noveltune Chapter 6: This low-grade wood-elemental flower and fruit is the best I've encountered today.
Chapter 6: This low-grade wood-elemental flower and fruit is the best I've encountered today.
The sky was as dark as ink, but the city lights shone as brightly as day.
The streetlights, glowing like dandelions, are arranged in rows.
Pointing to the outer perimeter of the underground market, where buildings are tall and alleys are narrow.
This place is already completely blocked.
"Come on over! Big sale on compressed biscuits, only 3 for 9.9 yuan! One biscuit is enough for a meal, and at less than 10 yuan, you're guaranteed to stay full all day. Plus, we've got a new spicy hot pot flavor, bringing you the taste of hot pot beef!"
"Don't miss out! Pure, natural greenhouse-grown organic cabbage, chives, and radishes are almost sold out! Why not buy some for your family's elderly and children to try? This truly brings out the original flavor of the ingredients!"
"Come on, come on, a big bunch of chives for 15 yuan, half the price of the supermarket, take it... Hey? Ah Qiu's selling chives again!" The vegetable stall owner glanced over casually, grinning with a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Didn't you even warn me beforehand how much you had? I'm out of stock right now!"
"Excuse me, Mr. Li, I'm not here to sell chives today. I'm going to check out the inner area." Seeing many pedestrians stopping to pick out vegetables in groups of three or five, and the owner bustling around, Jiang Qiu smiled.
"Isn't the inner area for trading cultivation-related goods?" Boss Li paused, then his gaze suddenly fell on Jiang Qiu's hand. The plastic bag contained more than ten jade-green tomatoes, their moist surfaces reflecting the light. His eyes widened instantly. "Wow, are you going in to do some big business?!"
The shout was quite loud even in the noisy street, and many passersby and stall owners unconsciously turned their heads. Even though most of them did not recognize Jiang Qiu, their eyes widened when they saw the bag of spirit fruits.
"What beautiful spiritual fruit! It could probably fetch a good price."
"Where can you find cheap supplies for spiritual practice?"
"It looks like a tree-shaped flower and fruit. I just passed by the inner perimeter, and there's a new shop that just opened today that's buying them. They're selling for at least 100 yuan a piece. There was a huge crowd of people who specialize in growing spiritual plants. It was quite lively."
"Wow, that bag is more expensive than all of my food!"
The discussion wasn't loud, but it was continuous. Jiang Qiu smiled without saying a word, then passed by several familiar street vendors, greeted them, and then slipped out of the thick crowd and went straight into the inner part of the market.
The shops here are bright and tidy, with neon lights vying for attention, as if rainbow particles are being brushed from one end of the street to the other.
What caught the eye most was a brand-new store not far away, surrounded by layers of pedestrians, with everyone talking and bustling about.
"Tsk tsk tsk, the previous person was just blindly figuring out how to grow spiritual plants. The wood-element flowers and fruits he cultivated were as barren as raisins, not even low-grade, practically inferior. How could they possibly meet the alchemy garden's purchasing standards?"
"Hey! This fruit is a standard low-grade one. Those 'buyers' from out of town would definitely want it. Holy crap... they won't even take it?"
"They are the number one alchemy garden in the county. They usually get their fruit directly from those plantations. Their standards are very high. If it weren't for the huge demand from the frontier reclamation in recent years, they wouldn't be buying fruit from us in the underground market."
"The standards are high, but even for this inferior wood-shaped flower and fruit, out-of-town 'buyers' are trying to drive down the price, offering a maximum of 70 yuan per fruit, while they have written down 100 yuan per fruit, which is almost half the price."
"But someone has to meet the standards first!"
As Jiang Qiu walked into the crowd, she focused her attention on the front row, where she suddenly saw a group of people carrying various kinds of food storage containers, all with furrowed brows as if facing a major exam. Only Qian Cheng remained calm and composed.
Perhaps because Wu Shan had given the notification in the group today, the other person stood up straight, arms crossed, a bag of low-grade fruits casually hanging from his fingertips, looking like someone about to go on stage to receive an award, full of high spirits.
"He's here too?"
Jiang Qiu paused for a moment, then seemed relieved.
The underground market is the only sales outlet for privately grown spiritual fruits. Many of the garden's long-time employees who want to sell their private goods can only come here. Usually, it is "buyers" from other places who buy them, but they only come to set up stalls when there is a market day.
And there were three gatherings in this month.
Qian Cheng clearly missed the last episode.
The inferior fruits in my hand have been kept until today.
However, it just so happened that the First Alchemy Garden, which was very wealthy, was opening its store today. This was a double blessing for Qian Cheng, who was preparing to sell spiritual fruits, so he came uninvited.
Furthermore, going to the underground market at night is something many people in county towns look forward to every day, as the flow of people is extremely large at this time, and it is normal to run into acquaintances.
Moreover, with the reputation of the First Alchemy Garden opening a shop to collect fruit, the relevant workers were naturally interested. Several interns from the garden were observing among this group of people, but since they were not familiar with each other, they did not greet each other.
You could hear them whispering—
From the corner, Zhang San sneered, "I didn't check the almanac today, and Qian Cheng is here too? Hasn't he left yet?"
Li Si frowned: "Both are level 1 pots, but our [Wood Edge Flower] is only just starting to bud, while he's already bearing fruit and selling it? Could it be that Wu Shan really transferred him to courtyard number 17 because he's capable?!"
Zhang San scoffed, "What kind of skill is that? Have you forgotten that after Wang Baisheng finished his hair growth treatment last time, you gave him all the low-grade fruits? Look closely, the fruits in his bag all have some spots; that means they've been refrigerated for too long!"
*Clap!* Li Si clapped her hands. "It really is true. Wang Baisheng is quite generous to him, giving him 17 low-grade fruits so casually. And these fruits have only developed a few spots after being frozen for so long. They probably meet the high standards of the First Alchemy Garden. This guy is going to make a fortune!"
Zhang San said indignantly, "After all, it was Wang Baisheng who cultivated it in a top-grade level 1 pot. If it were Qian Cheng himself, he definitely wouldn't have the ability to cultivate such good fruit!"
Everyone's eyes burned with envy, wishing they were the ones who had brought out those inferior fruits.
However, the next second, the young clerk shook his head and said confidently, "The original quality should have been quite good, but unfortunately the refrigeration and preservation methods were poor, and it has been left for too long. It is no longer fresh, so we won't accept it."
A collective sigh of regret rippled through the crowd. Zhang San and Li Si were taken aback, exchanged a glance, and chuckled to themselves: "Hey, the First Alchemy Garden didn't take it."
At the counter, Qian Cheng frowned: "Even if it's not fresh, it hasn't lost much of its essence; it's still of higher quality than most inferior fruits!"
The young clerk nodded: "That's right, it fully meets our park's acquisition standards, but it doesn't currently meet the store's acquisition standards, I'm sorry."
These words caused an uproar. Qian Cheng stood rooted to the spot, his smile gradually fading as he clenched his fists. "Isn't this supposed to be the purchasing agency of the First Alchemy Garden? How come they're setting their own purchasing standards!"
"Don't misunderstand, this shop does represent the First Alchemy Garden and purchases various spiritual fruits from the underground market. However, it is not for purchasing spiritual fruits for mass production line alchemy. Rather, it is for purchasing spiritual fruits specifically for the garden's expanded recruitment of trainee alchemists this year. The standards are naturally higher to facilitate the training of excellent alchemists."
Upon hearing this, Qian Cheng's face turned ashen. A surge of shame and anger welled up in his chest, completely erasing the joy of being "valued" by Wu Shan. Yet, he dared not speak out, clenching his fists as he retreated, his face utterly humiliated.
Several familiar interns from the crowd came up to him, chattering: "Brother Qian Cheng, if they don't want to buy it, they don't have to. It's not like we can't find buyers for such good fruit. Those out-of-towners are just offering lower prices."
Qian Cheng raised his chin slightly, remaining noncommittal: "Hmm, they don't even want the ones Brother Wang cultivated. How many truly qualified fruits will they receive tonight... hmm?"
"Holy crap, isn't he also an intern at our Ninth Plantation? Has he met the requirements?" A sudden exclamation rang out from behind, like a thunderclap, shaking the entire area.
Qian Cheng stood there, stunned. He and several interns around him turned around at the same time and were surprised to see a somewhat familiar intern standing in front of the counter.
The other person was also carrying a bag of spiritual fruits, the surface of which was covered with dew, which highlighted the plump texture of the fruits, which were green and red, and each one was shaped like a tomato and looked like green jade.
The young shop assistant, holding one in her hand, called out into the shop, "Senior Sister Zhao Nan, this low-grade Wood-Fate Flower Fruit is the best we've found today. Would you like to buy it?"