Chapter 62: Our Lady
Huai Yu had no idea that guests were about to arrive at her home. She was just struggling to maintain her balance while holding a heavy bucket on the bus, finally reaching her stop.
The weather had been clear for several days, and now, at noon, the market was not very crowded. After just waiting for two minutes, Huai Yu was led over by a familiar staff member.
When the bucket was opened, everyone was instantly stunned.
“Hiss…”
“Not bad, you’ve caught fish too? And this fish doesn’t seem hurt, yet it’s so obedient!”
“Exactly! A few days ago, someone brought a rabbit, and it had a broken leg and an arm—what a tough thing to deal with… So difficult!”
“Amazing, truly amazing.”
Huai Yu: …What do you mean by “obedient”? I mean, what kind of effort do you have to put in to get a fish like this?
She smiled shyly as she waited for the mutation value to appear. The machine was buzzing and spitting out data as she placed some pine pollen on it, asking curiously:
“Is fish selling well these days?”
“It’s selling well.”
The staff member tugged at his uniform: “Did you see? Big shots from the Capital have arrived, and I hear they’re bringing their families. There must be a lot of banquets in the next few days. The good ingredients have gone up in price again.”
Huai Yu wasn’t interested in the big shots from the Capital, but she did glance at the pine pollen with anticipation.
Since the big shots were bringing their families, would face masks made from pine pollen be more popular?
The testing machine spit out a card, which the staff member took and reminded her kindly:
“Make sure to ask around; don’t sell it cheap. Your fish looks good, but if the mutation value is low, it might get picked… Hiss! 11 mutation value?!”
Several people gathered around again.
They looked at the fish in the bucket, nodding knowingly: “I was wondering why it seemed so obedient… I thought it was because it was stunned… Didn’t expect the mutation value to be low.”
“How can you say that so lightly? A low mutation value means it’s surrounded by highly polluted stuff!”
“Exactly! Xiao Yu, don’t listen to him, this fish is hard to find. Don’t sell it for cheap.”
Huai Yu nodded seriously and took her things, heading straight to “Huaxia Golden” after leaving the testing station.
But today, there were two customers in the usually empty “Huaxia Golden” shop.
Huai Yu stood at the door and saw an elderly lady with graying hair, wrinkled skin, but a rosy complexion, who was pointing at things in the display case with a young girl beside her.
“Oh dear, things are so hard nowadays, and you’re still selling this electronic junk… Tsk, let me see.”
Boss Tang, chubby and cheerful, seemed to have not heard the dismissive tone in her words. He brought out a red-and-blue game console, opened it to show the starting animation.
“Life is tough, that’s for ordinary folks. But for someone like you, madam, you don’t need to worry about that, right? Playing a game to relax your mood is fine.”
“Look, this game is fun, you can easily kill three or five months with it.”
Huai Yu peeked through the door and observed. The elderly lady looked fine, her appearance wasn’t bad, but she gave off a harsh vibe.
She nonchalantly murmured, “This little person looks familiar, my son must’ve played this before…”
Boss Tang laughed heartily: “Ah, this ‘Master’s Sword’ game does have a good reputation. General Wu—”
Before he could finish, the elderly lady dropped the game console back into the box with a snap: “But I told him, this game is just electronic junk. Is that something he should be playing?”
“If I hadn’t been strict with him back then, he wouldn’t have this future now.”
Hiss!
Huai Yu secretly observed and thought, this lady sure has a sharp tongue.
She didn’t know if the game was good, she probably hadn’t played it. But with how much stock Boss Tang had, and with such a large store, it seemed to be a lucrative business.
If the lady didn’t like it, fine, but why the dismissive attitude? It felt like she was belittling others.
However, Huai Yu soon felt a bit of admiration for Boss Tang.
Despite the rude remarks, Boss Tang wasn’t the least bit upset. Instead, he took the game console back, then led the lady to another counter:
“Indeed, without you, we wouldn’t have such a thriving city… Madam, your child is a hero who left our city, and all of us remember that!”
While talking, Boss Tang noticed Huai Yu standing by the door, and his words faltered.
“What’s wrong?” The elderly lady noticed something and looked up.
When she saw Huai Yu standing at the door, dressed in old clothes, holding a large red bucket and a basket, her expression turned cold.
But after thinking for a moment, she said, “Xiao Tang, is this your customer? She looks like she’s having a hard time.”
Boss Tang kept his cheerful demeanor: “Yes, this is my sister. She probably has something good to show me…”
“Is this a customer of yours?” The elderly lady asked, her tone turning indifferent.
“Her scent is so strong, what is she carrying?”
Huai Yu’s eyes widened. She thought to herself, “I’m carrying purified pine pollen, not a bag of manure! Everyone on the bus was saying how nice it smelled!”
Why does she think it smells bad?
She felt a bit annoyed but was soon cheered up again: “I’m such a broad-minded person, why would I suddenly dislike someone? Clearly, she just happens to be unpleasant!”
With that thought, her mood lightened, and she walked in confidently, holding her bucket.
Before she could get close, the elderly lady covered her nose with a tissue.
A young girl stepped forward: “Sorry, please don’t come too close, our lady is sensitive.”
Huai Yu was even more confused. Why the fuss over pine pollen?
She shook her head, continuing into the shop with her head held high.
