Chapter 202: Chapter 169: Great Harvest
It was no wonder Uncle Zaozi had such speculations. The facts simply pointed that way!
The first time they met, it was over that mutant green jujube. The second time they got acquainted, it was over the mutant ginseng. The third time was Chen Xing’s mutant peaches, and now, this mutant bullfrog...
Which one of them didn’t have an absurdly high Mutant Value?
If they could be sold for even one more point, the exploration team wouldn’t have just tossed them to the side of the road. After all, they had risked their lives to bring these back!
Moreover, as someone with experience, Uncle Zaozi knew that even dogs wouldn’t eat this stuff. So what did Huai Yu want it for?
He thought about it again and again, ultimately arriving at a logical explanation—she lived on the edge of the Rose Corridor, so offering tributes to the Rose Corridor was only to be expected!
Huai Yu nodded repeatedly, "...Yeah, yeah, yeah! Uncle Zaozi, you really know your stuff!"
After packing the more than thirty pounds of ice blocks into a large plastic bag, Uncle Zaozi looked quite proud of himself. "Of course! Just look at my age—I’ve been around the block a few times! Just leave this stuff here, nobody’s going to steal it... Oh! They’re bringing out more good stuff!"
The two of them hurriedly followed the crowd and squeezed forward. Even though they knew they wouldn’t be able to see anything, they were already there; not joining the crush would make them feel left out.
Someone inside shouted loudly, "Live pet! One mutant monkey. Docile personality, lazy and gluttonous. It has a zoo tag on its foot—suspected to be a monkey that fled from the zoo to the Wilderness during the initial mutation.
"Mutation direction—braiding hair!"
"That’s right!" A team member picked up a pile of grass and leaves from the cage to show everyone. "It knows eighteen different types of braids."
A disappointed sigh rippled through the crowd.
As the person in the middle used their Superpower to lift a small cage high into the air, the scruffy-looking monkey inside clung to the bars and swung back and forth, occasionally scratching itself out of boredom. It was clearly very accustomed to such crowded spectacles, perhaps even enjoying it.
Uncle Zaozi sighed as well. "Alas, our Flower City is still too small. All the rich folks are in the Imperial Capital. Otherwise, this mutant monkey would definitely sell for a lot of points!"
Just as he predicted, no one in the crowd offered a bid.
But Captain Zhao didn’t panic in the slightest. He was actually quite pleased with the mutation direction detected by the live scanner! Braiding hair was great. With a skill like that, wealthy families would buy it as a pet and playmate for their daughters. It would be an easy sell!
So, someone quickly took the cage back into the vehicle and began taking proper care of it.
Huai Yu had really broadened her horizons this time. She kept her eyes glued to the scanner, feeling like there could be a surprise at any moment.
And sure enough!
"Five mutant pheasants! Mutant Value: 26!"
Gasps echoed around.
Such a high value shocked everyone. The team member standing to the side froze for a moment before bursting into curses. "Isn’t it supposed to be the higher the Mutant Value, the better they can fight? I just set a simple snare and these things bled to death... How exactly are they good at fighting?"
Because they were caught so easily, the team had been overjoyed, thinking they would fetch a good price! They had even used ice to keep them fresh; the Superpower User responsible for freezing the ice blocks was about to cry from the injustice of it all.
Meanwhile, Huai Yu was so happy she was about to faint. She wanted to jump up and scream, "Me, me, me! I want them!"
But this time, they refused to help her carry the goods. With a bleak expression, the team member just jutted his chin toward the pile. "Move ’em yourself."
Huai Yu pulled Uncle Zaozi over, only to see that these mutant pheasants were as big as ostriches. Just three of them piled together almost formed a small hill!
She was instantly plunged into ecstasy. If it weren’t for the crowd around her, she would have absolutely started screaming, running, and jumping for joy. No wonder Uncle Zaozi loved staking out the highway intersection so much! There were so many good things to be found!
She wanted to come back tomorrow!
However, this time, the plastic bags Uncle Zaozi brought weren’t enough. He had to sacrifice his own gunnysacks. At the same time, he found a guy riding a tricycle and nudged his elbow. "Got any extra gunnysacks or plastic bags? Sell me a couple."
The man instantly beamed. "Highway markup. Plastic bags are four points each; gunnysacks are twenty."
Uncle Zaozi was immediately displeased. "Even with a highway markup, you shouldn’t raise it that much! Two points! I’ll let you make a little profit."
"Bullshit! See this? These are high-quality supermarket plastic bags! Four points, no bargaining!"
The two haggled back and forth, eventually settling on three points—but Uncle Zaozi didn’t hand over the money. He wasn’t sure if he’d manage to snag any good stuff today! He would only buy the bags if he found something; otherwise, wouldn’t it be a loss?
Huai Yu was speechless. She had originally wanted to offer to pay, but seeing this, she realized there were entirely different ways of doing business at the highway station.
Noticing her gaze, the tricycle owner grinned. "Miss, this stuff is really heavy. Need me to deliver it? Delivery anywhere in the city for fifty points! The exact price depends on the distance." He patted his chest proudly. "Don’t worry, I’m a very honest guy!"
"Really?!" Huai Yu exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "If we use your tricycle, I can give this sack back to Uncle Zaozi!"
Since everything was already frozen into square blocks with ice, they could be easily stacked in the tricycle.
The tricycle owner was speechless. For someone so young to be so calculating—it really wasn’t right!
"Also, if you deliver anywhere in the city, does the Rose Corridor count?" she asked earnestly.
The tricycle owner instantly looked depressed. "Bargaining is one thing, but don’t give me a fake address!"
"It’s true!" Huai Yu insisted sincerely.
Although taking the bus with two transfers might only cost four points, she had so much stuff. A tricycle might be slow, but she wouldn’t be tired at all! Now that she was the wealthy Little Yu, possessing 14,996 points, she ought to be a bit more generous and treat herself better!
More importantly, she had scored mutant bullfrogs and pheasants today... Let alone fifty points, as long as she could get home faster, Huai Yu would willingly part with eighty points!
But thinking about it, she corrected herself, "Do you know there’s a Defense Army Camp in Zone 69 by the Rose Corridor? Just drop me off at the nearby bus stop. You won’t have to get close to the Rose Corridor."
"Oh, oh, oh!" The man instantly understood. "You should’ve said you were a relative of the Defense Army sooner! But that place is still close to the Rose Corridor. Fifty won’t cut it, it has to be eighty!"
Huai Yu instantly retracted her previous thought—eighty points was still very expensive.
The tricycle owner still looked conflicted. "I’ll be driving back with an empty cart. There’s still some risk involved..."
Huai Yu immediately understood the subtext. It was time to haggle!
So, she also got into character. "You can’t say it like that. Your tricycle is pedal-powered—it’s so slow! Plus, other people only make a hundred or so points a month right now, but you’re making half a month’s wages in a single trip..."
"This isn’t an ordinary tricycle! The front has been modified with variable speeds..."
The two of them went back and forth, eventually settling on fifty-five points.
Uncle Zaozi, who had actually been to the Rose Corridor, pondered the deal. Fifty-five points was expensive, but pedaling a tricycle there would take four hours. Factoring in rest breaks, it would probably take five hours.
That was about right! It was almost three o’clock right now!
Looking at the ice blocks on the ground, he suggested, "How about this? Load the pheasants and bullfrogs onto the cart first and let him head out directly!
"Little Yu, you wait until dawn and catch the six-thirty or seven o’clock bus. It’s much faster! You might even get there before him."