Chapter 392

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

After Song Ling sent the message via her wristwatch, the two carried persimmons and hurried toward the collection point to the right-front.

The orange trees growing there were short, hidden among the woods and easily overlooked.

When they arrived, no one was around on either side; one tree each, so no conflict would arise.

Drip drip

"Sweet Orange, high-mutation fruit, inedible."

"Sweet Orange, high-mutation fruit, inedible."

"......"

A bad start—Shen Yao tested the oranges beside her and couldn't ship any, while Song Ling's side kept beeping nonstop, announcing edible sweet oranges.

"Girl, it's not working, change trees. There are so many trees around here for us to pick."

A glance showed a vast expanse of sweet orange trees, densely packed with orange-yellow fruit.

To be honest, Song Ling was already numb; she hadn't expected such good luck at the start. It seemed these two days they could make a fortune just from fruit.

During the fruit ripening season, prices at the Exchange Center would drop accordingly.

But compared to nutrient agents that weren't worth much, natural food like fruit was still valuable, with a guaranteed double-digit buyout price, one of the main ways ordinary base residents made money.

It turned out there were many people from Chang Le Town here, all heading for high-yield fruit.

As for whether they ate the fruit themselves or sold it for points to buy food, that was a personal choice, and Song Ling wouldn't comment too much.

"No need, I'll try again," Shen Yao said, unwilling to accept it. She wanted the system to help as a cheat and didn't even want to use the detection needle, picking the marked oranges directly by hand.

The empty back basket was filled with oranges, and once it reached a certain depth, she poured them into a hemp sack on one side.

Shen Yao went back and forth busily, and soon finished picking all the sweet oranges in her section.

At this time Song Ling also received a message from Shen Jiancheng. Shen Jiancheng, on the last vehicle, was bringing a cart and hemp sacks on his way to Chang Le Town, asking them to wait patiently.

"Sit down and rest. Here's nutrient agent," Song Ling said, pulling out a nutrient agent she'd brought and generously handing one to Shen Yao beside her.

Shen Yao shook the pink nutrient agent. Hmm, this flavor wasn't very good to drink.

"Make do for now. We'll talk after this busy period," she said. Who had time to prepare meals while out every day? Shen Yao and Cheng Qi could take turns cooking for a day, but Song Ling's family simply used nutrient agents as their daily three meals.

When Shen Yu went out, he brought only nutrient agents and nothing else.

"Mom, how about we go to the other side this afternoon? There should be a chestnut grove there."

By then, making chestnut stewed chicken would also be a change from their usual meals.

"Chestnut trees?" Song Ling tapped her wristwatch. "The ones up ahead?"

Shen Yao hummed in agreement. "Dad isn't coming over here, so let Dad guard this side. We'll just carry hemp sacks over there directly."

Chestnut trees were hard to detect without cracking them open, so to save time they had to pack everything up and take it all.

But that way, they couldn't pick other fruits, and there wasn't enough time.

Song Ling looked at the hemp sacks already piled on the ground and thought that even without picking fruit, they had enough to eat. Today's collection mission was overfulfilled, so picking some chestnuts to take back was fine too.

"I'll tell your dad. We'll go straight to pick chestnuts this afternoon."

There weren't many large wild beasts active in this area, so no matter how they walked, they didn't have to worry about safety.

The only thing to be careful about was the many mosquitoes, insects, snakes, and ants in the mountain forest. Even though both wore very thick clothes, they still couldn't prevent being bitten all over their faces and heads.

Shen Yao reached out and scratched the swollen red spots on her face, planning to spray some spray when she got back. Even though it wouldn't help, it could at least relieve some of the itch.

Spending a noon under the sweet orange trees, footsteps came from the distance.

Shen Jiancheng's distinctive voice called out, immediately dispersing the somewhat tense emotions.

Song Ling complained that Shen Jiancheng was simple-minded, "We're all over here. Come over quickly."

Shen Jiancheng replied "Coming, coming" while pushing the cart and hurrying over.

He originally hadn't wanted to bring the cart out, but there was too much stuff to carry back, so Shen Jiancheng had to exert himself to lift the cart onto the car, bringing the cart and hemp sacks over together.

However, even though he had mentally prepared himself, when he saw the hemp sacks piled on the ground, Shen Jiancheng was still surprised. Had the fruit in Chang Le Town had a bumper harvest?

"What bumper harvest? Yao Yao chose a good spot. There aren't many people here, so we could pick up the leftovers. After we finish this area, we'll still have to fight with others."

Song Ling told Shen Jiancheng to move the hemp sacks together and instructed him to guard them well until they returned.

"Are there more fruit trees ahead?" Shen Jiancheng was eager to try and also wanted to help.

"Ahead are chestnut trees. Yao Yao and I can handle the two of us. You just stay here obediently," Song Ling said, suppressing Shen Jiancheng's restless heart, and promised that tomorrow the three of them would go out together, and then he could pick as much as he wanted.

Shen Jiancheng:......

Shen Jiancheng didn't really believe Song Ling's empty promises. Similar words had been said who knows how many times, and in the end they all came to nothing.

"I think I can go with you. There's no one here," Shen Jiancheng said wrongedly. Song Ling glared at him and he immediately behaved, not saying another word.

Shen Yao hid to the side watching the fun, covering her mouth corner. Whenever there was a disagreement, she didn't say much, so nothing involved her.

Until the two's topic came to a pause, Shen Yao appropriately guided them a bit. The storm passed, and the atmosphere returned to tranquility.

…………

"Such a large chestnut grove, and no one discovered it?" Song Ling picked up chestnut after furry chestnut, her tone full of disbelief.

"No time to come. Chestnuts aren't as valuable as fruit." Points could exchange for most food to stave off hunger (nutrient agents), but eating too many chestnuts was just so-so.

This chestnut grove wasn't on the map but was discovered by the system's exploration.

Walking forward a short distance led to another mountain top, and coincidentally there were honey tangerine trees there. After picking honey tangerines, they could also pick some chestnuts to take back as snacks. How could it not be discovered by people?

"Let's pick more while we have time. Chestnuts keep well, and roasted they're delicious too."

I heard on the forum that in earlier years there were things like sugar-roasted chestnuts.

But sugar is too expensive, and you need sand to roast them, so ordinary people are reluctant to spend on them.

Anyway, Song Ling had only heard of them but never tasted them; as for whether they were delicious or not, everyone said so, so they should be delicious, right?

Shen Yao thought she hadn't had authentic sugar-roasted chestnuts in a long time; since it was the cold season and she had time, she'd go back and prepare, maybe she could recreate them.

The hemp sacks they brought were filled with fallen chestnuts, laid flat on the ground bag by bag, until both felt they couldn't carry any more back and had to stop and rest.

"With a vehicle it would be convenient; pushing a cart is still too slow," mainly they needed to take the bus back to the base, unlike driving themselves where they could leave anytime.

"Xiao Cheng is busy, and our family has no connections, otherwise we could go to the car rental shop and rent one with points?"

The rented one definitely wouldn't be a four-wheeled vehicle, but they could choose a pedal-powered tricycle.

But tricycles are also expensive and basically you can't get a number for one; Shen Jiancheng said they might need to find someone to help.

Song Ling hesitated, "Isn't a tricycle too slow? The distance from Chang Le Town to the base isn't short," riding a tricycle while pulling a cart full of hemp sacks, Shen Jiancheng couldn't manage no matter how strong he was.

Shen Yao told Shen Jiancheng not to rush, they could rent a gasoline-powered tricycle, "Cheng Qi can help on his end; then Mom and I will gather, and Dad will be responsible for delivering supplies back."

Then give Shen Yao more supplies; among brothers, accounts should be clear, so it's not taking advantage for free.

"Listen to Yao Yao; Xiao Cheng has always been reliable in doing things, with him helping with the car rental, a lot of trouble can be avoided."

If they rented it themselves, they might even be cheated by the car rental shop owner.

People who can open a car rental shop at the base all have backing behind them; ordinary people can't compete at all, and most who get cheated can only swallow their anger.

Speaking of this, Song Ling thought of a year when they paid double the car rental fee; although they eventually got even, being disgusted for months was still quite unpleasant.

"Then leave it to Xiao Cheng," as the saying goes, family doesn't speak two different languages; as long as the distribution of benefits is reasonable, however it's used is fine.

The three pushed the cart, whose front no one could see anymore, back to the boarding point, and as expected, they were strongly surrounded by onlookers.

What was in the hemp sacks wasn't that important, but just so many hemp sacks were already very eye-catching.

Shen Jiancheng took the lead to block many gazes; Shen Yao and Song Ling hid behind him, quietly discussing whether to continue gathering chestnuts or pick fruit tomorrow.

Renting a vehicle won't be that fast; at least they'd have to wait a day.

So tomorrow they'd still need to take the bus and rely on themselves to manually transport goods.

"First look at the chestnut shipment rate; if high, pick chestnuts; if low, pick fruit."

The fruit shipment rate wasn't high, and the chestnut situation was temporarily unknown; Song Ling covered her mouth corner and thought it over, deciding to let the facts speak.

Regarding this, Shen Yao didn't object; she felt this method was good. If the chestnut shipment rate was relatively large, they could pick a few more sacks of chestnuts and earn back the points for fruit.

During the cold season, they couldn't go out for a long time; having more edible food at home was better than anything.

The mother and daughter discussed quietly; during this time, someone couldn't help but come over to probe for news, and was glared away by Shen Jiancheng.

Until the bus arrived, they tied the sacks to the roof of the vehicle, the three squeezed onto the bus, and endured the bumps back to the base.

As expected, Shen Yao vomited all over the ground after getting off, and became listless.

No matter when, Shen Yao's body couldn't withstand such a bumpy bus, especially when there were many people; all kinds of smells were present, very unfriendly to her.

Cheng Qi got off work and rushed over, just seeing Shen Yao vomiting until the sky was dark and the earth was dim.

He reached out to steady her and patted her back; the four people, with the cart and sacks, left.

"Back basket, back basket"

Shen Yao quietly reminded not to forget her back basket; inside was half a basket of sweet oranges; no one took advantage, because the whole vehicle was full of orange fragrance.

Cheng Qi reached out to take it, and advised her she could rest at home tomorrow.

Their family really didn't lack this bit of grain; after buying a house in B District, he could exchange for more durable grain from the Exchange Center.

"We're coming to Chang Le Town tomorrow anyway; it's fine," Shen Yao refused to lie flat; staying at home with nothing to do was boring; better to go out and find some fun for herself.

"By the way, we want to rent a vehicle, not..." Shen Yao leaned close to Cheng Qi's ear to remind him; only at the doorway did Cheng Qi nod and agree.

It wasn't making things difficult, but Cheng Qi worried they were too tired; renting a vehicle was fine, but with only three people busy, who could do heavy physical labor?

"Dad's body can hold up; besides, this year they got more Gene Stabilizers than last year."

Shen Jiancheng's body wasn't as good as Shen Yu and Cheng Qi, but Shen Jiancheng could rely on Gene Stabilizers to maintain.

That is, this year the Shen Family lived better than before; otherwise where would there be so much fuss; whether capable or not, everything had to be done.

"I'll arrange it as soon as possible, but don't overdo it;" Chang Le Town was a heavy traffic disaster area in this mild season; they picking fruit would probably encounter conflict.

Even if carrying weapons for protection, it couldn't guarantee no one would get hot-headed and cause trouble.

Every mild season people died; those dying in the wild were not a few.

Cheng Qi couldn't count how many cases he had handled; most came to nothing, because the wild lacked evidence; although no one could prove they were truly innocent, neither could anyone prove they were guilty.

The Base and the Patrol Team muddled through, causing some people's appetites to grow bigger; more people had to be bullied; Cheng Qi had a premonition that the Base would sooner or later strictly handle a batch, just not now.

"The places we've been recently are remote; few people means fewer disputes; after we're busy with this period, the Base's Planting Garden will open restrictions again."

Also cotton and other warming crops used in winter; by then we won't fear them causing trouble."

As long as most people are kept busy, the Base can smoothly transition into the cold season.

The Patrol Team Cheng Qi was in was recently conducting the Base population census; this was the first step to grasping information.

Those named on the list had already entered the Patrol Team's blacklist, just waiting for an opportunity to eliminate them; so the Base was currently considered to be handling things properly.

The two got home and first sorted out the things in the sacks; then they ate a meal of stir-fried chicken meat; too many wild chickens were caught on Small Hillside; even eating every day they could eat for a long time.

Fortunately they made a lot of smoked chicken and air-dried chicken and hung them up; otherwise the refrigerator's freezer layer wouldn't be enough at all.

"These chestnuts have a high shipment rate;" basically two or three, one could be eaten.

Moderate mutation and low mutation were placed separately; Cheng Qi checked while peeling the chestnut shells.

Shen Yao was also excited; she contacted Song Ling and asked; finding that the mother and daughter had the same shipment rate, she became even more determined to pick chestnuts tomorrow.

But when Cheng Qi heard the location of the Chestnut Forest, he looked surprised and told them to take the earliest bus tomorrow.

Shen Yao:... Huh?

"The Patrol Team is going there tomorrow, bringing family members along;" Cheng Qi shrugged, indicating that the Chestnut Forest they were going to, although not in the direction Shen Yao mentioned, the Chestnut Forest locations were interconnected.

That is to say, as long as they gather fast enough, they will be able to encounter them.

Shen Yao:?!?!

Shen Yao passed the news on to Song Ling, and unsurprisingly, Song Ling also felt a sense of crisis.

How could that do? Thinking it was already hers, yet she still had to compete with so many people—she would have to bring out all her strength.

She called Shen Jiancheng and told him not to busy himself in vain, "We'll pick chestnuts together tomorrow; if we go late, we might not gather a single point."

This was somewhat exaggerated; the Patrol Team's families were not many, it was just that the Patrol Team was especially attractive, and perhaps more and more people would come to the Chestnut Forest, until finally all the chestnuts on the trees would be cleanly divided among the Wedding Guests.

Shen Jiancheng nodded and sighed twice, indicating he would bring more hemp sacks tomorrow and work hard; chestnuts keep longer than fruit, so they must pick enough.