By the time 001 brought the needle, the little ones had already finished eating the peaches.
Curious about what Ruan Qiao was going to do, they all gathered around her, and no one showed any intention of leaving.
Ruan Qiao took the needle, spread a napkin on a plate, and then picked up a strawberry, using the needle to carefully pluck each seed from the fruit.
The moment the needle pierced the strawberry, a chorus of exclamations rose from the little ones.
Prepared for this, Ruan Qiao held a hand to her lips, signaling them to be quiet. The little ones imitated her, covering their mouths with their paws or wings.
But covering their mouths couldn’t hide their astonished expressions, especially in those pairs of pure, wide eyes, each clearly shouting: “What a waste! How heartbreaking!”
Ruan Qiao felt a headache coming on.
She had to explain: “These are the seeds of the strawberry. If we plant them in soil, they can grow into more fruit.”
Her explanation was clearly something the little ones didn’t expect. Their eyes grew even wider.
Now that Ruan Qiao had earned their trust, their expressions held no doubt, only amazement and… eagerness to try.
She carefully moved the plate with the seeds to the side, guarding it with her hand, and warned, “No touching, no handling, no smelling, and definitely no tasting. There are only a few, and we still need them to make money.”
The moment they heard the words “make money,” the little ones immediately snapped to attention, their expressions turning serious.
They nodded furiously at Ruan Qiao, like little peas in a pod.
After giving the de-seeded strawberries to the little ones and playing with them for a while, Ruan Qiao had 001 take them outside to play.
She then opened the light-brain to look over the three files from earlier.
From the purchasing list, Ruan Qiao could see just how urgent the need for food was on Planet 0813.
Almost every edible item was included.
For staple foods, besides common rice and wheat, other grains, legumes, and even some old-fashioned cereals long discarded in her original world were clearly categorized on the list, and the buying prices weren’t low.
It made sense, really. After all, the people here survived on nutritional liquids.
As long as the essential nutrients could be extracted from the food, taste or texture was completely irrelevant.
The purchasing list for fruits and vegetables was much the same.
There were countless pages, densely packed. Each item on the list included the name, a picture, the purchasing standards, and the price, clearly marked, which made it easy for Ruan Qiao to compare.
After all, many of the fruits and vegetables here had different names than in her previous world.
Ruan Qiao hadn’t actually bought many fruits or vegetables at the Agricultural Science Institute’s supermarket before, just two boxes of strawberries, a few peaches, five or six cucumbers, a pound of cherry tomatoes, and a pack of oyster mushrooms.
Even though she needed enough supplies for a week, she lived alone, and buying too much would be wasteful.
Looking at the prices on the list now, Ruan Qiao wished she had a time-travel device so she could go back and buy more.
No, if she could go back, she would definitely empty the supermarket!
Of course, emptying it was impossible.
Ruan Qiao could only organize the fruits and vegetables she had and prepare to take them to the purchasing point the next day to test the market.
If the prices were indeed as listed, she would use the income to buy farming tools.
She had also noticed in the support program list that, to encourage farming, the government of Planet 0813 offered huge discounts on the necessary farming infrastructure.
Compared to the fruit purchasing prices, the costs for pesticides, fertilizers, nutrient substrates, and other materials needed to cultivate new land were ridiculously low.
This, naturally, was what interested Ruan Qiao the most.
Just looking at the list, she already began forming a preliminary plan for the future. Whether it would actually work, however, remained unknown.
Everything depended on her fully understanding the situation first.
So Ruan Qiao prepared thoroughly, ready to head into town first thing in the morning.
The next day, she woke up early, packed her things, slung her backpack over her shoulders, and was about to leave. But she hadn’t even crossed the training ground before a group of little ones blocked her path.
They had clearly been waiting for her.
Seeing her, they immediately surrounded her, chattering excitedly. When she pretended not to notice, the lop rabbit jumped up again, aiming for her arms, which made Ruan Qiao stumble backward several steps in fright.
As for the big cat, after yesterday’s scolding, it clearly didn’t dare climb on her again. Instead, it changed tactics, stubbornly clinging to Ruan Qiao’s leg.
Its large head pressed against her waist, rubbing wildly, leaving gray and golden hairs all over her clothes.
Ruan Qiao felt her blood pressure spike, cursing under her breath, wishing she could kick these two little troublemakers clear across the yard.
“Everyone, get up!” she grit out.
But after getting to know her personality, this group of little ones completely ignored her, not only did they refuse to obey, they made even more noise.
Even the usually shy little quail flapped one wing frantically, circling her and squawking.
They kicked up clouds of dust as they moved.
“Everyone, get up and listen to me!” Ruan Qiao raised her voice helplessly.
Seeing that she was serious, the little ones finally stopped, though reluctantly.
Ruan Qiao sighed and spoke gently, trying to explain: “I’m going out on errands, need to go to several places, not just for fun. I don’t have a car, so bringing you along would be inconvenient. Next time, when I have free time, I’ll take you out properly.”
The little ones had obviously heard this many times before, probably countless empty promises from Ella in the past.
Hearing “next time,” the little quail immediately started squawking again, and the other two furry ones leapt at her, hugging her tightly as if to say, “If you’re not taking us out, you’re not going anywhere either.”
Ruan Qiao was squeezed so tightly she could barely breathe, sweating before even leaving the house. She was genuinely annoyed.
“You still want me to earn money? If this keeps up, then forget it, we won’t go, and we won’t sell the fruits either!” she snapped.
At the mention of making money, the cat’s paws clinging to Ruan Qiao’s leg stiffened for a moment. Then it slowly released, stepping back carefully.
It cautiously looked up at her and let out a soft meow, as if apologizing, yet still a little hurt.
The lop rabbit rubbed its face against Ruan Qiao’s clothes, then obediently stepped aside. The quail huddled with the rabbit, head lowered, looking dejected.
Ruan Qiao’s heart softened again.
She sighed and softened her voice to reassure them: “Once I save enough money, I’ll buy a car and drive you all out for fun.”
When the lawyers had brought her here, Ruan Qiao had noticed that all the vehicles were self-driving. She probably wouldn’t even need a license, but even if she did, she wasn’t worried, she had passed all the driving tests from start to finish on her first try, so another attempt would be no problem.
Once she had enough money, she really planned to buy a car. Otherwise, the Starlight Orphanage was so far from the city that commuting back and forth would be way too inconvenient.
After hearing this, the little ones finally stopped blocking her.
Ruan Qiao changed her clothes quickly and hurried down the mountain.
The Starlight Orphanage was in a pretty remote location. Following the best route on the map, it still took Ruan Qiao nearly half an hour to reach the nearest bus stop. By the time she got on the bus, it was almost ten in the morning.
She had gotten up so early only to end up running late, even though she had set her alarm and gotten out of bed well ahead of time.
Ruan Qiao sat down in her seat and took her backpack off, hugging it to her chest.
That’s when she realized something was wrong.
She reached for the zipper, and as soon as she opened it just a crack, a tiny furry head popped out.
Ruan Qiao: !!!
Seeing that it had been discovered, the little squirrel jumped out of the backpack, landing skillfully on Ruan Qiao’s shoulder and rubbing its tiny face against her neck.
Then, following a “if I’m going down, you’re going down too” principle, it hopped onto her lap and, reaching into the side pocket of the backpack, yanked out the curled-up little hedgehog inside.
Ruan Qiao: …
Looking at the two, who wore expressions of repentance but whose eyes shone with pure excitement, Ruan Qiao felt completely powerless.
She had no choice but to put the backpack aside, put both little troublemakers on her lap, and quietly scold them: “This is the last warning, got it? Next time you do this, I’ll throw you straight off the bus!”
But it was obvious that the little ones didn’t take the threat seriously at all, they merely wiggled a bit to show they “heard” her.
“Since you’re out now, stick close to me. No messing around. You have to behave. Can you do that?”
This time, the two little ones finally nodded at her together.
After getting off the bus, Ruan Qiao placed the little hedgehog back into the side pocket, but this time she didn’t zip it up completely, leaving a small opening so it could poke its head out and look at the world.
The little squirrel insisted on returning to its place on Ruan Qiao’s shoulder, its own special spot.
They first went to the nearest fruit and vegetable purchasing station listed on the buying list.
The station was located toward the outer edge of a commercial street, and it was clear that it was fairly large in scale.
Besides people coming to sell their goods, Ruan Qiao also saw a sales window for external customers, though the prices posted suggested it was primarily a wholesale operation, not retail.
Still, the prices were already significantly higher than the government purchase price.
As they walked in, a young man in his twenties came over and smiled at Ruan Qiao. “Hello, how can I help you?”
Ruan Qiao opened her backpack and took out a box of strawberries and the two peaches.
Of course, she had already removed the labels from the strawberries.
The young man’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw the strawberries, and he asked excitedly, “Where did you get these strawberries? They’re really rare around here.”
“A friend gave them to me,” Ruan Qiao replied vaguely.
He glanced at her and said, “From Capital Star, right? Ah, these fruits are only sold there; we’ve never received them here. To be honest, I’ve only ever seen them in pictures before, never in person.”
He took a deep breath and then wore an expression of pure delight. “Smells amazing!”
Ruan Qiao didn’t want to chat much and asked instead, “How much can I sell this box for?”