Chapter 352 : Green Plum Meets Wine (3)

Gu Yan brought Shi Sheng to one of Sheng Xia’s favourite restaurants.

However, Shi Sheng didn’t really like it here. The general ambience and decorations were too depressed for her liking. But remembering that her meal ticket had just ended a relationship, Shi Sheng displayed an uncharacteristic consideration by not requesting they go somewhere else. Of course, there was always the possibility that she was just too lazy to continue walking.

“Xiaoxia, it’s already been four years since you’ve come to stay with me…” Gu Yan raised this topic out of the blue.

Shi Sheng lifted her head to look at him. The man across from her had his head lowered, his brows tightly knit.

“En.” ‘It’s been four years.’

Sheng Xia’s parents had died when she was 10.

Gu Yan fell silent. His gaze lowered to rest on the cutlery.

Shi Sheng looked away to focus on eating. ‘Damn am I hungry! Nothing’s more important than filling my stomach!’

“Xiaoxia, you’re going to be turning 15 after tonight.” The man spoke suddenly.

Shi Sheng blanked out for a moment. After thinking hard, she finally remembered that tomorrow was Sheng Xia’s birthday.

“You can inherit the monetary portion of your inheritance when you turn 16. This card here has 30k. If you scrimp and save, it should be enough for your living expenses for the next year.” Gu Yan didn’t wait for Shi Sheng to speak as he pushed a card towards her.

Shi Sheng, “…” ‘Is Long-Term Meal Ticket planning on making a run for it?’

“Uncle Gu, what do you mean?” Shi Sheng set down her chopsticks and stared unflinchingly at Gu Yan.

He didn’t look at her but covered his face with both hands instead, making his voice a bit muffled. “Some problems have cropped up with my company. I don’t know if… I promised your dad I’d take care of you, but this is all I can do right now…”

Even if he didn’t tell her now, she would still find out sooner or later. Rather than catching her off guard and being unable to find help, he figured he ought to tell her earlier so she’d be mentally prepared.

“Has your company collapsed yet?”

Gu Yan shook his head. “Not yet…”

It hadn’t collapsed quite yet. But once the cashflow was stopped, it wouldn’t be far off.

“Then is it already too far gone to be saved?”

Gu Yan, “…”

He set his hands down and looked at the girl in front of him. Though she hadn’t fully bloomed yet, he could already see hints of her mother’s beauty in her.

“Since it hasn’t, why come to conclusions so early? Uncle Gu, opportunities are seized by people with preparation and patience.”

Gu Yan had probably never expected there would come a day when he’d be counselled by a little girl.

Yet her words held truth—he couldn’t even find any way to retort.

After forcing this ‘chicken soup for the soul’ into Gu Yan, Shi Sheng was abandoned on the streets.

Shi Sheng, “…” ‘Long-Term Meal Ticket, this isn’t right of you.’

……

Shi Sheng leisurely made her way back home. While walking past Curio Street, she saw Shen Jiayin at the entrance.

She was standing together with a tall youth. They were soon joined by another, who jogged over wearing a black sweatshirt. The three of them entered Curio Street.

The FL had the ability to appraise items, so she was probably here to find something cheap that she could sell for higher.

Show-off Sheng expressed:

‘I^(lz) don’t have an item which can do that ah!’

[Treasure-Hunter Phone. Helps you find treasures all over the world. Host, want one? Only 10,000 Contribution Points.]

‘System…since when did you learn to play ads? And 10k?! Why don’t you steal it?! Fucking git.’

[……] ‘Other systems profit off their Hosts like it’s nobody’s business, but me? It’s harder to get a single Contribution Point from her than to ascend the heavens! She’s too capable…’

[Then how about a discount? 5k?]

‘5k? In your dreams. The reward for completing one mission is 3k, and you want to take nearly two missions’ worth from me^(lz) in one go?’

[……] ‘Who told you to avoid the Side Quests? That’s where the points are at!’

[3k, no lower.]

Shi Sheng rolled her eyes. ‘Was I haggling with you?’

Shi Sheng walked into Curio Street. The night market was a much livelier sight than during the day. All sorts of people strolled the streets, hoping to get a steal and make a killing.

Shen Jiayin and the two boys weren’t walking very fast. She would also stop every once in a while to have a look around.

Shi Sheng openly tailed them from behind, hearing the occasional snippet of conversation between the boys and Shen Jiayin.

The one that had been with her first was Wen Jingxuan, while the one in a black sweatshirt was called Xie Chen. They were both supporting male leads that liked Shen Jiayin.

Though right now, they had probably only known Shen Jiayin for a short while.

[Host, will you really not consider it? Don’t you want to show off? 2,000 Contribution Points, last chance…]

“1k.”

System fell silent for a moment, though in the end it still gave the item to Shi Sheng. It’s host was too powerful for it to offend.

Of course, the most important factor was that the tool wasn’t really worth that much. 1,000 contribution points wasn’t too low a price.

Once Shi Sheng got the Treasure-Hunter’s Phone, she examined it. It looked no different from a smartphone. One could even insert a SIM card into it, and it appeared to have all the functions of a regular smartphone. Shi Sheng was beginning to suspect that she really had just bought an ordinary phone.

In the middle of a bunch of weird apps, Shi Sheng found an app called ‘Taobao^[1]’.

Shi Sheng, “…” ‘No matter how you look at it, it’s the same Taobao as Alibaba’s…’

She was even greeted by a familiar interface upon opening the app.

Collecting world data…

These words appeared on the screen. After several minutes…

Data collected. Thank you for using Taobao. We hope you are satisfied with the experience.

Shi Sheng, “…” ‘The hell?’

She looked through the items. It seemed…rather impressive.

……

Hour-old bun. Value: RMB1. Distance: 5 metres.

3-year-old clothes. Value: RMB30. Distance: 20 metres.

Year-old watch. Value: RMB300. Distance: 50 metres.

…

Hundred-year-old mud. Value unknown. Distance: 300 metres.

Two hundred-year-old brick. Value unknown. Distance: 700 metres.

Beggar’s bowl. Value: 0. Distance: 1,000 metres.

‘*flips table* The hell is this thing?! System, Alibaba’s going to sue you for using a pirated version of their app!’

She searched through these objects for ages before finding something somewhat normal.

300-year-old painting. Value: RMB10,000. Distance: 2,000 metres.

Odd titles attached with the age of the item showed up on the screen, followed by their value and distance from her. There weren’t any other descriptions.

The photos clearly appeared to have been photoshopped. Even stuff like a random brick, or a broken bowl that had been used by a beggar, looked like exquisitely preserved antiques one would find in a museum.

‘Great, just like Alibaba’s Taobao!’

Furthermore, distances were displayed for each of the objects listed, none of which were further than 3,000 metres away.

Items, clothing, food, toys—everything was shown, regardless of their age.

‘Really now! This app wants to ascend the heavens ah! Alibaba is shit compared to this!’

Shi Sheng enthusiastically ran to one of the larger antique shops.

The items on the app screen started being refreshed as piece after piece of exquisitely beautiful porcelain appeared.

First was their name, then the price. Some were worth only a few hundred, while others were upwards of a million. However, there didn’t appear to be anything worth a hundred million or more.

^[1] Taobao or ‘淘宝’ is a shopping app founded by Alibaba. You can search for stuff to buy on it, though I haven’t had much experience seeing as how I haven’t shopped online like…at all.

Author’s note:

Shi Sheng: Want some chicken soup? It’s Shi Sheng branded, totally organic and all natural.

Little Fairy: What are the benefits of drinking it?

Shi Sheng: *smiling slightly* You can go to Heaven.

Little Fairy: Feng Ci, hurry over! Your Shi Sheng wants to poison her author mom to death!

Feng Ci: Great. This is just like her.

Little Fairy: Little angels, save meeee! These two brats want to commit treason!

Shi Sheng: All of those who didn’t vote, come have a taste of this chicken soup. Then you can go to Heaven—tickets are one-way.