While Lin Feng headed home to work on construction, Hu Zhiming’s mood soured. He had already circled the stall area in Wanfu Square twice.
"Sis, I can’t find that guy you were talking about—the one who was supposedly so obvious, selling grapes out of a van."
"I don’t care. If you can’t get them, don’t even think about coming home!"
The call ended. Feeling homeless, Hu Zhiming had no choice but to call his mom.
"Mom, Sis kicked me out. I’m homeless now."
"Homeless, are you? Then go sleep in the park."
Staring at his phone after she, too, hung up, he wondered, ’Am I even their real son? Was I actually found in a dumpster?’
With no other options, Hu Zhiming walked over to the stall vendors.
"Excuse me, I’m trying to find someone. Did you see a guy selling grapes out of a van this morning? They were incredibly expensive."
"I heard some people talking about him, but I didn’t see him myself. What’s the matter, did you get ripped off?
I knew it. A price that high has to be a scam.
Look how cheap my toys are. Why don’t you buy some for the kids back home?"
"No, thanks. I’m not even married."
"Well, what about for your relatives’ kids? Or your friends’? Even the neighbor’s kids would do."
Hu Zhiming hurried away. The vendor was way too pushy.
He asked five vendors in a row. All of them had heard about it; clearly, the story had already become the stuff of local legend.
Finally, at one of the stalls, he found a vendor who had actually seen Lin Feng that morning.
"You mean the young guy selling Jade Grapes for 888 a bunch? Did he scam you?
I told you he was a con artist. It was obvious he was just filming a video this morning, but then some woman from Xingfu Residence bought a whole bunch."
When the vendor said this, a clear look of envy flashed in his eyes.
"I’m telling you, you should report him directly to the police. They’ll definitely be able to find him."
A neighboring vendor chimed in, "Scammers like that who disrupt the market ought to be arrested and thrown in jail."
"That con artist this morning was despicable. We should have reported him on the spot."
The vendors who had witnessed the scene that morning were now filled with righteous indignation, acting as if they were the ones who had been scammed.
Hu Zhiming thought, ’Maybe this is just the simple, honest values of the common folk.’ He was actually a little touched.
"Wait, no, you’ve all got it wrong! He’s not a con artist. I’m just trying to find his contact info because I want to buy more of those grapes."
The area fell silent. The vendors’ faces darkened, and they turned and walked back to their stalls.
Even the vendor Hu Zhiming had first approached now wore an expression that clearly said, ’I don’t want anything to do with you.’
He was completely baffled, with no idea what he’d said wrong.
...
Meanwhile, Lin Feng had run into a bit of a surprise.
[Temporary Quest Triggered: A pet dog has been discovered. Please capture it.]
[Quest Reward: Pet Feature Unlocked.]
[Quest 1: The village population is low. Recruit 10 villagers to accelerate the village’s development.
Quest Reward: Farm Fertilizer Recipe.
Quest 2: Clear the debris around the village to ensure the paths are unobstructed.
Quest Reward: 10 sets of Comfortable Outdoor Workwear.
Quest 3: The village’s security is in urgent need of improvement. Build an Arrow Tower to protect the village.
Quest Reward: Archer Training Manual.
Quest 4: Your Medicine House is in dire need of a Pharmacist. Please recruit one.
Quest Reward: Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills Recipe.]
’So many new quests. This temporary one is interesting, though. It actually unlocks the pet feature.’
’Where is this pet dog, anyway?’
’I didn’t buy a dog on my way back. Where would one even come from out here in the middle of nowhere?’
’Whatever. Since the Village Construction Order issued the quest, there must be a dog in the village somewhere.’
The village wasn’t large, so he began a carpet search.
Half an hour later, he’d searched every nook and cranny, even looking around the area just outside the village.
"How strange. Where could it be?"
"WOOF WOOF, WOOF WOOF WOOF..."
"So there really is a dog!"
He followed the sound and quickly discovered the barking was coming from inside his van.
He opened the back doors and saw a small black puppy, maybe two or three months old, lying inside. It was barking at a gap in the van’s paneling.
Hearing the doors open, a fluffy little head turned to look at him.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF, WOOF WOOF WOOF..."
"Well, you’re a cute little thing."
Lin Feng picked it up by the scruff of its neck and gave it a careful once-over.
The little black dog looked like a Little Black Bear cub. Except for a tiny, brush-tip-sized tuft of white fur under its neck, it was completely black. Its eyes, the size of grapes, were dark and shining.
Now that he was holding it, it had stopped barking.
Its fur was clean, which meant it wasn’t a stray.
He took out his phone and called Uncle Ma.
That was the only place where he’d had the van’s back doors open.
"Uncle Ma, I found a little black puppy in my van. Is it yours?"
"Oh, so that’s where he ran off to! I thought he’d gotten lost.
Since he ran into your van and followed you all the way home, it must be fate. You can have him.
It’s perfect. Living up in the mountains, you could use a guard dog anyway."
Lin Feng said happily, "Thanks, Uncle Ma!"
"Don’t mention it. There were five in the litter; I still need to find homes for the rest of them."
After hanging up, Lin Feng watched as the little guy started barking at the inside of the van again.
He quickly discovered the reason: a small piece of grape flesh had fallen into a gap in the paneling at some point.
The puppy had licked the area clean, but unfortunately, the gap was too deep for it to reach the piece of grape.
"You little glutton. Lured into a van by a single grape."
He took out a grape and popped it into the puppy’s mouth. It instantly fell silent.
Hearing the notification that the quest was complete, he set the little pup aside and started examining the new Pet Feature.
The "Pet Feature" simply added a new entry to his interface.
[Pet: Dog (Unnamed)
Level: 1 (0/100)
Age: Three months
Sex: Male
Talent: None
Skills: None
Constitution: 2
Loyalty: 20 (100)]
’Loyalty is only at 20. Looks like I’ll have to work on that.’
Lin Feng glanced at the puppy, which was still preoccupied with the grape. The 20 points of Loyalty were clearly from when he’d fed it a moment ago.
After a moment of thought, he decided to name the puppy "Mo Yu."
He picked the puppy up, held it so they were face-to-face, and said, "Got it? From now on, your name is Mo Yu."
"WOOF WOOF."
The little guy seemed to be responding, letting out two barks before turning its head to look at the grapes on the stone slab again.
Lin Feng put the puppy down, and it went right back to wrestling with the grapes.
Looking at the other quests, he didn’t need to waste any thought on the first one; it was impossible to complete right now.
’I wonder if I can cheese the system and hire 10 temporary workers.’
He decided he’d try that method later, when it was time to build more houses.
The second and third quests didn’t seem too difficult. He was, however, curious about the reward for the third one: the Archer Training Manual.
The last quest, number four, would be a tough one. He didn’t have a Pharmacist, which meant he’d have to recruit a doctor and also build the Medicine House.
He just didn’t have the resources for that right now.
’I wonder if these Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills have any special effects.’
’If they really do have special effects, I could try my hand at pharmaceuticals.’
He took the portable cassette stove from the van and pulled out the gas canister.
’I’ll make some scrambled eggs with tomato and a small stir-fry with pork.’
A simple meal was ready in no time.
He set up a small table, laid out the food, and grabbed a can of Coke from the van.
PSSSH.
"Ahh! That’s the stuff."
He gazed at the green mountains in the distance, their peaks half-shrouded in white clouds. A gentle breeze whispered past, making the leaves on the nearby trees RUSTLE.
’A lounge chair would be perfect right now.’
Lin Feng looked around. ’I should probably build a gazebo, too.’
’Mhm, I should plant some Lotus flowers in this pond and raise some fish.’
Lin Feng surveyed the entire village. ’The houses need to be built, and I need to speed up construction on the other buildings, too.’
’Buildings like the Woodworking Workshop, Stone Workshop, Clothing Workshop, Blacksmith’s Shop, and Wharf must have some special effects.’
’Not only could they produce the decorations I need, but I might even be able to make money off them.’
Then he remembered his bank account balance, and decided that idea would have to wait.
"WOOF WOOF."
"Oh, I forgot about you. Here, have some pork and egg. Grow up big and strong so you can help me guard this place."
Mo Yu only had eyes for the food, completely ignoring him.
Lin Feng noticed its Loyalty had increased by three points.
’So you’re a good boy who knows how to repay kindness. Not bad.’
He shoveled down his rice, and when he was full, he scraped all the leftovers into a bowl for the dog.
This was how you fed a country dog. They rarely got sick and weren’t nearly so delicate. It was a feeding method that had been in practice for thousands of years.
Lin Feng sat for a little while before heading back inside to take a nap.
When he woke up, it was already past three o’clock.
He sat up in bed groggily and rubbed his face.
"How is it so late already?"
He stretched, then went outside to wash his face.
’Forget it. I won’t go out to sell anything this evening.’
This was a good chance to clear the weeds on the mountain path.
Back at Wanfu Square, Hu Zhiming sat in the shade of a tree just outside the plaza, nursing a cup of bubble tea.
’Why isn’t he here yet? Don’t tell me he’s not coming today...’
He was getting anxious, wondering if he should get a hotel room for the night or just find a 24-hour store to crash in.
"Hey, Sis... that grape vendor never showed up. Can I come home now?"
"I told you, if you don’t have the grapes, don’t bother coming home tonight."
Meanwhile, Hu Xia had just finished editing the video she’d shot that morning and was uploading it to her account.
Lin Feng likely had no idea just how much of an impact his on-camera appearance was about to make.