Seeing Song Yili’s forehead beaded with cold sweat, Song Yi'an helped him lie down and wiped it with a sweat towel.
"Mother is still in the kitchen cooking. You should rest well and stop letting your imagination run wild. Mother will come to see you in a while."
After saying this, she carried the empty bowl and turned to leave the inner room.
As she walked out of the inner room, the sounds of cooking came from the kitchen.
Song Yi'an went to the kitchen, set down the bowl, and leaned in beside Madam Gu to take a look. In the pot was once again boiled spinach paired with rice porridge so thin it was practically water.
Since arriving here, she had been eating boiled spinach for several days in a row, and her face was starting to look as pale as the vegetables.
She wanted to eat meat!
As a holder of a Space Ability, except for the very beginning of the apocalypse, she had eaten meat at every meal.
Now that there were neither natural disasters nor zombies, living a life even more miserable than in the apocalypse was simply unacceptable.
She could not rely solely on Madam Gu; she also had to start earning money to buy jade stone to increase her ability level.
Besides absorbing energy cores from zombies' heads, ability levels could also be increased by absorbing the energy within jade stone.
However, there were no zombies here, so absorbing jade stone was the only path left to take.
"Mother, do you know where jade stone is sold?"
Madam Gu’s hand, which was serving the vegetables, paused. "Er Ya, why are you asking about this?"
Song Yi'an blinked and made up an excuse on the spot.
"Next door, Wang Chunhua’s father gave her mother a jade bracelet. Chunhua said it was exceptionally beautiful, and I wanted to take a look too, but I couldn't just grab her mother’s hand and not let go, right? So I wanted to go to a jade shop to feast my eyes."
Madam Gu was left between laughter and tears. "You child, what nonsense are you spouting? There are no shops in Luo Town that specialize in selling jade stone."
Seeing her daughter’s disappointed expression, she couldn't help but soften and added.
"However, our family does have a pair of jade pendants. Your father specially brought them back from the Capital City for you and your brother, thinking to give them to you when you were a bit older."
Song Yi'an’s eyes immediately lit up: "Mother, really?"
Madam Gu glanced at her with a smile on her lips: "Would Mother lie to you?"
Song Yi'an tugged at Madam Gu’s sleeve and asked softly: "Mother, can I see them now?"
Madam Gu refused without a second thought: "Not now. When you have your coming-of-age ceremony, Mother will naturally give them to you."
It wasn't that she was hard-hearted; that pair of jade pendants was simply too precious. If she accidentally dropped and broke them, how could she live up to her late husband’s intentions from back then?
Those were the only mementos Zhi Wen left for the two children, and she had to guard them well for him.
Thinking of her late husband, Madam Gu felt a pang of sorrow in her heart and couldn't help but feel sentimental again.
Watching Madam Gu’s dim expression, Song Yi'an guessed at once that Mother must be thinking of her late father again.
It seemed that getting the jade pendants from Madam Gu was not going to work.
Furthermore, even if she really got her hands on the jade pendants, she wouldn't have the heart to absorb them.
These were her father’s keepsakes. Once she absorbed the energy stored within the jade pendants, they would lose their original warm luster and become no different from ordinary stones.
Just as Song Yi'an was feeling troubled, Chun Hua’s excited voice came from outside the courtyard.
"Er Ya, Er Ya, come out quickly, I have a treasure to show you."
Song Yi'an had originally wanted to pretend she wasn't there. In her memories, every time Chun Hua came to find Er Ya, it was either to show off new hair ornaments and clothes or to flaunt the food her father had brought back.
She didn't have the leisure to play along.
However, her mother didn't think so: "Chun Hua is looking for you, go and take a look."
She had to listen to what Mother said, so Song Yi'an had no choice but to walk out the door, feeling reluctant.
"What good thing is it?" Song Yi'an asked, lacking interest.
Wang Chunhua looked left and right, then mysteriously pulled a plain-looking stone from her bosom.
Yes, plain-looking. In Song Yi'an’s eyes, this stone had no shape to speak of, and its color was a dull gray.
Song Yi'an couldn't help but ask: "What is so special about this stone?"
Wang Chunhua immediately shot her a look that said, "You really don't know quality when you see it": "Er Ya, look closely."
Song Yi'an had to cooperate with the little girl, looking again and again, but ultimately shook her head: "This is just an ordinary stone."
Even if the King of Heaven himself came, it would still be a plain little pebble.
Wang Chunhua was immediately displeased and huffed.
Er Ya just lacked experience. Mother was right; what was the use of being pretty? She was just a vase!
Although she didn't quite understand what "vase" meant, whatever Mother said was always right.
"My father spent fifty Wen on this, which he picked up from a peddler in front of the grocery store earlier," she said, lifting her chin with some pride.
"The man said there is a good thing hidden inside this stone, and it can be sold for a high price if resold!"
Song Yi'an suddenly perked up. Isn't this a seed material? So, jade gambling existed in ancient times too!
She grabbed Chun Hua’s hand and asked urgently: "Has that peddler left yet?"
Wang Chunhua was stunned. Why was Er Ya suddenly so excited? "Probably not, my father just came back from there."
Without another word, Song Yi'an turned and ran off, leaving Chun Hua stunned on the spot.
Before leaving, she even left behind a sentence.
"Tell my mother I’ll be back late for dinner, and tell Uncle Wang that if someone wants to buy his stone, he should sell it and get rid of it early."
One had to know that in Luo Town, fifty Wen could buy three dou of rice, which was enough for an adult man to eat for about a month.
Uncle Wang was a carpenter and only earned fifty Wen for two days of work. If Chun Hua’s mother found out that Uncle Wang had bought a useless stone, he would definitely be scolded.
As an ability user, Song Yi'an was naturally able to sense fluctuations in energy. The stone in Wang Chunhua’s hand did not have a trace of energy fluctuation; it was absolutely impossible for it to contain good jade as Chun Hua claimed.
Song Yi'an ran panting to the Main Street, where a commotion could be heard in the distance, with a crowd gathered in front of the grocery store.
Wasn't that the location of the peddler Chun Hua mentioned? Why were there so many people gathered there?
Relying on her small stature, Song Yi'an nimbly squeezed to the front of the crowd.
She saw a middle-aged man wearing a coarse cloth shirt shouting his wares with spit flying.
"Come and see! High-quality Hetian seed material! Look at this skin color, look at this luster—it’s guaranteed to be a good piece of jade once opened!"
On the ground, there was only a piece of cloth spread out, displaying stones of various sizes. Each one was clearly priced; the large ones could go up to a hundred Wen, and the smallest, only the size of an egg, could be bought for just five Wen.
Song Yi'an focused her senses and discovered that most of the stones on the ground had no energy fluctuations at all; they were just ordinary stones.
But, there were good things too.
She sensed that among the seed materials, there was one with a particularly large energy fluctuation. That stone was grayish-black, about the size of her two fists, and placed at the very back.
This kind of energy fluctuation could possibly be black jasper.
Black jasper was a variety of jasper, the type of jade with the deepest color, a delicate and pure texture, and an appearance that looked as black as pure lacquer.
It was priced at only one hundred Wen, but she was currently penniless and felt anxious, fearing someone else would buy it.
Fortunately, although many people in the crowd were attracted by the peddler’s shouting, very few actually made a purchase; most people just watched without buying.
Luo Town was not a wealthy place, and the common people were mostly honest and down-to-earth, valuing a steady life without any so-called gambler’s mentality.
The day was getting late, and the crowd gradually dispersed.
The peddler cursed and swore as he wrapped the stones up haphazardly and threw them violently into a basket.
He had spent the whole afternoon shouting under the scorching sun, yet only two or three people had bought anything.
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