Chapter 50: Talent
Huai Yu hadn’t expected that just two simple transactions—or more accurately, two conversations—would lead to such a pleasant surprise. It made her hesitate a little:
“Is it okay for me to test it here?”
“No problem,” the staff member replied calmly. “This machine is a backup for the trading market. Right now, there aren’t many vendors around, but once there are more, it’ll be needed. This one is a little more precise, accurate to one decimal place…”
He placed the basket on the scale. “Test everything together or separately?”
Huai Yu nodded decisively. “Together.”
She had purified the fiddlehead ferns and wild onions herself, and even though she used a bit more regular purified water for the bean sprouts this time, testing them together was the safest option.
The machine let out a soft hum and soon spat out a card:
[Mutation Value: 9]
How should one put it—this number was rare across the whole market, but coming from Huai Yu, it somehow didn’t seem that rare anymore.
Even the staff member seemed somewhat used to it by now.
Huai Yu took the card and heard him sigh admiringly:
“Even your bean sprouts turned out so perfectly. Amazing!”
Huai Yu smiled and sincerely promised,
“Thank you all. Next time, I’ll have my brother bring some gifts over.”
The staff member waved it off:
“It’s nothing. You don’t have to bring anything—just head out through the gate. Turn right at the first intersection and you’ll be on the main pedestrian street.”
Exiting through the gate, Huai Yu found herself surrounded by rows of boutique shops and snack stalls, each with colorful signs.
It was obvious at a glance that if not for the cataclysm, this would have been the liveliest part of Flower City’s night market.
But now that things had only recently stabilized, there weren’t even many vendors yet, and the street felt quiet.
When she reached [Huaxia Golden], Boss Tang was lounging comfortably on a beanbag chair, playing video games.
The red and blue colors of the game controller and the tense background music made Huai Yu a little envious.
If she had something like that to pass the time, life would never be boring.
But for Tang Hongji, having played through his collection of hundreds of single-player games, even fighting monsters now felt like a chore.
That was until he looked up and saw Huai Yu!
In the next second, he sprang up, his round body struggling out of the beanbag like a helpless seal.
He tossed the game controller aside without even pausing the intense battle music, which quickly switched to sad funeral tunes.
But Boss Tang didn’t care at all. Instead, his face lit up with a huge grin:
“Ah! Little Sister Yu is here! Come in, come in, I’ll make you some tea—uh, it’s old tea, are you okay with that?”
Huai Yu shook her head. The water outside wasn’t clean, and she didn’t want to drink it.
Boss Tang wasn’t surprised. After all, a girl who casually sold goods with a mutation value of 9 wouldn’t care for his old tea and basic purified water.
His eyes eagerly moved to her basket:
“What goodies do you have today?”
Huai Yu set the basket down:
“Still bean sprouts. They’re really fun to grow! I soaked them myself.”
Boss Tang’s smile didn’t falter, still full of sincerity:
“I knew it! Last time those bean sprouts were so good—it turns out you grew them yourself… Incredible! You really have talent!”
Huai Yu nodded confidently:
“Yeah, my brother says so too.”
She handed him the mutation value certificate, and the bold [Mutation Value: 9] on it made Boss Tang beam even more.
This time, she had used a large wicker basket, and because the sprouts had been growing longer, some of the tiny roots had woven themselves into the basket.
When Huai Yu tried to pull them off, a few crisp bean sprouts snapped, making Boss Tang wince in heartache—
“Let me! This basket is rough; don’t hurt your hands.”
Huai Yu let go. Her tender fingers were slightly red from the effort.
Seeing this, Boss Tang became even more convinced that she came from a privileged background.
Compared to Huai Yu’s small hands, his were broad. He carefully pulled the bean sprouts off the wicker, quickly separating the whole sheet.
Since it was legumes and even a little contamination could spike the mutation value, he didn’t even rinse them—just quickly weighed them:
“This batch is bigger—six pounds and eight ounces. I’ll round it up to seven pounds for you.”
“But since the weather’s clearing up, fresh produce prices might dip a little—but don’t worry, I’m not lowering your price! I’ll still give you 60 per pound!”
420 points…
Huai Yu nodded:
“Okay.”
Boss Tang had many good qualities, and being straightforward and generous was one of the best.
She liked that a lot.
Compared to before, this transaction was even faster. Holding her 420 points, Huai Yu returned to the street. First, she picked out an ultra-light chest sling bag.
The dark green sling bag was second-hand, but only cost 10 points and could perfectly fit her notebook.
Then she made a few more purchases:
1/ A properly-sized purple-red duvet cover (25 points)
2/ Two towels
3 /Five bottles of water purifying tablets
4/ One large spoon
6/ A pack of yeast
7/ A hand-woven strainer
8/ Baking soda
9/ A rolling pin…
After stuffing all these into her basket, she had just over 300 points left.
The bike pump she wanted cost 50 points. After hesitating, she decided not to buy it yet.
However, she did find a second-hand, four-hole fishing trap for 45 points—and snatched it up right away!
Now she only had 280 points left.
Checking her notebook, she saw that she had almost bought everything urgent, so she shifted her focus to food—
“Boss, five pounds each of the cheapest rice and flour.”
After this big purchase, she was down to just 180 points. And she still hadn’t bought the one big thing she really wanted to ask about…
“Uncle Date?”
She was surprised:
“Why are you setting up a stall again?”
The man sitting on the ground looked frustrated:
“Just call me Uncle. Anything but ‘Date.'”
“Oh.” Huai Yu squatted down to look at what he was selling:
“Are these… carrots? Is this what mutant carrots look like?”
“What mutant carrots?” Uncle Date said, annoyed.
“This is ginseng! Look carefully! Wild ginseng! Very nourishing!”
But the ginseng was barely as thick as her pinky, and the leaves had changed a little too, making it really look like a carrot.
Though honestly, in these times, good carrots and ginseng could be equally valuable!
Huai Yu glanced at him:
“What’s the mutation value on this?”
Uncle Date hesitated:
“Uh… 23…”
He looked at Huai Yu and suddenly grew wary:
“And you can’t sample it! Anyway, if the mutation value weren’t a bit high, someone would have bought it already—I wouldn’t have to be out here selling it.”
