wasn’t the one pedaling.
She nodded emphatically. "Okay! I’ll definitely be there! But Uncle Zaozi, can you pick me up at Flower City Hospital?"
She figured it would be safer to sleep at the hospital at night.
"No problem," Uncle Zaozi agreed readily, adding an explanation, "I was going to pass by there anyway. Under normal circumstances, taking the bus first thing in the morning is the most reliable way to get there.
"But since you live in the Rose Corridor, I figured you wouldn’t be too interested in ordinary goods. Let’s go see what kind of good stuff pops up in the middle of the night.
"But be careful—mutant creatures are much more restless at night, so you need to stay on high alert."