Chapter 157
After settling the Star-fruit seedlings, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi returned to the Peace Grocery Store.
The juicer had been upgraded to the gray-blue furniture series. Besides being 100% silent and more powerful, it also gained a special feature:
As long as fruit is placed in the juicer for over 12 hours, it automatically ferments into the corresponding wine.
“Wow, does this mean we can brew beer now?” Tang Yu’an exclaimed in delight.
The beer stock at home was nearly depleted by the house spirit, Bobo. Since high-tech furniture upgrades required beer, being able to brew their own would solve the problem!
Hearing this, Zhou Qi nodded. Sure enough, any “random chance” special effect for Tang Yu’an was practically a guaranteed trigger.
“Let’s give it a shot,” he said.
Zhou Qi started soaking some wheat, preparing to try the juicer once it softened. Meanwhile, he went to prepare dinner.
Tang Yu’an took a look around the house and decided to upgrade the sofa. The upgraded version would come with a massage mode, and he was excited to see what that would be like.
The furniture spirit, Bobo, appeared in a cloud of gray-blue stardust and began working.
Tang Yu’an smiled as he watched, snapping a few photos before checking his points account:
Points Balance: 72,123.
His employees had earned him over 10,000 points today, and since he’d only spent small amounts, nearly all of it was saved.
So satisfying!
Happily, Tang Yu’an closed the interface and started cleaning the house. After completing his daily tasks, he used his earned chances to spin the Lucky Wheel.
The pointer spun quickly and finally landed on…
[Congratulations! You’ve received a Daily Task Refresh Card.]
Well, no new items or skills, but the refresh card was decent. With fewer new customers in Jufeng Town, there’d be plenty of use for it in the future.
Before long, Zhou Qi emerged from the kitchen with a pot of fish porridge.
Chi Hao, who had been out foraging, managed to catch a big fish before sunset and handed it to Zhou Qi via the storage system.
Thanks to this, they had fresh fish porridge for dinner.
The tender fish, with its freshness enhanced by ginger to remove any fishy smell, paired perfectly with the creamy rice porridge—it was a gourmet delight!
“Brother Qi, your cooking skills are getting better and better!” Tang Yu’an said with satisfaction, while Chi Hao was already boasting on the message board.
[Message Board (Public Channel)]
[Greenish Blue]: Had fish porridge today, absolute perfection!
[Cloud Eagle]: How do you cook fish without it being fishy?
[Greenish Blue]: No idea.
[Handsome Zhou]: Add ginger.
[Cloud Eagle]: What’s ginger?
[Handsome Zhou]: A plant’s root.
The discussion continued on the message board, but Zhou Qi wasn’t much into chatting.
After dinner, he returned to his books to study.
[Handsome Zhou]: Time to hit the books.
[Lu Wei]: Senior, which subject are you studying now?
[Handsome Zhou]: Physics, second semester of high school.
[Lu Wei]: Wow, amazing…
At a lakeside in the wastelands, Chi Hao, who was eating roasted fish after his porridge, glanced at the message board and sneered.
High school physics? Is it that hard?
But… what even is physics?
Confident he had already learned everything, Chi Hao hadn’t paid attention to the course exchange section since completing his tasks.
Now his curiosity was piqued. He opened the “12-Year Compulsory Education” menu.
The first- and second-grade courses were unlocked, but the next ten years were still grayed out. Scrolling through, he found high school marked as the third-to-last stage.
So, it was an advanced course?
Intrigued, Chi Hao noted the price—only 10 points—and redeemed it without hesitation. The system promptly responded:
[According to the Mysterious Merchant’s rules, employees attempting to skip levels must first pass a test. Only upon passing may the course be redeemed.]
[Begin the junior high test?]
Chi Hao blinked. A test?
It couldn’t be that hard, right? Back in the fortress’s ability school, he aced everything. This would be a piece of cake!
“Alright, bring it on!”
He finished his roasted fish, stretched lazily, and found a comfortable spot to sit before starting the test.
[The junior high (middle school 6-9 grade) curriculum covers nine subjects. You must pass all nine tests.]
[Randomly selecting the first subject: Junior High Mathematics.]
[Test begins. Complete all questions within 60 minutes.]
Chi Hao started confidently. The first question was easy, and he quickly clicked his answer.
By the third question, however, his expression grew serious.
Slowly, his relaxed posture became upright. He leaned forward, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Soon, the 60 minutes were almost up.
When the countdown alert sounded, Chi Hao snapped back to reality. He had never felt time pass so quickly!
He hastily wrote down his answers, but by the time the countdown ended and the test interface closed, he was utterly drained, lying flat on the ground.
Even so, he had only completed less than half the questions. He didn’t even have time to glance at the rest!
What the heck? These questions were insane!
He could barely understand the prompts! Could the test creators solve these themselves?
[Your score for the “Junior High Mathematics” test: 2 out of 100.]
[You did not pass this test. Would you like to attempt another subject?]
Chi Hao stared at the “2” on the screen, his face alternating between pale and flushed. He even suspected those two points were pure luck from random guessing.
Recalling the tense and nerve-wracking experience, Chi Hao hesitated for a moment before decisively selecting [No].
Too terrifying!
He’d rather face a mutated tiger than take another test like that!
Sitting by the campfire, gazing at the starry sky, Chi Hao couldn’t resist opening the message board.
[Message Board (Public Channel)]
[Greenish Blue]: Eastern Sweet Tang, what lesson are you studying now?
An An and Zhou Qi were senior employees who had been using this grocery store system much longer, so their learning progress should be ahead, right?
As expected…
[Eastern Sweet Tang]: I’m studying the first semester of junior high. Today, I reached Unit 2!
Junior high?
Chi Hao perked up. If An An was just starting junior high, his leap to high school had indeed been too ambitious.
So, he selected the junior high curriculum and was unsurprised when the system prompted another placement test.
This time, he needed to pass the elementary school test first.
Determined to redeem himself, Chi Hao couldn’t believe he’d fail an elementary-level test.
Yet, as the test began, he approached it with much more seriousness. However, his efforts seemed futile because…
He got math again.
Although he performed better this time, confidently solving some questions, the issue remained:
What on earth were these application problems?
Why would water flow into a tank while it’s still draining? Can’t they wait for it to empty first?
And what about the problems with chasing cars, calculating ages, and workshop efficiency? Are these really concepts elementary students need to master?
Chi Hao wasn’t entirely clueless. After careful thinking, he could figure out the answers. The real problem was…
The test was timed!
Despite rushing toward the end, he only completed 80% of the questions.
This time, his score was 56.
Chi Hao: “…”
Naturally, he didn’t pass.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Chi Hao wondered how someone who aced the Fortress Ability School’s graduation exams could score so poorly.
He started questioning his life choices.
But then he thought, at least he had gotten more than half the questions he attempted correct!
Plus, many of the questions had typos, which threw him off. That’s why he couldn’t finish in time!
With a few more tries, he’d definitely pass!
Looking at the option to continue testing, Chi Hao decisively selected [No].
It was late, and he needed rest. Definitely not because he was scared of the test!
Still…
If the elementary test was this hard, wouldn’t the junior high and high school tests be impossible?
Chi Hao shivered, wrapped himself in animal pelts, and rubbed his chin before opening the message board again.
He wanted to see how others fared on their tests, especially those besides Xiao An and Xiao Qi.
Apparently, none of the others had thought about unlocking future courses earlier. Taking advantage of the evening’s downtime, they also began testing.
An hour later…
[Pan Shi]: The test was so hard! I couldn’t even understand the questions!
[Lu Wei]: I only got 6 points…
[Cloud Eagle]: 8 points…
[Fish in Water]: Haha, I got 20 points!
[Pan Shi]: Huh, Fish in Water, are you new?
[Fish in Water]: Yep, just hit Lv5 and can finally talk!
The “Fish in Water” was none other than Lin Zhen. After days of effort and with the growing population of the Desolate City Haven, earning experience had become easier.
Finally, she had reached Lv5 earlier that evening. Seeing everyone discussing tests, she decided to give it a try.
Since she had barely attended any classes, her attempt was practically blind.
However, Lin Zhen’s experience in pharmaceutical preparation and mixing had sharpened her memory and logical thinking. Even though she couldn’t fully understand the text and had to rely on the audio prompts, she managed to solve a few math problems correctly.
Meanwhile, Chi Hao was unaware of everyone else’s progress as he continued staring at the message board. After a long wait, he finally saw the other employees’ test scores and immediately perked up.
Although he couldn’t compare to An An and Zhou Qi, he was still the smartest among the other employees!
Just as he was about to share his score, new messages popped up on the board.
[Fish in Water]: Changqing, Changqing, what’s your score? How did you do?
[Changqing]: Elementary school math, 89.
[Fish in Water]: Wow!
Eighty… eighty-nine?
Chi Hao froze in shock and silently deleted the “56” he had typed into the input box.
As the message board filled with exclamations of admiration, Tang Yu’an also joined in, sending a heartfelt “Wow.”
He genuinely admired Grandpa Li. Despite surviving in the post-apocalyptic world for so many years, he still scored 89 in a math quiz!
Tang Yu’an remembered scoring only 96 on his elementary school math test back then.
Glancing at Zhou Qi, who was diligently working on his problems, Tang Yu’an felt a pang of guilt and quickly pulled out his workbook to join in.
They might never have the chance to take middle or high school exams again, but knowledge was something they could keep forever.
If Brother Qi, who was so intelligent, was still studying hard, how could he slack off?
Later, around 10 p.m., they climbed up to the attic. Zhou Qi prepared the bedding while Tang Yu’an went to check the message bottles.
The first one he fished out was from Gan Lin—easy to recognize by its unique design.
A glowing orb floated into the air, and Gan Lin’s voice soon emerged:
“Mysterious Merchant… Mysterious Merchant… please respond! I’ve found a lot of firestones today!”
“I’m here,” Tang Yu’an replied.
Gan Lin’s tone immediately turned joyful. “You’re finally here!”
“Mm-hmm. How’s Old Mo doing?”
“Thanks to your medicine, he’s fine now. He recovered quickly last night.”
Tang Yu’an checked the map and saw that Old Mo’s light marker was still active. Out of curiosity, he asked, “How did he get injured?”
“Someone tried to steal his water, and he accidentally ran into the attack range of a mutant cactus while escaping…”
Hearing this, Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but sigh. Even living near the fortress was fraught with danger.
“But don’t worry, Old Mo is planning to recruit some help.”
Perhaps because the Mysterious Merchant had saved them several times in their dreams, Gan Lin spoke casually, almost as if they were chatting.
“Recruit help?”
“Yes, but I don’t know exactly how he plans to do it. Since we have water, it shouldn’t be hard to hire people.”
Listening to Gan Lin, Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but feel concerned.
The post-apocalyptic world was full of bad people. Thanks to the rules of nightly sanctuary, Tang Yu’an dared to rescue surrounding survivors without much screening.
But Gan Lin and his group lacked such power—one wrong gamble could lead to complete ruin.
“You must be very cautious,” Tang Yu’an warned. “Don’t recruit overly powerful ability users. Instead of protecting you, they might become a threat.”
“Mm-hmm! Don’t worry. Old Mo has sharp judgment; we’ll follow his lead.”
Beyond offering advice, there wasn’t much else Tang Yu’an could do, so he changed the topic. “What do you want to trade for today?”
“Do you still have those yellow lumps?” Gan Lin asked cautiously.
“Yes, one firestone for two.”
The fist-sized firestones weighed about a pound each and were worth around 30 points. Potatoes, depending on their size, were 20 to 30 points for two, making this a profitable trade.
“But I recommend trading for something else.”
“Is there other food available?”
“Of course. You can trade for soybeans—one firestone for 500 grams.”
500 grams of soybeans was 25 points, roughly equivalent to two potatoes. However, soybeans were more filling, easier to store, and could even be stir-fried into a fragrant dish.
Previously, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi had decided not to sell soybeans from their Hong Li trades in the dream world. But since Flame Dragon Fortress was so far away and the quantities traded were small, it should be fine.
Gan Lin had no idea what soybeans were, but he trusted the Mysterious Merchant and accepted the suggestion.
“Do you need weapons?” Tang Yu’an asked.
Although they didn’t have extra mutant metal weapons for trading, they had harvested a giant mantis scythe earlier.
A scythe was worth 60 points—not as valuable as mutant metal but still much sharper than regular blades.
He thought Gan Lin and Old Mo could use them.
Gan Lin audibly swallowed. “Do you… do you sell weapons?”
“Yes, mutant mantis scythes. Three firestones for one. Interested?”
“Yes!”
Gan Lin replied eagerly. After calming down, he added, “I’ll take two scythes. Use the rest of the firestones to trade for water and soybeans.”
“Sure.”
As the trade concluded, a system notification popped up:
[You’ve completed a profitable trade with a dreamland wish-maker: +103 points, +6 experience, +1 dream fragment.]
Tang Yu’an checked his portable warehouse, which now contained ten firestones.
*
Near Flame Dragon Fortress, in a small house.
Gan Lin woke up from his sleep with a start. Seeing Old Mo beside him, he let out a sigh of relief.
“We’ve got two bottles of water today!”
Old Mo grinned. “And a bag of beans, feels like 2.5 or 3 kilos?”
“What about the weapons?” Gan Lin asked urgently.
“Right here.”
Old Mo raised two mutant mantis scythes. Both over a meter long, their blades looked extremely sharp. The only flaw was the short handle.
“Once we lengthen the handles, they’ll be excellent weapons!” Old Mo exclaimed.
Gan Lin grabbed a scythe to test it. With a single swing, he split a stone in half.
“Hahaha, this is great! We won’t be afraid of bad people anymore!”
Old Mo nodded with a smile.
Although they still wouldn’t stand a chance against skilled ability users, most of them had already moved into the fortress. Those left outside were weaklings. With these weapons, they should be able to defend themselves.
Soon after, Gan Lin collected another firestone from outside and began roasting the soybeans and firestone together in a box.
“Old Mo, are you still planning to recruit people?” Gan Lin asked.
“Yes,” Old Mo replied. “With more people, we can gather more firestones, which means more resources to trade.”
Directly purchasing resources wasn’t feasible since they only had two decent weapons. If they were attacked by a group, they could end up losing everything.
“Tomorrow, we’ll leave this place.”
“Where are we going?”
“To see if I can find some old friends.”
The second bottle Tang Yu’an retrieved belonged to Little Hai Lan.
“Oh great and merciful Mysterious Merchant, please respond to my call! The salt in our house is about to overflow…”
For two nights, Tang Yu’an hadn’t selected Little Hai Lan’s bottle, causing their household salt stockpile to grow to over 1,000 kilos.
Their new house wasn’t finished yet, and if the Mysterious Merchant didn’t show up tonight, Hai Jing planned to dig a hole to bury the salt.
Fortunately, Tang Yu’an got her bottle today.
“What would you like to trade for today?”
“Papa said we need more blankets and food. Um… he said to let you decide,” Little Hai Lan replied.
“Let me decide?”
Little Hai Lan paused, seemingly recalling something. “Yes, Papa said to just take all the salt…”
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but laugh.
It seemed Hai Jing’s salt surplus had become a real burden. Luckily, he now had three super storage lockers, one of which was upgraded and could easily hold that much salt.
However, leaving the terms of the trade to him made Tang Yu’an a little hesitant.
He made a quick list.
With nearly 1,000 kilos of sea salt worth 40,000 to 50,000 points, there were plenty of trade options.
First, he exchanged for 18 down blankets with vacuum packaging, costing 7,200 points in total.
As for food…
[5 kilos of wheat: 250 points]
[5 kilos of sweet potato starch: 500 points]
[5 kilos of high-gluten flour: 500 points]
[2 liters of corn oil: 100 points]
[2.5 kilos of dried squid: 600 points]
[500 grams of dried scallops: 600 points]
[1 liter of milk: 50 points]
[500 grams of white sugar: 50 points]
[500 grams of chili paste: 50 points]
[100 grams of ground pepper: 100 points]
Tang Yu’an carefully selected a variety of food items, nearly filling the empty space in the attic. In total, he only spent 2,800 points.
Shopping like this was incredibly satisfying!
If not for the concern that some food might spoil over time, Tang Yu’an would have bought even more. However, with Zhou Qi’s reminder, he stopped himself.
After some thought, he added 10 kilos of hardwood charcoal for another 500 points.
Although they had down blankets to keep warm at night and didn’t need to light fires for heating, the charcoal would still come in handy for cooking during the day.
Feeling the trade was complete, Tang Yu’an finalized the deal with Little Hai Lan.
[You’ve completed a profitable trade with a dreamland wish-maker: +6 experience, +35,925 points, +1 dream fragment.]
[You received 929.5 kilos of sea salt…]
After deducting 10,550 points for the exchanged goods, Tang Yu’an’s balance soared by 25,375 points!
With his previous balance included, his total now stood at 97,601 points!
“Hooray! I’m about to hit 100,000 again!” Tang Yu’an cheered excitedly.
Seeing his joy, Zhou Qi chuckled and refrained from reminding him that the seven-day special sale would refresh tomorrow—he might as well let An An enjoy the moment.
“Last bottle!” Tang Yu’an initially wanted to grab a new bottle, but seeing his point balance, he reached instead for the pile of glowing bright drift bottles.
Hearing the voice of Little Risheng coming from the orb, Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but smile.
“Mysterious Merchant, Mysterious Merchant…”
“What do you want to trade for today?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“More rice!” Little Risheng exclaimed. “Our lord said we need to trade for 5,000 kilos today!”
0.0
Tang Yu’an nearly cheered aloud but managed to contain himself, clearing his throat instead. “Are you sure it’s 5,000 kilos of coarse rice? That’ll cost 3,000 Lanhu leaves to trade.”
Little Risheng hesitated for a moment before nodding firmly. “Yes! It’s 5,000 kilos! I won’t get it wrong!”
“Deal!”
[You’ve completed a profitable trade with a dreamland wish-maker…]
[You received 2,600 dried Lanhu leaves and 400 fresh Lanhu leaves.]
3,000 Lanhu leaves and 24,000 points, secured! (^ o ^)/
