Chapter 86
“What’s going on?
Zhou Qi was also surveying the building in front of him. From the outside, it looked quite good, but since it was preserved so well, why was there no one living in it?
“Grandpa, does this house have some kind of defect?” he asked Old Li.
Old Li nodded, “Yes, don’t be fooled by its appearance; the foundation is rotten, and there are quite a few cracks in the walls. If it experiences another flood, it’s likely to collapse.”
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but gasp.
He finally understood why Grandpa Li said the reinforcement costs would be high.
For such a large building, if the entire structure needed reinforcement, it would indeed take a lot of time and effort!
Zhou Qi lightly nodded.
“This defect is acceptable for us.” Because they were originally looking for a Earth Ability User to reinforce it.
“Exactly, otherwise I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
Old Li said with a smile, “Brother Ba Shi’s skills are quite good. You can contact them through Tie Jin and get a fair price.”
“I’m heading out now.” He continued, “You go find Tie Jin.”
Old Li bid farewell to the two boys and then left.
Tang Yu’an opened the map and marked the building with the label “branch store” for easy reference later.
Then he glanced at the map and couldn’t help but exclaim softly.
“Grandpa Li seems to have gone towards the Giant Lizard Nest,” he said.
“Probably doesn’t fully trust Lin Zhan’s words, so he wants to see for himself,” Zhou Qi said.
“Shouldn’t be any trouble, right?”
Now the swimming pool was completely covered by Green Gem’s vines. Although it could control the vines to open the exit, the parts that had already grown couldn’t be retracted, making it look quite terrifying from the outside.
Given Grandpa Li’s caution, he probably wouldn’t take the risk of going inside.
Tang Yu’an thought for a moment and still issued a command in the pet panel, instructing Green Gem not to actively attack humans.
He just hoped Grandpa Li could maintain his usual caution.
“Let’s go, we need to find Tie Jin.”
Zhou Qi bent down, picked up Tang Yu’an, and headed towards Tie Jin’s house.
On the way, Tang Yu’an received a system notification.
[Employee “Chi Hao” completed a profitable transaction with a returning customer, Points +11, Experience Points +2]
[Employee “Chi Hao”……]
Wow! Did Brother Chi Hao finally make a profit?
*
When Chi Hao woke up that morning, he saw the system panel pop up.
[Congratulations! Triggered long-term task “Profitable Transaction”]
[Description: As a salesperson in the grocery store, you can conduct three valid transactions with each customer every day.]
[Task Content: Conduct profitable transactions.]
[Task Reward: During the novice protection period, you can earn 1 Point for each profitable transaction completed.]
Long-term task?
Can I earn 1 Point for each profitable transaction?
Chi Hao sat up abruptly, suddenly feeling energized.
Did the Mysterious Merchant finally notice his efforts and send him a welfare task? He quickly got out of bed and rushed out of the room.
Is trading really that simple?
He knew there was a market in Jufeng Town, but it only opened in the morning, so he needed to hurry.
Chi Hao ran to the kitchen and grabbed 20 fruits, then hurried to the market.
He really had nothing else on him; the food An’An and the others gave him couldn’t be exchanged, so he only had the fruits from the garrison.
Moreover, he knew that fruits were quite popular in Jufeng Town, and the stall owners would definitely like them.
As he was leaving, he noticed about ten soldiers lined up in a corner near the garrison exit, waiting for a boy to give them haircuts.
Chi Hao glanced at them but didn’t pay much attention and hurriedly left.
However, to his surprise, after arriving at the market, he traded with three stalls in a row and didn’t make a profit at all?
Wait, aren’t fruits supposed to be worth this much?
He traded two fruits for a pound of meat and ended up losing money? The other party was initially unwilling to trade, but out of respect for his status, they reluctantly agreed!
He then tried to trade for salt and found that he still lost money.
Chi Hao felt exhausted and returned the items, then wandered around the market while munching on a fruit.
He really couldn’t understand why, clearly salt and meat were the hard currencies in the Wasteland, yet their value was lower than that of fruits?
As the morning market was about to end, Chi Hao suddenly remembered that Tang Yu’an and the others had brought back a lot of wild vegetables during their visit to Jufeng Town.
With a mindset of giving it a try, he found a stall that exchanged wild vegetables and mushrooms, trading one fruit for two wild vegetables, unexpectedly—
[You completed a profitable transaction with a returning customer, Employee Experience Points +1, Points +1]
Hey, it really worked!
Chi Hao quickly continued, but when he reached the fourth transaction, the system notification stopped again.
He quickly remembered the long-term task prompt—each customer only has three valid transactions per day!
Chi Hao had to look for new targets.
Unfortunately, because he had wasted too much time earlier, the morning market had already ended, and the soldiers were starting to leave.
Without the soldiers maintaining order, most residents were packing up and leaving, making it much harder for him to find someone to exchange wild vegetables with.
With no other options, Chi Hao could only leave and return to the garrison.
He had to leave for the fortress today, and there was no way to participate in the market again. Perhaps he could find someone to ask on the mountain path.
Thinking about needing to buy a house for Tang Yu’an, he hurried back to find Hei Xiong and explained the situation directly.
“Hmm, the mountain lord has already instructed me,” Hei Xiong said respectfully, “I’ll take you to see the house.”
“Haha, thank you for your trouble.”
Thinking about the space privilege he would soon have, Chi Hao couldn’t hide his excitement.
“Do you have any requirements for the house?” Hei Xiong asked.
“Um, a better location would be nice.”
Considering this was a task assigned to Tang Yu’an by the Mysterious Merchant, Chi Hao speculated that perhaps the Mysterious Merchant wanted to open a shop in Jufeng Town. After all, he had spent several days in the Peace Grocery Store without encountering a single person!
How could a shop in such a remote place do business?
Thinking about how An’An had given him such a precious space privilege, Chi Hao felt indebted to him and wanted to handle this matter well.
“Preferably on the street side, in a place with a lot of foot traffic and popularity.”
Hei Xiong looked at him with some surprise.
Generally, for residential purposes, no one would want to live in a crowded area. While it was convenient for coming and going, it also meant more risks.
So such places were usually not considered good locations.
Thinking that Chi Hao came from the fortress, he might not understand the situation in the Wasteland, Hei Xiong explained it to him.
Chi Hao waved his hand, “It’s fine; the soldiers aren’t pushovers.”
Tang Yu’an has the mountain lord’s order from Hong Li, and with his sister backing him, who would dare to cause them trouble? It’s definitely easier to do business in a crowded place.
Seeing that Chi Hao was insistent, Hei Xiong didn’t try to persuade him further.
He nodded and said, “If that’s the case, there are indeed a few places to choose from. I’ll take you to have a look.”
Chi Hao followed Hei Xiong as they strolled around Jufeng Town.
In the end, he chose a house located at a crossroads, which was also the closest to the garrison.
The house was a two-story small building made of wood, clearly indicating that the previous owner was of average means and couldn’t afford a Plant Ability User to build a stone house.
“It’s a pity it looks a bit shabby…” Chi Hao said regretfully.
But after looking around, this house had the best location, so he had to make do with it.
“The previous owner was a hunter. Later, it’s unclear whether he died outside or moved elsewhere. Since he didn’t pay the fees after the protection period, the land and house were reclaimed by the garrison.”
Hearing this, Chi Hao couldn’t help but squint his eyes.
“If I take this house, I won’t have to pay a protection fee, right?”
Hei Xiong chuckled, “The mountain lord said that if it’s for you to live in, there’s definitely no charge. But if it’s for someone else… then we can only guarantee that no one will disturb you for ten years at most.”
Chi Hao nodded.
This time frame was already quite long in the Wasteland, after all, everyone lived day by day, who could guarantee they would survive for ten years?
Even his sister might not still be the administrator of Jufeng Town ten years later.
“Alright then, I’ll take this one.”
Chi Hao decided, and seeing no task completion notification, he scratched his head and asked, “Are there any procedures I need to handle? I want to transfer it to my friend’s name.”
Since there was no fee, what procedures could there be?
There weren’t many literate people in the Wasteland, and even Hei Xiong didn’t recognize many characters, so it was naturally difficult to manage things that well.
However, he didn’t voice any complaints but thought for a moment and nodded, “There are some; please follow me back to the garrison.”
Soon, the two returned to the garrison.
Hei Xiong took Chi Hao to the storeroom responsible for managing finances and had someone bring out a Land Deed.
The Land Deed had no writing but depicted the shape of the house and its approximate location, along with a number.
The paper was very rough, made by Hong Li after coming to Jufeng Town, and the pen used was charcoal.
“You just need to press your fingerprint on this Land Deed.”
This was Hei Xiong accommodating Chi Hao, creating a temporary procedure. Besides not wanting to leave a bad impression on the mountain lord, he also didn’t dare to offend Chi Hao, who had strong abilities.
Chi Hao nodded; he understood this point, but he felt that just pressing his fingerprint might not be enough…
So he said, “Please make me an identical Land Deed; one for the garrison and one for me to take to my friend. That house will be his then.”
Hei Xiong nodded, “No problem.”
Soon, the person in charge of the storeroom brought out a piece of paper and copied the old Land Deed.
Chi Hao pressed his fingerprint on both Land Deeds and then took the old one.
“That friend of mine, you should have seen him before. My sister gave him the mountain lord’s order, so please take good care of him in the future.”
Hei Xiong nodded, “You can rest assured.”
“Thanks for your trouble today!” Chi Hao said, patting Hei Xiong on the shoulder while holding the Land Deed.
“It’s no trouble at all.” Hei Xiong hurriedly waved his hand, then smiled and said, “Just say a few good words for me in front of the mountain lord.”
“Of course, I promise you!”
After Chi Hao finished speaking, he intended to leave with the Land Deed and then find Hong Li to inform her about this matter.
He also knew that Hei Xiong was accommodating him, and to avoid making things difficult for Hei Xiong, he naturally had to report this to his sister and finalize the arrangement.”
“Come.”
“Your method is quite good.”
Hong Li nodded, “Then you can take the Land Deed.”
Chi Hao had originally thought that if things didn’t work out, he would just send the Land Deed to Tang Yu’an, since Jufeng Town was only a day and night’s journey from Desolate City. He didn’t expect…
[You have completed a profitable transaction with an Old Customer, Employee Experience Points +1, Points +1]
[Congratulations! You have completed a time-limited task, assisting in the purchase of property]
[Points +100]
[The Mysterious Merchant has shared the usage rights of ‘Portable Warehouse Slot 1’ with you, details can be viewed on the panel]
Wow! The task is completed!
Not only did he gain a Portable Warehouse, but also 100 Points!
He was rich!
Chi Hao rushed over to give his sister a big hug, leaving Hong Li astonished, thinking her brother must have caught some illness.
[Employee ‘Chi Hao’ completed a profitable transaction with an Old Customer, Experience Points +1, Points +1000]
Tang Yu’an: 0.0
Receiving three pieces of System Information from Chi Hao, he fell silent again. Tang Yu’an felt a bit disappointed, not expecting to receive such a surprise after a while.
This was a full 1000 Points!
His Points balance also broke a new high, successfully crossing into the five-digit territory, reaching 10018 Points.
[Employee ‘Chi Hao’ completed the ‘Assisting in Property Purchase’ task, Points +100]
Alright, it went back down to 9918.
Tang Yu’an wasn’t unhappy; since Chi Hao had completed the task, it proved that he and sister Hong Li had successfully completed the transaction.
However, he still didn’t know the specific situation.
Fortunately, he was now granted the usage rights of Portable Warehouse Slot 1, and could contact him at any time.
At this moment, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi had already arrived at Tie Jin’s house and completed three transactions today.
The old “clothes” of Jin Lili were cleaned up and handed over to Tie Jin.
“How does it look?”
Tie Jin didn’t recognize it when he saw it, because that piece of gray-black rag had now turned dark red.
It looked clean, and aside from being old, it was completely a good piece of cloth.
Tie Jin stroked the cloth, amazed.
“By the way, the Hoe you ordered is ready. I worked overnight to finish it. Wait a moment, I’ll go get it for you to see.”
Tie Jin turned to go upstairs to get the Hoe, and Tang Yu’an tugged at Zhou Qi’s sleeve, just about to tell him about Chi Hao’s situation when the system prompt popped up.
[Slot 1: Employee ‘Chi Hao’ placed Whole Wheat Steamed Bun *1]
[Slot 1: Employee ‘Chi Hao’ placed Chocolate *5]
[Slot 1: ……]
Zhou Qi raised an eyebrow at the system prompt, “Chi Hao completed the task?”
Tang Yu’an nodded and said, “Just don’t know if he really got the house.”
The system’s criteria for determining the completion of the property purchase task was that Chi Hao had conducted a profitable transaction with Hong Li. As for whether he really got the house, the system couldn’t accurately determine that.
However, he had gained a total of 1000 Points, and with such a high return, the possibility of getting the house was very high.
“Let’s just ask and find out.” Zhou Qi took out paper and pen, quickly wrote a line, and then placed it into Slot 1 of the Portable Warehouse.
[Slot 1: Employee ‘Chi Hao’ took Sketchbook x 1]
[Slot 1: Employee ‘Chi Hao’ took Ballpoint Pen x 1]
Soon, the system prompted them again, indicating that Chi Hao had returned the Sketchbook and Ballpoint Pen to the Portable Warehouse.
Tang Yu’an felt a bit anxious, but to avoid exposure, he waited for Zhou Qi to take out the Sketchbook before they checked it together.
Chi Hao: [I can communicate like this!]
[Great!]
[Xiao Qi, I got the Land Deed for the house! You guys can take the Land Deed to find Hei Xiong, and he will take you to the house.]
[My sister said she would let you stay for free for ten years.]
“Lots of typos…”
Tang Yu’an muttered softly, then happily said, “It seems Chi Hao really managed to get the house.”
At that moment, a new system prompt popped up.
[Slot 1: Employee ‘Chi Hao’ placed Draft Paper x1]
Draft Paper? Isn’t it the Land Deed?
Zhou Qi took out the Draft Paper and saw the doodles and fingerprints on it.
“This Land Deed is too hasty!”
Tang Yu’an could only see that it depicted a two-story house, but he couldn’t understand the location information.
“We’ll know when we go to Jufeng Town.” Zhou Qi put the Land Deed into Slot 2 of the Portable Warehouse.
Tang Yu’an nodded, thought for a moment, took out a meat and egg pie from the Portable Warehouse, and asked Zhou Qi to give it to Chi Hao.
Then he quickly wrote two lines on the Sketchbook and handed it to Zhou Qi to put into Slot 1 of the Portable Warehouse.
At that moment, Tie Jin also came down with the Hoe.
“This is it, what do you think?”
Zhou Qi took the Hoe, nodded, and said, “Just need to ask Grandpa Li to help with it.”
Then he returned the Hoe to Tie Jin.
“Let’s leave it here for now. We’ll go find Granny Guo tomorrow and bring the potatoes to exchange.”
“Sure, sure.”
Although Zhou Qi could have asked to take the Hoe with him, Tie Jin would likely agree, but his arrangement was undoubtedly more considerate.
Then Zhou Qi began to talk about their main purpose for coming today.
Tie Jin readily agreed.
“No problem, I’ll take you to find Ba Shi!”
However, before leaving, he still went upstairs to find Jin Lili and said to her, “Xiao Li, Daddy is going out, you stay at home and behave, wait for Daddy to come back.”
Jin Lili looked at him and nodded obediently.
Tie Jin then patted her little head.
Tang Yu’an, who followed him upstairs, couldn’t help but look at Zhou Qi, who also showed a disapproving expression.
He said, “Uncle Tie Jin, are you really going to leave Lili alone at home?”
Tie Jin nodded, “I’m afraid it will be too hot when I come back, and she won’t be able to stand it.”
This was indeed true; it got hotter as noon approached, but leaving a little over one-year-old baby alone at home was too dangerous.
Tie Jin noticed the two boys hesitating and scratched his head, saying, “Is there something wrong?”
Zhou Qi had to explain, “It’s best not to leave such a small child alone at home; accidents can easily happen.”
“Right, right.”
With his experience of taking care of his sister, Tang Yu’an said very seriously, “There are many things at home that are dangerous for a little baby.”
“She doesn’t understand anything; if she needs to find you for some reason and goes to climb the stairs, what if she accidentally falls?”
“Even if she doesn’t climb the stairs, she could bump into something; it’s very dangerous for a fragile little baby.”
Tie Jin felt a bit guilty.
Because these days when he went out to find food, he had been leaving Jin Lili alone at home… but Lili had been very well-behaved, and nothing had happened during these days.
“Uncle Jin, you can’t take chances.” Zhou Qi said, “Better safe than sorry.”
Tie Jin looked at Jin Lili.
The little girl had somewhat messy braids and was wearing a brand new little dress. After being taken care of by him for these days, her skin had become a bit fairer, and her sunken cheeks had gained some flesh.
She was already quite cute, and now she looked even softer and cuter.
Every time he saw her changes, Tie Jin felt a sense of accomplishment, and a father’s heart was particularly satisfied.
What if something really happened to Jin Lili…
Tie Jin quickly shook his head, looking at Zhou Qi and Tang Yu’an, a bit conflicted, “Should we take her with us?”
He was still worried it would be too hot…
Tang Yu’an thought for a moment and said, “I’ll stay here to take care of Lili; you guys go quickly and come back soon.”
He felt bad about having Tie Jin take Lili out in the heat.
“That’s great!” Tie Jin said happily.
Zhou Qi frowned slightly, feeling a bit uneasy about Tang Yu’an being alone outside.
However, Tie Jin’s defenses were still quite good, and as long as they returned quickly, it shouldn’t be a big problem.
In the end, he nodded.
So Zhou Qi and Tie Jin set off towards Ba Shi’s residence.
Tang Yu’an opened the map, monitoring their movements in real-time. The map around Ba Shi’s area was unfamiliar, and he didn’t know if there would be dangerous creatures, but thinking of the three props—cat, dog, and mouse—he felt somewhat reassured.
Seeing Jin Lili sitting on the ground, tilting her head to look at him, Tang Yu’an smiled at her and then took out a box of milk again.
The little girl’s eyes lit up immediately.
She just sat there obediently; although she was very eager, if Tang Yu’an didn’t give it to her, she wouldn’t ask for it.
So well-behaved it was heart-wrenching.
Tang Yu’an took out three crystals, one wood type and two water types, and seeing that Jin Lili had no reaction, he finally felt relieved.
“Lili, let’s play a game.” He said with a smile.
Jin Lili looked at him blankly, but under Tang Yu’an’s guidance, she cooperatively completed the actions.
Before long, Tang Yu’an had completed three transactions with Jin Lili, successfully developing the little girl into an Old Customer, and earned 590 points, which was enough to cover the milk money he had secretly fed her during this time, with plenty left over.
“Lili is so smart!”
Jin Lili held the warm milk, sipping it in small gulps, but her eyes were always fixed on Tang Yu’an.
Upon hearing his praise, the little girl’s round eyes turned into crescent moons, sparkling and exceptionally cute.
Tang Yu’an looked at her and couldn’t help but take out his phone to snap a picture.
If there’s a chance in the future, perhaps he could print the photo and show it to A-Lian, letting her know that Tie Jin really cared for Lili.
Tang Yu’an waited and waited, finally seeing the light spots representing Zhou Qi and Tie Jin, returning with a green dot.
He quickly got up and ran to the window to look.
About ten minutes later, he finally saw Zhou Qi’s figure from a distance.
He and Tie Jin were walking a bit ahead, and behind them followed a tall, strong figure, along with… a dog?
He saw the man named Ba Shi, whom he had encountered on the road before, holding a fierce-looking hunting dog on a tight leash.
The dog was straining against the leash, occasionally lunging towards Tie Jin and Zhou Qi. If Ba Shi hadn’t been holding it back, it might have already pounced on them.
