radicalducati Chapter 12 The First Pot of Gold
Chapter 12 The First Pot of Gold
Jiang Yuan stared at the string of numbers on his phone screen for a long time.
Current balance: 69124.37
More than 69,000 yuan!
Even in Songhai City, a recent college graduate might be lucky enough to find a job with a monthly salary of six or seven thousand yuan, but rent will take up most of it, and after deducting other expenses, there will be very little left.
This amount of money would take a working-class family two years to save by living frugally!
He leaned back in the wicker rocking chair. The sunlight in the yard was no longer so intense, and a gentle breeze made it very comfortable.
Of the nearly 70,000 yuan, 60,000 yuan was spent by "Lan" to buy intelligence.
The remaining nine thousand or so were sold piecemeal to players who contacted him privately in need of information.
He didn't sign any exclusive agreements with anyone; he just copied and pasted the same information and sold it to as many companies as he could.
Of course, most of the people who messaged him privately didn't give him nearly as much money as Lan.
Besides Lan's wealth, another reason for this was his misjudgment of the value of intelligence.
The Frostclaw tribe's rank is too high; most players are only around level 10 or 25.
Even if the high point reaches the second order, it is not yet at a point where it is urgently needed.
Furthermore, the monsters and vegetation surrounding the Frostclaw tribe overlap significantly with those of Graystone Town.
Of all the content he posted, the only thing that could truly entice people to spend money was the hidden professions, which he himself hadn't even figured out yet.
Getting over nine thousand is pretty good.
Jiang Yuan turned off his mobile banking, then opened the loan app and paid back the 10,000 yuan he owed.
There's still a balance of nearly 60,000!
Jiang Yuan was slightly dazed.
I used to hear that rich people would spend thousands of dollars on games without batting an eye.
Although he felt that it wasn't a story, it was still too far removed from his own life.
Now that it's my turn to experience it, it's normal to feel dazed.
"Sixty thousand dollars! How should I spend it..." Jiang Yuan pondered.
He was thinking of renovating the old house and turning it into his secret base.
But we need to save the old house first.
The appraisers will arrive in four days... but putting 60,000 yuan into the 980,000 yuan hole in the old house is still far from enough.
You need to pay at least 100,000 yuan upfront to apply for a repayment extension.
"What am I thinking... This money is obviously for improving my survival skills; the other world is a life-or-death situation!"
Jiangyuan was greatly encouraged.
His successful hunt for the Greyscale Lizard made him somewhat less wary of the other world.
Since that's the case, the only way to increase my strength right now is to upgrade my weapons... Forget about guns, and the ordinary ones aren't even as good as my current crossbow...
As he was pondering, his phone beeped with a group message notification.
He set all the game groups he just joined to "Do Not Disturb".
Jiang Yuan took a look and saw the group name: 404 Macho Men's Retirement Home.
Clicking through, I saw a screenshot posted by Zhao Peng, which was a link to a QQ document titled "2026 Graduation Thesis Defense Schedule".
Three messages followed immediately below.
[Zhao Peng: The defense is in less than ten days, don't forget! @Jiangyuan]
Ding Rui: It was all prepared long ago.
[Song Zihao: Yuanzi, are you going or not? My counselor asked me yesterday if I'd found a job yet, and I said I didn't know.]
Ding Rui: Jiang Yuan will definitely never forget this.
Graduation defense... Jiang Yuan switched to another app and, sure enough, saw the message from his advisor.
My mind has been so preoccupied with otherworldly matters lately that I almost forgot about this.
He typed a few words and sent them.
[Jiangyuan: Go.]
It was, after all, the end of his four years of university—although the diploma was useless to him, he still wanted to go.
Ding Rui: I told you, jobs are hard to find these days. Jiang Yuan, if you don't get your diploma, you're doomed.
[Zhao Peng: Atomic isn't stupid; he knows what's going on.]
[Song Zihao: What's the rush for work? If you really can't make it, come work at my factory. I'll pay you 8,000 a month, with room and board included.]
Ding Rui: ...Brother Hao, you're kidding me.
[Song Zihao: Who's joking? I'm serious. Yuanzi, if you're coming, just let me know.]
Jiang Yuan didn't respond to that.
He had a flash of inspiration: he could improve his weapons by focusing on crossbows.
I switched to another app and sent a private message to Song Zihao.
[Jiang Yuan: Brother Hao, does the Falcon Archery Club have any better crossbow bolts? Not the mass-produced kind from last time, but ones with greater power and penetrating power.]
[Song Zihao: How much better do you want? Last time, you could even penetrate wild boar hide within twenty meters.]
[Jiang Yuan: Not enough, it would be best if it could be fitted with steel plates.]
[Song Zihao: ?]
[Song Zihao: Have the wild boars in your hometown mutated?]
Jiang Yuan smiled as he read the reply. He leaned back in his rocking chair, typed a few words, and sent them over.
[Jiang Yuan: My elders have high expectations, there's nothing I can do about it.]
[Song Zihao: Yes, there are. But last time it was already borderline; anything beyond that falls outside the scope of wild boar hunting, and a contract is required.]
[Song Zihao: And let me tell you, even if you could get your hands on something like that, it wouldn't cost a few thousand dollars. What kind of elder are you? Do you have that kind of influence? You're running errands for him; don't get yourself into trouble.]
If you have it, that makes things easier... Jiang Yuan replied with "Got it".
The sky outside the window began to darken, and a few scattered croaks of frogs could be heard from the distant field ridges.
Jiang Yuan got up from the rocking chair, went into the main room, ate a little something, and then went back to his bedroom to lie down and close his eyes.
There are still seven or eight hours until the cooldown of the Boundary Gate.
He planned to take a nap and wake up just in time to turn it on again.
This time, I gained a huge amount of information from entering another world, and after coming out, I spent a lot of time "floating on the forum".
Soon, he fell into a deep sleep.
In the corner, in that old ceramic pot, the luminous plant stood quietly, emitting a faint blue light.
The blue light in the veins of the leaves flickered, just like when Jiang Yuan first planted them.
What he couldn't see was that with each flicker of that cold blue light, something extremely tiny seeped out from the veins of the leaf.
It was an energy different from that of this world, silently merging into the air and slowly spreading out along the wooden beams, brick seams, and ground of the old house.
It's like a drop of ink falling into a pool of water.
……
The next day, before dawn, Jiang Yuan opened his eyes and woke up, concentrating on his thoughts.
A fluorescent blue panel appeared before my eyes.
[Gate of Realms: Cooldown 00:00:00]
"I'm all better!" Jiang Yuan rolled over and got out of bed.
Back in the main room, he bent down and picked up a black canvas backpack from the table, then picked up two other large plastic bags.
My bag was stuffed with all the food I bought yesterday.
Milk candy, chocolate, lollipops, beef jerky, cookies, vacuum-packed braised chicken legs and braised eggs...
Before the 70,000 yuan was deposited.
He originally planned to bring the snacks over in batches, gradually increasing the amount.
Now that I think about it, forget it, it's not like I'm short of money.
If that cat-eared girl can eat, let her eat her fill.
He slung the canvas bag over his shoulder, held the plastic bag in his left hand, and used his right hand to hold the crossbow.
We went to the basement.
The Gate to the Realm… His heart stirred, and a pale golden halo silently unfolded.
He stepped in.
As soon as my feet touched solid ground, that familiar cool, damp air instantly enveloped my entire body, filling my nostrils with the slightly fishy smell of rocks and water.
The stalactites overhead were jagged and interlocking, and the faint blue light of the luminous grass gathered from all directions.
Jiang Yuan looked down at his hands.
The canvas bag and the two plastic bags were also there, weighing at least 100 pounds in total.
With his current physical condition, it feels heavy to carry, but it's not strenuous.
"It seems these weights can pass through without any problem," he thought to himself.
After walking a dozen or so steps forward, before even turning the corner, the air at the bend in the tunnel ahead suddenly seemed to ripple.
Then a petite figure slowly emerged from the fading transparent outline.
Short, silver-white hair, sky-blue eyes, and a pair of fluffy, pale white cat ears standing upright on her head, the tips slightly folded inwards. Rough leather armor encased her muscular waist and abdomen, and her large, snow-white tail swayed lightly behind her.
When Hilu saw him, her eyes lit up.
"Jiang, Jiangyuan!"
Her cat ears stood straight up.
It trotted forward a couple of steps, then suddenly stopped, standing two or three steps away from him, its tail unconsciously tucking in.
"You're back." Hilu looked up at him, her sky-blue eyes sparkling, her voice filled with undisguised joy.
"Hilu thought you weren't coming back."
Jiang Yuan looked at her.
The cat-eared girl's expression showed a mix of restraint and surprise.
That's true. After spending four days in this dark and gloomy place, you finally meet someone you can talk to, and then they disappear for more than ten hours in the blink of an eye.
Anyone would be afraid that it was just an illusion.
Jiang Yuan, as if possessed, stretched out his right hand and touched one of the cat ears with his fingers.
The down is fine and soft, with a slight warmth and trembling.
The cat's ears twitched suddenly under his fingertips.
In the next instant, Xilu retreated three meters away, her back pressed against the stone wall, her sky-blue eyes wide open.
Jiang Yuan coughed, withdrew his hand without changing his expression, and raised the plastic bags in both hands.
"Come and help out, here's some food."
Hilu's gaze instantly shifted to the large pile of things on the ground.
The bag wasn't tied tightly, and a corner of the fancy wrapping paper was sticking out.
Her nostrils twitched slightly.
The cat's ears suddenly sprang up from their folded-back position, standing straight up.
The next second, she was already squatting next to the plastic bags, grabbing a bag of snacks in each hand, her sky-blue eyes shining brightly.
"What's this? And this? What is this?"
Jiang Yuan opened the canvas bag and took out all the braised chicken legs, braised eggs, and cookies, placing them on the ground.
The food quickly piled up into a small mountain.
Hilu squatted down beside her, sniffing the air, smelling one thing and then another.
Various smells filled the air.
The savory aroma of braised food, the sweetness of milk candy, and the caramelized fragrance of biscuits.
In the chilly air, these smells seemed both jarring and real.
"Take it back first," Jiang Yuan said.
The two carried their belongings back to the small stone chamber near the "Divine Mark".
The stone chamber remained unchanged.
Scattered luminous grasses crawled on the stone wall, and there were a few flat stones on the ground, which we had brought over to use as benches during our last chat.
Hilu plopped down on her special rock, grabbed a bag of braised chicken legs, and took a bite.
The packaging bag hasn't been torn yet.
Jiang Yuan took it from her hand, tore open the packaging, and handed it back.
Hilu took it, bent down and took a bite, chewed twice, and her cat ears suddenly stood up.
"This is delicious!"
Her cheeks were bulging, and before she had even swallowed, her hand was already reaching for the next bag.
Jiang Yuan opened a self-heating hot pot and placed it in front of her, then handed her chopsticks.
It took a lot of effort to teach her how to use chopsticks, but the cat-eared girl learns quickly and soon she was able to pick up food steadily.
Hilu squinted her eyes as she ate.
Every time she opens a new treat, her cat ears twitch and her tail wags.
When she tasted the chocolate, she paused for two seconds, then tucked her cat ears back, as if savoring the flavor.
Then his ears snapped up, and he quickly stuffed the whole piece of chocolate into his mouth, his cheeks puffing out like a hamster's.
Jiang Yuan then unwrapped another lollipop and handed it to her.
Hilu took it, didn't even look at it, and stuffed it into her mouth, crunching it to pieces.
A small piece of the plastic stick poked out from the corner of her mouth. She chewed it, seemed to find the texture off, pulled the stick out to look at it, and frowned.
"This is called a lollipop, you can't chew it." Jiang Yuan unwrapped one and put it in his mouth to demonstrate:
"It was licked, not bitten."
Hilu tilted her head, took out another one from the bag, tore open the wrapper, and tentatively stuck out her little tongue to lick it.
The cat's ears twitched.
She licked it again, her sky-blue eyes lit up, and her tail drew a circle behind her.
She held the lollipop, licking it little by little, her cat ears twitching with the rhythm of the licking, her expression focused, as if performing some kind of sacred ritual.
Jiang Yuan watched as she unpacked and tasted each of the foods she had brought.
Every time a new bag is opened, the cat's ears stand up and its tail wags.
When he ate the beef jerky, he said it was chewy, and Hilu really chewed it for a long time, her cheeks moving non-stop.
When she ate the jelly, she was startled by the slurping sensation and almost spat it out. Then, she seemed to taste the sweetness and sucked the half of the jelly back into her hand.
Jiang Yuan sat against the stone wall, idly unwrapping the packaging paper and stuffing a cookie into his mouth.
Hilu ate nearly half of what he brought in one sitting.
As she finished eating, Hilu patted her slightly bulging belly, her cat ears drooping limply on either side, and leaned against the stone wall.
"Jiang Yuan, you're so kind." She licked her lips and squinted her eyes.
"Hilu has never eaten anything this good before."
Jiang Yuan put the unopened bag of milk candy back into his bag and casually asked, "What do you usually eat in your tribe?"
"Dried meat, and a kind of hard biscuit," Hilu said, counting on her fingers.
"When the hunting party brought back a horned sheep, they would cut the meat into strips and dry it in the sun. In winter, they would put it in soup. The flatbread was the kind that was dark and took a long time to chew before swallowing..."
As she said this, the cat's ears drooped slightly:
"Hilu used to think that dried meat was delicious. Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem so good."
Jiang Yuan chuckled softly, and only after Xilu finished eating the last cookie and licking the crumbs off her fingers did he ask:
"Hilu, what exactly is this blessing from the moon goddess that you mentioned before?"
Hil tilted her head. "It was given to Hil by the Moon Goddess."
"...Could you elaborate?" Jiang Yuan asked.
"For example, how did you sense that power? How did you use it? Did you have any special feelings?"