Chapter 286
Ten minutes later, the loud laughter by the riverbank finally subsided.
Only then did Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi, who had taken shelter across the river, fly back. The giant, who had laughed non-stop for ten whole minutes, was now sprawled on the ground.
The riverside was a total mess—or at least that’s how it looked to Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi.
“Mr. Giant, a-are you all right?”
The two of them flew over to hover above the giant’s head. He was lying on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.
“L-let me rest for a bit first…”
The giant weakly waved his hand, looking completely drained.
After a while, he finally sat up and said, “Little guy, that ability of yours is really powerful!”
Even though it was just uncontrollable laughter, the fact that it lasted ten full minutes and couldn’t be interrupted was seriously exhausting!
“Here, have some water first.”
While the giant had been laughing uncontrollably, Tang Yu’an had already redeemed the largest available insulated tumbler—it stood around two meters tall and one meter in diameter.
When he first saw the specs for this thing, he had joked, “Who on earth would use a thermos this big? I could literally bathe in it!”
Who knew it would actually come in handy now?
He filled it with hot water, added two full pounds of glucose, and stirred until it completely dissolved, giving the drink a light sweetness.
When the giant saw the thermos, he was visibly stunned.
“Where’d you get a cup like that?”
Made of stainless steel with a plain metal finish, it looked very unremarkable—but for someone who had never seen an industrial product before, it was a fascinating novelty.
He grabbed the thermos. While it could serve as a bathtub for Tang Yu’an, to him, it still felt a bit small.
The water inside had cooled to a warm temperature. The giant took a careful sip, then his eyes lit up.
“You added honey to this?” he asked.
Tang Yu’an shook his head. “It’s sugar.”
“Sweet and tasty! I like it!” the giant said, then chugged the glucose drink down in one go.
Tang Yu’an handed him the lid and showed him how to screw it on properly.
“Once it’s sealed, the water won’t spill out. Plus, it keeps things warm for at least twelve hours.”
The giant went over to the river, filled the thermos, and tightened the lid.
“It really doesn’t leak!” he exclaimed. “This is a great item! I want one. What do you guys want in exchange?”
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but smile.
He had been thinking about how to turn the giant into a customer—and before he could even pitch anything, the giant made the offer himself!
After thinking for a moment, Tang Yu’an asked, “Do you have any psionic stones?”
He pulled out a small crystal. “Like this one.”
It was only about the size of a fingernail, but to the giant, it looked like a tiny grain of sand. He had to squint and lean in to get a proper look.
“Oh, that’s a magic crystal, right? The kind magic beasts really love.”
The giant finally recognized it and said, “I’ve got those, but not this small.”
He unfastened the pouch tied at his waist and pulled out a handful of crystals.
Most of them were water, wood, and earth types, and they were massive—the smallest was about the size of both of Tang Yu’an’s hands put together.
It was the first time Tang Yu’an had ever seen crystals this large!
“Perfect! Let’s trade—one of those for one thermos. How’s that?”
The giant chuckled, picked one at random, and handed it over, then resumed inspecting the thermos with great interest.
[You’ve completed a profitable transaction with a new customer. EXP +3, Points +99,000]
Tang Yu’an’s eyes instantly widened.
W-wait, how much?!
99,000 points!
A jumbo thermos cost 1,000 points, which meant this one crystal was worth 100,000 points?
That was 500 times the value of the crystals he was used to!
Even though Tang Yu’an wasn’t hurting for points these days, he still couldn’t help but swallow nervously when he glanced at the giant’s crystal-filled pouch.
How much is that whole bag worth…?
He had never imagined that doing business with the giant would be this profitable!
Seeing how much the giant adored the thermos, Tang Yu’an thought for a second, then spent 5,000 points to redeem 100 kilograms of glucose.
The glucose was stored in a giant glass jar with a screw-on lid. The jar itself was also jumbo-sized—2 meters wide and 1.5 meters tall.
Because the glass container was so large, there was an additional 20-point charge.
When the little guy pulled out yet another strange item, the giant temporarily set down the thermos and looked over with curiosity.
He thought Tang Yu’an was trying to make another trade—until the adorable little one said, “Mr. Giant, thank you for doing business with me. This is a jar of sugar glaze—a gift for you.”
“Sugar glaze? You mean like something sweet, like honey?”
Tang Yu’an nodded. “Just stir it into warm water, and you’ll get a sweet, honey-like drink.”
“Haha, awesome!”
Getting a bonus gift just for buying a cup had the giant absolutely thrilled. He picked up the glass jar and unscrewed the lid.
“This lid’s great too! It won’t spill either, right?”
Tang Yu’an nodded again. “This transparent stuff is called glass. It’s fragile—breaks easily if dropped, so handle it gently, okay?”
The giant agreed, then dipped a finger into the glaze and gave it a taste.
He smacked his lips in satisfaction and said, “You little guys have so many amazing things! So… what kind of creatures are you? Where did you use to live?”
“We’re human too,” Tang Yu’an said vaguely. “We were swept here by a flood and settled just across the river.”
“There are humans as tiny as you in this world?” the giant exclaimed in amazement.
“This world is vast—there are plenty of creatures you haven’t seen. That’s normal.”
“You’re not wrong.”
The giant nodded, accepting the explanation.
Before long, his eyes drifted toward the clothes Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi were wearing. “Your clothes are really beautiful…”
Compared to his own rough, stitched-together animal hides, the outfits on the two teenagers were far more refined—and their small size made them look even better.
“If you’d like,” Zhou Qi offered, “we can make a set tailored to your size.”
“Really? Great! What do you want in exchange? More magic crystals?”
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi discussed it on their message board and decided to offer a more economical deal.
“A crystal the same size as the one before can be exchanged for ten sets of clothes made from regular fabric—so you’ll have clean sets to change into.”
Even though the giant was enormous, cotton fabric was cheap. With each crystal worth 100,000 points, they still stood to earn a hefty profit.
The giant happily agreed.
Zhou Qi flew up into the air and scanned the giant’s body with his optical brain to get his exact measurements, then uploaded the data to their housekeeping robot’s chip.
The giant stood at 18 meters tall—nearly ten times their size.
Tang Yu’an brought out the construction robot to expand their perimeter fencing, then redeemed rolls of fabric and handed them over to the housekeeping robot to start sewing.
They even consulted the giant on his preferred styles, and finally settled on: Two sets of long-sleeve tops with long pants, two sets of short-sleeve tops with shorts, two vests, and one jacket.
They didn’t use only cotton either—they incorporated a few other fabric types.
The housekeeping robot started sewing with a hum and buzz.
Outside the protective barrier, the giant squatted down to watch, feeling that every item the little ones brought out was a delightful marvel.
It wasn’t until his stomach started growling that he remembered the fish he’d caught earlier and prepared to go back and cook it.
“I’m going to eat. Do you two want to join me?”
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi exchanged a look, and curiosity won out—they nodded.
The giant let them sit on his shoulders and carried the fish back to his wooden house.
The cabin was simple, only slightly better than what Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi had built before. At least the gabled roof looked solid enough not to leak in the rain.
The giant lit a fire and skewered the fish on a branch, ready to roast it over the flames.
“Mr. Giant, I think you might want to prepare the fish a bit first—it could taste even better,” Zhou Qi suggested in time.
So under his direction, the giant cleaned and prepped the fish. Then he went out to collect spices—
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi had discovered several edible and aromatic plants in the forest, and they took the opportunity to teach the giant how to use them as seasoning.
Once the fish was cooked, the giant took a bite—and a look of pure bliss crossed his face.
“Did I really make this? I’ve never eaten anything this good in my life!”
To Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi, the flavor was at best passable, but to the giant, it was clearly a revelation.
He quickly became immersed in the meal and devoured the entire fish—five or six meters long—in no time.
“You two are the most knowledgeable, most intelligent beings I’ve ever met!” the giant exclaimed as he wiped his mouth.
Tang Yu’an smiled humbly, then asked, “Mr. Giant, are you the only one living here?”
“Yes. We giants like to live alone—only married couples live together.”
He tidied up the house a bit, then sat cross-legged and looked at Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi, as if deep in thought.
Zhou Qi grew a bit wary, while Tang Yu’an asked, “Is there something you need help with?”
The giant scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. “I want to invite you two somewhere…”
“Where to?”
“Thousand-Layer Forest!” he said. “Sasa lives there. She’ll be so happy to see you.”
“What’s your name, Mr. Giant?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“Oh, I’m Shan Feng.”
The giant rubbed his hands together and said, “Once the clothes are ready, I’ll put on my new outfit and take you to see her. Sound good?”
“Why do you want us to meet her?”
“I want you to make her some new clothes too. I made her mad before, and she hasn’t talked to me since. I want to make it up to her.”
The giant looked a little sheepish. “You two are so cute—she’s bound to like you. Maybe you can put in a good word for me? Please?”
Then he untied the cloth pouch from his waist and placed it in front of them.
“If you’ll help me with this, all these magic crystals are yours!”
Tang Yu’an’s eyes lit up instantly.
That pouch had to be worth millions of points!
He almost agreed right away, but Zhou Qi held him back and cautiously asked, “Is there any danger in going to the Thousand-Layer Forest?”
The giant slapped his chest. “Don’t worry—with me there, you’ll be completely safe!”
