Chapter 5: Junk Food
This was a milk tea shop.
Milk tea, just like in the world before Mu Lantu transmigrated, was widely considered junk food by many.
Mu Lantu knew milk tea wasn’t healthy, but he still wanted to drink it. It was the same kind of mentality as someone who had just recovered from a serious illness and immediately went on a revenge binge of everything they had been forbidden to eat.
He bought a cup of strawberry milk tea and a cup of chocolate milk tea, then stood by the roadside waiting for a taxi. One sip of the strawberry milk tea—the sweet and creamy taste was a delight to his taste buds.
The black-and-white dumpling stretched out its neck, nose leaning close to the straw, as if it could actually smell the drink.
The taxi driver shouted, “A panda?!”
Mu Lantu got into the car with the dumpling and explained smoothly, “It’s an electronic pet.”
The driver chuckled calmly, clearly not one to be easily shocked. “I figured. Nobody in our Jasmine Country would dare to openly walk around with a real panda. But technology these days is something else, huh? Electronic pets look this realistic?”
Mu Lantu glanced at the panda clambering energetically around the seat, speechless. If he didn’t already know it was an electronic pet, he’d be skeptical too. The mischief and behavior—it was practically indistinguishable from the real thing.
Fortunately, the driver wasn’t actually expecting a reply.
“Hey, good-looking, where you heading?”
“Do you know any place where you can sell/buy raw jade?”
“Of course I do!” The driver swiftly made a U-turn. “There’s no place in the whole of the Capital I don’t know. If you want something nearby, there’s Weijia Garden. Further out, there’s Furong Street. Lots of jade raw stone shops. Up to you.”
“I’m good with whatever.”
Without another word, the driver took Mu Lantu to Furong Street. Including traffic, it took nearly an hour.
Mu Lantu made a mental note to never again say things like “whatever,” “up to you,” or “I don’t mind.”
Furong Street was the largest wholesale market for raw stones in the Capital. About 70% of the shops lining the street were jade stores. Although it was located in the outskirts of the city and somewhat remote, the market was huge and thus remained bustling. People came and went along the street and inside the stores—some were restless locals, others out-of-town buyers or tourists.
The weather was nice too—spring warmth in the air.
Mu Lantu tossed his empty milk tea cup in a trash bin before entering. He had powered off the dumpling and stashed it in a tote bag he bought along the way.
Ding ding dong, ding ding dong…
Mu Lantu pulled out his phone. The screen showed: “Mom.”
He answered naturally, “Hi, Mom.”
“Lantu, did you get your diploma?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“Good. Did you buy your ticket? What time does it arrive? I’ll have your brother pick you up.”
The original plan was that since it was hard to find a job in the Capital, he’d go back home instead. Mu Zhenguo and He Cuifang (his parents) thought the same. They had some connections back home, and with a bit of money, they could probably land him a decent job. But now that Mu Lantu was here, those plans were clearly going to change. Still, visiting home to see his parents was necessary.
“No need, Mom. My brother’s busy with work. I’ll probably get a ticket for tomorrow and take a cab back.”
“Alright, do what you think is best. Just be careful, take care of your phone and wallet, and make sure you call me or your dad when you get on and off the train.”
“Got it.”
Right after he hung up, another call came in. This time it was Li Guangchao, his booming voice nearly rattling Mu Lantu’s brain.
“Lantu! When are you coming back? I’m heading to the airport soon.”
“I’ve got something going on and won’t make it back in time. I’ll wish you a safe journey and success in advance.”
“Ah, I was hoping we could meet one more time before I left. Out of the four of us in the dorm, you’re probably the last one still on campus. Alright then, bro, stay in touch!”
“Definitely.”
As the call ended, Mu Lantu had just walked up to the entrance of a raw stone shop. Firecracker scraps littered the ground, not yet cleaned up. A few red banners hung above the doorway, with congratulatory messages claiming that so-and-so had struck it rich at this store—though it was unclear if they were true.
The shop was spacious and bright as day inside. Raw stones of all shapes and sizes covered the floor and shelves. Some were bigger than a millstone, others smaller than a fist—some plain and ordinary like river stones, others dazzling and vibrant like works of divine art. Especially the semi-transparent ones, with bright green cross-sections silently hinting at greater value hidden within—very tempting.
The number of customers inside was moderate, some standing, some crouching, all intently selecting stones. Some were clearly experienced—fully equipped, skilled, and chatting knowledgeably with others. Some were obviously rookies, inspecting stones from every angle, hesitant and unsure.
The shop assistant behind the counter played on his phone, only occasionally glancing up. A stone-cutting master sat bored nearby, smoking, surrounded by rock fragments and dust around his cutting machine.
[Host, do you know how to choose?] 005 figured he didn’t. After all, it had accompanied him in both worlds and knew exactly what skills he possessed—and gambling on jade wasn’t one of them.
[Nope.]
The system choked for a second. Classic. That was exactly its host—utterly unapologetic even about what he didn’t know.
[I don’t need to know.]
Mu Lantu circled the shop twice and then left. On the way, he passed a snack stall and spent six yuan on two grilled sausages.
Starch-filled sausages—junk food cousins to milk tea.
He walked for a while before entering another raw stone shop. He crouched by a pile of stones, munching on sausage as he browsed.
The system observed carefully and came to a conclusion: this shop was bigger than the last one, and there was one more stone-cutting master than before.
That was precisely why Mu Lantu had chosen it.
More masters meant more customers cutting stones, and that implied a long-term pattern. It suggested that the success rate of cutting valuable jade here wasn’t low. So, once he swapped out one of the stones with a valuable one from his space and had it “cut open,” no one would suspect a thing.
This was the fastest and safest way Mu Lantu had come up with to make a quick sum of money.
