Chapter 13 – 200 Points!
“Grandpa… Grandpa Li…”
In his sleep, Old Li heard unfamiliar voices calling near his ear. His mind was groggy, and his consciousness kept wanting to sink deeper.
However, a faint energy was continuously emanating from his heart, sustaining his life force.
After an unknown period, he hazily opened his eyes.
Old Li first saw the familiar scenery outside his home. Then, turning his head, he saw the cheerful and bright smile of a young boy.
“Grandpa Li, you’re awake!”
Tang Yu’an said happily, “We’ve arrived at your home. How do we get inside?”
Old Li’s home was in the same residential area as Granny Guo’s. Tang Yu’an had previously marked it, so they found it very precisely. What would have taken an hour or two on foot, they reached in less than half an hour.
But as for how to get inside specifically, they needed Old Li’s guidance.
Old Li looked at Tang Yu’an, his memory somewhat fragmented. After a moment, he shakily raised his hand and pointed to a large stone by the roadside.
“Beside it… there’s a mechanism…”
Under Old Li’s direction, Tang Yu’an quickly found an iron rod next to the big stone. With a strong pull, the stone moved aside, revealing a rope ladder behind it.
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but widen his eyes, curiously leaning in to take a look.
“My home… is up there…”
Perhaps to guard against mutant creatures, both Old Li’s and Granny Guo’s homes were built at high elevations.
Tang Yu’an climbed up the rope ladder first. With the aid of the Lightness Technique, he easily reached the top. After pushing open a stone slab, he saw a fairly spacious room.
Compared to Granny Guo’s “plantation,” Old Li’s home looked more like a human dwelling.
Not only were there doors and windows, but also some simple furniture, and even a kitchen. The kitchen had a stove—the kind that burns firewood.
It was daytime now, so the indoor lighting was sufficient, and there was no need for additional light sources.
Zhou Qi also climbed up carrying Old Li, placing him on the wooden bed inside the house. He looked around the cluttered room and couldn’t help but frown.
A clean and tidy environment is conducive to recovery; otherwise, the wounds could easily become infected.
He first helped Old Li sit on a chair, then began to tidy up his bed.
“I’ll help too!”
Tang Yu’an found a broom and swept the floor around the bed.
Old Li’s bed wasn’t particularly dirty, just piled with a lot of miscellaneous items. After moving them elsewhere, Zhou Qi wiped it down with alcohol.
“Grandpa Li, where are your clothes?”
Hearing the question, Old Li, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, opened them again. After a moment’s thought, he sluggishly pointed under the bed.
Underneath were two wooden boxes. Zhou Qi pulled them out and opened them, taking out a set of clean clothes. He then removed the old, mud-stained clothes from the old man, helped him change into the clean ones, and finally laid him back on the bed.
While doing these tasks, Zhou Qi’s movements were quick and practiced. Because, during the last few months before his grandmother passed away when she was bedridden, he had taken care of her in this way.
Lying on the bed with a quilt covering him, Old Li finally felt a trace of warmth in his cold body.
He was really saved…
Old Li finally felt a sense of reality in his heart. He turned his head to look at Zhou Qi, just about to thank him, when Tang Yu’an came over holding a cup of hot water.
When they left home in the morning, Tang Yu’an had prepared hot water. Since it had been stored in his portable warehouse, it was still boiling hot.
He poured a cup, added salt and glucose to replenish electrolytes and energy for Old Li. After stirring until it dissolved, the water temperature had also cooled down.
“Grandpa Li, have some water first.”
Zhou Qi helped Old Li sit up, letting him lean against the bedhead. Tang Yu’an carefully fed him the drink.
After finishing the cup of glucose-saline water, Old Li finally recovered his strength. Although he was still very weak, at least his hands and feet were no longer cold and trembling.
“Grandpa, how are you feeling?” Tang Yu’an asked.
Old Li’s face showed no expression. He was a solitary and silent old man. Even facing the two teenagers who had saved his life, he didn’t show much enthusiasm or gratitude.
He nodded slightly, looked at Tang Yu’an, then at Zhou Qi, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Then, he silently pointed to the old clothes that had been changed out of, indicating for Tang Yu’an to bring them to him.
“You want this?”
Tang Yu’an picked up the dirty clothes and handed them to him. He saw the old man rummage through the clothes, finally pulling out a small pouch from a hidden pocket.
He shakily extended his hand, handing the pouch to Tang Yu’an.
Understanding his intention, Tang Yu’an said, “Because we saved you, you want to give this to us?”
Old Li nodded, murmuring an “Mm.”
Tang Yu’an thought for a moment and reached out to accept it.
The emergency rescue mission hadn’t been completed yet; he needed to make at least one transaction with Old Li. Since the old man had offered proactively, he didn’t need to find an excuse.
Moreover, the pouch was so small; it probably wasn’t anything particularly valuable, right?
[You have completed a transaction with a new customer and made a profit. Credits +200, Experience +3]
[Congratulations on completing the normal mission “Emergency Rescue.” Credits +20, Lucky Wheel Spin ×1]
Tang Yu’an: 0.0
What kind of valuable item is this? Such a tiny thing is worth 200 credits!
Curious, Tang Yu’an opened the pouch and poured out its contents, discovering a blue crystal about the size of a fingernail.
The crystal’s surface was irregular, feeling cool to the touch and very comfortable.
When Tang Yu’an took out the crystal, Zhou Qi, who was standing beside him watching, suddenly had a faint red glow in his eyes.
By the time Zhou Qi came back to his senses, he had already grasped Tang Yu’an’s hand, snatching the crystal away.
Realizing what he had just done, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but feel a chill.
What just happened to him?
Why did he grab this crystal?
Since the red glow in his eyes was fleeting, Tang Yu’an didn’t notice anything unusual. In his view, if Brother Qi wanted the crystal, then he could have it.
Having just earned 200 credits, Tang Yu’an looked at Old Li with a much warmer smile.
“Grandpa Li, do you know Granny Guo?”
Old Li was startled, then nodded.
“What a coincidence!”
Tang Yu’an took out the fruits they had traded from Granny Guo, showing them as proof.
“She… didn’t mention you to me,” Old Li said, his voice hoarse.
Tang Yu’an then made him another cup of glucose water. After seeing him drink it, he continued, “My brother only met her yesterday, and we ran into her again today.”
Old Li showed a look of realization. “So it was you… who traded salt with her?”
It seemed that when Granny Guo had visited him yesterday, she had mentioned this.
“Yes, we want to go to the town. Do you know the way?” Tang Yu’an continued.
Old Li nodded.
“Can you take us there when you’re recovered?” Tang Yu’an asked eagerly. “We’re afraid we’ll get lost if we go by ourselves, and Granny Guo said it’s better to have someone familiar lead the way.”
Hearing this, Old Li hesitated. But the boy smiled and said, “If you take us, I’ll treat you to some candy.”
He took out two small bags of rock sugar, poured out a piece, and unceremoniously popped it into Old Li’s mouth.
Old Li’s eyes widened, his reaction identical to Granny Guo’s.
As the high concentration of sugar dissolved in his mouth, the dizziness caused by blood loss was significantly alleviated.
This candy was something he couldn’t refuse.
Old Li finally nodded. “…Okay.”
“Hehe, thank you, Grandpa Li!” Tang Yu’an poured out the rock sugar, placing it on a piece of paper by the bedside for his convenience.
According to the system’s judgment, he had made another loss-making transaction.
It seemed that the grocery store system determined profit and loss based on physical goods. Actions like saving someone or leading the way weren’t considered valuable.
However, in reality, that’s not necessarily the case.
Beside him, Zhou Qi noticed that Old Li seemed sleepy. He quickly hid his unusual expression and temporarily stored the blue crystal in his portable warehouse.
He glanced at the wooden table by the bed, where several fruits were placed—apparently traded from Granny Guo.
He said, “Grandpa Li, do you need more salt? Can I trade this packet of salt for three fruits?”
Old Li looked at him and nodded. “Sure.”
He had heard about their transactions from Granny Guo; the price was indeed fair.
So, Zhou Qi put down the salt powder and took three fruits from the table.
[Employee “Zhou Qi” completed a profitable transaction with an old customer. Credits +15, Experience +1]
Perhaps because these fruits had been stored for a while and the skins were a bit wrinkled, the quality wasn’t as good as before, so the credits per item were fewer, but still pretty good.
After all, that small packet of salt was about 3 grams, which would only cost about 0.3 credits when converted.
[Congratulations on completing Weekly Task (1). Credits +10]
[Congratulations on completing all weekly tasks. Credits +50, Lucky Wheel Spin ×1]
They had also completed the weekly task of making 10 profitable transactions. Unexpectedly, after completing both weekly tasks, there was an even more generous reward!
Tang Yu’an smiled happily.
Old Li forced himself to stay awake to chat with them for a while, but finally couldn’t resist sleepiness. After telling them to make themselves at home, he drifted off again.
“Brother Qi, should we leave now?” Tang Yu’an whispered.
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and shook his head. “Let’s wait a bit.”
He stood up and walked toward the kitchen. Curious, Tang Yu’an followed behind, watching him fiddle with the earthen stove and firewood. Soon, he had a fire going.
Then, Zhou Qi took an earthen pot from the side, grabbed two or three handfuls of rice from his portable warehouse, and put it in the pot to wash.
“Brother Qi, are you making congee?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“Yes,” Zhou Qi explained. “Seeing Grandpa Li’s condition, he probably won’t get out of bed today. We’ll cook some congee and leave it by his bed so he can eat when he wakes up.”
He paused here, looking up at Tang Yu’an, and asked, “What do you think?”
“Sure.”
Tang Yu’an nodded. A pot of congee didn’t cost many credits.
But looking at the earthen pot on the fire, he couldn’t help but frown. “Cooking like this, how long will it take?”
Cooking congee directly with rice would take at least forty or fifty minutes…
Just as Zhou Qi was about to say a few words to comfort the child, he saw Tang Yu’an sneakily look outside, then reach into his portable warehouse and pull out…
A pressure cooker.
“Brother Qi, using a pressure cooker cooks faster and saves firewood!”
Seeing the boy holding the pressure cooker with sparkling eyes, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
“An An, did you empty out our home?”
